Synthetic Summary for Rule XII

Dear Fellows Students,

We have reached the occasion of our synthetic summary of Rule XII. Can we say about this Rule which relates directly to our ability to fulfill it, expressing it in service?

Rule XII for Applicants: Let the disciple learn the use of the hand in service.

1.                This will require the utmost consciousness concerning how we, quite literally, use our hands in service. Very often we are unconscious of these movements.

2.                Not only must our eyes be on our hands, but on other extensions of our will.

3.                Behind us is a record of all kinds of deeds—literally and figuratively, the doings of the hands. How many of these deeds have truly served.

4.                Before us lie many thousands of deeds and the choices which will lead to their performance. Are we ready to use every movement of the hands, every gesture, as an act of conscious service.

5.                That is the key—to be mindful, to be conscious of every use of the hands and, as well, of the other four organs of action (the feet, the tongue, the reproductive organs and the organs of excretion).

6.                Hands and their extensions (instruments, weapons) can tear apart or they can consolidate and fuse. Shall we use our hands and their extensions in the service of the second aspect of divinity (the cohesive, unifying factor) or to tear and rend.

Let him seek the mark of the messenger in his feet.

7.                We speed here and there in quest. My legs and feet (or the means of travel) move me through space. Why do I move? Why do I wish to move? Where am I going?

8.                If we answer these questions rightly we shall solve the problem of maya—mindless motion based on instincts, unconscious emotional impulses and unconsidered thoughts.

9.                What if our travels were all for the purpose of bringing coherence to the mind, heart and soul of humanity? What if every time we changed position in space we did so to bring all lesser patterns into the Great Pattern of Beauty intended by the Divine Design?

10.           Just as we often use the hands unconsciously, so we walk, run, change our position in space often with the same unconsciousness.

11.           But what if we were true light-carriers, light bringers? What if every move we made increased illumination within the world?

12.           We can examine our gestures, examine our movements through space, and see if this is so.

And let him learn to see with the eye which looks out from between the two.

13.           And do we see with one eye or two? Is our vision still dualistic, filled with the sense of separation of this from that? It need not be. We could learn to see the One which is to see as the soul sees.

14.           We are being asked to practice the perception of unity.

15.           When the heart is pure, when love is flowing, this perception of unity is natural. But if we find ourselves confronted with the constant registration of duality, we must practice the art of fusion. It is possible to overcome the illusion of separateness based on the great “Heresy of Separateness”.

16.           Perhaps if we wish to see with the single eye, we must each find our own way.

17.           When the moments of perceived union comes, ask yourself how you got there? How did you overcome the usual separative, personal perception to fuse all things within your consciousness together as one. The answer will be yours uniquely. Use what you discover to restore the unitive vision when again it escapes you—as, initially, it often will.

Rule XII for Disciples and Initiates: Let the group serve as Aquarius indicates.

18.           It is time for us to become true Aquarians. We talk so much about the Aquarian Age, but have, perhaps, little sense of what it will means for the revolutionary energies of Aquarius to establish themselves on the planet and within humanity immune from the interference of the receding Piscean energies.

19.           We have been told that sometime during the twenty-first century the Piscean energies will fade out completely.

Next century, when the seventh ray has achieved complete manifestation and the Piscean influence is entirely removed, the seventh ray Avatar will appear. (EXH 298)

20.           Meanwhile we are still in a transitional era and we see many examples of what we may judge to be a recrudescence of Piscean energies—a last and final assertion before they are withdrawn entirely.

21.           Aquarius will “indicate” the Divine Plan and (to the Hierarchy, at least) the ways of the Divine Purpose. There is also a great Aquarian Will pouring into Shamballa from powerfully conditioning constellation. Even Shamballa is undergoing the impression of new and reconditioning patterns as a result of the Aquarian inflow.

22.           Are we ready for the universality, or as much of this encompassing Aquarian quality as can be appreciated by human consciousness?

23.           Are we ready to live beyond the ring-pass-not of our customary self and our customary group-self?

24.           There will be many challenges as humanity becomes more completely interrelated than ever before. There will be no privacy in the separative sense. As DK has told us, man will lose the privacy in which to sin.

The growth of telepathic registration and of the psychic powers such as clairvoyance and clairaudience will eventually tend to strip humanity of the privacy in which to sin. (EH 236)

25.            This means the eyes of the group (both actually and subtly) will be upon everyone and, as a result, we will be held to a higher standard. We will become newly responsible and accountable.

26.           Aquarius will indicate that no one can be left out of the “Divine Circulatory Flow”. The analogy to the circulatory system in the human body will be seriously contemplated by all reasonably intelligent human beings. The instinctual ‘right to selfishness’ will be overthrown and the rights of humanity will emerge. This has already happened in principle with the universal Declaration of Human Rights, but is not yet widely accepted.

27.           If we think that the Moon is the hierarchical ruler of Aquarius, life in the Aquarian Age will demand a new approach to lunar expression—a new cleansing and vitalization of the lunar vehicles. The themes of cleansing and vitalization are both profoundly Aquarian as we understand from the Aquarian Labor of Hercules—the Cleaning of the Augean Stables.

28.           Of course it is the reemerging Hierarchy which will truly serve as Aquarius indicates. The members of the New Group of World Servers will serve as Taurus indicates and only the most hierarchically affiliated groups will grasp the true meaning of serving in a manner which is completely Aquarian.

29.          

Aquarius is above all a sign of service—disinterested, impersonal service. As the rain falls equally upon the just and the unjust, so will the impulse to service pour forth indiscriminately over humanity, offering opportunity to all.


Let Mercury speed the group upon the upward Way

30.           This will happen increasingly as the centuries of the Aquarian Age elapse.

31.           As far as we are concerned “the upward way” leads to the spiritual triad and the dimensions of consciousness in which impersonality is factually pervasive.

32.           As the buddhic plane (ruled in part by Mercury) is reached there will be (as we learn in Rule I for Disciples and Initiates) the “warmth of energetic moving out” impulsed by “heat evoked by the group love”.

33.           The Law of Group Progress will assist the group as it aspires to tread this upward way.

34.           We have to get ready for speed, “organising for speed”, as the Tibetan tells us.

You are still a constructive and useful person. I am simply here facing you with one of the crises which come in the life of all disciples, wherein choices have to be made that are determining for a cycle, but for a cycle only. It is pre-eminently a question of speed and of organising for speed. This means eliminating the non-essentials and concentrating on the essentials—the inner essentials, as they concern the soul and its relation to the personality, and the outer ones as they concern you and your environment. (DINA I 539)

35.           As the great and impending Aquarian interrelatedness develops, everything will move faster, and processes which used to take centuries may take only decades or even a few years.

36.           Humanity is reaching a period of integration and at least partial soul infusion. The later processes of human development are always more rapid than the painfully slow earlier processes. We have arrived at the point in human progress in which a great coming together is not only possible but intended.

37.           Whether this integration process (this process of the meeting and mutual adjustment of forces which hitherto were separated from each other) will be constructive or destructive is not yet determined. Antithetical forces are being forced to interact and the result may be an extremely explosive situation, or, mutual adjustment, valuation and appreciation—over time. So much depends upon the wisdom with which the gathering interrelation is managed.

38.           In any case, those at the forefront of human progress can tread a higher way, “the upward way”, and by treading that way can lift all of humanity significantly.

39.           It is the influence of the bridging and relating energy of Mercury which will allow this treading. Mercury leads into the Mysteries and the mysteries of higher energies will be penetrated by those leading humanity forward—spiritually.

40.           A general lightening of human substance may be expected, a vibratory elevation which will lift humanity from its slavery to earthly elements, at the same time increasing the possibility of wisely manage those elements.

 and let Taurus bring illumination and the attainment of the vision.

41.           Taurus is an energy which can bring to humanity so much good or so much ill.

42.           The Tibetan warned us just before the Second World War that unless the Forces of Light prevailed humanity would be re-initiated into the mysteries of earth.

Capricorn is related, as you have been told, to initiation; [Page 543] it is also the sign of the coming world Saviour and these higher aspects of the Capricornian influences can be potently demonstrated if humanity so wills it and will take advantage of the Venusian influence to use the mind as the reflector of soul purpose. If this does not take place, the present situation will turn into something far worse—a situation wherein the mass of men will be "re-initiated into the Earth and forced to turn their backs upon the dawning light." A dark period of civilisation will ensue. Instead of the dark cave of initiation wherein the light of the initiate's own nature illumines the darkness and so demonstrates his command of light, the dark cave of materialism and of physical, animal control will take the place of the "lighted Way." The earthy aspect of Capricorn, the lowest concrete aspect of the mind and an increased control by the Taurian spirit in its worst form will take the place of the divine possibility of entrance into greater light, the manifestation of the soul nature and the recognition of the "light which is found in the eye of the Bull." (EA 542-543)

43.           Taurus can release energies which prove most material and obstructive.

44.           At the same time Taurus is one of the great sources of illumination, promoting the vision of that which the Divine Plan is intended to reveal.

45.           When dealing with the possibilities promised by Taurus, we have to consider our own relation to the factor of desire. Unless we adjust and lighten our desires, we shall not gain access to the higher Light.

46.           Of course, as individuals quite deeply involved in esotericism, our desires are probably more elevated than those of the average human being. And yet, are our desires and values as elevated as they might be?

47.           The Light which reveals reality is always present. For our purposes, it is the “clear, cold light” of the buddhic plane. Taurus (the “Mother of Illumination”) is closely related both to the “clear cold light” and to the “Greatest Light”.

48.           The Path we are treading calls us to enlightenment. There are many things we might desire—some very good things, but other than the Light. How much do we desire the Light when compared for our desire for such other things? There are choices to be made with respect to the intensity and single-mindedness of our pursuit of the Light.

49.           Initiation is sustained revelation and the vision leads to revelation. Is our life in the three worlds motivated by the attainment of a vision of that which may be? Are we seeing as clearly as we should?

A recognition, when it is seen as an aspect or fractional part of a greater whole, is the seed of a major expansion of consciousness. A stabilised expansion of consciousness connotes initiation. This is an occult statement of major importance. (DINA I 740)

50.           Entirely new possibilities lie before us. We must ensure that they lie within the range of possible attainment by purifying and elevating our desires until they become a pure flame of aspiration, and then, by doing all we can to strengthen this aspiration.

Let the Mark of the Saviour as the group toils in Pisces, be seen above the aura of the group.

51.           The great zodiacal energies we have been discussing are the spiritual energies propelling us towards attainment.

52.           They are real. They are conditioning the Earth and humanity at this time.

53.           We must learn to recognize, access, adapt and apply these energies to our present conditions and the conditions of human living which must be changed.

54.           For approximately two thousand years humanity has been conditioned by the energies of the constellation Pisces. The majority of human beings find themselves still expressing Piscean energy patterns. Thus, at this change of precessional Age, a great reconditioning is required. Piscean patterns must give way to Aquarian patterns.

55.           If we as esoterically inclined disciples in the worlds are to serve as agents of this transformational change, we must ensure that the patterns within our nature which still vibrate to the influence of Pisces are changed into Aquarian patterns.

56.           Therefore, we must evaluate our own energy system and the patterns of our interplay with our fellow human beings, assessing the nature of the patterns which condition us—and then, of course, see to the necessary change, which is often accomplished within the context of the spiritual groups in which we find ourselves.

57.           Pisces may be an energy which is temporarily fading from the global scene but, in a large sense, it is one of three powerfully conditioning “zodiacal decanates”—along with Taurus and Scorpio.

58.           The World Saviour, the Christ, although approaching humanity in a manner expressive of the new Aquarian energies, is archetypally conditioned by the saving energy of the constellation Pisces.

59.           We, too, have been conditioned by Piscean energies for two thousand year and must use that which they have taught us as we cooperate in the reconditioning of those human beings who are still more affected by Piscean energies than we may be.

60.           Pisces is the saving energy and Aquarius the serving energy. Together (and as the overlap of their respective constellations indicate, there are periods in which they function together) they provide a formidable saving, serving and redeeming energy flow.

61.           With these energies (and with the energy of Taurus, inspiring and qualifying the New Group of World Servers) we, as disciples, are presently at work.

62.           We see, do we not, how these three zodiacal energies accord with each other, providing exactly those redemptive, uplifting possibilities which are so needed by humanity at this time (and by the planet).

63.           The service we render, the help we give, is not just individual. Rather, it is part of a tremendous cosmic, systemic and planetary process, and this we should keep in mind to provide us with the perspective we need.

64.           It is as if we should develop both an individual and group relation to these zodiacal and planetary energies, realizing their presence, their ambience, and deliberately appropriate them as we proceed with our daily service in the world.

65.           Surely, the time has come for us to live a larger life in cognizance of the esoteric conditioning provided by the great Energy Sources in whose Presence we live and move and have our being.

66.           In our consciousness we need to retain a broad occult context which will help us deepen our understanding of the esoteric reality of our situation.

67.           Why live incognizant of this context? If we wish to live within a smaller and more illusory context our effectiveness in service will be reduced.

68.           So there is much broadening of consciousness demanded of us if we are to consciously live within the greater energy movements and interplay now transforming humanity and our planet.

69.           I would suggest we remind ourselves of what is really happening energetically, and of the tiny part we are playing within the great zodiacal energy flows.

70.           If we do so, our participation in these inevitable and transformative processes will deepen and become spiritually effective.