Internal Monads
From New Age Village
The Internal Monads - Seven Milestones in the Path of Life
The seven internal monads (or milestones) are seven transitions that people may experience in a full lifetime from birth to death. Difficult or traumatic adjustment often mark the arrival of each monad, followed by a plateau of peaceful progress if the adjustments are successful.
Similar to the 7 levels of a particular soul age, the Internal Monads can be considered the sub-levels of each soul age level. It may take several lifetimes to complete a monad, and successful graduation to the next soul age level is contingent upon the completion of the 7 Monads. In other words, if a monad isn't completed in the positive pole or is abdicated altogether, it is not considered finished.
Internal monads can indeed be seen as graduation ceremonies as you move from one level of life transition to the next. Just as receiving a diploma at graduation is based on the personal merit of scholastic study and academic accomplishment, graduating from one stage in a monad to the next is dependent upon the internal and external work you've completed during the stages of a monad.
The challenge is that all Internal Monads begin in the negative pole, which explains the inner turmoil that often occurs. A Monad is finished when the problems have been addressed and the issues properly resolved in the positive pole. Leaving a Monad from the negative pole can result in staying there in all subsequent monads, or not completing them in that lifetime.
Known for their duality, the internal monads are like two sides of a coin. They are almost Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-like in their nature, where the positive pole represents the true personality of the soul, and the negative pole reveals a shadowy side that lives in fear and illusion. Much anxiety and internal warfare is created by this tug-of-war, and it is not resolved until the lessons of that transition are accepted and peace is made with them. The intensity of this manifestation, and the negative expression of internal monads in general, is often dependent upon the individual overleaves. Someone with a goal of dominance, for example, will express the negative pole of a monad more demonstrably then someone with a goal of reevaluation.
The importance of the internal monads is two-fold: one, they mark the rites of passage that occur during the course of every lifetime; two, they chart the overall progress being made by the soul. If..
Stages of the Monads
Contents |
FIRST MONAD (Birth)
+Vitality -Life
Most traumatic for the Infant Soul.
The first monad occurs at birth — the usual time the Soul enters the body. Though, souls may also use the gestation period to incrementally adjust to the new body. Newborns operate entirely from awareness of the body and its instinct for survival — eating, eliminating, sleeping, crying, and so on. The plateau lasts just one to two years, during which there is much moving around for sensing the environment, in addition to experiencing bodily functions. It is important that infants receive much stimulation of the five senses in order to nurture their developing body/brain system. If they don't, severe physical problems will likely result. They could even die of "sensory deprivation". You cannot "spoil" the infant with "too much love (physical care)" at this stage.
SECOND MONAD (Childhood)
+Identity -Solipsism
Most traumatic for the Baby Soul.
The second monad usually occurs sometime during the second year of life. Infants become aware that they are separate from the environment and other individuals. They then realize that they are physically dependent upon others, and that they are affected emotionally by them. The plateau of childhood lasts till adolescence. It is important that children receive emotional support: a safe, fun, close, affectionate and comforting family environment, and esteem from their playmates. They must realize they are valued as individuals, or severe emotional problems will likely result.
THIRD MONAD (Adolescence)
+Differentiation (Independence) -Separation
- Most traumatic for the Young Soul
- Manifests between mid teens to early 20s, but can continue as far as the late 30s.
- Emergence of the chief feature.
- The heaviest karmic period of the life.
The third monad occurs during the teenage years, beginning when adolescents start to psychologically separate themselves from the family, and ending when they actually move out or "leaves the nest." A clear indication of the beginning of this monad is when the teenager enters the rebellious stage, and the body itself undergoes considerably hormonal changes.
Feelings like "no one understands me" are prevalent at this juncture, and there's a need to be with others who are currently undergoing the experience. Many teen films on the market (like the "Breakfast Club") have made a small fortune exploiting this rite of passage. Indeed, this experience of mutually shared pain can lead to experiments involving smoking cigarettes, sex, drugs, alcohol, and other forms of escapism. The third monad can also be a period of great self-loathing, and most youthful attempts at suicide happen during this transition.
Karmic formations are heaviest during this stage of life, including karmic child agreements and sexual karma. Both the hormonal intensity and general inability to view the world through anything but the false personality can lead to indiscriminate mating and drama in relationships.
Some cultures mark this milestone with a ceremony of "coming of age". During this time, the mental self-image develops — including the Chief Feature. It is important that adolescents be mentally prepared (by parents, teachers, and peers) to take a place in society, or severe mental problems may result. They must become intellectually competent enough to make their way in the world on their own or they will be socially retarded. If adolescents are treated more as independent adults than dependent children there is less tendency for them to rebel to prove their individuality. Nevertheless, the imprinting of family continues through the plateau phase lasting into middle age.
Overall, the third monad is the period in life where most fragments strive to break free of their dependency on others, both in terms of day-to-day survival and the independent thinking needed to shape personal beliefs and form an individual philosophy. This new-found independence is more than just leaving the family nest, getting a job, and forging a path commensurate with the demands of the societal game. Third monadal independence involves developing an individual perspective that's no longer nourished or dependent upon the umbilical of family or cultural expectations and beliefs. The third monadal fragment seeks to cast a shadow into society that outlines the individual expression of the personality, thus laying the groundwork for a truer expression of essence during the fourth monad.
Most relationships that occur during this period usually dissolve once the monad has been completed; the commonalities that had initially drawn the young couple together no longer exist, and there's a push to move on.
Finishing the third monad in it's negative pole can prevent the completion of the fourth, instilling a sense of discontentment and anger that includes an unwillingness to move forward or "grow up." Failure to complete the monad can also leave people feeling shy and aloof, with little desire to leave home. Worst case scenarios reveal people who are highly confrontational, full of rage, and unable to deal with authority. Getting into arguments at the drop of a hat and having little respect for the personal boundaries of others are other common patterns.
Like the inertia of stubbornness, there's a refusal to budge and a fear of change. Reality checks, like the passing of parents or beloved relatives, can be especially traumatic. In fact, souls lodged in the negative pole will often grieve over lost loved ones for the rest of their lives and desperately cling to the past while the rest of the world appears to race ahead without them.
Requirements needed to complete the third monad:
FOURTH MONAD (Mid-Life)
+Self Realization -Acquiescence (Resignation)
- Most traumatic for the Mature Soul.
- Escaping the bonds of imprinting and false personality.
- Life Task becomes clear.
The fourth monad begins in the mid thirties. This can be a traumatic milestone and last as long as a decade. Commonly called "The Mid-life Crisis," the fourth monad adult seeks to shed the imprinting of family and culture, and to become fully individuated. This allows the Soul to make its presence known and view the world through the positive poles of the chosen overleaves. In other words, the baggage from the past is discarded and the individual begins to act out of essence rather than false personality. The "lower self" must now take a back seat to the "higher self", and this is where the conflict begins, leading some to call the experience "the dark night of the soul." But all histrionics aside, the main focus of the monad is to break away from the stranglehold of false personality and chief feature.
In some ways the Fourth Monad is a form of self-exorcism, and like an unruly demon, false personality will tenaciously fight for it's survival. Similar to Harry Potter's Doppelganger, though, which takes the form of its victim's worst nightmares, this monad is like a mirror of fears, and one course of action is to simply face them one by one and laugh at them until they go away. As expected, this process will create intense emotional upheaval as the personality seeks to express the emerging influence of Essence.
Along with the assorted craziness of the period, which can include massive life changes across the board, the fourth monad is a highly introspective time. Like a museum curator, every nook and cranny of the soul is examined, and parts of self that no longer fit are summarily tossed aside.
Successful assimilation of the fourth monad is usually completed in the early forties, catapulting the person into the "Life Task", the soul's primary project for the longest plateau of the lifetime.
Many useful agreements are pulled into the life at this time, less karma occurs, more appropriate relationships are formed, and along with a feeling of wanting to be a mainstay in society, a strong sense of purpose emerges.
If completed in the positive pole, the overleaves fully manifest and true personality finally emerges. In contrast, finishing the fourth monad in the negative pole generally results in the false personality taking over completely. The impetus to change is lost amidst what feels like a drain of vital energy, and similar to the chief feature of stubbornness, there can be an innate fear of change. Common symptoms of this negative shift are depression, apathy, confusion, inexplicable fear, feeling lost, no sense of purpose or direction in life, and a desire to just "give up."
For students now concerned about the status of their monads, all is not lost. With proper guidance, incomplete monads may be finished on the positive side if there's a willingness to seek reconciliation with the issues and resolve them. In the case of the fourth monad,
FIFTH MONAD (Senior)
+Appreciation -Evaluation
- Most traumatic for the Old Soul.
- A review of the life task: what was set out to do versus what was accomplished.
The fifth monad begins at about the time of normal retirement, in the middle to late sixties. "Senior citizens" now review the lifetime. Were their aspirations and expectations met or not? Did they accomplish what they set out to do? This does not necessarily have anything to do with their career. More often it has to do with their Life Task. In a successful assimilation of this Milestone, the person accepts the lifetime as lived, regardless of whether they achieved the ambitions of their youth or not, or even the goal of their soul. They come to love themselves, and they are generous to others as well. The plateau lasts perhaps a few years, the "golden years".
SIXTH MONAD (Dying)
+Catharsis -Capitulation
The sixth monad occurs in old age with the onset of the final physical deterioration, or the terminal illness. It largely concerns the psychological dynamics of dying. This does not have to be an unpleasant process, but the more attached the person is to their physical life, the more difficult it is. Perhaps you have heard of the stages: disbelief or denial of mortality, anger that it should happen now, bargaining with God for more time, depression and despair, acceptance of the inevitable, and making preparations for the passing. The plateau is usually brief, if it occurs at all. A person who has lived in Essence and completed their Life Task will find this an exhilarating plateau because they anticipate transition to the afterlife joyfully.
SEVENTH MONAD (Death)
+Transcendence -Fatalism
The seventh monad occurs at the actual moment of death. The body dies and the soul makes the transition to the astral plane.
While death may seem like a process that's mostly cut-and-dried, like all things there's even an art to dying. If death, for instance, is perceived fatalistically as an inevitable end that must be resisted and feared, or worse, viewed with absolute terror, the seventh monad exits from the negative pole and needs to be completed in the next lifetime. On the other hand, if death is met with detachment or the individual anticipates the transition with ecstasy -- which is an easier task for old souls who have experienced death many times -- transcendence is achieved, resulting in a progression to the next soul age level.
Also read: Monad (Internal and External)
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