(Page Updated 5/12/24)
Paraphrased from The Hylozoic World View by Henry T. Laurency
Six kingdoms form the mental framework of our solar system, through which individuals work upon their evolutionary progression of consciousness ascension through different dimensions of existence: Five natural kingdoms and one divine kingdom.
The mineral kingdom is the foundational kingdom,
representing the basic level of consciousness within the physical realm. It
encompasses all inorganic matter, including rocks, minerals, and water, and
signifies the starting point of the evolutionary journey in the Hylozoic
worldview.
The next evolutionary stage is the vegetable kingdom, where consciousness begins to express itself in more complex forms. This kingdom includes all plant life and is characterized by growth, reproduction, and a basic level of environmental responsiveness.
A significant leap in consciousness is observed in the
animal kingdom. This realm includes all animal life, characterized by greater
mobility, sensory perception, and the beginnings of emotional and social
complexity.
The human kingdom marks a crucial stage in the evolutionary process. Here, an individual acquires self-consciousness, capacity for self-reflection, and abstract thought, which are required to develop complex cultures and technologies. The human kingdom represents a significant advance from mere survival and reproduction. Individuals as human beings work upon an integral personality by activating self-consciousness beyond the inherited visible-physical (organism). The focus is on progressing through the consciousness levels at the physical-etheric, emotional, and mental worlds by pursuing knowledge of reality in the causal world.
Beyond the human realm lies the essential kingdom (of unity). This stage represents the goal of humankind: ascension from the human kingdom's physical, emotional, and mental consciousness to a higher, coexistent altruistic consciousness. Beings in this kingdom are characterized by more refined and subtle forms of awareness. They are often described as having learned how to untangle and release themselves from the specific inadequacies of human consciousness on earth (i.e., the crazy, emotional, idiotic world of ours).
The highest kingdom of the solar system is the first or lowest divine kingdom of the cosmos, also known as the manifestation kingdom. It represents a state of consciousness far beyond the current level of human comprehension. Beings in this realm are assumed to have achieved an existential realization that operates from laws that exceed those of humanity's physical, emotional, and mental-causal worlds.
Laurency's Evolutionary Perspective
In Laurency's Hylozoic philosophy, the progression through these kingdoms is not merely a biological or ecological process. Each kingdom represents a stage in the evolution of consciousness, from the most basic physical existence to the highest possible self-consciousness activations in the solar system. It is the solar system's way of initiating consciousness development, the primary purpose, driving force, and meaning of life for all individuals in the cosmos.
Implications for Understanding Our Place in the Universe
The classification of the kingdoms offers a comprehensive framework for understanding humanity's place within our solar system and the cosmos. It encourages a view of human evolution as part of a more extensive, ongoing consciousness developmental process of cosmic proportions, extending far beyond our current physical, emotional, and mental-causal capabilities.
Conclusion
Henry T. Laurency's interpretation of the kingdoms of the solar system provides a compelling analogy of the universe as a living, evolving entity. His Hylozoic philosophy, emphasizing the progression of consciousness through these kingdoms, offers a unique perspective on the nature of existence in the solar system and our role within it. In this view, every level of existence, from the mineral to the divine, is integral to the cosmic way, inviting us to see ourselves as part of a grand, evolutionary process.