Compilation Shamballa Part1 (first 52 entries)
(DON 12) First: The most obvious and powerful force in
the world today is that of the first Ray of Will and Power. It works out
in two ways:
1. As the will of God in world affairs, which is ever the will-to-good.
Steadily — if you study human history intelligently — you will see that
there has been a regular and rhythmic progression toward unity and synthesis in
all departments of human affairs. This
unity in multiplicity is the Eternal Plan — a unity in consciousness, a
multiplicity in form.
2. As the destructive element in world affairs.
This refers to man's use of this force of will which is seldom as yet
the will-to-good in active expression, but something which leads to
self-assertion (of the individual or the nation) and to war with its
accompaniments — separation, selfish diplomacy, hate and armaments, disease and
death.
This is the force which pours into the world from the major world centre,
Shamballa. Little is known of Shamballa. More will be known as you study this text and
note how world affairs are taking shape before your eyes in accordance with my
prevision (as presented to your limited [Page 13] vision) and the obvious
possibilities. These are necessarily the
equally obvious effects of predisposing causes.
Only twice before in the history of mankind has this
Shamballa energy made
its appearance and caused its presence to be felt through the tremendous
changes which were brought about:
1. When the first great human crisis occurred at the
time of the individualisation
of man in ancient Lemuria.
2. At the time of the great struggle in Atlantean days between the
"Lords of Light
and the Lords of Material Expression."
This little known divine energy now streams out from the Holy Centre. It
embodies in itself the energy
which lies behind the world crisis of the moment.
It is the Will of God to produce certain radical and momentous changes
in the consciousness of the race which will completely alter man's attitude to
life and his grasp of the spiritual, esoteric and subjective essentials of
living. It is this force which will
bring about (in conjunction with second ray force) that tremendous crisis —
imminent in the human consciousness — which we call the second crisis, the
initiation of the race into the Mystery of the Ages, into that which has been
hid from the beginning.
The first crisis, as you have been taught, was the crisis of individualisation wherein man became a living soul. The second crisis is the immediate one of racial initiation, made possible (if you will but believe
it) by the many individual initiations which have lately been undergone by
those members of the human family who had vision and a willingness to pay the
price.
This particular and somewhat unusual ray energy is
expressing [Page 14] itself in two ways.
Perhaps it would be more correct to say in two ways that are
recognisable by man, because it should be remembered that these ray forces
express themselves as potently in other kingdoms in nature as they do in the
human. For instance, one phase of the
destructive aspects of first ray force has been the organised and scientific
destruction of forms in the animal kingdom.
This is the destroying force, as manipulated by man. Another phase of the same force (which can be
noted in relation to the unfoldment of consciousness in subtle and powerful
ways) can be seen in the effect which human beings have upon the domestic
animals, hastening their evolution, and stimulating them into forms of advanced
instinctual activity. I mention these
two phases as illustration of the effect of first ray energy in the animal
kingdom, as expressed through human activity.
The ways in which humanity itself is affected by this
ray energy, as it expresses itself in a twofold manner, producing a twofold
result, are as follows:
1. There is, at this time, an emergence of certain powerful and dominating first ray
personalities into the
theatre of world activity. These people are in direct contact with
this Shamballa force
and are sensitive to the impact of the will energy of Deity. According to their type of personality and
their point in evolution will be their reaction to this force and their
consequent usefulness to the Lord of the World as He works out His plans of
world unfoldment. The energy of the will
of God works through them, though stepped down and often misused and
misapplied, by their differing and limited personalities, and interpreted
unsatisfactorily by their undeveloped consciousness. These people are found in every [Page 15]
field of human affairs. They are the
dominant persons, and the dictators in every aspect of human living —
political, social, religious and educational.
Who shall say (until at least a century has gone by) whether their
influence and their efforts have been good or bad. Where they flagrantly infringe the Law of
Love, their influence may be powerful, but it is passing and undesirable, at
least where that phase of their activities is concerned. Where they meet human emergency and need, and
work along lines of basic restoration and the preservation of "units of
synthesis," their influence is good and constructive.
I would here point out that real group love never
demonstrates as hatred of the individual.
It may work out as the arresting of the individual's activities or
enterprises where that is deemed desirable in the interests of the whole and if
what he is doing is estimated
as harmful to the good of the group. But the
arresting will not be destructive. It
will be educational and developing in its results.
The true first ray personality who works in response to this Shamballa
influence will have
the ultimate good of the
group deeply enshrined
in his consciousness and heart; he will think in terms of the whole and not in
terms of the part. That is the thing
which he will endeavour to impress upon the racial consciousness. This may lead at times to ruthlessness and
cruelty if the personality of the individual is not yet controlled by soul
impulse. Such cases can frequently be
seen. An instance of this can be noted
in the history of the Jews as found in the Old Testament. When the first ray was in control and passing
through one of its rare cycles of activity we read that they butchered and
slaughtered all their enemies — men, women and children, [Page 16] putting them
to the sword. The sword is ever the
symbol of the first ray force just as the pen is of the second ray influence.
I wish to remind you that I use the word
"energy" in reference to the spiritual expression of any ray and the
word "force" to denote the use to which men make of spiritual energy
as they seek to employ it and usually, as yet, misapply it. I would point out that Ataturk, the Turkish dictator, within certain personality limitations of
relatively negligible moment, made good use of first ray energy, and only the testimony of future historical records
will indicate fully how wisely, sanely and disinterestedly he used this type of
force for the attainment of first ray objectives. It might be apposite here to point out that
such first ray exponents
of force are often misunderstood and hated. They may and
often do misuse the energy available but they also use it constructively within
the desired limits of the immediate plan.
I would also like to state that the lot of a first ray disciple is hard
and difficult. There are disciples of Shamballa just as there are disciples of the
Hierarchy and this is a fact hitherto not recognised and never as yet referred
to in the current writings on occult subjects.
It is wise and valuable to remember this. They are powerful, these disciples of Shamballa, headstrong and often cruel; they impose
their will and dictate their desires; they make mistakes but they are
nevertheless true
disciples of Shamballa
and are working out the Will
of God as much as the
disciples and Masters of the Hierarchy are working out the Love of God.
This is a hard saying for some of you but your failure
to recognise this truth and to respond to it does not affect the issue. It simply makes your individual lot and difficulties
harder.
I would also remind you that the use of first ray
energy inevitably means destruction in the early stages but fusion and blending
in the later and final results. If you
study the nations of the world today from this angle, you will see this Shamballa energy of will working out potently through the agency of
certain great
outstanding personalities. The Lord of Shamballa in this time of urgency, from love of the life aspect
and from understanding of the Plan as well as from love of humanity, is sending
forth this dynamic energy. It is form destroying and brings death to
those material forms and organised bodies which hinder the free expression of the life of God,
for they negate the new culture and render inactive the seeds of the coming
civilisation.
From this display of energy, unthinking humanity draws
back in fear and likes it not. When full
of personality hate and self-will, human beings seek often to turn this energy
to their own selfish ends. If human
beings (even the best of them) were not so undeveloped and so superficial in
their judgments and their vision, they would be able to penetrate behind what
is going on in the key countries in the world and see the gradual emergence of
new and better conditions, and the passing away of the loved, but slowly
decaying forms. The energy of Shamballa is, however, so new and so strange that it
is hard for human beings to know it for what it is — the demonstration of the Will of God in new and potent livingness.
2. The second way in which this dominant will impulse makes itself felt is through the voice of the masses of the
people throughout the world. This will
express itself through sound, as consciousness or love does through light. The sound of the nations has been heard as a
mass sound for the first time. That
voice today is unmistakably [Page 18] expressive of the values which embody
human betterment; it demands peace and understanding between men and it refuses
— and will steadily refuse — to permit certain drastic things to happen. This "voice of the people," which
is in reality the voice of public opinion is, for the first time and with no
recognition of the fact, being determined by the Will of God.
Second: The
next great energy which is making its potent contribution to the present world
situation is that of the second
Ray of Love Wisdom, Christ's ray. This energy is poured into the world
through the second great planetary centre which we call The Hierarchy.
The energy which is concentrated in this centre and which is manipulated
by the initiates and the Masters is making one of its cyclic impacts upon the
Earth and — as I explained in Volume II of A Treatise on the Seven Rays — is
also making one of its major cyclic Approaches to humanity.
The energy flowing through the Hierarchy at this time — the energy of love — is seeking to blend with that which is flowing out
of Shamballa and is needed in order to make the desired
application of it. The problem of the
Hierarchy at this time is to produce a wise and adequate fusion of the Shamballa and the hierarchial energies and thus
temper destruction and bring to the fore the spirit of construction, setting in
motion the building and rehabilitating forces of the second ray energy. The Shamballa energy prepares the way for the energy of the
Hierarchy. Thus it has been from the
beginning of time, but the cycles of the Hierarchy, though relatively frequent,
have not coincided with
those of Shamballa,
which are rare and
infrequent. As time progresses, the impact of the Shamballa force will be more frequent because men will develop the power to stand and
[Page 19] withstand it. Hitherto it has been too dangerous an energy to apply to mankind, for the
results have worked out destructively, except in the first great Lemurian
crisis. Its work has, therefore, been
confined almost entirely to the Hierarchy Whose Members are equipped to handle
it and to assimilate it correctly and also to use it for the benefit of
humanity. Now the experiment is being attempted of permitting
man to receive it and
its impact, free from
the mediation of the Hierarchy. It may prove a premature and
abortive effort but the issues are not yet determined and the Lord of Shamballa, with His assistants and with the aid of
the watching Members of the Hierarchy, are not discouraged over the initial
results. Humanity is responding
unexpectedly well. There has been much
success along this line but the results do not appear with clarity to intelligent
human beings because they refuse to see anything except the destructive aspect
and the disappearance of the forms to which they have hitherto anchored their
emotions, their desire, and their mental perceptions. They fail, as yet, to see the irrefutable
evidence of constructive activity and of true creative work. The temple of humanity in the New Age is
rising rapidly but its outlines cannot be seen because men are occupied
entirely with their individual or national selfish point of view and with their
personal or national instincts and impulses.
I would here like to call your attention to the fact that the
instinctual life of nations is something which remains to be studied
scientifically and is a phase which leads inevitably to the individualistic
life of nations — a matter of more immediate interest.
The new forms are, however, being built and the Shamballa potencies, plus hierarchical guidance, are working
towards ends which are definitely planned and which are working out
favourably. The potency of love-wisdom,
transmitted [Page 20] by the Hierarchy, is playing upon modern humanity in a
more intimate and close manner than ever before. The Directors of the Hierarchy are seeking to
evoke an intelligent response from men and an indication that they are
conscious of what is happening. Most of the response to the Shamballa
activity is characterised by fear and terror, by sensitivity and distressingly developed reactions
to the forces of hate and separation.
Only a few, here and there, really grasp the vision of the future and
realise what is going on, seeing truly the beauty of the emerging plan. It is with these few that the Members of the
Hierarchy can work because they (even when lacking understanding) bear no
ill-will or hatred to others. Love is a
great unifier and interpreter.
This energy of love
is primarily concentrated (for purposes of hierarchical activity) in the New Group of World Servers.
This group has been chosen by the Hierarchy as its main channel of
expression. This group, composed as it
is of all world disciples and all working initiates, finds its representatives
in every group of idealists and servers and in every body of people who express
human thought, particularly in the realm of human betterment and uplift. Through them, the potency of love-wisdom can
express itself. These people are
frequently misunderstood, for the love which they express differs widely from
the sentimental, affectionate personal interest of the average worker. They are occupied mainly with the interests
and the good of the whole group with which they may be associated; they are not
primarily concerned with the petty interests of the individual — occupied with
his little problems and concerns. This
brings such a server under the criticism of the individual and with this
criticism they must learn to live and to it they must pay no attention. True group love is of more importance [Page
21] than personal relationships, though those are met as need (note, I say,
need) arises. Disciples learn to grasp
the need of group love and to amend their ways in conformity with group good,
but it is not easy for the self-interested individual to grasp the
difference. Through the medium of those
disciples who have learned the distinction between the petty concerns of the
individual plus his interest in himself and the necessities and urgencies of
group work and love, the Hierarchy can work and so bring about the needed world
changes, which are primarily changes in consciousness. I have dealt somewhat in detail with these
matters; the gist of them has, however, been embodied in the pamphlets sent out
in the past few years.
Third: the
major energy upon which we shall touch here is that of intelligent activity —
the potency of the third ray. This finds
its expression through the third major centre on the planet; this centre, we
call Humanity. The evocation of a loving intelligent
response to the Shamballa impulse, stepped down by the Hierarchy, is that to which this
world centre should respond. This is
rapidly and, as I have told you, satisfactorily, happening. A definite world effect is being produced and
the New Group of World Servers has given much aid in this. They have interpreted, explained and assisted
the processes of evoking the latent love in human beings which, in its initial
and unformed stages, exists in the form of an inchoate goodwill.
I call this to your attention as the underlying,
motivating idea behind all the work which you are called upon to do. I suggest, therefore that you endeavour to
see the three major ideologies with which you have perforce to deal in terms of
the three efforts which are emanating from the three major planetary centres at this time: Shamballa, The Hierarchy and Humanity. You
will thus gain a more synthetic [Page 22] viewpoint, and a deeper understanding
of the slowly emerging world picture.
Is it not possible that the ideologies which we have
been discussing are the response — distorted and yet a definite and determined,
sensitive reaction — to the energies playing upon humanity from the two higher
major centres? I would like to suggest
that the ideology which is embodied in the vision of the totalitarian states is
an erroneous but clear-cut response to the Shamballa influence of will; that the ideology behind the democratic
ideal constitutes a similar response to the universality which the love of the
Hierarchy prompts it to express, and that communism is of human origin,
embodying that ideology which humanity has formulated in its own right. Thus the three aspects of God's nature are
beginning to take form as three major ideas and what we see upon the planet at
this time are the distorted human reactions to spiritual impulses, emanating
from three different centres, but all equally divine in their essential
natures, and in their essences. Ponder
on this.
I have brought this to your attention and discussed
these basic modern schools of thought because the potency of their idealism is
affecting every person, capable of thought, upon the planet. Not one of you is immune from their effects;
not one of you but is inclined to range yourself upon one side or another,
fighting furiously and under the cloak of so-called "adherence to
principle" for what appeals to you.
Most of you are, nevertheless, far more affected by the methods employed
to materialise the ideas and by the quality of their exponents than you are by
the ideas themselves. These you could
hardly define if asked to do so. You are
affected by their impact upon your emotional bodies (not your minds) after these
divine impulses have filtered
through from the Shamballa and the hierarchical centres [Page 23] into and through the human
centre and have then been seized upon and applied to specific national, racial
and political conditions. You are hardly
at all affected by the pure idealism which gave them birth and which lies
behind them as the motivating (though unrecognised) impulse. You cannot grasp or view these great mental
trends as does the Hierarchy. Hence much
of your confusion and your difficulty.
If we consider these three great planetary centres and
their relationships in tabular form we can get the general idea more clearly in
mind:
I. Shamballa Will or
Power Planetary head centre,
The
Life
Aspect.
Ruler:- Sanat Kumara, the Lord of the World.
The
Ancient of Days.
Melchizedek.
II. The
Hierarchy Love-Wisdom Planetary heart centre.
The
new
Group
Unity.
Ruler:- The Christ.
The
World Saviour.
III. Humanity Active Intelligence Planetary throat centre.
The
city, standing foursquare Self-Consciousness.
Creativity.
Ruler:- Lucifer.
Son
of the Morning.
The
Prodigal Son.
These three centres are closely interrelated and must be thought of in their entirety
as expressions of divine livingness, as embodying three great stages in the
unfoldment of God's plan and as constituting the three major centres in the body of the "One in
Whom we live and move and have our being." Students who
have studied as you have can relate if they so choose, these three centres to the
three solar systems, referred to in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire —
The beings at Shamballa know what the
immediate Purpose is
Little is known of Shamballa except by Members of the Hierarchy to Whom
that centre is the goal in the same way that the Hierarchy is, at this time,
the goal for humanity. Shamballa is the directing centre for the
Hierarchy. Little is really known of the will of God
except by Those Whose function it is to interpret and express that will through
love, intelligently applied. They know what the immediate purpose is and Their major occupation is the working out of that will
into manifestation.
We have, therefore, three great centres and from them
emanate three types of energy which are taking form as the three governing ideologies
in the consciousness of the race. Old
ideologies still persist; subsidiary schools of thought are everywhere to be
found; distorted interpretations and travesties of reality abound on every
hand; on all sides the dead level of the people (the ignorant masses) is played
upon by these energies and men become victims of the exponents of the
ideologies — past, present and future.
[Page 25]
Forget not that behind all of them stands He Whom we call the Lord of the World.
When all these temporary experiments have been tried and when humanity
has been led on in its consciousness from one stage of understanding to another
and of recognised interrelation, the kingdom of God will be established upon
Earth and the Ruler of the Earth will then work through the Hierarchy to
produce that synthetic living creative response from nature (of which humanity
is a part) which will enable each kingdom fully to reveal the glory of
God. Shamballa will work through the Hierarchy and the Hierarchy, in its turn, will reach
the various kingdoms in nature through the medium of Humanity, which will then
enter into its pre-ordained and destined function. It is for this that all is taking place. The time of fruition lies relatively far
ahead but in the meantime humanity is experimenting or is the subject of
experiment; it is exploiting or being exploited; it is learning the lessons of
enforced obedience or the dangers of selfish license; it is victimised by
powerful personalities in every land and this without exception, or it is being
guided in right directions (and this again without exception) by the emissaries and disciples of either
Shamballa or the
Hierarchy. All vaunted freedom or
vaunted control is but the temporary reaction of a humanity which is swept by
ideas, controlled by ideals, impulsed by selfishness, impregnated by hates and
yet all the time is struggling to express the higher and better qualities and
to free itself from the thralldom of ancient evil, the slavery of ancient codes
and the curse of ancient habits of thought and living. It is what is happening behind the scenes to
mankind as a whole which is of moment; it is the unfoldment of the human
consciousness which counts with the Hierarchy, and that unfolds in response to
the presented conditions in any country or countries. Let me assure [Page 26] you that under the
pressure of modern life, under the strain of the imposed present conditions and
civilisation, plus the mental concern, the terror of marching armies, the thunder
of the many voices and the stress of the worldwide economic stringency, the
human consciousness is rapidly awakening from its long sleep. That great and fundamental reality which you
call the "human state of mind" is just beginning to focus itself upon
the things which matter and to express itself in a living fashion. That is the factor of moment and not the
happenings in any particular country.
(DON 39) These three are: Hercules, the perfect disciple but not yet the perfected Son of God; the
Buddha, the perfect initiate, having reached illumination but not yet having
developed to perfection all the attributes of divinity; the Christ, the
absolutely perfect expression of divinity for this cycle and, therefore, the
Teacher alike of angels and of men. That
ahead of the race may lie a still higher perfection than that attained by any
of these Exponents of divinity is inexpressibly true, for we know not yet what
divinity really means; in these three, however, we have three instances of a
perfection which lies far ahead for the majority of the sons of men.
In all of Them, the sixth and the second rays were
controlling factors, with the first ray reaching full expression. In Them,
idealism, love-wisdom and indomitable will stood forth in all their divine
power. It might be of interest to you to
know just what rays controlled these Sons of God:
Hercules, the Sun-God, had a first ray soul, a second
ray personality and a sixth ray astral body. These
potencies and energies sufficed to carry Him through all the trials and the
labours of the disciple.
The Buddha had a second ray soul, a first ray
personality and a sixth ray mind — a very rare phenomenon.
The Christ had a second ray soul, a sixth ray
personality (which accounted for His close relationship with the Master Jesus),
plus a first ray mind. [Page 39] These three all embodied the essences of the
spiritual life and all of Them were enabled to set Their seal upon history and
upon the hearts of men, largely through the potency of Their sixth ray
expression. All of Them embodied also
the new spiritual impulse which Their day and age required and all of Them for
centuries — by the strength of Their living love and power — brought the vision
and the aspiration of humanity back to those spiritual essentials whereby men
must live. All of Them were part of the
directing group of Lives Who are working out the plans of God, founded upon the
love of God. The Buddha and the Christ
are still closely connected with, and working in cooperation with, the
Hierarchy. Hercules has gone over into the Shamballa
centre, but still
works in a basic association with the Buddha Who is one of the Forces linking Shamballa and the Hierarchy.
(DON 46) Second:
The situation is still further complicated by [Page 46] the fact that
both these rays influence and express themselves (as is ever the case) in a
dual manner and have always a lower and a higher form of manifestation, which
is a correspondence in this connection to the personality, and the egoic
expression of every human being. In the
case of the out-going ray, the higher form (which is ever the first to manifest
in germ) is rapidly disappearing or is being absorbed into the newer idealism,
thus contributing all that is best to the new presentation of truth so that the
emerging culture will be properly rooted in the old. The lower forms are, however, tenacious and
dominant and because of this they definitely constitute today the major problem
of the Hierarchy, so much so that they require the calling in of the first ray (or the
Shamballa force) in order to effect their destruction.
Bear this in mind as you study the world situation. The lower forms of the seventh ray expression
are still in an embryonic stage. This
you can see clearly if you consider the one to which I choose to refer — the
spiritualistic movement — which began to take shape only during the last
century and has achieved its curiously phenomenal growth only because it
started upon the American continent. The
(DON 97) The force which is centred in
(DON 98) The force pouring through
The Shamballa energy
(DON 99) I would like here to interpolate some
remarks. It is of deep moment to realise
that
(DON 102) Therefore, through the five major centres in
the planet today, spiritual energy is streaming forth, and according to the
vehicle of expression which receives its impact so will be the reaction and
activity, and so will be the type of consciousness interpreting and using
it. The ancient occult truism remains
accurate: "Consciousness is
dependent upon its vehicle for expression and both are dependent upon life and
energy for existence." This remains
an immutable law.
The five cities
which are the exoteric expression of the esoteric centre of force and through
which the Hierarchy and
Shamballa are seeking to work are the correspondence in the planetary body to the four centres up
the spine and the ajna centre in the body of humanity and of individual
man. In all three cases, they are
"living vital focal points of dynamic force" to a greater or less
extent. Some predominantly express soul
energy and some personality force; some are influenced by Shamballa and some by the Hierarchy. The head centre of the Occident is beginning
to react to second ray energy and the ajna centre to fourth ray energy and in
this lies the hope of the race of men.
At this time in the 5th root
race Shamballa and Hierarchy seek to work through five major cities on the
planet-There are also three great fusing energies or vital centres on the
planet
(DON 104) Similarly, in connection with the British
Empire, a study will be made of
a.
b. The
c. The
In the hands of these nations lies the destiny of the
planet. These are the three major world blocs, from the
consciousness angle and from the angle of world synthesis.
Other and lesser nations will participate in the process with full
independence and cooperation, voluntarily and through the perfecting of their
national life in the interests of the whole of humanity and through the desire
to express and preserve their soul integrity and their purified national
purpose (which purification is now going on).
The keynote, however, of human living will be struck by Russia, Great
Britain and the United States — not because of their power, their historical
past and their material resources or [Page 105] territorial extent, but because
they are in a position to fuse and blend the many types, because they are
far-visioned in their world purpose, because they are not basically selfish in
their intent, and because the government of the peoples reaches down into the
depths of each nation and is fundamentally for the people. Their basic Constitution, Magna Charta and
Bill of Rights are human. Other nations
will be gradually swept into line with these fundamental spiritual
requirements, or — if they are already based on these human principles and not
on the rule of a powerful minority, exploiting an unhappy majority — they will
cooperate freely with these greater nations in a federation of purposes and of
interests until such time as all the nations of the world see the vision clear,
forego their selfish aims and agree in the unity of the work to be done for the
whole. Humanity will then emerge into
the light of freedom with a revealed beauty and a spiritual purpose, hitherto
unknown.
(DON 120) We are, therefore, at a most interesting and
crucial period in racial and planetary history — a period unlike any which has
preceded it and for the reason that the evolutionary process has been
definitely successful in spite of all failures, mistakes, and delays; of these
latter there have been many owing to the refusal (curious and difficult to
understand in your eyes) of the Energies, concentrated at Shamballa, to impose the force of will on matter and on form
until such time as this can be done with the cooperation of the human
family. This has never been possible
hitherto, owing to the unpreparedness of man for the task [Page 120] and his ignorance
as to the Plan. The Lord of Shamballa and His Helpers have had to wait until at
least the dim outlines of the Plan had penetrated through into the
consciousness of the race; this is beginning to happen with increasing
frequency, and from day to day more and more intelligent men and women are
coming (or are being brought) into touch with the emerging ideas of the
Hierarchy. We can look, therefore, for
the steady appearance, gradually and cautiously applied, of the will energy of the highest centre
(Shamballa) which is
to be found upon our
planet. This centre corresponds to the monadic centre which makes its power felt in the
consciousness of the disciple who is ready for the third initiation.
Once the second initiation has been taken, the watching Hierarchy can
begin to note the constant reorientation of the soul towards the monad, and the
attractive power of that highest aspect over the initiate. Today, so many members of the human family —
in incarnation or out of incarnation — have taken the first two initiations that the
attention of Shamballa
is being increasingly turned to humanity, via the Hierarchy, whilst
simultaneously the thoughts of men are being turned to the Plan, to the use of
the will in direction and guidance, and to the nature of dynamic force. The quality, for instance, of the explosive and dynamic nature of war in this
century is indicative
of this, for the will energy in one of its aspects is an expression of death
and destruction; the first ray is the ray of the destroyer. What can, therefore, be seen occurring is the
effect of the Shamballa
force upon the forms in nature, due to the misuse of the incoming energy by man. War in the past, speaking generally and
esoterically, has been based consistently upon the attractive power of
possessions and this has led to the aggressive and grasping character of the
motives which have led to war. Gradually
[Page 121] there has been a change coming about and war has lately been founded
upon somewhat higher motives and the acquisition of more land and territorial
possessions has not been the true and the main motive. War has been prompted by economic necessity,
or it has been in the nature of the imposition of the will of some nation or
group of nations and their desire to impose some ideology or other upon some
nation or to rid itself of a worn out system of thought, of government, of
religious dogma which is holding back racial development. This is being now consciously done and is an expression of the Shamballa or will force and is not so definitely the desire force
of the past.
(DON 137) The intensification of the life of the human
centre will proceed apace and this is the reason why so many people (as I have
earlier hinted) will take the first initiation.
Students are apt to forget that the first initiation can be described,
in reality as:
a. The grounding or externalisation of the Christ
principle in humanity as a whole and upon the physical plane.
b. The flowering of the intelligence so that the
initiate can work powerfully upon the mental plane and humanity itself be lifted
up and aided throughout every part thereby.
c. The coming into activity of the throat centre and
(because the third ray is closely connected with the first ray) the first faint
orientation of spiritual
man towards Shamballa
can take place, becoming more and more intensified and pronounced at the time
of the third initiation. I would like
here to point out the numerical correspondences:
(DON 140) In this world cycle it might be said that
the emphasis of all spiritual power is placed in the Hierarchy which is, at
present, the divine intermediary, interpreting the will of God, which is the purpose of Shamballa. It
transmits or steps down the divine energy so that safe application to Humanity
becomes possible. It will be apparent,
therefore, why in the second decanate of Aquarius the Hierarchy can, as the representative of Shamballa and with the aid of Mercury, bring into
physical manifestation the coming Avatar.
This becomes possible when the work of the first decanate is
accomplished and when Shamballa
has released and definitely re-oriented the energies of the third great centre,
that of Humanity. This release and readjustment leads to
creative expression and renewed spiritual life.
Planetary alignment can take place and this is a planned objective for
which the Hierarchy is preparing and for which the Avatar Himself is preparing at Shamballa.
The third initiation is connected with Shamballa as a planetary centre and to the activity of the first ray. It should be borne in mind that this is the
first initiation in which personality and soul are united and fused so that the
two aspects form one unit. When this
initiation has taken place, it happens that for the first time some of its
broader group implications become a reality and henceforth constitute the
motivating impulse of the initiate's life.
Aspiration ends and the intensest conviction takes its place. It is interesting also to note that Venus now
comes into control in the third decanate of the Aquarian Age. Venus is esoterically recognised as that
mysterious force which is a blend of love and knowledge, of intelligence and
synthesis, and of understanding and brotherhood. Within the Hierarchy [Page 141] itself, the two great Messengers who have
embodied the dual Venusian energy were the Buddha and the Christ. The Messenger Who will later come and express the
Shamballa urge to synthesis, the hierarchial aspiration towards love and the desire of humanity
for intelligent activity with combined power will gather all into Himself. All these qualities will focus in Him, plus another quality or divine principle of which the race of men as yet knows
nothing and for which there is, as yet, no name. He will be a great and potent Avatar and is
not along the line of our humanity at all.
The numerical correspondences might be noted as
follows, remembering that the third initiation is, in reality, the first
initiation of the soul, after complete identification with the personality
within the life and consciousness of the Monad, the One and the First.
1. The first planetary centre — Shamballa.
2. The activity of the first ray — will or power.
3. The third initiation which is the first soul
initiation, relating the base of the spine to the head centre, and the soul to
the Monad.
4. The first major centre — the head.
5. The first truly divine race — the final race.
6. The third plane, which is in reality the first
plane of soul consciousness, the reflection of the highest plane, the Logoic.
7. The first periodical vehicle — the monadic.
8. The first divine aspect — will or power.
9. The first or highest type of Mediator — the coming Avatar.
10. The sustaining Life, the spiritual sun — the
central spiritual sun.
(DON 142) We will now consider the trend of the times
and seasons as far as the rays are concerned:
RAY I — This ray is still out of physical manifestation but is beginning to have a definite effect
upon the mental plane; there it influences the minds of disciples everywhere
and lays the stage for the appearance of a certain group of disciples from Shamballa.
Two thousand years from today, the influence of this ray will be felt
powerfully on the physical plane. One
hundred years hence its potency will be noted upon the astral plane.
(DON 144) RAY VII — This ray is coming into effective
expression now; there is little need for me to add here anything further to the
mass of information which I have given you in this treatise and in my other
books.
One small point of interest but one of no especial
moment to you is that the Lords of the Rays, through Their planetary
Representatives, constitute a body of directing Forces in collaboration with
the Lord of the World at
Shamballa. Their capacity is advisory and directive but
not authoritative. This may be regarded
by some of you as the most interesting piece of information in this book. If this is your attitude, then it only
indicates your unpreparedness for true esoteric teaching. Students need a greater sense of the real governing
values and a sense of spiritual proportion.
Planetary facts and solar facts (under which heading the above item of
information might well be placed) can stimulate your imagination and widen your
horizon; for aspirants and disciples, that is the major value. All information and happenings which are
connected with Shamballa are always exciting to the neophyte who is
apt to forget that he must make his contact with the more familiar Hierarchy
before true and related perception is his.
(DINAI 24) It will be apparent to you, therefore, that
the purpose of these groups is to unfold in time the three major powers of all
illumined minds:
[Page 24]
First: the power to work in and with all thought
substance. The Hierarchy of Illumined Minds is a group Whose telepathic powers
enable Them to be sensitive to the mind currents and to register the thoughts
of Those Who personify the Mind of God, the Universal Mind, and to register the
thoughtforms of Those Who are as far beyond the Hierarchy of Masters as They,
in Their turn, are beyond the disciples of the world.
Those Lives Who carry out the ideas of the Divine
Mind, exist in Their graded orders, and with the detail of Their groupings we
are not concerned, except with the fact that the planetary Brotherhood is in
telepathic rapport with Those Who are responsible for the planetary conditions
in the solar system, with
the Great Council, therefore, at Shamballa. They are also in immediate telepathic rapport with
each other. The slowly manifesting powers of the radio and the sensitive
workings of the perfecting radio mechanisms and of television are but the
response in physical matter of the perfected telepathic powers and television
of the minds of the Masters of the Wisdom. Forget not, that such powers are
inherent in all men.
(DINAI 172) The fusion must, therefore, be made
between the mind and the brain, each of which expresses one of the two major
energies. That fusion already partially exists. When it is consummated, the
mental goal of harmony through conflict will be superseded by the inflow of
love, working with power through the brain and (incidentally) your general
physical health will speedily improve. How shall this be brought about, my
brother? The first stage is one of real difficulty, particularly to first ray
people. It comes through the power of visualisation. That is why ritual is of
value to such as you and Masonry—being
on the first ray and emanating, consequently, from Shamballa—aids the process of visualisation. It
gives colour and performance [Page 172] of a tangible kind to inner, subjective
activity. Visualisation is a powerful agent in the evocation of the creative
imagination. Let me here give you a hint. If you use this idea in the planning
of the work which you seek to do for the Hierarchy and for which we are seeking
to hold you responsible, and if you carry into all that work the ideal of
ritual, of rhythm and of energy distribution, you will evoke a synthetic
pattern, a unified procedure and a harmonious working out of the Plan.
Therefore, I would ask you to give ten minutes each
day to the pictorial visualisation of your entire work and programme. See each
phase of it as a lotus of living beauty, connected with all the other phases by
lines of fiery energy, thus bringing all parts of it into one whole. All the
different phases will form a great unity of light and love, expressing itself
through the will-to-good. Be not side-tracked when doing this. Use the building
energy of your second ray personality and the seventh ray energy of your brain,
because through your brain, your first ray soul energy is expressing itself. You do not here consciously
work as a soul. You work with as much soul energy as can express itself at any
given time through your brain. If you worked with pure soul energy and from
soul levels, you would
bring in too much of the Shamballa force for the delicate structure with which you are
dealing.
(DINAI 215) March 1935
MY BROTHER AND MY FRIEND:
(For such you have been for many lives, e'en if your
present physical brain registers not the fact.) The past year has been a hard
one for you, as it has necessarily been for all who are sensitive and whose
physical bodies are ill-equipped to stand the modern pressure or to carry the
inner, spiritual force available. It has been particularly hard for you also to
establish the inner link with your fellow disciples and this you have realised
and it has troubled you. The difficulty is due to the fact that your
polarisation is essentially that of the man devoted to the Hierarchy and whose link is established with that
Hierarchy. Your
orientation—esoterically speaking—is towards Shamballa. I use that phrase because it connotes
something definitely intelligible to you. I seek not to be more explicit, for
you will comprehend the significance of what I say. You serve and love your
fellowmen because we, the teachers on the inner side also serve and love them;
your approach to humanity and to your co-disciples is via Those Whom you serve
upon "the
The Christ’s Master is the Lord of
Shamballa
(DINAI 439) May 1937
MY BROTHER AND MY FRIEND:
Our relation has been close for many lives and is
particularly close today. Unknown perhaps to you, I have guarded and shielded
you from many unhappy world impacts, for you are sensitive in nature and frail
in body and are already handling as much of the world's misery and suspense as
you can and perhaps more than is good for you—physically and emotionally. You
are like so many disciples upon the second ray who are in training for future
world salvaging. Like our Great Master, the Christ, you must and do shoulder
your share of the world [page 439] suffering, thereby forming one of the great
group of His companions who are pledged to the "fellowship of His
sufferings and His patience," as He is pledged to His great Master, the Lord of
Shamballa. He, as you
know, will not leave His post until the "last weary pilgrim has found his
way home." You see, therefore, do you not, the true significance of the
three keywords which I gave you when you entered this group —endless patience,
with yourself, with others and with erring humanity; dynamic thought, giving
you power and usefulness upon the mental plane and teaching you to work there
as does the Christ, as does K.H. and all who are serving in connection with the
Hierarchy; wisdom, enabling you to reap the fruitage of many lives, spent in
acquiring spiritual knowledge.
(DINAI 685) The group of a Master is a focus of power, built up by the Master in three
ways:
1. By the potency of His Own thought life, evoked by
His response to the united hierarchical purpose and a growing ability to respond to Shamballa.
2. By His ability to integrate the centre of power
(His group for which He has made Himself responsible) into the immediate
activity of the Hierarchy.
3. By His wisdom in His choice of collaborators. His
group of disciples will be effective in world service and useful to His
Superiors just in so far as He employs judgment in gathering together the men
and women whom He is preparing for initiation.
I use the word "initiation" here because I
want all disciples who read my words to realise that initiation is not
something which they undergo as a result of any training which they may receive
from a Master or because they have reached a certain [page 685] stage of
advanced evolution. It is a process of continuing integration into centres of
force, i.e., into a Master's group, into the Hierarchy as a whole and
consciously, and—as
disciples attain adeptship—into Shamballa. You can see, therefore, that a Master can be greatly
hindered or aided in His work for humanity by His choice of disciples. They
should ponder on this fact because in so doing the process of decentralisation
will proceed more rapidly and their love and service will consequently increase
with a paralleling certainty and surety.
(DINAI 693) What is that work? To provide a working
intelligent and consecrated group of servers through whom hierarchical plans
can be carried forward and to demonstrate, upon the physical plane, a focal
point of spiritual energy. This can then be employed by the Hierarchy to help
humanity everywhere, particularly in this time of crisis. The plans of the
Hierarchy, as they
embody the will of Shamballa, can be and are carried out; the process, however, is either a
conscious one or an unconscious mass response to impression. Among the
disciples of the world, the response and subsequent activity is a conscious one
and leads to intelligent undertakings.
(DINAI 695) The third point which I would like to
bring out is that disciples when they form part of an Ashram are subjecting themselves
to a greatly increased pressure and are in a position to participate in much
wider distribution of energy than heretofore. Today, as the Coming One nears
the earth and draws closer to humanity, and as the inflow of spiritual energy from Shamballa into the hierarchical Centre becomes
greater, there is a great keying up of human receptivity and a greatly
augmented stimulation is taking place with varying effects. This involves an
intensified aspiration and spiritual determination. It also signifies an
opportunity of an unprecedented nature.
You have been told that when the Buddha came and worked on earth, many aspirants entered the ranks
of accepted disciples and many disciples took one or other of the major
initiations. There was, therefore, a definite shift of the personnel of the
Hierarchy and a great
expansion towards Shamballa and, at the same time, towards humanity. When the Christ made His
appearance on earth, there was a similar and still greater climaxing effort
which culminated in the inclusion of disciples in the Masters' inner Ashrams.
Hitherto, these Ashrams had been kept for those who had taken the first
initiation. Before the time of Christ only those who had taken the first
initiation and were initiate formed the Ashram. Owing, however, to the growing
sensitivity of humanity, it was then decided that disciples could be admitted
into the Ashrams and so be mentally and astrally en rapport with the inner
group and begin to form part of the Master's sphere of directed influence.
(DINAI 710) It will not be possible for me to indicate
the work in detail. I intend only to show you as far as is possible how a
Master prepares the probationer to step from off the Probationary Path on to
the Path of Discipleship. At this point, I would like to point out that I shall
be dealing with a period covering the stages of discipleship from the first
stage to that of adept. At the fourth stage, the disciple emerges out of his
Master's group and becomes what is esoterically called "a fixed aspect of
the Hierarchy." This is a phrase which is necessarily quite meaningless to
you. He comes then under
the influence of Shamballa and the mode of preparing people for association with that first major
centre is very different to that of preparing them for participation in the
work of the centre which we call the Hierarchy. The one involves the
development of love and of group consciousness; the other involves the
unfoldment of the will and the attainment of the stage to which Patanjali gives
the name of "isolated unity." This is a phrase which is quite
meaningless to any one below the degree of the third initiation. In this
discussion, I shall not be dealing with preparation for the various initiations
and their specific differences. I shall be dealing with the growth of what is
called "ashramic intimacy," with the approach of the disciple to the
world of souls and to the unfoldment of his consciousness in relation to the
Hierarchy. I shall be concerned with his growth in sensitivity and his
subsequent and consequent growth in creativity—not the creativity of form as
much as the creativity of vibration, its impact upon the world of men and the
consequent later appearance of responsive organisms, in contra-distinction to
created forms. I would ask you to reflect upon this thought.
(DINAI 719) On the buddhic plane, the plane of the
divine intuition, these lower three expressions and their higher prototypes are
harmonised and the expansive work of the three initiations (second, third and
fourth) produces an absorption, a fusion and a blending process between the
disciple and the soul (and eventually between humanity and the Hierarchy) which
prepares for a major contact between man and the Monad. When this takes place,
the soul, creator of reflection and shadow, is discarded because that point of
consciousness has served its purpose. The shattering of the causal body takes
place and nought is then left but fully conscious form and spirit. Until,
however, man has taken the higher initiations, he cannot comprehend the
significance of the above comments.
In connection with this, I would remind you that
though I am seeking to train many at this time for further expansions of
consciousness, I am writing primarily for the future and for those disciples
who, in years to come, will read my words and find their way into the Ashrams
of the Masters. The Hierarchy builds for the future; it is not occupied with
the present. All that it does is done with the intent to open the way into a
wider and more expansive world. Humanity is preoccupied with the things of the
present; the Hierarchy is working and laying plans for the future; Shamballa is engrossed with the Eternal Now and
with the dynamic life which has created the past, which controls the present
(the centre of illusion) and [page 719] with the future. You may perhaps gain
some idea or picture of the conditioning life of Shamballa if you will study the present era of human living. In
it, people with the Lemurian consciousness, focussed on the past and concerned
with the physical plane, are present; people with the Atlantean consciousness,
emotional in content and focussed on the present, are everywhere to be found;
and people who are definitely Aryan in their state of awareness, mentally
focussed and occupied with the future, are likewise found. The three constitute
one race of men and embody the whole of mankind.
(DINAI 720) As far as these aspirants are concerned,
the one thing which the Masters are endeavouring to bring about is the
stimulation of the flame of the spirit in them so that they may set the world
on fire. The fires of judgment and of substance, of karma and its vehicle,
matter, are raging in the world at this time. Fire must be countered by fire,
as well you know, and to stop the raging inferno of fire which is today devastating
the world, the fire of spirit must be opposed, distributed and effectively used
by the disciples of the Masters. The task of Shamballa, in relation to the Hierarchy, is similar in nature but expresses itself
upon a higher level. They dispense the ultimate fire of the Will. The fire
which must, in the final analysis, be used by the disciples in the world is the
fire of the will-to-love.
(DINAI 730) Each Master has reached the point where
the vision is clear to Him; this is part of the reward accorded to the
initiate. He identifies Himself with it, colouring it necessarily, richly and
helpfully with His ray "apprehension," and interpreting it in terms
of His contribution to the whole. Therein lies the secret of the inevitable and
the unhinderable (is there such a word, brother of mine?) success of the vision
as it is materialised through the combined efforts of the Hierarchy,
conditioned in time and space by some Master or group of Masters, working on
some one ray or rays. In the early days of the present cycle of hierarchical
effort (between 1925 and 1936), the ray at work upon humanity was the first ray. The activity of this ray culminated in the declaration of war by
1. The first Ray of Will or Power, expending its
force.
2. The second Ray of Love-wisdom, reaching its
meridian and holding the centre of the stage until 1957.
3. The seventh Ray of Ceremonial Order, coming into
activity in combination with the other two—the will-to-love and the
will-to-order—producing beauty out of the present chaos.
The disciples, therefore, of the Master Morya, of the
Master Koot Hoomi and of the Master Rakoczi are reaching out towards a period
of the intensest activity. The destiny of the world lies in the hands of Their
three groups of initiated disciples; with Them, the accepted disciples of the
three groups are asked to cooperate and this offers opportunity to many
everywhere. As they seek to vision the Plan, to cooperate with the three
Masters and Their initiate groups, their opportunity will emerge. This triangle
of energy is held responsible by the great Leaders in Shamballa for the regularising of
world affairs. More
than this it is not necessary for humanity to know.
Forget not, an Ashram is a vortex of force and a
centre of energy—a centre through which both force and energy flow in [page
731] order that the vision may be materialised. This force and energy is, in
the last analysis, directed by a Master, by a group of three senior initiates
and by another group of lesser initiates, thus representing (in each Ashram) a
miniature of the planetary government. These step down the inflowing energy so
that accepted disciples can handle it safely and act as distributing agents.
The energy with which the Masters
work comes from Shamballa;
the forces with which They work are provided from within the Hierarchy itself,
and just in so far as the accepted disciples react to the combined forces will
it be possible for them to be used in service. In other words: the initiated
disciples in a Master's group focus the inflowing energies; the accepted
disciples, through the medium of their souls, focus the force which the Master
directs outward into the world of men in conformity with the Plan of the
Hierarchy, working in accordance with the revelation, coming from Shamballa.
(DINAI 732) The Master of an Ashram and the senior
initiates in His group are responsible for the relation between Shamballa and the Hierarchy. Accepted disciples and the lesser initiates
are responsible for the relation between the Hierarchy and Humanity. Thus the
great chain of the Hierarchy of Being is preserved inviolate.
An example of what Shamballa energy is not,
using the will-to-love as an example
(DINAI 736) The will-to-love involves the recognition of limitation, of desire, of
the forcing of an issue and of the intense aspiration really to love. It does not indicate the inflow of
Shamballa energy
through the medium of the soul whose intrinsic nature is spontaneous love.
Where there is a determination to be [page 736] loving, certain
attitudes—either natural and belonging to a developed personality or forced
through attention to soul behest—emerge. The disciple knows that he lacks love,
because he is constantly finding himself isolated from and not identified with
others; he is irritated by others: he is critical of his brothers, either
feeling superior to them or looking at them and saying: "Here they are
wrong and I am right; here they do not understand and I do; I know them but
they don't know me; I must be patient with them," etc., etc. Throughout
this phase, the attitude is definitely that of the will-to-love, coupled to a
deep realisation of the handicaps to the expression of love presented by those
others and presented also by one's own habits of thought. This is all a form of
self-centredness. The true way to love is to reflect and meditate deeply and
constantly upon the significance and the meaning of love, its origin, its
expression through the soul, its qualities, goals and objectives. Most of the
reflection carried on by the aspirant is based upon his innate realisation that
he does not really love in the spontaneous, free way of the spirit. The
disciple is, therefore, thrown back on a self-centred position in which he
feels: "Now I am loving; now I am not loving; now I must try and
love." Yet all the time none of these attitudes is really true love nor is
their result a loving expression because the disciple is identified with
himself and focussed in the personality. Love is never worked up, if I might put it so, in the lower
nature; it is a free
unimpeded inflow from the higher.
Love is spontaneous and carries ever the free spirit
of Christ. I would suggest that there has never been a better description of
the nature of love than that given by the initiate Paul, even though the
translation of his words is faulty at times. Study those passages in the New
Testament in which he defines love. Give up emphasising the will-to-love and emphasise in your own consciousness
the need of others for understanding, compassion, interest and help. The usual
loneliness of all disciples is frequently incidental to the fact of the
self-centredness of all those whom they
contact and the intense preoccupation of the neophyte with his own
growth. The cry of the neophyte is: "Tell me. Tell me. Then I will change.
I will accept anything that is said but tell me." The cry of the disciple
is: "Aid [page 737] the work. Forget yourself. The world needs you."
So many disciples are still shut up within themselves, hidden behind the wall
of the personal self and little true out-going love is present. Until they
break through and truly love, their usefulness is impaired.
(DINAI 745) These two related points are not in
reality two separated activities, except as they emerge in the consciousness of
the disciple upon the physical plane and express his objective and his
subjective life. They are incident to his having to work in time and space and
through the medium of a physical brain. The second point of focus should be in
reality an externalisation of the inner point of tension. In these words, you
have the key to the true science of discipleship, to the developing relation of
the human centre and the hierarchical. It concerns also the work of the Buddha and the Christ, as They represent the point of tension at Shamballa and in the
Hierarchy.
Most disciples are not working from a point of
spiritual tension, but from a point of personality focus—a step forward indeed
from that of the average unthinking person but one to which they cling unduly
long. As long as a man is focussed in his personality, the point of spiritual
tension will evade him. He will be driven by personality aspiration and not by
ashramic force and this focus in form will lead to trouble both to the
individual aspirant and to his group. Spiritual tension, as a result of
complete dedication of the personality to the service of humanity, stimulates
and empowers but does not evoke the lower life of the personal self.
(DINAI 748) Chelas on the thread employ a peculiar
technique, according to their ray; they work always through the head centre. By
means of this centre, they sound out the call (an inaudible call, from the
physical plane angle) which (vibrating along the thread) reaches the Master.
These techniques are, however, taught directly to the disciple by the Master
when He recognises His chela's right to the privilege. I cannot give these
techniques direct to you. When you are "on the thread," you will
inevitably have the information given to you.
This thread is not the antahkarana but a linking
thread of living light. This the Master projects as the disciple's service
evokes a response from Him. This evocation, however, increases its potency as
the disciple builds the antahkarana between the personality and the Spiritual
Triad. The chela on the thread eventually has the life thread (one aspect of
the antahkarana) connected with this ashramic thread and hence the establishment of monadic control of the individual which (in its group
form) signifies the control
of the Hierarchy by Shamballa. The lesser and the greater relationship must ever be borne in mind.
The energy of Shamballa is not a quality,
but that of which quality is an emanation
(DINAI 754) You can see, therefore, that the Hierarchy
itself is only a great Ashram with a triangle at the centre, composed of the
Christ, the Mahachohan and the Manu. Symbolically speaking, this triangle
constitutes one radiant centre, for the radiatory activity of each of these
Great Lords is such that They are swept into each other's auras in such a way
that there is a complete blending and fusing. Every Ashram radiates some one
major quality according to the ray of the Master at the centre; in the same way
the Hierarchy radiates the quality of the second divine aspect, just as the all-inclusive Ashram (to which we give the name Shamballa) has the
outstanding characteristic of the first aspect, life itself. This is not a quality, but that of which
quality is an emanation.
The first aspect of the triad of a Master
is responsive to Shamballa energy
(DINAI 756) 3. The radiation which comes from the
atmic level or the will aspect of the Spiritual Triad. This is the emanatory
expression of the capacity of the Master to enter into the Council at Shamballa, to register the
purpose of God and to work with the Plan, which is the expression, in any given cycle, of the
working out of the divine Will. This aspect of the Master's radiatory activity
is of so high a nature that only the advanced initiate-chela can register it.
It is transmitted into the physical consciousness of the disciple along the
following lines:
a. The atmic permanent atom or the focus of the
spiritual will, the first
aspect of the Spiritual Triad.
b. The sacrifice petals of the egoic lotus.
c. The etheric vehicle in its highest aspects.
d. The head centre.
e. The centre at the base of the spine, which is
aroused into activity in response to the vibratory radiation of the other four
points of transmission.
(DINAI 757) Some day, it will be all "realised
Hierarchy" for the Hierarchy is but a state of consciousness with the life aspect, Shamballa, at the centre, and the circle of humanity constituting
the emanating factor, the radiatory influence or the aura, whereby the other
kingdoms in nature are evoked into responsive activity.
UP TO HIT 52
Compilation Shamballa part2 (hits 52-100)
(DINAI 766) In the same way, a constant consideration
of the permanent atoms and of the spirillae would lead to an intensification of
[page 766] the form life and to the tyranny of force as it flows through them.
There are undoubtedly analogies and correspondences that could be worked out in
connection with the spirillae in the microcosmic life and the planes and
subplanes of the macrocosm with a possible subsequent relation of both to the
seven centres, microcosmically understood, and the seven planetary schemes,
macrocosmically understood. But the goal for the majority of aspirants is not
to limit their consciousness by a concentration upon the minutiae, such as the
permanent atoms and the details connected with the individual form nature. The
objective of each aspirant is to expand his consciousness to include that which
lies beyond himself, to attain to the more elevated states of consciousness in
the life of the group and of humanity, and to integrate himself consciously
into the Hierarchy, eventually
into Shamballa, and occultly to "know" God in His many phases of all-inclusive extension and
perfection.
(DINAI 768) The significance of the word "heart"
is the significance of life itself, as it beats eternally at the very heart of
the universe. Within that life, the initiate now consciously stands, realising
himself not so much as being a recipient of life, but as a distributor of life.
This is a very different thing and holds the key to this stage of discipleship.
The "Master's Heart" is a technical term, indicating the sources of life and many
analogous interpretations. There is at this stage and after a certain major
initiation, a direct line of energy or of life—sensed, recognised, active and
utilised—between the conscious disciple and
1. The disciple's heart centre.
2. The heart centre in the head.
[page 768]
3. The egoic lotus, which (until the fourth
initiation) is the heart centre of the monadic life.
4. The Master at the centre of His group.
5. The Christ, the heart centre of the Hierarchy.
6. The life of the Monad which begins to make itself
felt at the third initiation.
7. The Lord of Life Himself, the heart centre of Shamballa.
The will aspect of the Monad is Shamballa
(DINAII 7) A group of disciples must be distinguished,
as I already told you, by pure reason which will steadily supersede motive,
merging eventually into the will aspect of the Monad, its major aspect. It is, technically speaking, Shamballa in direct relation with Humanity. What,
therefore, is the group will in any ashram or Master's group? Is it present in
any form vital enough to condition the group relations and to unite all into a
band of brothers—moving forward into the light? Is the spiritual will of the
individual personalities of such strength that it negates the personality
relation and leads to spiritual recognition, spiritual interplay and spiritual
relation? It is only in consideration of these fundamental [Page 7] effects of
standing as a group in the "head's clear light" that it is
permissible for a disciple to bring into the picture personal sensitivities of
thought, and this only because of a group temporary limitation.
(DINAII 60) In this deciding judgment Sanat Kumara is being aided by certain Members of the Great Council at
Shamballa, by the
Christ and by the seven Masters Who are responsible for the seven groups of Ashrams. He is also reaching certain conclusions as
to the groups of disciples who have hitherto been under training during the
final stages of the Path of Discipleship. This decision has to take under
advisement the rapidity with which the entrance of men and women into the
Ashrams can take place; it is also dependent upon the members of the Ashram moving
forward according to their degree, and upon the power of the Ashrams to absorb
and assimilate the much larger numbers, without upsetting ashramic stability.
He has also to consider the ability of the neophyte under training to take and
hold the far greater tension necessarily incident to true ashramic life in the
New Age.
[Page 61]
These points are all being most carefully considered,
because a major expansion of the Hierarchy as a whole, and the consequent
reaction upon humanity, again as a whole, is not a thing lightly to be
undertaken. Expansion—if it is to be safely undertaken—must proceed hand in
hand with consolidation. The expansion now contemplated in the highest quarters
will greatly alter the potency of the relation of the Hierarchy to Humanity,
and therefore of the second divine aspect to the third. Can Humanity take this
increased potency correctly and safely? Will the aspirants of the world—if
given opportunity to pass off the Probationary Path on to the Path of
Discipleship—be stable enough to stand steady under the impact of hitherto
undiscerned spiritual energy? Can the Masters, under the pressure of Their
enormous task of world reconstruction, find the needed time to increase Their
training of Their disciples? For They are still governed by the time equation
where Their disciples are concerned. Can the senior members in any Ashram
relieve to some extent the pressures upon the Masters as well as upon the
incoming and junior, and therefore inexperienced, disciples? If, however, the
relation between the Hierarchy and Humanity is thus strengthened and there is
freer access in both directions, there will clearly emerge the invocational
pull or the magnetic potency of these blending centres: the pull will be upon Shamballa, which is the highest centre of all.
(DINAII 63) Though Sanat Kumara is naturally unaware of the individual disciple or
aspirant, He is not unaware of their massed effect, quality or status. Contact
and relationship are based upon vibratory reaction, and the potency of the united
vibration of the disciples and aspirants of the world is today—for the first
time in human history—strong
enough to reach Shamballa. This is a new and very interesting fact.
(DINAII 65) The difference between such disciples as
you and the more advanced initiates is that your basic orientation is different
to that of the Masters. They
are oriented to Shamballa;
They are relatively unaffected by affairs and happenings in the three worlds,
even though that is the sphere wherein Their work lies; there is nothing within
Them to react to these phases of planetary livingness. Disciples and all
initiates below the third initiation are oriented to the Hierarchy. Not the Council Chamber at Shamballa or the
Way to the Higher Evolution engrosses their attention, but the life of the Ashram with which they
are affiliated and the Way of Initiation. This is a useful point to bear in
mind. There is much in them which can and will react to qualities and events
within the three worlds, and—from the angle of the human consciousness—life for
them is very difficult because the dualism of existence is apt to produce
violent strain.
(DINAII 104) It would be of benefit to you also to
consider the Masters' Ashrams as expressions of the highest type of
constructively functioning groups. There exists amongst its personnel a complete unity of purpose and an utter dedication (without any
reservations, as far as the disciple involved is concerned) to the furthering
of the immediate ashramic enterprise. The [Page 104] position of the Master at
the centre of the group has no relation to that of a teacher at the centre of a
group of learners and devotees, such as we have learned to recognise in this
Piscean Age. He is the centre simply because through the quality of His
vibration, through karmic ancient relationship and through the invocative
demand of disciples, initiates and some aspirants, He has gathered them
together in order to further the ends of His ashramic enterprise; He has not
gathered them together in order to teach them or to prepare them for initiation
as has hitherto been taught. Aspirants and disciples prepare themselves for the
processes of initiation by becoming initiated into the mysteries of divinity
through discipline, meditation and service. You need to bear in mind that a
Master of an Ashram may, for instance, attract to Him other Masters of equal
rank as His Own. I have
five Masters working with me in my Ashram. It would be of value to you if you considered the
factors which hold an Ashram together and which establish its unity. The major
ones, and those which you can understand, are as follows:
A Master of an Ashram has earned the right
to communicate directly with the Council at Shamballa
1. The most important capacity of a Master of an Ashram is that He has earned the right to communicate directly with the
Council at Shamballa and
thus to ascertain at first hand the immediate evolutionary task which the
Hierarchy is undertaking. He is not called Master by the initiates in His
Ashram; He is regarded as the Custodian of the Plan, and this is based on His ability to "face the greater Light
which shines in Shamballa." It is the Plan which gives the
keynote to the activities of any Ashram at any particular time, during any
particular cycle.
2. This unanimity of purpose produces a very close
subjective relationship, and each member of the Ashram is occupied with making
his fullest possible contribution to the task in hand. Personalities do not
enter in. You will remember how some years ago I told you that the personality
vehicles are ever left outside the Ashram—speaking symbolically. This means
that the subtler bodies of the personality have perforce to follow the same
rules as the physical body—they are left outside. Remember also that [Page 105]
the Ashrams exist upon the plane of buddhi or of the intuition. The joint
undertaking and the united adhering to the desired and arranged cyclic
technique binds all members of the Ashram into one synthetic whole; there is
therefore no possible controversy or any emphasis upon individual ideas,
because no personality vibratory quality can penetrate in the periphery or the
aura of an Ashram.
3. The planning and the assignment of tasks connected
with the enterprise in hand is carried forward through the medium of an
ashramic, reflective meditation, initiated by the Custodian of the Plan. The Master of an Ashram does not say:
"Do this" or "Do that." Together, in unison and in deep
reflection the plans unfold, and each disciple and initiate sees occultly where
he is needed and where—at any given moment—he must place his cooperative
energy. Note my wording here. The members of an Ashram, however, do not sit
down for a joint meditation. One of the qualities, developed through ashramic
contact, is the ability to live always within the field of intuitive
perception—a field which has been created, or a sphere of energy which has been
generated, by the united purpose, the combined planning and the concentrated
energy of the Hierarchy. An analogy (but only an analogy, however) would be to
regard this field of reflecting, reflective and reflected energies as
resembling the brain of a human being; this brain reflects the impacts of
telepathic activity, the sensory perceptions and the knowledges gained in the
three worlds; reflection then sets in in relation to the mental processes which
are synchronised with the brain, and then follows the impartation of these
reflections to the outside world. The ashramic reflective meditation is an
integral part of the constantly developing perception of the disciple-initiate,
and it (in its turn) is a part of the whole hierarchical reflective meditation.
This latter is based upon inspiration
(in the occult sense) from Shamballa. The moment a disciple can share in this constant
unremitting meditation or reflection without its interfering with his service
and his other lines of thought, he becomes what is called "a disciple who
shall no more go out."
4. Another factor productive of group unity and
synchronous precision in working is the complete freedom of the Ashram from any
spirit of criticism. There is no tendency among its personnel to be critical
and no interest whatsoever in the outer, personal lives of the members, should
they be amongst those functioning in the three worlds. Criticism, as seen among
men, simply is a mode of emphasising the lower self and deflects the attitude
to the material aspects of a person's life. There is necessarily clear vision
among the members of an Ashram; they know each other's capacities and
limitations and they know, therefore, where they can complement each other and
together create and present a perfect team in world service.
5. One other factor I will mention among the many
possible: The members of an Ashram are all in the process of demonstrating love
and pure reason, and they are—at the same time—focussing themselves in the Will
aspect of divinity. This statement may mean little to you at present but it is
fundamentally the factor which creates the higher antahkarana, uniting the Hierarchy and Shamballa. This makes the planetary purpose of so
much importance.
These are the major factors which produce group unity;
they have, as results, telepathic rapport and intuitive perception; but these
are effects and not causes and are the product of the measure of the attained
group unity.
You can see, therefore, the scientific reason I had
when I urged you in past years to have a group enterprise, for it is a major
unifying factor, and the inner Ashram with which you are affiliated stands to
you (at your particular point of development) as Shamballa stands to the Hierarchy—from the angle of dynamic inspiration. Had
you done this (which you did not) the group would not have fallen apart—as it
has done. Had you eliminated criticism, the essential unity would have been
strengthened. One of the reasons I had for the complete frankness and so-called
exposure of your individual weakness and limitations to the group as a whole
was to train you in the light of pure perception which knows the reason [Page
107] why and sees with clarity the ends in view. Where true perception exists,
criticism is automatically eliminated.
(DINAII 135) This threefold spiritual reality (which
is the "impressing agent") is the goal of the presented meditation
work. It is not in this case the soul, whose impression upon the mind is that
of love, its manifestation and its place in the Plan of the Hierarchy. The
source of the impression to which you now seek to be sensitive is the Spiritual
Triad, and the quality of the impression is the will, as it implements divine purpose.
I am therefore indicating a far more advanced stage, and I do so for two
reasons: One is that for years the effort of all of you has been towards the
registering of soul contact and the expression of loving understanding; you are
familiar with what the Hierarchy (of which my Ashram is a part) seeks to
accomplish, and there is nothing to be gained by a constant reiteration of the
familiar. I am, secondly, [Page 135] outlining procedures, meditations and
objectives which will be of use to those who come after you and who will be the hierarchy of workers at the close
of this century and during
the first quarter of the coming century.
I stated that one significance of this symbol is that
it stands for the triplicity of
1. The Ashram,
2. The soul on its own plane,
3. The disciple upon the physical plane,
whilst the square represents humanity; that this is
frequently spoken of as the "city which stands foursquare," and is
familiarly referred to in modern literature and discussions as the "city
of man."
In considering the higher point of the triangle, which
is the Ashram, I would remind you that radiation from Shamballa enters the triangle at that
point and that,
through the Ashram, will, purpose and strength can pour. This is a relatively
new achievement within the Ashrams of the Masters. In the major group Ashram
(which is the Hierarchy itself) this reaction to impression from Shamballa is arrived at as the energy pours in, via
the two Great Lords, the
Manu and the Christ.
It is also registered by Their senior disciples, the Chohans and initiates of the sixth initiation, such as the Masters Morya and Koot Hoomi.
Lately the Master R. has taken the position of Mahachohan, and that achievement
has carried the entering force down into the ranks of those Masters Who have
taken the fifth initiation thus enabling Them to step down this Shamballa force to Their individual
Ashrams. This
happening has produced a tremendous stimulation with all the attendant
opportunities, manifestations, and dangers. Masters such as myself have had to learn to handle this
great potency, and at
the same time to make as much of it as we can (safely and wisely) available to
our senior disciples.
It might be said symbolically that "the point of the triangle is based in the
courts of Heaven (Shamballa) and from that point two streams of power pour forth into the [Page
136] realm of soul and into the heart of the disciple. Thus is the Triad
formed; then are the energies related unto the world of men; thus can the will
of God appear, and thus can the Great Lord Who guards the Council Chamber of this sphere of solar Life carry His
purpose to the holy groups (the Ashrams. A.A.B.), and thence into the minds of
men, and this because their hearts are safeguarded by the fire of love."
Ponder upon this ancient writing: It refers to the cycle immediately
confronting us, of which the work I am at this time seeking to do is but a tiny
living part.
Therefore, as you prepare for the meditation process
which you will undertake during this coming year, start by a consideration of
the Ashram of the Hierarchy itself, of its relation to Shamballa, of its constitution, formed as it is of many
Ashrams. Some of these are working under the Chohans; others are working under
the Masters, and some are embryonic as yet, being gathered slowly together by
Adepts of the fourth initiation. Will you endeavour to realise the factual
nature of this great, living, spiritual organism? It constantly
"substands" or underlies the world organisation. See it as a growing,
vital reality, of such life and potency that it can break through or break up
all limiting outer organisations and, by the very force of its interior life,
eventually externalise itself.
This coming externalisation of the groups which
constitute the Ashrams of the Masters (not yet of the Chohans, because they are
still basically too potent) will be a gradual process, but it will in time
restore the Mysteries, bring the first two initiations into a relative
prominence as integral parts of the coming world religion, familiarise the
whole of mankind with the fact of the subjective world, and finally bring the
most developed of the sons of men into a faint glimmer of understanding of the
essential Reality underlying all phenomena, and give some grasp of the purpose of Shamballa and the
will of the Lord of the World. Humanity has now reached a point of development where there is a
definite grasp of the Plan of the Hierarchy—call it brotherhood, sharing,
internationalism, unity or what you will. This is a growing and factual
apprehension and is a general recognition [Page 137] by the thinkers and
esotericists of the world, by the religious people of enlightenment, by broad
minded statesmen, and even today by the man in the street; divine purpose,
however, implemented or engineered by the divine will, eludes as yet the most
advanced.
The work of the next few centuries will bring about
changes in this respect, and these changes will be brought about by the work
done in the Ashrams of the Masters, guided by the Ashrams of the Chohans,
welded together in the great Ashram of the Hierarchy itself, and moving ever
into closer relation with the great Council Chamber of Sanat Kumara, the Lord of the World, in
Shamballa. This has to
be brought about on Earth by disciples, acting under instructions such as I now
give you and by their prompt collaboration with their Masters. The doing of
this will invoke the creative imagination of the disciple, and this, in its
turn, will be conditioned and controlled by the illumined mind.
A second stage comes when the disciple, having
considered the Ashram as outlined above, and having thereby imaginatively "fixed" the fact of Shamballa in
his consciousness,
turns his thoughts to the Hierarchy or to the soul. Remember always that the
Hierarchy is simply the world of souls, that it is consciously aware of the
Plan, sensitive to the purpose, and creatively and constantly impressing
humanity with the aim in view of expanding the human consciousness. Of this
your soul—in its pure nature—is a part. You will therefore think of the
Hierarchy; you will attempt to vision its work, and you will endeavour to
relate yourself to my Ashram by an act of faith and of will which is, in this
case, the sublimation of the personal self-will; you will also take your position
as a conscious, integral part of my Ashram, and consequently of the Hierarchy.
Such is the duty of all disciples. You have had much instruction as to the
Ashram and I need not further enlarge.
The third point of the triangle (as far as your work in this meditation is concerned)
comes into the light of your reflective consideration. You will now turn your
attention to yourself, the soul, the conscious disciple in preparation for that
expansion of consciousness which is the next step in [Page 138] your spiritual
unfoldment, leading eventually to initiation. This reflective consideration you
do, not from the angle of the consciousness of your imperfections,
qualifications or capacities, your failures or your successes, but entirely
from the angle of cooperation
with the Plan, with the divine Will and Purpose. It is with these highest aspects that
the disciple is asked to cooperate.
It is not possible for the individual disciple in any
Ashram to cooperate in all phases of the Master's work, and it is not possible
for you, for instance, to cooperate in every phase of the work in my Ashram
which I have outlined in my pamphlets (and which has been summarised in the one
entitled My Work). But it is possible for you to choose some phase of that plan
and give it your paramount attention.... These activities can—if adequately and
strongly carried forward—aid in the esoteric work of the world and the exoteric
rehabilitation of right human relations....
The fourth stage of the meditation work is concerned
with the square which—for the purposes of our work—we will
simply regard as the field of service and of experience—experience in work and
not individual life experience.
You will note that this description of the meditation
work, which I am asking you to carry forward for a year at least, is based upon
the three previous meditations; these sought to bring the etheric body with its
various force centres into such a condition that it could become receptive to
impression, and cooperate thereafter actively; through the alignment exercise
you endeavoured to bring that organised instrument of service into contact with
the source of inspiration and the source of impression, i.e., the Ashram and
the soul. Now we are in a position (theoretically at least and dependent
individually upon the successful action of all work previously done) to begin
the task of bringing through the inspiration and impression consciously, by
determined contact with their sources. I will therefore briefly outline the
work, asking you to do it after close study of all that I have written above:
[Page 139]
I. The Stage of Recognition.
1. Recognition of your pledged discipleship.
2. Recognition of your equipment, gratefully rendered.
3. Recognition of your achieved alignment.
4. Recognition of the soul, the source of love-wisdom.
5. Recognition of the Hierarchy.
All this should be done very rapidly, holding the
consciousness steadily in the mind, and not in the head. It presupposes an
immediate mental focussing of the disciple at the very beginning of his
meditation work.
II. The Stage of Consideration.
1. Of the Ashram as a whole, i.e., of the Hierarchy as
the Ashram of Sanat Kumara. You will see, through the use of the creative
imagination, all the
Ashrams in close contact with Shamballa as:
a. Responsive to the Purpose, implemented by the Ashrams of the Chohans.
b. Impressed by the energy of Will as the great Ashram energises its component parts—the various
Ashrams within its periphery of influence.
c. Vitalising the initiates and disciples who are
affiliated with the Masters and working in Their Ashrams.
d. Reaching out, through the accepted and pledged
disciples, into the world of men.
Then you will say with purpose and determination:
"I strive towards comprehension. Thy will, not
mine, be done."
All the above section of your meditation work concerns
purpose, will and the
"destiny" of Shamballa, to use an old occult phrase.
2. Of the world of souls which is the Hierarchy in
relation to this world of men, and of in relation [Page 140] to Shamballa as in the first part. This involves:
a. A study of the nature of the hierarchical effort,
as it is expressed through love.
b. A conscious identification with the Plan.
c. Dedication to the work originating in the Ashram
with which you know yourself to be in touch, seeing it all as an integral part
of the hierarchical work.
Then you will say with love and aspiration:
"I strive towards understanding. Let wisdom take
the place of knowledge in my life."
3. Of yourself as a unit in my Ashram. This will
involve:
a. Recognising which aspect of my planned work you are
equipped to do.
b. Determining how to do it.
c. Considering the factor of preparation for eventual
initiation, as a means of increasing your capacity for hierarchical
cooperation.
d. Energising by light, faith, love and power, the
spiritual centre within which you serve and the ashramic projects for which you
accept responsibility. In this instance it can be the
"I strive towards cooperation. Let the Master of
my life, the soul, and likewise the One I seek to serve, throw light through me
on others."
III. The Stage of Fixed Determination.
A statement made by you, the soul, the disciple, to
the personality:
[Page 141]
"In the centre of the will of God I stand.
Naught shall deflect my will from His.
I implement that will by love.
I turn towards the field of service.
I, the Triangle divine, work out that will
Within the square and serve my fellowmen."
If you can do this work correctly, you will not only
greatly increase your own realisation, service and understanding, but you will
definitely be cooperating in the task of externalising the Ashram and
furthering the work of the Hierarchy (from the foundation angle in relation to
the New Age), and so aid in bringing in the new civilisation, the new world
attitudes and the new world religion.
(DINAII 157) The final stanza of the "Invocation for Power and
Light," as it is
called in the Archives of the Masters, is apparently simple. It has, in these
Archives, an indicatory
symbol beside it which
indicates the era or period in human history during which it can and should be
used. It is interesting to us to note that the evolution of humanity is in line
with the indicated timing. This Invocation will have a potent appeal to
mankind. My considered advice is that in its presentation to a definitely Christian public (as for instance to the ecclesiastics of
all denominations) the third
verse in the stanza be changed and that its last line should read: "The Purpose which the Master knows and
serves," or
perhaps "which
disciples know and serve."
The word "disciple" is an inclusive word, in the hierarchical sense;
it is, at the same time, one easily recognised by the orthodox but offers no
limitation to the esotericist. It covers every grade of human aspirant from the
newly accepted disciple up to and inclusive of the Christ Himself. Let me here
quote the Invocation:
From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.
From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let Love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.
From the Centre where the Will of God is known
[Page 158]
Let Purpose guide the little wills of men—
The Purpose which the Masters know and serve.
From the Centre which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out.
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on
Earth.
Each of the four stanzas refers to one or other of the three aspects of divine
energy, plus a
reference to humanity itself in which the three meet, are potentiality in
latency, and finally develop into the full flower of divinity, with all three
lines perfectly expressed. Hence, my brothers, the intensity of the human
conflict—a conflict unparalleled in any other differentiation of the divine
Life. In humanity all lines and aspects meet. This is a fundamental of the
occult teaching. The subhuman kingdoms find their consummation in humanity, and
the superhuman kingdoms their opportunity, and through the human kingdom all
superhuman lives have at some time passed. This you well know.
In the first three lines you have reference to the Mind of God as a focal point for the divine light.
This refers to the soul of all things. The term "soul," with its
major attribute of enlightenment, includes the anima mundi, the animal soul,
the human soul, and that consummating point of light which we regard as the
"overshadowing" soul of humanity. It is an aspect of the divine
manifestation to which that great Son of God refers when (as Shri Krishna) He
remarks, "Having pervaded this entire universe with a fragment of Myself,
I remain." That fragment is the soul of all things. That soul brings light
and spreads enlightenment.
In the second three lines, the Heart of God is evoked and the focal point of
love is considered.
This "heart" of the manifested world is the Hierarchy—that great
transmitting agency of love to every form in the divine manifestation. Upon the
essentially "loving nature" of the Hierarchy I need not dwell; too
much has been written about it; too little understood; too much has been talked
about love and not enough has been realised as to the task confronting the
Hierarchy [Page 159] as it transmits love. Love is an energy which must reach
the hearts of men and which must fecundate humanity with the duality of
loving-understanding—that is what is expressed when love and intelligence are
brought together.
In the third three lines, we find reference to Shamballa—"the Centre where the Will of God is known"—the centre from whence the Hierarchy draws
its life, as it draws its impulse towards service from humanity. You well know
that there is indication in these lines that humanity itself cannot as yet
grasp the purpose of Sanat Kumara. Only advanced Members of the Hierarchy and
initiates of at least the third degree (the first degree of the Lodge on
Sirius) have any idea as to the nature of the purpose which underlies the Plan. Ponder on that phrasing.
Having invoked the three aspects or potencies of Mind,
Love, and Will, in the fourth
three lines we have indication of the anchoring of all these powers in humanity itself, in "the centre
which we call the race of men." Here and here alone lies the promise of
the future and its hope and opportunity. Here and here alone can all the divine
qualities—in time and space—express themselves and find fulfilment: here and
here alone can love be truly born, intelligence correctly function, and the
Will of God demonstrate its effective goodwill. Through humanity, alone and
unaided (except by the divine Spirit in every human being), can the "door
where evil dwells be sealed." It is not Sanat Kumara who seals that door;
it is not the Hierarchy which forces evil back into the place from whence it
comes. It is struggling, aspiring and suffering humanity to whom the task is
committed and, my brother, humanity is adequate to the task.
This statement is borne ever in mind by Those most potent in using the Invocation; it serves to focus and anchor the invoked
energies in the human kingdom. That is Their task. From that point, humanity
takes over the undertaking.
This Invocation is also unique in the sense that it
invokes all the three divine aspects. It is synthetic in its approach. This is
the first time in human history that this has been done. Hitherto the
development of mankind did not warrant such an utterance.
[Page 160]
In Lemurian times, the third divine aspect, that of
Intelligence, was invoked by the mass appeal of instinctual animal-man; he
little knew what that almost inchoate appeal would invoke. Light appeared on
Earth and true progressive enlightenment became possible. I am not here
referring to physical light, but to the light of the intellect.
In Atlantean days, as a result of the strife between
the Lords of Light or of the Shining Countenance and the Lords of the Dark Face
(as they are called in the ancient Scriptures and in The Secret Doctrine)
another "era of invocation" occurred and the second divine aspect of
Love became a possible unfoldment, though still only an embryonic quality of
mankind. The mass appeal was then more intelligently voiced, though the
instinctual appeal still persisted. It was not intelligence, however, as we
understand the term.
In our Aryan cycle, another great invocative cry is issuing forth. It is
this time a threefold cry. It is the cry for light upon our way and for light
to flow into the dark places of the Earth; it is also a cry for more love in
the world as voiced by the men of goodwill and of humanitarian attitudes: it
is, finally, the intuitive appeal of the aspirants and the disciples of the
world for the full expression in time and space of the will-to-good—the Will of God. Average instinctual humanity, the men and
women of goodwill, and the disciples of the world are all concerned in this
invocation, bringing in the attributes of instinct, intelligence and intuition.
All three are blended in this great Invocation. Have also constantly in mind
this basic fusion, now finding voiced expression, and take courage from the
massed approach to the Source of all Life, Love and Light. Nothing can
withstand the united demand of men everywhere in their graded and their serried
ranks.
This entire Invocation refers esoterically to the "raincloud
of knowable things" to which Patanjali refers. It is that impending,
overshadowing and revelatory storehouse of energy which is the immediate cause
of all events on Earth and which indicates the emergence of that which is new
and better and progressively right. The events and happenings thus precipitated
demonstrate the moving onward into [Page 161] greater light of the human
consciousness. These "knowable things" are the sources of all
revelation and of all human realisations—cultural and leading to what we call
civilisation. Their "condensation" (if I may use such a word) is
brought about by the massed invocative appeal of the entire human family at any
one period. This appeal has been, on the whole, projected unconsciously, but
more and more it will be consciously voiced. Results, therefore, can be
expected more rapidly and prove more effective. This raincloud is formed
through the joint action of the Central Spiritual Sun, working through Shamballa, and humanity itself, working hitherto
through appeal to the Hierarchy, but increasingly making its own direct appeal.
(DINAII 162) 3. By the steady progress of humanity, en
masse, towards the light. This in time produces in humanity itself a quality
and a vibration which make themselves felt. This quality and this vibration are
essentially evocative.
Today this "raincloud of knowable things"
has condensed or brought together energies which have been made available by the Spirits of
Restoration, Reconstruction and Resurrection. These now available energies are—on a larger scale
and of a higher nature—similar to those which the individual soul (paradoxical
term) makes available to the personality when that personality is ready for the
Path of Probation or of Discipleship. These energies are far more potent
because they are, in their turn, a precipitation of energies which have been
placed at the disposal
of Shamballa, plus
energies and forces generated by the Hierarchy. Extra-planetary forces can now
be utilised on Earth, owing to the forward progress of our planet and its
relation to the solar system as a whole.
There has never been a period in our planetary history
in which opportunity has
loomed so large or
when so much spiritual light and force could be contacted and utilised by
humanity.
(DINAII 163) The first indication of this massed and
available energy produced coordination of the New Group of World Servers upon
the physical plane.
[Page 163]
The second indication produced a pronounced cleavage
between the forces of evil and the Forces of Light; this cleavage resulted in
the world war (1914-1945) and initiated the seething emotional and psychic
turmoil in which humanity today finds itself.
The third indication was the release of atomic energy and the discovery of how to transmute
energy into matter and matter into energy.
(DINAII 169) You will already have noted—as you have
studied the Invocation—that the three major centres in our planet are linked up: Shamballa, "where the Will of God is known," the Hierarchy, where Christ rules
and from whence He seeks closer contact among men, and the centre which we call
Humanity. There is a close relation between the first stanza and the final one;
humanity's destiny is, as you know, to be the exponent of the mind of God, thus
expressing active intelligence, motivated by love and implemented by will. That
time has not yet come, but if human timing is correct and right desire is
potent enough, for the first time in human history this destiny can be publicly
recognised and people can be swept increasingly and voluntarily into an
activity which is particularly their own destiny. That again is one of the
primary objectives of the Invocation; its steady use will bring about an
inclusive view of spiritual development and impart a synthesis to human
thinking which has hitherto been lacking. As "light streams forth into the
minds of men" the divine plan will be more widely sensed and the
will-to-good will be more widely desired and invoked.
(DINAII 172) Those of you who are disciples will
easily see the significance of the third stanza. Its meaning is that the
Invocation as used by the Hierarchy (note this) will help to bring about the
evocation of the spiritual will in humanity and the recognition of the divine
will by the Hierarchy. There is little that can be said to the general public
anent this third stanza. They will interpret it in all simplicity as a prayer
that the human will can be brought into conformity with the divine will, even
though that may not be understood. Even from the angle of the Hierarchy, the
divine will as it is essentially remains the great mystery, but in spite of
that They can and do "know and serve" the purpose; the purpose is
that aspect of the divine will which seeks immediate expression on Earth. The
Hierarchy is the distributor of energy—the energy of love. Therefore, as the
purpose of the will of God (known and understood in the Council Chamber of Shamballa) seeks to
influence human will,
it is an expression in hierarchical terms as the will-to-good and in human
terms as [Page 173] goodwill, as loving determination or as a fixed intention
to bring about right human relations.
(DINAII 184) Nine is, as you know, my brother, the
number of initiation. It presupposes the alignment of three different
triplicities;
1. The threefold Personality.
2. The three aspects of the Soul.
3. The Spiritual Triad.
When these have been correctly aligned and the
resultant integrity has been stabilised and fully accepted, the disciple then
becomes a Master; He is now ready to tread the Way of the Higher Evolution.
There is then a direct channel of contact—whenever needed and desired for
service—with the physical brain and also an alignment or unimpeded relation
between:
1. The disciple and Humanity . . . . . . The throat or
creative centre in the planetary sense.
2. The disciple and the Hierarchy . . . The heart
centre of the planetary Logos.
3. The disciple and Shamballa . . . . . .The head
centre of the planetary Logos.
These are great and abstruse esoteric facts. The use
of the Invocation will likewise relate human beings within the ring-pass-not of
humanity itself; it will bring the human centre en rapport with the Hierarchy,
creating a free interplay between the two of them and thus making possible the
appearance of the
(DINAII 190) The Horizontal Life
1. Unity. As a result of his successful vertical life,
the disciple feels himself at-one with all life in all forms and with humanity
in particular.
2. This works out naturally in understanding. Because
there are absolutely no barriers present, and there is also no realisation of
difference, the disciple can "tune in" on the life in all forms, and
therefore enter into a full measure of inclusiveness, with all that that word
implies.
3. His motivation is that of goodwill, which is a
growing potency as the will-to-good (which he contacts indirectly in the
Ashramic life) begins to affect him. Ponder on this statement. The goodwill of
the masses is based on innate divine tendency; that of the disciple is based on
knowledge and receptivity to certain energies from Shamballa.
4. This goodwill—as it is released—produces a normal
expression upon the physical plane.
(DINAII 195) In the total evolution of the spiritual
man through physical incarnation during untold hundreds of lives, the entire
process is simply one of expanding consciousness and of attaining—sequentially
and stage by stage—an ever more inclusive awareness. This is good to bear in
mind, for eventually all this symbolic picturing will give place to reality.
The task—and it is a real one—of building the antahkarana and creating that
which will bridge the gap is in truth the planned and conscious effort to
project the focussed thought of the spiritual man from the lower mental plane
into areas of awareness which have been sensed but not contacted; it entails
using the totality of the awareness already developed and already
"enlightened" by the soul, and (with deliberation) making it
increasingly sensitive to the focussed activity of the world of the higher
spiritual realities; it is directing the stream of conscious thought towards
the sensed and theoretically recognised world of the Masters, of the Spiritual
Triad and, finally, of
Shamballa. Disciples
should remember [Page 195] that the Higher Way of Evolution is far simpler than the lower way, and that therefore the
teaching on the significance and the meaning of the antahkarana—which is the
first creation of the soul-infused personality acting as a unitary being—is far
simpler than that relating to the personality in the three worlds of human
evolution.
“the concentrated clear and dynamic
invocation of the spiritual Beings Who have created—or more accurately—have
formed Shamballa, is the highest form of meditation possible upon our
planet”
(DINAII 197) In this paragraph you have indicated the
spiritual, meditative way of life of the individual disciple in relation to his
own soul, and later to the Ashram; you have the group way of life, as it
penetrates into the Hierarchy, and you have also the hierarchical technique
which enables that great Group to penetrate into a still higher spiritual
centre and bring down from Shamballa that understanding of divine Purpose [Page
197] which will precipitate as the hierarchical Plan; this will enable the
Hierarchy to form a great serving group. No matter how high you may go in the
scale of being, you will find—from the fourth kingdom of nature onward—that the
technique of meditation governs all expansions of consciousness, all
registration of Plan or Purpose and, in fact, the entire process of
evolutionary unfoldment. It is a technique of spiritual apprehension, of
focussing attention on some level of consciousness or other, and also of
originating modes of contact.
The entire Science of Invocation and Evocation is
contained in the word "meditation"; this science ranges from the
subjective, unconscious appeal of the inchoate, voiceless masses, through many
phases, until it attains that high mode of scientific invocation which governs
the contact made in the Council
Chamber of Shamballa
with extra-planetary sources of spiritual inflow. It is through meditation in
some form or another that contact is made; this again is progressive in nature.
The formulated idea of the unspiritual man to make a contact with that which
will later condition his life and lead to a betterment of his daily life in a
material sense, or which will make living possible, is perhaps the lowest
aspect; the brooding, experimental thinking of the scientist or artist is
another form of meditation and higher in purpose and in intention, and this
meditative process is better formulated and has (if you think correctly)
definite group implications. The mode whereby the Members of Hierarchy and the
personnel of Their Ashrams arrive at an intense spiritual perception, and
arrive also at a selfless
formulation of the divine Plan which will implement divine Purpose in the
world, is likewise an
expansion of all previous meditations; whilst the concentrated clear and
dynamic invocation of the spiritual Beings Who have created—or more accurately—have
formed Shamballa, is the highest form of meditation possible upon our planet.
In the Hierarchy, meditation takes two
major forms-and is also the technique whereby the Masters prepare for the sixth
initiation
(DINAII 199) In the Hierarchy, meditation takes two major forms, and [Page 199] (you must remember) in
that great spiritual Centre meditation is an instinctual habit and needs no
forced process:
1. Meditation is that which sets in motion
hierarchical response to the invocative appeal rising from the three worlds,
and mainly to the invocative appeal carried forward consciously by all who
pray, all who make mystical appeal and all who employ the method of occult
meditation and direct invocation.
2. Meditation is the instinctual mode whereby the Hierarchy—in response to the invocation from the
three worlds—approaches
the higher Centre, Shamballa; then the Hierarchy evokes the energies, the Beings and the spiritual
inflow which hierarchical service in the immediate future requires. It is also—in
a unique sense—the technique
whereby the Masters Themselves prepare for the sixth initiation, thus conditioning the Path of Life upon
which They will eventually find Themselves and pass thence to higher cosmic
undertakings.
(DINAII 201) 5. The higher correspondence of the
Nirmanakayas Who find Their place in relation to Shamballa; this is analogous
to that of the Nirmanakayas to the Hierarchy.
The personnel of these groups is supplied from the
larger groups to which they are intermediate:
1. The New Group of World Servers gathers its
personnel out of the great planetary centre called Humanity.
a. The more advanced members of the group are
affiliated with some Ashram within the ring-pass-not of the Hierarchy.
b. The greater Ashram, composed of many Ashrams, is
the fulfilled production of the New Group of World Servers, down the ages. This
is a statement full of important implications.
2. The Nirmanakayas gather Their personnel out of the
Hierarchy, the second great planetary centre. Their relation to Shamballa is not one of affiliation, nor is it the same as that of the New
Group of World Servers to the Hierarchy. Their major relationship is with the
Triangle of the Buddhas of Activity, and it is under Their creative inspiration
that They work. This stream of inspiration or of "energy flooded with
creative light" is made available to the Hierarchy at all [Page 202] times
and when needed for Their creative work; it is a part of that dynamic,
galvanising energy which feeds the enthusiasm of the New Group of World
Servers, binds them together in the One Work, and enables them to work
intelligently and with creative ability.
A mysterious body affiliated with Shamballa
called the “Reflecting Lights”-they implement the Purpose of the Lord of the
World
The point which I seek to emphasise, and which I hope
will remain in your minds, is that this technique of meditation is the
outstanding creative agent on our planet. When you, as an individual, are
endeavouring to "build the new man in Christ" which will be an
expression of your true spiritual self, meditation is, as you well know, your
best agent; but the meditation process must be accompanied by creative work, or
else it is purely mystical, and though not futile, is nevertheless negative in
creative results.
(DINAII 206) The effect of that reflective vibration
is both vertical and horizontal, and this wide diffusion has led to the
formation of that major group of contemplatives, the Nirmanakayas; They focus the hierarchical invocative
appeal and (to quote the Old Commentary) "put it into the musical form
which will please the ear of the One Who dwells in the highest plane." They then transfer the focussed received
energies—after due reflection and contemplation—to Shamballa. One of Their functions is to relate the
invocative appeal of the Hierarchy to karmic law, and thus determine "in
the deep silence of Their united work" what can be possible because it
does not infringe upon karmic intention, and what is not yet possible in time
and space—those two major factors which are governed by karmic law. They have
to bear in mind that the time has not yet come and "the karmic era cannot
yet demand that demanded good become accomplished good."
so Shamballa is carrying out its intentions
(as far as humanity is concerned) through this group of Nirmanakayas
The members of this group are also transmitters to the Hierarchy of the
response evoked from Shamballa. They are constantly in touch with the Council Chamber at Shamballa. Just as the Hierarchy—in this present
cycle of world endeavour—is working through the New Group of World Servers, so Shamballa is carrying out its intentions (as far as humanity is
concerned) through this
group of Nirmanakayas.
This all connotes a great centralisation of the work in connection with the
reappearance of the Christ.
You can see, therefore, that a gigantic group
meditation is going on in many differing phases upon our planet. All the
meditating units and the reflective groups are related to each other through
unity of spiritual motive; they are seeking closer cooperation and endeavouring
to bring their meditation work—consciously or unconsciously—in to a state of
positive universal quiet, so that the formulation of spiritual desire can be
carried successfully forward, and the reception of spiritual energy can be a
united reception.
Therefore, brother of mine, a great effort towards
alignment is going on, and when the individual aspirant can so [Page 207]
meditate that his voice can reach the New Group of World Servers, that group
can then impress the individual; through him humanity can be reached. It can
also impress the Hierarchy; then the Contemplatives Who are in touch with Shamballa can contact the Hierarchy, and through the
Hierarchy can impress the New Group of World Servers; then, and only then, the
moment will arrive when the Christ will come.
(DINAII 209) There are, as you may surmise (if you
have read my instructions intelligently), seven phases of the creative
meditative process; all of them are productive of the required results. All
that at present exists in the three worlds and in the higher spheres is the
result of some form of meditative activity. These seven sources are:
1. The planetary Logos Himself, Who formed and
informed the world by His thought, and Who holds all together within His Mind
for the many, many aeons of manifested existence. As I have before said, the
occult truism that "God thought, God visualised, God spoke and the world
was made and is sustained" remains eternally true.
2. The Group which is
the higher
correspondences of the Nirmanakayas. This group sustains and cooperates with the
planetary Logos in His concentrated creative thought; its Members are the
agents for attracting—through the potency of Their meditation—those
extra-planetary energies [Page 209] which He needs to carry forward His vehicle
of expression, the planet, and thus to bind all together into one great created
Whole, tending ceaselessly to the greater glory of God. They wield the Law of
Synthesis and hold steadfastly (in the universal Mind of the Logos) the
ultimate result of the divine
Will-to-Good.
Council Members think and meditate only in
terms of the Whole
3. Shamballa, with its life and intention focussed in the Council Chamber of the great Lord, Sanat Kumara. Here is known and embodied the Purpose of
the planetary Logos
under the meditative impression of the group which knows His will and which wields the Law of
Synthesis. In the
hands of this august Council, the Law of Karma finds adequate planetary
guidance; this does not refer to the law as it affects the individual human
being because of such individuals the Council Members have no knowledge, for the reason that They think and meditate only in terms of
the Whole; but They
know the nature of planetary karma and of its delayed or rapid application,
according to transient planetary indications. The great Wheel of Life, with its
passing manifestations and its recurring civilisations, is directed by Them;
the manifesting kingdoms in nature, great cyclic expressions of life, are
controlled by Them, and all this is produced through the potency of Their
creative meditation which impresses the needed inspiration (another phrase for
the breath of life itself) upon the Nirmanakayas and through Them upon the
spiritual Hierarchy. Their link with all these planetary groups (and it is real
and vital) can be grasped in the key statement that "all Lives upon or
within the aura of the planetary Logos and of His manifested Body, the Earth,
have been, are or will be in the future human being, thereby establishing and
demonstrating their past, present or future identity with humanity, the fourth
kingdom in nature." This kingdom is the planetary group or centre which
expresses in time and space all the divine aspects—sometimes in latency and
sometimes in potency. Here lies the clue to the entire mystery of divine
guidance, and here is also to be found the guarantee of the divine
Will-to-Good.
The Nirmanakayas receives impression from
Shamballa as to planetary creative purpose
4. The Nirmanakayas,
the divine Contemplatives. This is the receptive group which receives impression from Shamballa in relation to the planetary creative purpose. Then They, on Their own level of atmic
activity, build—through contemplative meditation—a vast reservoir of potent
energies which are impregnated with the qualities of the seven energies of the seven planetary Rays.
They are the
Custodians of life, under the direct inspiration of the Buddhas of Activity, and They spend the aeons of Their
planetary service:
a. In active contemplation of the divine Purpose.
b. In a developed receptivity to that aspect of the
Purpose which must be expressed through the medium of the divine Plan, and thus
presented to the Hierarchy.
c. In developing that spirit of sevenfold receptivity
which will make Them a channel
for the inflow of ray energies from Shamballa into the Hierarchy. Their united aura or area of influence and
the extent of Their magnetic and dynamic radiation correspond roughly to the
aura of the planet itself; They contain (within Their ranks) Members Who are identified
with the Lords of the seven Rays.
They are, in a peculiar sense, the creative agents of life as it streams forth from
Shamballa into all the
aspects, areas, kingdoms and fields of manifestation. This They are enabled to
do through sustained, concentrated, intensive and dynamic meditation. They are
necessarily a second ray group (as the second ray is the ray at present of the
planetary Logos) but They focus Their meditation largely along first ray lines
(which is a subray of the second ray in this solar system, as you know) because
They are the creative agents of life itself and the knowers and the custodians of the will of
the planetary Logos, as
it works itself out in manifestation. They are the source in reality [Page 211]
of planetary invocation and evocation. Again, ponder on this.
The Masters are subject to impression from
Shamballa via the Nirmanakayas
5. The Hierarchy of Masters, the Masters of the Wisdom
and the Lords of Compassion. This group, which stands midway between Shamballa and Humanity, is subject to impression from Shamballa, via the
Nirmanakayas, and its
Members are Themselves the agents for the impression of Humanity. They embody
and express the love aspect of the divine purpose; They wield, direct and
control the Law of Attraction—the motivating energy which swings the Law of
Evolution into activity in the three worlds. Much is known by you anent this
group of divine and spiritual Workers, and I will not enlarge upon it here.
Basically, They work through directed meditation and each Ashram is a centre of
meditation to which every disciple, initiate and Master contributes. I would
have you bear this in mind and endeavour to realise, as disciples, that your
meditation—both individual and group meditation—if it is of an adequate nature
and quality—will be absorbed into and become part of the ashramic meditation.
The theme of the hierarchical meditation is the Plan, as it embodies the divine Purpose.
Each individual Ashram as a group can
approach the Nirmanakayas, and does so at the new and full moons of the year
The Hierarchy as a whole is required to
approach Shamballa-and they do this as a group three times a year-at the april,
May and June Festivals/full moons-all these contacts are particularly potent if
there is a solar or lunar eclipse
(DINAII 217) 7. Ashramic Meditation. This is based upon the evocation of human response
to the higher spiritual values; it concerns itself with the creation of those
conditions wherein these new values can, under the divine Plan, flourish; it is
focussed on that immediate aspect of the Path which humanity needs to tread,
and its intent is to swing into creative activity the desires, aspirations,
[Page 217] reflections and concentrated meditation of men, at whatever may be
their particular point in evolution, so that a mighty, coherent and invincible
movement will be instituted which must and will result in the creation of the
new heavens and the new earth. This is one way of expressing the significance
of the coming of the
There are crisis points at times of superlative
tension in the meditative work of all hierarchical Ashrams. At the times of the
new moon and of the full
moon, all members of
all the Ashrams meditate deeply in an invocative and evocative manner; their
meditation, therefore, falls into two parts: the first part is evocative of inspiration from the
Nirmanakayas with Whom
they deliberately get in touch; the second part is invocative of the New Group
of World Servers and enables them responsively to come under hierarchical
impression. Three times a year—at the April, May and June Festivals* —there is
a united hierarchical meditation led by the Christ; these Festivals are invocative of Shamballa
or of that which lies beyond the Nirmanakayas and can only be safely carried forward in
united meditation, under directed guidance and the highest possible
inspiration. Each Ashram can approach the Nirmanakayas as a group at stated
periods for which due preparation is made; only the entire group of Ashrams,
the Hierarchy as a
whole, can approach Shamballa. The New Group is invocative to the Hierarchy for purposes of
impression and can be impressed by any Ashram through its disciples in that
group; thus the great chain of contact and the great channel for the inflow of
spiritual energy reaches from Shamballa to humanity and then, through humanity,
to the three subhuman kingdoms; in this way, these lower kingdoms are
"enlightened and raised." All this is accomplished through meditation,
through invocation [Page 218] and evocation, carried forward in the spirit of
worship, which is the fundamental method of spiritual recognition. Thus,
creatively, the glory which is hidden in every form is evoked and slowly
brought to exoteric manifestation.
(DINAII 223) The Lord of the World, through meditation, is carrying forward processes
which He instituted in His original, creative meditation—back in the darkest
night of the time when [Page 223] He decided to create this planet of ours for strictly
redemptive purposes. The whole creation is the result of His directed and
controlled thought—a process of sustained thinking which sweeps all the
creative energies into evolutionary and cyclic activity, in conformity to the
pattern which He eternally visualises. He has organised a group which is
responsive to His meditative intention; these Beings aid Him by Their
concentrated and realised Purpose to bring into our planetary livingness
certain extra-planetary energies which are needed to carry forward the planned
work of the planetary Logos. Shamballa itself is also permeated with His thought and conscious (if I may speak
symbolically) of that which the Logos has visualised. They are the Custodians of His Purpose, as it is revealed to Them, cycle by
cycle. The length of
these cycles is one of the mysteries which is strictly guarded in the Council
Chamber of the Lord of the World; these cycles have reference only to manifestation in
the three worlds wherein the concepts of time and space control.
The Hierarchy is the Custodian of that
aspect of the cyclic, planetary Purpose which is called the Plan-therefore it
is important to discriminate (if such a thing is legal in the 21st
century) between the planetary purpose managed by Hierarchy and the Plan managed
by Shamballa
The Hierarchy is the Custodian of that aspect of the
cyclic, planetary
Purpose which is called the Plan; this covers such relatively brief periods as
civilisations—where humanity is concerned. In relation to Shamballa, the
intermediate group of meditating, creative Workers is called into activity in
order to receive impression of the immediate, desired hierarchical activity, to
transmit the needed energies from Shamballa to the united Ashrams and thus, esoterically,
"inform" the Hierarchy of that which merits immediate attention.
(DINAII 233) I have been for some time seeking to
impress upon you the eternal fact that the entire universe has been created and
its evolution processed through the power of thought, which is only another
word for controlled meditation. This covers the combined meditation of numerous
subjective, spiritual and mental groups; the laws of this meditative work are
the result of certain mental determinations, which embody the will of the planetary Logos and are imposed upon all lesser groups of
lives by Those Whose task it is to wield the divine laws and enforce them.
Freedom of the will is here to be noted in relation to the Time concept but not
in relation to the final and inevitable divine results at the end of the immense
world period. The major thoughtform of the spiritual Hierarchy, created by
joint ashramic meditation, is called by us the Plan. The basic purpose of Sanat Kumara is revealed
from cycle to cycle by His Agents in Shamballa, and is by Them impressed upon the minds of the senior
Members of the Hierarchy. They, in Their turn, make this impression the subject
of Their ashramic meditation, adapting its various concepts and the outlined
purpose to a most carefully formulated Plan, presenting—as far as humanity is
concerned—seven aspects or phases of evolutionary development and endeavour,
according to the work desired of any Ray Ashram implicated at any particular
time. Each Ashram thus undertakes meditation upon the general Plan and thus (if
you could but realise it) each initiate and disciple finds his place and sphere
of activity and service—from the very highest initiate to the least important
disciple.
(DINAII 256) An illustration of this is the fact that
to the esotericist of the past little was known of the seven Rays and the seven
ray types, and naught
had been given out anent Shamballa. Now the world of instructed disciples is slowly
awakening to these newer values and truths and to the sevenfold source of life
expression; the Will of God is going to take shape consciously in the minds of
men in the future in such a manner that the old truths will condition and
control as never before, but will drop automatically below the threshold of
consciousness and the new emerging values and recognitions will take their
place in the surface consciousness of all disciples—and their name will be
Legion.
(DINAII 258) I have stated that initiation is
essentially a process of revelation. For the disciple who is being prepared to
take an initiation the emphasis is necessarily laid upon recognition—the
intelligent recognition of what is to be revealed. This requires on his part a
definite emergence from the world of glamour so that there can be a clear
perception of the new vision; a new light is thrown upon old and well-known
truths so that their significance is extraordinarily [Page 258] changed, and in
that changing the plan or purpose of Deity takes on an entirely fresh meaning.
The inexperienced neophyte is constantly receiving revelations and recording
what he regards as most unusual intuitions. All that is really happening,
however, is that he is becoming aware of soul knowledge, whereas for the initiate the intuition is ever the
revelation of the purpose of Shamballa and the working out, both from the short range and the
long range angle, of the
divine Plan. The
revelation which is accorded at initiation is given to the soul, recorded by
the "mind held steady in the light" and then later—with greater or
less rapidity—transferred to the brain. You can see, therefore, the true
intention of the system of Raja Yoga as it trains the mind to be receptive
eventually to the Spiritual Triad. You can also see why for centuries the
emphasis of the Teachers of the Ageless Wisdom has been upon the necessity for
discrimination, particularly where the probationary disciple is concerned.
UP TO HIT 100
Compilation Shamballa Part3 (up to hit 159 of 803)
(DINAII 259) I am at this time carrying the current
teaching upon initiation a step forward and am seeking to show that it is not essentially
a process of soul-personality fusion (though that has to be a preliminary step)
but of monad-personality integration, carried forward because of an attained
alignment with the soul. Initiation is in fact the essential and inevitable
process of transferring the primary triplicity of manifestation into the basic
duality of spirit-matter. It is the "dissolution of the
intermediary," and to this the crucifixion and death of the Christ was
dedicated and intended to be the revelation, to the initiates of the past 2000
years, of the transmutation of the trinity of manifestation into the duality of
purpose. I cannot word this in any other way but the enlightened will
comprehend my meaning. The interpreters of the Gospel and many disciples of the
Christian dispensation have singularly failed to grasp this revelation; they
have laid the emphasis upon the death of the personality, whereas when Christ
experienced the "great void of darkness" and chanted aloud the occult
mantram "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me," he was
recognising simultaneously the distinction between His "robe of
glory" (symbolised by the [Page 259] partition of His garment by the Roman
soldiery) and also calling the attention of all future disciples and initiates to
the disappearance of the "middle principle," the soul; He was
projecting (into the world consciousness) the recognition which must come of
relation to the Father or the Monad. This great dissolution is culminated for
us at the time of the third
initiation when the Light of the Monad obliterates the light of the soul and
the material atomic light
of the threefold personality. But—and here is the point—the recognition of this
death and its effects is only symbolically enacted and recognised at the time
of the fourth initiation, the Crucifixion. All lesser dissolutions, deaths,
renunciations and disappearances of that to which the lower nature holds and is
held are enacted in relation to the accustomed aspects of form-life, and of
conscious sensitivity and awareness; they are simply preparatory to and
symbolic of the final great dissolution of the causal body, consummated at the
Crucifixion. This leads to the resurrection or uprising of the personality-soul
consciousness (duly fused and blended) into that of the monad. This is finally
carried to the point of solar perfection at the Ascension initiation.
I have given you this teaching in terms of the
Christian presentation as it may be simpler for you to grasp, but there are
many other formulations and approaches to these truths and the newer they are
the more difficult necessarily are they to present. Only those who are on the
immediate verge of initiation will understand; the others will prefer to
interpret these truths to themselves in the easier and well-known formulas of the
preparatory stage of the at-one-ing of soul and personality.
The stage of recognising the revelation which is accorded to the initiate of the major
Mysteries is itself divided into lesser phases. These might be described as three in number though much is dependent upon the
initiation to be taken and the ray of the prepared disciple. These are:
1. The Stage of Penetration. This refers to the
piercing through the world glamour and thereby effecting two objectives:
[Page 260]
a. The Light of the Spiritual Triad streams into the
consciousness of the initiate, via the antahkarana, so that the Plan for
humanity and the divine Purpose in relation to the planet become increasingly
clear. This initiates
relation to Shamballa.
b. Part of the world glamour is thus dissipated and
thus a clarifying of the astral plane takes place and humanity is consequently
served. Every disciple who arrives at a recognition of the initiate-revelation
releases light and dissipates a part of the glamour which blinds the mass of men.
The sixth ray disciple takes far longer over this stage of penetration than do
disciples on the other rays but only in this world cycle.
2. The Stage of Polarisation. This is the stage
wherein the initiate, having let in the light and penetrated through the dense
fogs and mists of the world of glamour, suddenly realises just what he has done
and takes a firm stand, correctly oriented towards the vision (or to word it otherwise towards
Shamballa). One of the
things which must be grasped is that as the initiate is a point of hierarchical
life (either on the periphery of the Hierarchy, or within the circle or at the
centre) he is a definite part of the hierarchical effort. That effort is
directed towards an orientation to the greater centre of life—Shamballa. Students are apt to believe that the
orientation of the Hierarchy is towards humanity. That is not so. They respond
to human need when the demand is effective, and are custodians of the Plan; but
the orientation of the entire hierarchical group is towards the first aspect,
as it expresses the Will
of the Logos and manifests through Shamballa. Just as the disciple has to do two things: polarise
his position by establishing right human relations and at the same time become
a conscious, practising member of the Kingdom of God, the Hierarchy, so the
initiate—upon a higher turn of the spiral—has to establish right relations with
the Hierarchy and become simultaneously conscious of Shamballa.
All I can impart here is the desired point of
attainment [Page 261] but the phraseology is relatively meaningless, except to
those who are experienced in the processes of initiation to a greater or less
degree, according to the initiations already taken. This polarisation, this
point of focussed effort and this attained orientation is the basic idea lying
behind the phrase "the
The Will of God is the key to Shamballa
3. The Stage of Precipitation. Having thus identified himself through penetration
and polarisation with the Plan and with the Will of God (which is the key to Shamballa), he then proceeds—as a result of this
triple recognition—to do his share in materialising the Plan and in bringing
through into outer manifestation and expression as much of that Plan as he can.
He thus becomes first of all an outpost of the Hierarchy (which of necessity
means sensitivity to the
Shamballa energy), and
then increasingly an Agent of Light—the Light universal, or the Light of the
Monad.
I have no more to say today anent initiation. Ponder
upon that which I have given and grasp as far as you imaginatively can the
magnificence of the initiatory process—so vastly more inclusive than has been
indicated by any of the teaching given hitherto. After the war is over and the
new world, with its coming civilisation and culture begins to take shape, an
increasing emphasis will be laid upon the purpose of the Controlling Deity or
basic Life or Energy as it is working out through humanity.
This will be done by those who are trained esotericists. Much that is now being
said by world leaders and serving workers in every nation is an indication of
an unconscious response
to the Shamballa energy.
Towards the end of the century and during the first few decades of the
twenty-first century, teaching
anent Shamballa will be given forth. The effort of the abstract mind of man will be
towards the comprehension of this, just as the [Page 262] goal of hierarchical
contact marks the present effort of the disciple. Glamour is disappearing;
illusions are being dissipated; the stage of penetration into a new dimension,
into a new phase of effort and of attainment is rapidly being promulgated. This
is being done in spite of all the horror and agony and will be one of the first
results of respite from war. The war itself is shattering illusions, revealing
the need for change and producing a demand for a future new world and a coming
beauty in living which will be revolutionary and a material response to an
intensive initiation process in which all disciples can share and for which advanced
aspirants can prepare themselves.
(DINAII 268) Formula Five . . . Deals with the Will
aspect. It is concerned with the revelation of divine Purpose, and is therefore related to Shamballa.
(DINAII 273) I have used the exoteric symbol of the
flag to convey to you a hint as to the esoteric meaning of this very simple but
most potent form. Four words, or rather phrases, are found written, deep in the
metal, around each side of the square:
These words convey the highly inadequate and even
unsuitable translation of certain phrases in the ancient Sensa which are
intended to convey the essential union, the related synthesis and the
cooperative understanding which will some day distinguish a humanity, composed
of many aspects which are nevertheless expressions of the One Life. They are,
however, related to or expressions of monadic groupings or universal
recognitions, and not of soul consciousness. My difficulty in explaining the
higher meaning of the external simplicity of these phrases is great; you can only
arrive at them yourself as you ponder the only three interpretations possible
to you at this time: the individual application of the symbol, its national
application, and its human application, remembering always that the clue to
comprehension lies in the recognition of a "higher Way," of the
existence of the "higher evolution," of the light which is distinctive of Shamballa, and of the use of the antahkarana, as it
by-passes (if I may use such a term) the soul and so carries the human, yet
spiritualised consciousness into the realms of hierarchical experience in
relation to Shamballa.
POINTS OF REVELATION
This almost brings us automatically to the third
aspect of preparation for initiation which I called in an earlier instruction
the "presentation of points of revelation." These formulas, when
rightly studied and eventually somewhat apprehended, at least intellectually,
carry the disciple to the point where that which is
new, hitherto unrealised and for which no words exist, is suddenly contacted.
It is at this point of revelation and in relation to
this symbol that the initiate eventually stands. Then the "many lines of
force within the square become the seven paths of light which claim His choice,
leading Him on to the sevenfold Path of initiate evolution." This is the
Way of the Higher Evolution of which man knows nothing. The words refer to the
seven paths which the Master has to consider and from which He has to choose
His future Way. Then the symbol takes on the following form:
(DINAII 278) The third hint I gave you was intended to
suggest that it was the duty and the responsibility of the disciple, working
under the inspiration of the Ashram, to "modify, qualify and adapt"
the proposed plan of
Shamballa (for which
the Ashrams are responsible) in connection with the coming civilisation and
culture. There is an "art of spiritual compromise" which must be
learnt and which it is difficult to master, because it negates fanaticism,
requires a trained and intelligent understanding of applied measures and truth,
and also negates evasion of responsibility; it involves also a comprehension of
the time equation, of differing points in evolution, plus experience in the
process of discarding the outgrown and unnecessary—no matter how good it may
appear to be.
(DINAII 288) c. Under this Law of Sacrifice, Sanat
Kumara (to express the idea in occult terms) "must turn His back upon the
Central Spiritual Sun, and with the light of His Countenance irradiate the path
of the prisoners of the planet." He sentences Himself to stay for as long as
may be needed, "acting as the Sun and light of the planet until the Day be
with us and the night of pralaya descends upon His finished task." Thus
and only thus can the light of the Central Spiritual Sun begin to penetrate the
dark places of the Earth; when this happens all "shadows
disappear"—an occult reference to the all-embracing radiance of the Monad
as it absorbs both its reflection, the soul, and its shadow, the personality.
Here DK actually describes how the world of
Shamballa
The initiate, on his tiny scale, achieves a
paralleling [Page 288] expression of the Law of Sacrifice; he eventually turns his back upon the courts of Shamballa
and upon the Way of
the Higher Evolution as he retains his contact with the Earth and works as a
Member of the Hierarchy for the extension of the will-to-good among men, and
therefore among all the lesser evolutions.
(DINAII 293) Then later, upon the Path of Initiation,
the initiate develops his tiny correspondence to the planetary "All-seeing
Eye." He unfolds
the powers of the Monad.
These are related to divine purpose and to the world in which Sanat Kumara
moves and which we call
Shamballa. I have
impressed upon you elsewhere that the state of being of the Monad has naught to
do with what we call consciousness; in the same way, there is naught in the world of Shamballa which is of the same nature as the
phenomenal world of man in the [Page 293] three worlds, or even of the soul
world. It is a world of
pure energy, of light and of directed force; it can be seen as streams and centres of force, all forming a
pattern of consummate beauty, all potently invocative of the world of the soul and of the world of
phenomena; it therefore constitutes in a very real sense the world of causes
and of initiation.
(DINAII 301) 1. That the great changes being brought
about in the Hierarchy, and in order to make the work of the New Age adequate
and to establish a closer rapport with Shamballa, have been the result of the work done by the working
disciples of the world. Why the working disciples, brother of mine, and not by
the Masters? A hint ever evokes a question, and it is in the answering of these
questions that the disciples learn and eventually become Masters.
The relationship between the Universal Mind
and the Purpose as understood by Shamballa
(DINAII 307) Little
as you may realise it, these words "Points of Revelation" summarise a
most definite technique in the training of disciples for initiation. All life
is intended to take the form of a progressive series of awakenings. Progress,
movement, awakening, expansion, enlightenment, evolution, growth—these words
are but a few of those applied to the effects, both within and without, of the
creative process. What is this creative process but the working out into
progressive demonstration of the divine intention as it assumes form? This
intention is a fully comprehended scheme in the Universal Mind; we call it Purpose when considering the grasp by Shamballa of the
synthesis of this comprehensive intention, [Page 307] and we call it the Plan when considering
the work of the Hierarchy in bringing this Purpose as fully as possible into
expression.
(DINAII 314) In my last instruction to you I dealt
with some aspects of the new approach to discipleship and to initiation; it is
essential that the old concepts—profoundly useful in their day—should be
forgotten and the newer methods and techniques should be substituted. This is
now necessary on account of the surprising unfoldment of the human
consciousness during the past twenty-five years. The steps taken at the Conclave in Shamballa in 1925 (based on tentative conclusion at the
previous centennial Conclave) and the pressures exerted by the Hierarchy have
proved most successful, and out of the chaos of the world war (precipitated by
humanity itself) there is developing a structure of truth and a paralleling
responsiveness of the human mechanism which guarantees the perpetuation and the
rapid unfoldment of the next stage of the teaching of the Ageless Wisdom.
(DINAII 326) c. Again: Initiation can now be taken in
group form; this is something entirely new in the work of the Hierarchy. Not
one by one do candidates stand before the Initiator, but many so stand
simultaneously. Together they can think in complete accord; together they are
[Page 326] tested, and together they reach the "point of triumph"
which supersedes the "point of tension"; together they see the
"Star shine forth," and together the energy emanating from the Rod of
Initiation fits them for the reception of specialised energy, to be later used
in their future world service. This group approach, this group intention, this
"group silent reticence and vocal recognition," and this group
dedication and vision are no longer in the experimental stage. This group
achievement (I refer not here to your particular group which has not been
outstandingly successful) marks the point where there can be the inauguration
of a new phase of
activity in Shamballa.
This will enable the Lord
of the World to become the Ruler of a Sacred Planet which, up to date, has not been the case.
Our Earth can now become a Sacred Planet, if all right conditions are
fulfilled. A new divine quality (as yet unrevealed and which we would not at
this time recognise if presented with it) is slowly crystallising into
expression, through the medium of this hastened initiation process. Disciples
are today witnessing the emergence of a solar characteristic, through the
medium of their planetary Logos, just as the "Lives of similar
Intention"—as it is esoterically called—witnessed it many aeons ago. It is
to this unknown and mysterious quality that the "shining forth" of
the Star refers.
(DINAII 335) If you consider the many apparent
failures in my experiment in forming an external group affiliated with my
Ashram, and as demonstrated in the book Discipleship in the New Age, you may
well wonder why on earth
I chose such a group of people or why I chose to make myself aware of their thinking, faults and
failures. I will tell you.
From a survey of one thousand years which I have been enabled to make (as are all the
Masters), everyone of these people shows a definite soul intention, all are
definitely oriented in their personality life to the spiritual world, and react
to soul control correctly—if at times quite feebly. The soul has them in a true
grip, and that grip has become a stable and persistent hold. Therefore, in
spite of serious faults, and in spite of pronounced personality qualities of
undesirable nature, and in spite of wrong emphases, these people were and are
ready for training. Their failings and faults will disappear more rapidly than
you imagine under the influence of the soul—as the dew disappears under the
morning sun. The enterprise of the Masters to substitute group initiation in
place of the laborious process of individual initiation is proving successful,
even though it is still in the experimental stage.
The "cycles of interest," or those periods
in which the Masters pay close attention to the quality aspect of mankind, are
also being speeded up; the "gauging" process will take place now every three hundred years,
instead of every one thousand years, as has been the case until
The result of this more frequent watchfulness on the
part of the Hierarchy has been shown in the confidence with which the Masters
have undertaken to prepare people for initiation.
This decision to do so, and permission having been granted from
Shamballa, certain
matters came up for consideration. Most of them would naturally be too abstruse
for your comprehension—which is seated in the mind and brain instead of in the
soul and heart. It is obvious that if initiation is a physical plane affair,
requiring recognition in the brain consciousness, the disciples must be in
physical incarnation together, and by this I mean within the ring-pass-not of
the three worlds which are the dense physical planes of the cosmic physical
plane) for a sufficiently long period of time to test their reactions, as a
group, to the concept of group initiation and to each other as participants.
For a great part of this time there must also be a physical plane life, shared
by all in the group; this need not involve similarity or identity of location,
but must involve similarity of world affairs and civilisation. This physical
plane necessity is—as you will perceive—a test of individual integration, with
a view to group integration later on.
The sixth initiation is taken alone
(DINAII 337) Before the end of this century, thousands
will stand before the Initiator and take initiation in group form; they will
pass through the door of initiation together and together take their vows. This
statement applies to the second and the third initiations. The higher
initiations will still be taken individually or in groups of three, but not
more. When the Masters take the sixth initiation,
They perforce take it
alone at the "midway point" between Shamballa and the Hierarchy, apparently deserted by both attentive
groups. There, in complete silence and in a condition of "isolated
unity," They will make Their great decision. Then and only then will They
become aware of the vast attentive spiritual audience which has awaited Their
will.
(DINAII 345) Formula V . . . Deals with the first
aspect, with the Will. Relates to divine Purpose. Shamballa.
(DINAII 347) You can see, therefore, how definitely
all the above processes involve a planned creative activity. These ideas are
not those, however, which can be used by the uninitiated aspirant. The use,
through understanding, of these techniques is confined entirely to creative
work, carried on in accordance with the Purpose of Shamballa and not in accordance with the hierarchical Plan. The
above various stages of the fourfold process mark eventually the recognition by
the Master of divine Purpose; it is also shown how that purpose is revealed in five stages, requiring in addition two final
revelations of major importance.
(DINAII 352) Approaching this subject from another
angle, the mental polarisation of the disciple seeking entry into the
hierarchical sphere of work is producing a unification of initiatory effort
which is new in the spiritual history of the planet and which is the first step
being taken at this time upon inner and subtle planes to bring about certain
great "Crises of Initiation," involving simultaneously all the three major planetary centres—a thing hitherto unknown. Up to 1875, initiation was a sequential process as well
as largely an individual process. This is slowly being changed; groups are
being admitted [Page 352] to initiation because of a recognised and sensed
relationship which is not that of disciple and Master (as heretofore), but
which is based on initiate-relationship in group form, and which is present
between Humanity, the
Hierarchy and Shamballa.
It is this spiritual and subtly sensed relationship which is today finding
physical plane expression in the worldwide effort to establish right human
relations.
Initiation is no longer regarded essentially as the
moving of a human being who has accepted certain disciplines and made certain
self-determined progressive advancement in consciousness into closer contact
with the Hierarchy and a group within the Hierarchy; that angle of it will
rapidly become a thing of the past. It is the moving forward of an entire group
of spiritually-minded disciples and initiates into new areas of the divine
consciousness and into a closer rapport with the Mind of the Lord of the World.
This the disciples and initiates will do together, according to their degree
and their point in spiritual evolution. I refer not here to the evolution of
the form. Three things will thereby be brought about:
(DINAII 358) 2. The new energies pouring through Shamballa into the Hierarchy; these are of an extra-planetary
nature [Page 358] and have their source largely in the Aquarian quality of the
present cycle; these energies are steadily eliminating the energies of the
Piscean Age.
(DINAII 360) But in reality he is at fault, and the
case as he visions it [Page 360] is not so. He must learn to function entirely
differently. This hint is not concerned with a part which an aspirant must play
as an individual, nor does it include the factor of mental appreciation of the
qualities of his own nature. Where the true disciple is concerned, three things
are involved and condition his whole approach to this problem of human
planning:
1. Its relation to the Plan, as it has been
communicated to him within the precincts of the Ashram.
2. His ability to use a measure of the true divine Will as it pours through the Ashram from Shamballa for the implementation of the Plan, and as
constituting its directing agent.
3. The sequence of the planning as it materialises on
Earth in relation to the time factor. Three things emerge in his thinking at
this time:
a. The immediate steps to be taken in order to carry
the Plan forward, logically, practically and with the least expenditure of the
destroying aspect of the will.
b. The probable duration of the cycle in which the
Plan can progress from its inception until its fulfilment.
c. An appreciation of the unfolding pattern of which
the material planning is an expression. He needs to discover how far human
planning conforms to that pattern. He must sense where nonconformity originates
and what steps—as far as his particular point in evolution permits—the Ashram
should take to offset the distortion of the Plan. Only in this way will he
learn himself to plan.
You can see from the above what a different approach
is here involved when a disciple deals with a hint, how wide are the vistas
which are opened up, how subjective his predominating attitude must be, and how
inevitably the group relationship to the planning becomes apparent and
important to him as an individual as well as to the group as a whole.
[Page 361]
It is for this reason that disciples in an Ashram are
of no political persuasion and own to no nationalistic bias. This is not an
easy thing for them to achieve at once, but the group consciousness gradually
assumes control, and with it the disciple's ability to think and work with the
group in terms of the Plan. He grasps eventually that in relation to humanity,
the planning of the Hierarchy falls into certain definite phases of activity—all
of them related and all of them tending towards the externalisation of the Plan
in any particular century, cycle or world period. These phases are:
1. The phase of Purpose, originating in Shamballa and registered by the senior Members of
the Hierarchy.
3. Next comes Programme, wherein the Plan is taken up by the
particular ashram involved in its implementation and is then reduced to the
formative stages of human impression and direction, the conditions necessary to
bring about its emergence, and the two phases of this conditioning. These are usually
in two parts; i.e., the destruction of all hindrances and the presentation of
the Plan.
4. The emergence of the hierarchical
Pattern (based upon
the recognition of purpose, careful planning and a detailed and carefully
thought-out programme), both in the minds of the disciples in the Ashram who
are involved in the implementation of the Plan, and among the intelligentsia on
Earth. These two groups have the task—the first group consciously and the other
unconsciously—of bringing the pattern of things to be into the mass
consciousness, by no means an easy task, as the present state of world affairs
demonstrates.
5. Then comes the final
phase of Precipitation,
when all the subjective work has been done on the basis of possibility, and
when the pattern and a part of the programme are recognised by the world
thinkers in every nation, either [Page 362] favourably or with antagonism. The
planning, having reached this final stage, then proceeds under its own
momentum.
These are some of the ideas which lie behind the
particular hint which I have given to you, as far as the disciple is concerned.
According to his development and his point in evolution, so will be his
emphasis; some disciples can aid the Master in the planning process because
they are becoming sensitive to impression by Shamballa; others are engrossed in the formulation of the
programme and in imparting some of its features to more limited disciples, thus
setting them to work. A group of carefully chosen disciples are always held in
the Hierarchy to work solely with the pattern; this is a most important phase
of the work, requiring a spirit of synthesis and an ability to hold streams of
hierarchical energy under control. Disciples who are not so advanced, and who
are therefore closer to human thinking at the particular moment in history,
undertake to supervise the precipitation of the Plan. Their work is necessarily
far more exoteric, but is most responsible, because it is when the Plan has
reached the stage of human implementation that error is apt to arise and
mistakes can occur.
In every ashram are to be found those disciples whose
task it is to make the needed readjustments of the pattern and the demanded
changes in the programme as the process of precipitation goes forward. It is a
law that human freedom may not be infringed. The staging of the Plan and its
working out is, in the last analysis, an entirely human affair, once it has
reached the stage of precipitation. It is dependent upon the responsiveness of
human brains, and their recognition of need and its sources. This is a point
which should be remembered.
The above short explanation of the implications of a
hint, and particularly of Hint Two should show you how rich is the area or the
atmosphere of a hint—if I may use such peculiar phrasing; it will show you also
how hints are largely concerned with ashramic duty.
The subtler correspondences to the tangible
senses of taste and smell are related to the unfolding consciousness of those
who function in the Council Chamber of Shamballa
(DINAII 368) It is at the sixth Initiation of Decision
that Perception and Recognition of the revelation reach their heights for the
initiate. After this, the subtler correspondences to the tangible senses of
taste and smell begin definitely to demonstrate, but with them we shall not
deal, for they are effects of revelation so far removed from the possible
achievement of the majority of the Masters that they concern us not; they are
more properly related to the unfolding consciousness of Those Who function in
the Council Chamber of
Shamballa. Human
evolution or the human evolutionary process is entirely concentrated around the
sense of sight, with its consequent effects and results of vision, recognition
and perception—all of them constituting what we mean when we speak of
revelation.
The five exits are not the planetary
centres-The planetary centres are directed from Shamballa
(DINAII 371) I will endeavour (as we consider these
points of revelation) to express as far as may be this relationship of the
smaller to the great, of the part to the whole, and of the five points of
spiritual contact upon the physical plane (outlets for the energy generated in
the planetary centres) with the sum total of the means of expression. These
centres are brought into expression—as far as the points of revelation are
concerned—at their respective initiations:
1. The ajna centre.
2. The heart centre.
3. The head centre.
4. The throat centre.
5. The alta major centre.
I say not that these five exits for planetary energy are the planetary
centres, for they are
not; I say that they are the points through which the energy of a planetary
centre is directed in the service of humanity at this particular time. The centres of the planetary Logos are necessarily directed in their inflow and outflow from
Shamballa; they are
expressions of the Purpose underlying the creative evolutionary process. The
five corresponding exits are those which, in this cycle, disperse the
energy—generated by the Hierarchy, under the inspiration of the divine Purpose
and directed towards the carrying out of the Plan.
(DINAII 374) From the angle of our studies, the
revelation accorded to the initiate relates to the carrying forward of the
divine Plan upon the physical plane and to the implementation of the will of Shamballa, through the medium of disciples and
aspirants and of advanced humanity, working—consciously or unconsciously—in our
modern world.
Down upon the level of daily living, disciples are
today learning three things: the Technique of Impression, the generating of
energy, and the use of the ajna centre. Many are responsive to impression, but
fail to recognise or use the energy of which the impression is simply the
forerunner; others respond to the energy, but fail to register the Plan which
it is intended to implement, and the energy then leads to great but fruitless
activity. Still others are learning to use the centre between the eyebrows,
standing as silent and poised recipients controlling the third eye, the
directing agent of the received energy. It must be carefully borne in mind that
the energy to be used is not the energy which the disciple himself generates or
his own life force, but is something different, something which he has received
from the Hierarchy and of which he is simply the agent or channel. He has
therefore to learn to distinguish between the various energies he contacts. The initiate has to master the techniques
of differentiating between:
1. His own energy or
energies, which have
been generated [Page 375] as the result of his life experiences down the ages
or centuries.
2. His ray energy which, rightly used, conditions his work
with and for the Hierarchy.
3. The energy of the
ashram of which he may
avail himself in the process of carrying out activities—initiated by
impression. In the early stages he calls this the energy of his Master, but
learns later that it is—in reality—the energy generated by his Master's group,
the ashram.
4. Hierarchical energy
or the energy of certain associated ashrams or of the entire group of Ashrams, the Hierarchy
itself. The use of this highly qualified and most potent energy can only be
employed when the disciple has earned the right to certain privileges and can
be trusted to use the potencies correctly.
The Christ force energy is mixed with
Shamaballic energy
(DINAII 375) 5. The energy of the Head of the Hierarchy, or the Christ force, as it is sometimes
called. This force imports into the usually available energies certain
conditioning qualities which
emanate from Shamballa,
and are therefore related to the will aspect. This type of force has not
hitherto been available to working disciples but is now available, having been released at the
Wesak Festival of this year (1948). Even now it can be used only by highly trusted
disciples, and usually by those only whose rays are the first Ray of Power or
Will or the second Ray of Love-Wisdom. These will be the rays of one or other
of the two major vehicles—that of the soul and that of the personality. There
are naturally exceptions to this rule, and these exceptions will be
increasingly numerous as time speeds by; but in the present time, first and
second ray vehicles provide the line of least resistance.
The Master transmits Shamballa energy to
the disciple to begin with
(DINAII 376) The Second Point of Revelation: The Will
is an expression of the Law of Sacrifice.
The second Point of Revelation is of peculiar interest. It concerns the first contact of the initiated disciple
with the energy emanating from Shamballa and transmitted to him via the Master of the Ashram
with which he is at this time associated. He has not yet reached the stage
wherein direct contact is permitted, but still needs the ashramic protection
which the Master provides. At the indicated second initiation he receives a
quality of stimulation which enables him to "see" the astral plane as
it essentially is; with this revelation comes also the recognition of the basic
human necessity to "make it holy" or to "render whole" that
which provides the most disturbing element in the existence of mankind.
After the 3rd initiation the
initiate is tested for his fitness to work in the Will of God/with Shamballa
energy
(DINAII 384) Still another question could well be
asked: What is the [Page 384] attitude of the group during initiation if the
individual members are undergoing different initiations? Is the group integrity
imperiled? During the period of initiation, their attitude is one of focussed,
concentrated and deep meditation in which the inner attitude is given solely to
the concept of Hierarchy. The disciple is not, at this time, occupied with the
Ashram of which he is a part or with any questionings as to the nature of the
Ashram into which he is now entering as an initiate—either as an initiate of
the Earth initiations or, in the senior grades, as an initiate of the Sirian
regime. He is—during the first four initiations—entirely centred in
consciousness upon the larger Whole wherein the Ashram to which he belongs is a
part; he is attentive to the Christ, the Head of the Hierarchy, because He is
the Initiator of the first two initiations which always seem to the neophyte of
major importance. After
the third initiation he
is attentive to that "veiled Presence of awful Power Who tests his fitness for working in the
will of God." I
would ask you to note the peculiar phrasing "working in the will of
God," and to remember that that Will, centred or focussed in Shamballa, is one of the great basic energies; the
initiate has to learn to work in and through that Will. If, therefore, each
initiate in the group is conscious of the initiation next to be taken, then
subconsciously he eliminates all awareness of outer contacts and stands alone,
and yet in group formation, before one or other of the two Initiators. The
inflow of dynamic energy which comes to him through the application of the Rod
of Initiation becomes a group inheritance and serves to galvanise, integrate
and fuse the group into renewed activity and a deeper subjective union.
(DINAII 387) The "area of promise" wherein
the divine thought is projected, directed and held true to the originating
impulse of the planetary Logos is to be found on cosmic levels and remains
there unchangeably. It is that which holds Sanat Kumara, in His Council Chamber at Shamballa, standing steadfastly by all those lives
which are undergoing redemption and by all those who are the agents of the
redemptive process until "the last weary pilgrim has found his way
home." These agents are the sons of men who will—each and all—demonstrate
eventually "within the courts of Heaven" and at the place of
initiation, the nature of their high calling; they will prove to all who can
grasp the significance of the demonstration that they have only "become
again in full expression what they have always been." Now the removal of
the veils of matter permits the inner glory to shine forth and—the redemptive
work now being finished—"they can walk with glory in creative
undertakings." I am quoting some words which the Christ used (at an
initiation held not so long ago) when addressing a group of new initiates.
4th initiation-the building
aspect of the Spiritual Will, and the Law of Assembly
(DINAII 402) "Purpose itself is only an energy, released within the Council Chamber at Shamballa. There it must take shape."
This point of revelation carries the initiate to one
of the highest points of
contemplation; we are
here concerned with his sudden apprehension—at the fourth Initiation of Renunciation—of another phase of the divine,
conditioning Will. He has begun to recognise and to interpret—even though in
[Page 402] an elementary fashion compared to what he will recognise at the
ninth initiation—the destroying
aspect of the Will as
it expresses itself through the Law of Sacrifice. Now, for the first time (as a
result of destruction), he can begin to grasp the essential building aspect of this same Will and to appreciate his future function as a
creative Builder. The building here to be carried forward, I would remind you,
is not the building which is distinctive of the second divine aspect—that of Love-Wisdom.
It is strictly connected with that of the first aspect of Purpose, Power or
Will; it deals with the processes which precede the actual creative building,
the drawing up of the
blueprints (if I may
use such a term) "within
the confines of Shamballa," where high spiritual Beings must lay Their plans. This is a
different process to the creative building process, and is related to a
mysterious undertaking which is carried forward under the "Law of Assembly."
(DINAII 403) The process in which the initiate is now
permitted to share during and after the fourth Initiation of Renunciation (which is presented to him in a
successive series of points of revelation) is made possible by his submission
to the Law of Sacrifice. This, in its turn, brings his consciousness under the
influence—in developing stages—of the Law of Assembly. This is a law to which I
have not yet made reference in any of my previous instructions. The initiate
can now—through appreciated and comprehended revelation—add to his work with the
Plan and its building technique, a capacity to work with divine Purpose and
with those substances (etheric in nature) and those energies which permeate the
cosmic etheric body (the four higher planes of our cosmic physical plane) under
a law which is set in motion by the Father, but which makes the building
activity of the Son possible, so that it is utterly in line with divine
Purpose.
Another angle of this process, revealed by the point
of revelation attained in the fourth initiation, is that there is then
indicated the very highest point of the process of redemption, [Page 404] because the energies released
within the Council
Chamber of Shamballa
are "the living substance which is substitutory in nature and which is
made available to the progressing point of light." That point in the
divine consciousness which can be called (for our purposes) the Unit, Man,
redeems sequentially the substance of which all forms are made and brings into
manifestation the higher counterpart of that substance, released—for man's use—at Shamballa. This is a deep mystery and I fear it is
not possible for me to express these ideas with greater clarity. However, under
the Law of Correspondence or Analogy, the initiate can gradually come to a true
perception of the significances involved. These points of revelation emanate
from the world of significances, and not from the world of meaning; they cast
light, if truly interpreted and in due time, upon that world of meaning,
thereby redeeming and liberating the forms in the world of appearances.
You have therefore, in this suggested point of
revelation, the same three sequential methods of apprehension of truth as is to
be found in all such revelations. What are these methods?
There is, first of all, the recognition of a great
procedure which must, under the Law of Assembly, be responsible for the
bringing in of extra-planetary energies as the redemption of the worlds of
being and of form is carried forward by the second divine aspect. Of this
procedure I can tell you naught. The place or the location of the procedure of
assembly is made clear. It is in the Council Chamber of Shamballa. I would, however, brother of mine, call
your attention to the fact that Shamballa is simply a word conveying the idea of a vast focal point of energies which
are assembled and brought together by the planetary Logos in order to create a
manifestation adequate to His unfolding intention and planetary service. The
objective is equally clear; it is the assembly of that which has in it energies
of redemption. Just as the Science of Redemption, under the hierarchical Plan,
is the technique employed to redeem the world of appearances, so—on a much
higher level—the Law of Assembly [Page 405] produces the Science of Energy
which is the redemptive process (in a sense which you cannot possibly
understand) influencing the work of those who labour for redemption in the
world of meaning.
Again you see how all this comes under the three
stages of Penetration, Polarisation and Precipitation, for it is related to the
assembling of the redemptive energies brought into our ring-pass-not through
the activity of Beings
at Shamballa Who can
penetrate into extra-planetary spheres and then focus (within the Council Chamber at Shamballa) the energies thus assembled. They can then
precipitate them into the ring-pass-not of the Hierarchy, and consequently
hasten the redemptive work and carry the energies from the highest levels of
the cosmic physical plane down to the lowest level of outer, dense physical
manifestation.
(DINAII 413) 3. The light of the Triad, which is an
aspect of the spiritual Will, and which streams from Shamballa.
(DINAII 427) There are, therefore, three stages in the
penetrating process at this particular time:
DK is here telling one of his disciples
that he belongs to Morya’s Ashram
(DINAII 516) My relation to you is slightly different
to that which I face when approaching the bulk of the members of my Ashram; you belong, as does F.B., to the Ashram of
the Master Morya. You
have been assigned to my Ashram on account of the nature of the vibratory
activity of your astral body, and because—owing to your own definite soul
choice—you are shifting on to the second ray of love-wisdom. You might well
ask, therefore, how it happens that your orientation has been towards the
Master M. and that you have been affiliated with His Ashram. The reason is to
be found in the fact that your personality, your mental nature and your
physical body are all upon the first ray, and that consequently the power of
your intelligent and focussed mind has driven you into the aura of the leading
first ray Ashram, and has held you there. Closer participation was not
possible, owing to your sixth ray soul, whose natural and predetermined destiny
was to fuse its secondary energy with the energy of the second ray, thus
opening the door for you into a second ray Ashram. It was felt, therefore, that
I (through the medium of my Ashram) could provide those conditions which would
facilitate this transition and at the same time prepare you for the next great
spiritual expansion of consciousness—the initiation of which you know. This
will mark the consummation of this major life cycle.
As you know, and as I have before pointed out, you
have a profound task of balancing to carry out, owing to the ray [Page 517]
energies which at this time condition your life. Three aspects of the first ray
and two aspects of the sixth intensify each other. Were you not the advanced
disciple which you are, they would be liable to produce a life and karmic expression
of a fanatical self-will. To this difficult situation of balancing must be
added the difficulties always entailed in a transitional life wherein a major
transfer must be effected. To all this again must be added the present world
condition, wherein the Shamballa
force is abroad and
potently affecting those natures which have a preponderance of first ray
aptitudes. You have thus no easy time, my brother. This you realise, and I too
know it, and stand by.
It was for this reason that I have urged you for some
years to concentrate upon the
book "The Way into Shamballa," knowing that an intelligent and loving
consideration of the problem would do much to bring your first ray personality nature into line with the purposes of your
second ray soul, and thus facilitate the transfer of your egoic consciousness
off the sixth ray of devotion on to the second ray of love-wisdom. The first
and the second rays work closely together; love and will are closely identified
on the higher levels of consciousness and service; the two basic energies in
reality constitute one great expression of divine planning and purpose.
It is in this connection too that your relation to
F.B. and A.A.B. is no idle or temporary matter, but one of real import to all
of you. This A.A.B. has recognised. Several forces— inherent in your own nature
or engineered and manipulated by the ignorant or the less advanced upon the
Path—have endeavoured to interfere and prevent the desired relationship. The
matter is, however, entirely in your own hands and the amount of contact
between the three of you is your personal matter, for there is no impediment
upon the side of the other two. The three of you together could do potent work,
and the need of the Ashram at this time for workers is great—workers who are,
as H.P.B. has put it, "as the fingers of one hand."
I would remind you that the potency of disciples and
initiates is out of all proportion greater than that of a similar [Page 518]
number of aspirants. The interplay of loving understanding and of fused wills
produces an exceedingly potent reservoir of energy. This is a point which all
disciples should study and upon which they can count as they work together in
united effort in any Ashram.
Souls on the Wisdom aspect of the second
Ray go to Shamballa and join the great Council
(DINAII 518) As I study you, my brother and my friend,
and as I look ahead at your life of service and of right intention, one word
stands out in my consciousness for you. To it, I referred in the six statements
which I earlier gave you. That word is: simplicity. I stated in that earlier
writing that the simplicity
of the soul opens the way into Shamballa. That was and is an essential key statement for you.
Those upon the second ray fall (as you know) into two groups, generally speaking;
there are, naturally, numerous exceptions. Souls on the wisdom aspect of the second ray go to
Shamballa and join the
great Council in some capacity or another. Such a one
was the Buddha. Those on the love aspect of the second ray tread one or other of
the various paths, primarily that of the World Saviours; They become the divine
Psychologists and World Teachers. The Christ combined in Himself all these
three great traits.
Those in this second group of souls upon the second
ray likewise fall into two groups: They follow the way of specialised detail
and of a comprehensive inclusiveness, and are the outstanding occultists; the
other group is distinguished by pure love. Of the group which finds its way into Shamballa a developed simplicity will be found to govern all relations.
Simplicity and unity are related; simplicity is
one-pointedness of outlook, free from glamour and the intricacies of the
thoughtform-making mind; simplicity
is clarity of purpose and steadfastness in intention and in effort, untrammelled by questioning and devious
introspection; simplicity leads to simple loving, asking nothing in return;
simplicity leads to silence—not silence as an escape mechanism, but as an
"occult retention of speech."
For you, simplicity is a major essential practice in
this next cycle of your life, but you will have to decide for yourself [Page
519] what it means for you, and I shall be interested to note your reaction to
this word and practice and the changes it may make in your life and thinking.
Simplicity connotes the blueprint which "substands" the outer
structure of creation, of living, of loving and of service, and this is true of
a solar system, a planet, humanity or the individual. It consequently has its
immediate application to your own requirements and your mode of approach to
life and to people. This loving simplicity—free from complicated thinking, from
mystery and from selfish introspection—should provide the theme for your
meditation work until I next communicate with you. To this I would add an
increased concentration upon the preparation of the book which I seek to have
you write and to complete.
You see, my brother, it is a book which will take much
intuition and spiritual perception to write, and it can only be written by
someone who has been trained in an Ashram. The theme of Shamballa is new, and little is yet known about it, its way
of life and its governing laws. Only initiate-disciples can get a glimpse of
some of the more exoteric significances, whilst the inner meaning must be drawn
forth by you in deep and concentrated meditation and by the determined use of
the will. There is no one who can aid you in preparing this book except some
group brother or someone working consciously in an Ashram. You will look in
vain for cooperation and help among those you seek to aid and among the
orthodox and theological esotericist. Some key thoughts I can here give to you,
and if you use them as the theme of your meditation, light upon the subject may
break forth:
1. Shamballa is
the place of purpose. It is a purpose which cannot be understood until the Plan
is followed. Herein lies a clue.
2. Shamballa is
not a Way, but a major centre of related states and a relatively static
energy—energy held ready for creative purposes by the focussed intention of the
Great Council, acting under the directing eye of the Lord of the World.
[Page 520]
3. Shamballa is
the major point of tension upon the planet. It is a tension that expresses
loving intelligent will, free from all self-will or mental bias.
4. Shamballa is
the major receptive agent upon the planet, from the angle of solar inflow, but
at the same time it is the main distributing point of energy, from the angle of
the kingdoms in nature, including the fifth kingdom. From the point of tension
the life pattern of the planetary Logos and His will become embodied and
finally matured through the processes of evolution.
5. Shamballa receives
energy from various solar and extra-solar Entities or centres of emphatic and
energetic life; i.e., from Venus, from the Central Spiritual Sun, from the
current conditioning constellation through which our sun may be passing, from
the Great Bear and other cosmic centres. Sirius, so important a factor in the
spiritual life of the planet, brings its energies to bear direct upon the
Hierarchy, and energy
from Sirius does not
normally enter our planetary life via Shamballa.
6. Shamballa is the head centre, speaking symbolically, of our planetary Life,
focussing will, love and intelligence in one great and fundamental Intention
and holding that focussed point throughout the entire life cycle of a planet.
This great Intention embodies current purpose and expresses itself through the
medium of the Plan.
These statements may be somewhat familiar to you, but
they could provide the six seed thoughts for your meditative work during the
coming year. Will you thus consider them? Out of the work which you will
accomplish thus in meditation (using the heart centre as a balance for the
head) you will greatly enrich the proposed book.
This coming period of deep reflection upon Shamballa, entailing as it will the entire problem
of the Will (in its various aspects), of purpose as it works out in the planet,
and of will as it conditions the human being, will bring to the fore in your
consciousness the various relations existing between the differing aspects of
the will: the relation of your individual self-will to the loving plan of the
soul, of that will to [Page 521] the divine Will, of your spiritual will to the
group will, of the group will to the Hierarchy, and of the hierarchical will to that of Shamballa. Such are some of the ideas which can
govern your spiritual thinking, reflection and meditation until you again hear
from me. You will find all these to be intensely practical considerations. The
question of motive will immediately enter in, for motive underlies will in a most curious manner, and motive "substands" purpose. Therefore, your personality motives in
life and service will have to come under review, and their relation to soul
motive. The result of this entire process of thinking will be the subjugation
of your motives to soul motive, and again, therefore, we shall have the
simplification of your life and the opening up of a wider vision into
Shamballa. Shamballa and
simplicity, will and motive, will become the directing currents of thought which will sweep you on
your way, closer to my Ashram, nearer to my heart (and here I am speaking both
lovingly and technically), and nearer and closer to humanity.
November 1944
MY BROTHER AND MY FRIEND:
What I have to say to you today hinges upon one single
question: Are you ready to pay the price which the taking of the next
initiation entails? All accepted disciples are preparing for initiation. All
are therefore under test. You know that you are preparing for initiation; you
know which initiation it is. It is because of this preparatory period that the
past three years have seen you seriously tested, and tested in every aspect of
your nature. There is, nevertheless, little that I have been able to do for you
because loneliness is one of the assets and also aspects of this work of
preparation. Disciples ever take initiations alone, even when preparing for and
taking group initiation. This is one of the paradoxes of the occult teaching which
is not at all easily understood. It sounds entirely contradictory but is not so
at all. It has not been easy to reach you either, because you have taken refuge
from the tests in the work of your own group, rather than in the Ashram. In
your own group you have sought forgetfulness [Page 522] and have not sought the
protection and the love of your ashramic group. That is your privilege and your
inalienable right. I would like, however, to point out to you that it is safer
and wiser to take refuge in both the higher and the lower places of service,
and to do this simultaneously. One place safeguards you as a soul and the other
as a personality.
The call of Shamballa, the call of my Ashram, and the call of your own
exoteric group (mark those words, my brother) have sounded forth in your ears
and you have been bewildered; you have forgotten perhaps that if you stand at
the midway point (which is my Ashram) you have immediate access to both
"points of call." I have here given you an important hint and want
you to endeavour to grasp its significance.
(DINAII 523) So, brother of mine, we come back to the
question of the reason for all this harshness in life and to the initiation for
which you are preparing. In connection with this I would say: Get back to the
"midway point" and to the protecting love of the Ashram. Then the strength of Shamballa to which you so easily respond can safely
pour in; then, too, will come the wisdom which will enable you to render better
service to the world. See therefore how simple is the message which I have for
you at this time, and remember that I told you last year that simplicity held
for you the key to all success. You are not truly successful just at present.
Simplicity does not rule.
This disciple had a lot of trouble managing
the Shamballa force
(DINAII 527) The book you have lately published I have
psychometrised and find it to be sixth ray in nature; it will prove most
helpful to probationary disciples, and they need such help; it will not help
disciples, for it deals with that which they know well. The call went out to you from the Ashram to
write upon the theme of Shamballa, the centre where the will of God is known and from
whence the love of God flows forth. This you rejected, owing to the emotional
turmoil in which you found yourself. Yet I had a purpose and a reason in
suggesting this theme. It was not just to have a book which would be of service
to disciples, but because it was essential—as part of the pre-initiation tests
for you—to bring in some
of the Shamballa force
to your consciousness. It
was the impact of this Shamballa force (which you can touch and to which you can
intelligently respond) which was the main factor in bringing to the surface all
the latent emotion and all the glamour which are today enveloping you. As you
considered the theme of Shamballa (and later rejected my suggestion to write
upon it) you brought yourself [Page 528] in contact with the energy emanating from Shamballa. Yet, my brother, had you occupied
yourself with my suggestion and dealt with the theme The Way into Shamballa much of that Shamballa force would have been transmuted along
constructive lines and creative endeavour, and your condition would not be what
it is today.
Shamballa is to the Master what the Ashram
is to the Disciple
(DINAII 563) You might ask: To what specific end? You
know that such a mode of daily life should not and must not last for several
lives, because the goal thus expressed becomes increasingly active in its outer
service and form. You will remember however, my brother, that there are times
when the Master, speaking technically, goes into a state of consciousness which
we call samadhi. This means that for a stated and qualified time, He quits His
created threefold lower vehicle and "travels in consciousness" to
those levels whereon the spirit aspect can commune with Him, wherein the force
of the Spiritual Triad can re-stimulate and revitalise Him. On these levels,
His vision is renewed and He
draws from the force of Shamballa—according to His degree—the inspiration (again
speaking technically) for a new cycle of service. This requires on His part
absence or a state of withdrawal, [Page 563] for the space of several hours as
we count them on Earth, from His body of manifestation. In the case of a
disciple in training, true samadhi is not possible. The cycles of enforced
quiet and of conscious withdrawal from the pressure of daily life out in the
world of business and of men have to be of great length, though—as progress is
made—these periods get shorter and shorter. On the lower turn of the spiral,
the Ashram is to the disciple what the courts of Shamballa are to the Master. That is why, my brother, I gave you that
special meditation last year upon the theme of the Ashram. I trust you have
followed it with care.
Masters of DK’s rank can only make contact
with Shamballa at certain stated periods
(DINAII 564) One thing, however, you will have to
watch with care. As you know, and as I pointed out to you some years ago, you
have an undue number of rays along one particular line; your equipment of
energies is therefore somewhat unbalanced, and this will require the process of
obtaining equilibrium before you can move on to the more potent Ashram of K.H.
The potency of an Ashram is necessarily dependent upon the status, the degree
and the experience of the Master at its centre or heart. The more advanced the
Master, the more of the
energy of Shamballa
which will pour into the Ashram. The Master K.H., being a Chohan and one of the
senior Masters (ranking next to the Christ Himself), can "walk into the courts of Shamballa" at will. Masters of my degree can only make contact with Shamballa at certain
stated periods, and
one of the goals of our training is to move steadily forward into a closer
relationship with the Christ, and through Him with the Lord of the World. The
Ashrams for which Masters of my degree are responsible are not, therefore, so
potent.
It will be necessary for you to bring into your outer
experience more force, and that of the first ray; it is necessary, also, that
you should develop those conditions which will enable you to assume and work
through a first ray personality when you next come into incarnation. To do this
I would suggest that you study the instructions of I.S.G-L., given by me to him
last year.
There I gave him six statements anent [Page 565] this
mysterious and holy centre which we call Shamballa. For this year's meditation, I would ask you to take
the third statement and ponder it deeply, relating it to the sixth statement
and endeavouring to arrive at an understanding of both of them. This you can do
through the key which you will find in the first sentence of the meditation
which I gave you in that same series. In these three statements and in their
true comprehension you have the mode whereby you can put yourself en rapport with the Shamballa
force. No disciple can
do this without establishing
a tenuous thread along which he can some day travel towards those sublime levels where the planetary Logos and His Council function. The first step is to respond to first ray
energy; later you will come to use it consciously and constructively—not
employing its destructive aspect—and thus learn to use first ray energy as a
channel of approach; that, however, constitutes a much later stage.
The Ashram of a Chohan has a strong
Shamballa pressure- These Ashrams concern the “will in action through the ray
qualities”
(DINAII 566) You have profited much from the attention
you paid to the last instruction I gave you; you have also done a good and
creative task, aiding A.A.B. Even though it did not involve your own rays, I
suggested your working temporarily along first ray lines because it would
strengthen you greatly and bring the Will aspect more definitely into
expression. You will have realised that it has been necessary for you to develop more will and fiery determination and powerful
understanding, prior to transfer into the Ashram of K.H. This transfer will
eventually take place, but you are not yet ready [Page 566] to stand the strong Shamballa pressure which is ever to be experienced in the
Ashram of a Chohan. Mine, as you know, is an Ashram subsidiary to His.
Why, therefore, did I direct you towards the will aspect when both Ashrams are on the
second ray and you are
predominantly a second ray disciple? Because the subsidiary Ashrams deal with
the ray qualities in action and in service, whilst the major or senior Ashrams
concern in all cases the will in action through the ray qualities. This is
possible because the major
Ashrams are presided over by those who have achieved the sixth initiation; Ashrams such as mine are under the
guidance of a Master or Initiate of the fifth degree.
You have needed much to study the nature of the will.
A disciple's ideas on this subject are apt to be far removed from the reality;
the understanding of the will is a progressive matter and disciples on all rays
have to arrive at comprehension of Will activity as they move forward.
Up to hit 159
Compilation Shamball part4
(DINAII 578) It seems to me that so oft I
have to say this year to hard-pressed chelas: The way has been difficult. But
so it is, and your way in life has been no exception. Great waves of karmic
impact have beaten upon our Earth—that little ship adrift in time and space and
sailing the great ocean of the cosmos. The Lords of Karma have looked towards
our planet. Energy follows thought and that, my brother, is all that karma is—the impact of directed energy upon the
Earth, upon the kingdoms in nature, upon man and upon the individual disciple.
Much of this karma, especially now, is not individual in purpose, nor is it
generated in any way by the individuals affected by it, be it an individual
disciple, or an ordinary human being. It is largely incident at this time to
the karma of the One in Whom we live and move and have our being. It is
primarily also in the sphere of Shamballa, and
has small relation in the first instance to humanity at all. This means but
little to you, I realise. This karma working out in Shamballa has, however, led to the vitalising of the activities
of certain "will-full" men; they have loosed great evil upon the
Earth. But this karma will also produce the stimulation of goodwill, and thus
lasting good will offset temporary evil. This must not be forgotten.
(DINAII 596) There are five Masters and
five Ashrams involved in this preparatory work. First of all, there is the
Ashram of the Master K.H.; this is the presiding Ashram in this work owing to
the fact that it is a second ray Ashram and, therefore, upon the same line of
energy as that of the Christ Himself; another reason is that the Master K.H.
will assume the role of World Teacher in the distant future when the Christ
moves on to higher and more important work. Next comes the Ashram of the Master
Morya; the reason for this is that the whole procedure is projected from Shamballa and the Ashram of the Master Morya is ever
in close touch with that dynamic centre. The Master R.—as the Lord of
Civilisation—is also closely involved; He is also—and this is of major
importance—Regent of Europe.
(DINAII 598) There is little else that I
can say to you, brother of mine, save to tell you that you are trusted and that
you will increasingly demonstrate the strength which comes to you from Shamballa, via your own Master. On that strength you
may now draw. A.A.B. is quite correct when she says that your major hour of
opportunity is now upon you as slowly she withdraws into that service which
will (within the Ashram) enable K.H. to do more deeply spiritual work in
collaboration with the Christ. It was to train her and thus enable her to do
this that she undertook—alone and without my help—to found and organise the
Arcane School; it gave her much needed training and experience and enabled her
to demonstrate the quality of the teaching and that esoteric psychology which
is the major task in each Ashram and particularly in the second ray Ashram.
(DINAII 609) There are many Ashrams upon
the various rays. My Ashram, being a second ray Ashram, is naturally closely
related to that of K.H., which is the central or the most important Ashram upon
the second ray line of energy as it penetrates the hierarchical centre. K.H. is
at this time, under the Christ, the working Representative of the second ray in
the Hierarchy. The Christ
is the link between the second ray as it expresses itself in the Hierarchy and Shamballa. Initiates of high degree and Masters on
all the rays have Their Own Ashrams, but not all are teaching centres; this is
a point to be remembered, as well as the fact that all of them are not
concerned primarily with the unfoldment of the human consciousness and with the
needs of the human kingdom. There are other types of consciousness of deep and
real importance in the great chain of Hierarchy stretching from below to far
above the human kingdom. This is a point apt to be forgotten.
(DINAII 610) It will be obvious to you also
how the symbolism of an eclipse will come into your mind, for when the merging
is complete, humanity and the Hierarchy will be one; there will be no outer or
inner and no middle chamber, but only complete unity. Later in our planetary
history, this design will also depict the relation of Shamballa to the Hierarchy. It can also be applied most usefully to
the relationship between soul and personality, wherein the "encroaching
light of the soul obliterates the dim light of the personality, and within that
lighted area the disciple learns to stand."
(DINAII 669) The work which it is planned
for them later to undertake will eventually prove so difficult that it is
essential that they start with a strong bias towards wisdom. Contact with the
"Ashrams of loving
intent" (as
certain Ashrams close to the aura or periphery of Shamballa are called) suffices later to evoke the love aspect
in greater fullness, enabling the disciples, therefore, to present a balanced
instrument to the Divine Organiser of their future work. Just what this work
will be is not for me to say. It is connected with the training to be given
neophytes and aspirants in the next race, where the [Page 669] average aspirant
to discipleship will be expected to be as intuitive and motivated by pure
reason as the aspirant today has to be mental. Technically speaking, that means
that the buddhic plane will be the focus or place of growth, and those who
train disciples will work from the plane of atma or pure spiritual will, just
as today they work from the plane of buddhi or of rational unity. Ponder on
that last phrase.
(EINA 140) This all sounds to you
necessarily peculiar and too abstract and farfetched to make much sense. I would have you remember that much which is
familiar to you today and which constitutes a definite part of the recognised
facts of daily life would, a few hundred years ago, have been regarded as
equally peculiar, incomprehensible and impossible. What is really taking place is the hastening
of the processes of light manifestation, and this has become possible because
of the point of attainment of humanity and the increased stimulation which is
being applied to the race by the Hierarchy, assisted by forces emanating from Shamballa.
(EOH 72) THE HIDDEN SOURCE OF THE OUTER
TURMOIL
January 1939
Another angle from which the world
situation can be viewed with profit is to look for the hidden source of the
outer turmoil. This is seldom what men think it is, for the source lies in the
realm of energies and forces. As I explained elsewhere (The Destiny of the
Nations, pages 3-47), there are three great streams of energy working
powerfully in the world at this time and two others are also struggling for
expression, making the five that—together—will determine the trend of world
affairs. To repeat briefly:
Only twice in our planetary
[Page 72] history has this Shamballa energy made its presence felt directly-first
time in Lemuria a the time of individualisation-second time
In Atlantean days during the
battle between the Lord of Light and the Lords of Material Form
(EOH 72) 1. The first and the most powerful
force is that pouring
into the world from Shamballa, the planetary centre where the Will of God is known. Only twice in
our planetary [Page 72] history has this Shamballa energy made its presence felt directly: the first time, when the great human crisis occurred at
the individualisation of man in ancient Lemuria; the second time, in Atlantean days in the great struggle between the Lords of
Light and the Lords of Material Form, also called the Dark Forces. Today, this
force streams out from the Holy Centre; it embodies the Will aspect of the
present world crisis and its two subsidiary effects or qualities are:
a. The destruction of that which is undesirable and hindering in the
present world forms (in government, religion and society).
b. The synthesising force which binds together that which has hitherto been
separated.
The Shamballa force is so new and so unrecognised that it is hard for
humanity to know it for what it is—the demonstration of the beneficent Will of
God in new and potent livingness.
2. The second major force which is potently
making itself felt today is that of the spiritual Hierarchy, the planetary
centre where the Love of God holds sway, as it swings into one of its major
cyclic approaches to the earth. The problem before the Hierarchy at this time
is so to direct and control all five of the powerful energies that the Divine
Plan can materialise, and the close of this century see the Purpose of God for
humanity assuming right direction and proportion.
3. Humanity itself is the third major
planetary centre through which one of the three divine aspects, Intelligence,
is expressing itself, producing its world effects.
Shamballa will be fully manifest
in the next solar system
These three centres are closely
interrelated and must be thought of as expressions of divine livingness, as
embodying three stages in the unfoldment of God's Plan, and as constituting the
three major centres—Head, Heart, Throat—in the body of the One in Whom we live
and move and [Page 73] have our being. Students can relate these three centres
to the three solar systems, referred to in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire. In the first solar system, the centre which is
Humanity was prepared
and the principle of intelligence came into manifestation. In the second solar system, the Hierarchy of Love made its appearance
and must come into full manifestation, thereby enabling the love of God to be
seen. In the next solar
system, the centre
which we today call Shamballa, will manifest the Will aspect of Deity
intelligently through love. It is interesting to note that it is only through
human beings, that these three centres ever come into true functioning
activity; and likewise that the three major ideologies (the totalitarian, the
democratic, the communistic) may be the response—distorted and yet
responsive—to the forces playing from the two higher centres on to the human.
This we discussed earlier (The Destiny of the Nations, page 22).
(EOH 73) Those of you who are seeking to
serve humanity and to join in the Hierarchical effort to bring healing to a
world in pain, must learn to penetrate behind appearances, behind the methods
and schemes, the results and effects on the physical plane and endeavour to
contact the forces of
Shamballa or of the
Hierarchy, plus the human need which has produced these modes of expression and
thus see them for what they are—not worn out systems and childish efforts at improvement
but embryonic plans whereby, eventually, may come release and the culture and
civilisation of the New Age. If you are seeking to bring illumination into the
dark places of the earth (which means into the minds of men), then you must
yourselves see clearly and relate the abstract and the concrete in such a
manner that, in your own lives, a working idealism may be seen; only so can a
working idealism of a national, racial and human nature also be seen. The head
as well as the heart must be used, and this many earnest people are apt to
forget. Can you possibly work at high tension in this endeavour—a tension
produced by the interrelation of the head and the heart, working out creatively
through the [Page 74] throat centre, esoterically understood? In this last
sentence I have expressed for disciples the nature of the effort they need to
make.
(EOH 75) There is little that I can tell
you about the Dark Forces. They are not the problems of humanity but that of
the Hierarchy. The task of these Forces is the preservation of the form life
and the working out of methods and aims which are inherent in the processes of
manifestation. The Black Lodge, so-called, is occupied with the form aspect of
[Page 75] manifestation; the White Lodge, with the consciousness aspect. It
might, therefore, be stated that:
1. Shamballa is occupied with the life aspect in its graded
impulses.
2. The Hierarchy is occupied with the consciousness aspect in its
graded series of expansions.
3. The Black Lodge is occupied with the matter aspect in its
multiplicity of forms.
(EOH 76) The Forces of Darkness are
powerful energies, working to preserve that which is ancient and material;
hence they are pre-eminently the forces of crystallisation, of form
preservation, of the attractiveness of matter, and of the lure of that which is
existent in the form life of the three worlds. They consequently block
deliberately the inflow of that which is new and life-giving; they work to
prevent the understanding of that which is of the New Age; they endeavour to
preserve that which is familiar and old, to counteract the effects of the
oncoming culture and civilisation, to bring blindness to the peoples and to
feed steadily the existing fires of hate, of separateness, of criticism and of
cruelty. These forces, as far as the intelligent peoples of the world are
concerned, work insidiously and cloak their effort in fair words, leading even
disciples to express hatred of persons and ideologies, fostering the hidden
seeds of hatred found in many human beings. They fan to fury the fear and hate
of the world in an effort to preserve that which is old and make the unknown
appear undesirable, and they hold back the forces of evolution and of progress
for their own ends. These [Page 76] ends are as inscrutable to you as are the
plans of the Ruler of
Shamballa.
(EOH 78) Why our planet and this solar
system should have been constituted the nursery for the seeds of separativeness
and why this remnant of humanity, far more advanced than ours, should have been
destined to work out its future on our earth, is hid in the knowledge of the Lord of Shamballa, and is unattainable knowledge for you
and, indeed, for many [Page 78] in the Hierarchy. It is simply a fact to be
accepted by you. The solution will come, as I said, when the races regard the
Jewish problem as a humanitarian problem but also when the Jew does his share
of understanding, love and right action. This he does not yet do, speaking
racially. He must let go of his own separative tendencies and of his deep sense
of persecution. He will do this latter with great facility, when he grasps, as
a race, the significance and inevitability of the Law of Karma, and from a
close study of the Old Testament and of the acts and deeds there claimed by him
as his racial acts and deeds (conquest, terrorism and cruelty), realises that
the law is working out and incidentally releasing him for a greater future.
There must, at the same time, be a realisation by the Jew and Gentile of equal
responsibility and equal liability for the present world difficulty.
The two forces to which I have been
referring must, therefore, be taken into account by all disciples as they seek
to serve in this critical cycle; these two forces must also be taken into your
calculations as you start this new group work or your wrong idealisms and
thoughts may hinder the group work. You must recognise theoretically the five
forces (three major and two minor) which meet and clash in the human family at
this time. It has been necessary for me to bring these facts to your attention.
If disciples are to do group work together on mental levels, they must clear
their minds of prejudice, hatreds and any tendency to superiority and
criticism. You cannot work, as a group, if these ideas and thoughts are
present, and I am preparing now to teach you some of the first stages of group
work and usefulness. It would not have been necessary for me to deal with these
world problems if you had been immune from emotional reactions to them, but
very few of you have your minds clear from prejudice and free from hatred.
Those few make the work possible and it is also possible for the rest of you to
detach your minds from undue influence and wrong ideas.
I ask you, in this work, to concentrate upon the Shamballa and the Hierarchical forces. I ask you to
regard yourselves [Page 79] as pure and unclogged channels and to seek only to
be linked with the soul of each and all, whose nature is pure love, realised
synthesis and divine potency.
(EOH 86) According, therefore, to the
condition of the sensitive bodies of the planet, of nations and of individuals,
so will be their reaction to the five kinds of inflowing forces. The Shamballa force, for instance, in making its impact upon
first ray types, and upon the other ray types on that line of major energy—the
third, fifth and seventh ray types—evokes widely differing results than when it
makes an impact upon the second ray line of energy; the results of the impact of Shamballa energy upon the first
ray individuals and
nations can be potent in the extreme. This impact, being relatively a new one
to humanity, evokes in the world today all the political and organisational
changes which are so prevalent and so disturbing. There is little that humanity
can do about this except endeavour to balance this first ray display of energy
with second ray or hierarchical force. This latter energy—working through the
world religions and the men and women who respond to the love influence—can
change methods (though not the purpose or the direction) by pouring in the love
force.
Again, that force which we regard as
emanating from the strictly human centre, the third ray type of energy, is of
the third or creative order; and in these three energies you have, in reality,
the expression of the three major centres of the planetary Logos. The first or
will energy is, as you know, focussed in Sanat Kumara, the Ancient of Days (as He is called in the Christian Bible),
the Lord of Shamballa, Who is the embodiment of the Personality
of the planetary Logos. The love force is focussed through the two great
spiritual Lords of the Hierarchy, the Buddha and the [Page 87] Christ, Who are
both embodiments of the heart centre of the planetary Logos, for the Buddha
represents the twelve-petalled lotus in the head, of which the Christ
represents the counterpart, the twelve-petalled lotus of the heart centre. This
is a fact seldom grasped or even mentioned. The petals of the throat centre are
represented at this time by certain of the leading world rulers, whose activity
is responsible for the rapid creation of the new world with its rapidly
altering civilisations and culture. These thoughts will provide much that you
would do well to consider.
(EOH 89) I wonder whether you can grasp the
implications of this paragraph. When the mind aspect (the third aspect of the
personality) is more fully developed, then the focus of the effort of the Dark Forces will change and
the problem of the Jews will disappear. Mankind is not yet handling its problems
intelligently. Thus the forces and energies of the creative process are
exceedingly active at this time in preparing what I might call the
"material of the world" and the substance of all the four kingdoms in
nature for the coming changes. As the ploughman turns the soil of his field and
harrows it, and so brings that which is underneath to eventual fruition, so a
similar process is taking place in the world today, and all is preparatory for
the sowing and its resultant effects. These effects will constitute the new
Aquarian culture and civilisation. In this process the Hierarchy is taking a
definite and influential part and is working more uniquely and specifically
than ever before in the history of the world, under instruction and vital aid from Shamballa.
(word processor would not include the table
for some reason)
(EOH 91) I have referred above to the five
streams of energy and have related them to the five centres. Let me extend the
idea somewhat by pointing out that these five energies are related to the
centres or the lotuses to which I referred in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, or to
the dynamic point within the lotus, through which the central life of the lotus
flows; in the case of the first
three energies (of Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity) you have the permanent point of life,
light and activity in the lotus; in the case of that potent energy connected
with the Jews, you have a very temporary inflow of energy, and in the case of
the Forces of Materialism, you have a relatively temporary—though apparently
permanent—focal point of reactionary energy.
(Table on page 92 EOH)
(EOH 107) The third was the inflow of the force of will or power from
the Shamballa centre.
This, as previously explained, is the most powerful force in the world today,
and only twice before in the history of mankind has this Shamballa energy made
its appearance and caused its presence to be felt through the tremendous
changes which were brought about. Let us recapitulate briefly.
The first time was during the great human
crisis which occurred at the time of the individualisation of men in ancient Lemuria.
[Page 107]
The second time was at the time of the struggle in Atlantean days between the
"Lords of Light
and the Lords of Material Expression."
This little known divine energy now streams out from Shamballa. It embodies in itself the energy which lies behind the world crisis of the moment. It is the Will of God to produce certain racial and momentous changes in
the consciousness of the race which will completely alter man's attitude to
life and his grasp of the spiritual, esoteric and subjective essentials of
living. It is this force which will bring about (in conjunction with the energy
of love) that tremendous crisis—imminent in the human consciousness—which we
call the second crisis, the initiation of the race into the Mystery of the
Ages, into that which has been hid from the beginning.
(Table page 107 EOH)
(EOH 108) This Shamballa energy now for the first time is making its impact upon humanity directly and is not stepped down, as [Page 108] has
hitherto been the case, through transmission via the Hierarchy of Masters. This
change of direction constituted a somewhat dangerous experiment as it
necessarily stimulated the personalities of men, particularly those whose
personalities were along the line of will or power and in whom the love aspect
of divinity was not sufficiently expressing itself; it was, however, permitted
because it was realised that it would not affect the man in the street or the
masses who would remain unresponsive to it, though it might greatly stimulate
and intensify the mental and more potent type of man.
The effects of this widespread stimulation
have been all that was anticipated and the so-called "evil results" of the Shamballa
force upon ambitious
and powerful personalities in all countries and all schools of thought have,
nevertheless, been offset to some extent by the growth of the sense of
relationship everywhere and by the spread of the Christ energy which generates
at-one-ment, loving understanding and goodwill.
You might here rightly enquire how this can
be so when humanity is overwhelmed by a ghastly world war at this time. I would
remind you that the Hierarchy is guided in its conclusions by the mass light
and by the inner subjective oft unexpressed reactions of the multitude and never
by the outer happenings upon the physical plane. The fate of the form life and
of outer organisations is deemed of small importance compared with the sensed
inner spiritual development. That development must necessarily outrun the outer
manifestation. Humanity is today further advanced spiritually and mentally than
might appear from external happenings. The first result of such development is eventually the
destruction of the outer form because it is proving inadequate to the pulsing, inner, spiritual life;
then, secondly, comes the building of the new and more adequate outer
expression. This accounts for the world crisis at this time. The cause is based
upon four major factors upon which I would like somewhat to enlarge:
(EOH 111) To the above two reasons another
might perhaps be added which will have significance and meaning to esotericists
and to all who have in any way grasped the teaching I have attempted to give
you in my books anent the three world centres—Humanity, the Hierarchy and Shamballa. This world crisis is related to the approach or the
relation [Page 111] of the Hierarchy to Humanity. That great spiritual centre
of force, the Human Kingdom, has now reached a point of such potency and of
such a high vibratory activity that it is shaken to its very depths; all its
evolutionary grades and groups are responding to the stimulation, generated
within the centre itself and also stimulated by Forces emanating from the
hierarchical centre and from Shamballa.
(EOH 118) Today, all that is taking place
is due, first of all, to the essential duality of man; in the second place, it
is due to certain major lines of cleavage which were brought about by this
essential dualism in an early stage of human history, and thirdly, to the
growing tendency towards synthesis
which the inflow of the Shamballa force is producing at this time. This is the simplest
statement I find it possible to make anent this complex problem. With broad
generalities I cover the past, indicate the effects which are now being
experienced in the present, and forecast the future.
The karma of the conflict in
Atlantis is so real that the same leaders of the Atlantean conflict were active
during the 20th century one too
(EOH 126) Intelligent appreciation of the
situation and a general capacity to present to the mind the underlying
conditions has now been achieved by the bulk of the intelligent people upon the
planet and, though the point of view is necessarily coloured by national
traditions, inherited ideas and policies as well as by environmental control
and bias, the race has gone a long way towards its final emancipation. There
is, therefore, a certain measure of free will displayed, and this constitutes
an entirely new factor and a most satisfactory development. But I would remind
you of a most important point and that is that the masses of the people—the
middle classes, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat (I use these words in their
general sense and simply because of their significance and meaning)—are still
victims of authority, of control, and remain relatively unthinking and
childlike. This means that the true conflict is between a small minority to
whom the issues are illuminatingly clear and who have definitely ranged
themselves on one side or other of the embattled forces. A mere handful of men, the direct
descendants or rather the reincarnations of the leaders in the ancient
Atlantean conflict, are now on earth, directing the forces of light or of darkness and
bringing into being a direct line-up of millions of men whose will is that of
their leaders.
The lines of cleavage have grown steadily
until now they can be expressed in terms of a humanity which is oriented
towards the higher spiritual and altruistic values and whose keynotes are
sacrifice, group good and world understanding, and those whose focus is
predominantly material and whose aims are selfish, animated by ambition and the
spirit of acquisition.
(EOH 127) It was the acuteness of this
situation, and the wide extent of the cleavage, which induced the watching
Hierarchy to permit a direct
inflow of the Shamballa force (in spite of its attendant risks) to pour into the world. The
objective was to stimulate the free will of the masses; the result upon them
has been relatively good as it has led to the formulation and expression of the
great world ideologies—Fascism, [Page 127] Democracy and Communism as well as
that peculiarly distorted blend of Fascism and Communism which goes by the name
of Hitlerism or Nazism. All these ideologies are fostered by the desire of the
masses for the betterment of the condition in which the populace in any country
lives and it has become focussed, expressive and creative by the force of the Shamballa influence. But another result of this inflow of the
will-to-power has been to stimulate a certain group of outstanding
personalities in many lands so that they have assumed control of the masses and
can thus determine the policies and methods—religious, political and social—of
the different nations. In every nation a relatively small group of people
decide all important issues and determine all major national activities. This
they do either by force, terror and deception or by persuasion, fair words and
the application of ideological motives. Of this situation in the world the
Lords of Destiny are availing themselves in order to bring the ancient conflict
to an end and so enable humanity to pass into the new Aquarian Age relatively
free and with a clearer understanding of right human aims, right relationships
and man's predestined future.
(EOH 129) As for the other group, they are
those who through inclination or ancient karma are the descendants of the Lords
of darkness; their actions and ideals make possible the activity of the forces
of materialism. I would have you note that phrasing. Even the most dangerous of
them are nevertheless conscious of some form or another of idealism, but they
are misguided and full of response to the will-to-power (power upon the
physical plane and through the medium of form activity). This is stimulated by the inflow of the
Shamballa energy.
Because of these reactions and tendencies, they constitute focal points for
those Lives and [Page 129] Energies which are inherent in matter itself and
whose influence and work are dedicated to the preservation of form, and of that
which is. They endeavour constantly to negate the new and to hold back the
evolution and development of the human consciousness. Forget not that the real
issue is in the field of consciousness and that the struggle is between form
and the life within the form, and between progress, leading to the liberation
of the human spirit, and reactionary activity, leading to the imprisonment of
the human consciousness and the restriction of its free expression.
(EOH 131) It will be apparent to you that
three major methods or modes of producing these fusions can be noted.
Nevertheless in these three groups there is
much of interest to be noted. One of them, Great Britain, represents a fusion,
the foundations of which have been laid in a long historical past of preparation
for government; another, that of the U.S.A. represents a fusion which is
unfolding and developing in the present which is new in its experiments, though
employing factors from every nation in Europe; the U.S.S.R. in its turn
represents a coming fusion or future synthesis. In these three, you have an
interesting and immediate expression of the three divine aspects, each of which
inspires and colours the embryonic civilisation.
A most interesting experiment is,
therefore, working out in these three groups of interrelated elements and
differing national ideals. The U.S.S.R. will eventually place its emphasis and
direct its major interest upon Asia, bringing about great changes on that
continent, as far as the Pacific The other,
Will-towards-Synthesis-British
Empire-Shamballa
Force of Hierarchy-USA-Hierarchy
The Will-to-be of
Humanity-USSR-Humanity
It will also be apparent to you if you have
rightly understood the above suggestions that the Shamballa force is working through that
community of federated nations called the British Empire and is expressing the will-towards-synthesis and the will to just and legal procedure.
It is the force of the
Hierarchy which can
express itself increasingly
through the
The Shamballa force was demanded
at the 1425 Centennial conference of the Masters
This was due to the fact that permission for the inflow of this force was
given when demanded at
the Centennial
Conference of the Hierarchy, held in 1425. I referred to this conference in my earlier
writings.* (WM 401-433) & (EPI 170-189)
In the second group of changing ideologies
and of reaction to mass need, you will find France, Germany, Italy, Spain and
Portugal, all of whom have altered their ancient policies, changed their forms
of government and reacted
gradually and slowly to the Shamballa force. They have, however, reacted to that force through the
medium of certain great and outstanding personalities who were peculiarly
sensitive to the will-to-power and the will-to-change and who (during the past
150 years) have altered the character of their national life, and emphasised
increasingly the wider human values. The men who inspired the initiating French
revolution; the great conqueror, Napoleon; Bismarck, the creator of a nation;
Mussolini, the regenerator of his people; Hitler who lifted a distressed people
upon his shoulders; Lenin, the idealist, Stalin and Franco are all expressions of the Shamballa force and of certain little understood energies.
These have wrought significant changes in their day and generation and altered
the face of Europe, incidentally affecting Asia and conditioning attitudes and
policies in
Shamballa force has led to two
vital characteristics
The results even when dangerous and
terrible, have developed two vital characteristics in humanity. One has been
the widespread development
of the discriminating faculty, and secondly, a tendency
to dispersion with its [Page 134] consequences of diffusing civilised and
cultural values and
the diverse gifts of the many people to the world soul. The drift of people to
the colonies from Great Britain, the drift of the people from every nation in
Europe to America, North and South, the dispersal of people within national
boundaries as the result of war and expediency such as the evacuation of cities
has brought about today, the removal of people out of Italy and of groups of
people within Russia, and the constant moving onwards of the wandering Jews
indicate a breaking down, upon a world-wide scale, of all outer boundaries and
the institution of a process of blending and amalgamation such as the world has
never seen before. It constitutes an educational system of untold value,
leading as it does to the constant necessity to readjust viewpoints, to change
modes of living, to intermarriage and so-called illicit relations. The outer
change is producing an inner synthesis and outer dispersion, and cleavages are
working out interiorly in closer relations and a more tolerant spirit of
understanding. The power to consider, to choose, to think and to discriminate
is rapidly developing among all classes everywhere as a result of the many
cataclysmic happenings, the presentation of many changing circumstances and the
many points of view and theories of government and of religion; these grow
naturally out of new contacts and the rapid presentation of events through the
medium of the press and the radio.
(EOH 150) The invocation, evocation and
resultant activity of the Hierarchy and of those Forces, Energies and Beings
Who are not controlled by matter in any way, or by substance (the lower pole of
manifestation) but Who are related to the positive spiritual pole is a new
activity, and as yet relatively an untried experiment on the part of humanity
and the formulas unknown. Of what use was it to impart the formulas to humanity
when it was as yet controlled by the lower values and unable to lay hold upon
the soul aspect and to function on that level of consciousness whereon the soul
is found. Only those can use the formulas effectively who live, work, think and
feel as souls, which means ever in group terms.
Today, however, there are those in every
land who are rapidly becoming aware of the soul as a controlling factor in
consciousness, who respond to world affairs and conditions increasingly as
souls, and who can, therefore, be trained to work upon the physical plane. When
this is so, it becomes possible to impart certain of these Words of Power and
mantrams and to institute that new and potent activity which will bring the
Hierarchy and Humanity into conscious and direct cooperation, as well as Shamballa and certain great [Page 150]
Forces which are interplanetary or solar, and also great cosmic Energies. It is now possible
to discover those who—being free within themselves and who are learning rapidly
to be detached and selfless—can institute and carry forward the task of
invoking these higher spiritual forces, thus reinforcing the efforts of the
Great White Lodge. It is this process of spiritual invocation which will
motivate the new and coming world religion. This is not magical invocation, as
man understands it, and which is concerned with the invocation and control of
the substantial and elemental forces of the manifested world, but the
invocation which will evoke contact with the spiritual Lives and the divine
embodied Energies as well as with the Hierarchy (which is Their intermediary)
in order to bring about the manifestation on earth of the soul of humanity and
the qualities of the subjective and inner divine life which all outer forms
veil. This is now for the first time possible in the life of the planet.
(EOH 152) The evocation of the Hierarchy
through right invocation is proceeding also rapidly, producing much activity
and response from the Hierarchy of Light.
2. To set up a closer relation with the
third, major divine
centre on our planet, Shamballa. From that centre, the will of God goes forth and the
power of God becomes the messenger of His will. Hitherto that highest form of
spiritual energy has only reached humanity (as I have before told you) via the
Hierarchy. Today, it is deemed desirable that it should be ascertained whether
there are enough selfless and group-conscious people upon the planet to warrant
a direct inflow of that higher energy to humanity, thus producing upon the
physical plane a hastening of the divine plan and a more rapid working out of
that which is to be. This direct contact can be produced if the Great
Invocation [Page 152] is used by the world aspirants and disciples in
collaboration with the Hierarchy. Hence the emphasis I have laid upon all of
you using this Great Invocation as souls and as those who are in touch in some
small measure with the Hierarchy. When the note of humanity and the note of the
Hierarchy are synchronised by the use of the Great Invocation, there will come a dynamic and immediate response from
Shamballa, and that
will rapidly take place which the Hierarchy and the world disciples desire to
see.
(EOH 153) b. The second effect will be the
forming or constitution of a planetary triangle or recognisable triad which
will be the correspondence between the three planetary centres to the spiritual triad of
Monad, Soul and Personality (the atma-buddhi-manas of the theosophical literature). Hitherto the
word alignment has best described the planetary situation; there has been a
straight line along which energy has poured from Shamballa to the [Page 154] Hierarchy and from the Hierarchy to
Humanity, but this has meant no direct interplay between Humanity and Shamballa. If the Great Invocation can be rendered
effective, humanity can then set up a direct relationship with Shamballa. The resultant triangle of
force-relationship will promote the circulation of spiritual energies between
the three centres from point to point so that there will be a triple relation.
A planetary process of give and take between all three will then be
established, and the emphasis upon giving will be far more pronounced.
(EOH 155) A clue also to the significance
of pain and of suffering will gradually emerge in the world consciousness as
study is made of the above statements. Suffering is the most effective and most
rapid way of evoking world understanding and of burning away the barriers which
human beings have set up to the expression of the will-to-good. One of the most
beneficent results of the inflow
of the Shamballa force
through [Page 155] the focussed demand of the aspirants and world disciples
will be the intelligent recognition of the uses of pain and suffering. It is
this truth—distorted and selfishly misapplied and interpreted—which has led
certain types of people and certain types of governing bodies among the nations
to take the position that the greater the suffering inflicted (as, for
instance, in war time) and the greater the process of terrorism, the quicker
the end which is desirable and right; they hold often that the more dire the effects
of planned conditions, the more rapidly will the correct consummation be
achieved. It is not, however, the duty or right of man to turn first ray force
to selfish ends or material objectives; responsibility cannot be veiled behind
specious and distorted half truths and evil cannot be done in order that good
may come. What is applied by the Lord of the World in Shamballa under the motivation of love, wisdom and
selflessness with a sure touch and a judgment as to times and seasons cannot be
so used by those motivated by personality objectives, either on an individual
or a personality scale (for nations as well as individuals have personalities).
Ponder on this and seek enlightenment from the soul.
3. When the Great Invocation is thus rightly used and the world centres are
consequently consciously interrelated, then certain extra-planetary Energies
can be called in by the
Ruler of Shamballa to
aid in the re-adjustments required for the New Age and its coming civilisation.
These Forces—spiritual and potent in nature—exist in two categories: solar
Forces which are inter-planetary and cosmic Forces which enter into our solar
system via Jupiter as the transmitter of divine energies from Virgo and
Aquarius which Jupiter esoterically governs. Virgo is esoterically the mother
of the Christ child and is, therefore, the emanator of energies which nourish
and aid the growth of the Christ consciousness; Aquarius is the coming
expression of the group consciousness which is the first and immediate
revelation of the ever present Christ consciousness on a large scale in
humanity. Jupiter also, exoterically and from the angle of orthodox [Page 156]
astrology, rules Sagittarius, the sign of discipleship, and also Pisces, the
sign of the world saviours. The implications will, therefore, be obvious to
real students.
In considering these great Energies, there
is little you can do beyond accepting—if you care to do so—my statements anent
them, regarding them as interesting and simply explanatory hypotheses. There is
little that you can do (or I either) to arrive at first hand knowledge of the
facts along this line. Few even of the Members of the Hierarchy are conscious
of the impact of force from extra-solar centres or reservoirs of spiritual
force. Only the group of
Contemplatives in the Hierarchy which are given the exoteric name of Nirmanakayas are responsive to Their influence in any
conscious manner and then only when that influence has been stepped down by
certain powerful
agencies in Shamballa.
It is not necessary for me or for you to say more anent Them though I shall
touch upon Them again later in this article.
(EOH 156) Prior to taking up the Great
Invocation sentence by sentence, I would like briefly to touch upon the needed
procedure as you attempt to say it correctly and effectively:
Forget not, first of all, the necessary
process of alignment wherein you do two things:
1. Endeavour consciously (which for most of
you at present means imaginatively) to align or link soul, mind and brain so
that there is a direct and free inflow from the higher Self to the lower.
2. Endeavour to realise or register your
relation to the Hierarchy, via your own group of disciples (if you know which
it is) or in relation to whichever one of the Great Ones or Masters appeals the
most to your heart and mind. If neither makes any appeal to your consciousness,
the same results will be achieved if you seek to link up with the Christ.
Initiates and Masters use the
Great Invocation in a manner totally differently-Masters link directly with Shamballa
I might here point out that the difference
between the linking up that you can effectively do and that which is done by a
Member of the Hierarchy itself is that you link up [Page 157] via the Hierarchy
and then through the medium
of the Great Invocation reach forth to Shamballa whereas the initiates and the Masters link Themselves directly with
Shamballa and use the
Great Invocation in a manner totally different to that in which you use it.
There is for you and the average aspirant no direct contact, and that is
definitely fortunate for you. I may not further elucidate.
(EOH 160) When the world aspirants and
disciples use this Invocation, the first phrase takes the consciousness to the Hierarchy of Light,
which is the intermediate centre between Humanity and Shamballa. It serves then to emphasise and establish a close
rapport, blending and fusing the human and the hierarchical centres. When this
has taken place, the Hierarchy can then use this Great Invocation with greater
potency and can carry the relation to a higher state still and produce a
blending with the Shamballa
centre, where the
Forces of Light are found as embodied Presences and where Their focussed energy
serves to provide great reservoirs of light and love. These have hitherto not
been made available for planetary distribution, owing to the lack of
established relation between the three centres: Humanity, Hierarchy and [Page
160] Shamballa.
That relation is now becoming somewhat established; the inflow of light
and love to humanity is now possible if the disciples and aspirants of the
world can be led to make the needed effort to stand in spiritual being and,
from that poised attentive attitude, to invoke these great Entities. It was to
this possibility that the story in the New Testament refers where reference is
made to the pool which was stirred at times by the Angel and thus a condition
was produced which led to the healing of the sick. The Angel of the Presence,
the soul of humanity, as embodied in the Hierarchy and those who are consciously
endeavouring to function as souls can now stir these reservoirs of force and
light upon etheric
levels in Shamballa so
that a definite "healing of the nations" can take place.
When the thought behind the Great
Invocation can be carried high enough in the consciousness of those using it
through a joint effort of the world disciples and the Hierarchy of Light—as
well as being reinforced by the Forces of Light—then the Spirit of Peace can be
invoked.
The three planetary centres can
be linked with the Great Invocation (this applies to the last Invocation DK
gave too)
On a lower turn of the spiral, you will
note that the Wesak Festival enacts a similar invocation and process. It is a
re-enacting and training process. There and at that time, the three Representatives of Shamballa within
the Hierarchy—the Manu, the Christ and the Mahachohan—invoke the Buddha, Who in His turn is the
transmitter of still higher Forces. He is invoked by a special mantram and
transmits the appeal to the One Whose agent He is. If this Great Invocation which we are studying can be rightly said, the three great
planetary centres can be related in a similar manner. The Lord of Civilisation, the Master R.,
representing humanity, the Christ representing the Hierarchy and the Lord of the
World, linked through the Manu
and representing Shamballa can be brought into a close relation so that the result will be the
setting up of such a potent vibration and note that the Spirit of Peace will be
invoked and contacted. By the voiced appeal His attention will be forced to
turn itself towards our planet. The consequences will be significant and potent
but as to the form which they [Page 161] will take it is impossible for me to
say. Perhaps it will lead to some peculiar and powerful demonstration of the
meaning of peace as the expression of universal and planetary love; perhaps it
will produce the sending of an Avatar or Messenger of Peace to lead the nations
to right action; perhaps some happening will take place of such significance
that its import will be immediately recognised by humanity as a whole, leading
them to take all the needed steps to restore right human relations. The nature
of the activities which the Spirit of Peace will institute is not our
responsibility. Our duty is to learn rightly to contact the Hierarchy, via our
own souls; rightly to use the Great Invocation as souls, and rightly to render
ourselves responsive to and sensitive to the resultant effects. Ponder on the
above.
It might, therefore, be noted that the
Forces of Light express Themselves through the Hierarchy of Light and Their
major effect is the illumination of the minds of men with love and light. This
precipitates upon the mental plane. The personality or the form aspect of
humanity is thereby pervaded and illumined. Thus the third great planetary
centre, Humanity, becomes creative and magnetic, and two divine
aspects—intelligence and love—will reach fruition upon the physical plane,
making it possible for the first aspect and the will of God (understood by
humanity as the Plan) to be consciously carried forward on earth in conformity
with the activity instituted
at Shamballa. The will
of God is purpose and this is, for the first time, to be recognised consciously
by man.
(EOH 162) The Spirit of Peace will, when the
right time comes, vitalise the responsiveness of humanity, via the influence of
the Hierarchy, to the will of God which has for basic intent the bringing of
peace on earth. What is peace? It is essentially the establishing of right
human relations, of synthetic rapport with its resultant cooperation, of
correct interplay between the three planetary centres and an illumined, loving
understanding of the will of God as it affects humanity and works out divine
intent. It is for this reason that the Christ, Who established for the first
time in planetary history a [Page 162] contact between the Hierarchy, Humanity,
Shamballa and the Spirit
of Peace in His Own
high place, in His first recorded utterance said that He must be about His
Father's business and then at the end of His life, reiterated the same thought
in the words: "Father, not my will but Thine be done," thus carrying
the thought up to the highest plane for He addressed the Father, the first
Aspect of Divinity. He then focussed in Himself the two major divine attributes
and aspects—will and love (atma-buddhi)—and because of this, His consciousness
became extra-planetary as is the consciousness of the Lord of the World, and He
could then touch certain heights of awareness and contact certain solar Agencies
which had never before been contacted by man. This achievement enabled Him to
put Humanity in touch with the Spirit of Peace. He thus Himself became the
Light of the World and the Prince of Peace.
In this manner, Shamballa and the Hierarchy were brought into a close
relationship and two great streams of force were blended and a definite
interplay set up between them. The Buddha, through His achievement of
illumination, established the first major link with the Forces of Light. The
Christ, through His ability to express the will of God in love and as world
salvage, established the first major link with the Spirit of Peace.
If you will study the above information
with care, you will find that the importance of the Wesak Festival at the time of the
full moon of May will
assume increasing importance in your minds. It is the festival at which three
factors of importance to humanity are brought into relation:
1. The Buddha, the embodiment or agent of
the Forces of Light can then be contacted and that which They seek to transmit
to humanity can be consciously appropriated.
2. The Christ, the embodiment of the love
and the will of God and the agent of the Spirit of Peace, can also be contacted
and humanity can be trained to appropriate this extra-planetary type of energy.
[Page 163]
3. Through the Christ and the Buddha, humanity can now establish a close relationship with Shamballa and then make its own contribution—as a
world centre—to the planetary life. Pervaded by light and controlled by the
Spirit of Peace, the expression of humanity's will-to-good can emanate
powerfully from this third planetary centre. Humanity will then for the first
time enter upon its destined task as the intelligent, loving intermediary
between the higher states of planetary consciousness, the super-human states
and the sub-human kingdoms. Thus humanity will become eventually the planetary
saviour.
If you will have these thoughts in mind,
the first three phrases of the Great Invocation will assume great significance.
Let me put some of these significances in tabular form:
(Table page 163 EOH)
(EOH 165) The three aspects of divinity in
man achieve practical expression through the influence of the Great Invocation,
both in living usefulness and true comprehension—true at least in so far as
man's present point in evolution permits of his correct apprehension of
significance. Goodwill, as the practical and possible expression of love
demonstrates on earth, evoking right relationship; light, as the expression of
the Hierarchy pours into the human consciousness, irradiating all dark places
and evoking a response from all [Page 165] forms of life in the three worlds of
manifestation, and in the three subhuman kingdoms through the medium of the
human; peace, as the expression
of the will of Shamballa
produces balance, equilibrium, synthesis and understanding, plus a spirit of
invocation which is basically an action, producing reaction. This demonstrates
as the first great creative and magical work of which humanity is capable,
swinging, as it does, all the three divine aspects into a simultaneous activity
in line with the will of God.
We come now to the last two phrases which
summarise the effects—synthetic and eternal (and consequently lasting) which
the establishment of direct
relationship with Shamballa will produce in the two other planetary centres, the Hierarchy and
Humanity. I refer to effects which will express themselves as a group activity,
motivated by the essential values of selflessness and persistent effort (which
is sustained concentration, in the last analysis) and thereby producing
conditions for which the Lord of the World, the Ancient of Days, has long
waited. The patience and
sustaining love of Shamballa is infinite.
The fourth phrase runs: May forgiveness on
the part of all men be the keynote at this time. As you know, the word
"forgiveness" is a curious and unusual one and signifies (according
to the best derivative sources) simply "to give for." Forgiveness is
not therefore, a synonym for pardon though the word has been distorted in
theological circles to mean this, so little has the Church understood the
basic, motivating power behind divine expression in our solar system.
Theologians ever think in terms of the human mind and not in terms of the
divine mind. Forgiveness is sacrifice, and is the giving up of one's self, even
of one's very life, for the sake of others and for the good of the whole group.
This spirit of sacrifice is ever found when the Shamballa force is rightly contacted, even in the smallest degree, and the underlying
impulse behind the loving will of God is sensed and understood, accompanied as
this always is with the desire to participate in that will and its spirit of
divine sacrifice. Manifestation is itself the Great Forgiveness. The [Page 166]
stupendous Lives—outside manifested existence—entered into manifestation in
order to give Themselves for the lesser lives and forms of existence in order
that these lesser lives might be enabled to proceed onward towards a goal which
is known to Deity alone, and thus eventually reach high places of spiritual
expression. Achievement is ever followed by sacrifice and the giving of the
greater for the lesser. This is an aspect of the Law of Evolution. Such is the
note and theme of the entire creative process and is the basic meaning of the
phrase, "God is Love," for love signifies giving and sacrifice, at
least in this solar system.
It is for this reason that the esoteric
teaching emphasises the fact that the soul of man is a Lord of Sacrifice and of
loving persistent Devotion—the two outstanding qualities of the Shamballa Lives, sustaining life and
giving. This is
lasting devotion to the good of the whole or the expression of the spirit of
synthesis and sacrifice in order again that all lesser lives (such as those
embodied in the personality of man) may rise to the "resurrection which is
in Christ," through the crucifixion or sacrifice of the soul upon the
Cross of Matter.
(EOH 169) I would point out that just as
the energies released by use of the first three phrases of the Invocation relate to the
Head, Shamballa; to the Heart, the Hierarchy; and to the Throat centre,
Humanity; so the right
use of this fourth phrase will bring into conscious, functioning activity the
centre between the eyebrows, the ajna centre in individual man and in humanity
as whole. This centre begins to become active and to function dynamically,
governing and directing the individual energies, once any real measure of
personality integration has been achieved. It is, as you know, the fourth centre
found above the diaphragm [Page 169] in the human body and the phrase which
awakens it (both individually and in the group) is this fourth phrase. There
is, therefore, a numerical relationship. When used wisely and intelligently by
human beings, many of the blended potencies which the first three phrases have
made available are invoked and so made available to the individual as well as
to the group. They can then be focussed for his use in the ajna centre. In many
ways, therefore, this fourth phrase of the Great Invocation is of paramount
importance to the individual as well as to humanity, invoking as it does great
and vital potencies and indicating process (Sacrifice) and purpose, plus the
identification of the unit and the group with the basic intent of manifestation.
(EOH 170) In the esoteric teaching, this
takes place in the life of the individual when—by an act of the will—the centre
at the base of the spine is aroused and the fire and the light of the personal
threefold life (one aspect of which is often called the kundalini fire) is
carried upwards and merged with the power and the light of the soul. The major
approach of the two basic energies of form and soul (as an expression of
spirit) are thereby related within the human being; the "marriage in the
heavens" takes place and the task of the creative process of incarnation
or individual manifestation is on the way to completion. Within the planetary
life, the same process goes on. The life of humanity as a whole (which is
intelligent form life) and the life of the Hierarchy (which is the life of the
soul), under impulse from the Spirit or will aspect as symbolised in Shamballa, are fused and blended and then a new
departure in the evolutionary process becomes possible. The
(EOH 225) I would here face you with these
alternatives and would ask you to consider your own position in these matters.
Does the story of Easter and of the living Christ carry no truth, and is it not
possible for that Risen Christ to express His power on Earth through His chosen
instruments? Is there no foundation for the myth of the annual return of the
Buddha, holding the door open between Shamballa and the Hierarchy so that, at need, intervention may
be possible through that open door? Is it only a silly dream and a fantasy that
at the time of the June
Full Moon, Christ—in
the closest cooperation with the Buddha—links the Hierarchy with Humanity? Is
it quite impossible that when humanity awakens to the fact of this mediatorship
and can then avail itself of the straight line of ascent and descent through
the doors held open by the Buddha
and the Christ, some
stupendous appearing may be imminent and suddenly take place? May it not be
possible that through the ascent of man's aspiration and spiritual desire, and
through the descent of the waiting Potencies, certain great changes may take
place, for which all the past has been only preparatory and through which the
Aquarian Age of brotherhood and understanding may make itself felt by virtue of
these great Potencies?
Wesak full moon of May is the
key to the open door between Shamballa and the Hierarchy
(EOH 227) Many people the world over have
for years been trained to recognise two things. First, the importance of the Wesak Festival at the time of the Full Moon
of May, because it not
only objectively links the major Eastern religion with the major Western faith,
but because it esoterically provides the key to the open door between Shamballa and the Hierarchy, between the purpose of God (still
unidentified by man, owing to his relatively low stage of evolution which makes
it beyond human comprehension at present) and the method of God, which is love;
it provides also the link between the Buddha, temporarily embodying
will-wisdom, and the Christ, embodying love-wisdom, and also between humanity,
focussed in consciousness through the Christ, and the Hierarchy, focussed in
consciousness through the Buddha. Owing to the stress of humanity today and the
urgency of the response which that distress evokes in the Hierarchy, the
synthesis of these two reactions to the world crisis can prove adequate to
bring in that outside assistance which could end the conflict along right lines
and bring not only relief, but illumination to the human consciousness. But
again—speaking here to a representative body of aspirants and disciples—I would
state that the focus and the emphasis is not yet adequate to guarantee this
extra-planetary response.
Nevertheless, it could be if, in your own
life of meditation [Page 228] and of discipline, in your speech with others and
in the general tone of your intercourse with your environment, you can
eliminate the negative and more selfish reactions and (for the sake of human
welfare) temporarily, at least, live at your highest point of aspiration.
Secondly, you have been trained in the
belief that all the information which I have given out anent the relation of
the Buddha and the Christ, and of the Hierarchy, Humanity and Shamballa, will form part of the coming new world religion and
that the theme of the Great Approaches will constitute the basic fundamentals
of the future spiritual teaching. This too you must have in mind, for the work
you are asked to do at the coming two Full Moons, and during the less important
full moons of the year, is not only related to the present emergency, but is
also constructively related to the future faith of humanity. Bear this also in
mind.
(EOH 229) That the will of Shamballa may be enabled to express itself through
love and through the meditation of the Hierarchy, working through all
disciples, aspirants and men and women of goodwill, is the earnest prayer of
your fellow disciple and co-worker.
(EOH 270) When this invocation is rightly
used and voiced by an adequate number of people, those who can in some measure
employ the enlightened will may succeed in reaching the Lords of Liberation and
produce, as a result, a phenomenal intervention of some kind. Those who work
more emotionally will reach the Rider from the secret place and may bring Him
forth to save and lead the masses of people. Are there enough focussed minds
and intense attentive hearts to reach the two centres where wait Those Who can
aid at this time? That is the question. It will happen when the three
centres—humanity, the spiritual Hierarchy of the planet, and the "place where the will of God lies hidden" (called in the ancient scriptures Shamballa)—are aligned and en rapport with each other. There
will then be established a direct relation between all three, and a direct
channel for the inflow of liberating force. This has happened only once before in the history of the
race.
(EOH 271) Owing to the fact that mankind is
so weakened by pain, strain and suffering, the probability is that it will not
be deemed wise for the Lords
of Liberation directly
to contact humanity. They will more probably do three things:
1. Stand behind and strengthen the Rider on the white horse as He responds to the demand of the people
everywhere, pouring through Him that dynamic energy which embodies the first
divine aspect, the will aspect, the power expression. Thus They will enable Him
to carry out the will of God in such a manner that humanity can grasp [Page
271] what is being done. Mankind will then see the Love which animates the Will
and Power of God. The true significance of liberty will then be revealed. It is
not yet understood.
2. Pour Their strengthening will-to-good
into the New Group of World Servers in all lands, so that there may be potent,
simultaneous action in line with the purposes of the Rider from the secret
place.
3. Stimulate and integrate into the minds
of certain advanced disciples a number of new ideals which must govern the
liberating process and find expression in the New Age. This was done in a small
way at the time of the French Revolution when the three major concepts of
freedom were expressed in the three words,
Certain racial interpretations of ideals will
also have to disappear in order to be succeeded by new and better ones. This
applies even to man's understanding of the three words which we have been
considering. "Liberty," as the Lords of Liberation may endorse it, is
in reality the recognition of right human relations, freely adjusted, willingly
undertaken and motivated by a sense of responsibility which will act as a
protective wall; this will take place, not through coercive measures, but
through correct interpretation and quick appreciation by the masses, who are
apt to confound licence (personality freedom to do as the lower nature chooses)
and liberty of soul and conscience. Yet this liberty is the easiest aspect of
the divine will for humanity to grasp. [Page 272] It is in reality the first revelation
given to man of the nature
of the Will of God and
of the quality of Shamballa.
"Equality"
is that peculiar understanding which the Coming One will reveal and which is
based on a right sense of proportion, correct Self-respect, and understanding
of the spiritual, yet natural, laws of Rebirth and of Cause and Effect, and
which will be founded in future centuries on the recognition of the age of a
soul's experience and gained development, and not at all on the loud emphatic
affirmation that "all men are equal." "Fraternity" is
something that humanity itself will contribute as an expression of the third
aspect of divinity, basing it on right contact and right reaction to contact.
Thus there will be developed gradually the true life-theme of humanity, which
is brotherhood, founded on divine origin (equality) and leading to a free and
true expression of divinity (liberty).
(EOH 274) Let the fiat of the Lord go
forth: the end of woe has come.
The ending of the present evil situation
is, therefore, a cooperative measure; and here, in this connection, we have the
appearance of the Lord of Civilisation Who voices and engineers upon the
physical plane the fiat of the Lord of Liberation and of the Rider from the
secret place. He aids and makes possible, owing to His control, the
precipitating upon the Earth and in the arena of combat, of the power generated
by the Lords of Liberation, expressed by the Coming One and focussed through
Him as the hierarchical Representative in
1. The Lords of Liberation, reached by the
advanced spiritual thinkers of the world whose minds are rightly focussed.
2. The Rider on the white horse or from the secret place, (Shamballa)
reached by those whose hearts are rightly touched.
3. The Lord of Civilisation, the Master R.,
reached by all who, with the first two groups, can stand with "massed
intent."
On the united work of these Three, if
humanity can succeed in calling Them forth, will come the alignment and the
correct relation of three great spiritual centres of the planet, a thing which
has never occurred before. Then:
[Page 275]
1. The Lords of Liberation will receive and
transmit to the Hierarchy energy from the centre where God's Will is known and
furthered.
2. The Rider will receive this energy and
take such action as will express it, plus the motivating energy from the centre
where God's Love is expressed.
3. The Lord of Civilisation will stimulate
and prepare the centre which we call humanity for right reception of this
re-vitalising, stimulating and releasing force.
Thus Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity
will stand consciously related and dynamically in touch with each other. The Will of God, the Love of
God and the Intelligence of God will thus fuse and blend on Earth and in relation
to human problems. Conditions will consequently be brought about and energies
will be set in motion which will end the rule of evil and bring war to an end
through the victory of the Forces of Light, recognised and aided by Humanity.
Racial Avatars emerge along the
line of the 1st ray and are very sensitive to Shamballa force
(EOH 298) 1. Racial Avatars. These Appearances are evoked by the genius and
destiny of a race. The typical man (in quality and consciousness, not
necessarily physically) foreshadows [Page 298] the nature of some race. Such a
man was Abraham Lincoln, coming forth from the very soul of a people, and
introducing and transmitting racial quality—a quality to be worked out later as
the race unfolds. Coming forth correspondingly from the realm of cosmic evil, and responsible for the focus of
materialism upon the planet today was
UP TO HIT 221
Compilation Shamball part5
The fifth, and highest type of
Avatar are called Divine Embodiments-and issue forth
Via Shamballa
(EOH 300)
I have considered some of these Avatars in my earlier writings under
different names and categories. I deal with Them here simply in an effort to
reach a wider public with the teaching on the doctrine of Avatars or of divine
Appearances. The Bible is full of such Appearances, but little is really
understood about Them. The above are the more familiar groupings.
In September 1940 I gave an interpretation
of a new Stanza of the Great Invocation, and in that communication I spoke of Divine Embodiments as the highest type of Avatar for which humanity could look at this point in its
evolution. I spoke of the activity of the Hierarchy and of Shamballa, should these two divine Agencies decide that
intervention in the form of a widespread cataclysm (engulfing all peoples) was
necessary, and I referred to the emergence of inspired leadership as another
and lower aspect of divine guidance and participation.
[Page 301]
Such inspired leadership is now being given
to humanity by Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt, in
contra-distinction to the focussed leadership of the forces of materialism
through Hitler and another man in his group. But it is not with this form of
leadership as expressive of the avataric principle that I deal here. Such
leadership is called forth by elements present in humanity itself. I deal now
with a fifth type of
Avatar, greater than
the other four. These Avatars have not, in this world cycle, experienced human
life.
Divine Embodiments come via
Shamballa and the Lord of the World, and embody divine purpose
5. Divine Embodiments. These Avatars appear rarely; and when They do, the
effectiveness and results of Their work are very great. They issue forth into manifestation via the
centre at Shamballa,
because They are an expression of the will nature of Deity; They embody divine purpose; the energy pouring through Them and
transmitted by Them is focussed through the Lord of the World; They can only be
reached by the united voices of the Hierarchy and of humanity speaking in
unison; Their service is evoked only by realised need, and only after those who
call Them forth have added to their faith strenuous action and have done their
utmost, alone and unaided, to overcome evil.
Divine Embodiments never descend
lower than the mental plane-express the energy of Shamballa, the destroyer
aspect of the 1st Ray (Plutonian energy), and bring about death
They never descend lower than the mental
plane, and the main
emphasis and attention of Their work is directed to the Hierarchy; the
Hierarchy is Their transmitting agency; They occasionally reach those thinking
people, focussed on the mental plane, who have clear vision, potent resolve,
directed will and open minds, plus of course, essential purity of form. These Avatars express the Will of God, the
energy of Shamballa,
and the impulse lying behind divine purpose. When They do come forth, it will be the destroyer aspect of the first ray of power
which They will express;
They bring about death—the death of all old and limiting forms
and of that which houses evil. Their work will, therefore, fall into two
categories:
b. They will reveal as much of the divine purpose as humanity is able to grasp through its
best minds and most dedicated aspirants; They will clarify the vision of the
world disciples and of all who have the disciplined will-to-know and who are
dedicated to and expressive of the will-to-good. This knowledge and this will
are needed in the coming period of readjustment.
How They will bring the present evil
conditions to an end and how They will destroy the present evil state of materialistic aggression I may not reveal. It is not yet certain
that human development and understanding and the massed intent of humanity will
be adequate to the needed demand and strong enough to call Them forth. Time
alone can determine that. God grant that the aspirants and disciples of the
world will awaken to the opportunity and the imminent and waiting possibility.
The plight of vast groups of people upon the planet today lies heavy upon the
heart of the Hierarchy. But to bring release and the Appearance of the Power that can liberate, human cooperation is needed. Nowhere is
this more desperately needed than among the German people in their unhappy
land. God grant, therefore, that those Germans who have vision may join the
forces of those who are seeking to free
When the Avatar comes He will convey to humanity something for
which we have as yet no true name. It is neither love nor will as we understand
them. Only a phrase of several words can convey something of the significance
and then only feebly. This phrase is "the principle of directed purpose." This principle involves three factors:
[Page 303]
a. Understanding (intuitive and
instinctual, but intelligently interpreted) of the plan as it can be worked out
in the immediate future.
b. Focussed intention, based on the above and emphasising an aspect of the
will, hitherto undeveloped in man.
c. Capacity to direct energy (through understanding and intent) towards
a recognised and desired end, overcoming all obstacles and destroying all that
stands in the way. This is not destruction of forms by force such as is now
being imposed on the world, but a destruction brought about by the greatly
strengthened life within the form. Only the next one hundred years will reveal the
significance of this statement and then only if the massed intent of the people evokes this Avatar of Synthesis during the
next twelve months.
The Avatar of Synthesis must be
invoked during the next twelve months
I have called this Being by this name
because it expresses the quality and the objective of the force He brings and
wields.
Another and lesser Avatar is also awaiting a call from humanity. He is esoterically related to the Avatar of Synthesis, being overshadowed by Him. This Avatar can descend on to the physical
plane into outer expression
and can thus step down and transmit the stimulation and quality of the force of
the greater Avatar Who can come no nearer than the mental plane.
The Avatar of synthesis will
work through a lesser Avatar-who may be the Christ, or it may be someone chosen
by him
Who this Coming One may be is not yet revealed. It may be the Christ, if His other work permits; it may be One
chosen by Him to issue forth, overshadowed by the Avatar of Synthesis and directed in His activities by the
Christ, the Lord of Love. In this way, the energies of both Shamballa and the Hierarchy will be focussed through the chosen
Coming One. Thus a triangle of loving, purposeful energy will be created which
may prove a more effective way of releasing energy and a safer way, than the
focussed impact of one selected force might be.
I realise the difficulty of this subject
and perhaps may simplify the matter by a brief summation:
[Page 304]
a. He will descend into the three worlds of
human endeavour, but no nearer than the mental plane.
b. He will transmit a cosmic energy whose quality is
Synthesis. This will
express itself through harmony and unity, producing necessarily understanding,
promoting goodwill, and eventually ending the separative, isolating tendencies
of mankind.
c. His note and vibration can only be
sensed by those whose individual note is also synthesis and whose life
objective is the will-to-good. These are consequently the Members of the
Hierarchy, the disciples and aspirants of the world and a few of the men of
goodwill.
The Lesser Avatar, who may be
the Christ, will coordinate between the Hierarchy and Shamballa
a. This lesser Avatar works today as one of the senior
Members of the Great White Lodge and is in close touch with the Christ, with the Manu
and with the Lord of Civilisation, the Master R.; He will act as the Coordinator between the
Hierarchy and Shamballa.
He will fuse and blend in Himself, through the quality of His Own life, the
three great energies:
The will-to-spiritual power.
The will-to-love in its spiritual
connotation.
The will-to-manifest spiritually.
b. The antiquity of the achievement of this
Coming One is to be found in the name applied to Him, which is found in so many
of the world Scriptures: The
Rider on the White Horse.
This refers to the time prior to the phrase so well-known in the Christian
fields: "The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." In the
earlier cycle, the then initiates spoke of the "sacrificial horse, slain to all eternity." It conveys
the same basic idea.
c. This Avatar can descend to the physical
plane and there appear, to lead His people—as the Prince Who leads through war
to peace.
[Page 305]
d. The whole problem before the Hierarchy
and humanity today, in connection with the coming Avatar, can be summed up in
the following four questions:
Can He bring the energy of synthesis with
Him, thereby bringing about rapid changes?
The Avatar of Synthesis will
only come through the massed intent of humanity
This depends upon His being overshadowed by
the Avatar of Synthesis
and upon that Avatar being evoked through the demand and the massed intent of
humanity, aided by the Hierarchy.
Will the demand of the people be strong
enough to evoke the higher potency, or will it be too feeble because of the
failure of the world disciples and aspirants to focus this massed intent
throughout the planet?
Will the higher overshadowing not take
place and only the
lesser Avatar come to
institute a slower method of gradual reform?
This slower method will be necessitated
only if and because humanity will have demonstrated its inability to call forth
and receive the higher measure and more potent vibration of divine energy. It
is entirely for the decision of the world disciples and aspirants; not the
decision of poor bewildered, deluded humanity. Will the world disciples and
aspirants appreciate the crisis and opportunity? They have not yet, as a whole,
done so.
3. The Hierarchy today stands with massed
intent. The cry of the masses is rising up to the very gates of Shamballa. It is stronger by far than the demand of
the spiritually oriented people—the disciples, the aspirants, the men of
goodwill. They seem—from the viewpoint of the Hierarchy—to be overcome by
inertia, to be engrossed by their theories and idealisms, and to be blind to
the issues at stake. Can they be aroused? Can they stand with focussed intent,
strenuous [Page 306] physical service and activity, and determined effort to
struggle, even unto death, for the defeat of evil? Can they preserve the inner
attitude of love and non-separateness? Can they relinquish all for love of
humanity? Can they sacrifice every thing for the cause of freedom and of
righteousness? This is the problem confronting Those Who are working for the
appearance of the Greater and the Lesser Avatars Who can at this time save
humanity if humanity desires salvation and will take the needed steps.
The Needed Steps
These steps are various in kind though one
in intent. The first step is to realise clearly what are the methods whereby the Avatar can come and so reach humanity. These are the same
methods, whether it is the Avatar
of Synthesis, working
through the Hierarchy, or the Avatar of Coordination (as I might call Him), working through humanity and representing the
greater Avatar upon the physical plane.
The methods whereby Avatars reach and
influence Their agents or those who respond to Their note, vibration and
message are three in number.
A group of Masters and initiates Who are
specially related to the Christ's department, as well as a group working under
the Master M., are endeavouring to respond to this overshadowing which is only
possible—even to Them—when transmitted to Them by the Christ. (I talk here of
mysteries.) It will therefore be apparent to you that, as They succeed and
become increasingly sensitive to and aware of this overshadowing energy of the
great Avatar, Their disciples on earth can also—in a dim and faint way—become
responsive to the ideas that are formulated in the mind of their particular
Master in response to avataric impression. Ponder on this.
2. Inspiration. This is more direct than overshadowing and more
potent in results. Certain Members of the Hierarchy and, above all, the lesser
Avatars, are inspired from "on high" by the cosmic Avatar and become
at times direct expressions of His mind, His energy and His plans. This is the
spiritual correspondence to obsession. In the case of obsession, a man is taken
possession of and inspired by some evil entity; in inspiration, there is no
possession but only what is called "identical response"—a very
different thing. In the one case, the free will and intelligent understanding
of the Master or the disciple is enlisted on the side of the spiritual Agent;
the spiritual man, functioning as a soul, becomes the channel for forces, ideas
and activities other than his own but to which he gives full intuitive assent.
It is all carried forward with full understanding and consciousness of method,
process and results. It is an act of free spiritual cooperation, for the good
of humanity, in the work of a great spiritual Force or Being. The cooperation
of the Master Jesus with the Christ is a case in point. In connection with the
coming Avatar, it may involve the cooperation of the Christ or of a
"kindred, equal soul" with a cosmic Being or Presence, taking place
on still higher spiritual levels of consciousness and producing an incredibly
focussed potency.
In the case of obsession, the evil force
enslaves the personality which, in the majority of cases, is but a shell. Of
this, Hitler is a case in point. This
produces greater potency [Page 308] on the physical plane and on the astral
plane; it is quicker and more immediate in results, but the lasting power is
less and the effects are relatively temporary.
In the processes of inspiration, the lesser
Avatar—through His life and contacts in the three worlds—will necessarily
influence sensitive, spiritually oriented disciples and aspirants, and thus the
inspiration coming from the cosmic Avatar becomes in time a group inspiration,
and therefore can be more safely handled. This group inspiration can happen
today. If it does, there will then be a simultaneous appearing of the cosmic
Avatar, the World Saviour in the Person of the lesser Avatar, and—at the same
time—a group saviour, composed of responsive disciples and world servers.
Ponder again on this.
In this way, if you will note carefully,
there is established a direct linked chain from humanity, via the Hierarchy, to
Shamballa. The Hierarchy is working at the
establishing of this chain, aided by Their disciples. The demand for the
cooperation of all aspirants is now going forth, because the times are urgent.
If this relationship can be established (and it will be a sad day for humanity
if it cannot), then the third method of avataric expression becomes possible.
(EOH 343) But all this determination is in
most cases simply the expression of a fixed and united desire. It is not the
organised use of the will. The secret of the will lies in the recognition of the
divine nature of man. Only this can evoke the true expression of the will. It
has in fact to be evoked by the soul, as it dominates the human mind and
controls the [Page 343] personality. The secret of the will is also closely
tied in with the recognition of the unconquerable nature of goodness and the
inevitability of the ultimate triumph of good. This is not determination; it is
not whipping up and stimulating desire so that it can be transmuted into will;
it is not an implacable, unshakable, immovable focussing of all energies in the
need to triumph (the enemies of the Forces of Light are adept at that). Victory
for the United Nations does not lie in the effort to produce this focussing
with better effect than the enemy. The use of the will is not expressed by an
iron fixation to stand steady and not yield to evil forces. Determination, the
focussing of energy and the demonstration of an all-out effort towards victory
are only (where the United Nations are concerned) the expression of a
one-pointed desire for peace and for an ending of the trouble. This type of
effort is something which the masses can give, and which they do give on both
sides in this conflict.
Shamballa force is a unifying
synthetic force, but can be used as a regimenting, standardising force.
There is, however, a plus, a something
else, which will swing the tide of victory on to the side of the United
Nations. This will come through the effort to understand and express the quality of spiritual Will; it will be the manifestation of that energy
which makes the first divine aspect of Will or Power what it is; it is that
which is the distinctive
feature of the Shamballa force; it is that peculiar and distinctive quality of
divinity which is so different that even Christ Himself was unable to express
it with facility and understanding. Hence we have the episode in
This Will force is nevertheless available
for right usage, but the power to express it lies in its understanding (as far
as may be possible at this midway point in human evolution), and in its group
use. It is a unifying,
synthetic force, but
can be used as a
regimenting, standardising force. May [Page 344] I repeat those two key words to the
use of this Shamballa
energy: Group Use and
Understanding.
Mankind has had much difficulty in
comprehending the significance of Love. If that is so, the problem in relation
to the Will will naturally be still more difficult. For the vast majority of
men, true love is still only a theory. Love (as we usually interpret it) works
out as kindness, but it is kindness to the form side of life, to the
personalities of those around us, and fulfils itself usually in a desire to
carry out our obligations and not to obstruct in any way those activities and
relationships which tend to the well-being of our fellowmen. It expresses
itself in a desire to end abuses and to bring about happier, material world
conditions; it shows itself in mother love, in love among friends, but seldom
as yet in love among groups and nations. It is the theme of the Christian
teaching, just as Will, divinely expressed, will be the theme of the coming
world religion, and has been the impulse lying behind much of the good work
done in the fields of philanthropy and human welfare, but factually, true love
has never yet been expressed—except by the Christ.
You might ask why, if this is so, do you
emphasise this highest aspect? Why not wait until we know more about Love and
how to manifest it in our environment? Because, in its true expression, the Will today is needed as a propelling,
expulsive force, and
also as a clarifying, purifying agent.
Some definitions of Shamballa
force
The Shamballa energy is therefore that which is related to the
livingness (through consciousness and form) of humanity; we need not consider
its relation to the rest of the manifested world; it concerns the establishing
of right human relations and is that condition of being which eventually negates the power of death. It is therefore incentive and not impulse; it is realised purpose and not the expression of desire. Desire works from
and through the material form upwards; Will works downwards into form, bending form consciously to divine purpose. The one is
invocative and the other is evocative. Desire, when massed and focussed, can
invoke will; will, when evoked, ends desire [Page 345] and becomes an immanent, propulsive, driving force,
stabilising, clarifying, and finally destroying. It is much more than this, but this is all
that man can grasp at this time and all for which he has, as yet, the mechanism
of comprehension. It is this Will—aroused by invocation—which must be focussed
in the light of the soul and dedicated to the purposes of light, and for the
purpose of establishing right human relations; it must be used (in love) to
destroy all that is hindering the free flow of human life and
which is bringing death (spiritual and
real) to humanity. This Will must be invoked and evoked.
There are two great handicaps to the free expression
of the Will force in its true nature. One is the sensitivity of the lower
nature to its impact, and its consequent prostitution to selfish ends, as in
the case of the sensitive, negative German people and its use by the Axis
nations for material objectives. The second is the blocking, hindering, muddled
but massed opposition of the well-meaning people of the world who talk vaguely
and beautifully about love but refuse to consider the techniques of the Will of
God in operation. According to them, that Will is something with which they
will personally have naught to do; they refuse to recognise that God works out
His Will through men, just as He is ever seeking to express His Love through
men; they will not believe that that Will could possibly express itself through
the destruction of evil with all the material consequences of that evil. They
cannot believe that a God of Love could possibly employ the first divine aspect
to destroy the forms which are obstructing the free play of the divine Spirit;
that Will must not infringe upon their interpretation of Love. Such people are
individually of small moment and of no importance, but their massed negativity
is a real detriment to the ending of this war, just as the massed negativity of
the German people, and their inability to take right action when Hitler's
purposes were disclosed, made possible the great inflow of ancient and focussed
evil which has brought the present catastrophe to man. Such people are like a
millstone around the neck of humanity, crippling true effort, murmuring, [Page
346] "Let us love God and each other," but doing nothing but murmur
prayers and platitudes whilst humanity is dying.
You can easily appreciate the fact that the
evocation of the energy of the Will and its effect upon the unprepared,
materialistically minded person might and would prove a disaster. It would
simply serve to focus and strengthen the lower self-will, which is the name we
give to realised and determined desire. It could then create such a driving
force, directed to selfish ends, that the person might become a monster of
wickedness. In the history of the race, one or two advanced personalities have
done this with dire results, both to themselves and to the people of their
time. One such figure in ancient times was Nero; the modern example is Hitler.
What, however, has made the latter so dangerously an enemy of the human family
is that during the last two thousand years mankind has advanced to a point
where it can also be responsive to certain aspects of this first ray force.
Hitler therefore found associates and cooperators who added their receptivity
to his so that an entire group became the responsive agents of the destructive
energy, expressing itself in its lowest aspect. This is what has enabled them
to work ruthlessly, powerfully, selfishly, cruelly, and successfully, at the
destruction of all that attempted to impede their projects and desires.
There is only one way in which this focussed evil will which is responsive to
the Shamballa force
can be overcome, and that is by the opposition of an equally focussed spiritual
Will, displayed by responsive men and women of goodwill who can train
themselves to be sensitive to this type of new incoming energy and can learn
how to invoke and evoke it.
The focussed will –to-good can
invoke the shamballa energy
You can consequently see why there was more
than the casual use of a current word in my mind when I talked to all of you in
terms of goodwill and of the will-to-good. All the time I had in my thoughts
not just kindness and good intention, but the focussed will-to-good which can and must evoke the Shamballa energy, and use it for the arresting of the
forces of evil.
(EOH 349) I would ask you to ponder on
these two functions which the Buddha has performed. There is a third which, in
collaboration with the Christ, He has made possible; this is the establishment
of a more easily achieved relation between the Hierarchy and Shamballa, thus facilitating the impress of the Will of God
upon the minds of men, through the medium of the Hierarchy. This impress we
interpret as yet in terms of the divine Plan. This is expressing itself at
present in the [Page 349] keen recognition by men everywhere of the need to
establish right human relations, culminating in the objectives for which the
United Nations are fighting. These have been voiced for humanity by two great
world disciples in terms of The Four Freedoms and The Atlantic Pact. These Four
Freedoms relate basically to the four aspects of the lower self, the
quaternary. Enough light has been permitted to penetrate by the efforts of the
Buddha, to lead to a world-wide recognition of the desirability of these
formulas; and there is enough love already in the world, released by the
Christ, to make possible the working out of the formulas. Rest back on that
assurance and—in full practice upon the physical plane—demonstrate its truth. I
said "to make possible," for the working out lies in the hands of the
New Group of World Servers and the men and women of goodwill. Will they prove adequate
for the task? Will they brace themselves for the needed strenuous effort?
What now is the task which the Buddha has
set Himself this coming Full Moon? As far as your comprehension is concerned,
it is to evoke in humanity the spirit of demand, whilst holding open for them
the channel whereby that demand can reach straight through to Shamballa. This is the point to have in mind as you prepare for
the Wesak Festival and attempt to participate in the Full Moon
blessing—blessing for the world and not for yourself. The Buddha comes this
year, embodying the force which can stimulate men everywhere to focus their
"massed intent" and thus reach symbolically "the ear and the
heart" of the Avatar, wresting thus from the secret place of the Most High
the aid, help, and directed recognition which will bring about a phenomenal
event in due and proper time. Whilst He is attempting to do this, the Christ
will join in the effort by focussing in Himself the spirit of appeal as it is
evoked by the stimulation being applied by the Buddha. He will embody that
appeal in a great Invocation, one which cannot be given to you, but which He is
prepared to use if the appeal comes forth in sufficient strength from the
people of the world. Will humanity respond to the evocation of the [Page 350]
Buddha? Will their massed intent be vital enough to enable the Christ to become
Himself, in a mysterious way, the very Spirit of Invocation on their behalf?
These are the possibilities with which we are confronted this Full Moon of May.
(EOH 350) One thing I would request. Set no dates for the appearing of the
Coming One, the Avatar,
or for any spectacular aid. If the work is rightly done, He will come at the
set and appointed time and the needed aid will be forthcoming. Modes and
methods are none of your concern. Regard the ancient prophecies as
intrinsically right, true and correct, but recognise that their phraseology is
symbolic and not to be taken literally. How the Lords of Liberation will work
can only be known to the Hierarchy. Their aid will be focussed [Page 351] upon
evoking in the Hierarchy those attitudes and capacities which will make
possible the inflow of energy from Shamballa. Their work is with the Hierarchy, and the reaction of
humanity to Their activity will come only from the New Group of World Servers,
and may even then only be registered consciously by the senior disciples and
initiates.
The work of the Avatar, the Rider from the
The first half of this work, focussed
through the Buddha, will begin in May 1942. The second half will be started by
the Christ in June 1942, but only if the invocation of the New Group of World
Servers and the massed intent of the men and women of goodwill is adequately
strong and adequately focussed. It will consequently be a reciprocal process of
invocation and evocation, facilitated by the extreme readiness to act and to
respond on the part of Those invoked by humanity, but handicapped by the lack
of sensitivity and the weakness of the will of those seeking aid. It is this
inadequacy which the Buddha hopes to remove when He comes to His people in May.
It is the strengthening and focussing of the will which the Christ is
endeavouring to foster with a special effort in June.
These two Full Moons are therefore of
paramount importance and should have a definite effect subconsciously upon the
minds of the New Group of World Servers and upon the hearts of the men and
women of goodwill in every land, nation and group. Let your meetings, your
meditation and your individual thinking be steadily focussed upon these points,
and endeavour to enter into the Full Moon exercises—both of May and June—with
as clear an understanding of what is taking place as you can and a clear
picture of the possibilities which can come as the result of right action. Both
the Full Moons should be times of effective service. The Buddha does not
require invoking. He will come. But the spirit of invocation needs evoking from
the masses and it is this work that aspirants everywhere can aid the Buddha in
bringing out, standing thus with Him and with the [Page 352] Hierarchy. At the
time of the Full Moon of June, and in preparation for the opportunity during
the entire month of May, the point of focus for all servers must be the Christ
and every effort must be directed to aiding His work as Representative for the
people. He will endeavour to gather into Himself all that they have of appeal,
prayer and demand—voiced or unvoiced—transmitting it in an act of spiritual
intent to Shamballa.
(EOH 362) This is necessarily no rapid
process but is an ordered and regulated procedure, sure in its eventual success
but relatively slow also in its establishment and sequential process. This
process was initiated upon the astral plane by the Buddha, and on the mental
plane when Christ manifested on Earth. It indicated the approaching maturity of
humanity. The process has been slowly gathering momentum as these two great
Beings have gathered around Them Their disciples and initiates during the past
two thousand years. It has reached a point of intensive usefulness as the
channel of communication between Shamballa and the Hierarchy has been opened and enlarged, and
as the contact between these two great Centres and Humanity has been more
firmly established.
At the June Full Moon, 1942, will come the first test as to the directness of the
communication between the Centre where the Will of God holds sway, the Centre
where the Love of God rules and the Centre where there is intelligent
expectancy. The medium of the test will be the united effort of the Christ, of
the Buddha and of those who respond to [Page 362] Their blended influence. This
test has to be carried out in the midst of the terrific onslaught of the powers
of evil and will be extended over the two weeks beginning on the day of the Full Moon (May 30th, 1942) and ending on June 15th, 1942. There is a great concentration of the Spiritual Forces at this time and the use of a special
Invocation (one which humanity itself may not use), but the success or failure
of the test, in the last analysis, will be determined by mankind itself.
You may feel, though wrongly, that not
enough people know about or understand the nature of the opportunity or what is
transpiring. But the success of such a test is not dependent upon the esoteric
knowledge of the few, the relatively very few, to whom the facts and the
information have been partially imparted. It is dependent also upon the
tendency of the many who unconsciously aspire towards the spiritual realities,
who seek for a new and better way of life for all, who desire the good of the
whole and whose longing and desire is for a true experience of goodness, of
right human relations and of spiritual enterprise among men. Their name is
legion and they are to be found in every nation.
When the Will of God, expressed in Shamballa and focussed in the Buddha, the Love of
God, expressed in the Hierarchy and focussed through the Christ, and the
intelligent desire of humanity, focussed through the world disciples, the world
aspirants and the men of goodwill are all brought into line—either consciously
or unconsciously—then a great reorientation can and will take place. This event
is something that can happen.
DK describes the May full moon
of 1943 as the greatest spiritual approach of all time-one that the Masters had
been preparing for, for centuries
(EOH 388) March 1943
We are nearing the climax of the spiritual year. The greatest Approach of all time is imminent and possible. Much depends now upon the
aspirants and disciples of the world, particularly those in physical
incarnation today. A major contact between Shamballa and the Hierarchy, for which initiates and Masters have, for
centuries, been
preparing is in
process of consummation. I shall very shortly be giving you some further
information on the subject in an attempt to anchor on the earth that seed of
the new world religion which an earlier instruction upon the Great Approaches*
indicated might be founded, and lead to a true start of a universal faith which
will serve the need of [Page 388] humanity for a long time to come. All I ask
of you today is to begin now a most careful preparation for the event which is
impending at the time of the Full Moon of May,
so that the energies then set in motion may be aided by your directed thought
and you yourselves may come more fully into the current of the downpouring
life.
(EOH 398) I gave you later another Stanza
of the Invocation, of
great power which was
suited to the conditions of war—a war which proved inevitable and unavoidable.
This last Invocation was not so popular and not nearly so easily understood and
for this there was very good reason. It was an invocation intended to evoke the
Forces of Life just as the previous one invoked the Forces of Light and Love.
It could only be successfully used by disciples, advanced thinkers and the
Hierarchy itself. It was, however, given out to the public so as to familiarise
them as far as possible with the concepts of liberation and life and in an
effort to anchor upon Earth [Page 398] a new point of focus through which life
could be made to flow. This effort has not been totally unsuccessful.
At the time of the Full Moon of May and of
June, it will be advisable to use both these Invocations and thus to fuse and
blend into one united invocation the massed intent of humanity as a whole and
the enlightened purpose of the disciples and the Hierarchy. This fusion of the
two groups—Humanity and the Hierarchy—may then suffice to sound out such a potent
call that life may be released on Earth instead of death and the love of God
play its active part in the reconstruction of world affairs. If this can be
successfully accomplished, two
great revelations may
then be speeded on their way:
Such is another of the goals confronting
the Hierarchy at this time. Such is the will of God for humanity and such is
the intent and purpose
of Shamballa. When the
massed purpose of the Custodians of the Will of God and the massed intent of
the souls of men can be synchronised, then the Great Approach will become
inevitable and the Great Release will automatically follow.
(EOH 407) Behind this spiritual centre of
Love and Light another centre is to be found, for which the West has no name
but which is called in the East by the name Shamballa. Perhaps the Western name is Shangri-Lha—a name which
is finding recognition everywhere and which stands for a centre of happiness
and purpose. Shamballa
or Shangri-Lha is the
place where the Will of God is focussed and from which His divine purposes are
directed. From it the great political movements and the destiny of races and
nations and their progress are determined, just as the religious movements, the
cultural unfoldments and spiritual ideas are sent forth from the hierarchical
centre of Love and Light. Political and social ideologies and world religions,
the Will of God and the Love of God, the Purpose of divinity and the plans
whereby that purpose is brought into activity all focus through that centre of
which we are each consciously a part, Humanity itself. There are, therefore,
three great spiritual centres on the planet: Shamballa, the spiritual Hierarchy, and Humanity.
There is definite Biblical testimony to
this highest of all centres, Shamballa. At
moments of crisis in the earthly life of Christ we read that a Voice spoke to
Him, the Voice of the Father was heard by Him, affirming His Sonship and
setting the seal of approval upon His acts and work. At that [Page 408] moment
a great fusion of the two spiritual centres—the Hierarchy and Shamballa, the Kingdom of God and the world of Spirit—was
brought about, and thus spiritual energy was released on Earth. We need to
remember that the work of all World Saviours and Teachers is to act primarily
as distributors of divine energy and as channels for spiritual force. This
outpouring manifests either as the impulse behind a world religion, the
incentive behind some new political ideology, or the principle of some scientific
discovery of importance to the growth of the human spirit. Thus do religions,
governments and civilisations find their motivation. History has demonstrated
that again and again these developments are the results of the appearance and
the activity of some great man at an advanced stage of development. Those who
come forth as Teachers, Saviours or Founders of a new religion come forth from
the Hierarchy and are of the highest order of spiritual perfection. Those who
convey to man the purposes of God through new ideological concepts are not as
yet of so high an order, because man is not yet ready for the highest
presentation. Much has yet to be learnt and mastered by man, and spiritual
unfoldment always outpaces the outer expression of human relationships and the
social order; hence the world religions come first and produce the conditions
which make the work of the rulers possible. Those who come forth from the
spiritual centre, Shamballa, are of great power, however, and the
thread of Their influence can be traced throughout history in great declarations and pronouncements such
as the Magna Charta, the Declaration of
(EOH 416) 2. The development of the Science
of Invocation and Evocation as a means and method of approach to divinity. This
will grow out of the ancient habits of prayer as used by the masses, and the
practice of meditation as developed by the mystics and occultists. Prayer and
meditation are the preliminary steps to this emerging science, and what is
vaguely called "worship" is the group effort to establish some form
of united approach to the spiritual Hierarchy, functioning under the guidance
and control of the Christ and related to the highest spiritual centre, Shamballa, through its most advanced individuals, just as
humanity is related to the Hierarchy by its spiritually minded people.
(EOH 421) Let me indicate the possibilities
of such spiritual events, and prophesy the nature of the coming world-wide
Festivals. There will be three such major Festivals each year, concentrated in
three consecutive months, and leading therefore to a prolonged spiritual effort
which will affect the remainder of the year. These will be:
1. The Festival of Easter. This is the festival of the risen, living Christ,
the Teacher of all men and the Head of the Spiritual Hierarchy. He is the
Expression of the Love of God. On this day the Spiritual Hierarchy which He
guides and directs will be recognised, and the nature of God's love will be
emphasised. This festival is determined always by the date of the first Full
Moon of spring, and is the great Western and Christian festival.
Wesak, or the full moon of May,
is the festival of the Buddha, who is the intermediary between Shamballa and
Hierarchy
2. The Festival of Wesak. This is the festival of the Buddha, the spiritual Intermediary between the highest [Page 421] spiritual centre, Shamballa, and the Hierarchy. The Buddha is the
Expression of the Wisdom of God, the Embodiment of Light, and the Indicator of
the divine Purpose. This will be fixed annually in relation to the Full Moon of
May, as is at present the case. It is the great Eastern festival.
3. The Festival of Goodwill. This will be the festival of the spirit of
humanity—aspiring towards God, seeking conformity with the Will of God and
dedicated to the expression of right human relation. This will be fixed
annually in relation to the Full Moon of June.
It will be a day whereon the spiritual and divine nature of mankind will be
recognised. On this festival, for two thousand years, the Christ has
represented humanity and has stood before the Hierarchy and in the sight of Shamballa as the God-Man, the Leader of His people and "the
Eldest in a great family of brothers" (Romans VIII:29). Each year at that
time He has preached the last sermon of the Buddha before the assembled
Hierarchy. This will therefore be a festival of deep invocation and appeal, of
a basic aspiration towards fellowship, of human and spiritual unity, and will
represent the effect in the human consciousness of the work of the Buddha and
of the Christ.
These three festivals are already being
kept throughout the world, though they are not as yet related to each other,
and as part of the unified spiritual Approach of humanity. The time is coming
when all three festivals will be kept simultaneously throughout the world, and
by their means a great spiritual unity will be achieved and the effects of the
great Approach so close to us at this time will be stabilised by the united
invocation of humanity throughout the planet.
The remaining full moons will constitute lesser festivals, but will be recognised to be also of
vital importance. They will establish the divine attributes in the
consciousness of man, just as the major festivals establish the three divine
aspects. These aspects and qualities will be arrived at and determined by a
close study of the nature of a particular [Page 422] constellation or
constellations influencing those months. For instance, Capricorn (December)
will call attention to the first initiation, the birth of the Christ in the
cave of the heart, and indicate the training needed to bring about that great
spiritual event in the life of the individual man. I give this one instance to
you in order to indicate the possibilities for spiritual unfoldment that could
be given through an understanding of these influences, and in order to revivify
the ancient faiths by expanding them into their larger undying relationships.
We have, therefore, the following:
Shamballa……..the Will aspect of God….Wesak…….May Full Moon
(Taurus)
Hierarchy…..the Love aspect of God…..Easter…..April
Full Moon (Aries)
Humanity…..divine Intelligence….Goodwill…..June
Full Moon (Gemini)
The remaining nine Full Moons will be
concerned with the divine characteristics and their development in mankind.
Thus the twelve festivals will constitute a
revelation of divinity. They will present a means of bringing about
relationship, first of all during three months with the three great spiritual
centres, the three expressions of the divine Trinity. The minor festivals will
emphasise the inter-relation of the Whole, thus lifting the divine presentation
out of the individual and the personal into that of the universal divine
Purpose; the relationship of the Whole to the part and of the part to that Whole
will be thereby fully expressed.
Humanity will therefore invoke the
spiritual power of the
(EOH 425) The Forces of Evil sought for those leaders and groups who are the
materialistic correspondence to the spiritual leaders and those who seek to
guide humanity along right lines. They took possession (and I use this word
with deliberation) of the evil men who led the Axis Powers—Hitler, Tojo,
Goebbels, Ribbentrop, Himmler and—to a much lesser degree—Mussolini, Hess,
Goering and others. They completely overpowered the minds of these men, already
distorted with ambition and sadistic inclinations. Who, you ask, do I mean by "they"?
I mean those intelligent evil, unloving, hateful Individualities who are to the
world of selfish and material focus what the Hierarchy of Masters, working
under the Christ, are to struggling human aspirants. The power of these evil
forces is enormous, for they recognise no restrictions or ordinary decent,
human limitations; they work through violence, coercion, cruelty, hate, terror
and lies; they aim to subjugate the human consciousness through the complete
control of men's minds, through the withholding of good and the promulgation of
evil. They stimulate the brains of men through the extent of their evil and
magical knowledge; I mean this literally and physically. The Great White Lodge,
working under the inspiration of the Christ and of Shamballa, functions necessarily under certain spiritual
restrictions. Coercion is not permitted; the minds of men must be and are left
free; the stimulation of the souls of men is permitted, because it results in
the stimulation of the expression of love and of understanding, leading to
right human relations. These spiritual restrictions greatly slow down the
progress of the Forces of Light; it should interest you to remember that the
length of the war was partly dependent upon the inability of the Armies of the
Lord to commit the crimes for which the Axis Powers have been responsible. The
physical activities of the Forces of Light do recognise certain limitations,
and of this the Forces of Evil take constant advantage. The bombing of massed
populations was started by Hitler and could have been ended by him immediately
if he so chose.
The Christ had to deflect
Shamballa energy from the Axis powers to those who opposed them
(EOH 436) Our Master, the Christ, is also
at this time carrying forward three major activities. I can tell you briefly
what they are, but only the disciples of the world will grasp the true
implications.
He is, first of all, occupied with the
process of deflecting the will-energy, emanating from Shamballa, in such a way that it will not be seized
upon and misused by the Axis Powers in order to stiffen their peoples into
increased opposition to the Forces of Light. It must be rechannelled and used
to stiffen the purpose of the United Nations to carry the war to a finish of victory and of triumph, to increase the will-to-unity of all the
allied peoples and to make firm the intention of the post-war planners that
freedom, educational facilities, truth and right living shall be [Page 436] the
lot of the incoming generation. This necessitates on the part of the Christ a
concentration for which we have no equivalent word and a purely spiritual
endeavour (a monadic
effort) of which we
have no faintest idea.
(EOH 438) Today the Hierarchy is facing a
climaxing activity. From the Full Moon of May, 1944, until the Full
Moon of May, 1945, the
Members of the Hierarchy will unitedly be putting forth Their maximum effort to
close the door upon the Forces of Evil, to direct the Shamballa energy (now let loose upon the world) so that its
destructive aspect may be transmuted or directed towards the
stimulation which will result in the rebuilding of the world. This will then
affect not only the Members of the Hierarchy, but all on Earth who respond to
hierarchical impression. Have the following statement in mind:
"The focussed and concentrated work of
the Hierarchy at the time of the Full Moon of May, 1944 is—by Their united
effort, Their blended thought and Their illumined will power, under the trained
guidance of [Page 438] the Buddha and the Christ—to withdraw the energy of the
will-to-separation and aggression (a distortion of first ray energy) away from
the Forces of Evil and channel it again, via the Hierarchy; it will then
demonstrate as the Will-to-Good, and this will express itself via the men of
goodwill on Earth. This requires a great Act of Absorption by the
Hierarchy."
The Black Lodge had let loose
the Shamballa force into the Axis nations
The Buddha will start the process at the
time of His appearance, through the use of a great first ray mantram. This can be used only by someone of His
initiate standing and in collaboration with the Lord of the World. He will
thereby deflect the
Shamballa force which the Adepts of the Black Lodge have turned loose into the Axis nations; this has been made possible by their
receptivity to the will-to-power. He will "corral" it (if I may use
such a colloquial and inappropriate term) and will place it at the disposal of
the Christ. The reception and the acceptance of this first ray energy will
require a tremendous effort upon the part of the Christ, the Custodian of the
energy of the second Ray of Love-Wisdom. It is for this "reception"
that He started to prepare at the time of the April Full Moon.
Only three times in history has
the Shamballa force been directed unimpeded and untransmuteed, towards humanity
(EOH 438) I have told you elsewhere that
this direct impact of
the Shamballa energy
upon humanity very seldom occurs. It has been loosed only three times during the entire history of the human
kingdom. At other times, it makes its impact directly upon the Hierarchy, and
is then transmuted or stepped down so that humanity can take it. The three
times it has been directed, unimpeded and untransmuted, towards humanity are:
1. At the time of the individualisation of animal-man when the mind principle was implanted.
This was the birth hour of the human soul.
3. Today, once again, the Powers of Darkness are attempting to
destroy humanity and
the spiritual values. The power
of Shamballa was let loose, destroying old forms—political, social and religious—but at the
same time this power was seized
upon by the evil forces to destroy the souls of men, to precipitate war and to destroy the
cities and all our centres of civilisation and culture. The first phase or form
of destruction was directed by the disciples, the aspirants and the clear
thinking people of the world, and this was needed and very good. The old
social, political and religious forms were stultifying the human soul and
handicapping all progress. The
second phase or form of destruction was directed by evil, and was focussed through those nations
who had succumbed to the glamour of superiority, to the temptation of material
aggression and to intolerant racial hatreds, implemented by cruelty and
barbarism.
Shamballa force must express
itself through the will-to-good
The time has now come when this divine
energy must express itself through the second aspect of the will-to-good, and not through the first aspect, the
will-to-power. Mankind has had to be shown that it is not yet ready for power,
because the will-to-good is not adequately strong to balance this first aspect
of the will.
This then is the task of the Christ and of the Buddha at the time of the May Full Moon—to channel and redirect the Shamballa force. If They can do this, the result will be a
new realisation and accomplishment of the will-to-good by the New Group of
World Servers, under the receptive guidance of the world disciples and a
responsive activity of the men and women of goodwill.
(EOH 447) A powerful first ray activity—the
activity of will or purpose—is swinging into action. The Christ, as the Leader
of the Forces of Light, has empowered the Ashrams of the Masters upon this
first Ray of Power to strengthen the hands of all disciples in the field of
government and of political arrangement in every nation; to enlighten, if
possible, the various national legislatures by whatever means may be needed, so
that the potency of their words, the wisdom of their planning, and the breadth
of their thinking may prove so effective that the "Cycle of Conferences
and of Councils," now being initiated by the statesmen of the world, may
be under the direct guidance (again if possible) of Those in the Council Chamber at Shamballa Who know what is the Will of God. The
selfishness of the little minds in the various legislatures of the world must
in some way be offset. That is the problem. I wonder if you can grasp the
significance [Page 447] of this happening? Down the ages, individual statesmen
and rulers have from time to time been responsive to the influence of that
spiritually supreme Council; but it has been the responsiveness of the
individual disciple who has worked alone and unaided and who has faced, (or
experienced) defeat as often, if not oftener, than he has experienced victory.
Today, in the planning now going forward in connection with the various
international conferences and councils of which you all know, the spiritual
effort (for the first time in human history) is to bring all of them, as
functioning groups, under the direct impact of the energy which motivates and
actuates that place where the Will of God is known and the purposes of divinity
are defined and projected. This means that each of the coming world conferences
(and there will necessarily be many) will have a greater and far more extensive
effect than would otherwise be the case; it means, however, that the risks
involved and the clash of minds will also be far greater. This is a point which
you should bear in mind as you study and read reports of these various
conferences.
(EOH 455) Let us consider for a minute what
the Hierarchy stands ready to do and what its Members will plan and formulate
during the Easter Festival this month, during the Wesak Festival in April, and during
the Festival of the Christ at the end of May. It might be said that the
Hierarchy, in conjunction with the great Council of the Will of God at Shamballa, will divide Their work into three parts,
each governing three phases of the coming restoration of humanity to civilised
and cultured living on a new and higher turn of the spiral. They will deal with
the problem of spiritual freedom, as it embodies itself in the Four Freedoms,
and with the problem of right human relations, as it will express itself through
international relations, national parties and general human affairs. It is not
for me to tell you what humanity, through its statesmen and leaders, will plan
to do at the coming conferences. It is my task to mobilise the New Group of
World Servers and the men and women of goodwill so that they may stand as a
great "army of implacable spiritual will" behind the participants in
these conferences and councils, enabling them to think with clarity about the
issues involved and thus (through this clear thinking) affect telepathically
the minds of men; this involves the use of a power seldom employed as yet on
the side of righteous endeavour, though already widely used by the
materialistic leaders of the forces of evil.
(EOH 458) But the work of the Angel of Death, awful as it may seem as it demonstrates
today on a planetary scale—but beneficent as we know it to be in intent and in
purpose—will give place to that of the Spirit of Resurrection.
It is the planning of this restoration and
this resurrection activity which is now under consideration by the Hierarchy,
having been handed over to Them because They are closer to man than are Those
Who function in the Council
Chamber at Shamballa.
It must be remembered that this Spirit of Resurrection is a Member of that
Council and Their chosen Emissary. He (if one may be permitted to personalise
the impersonal) is in truth the "Sun of Righteousness" Who can now
arise "with healing in His wings"; Who can carry this life-giving
energy which counteracts death, this vision which gives incentive to life, and
this hope which can restore all nations. At the Full Moon of March, let the
demand go out for the appearance of this life-giving Spirit. Let it go forth
with such intensity that the Hierarchy will be called into active response and
will [Page 459] immediately release the potency of this Spirit into the hearts
of men everywhere.
(EOH 491) THE RELEASE OF ATOMIC ENERGY
August 9, 1945
I would like at this time to touch upon the
greatest spiritual event
which has taken place
since the fourth kingdom of nature, the human kingdom, appeared. I refer to the
release of atomic energy, as related in the newspapers this week, August 6,
Some years ago I told you that the new era
would be ushered in by the scientists of the world and that the inauguration of
the
1. It was the imminence of this
"release" of energy which was one of the major subjective factors in
the precipitation of this last phase of the war. This world war started in
1914, but its last and most important phase began in 1939. [Page 492] Up till
then it was a world war. After that date, and because the forces of evil took advantage of the state
of war and
belligerency existing on the planet, the real war began, involving the entire
three worlds of human evolution and a consequent activity of the Hierarchy.
Man's attention is normally focussed on the externalities of living.
Nevertheless, all great discoveries, such as those made in connection with
astronomy or in relation to the laws of nature or involving such a revelation
as that of radio-activity or the epoch-making event announced this week
concerning the first steps taken in the harnessing of cosmic energy, are ever
the result of inner
pressure emanating from Forces and Lives found in high Places. Such inner pressures themselves function
under the laws of the Spirit and not just under what you call natural laws;
they are the result of the impelling work of certain great Lives, working in
connection with the third aspect of divinity, that of active intelligence, and
are concerned with the substance or matter aspect of manifestation. Such activities are motivated from
Shamballa. This activity
is set in motion by these Lives, working on Their high plane, and it gradually
causes a reaction in the various departments of the Hierarchy, particularly
those working under third,
fifth and seventh ray Masters. Eventually, disciples upon the physical levels of activity become
aware of the inner ferment, and this happens either consciously or
unconsciously. They become "impressed," and the scientific work is then started and carried through into the stages of
experimentation and final success.
One point should here be remembered, and
that is that this phase applies
to both the great White Lodge and the Black Lodge—the one dedicated to the beneficent task
of purifying and aiding all lives in the three worlds of material evolution and
to the release of the soul in form, and the other to the retardation of the
evolutionary process and to the continuous crystallising of the material forms
which hide and veil the anima mundi. Both groups have been profoundly
interested and implicated in this matter of the release of energy from the atom
and the liberation of its [Page 493] inner aspect, but their motives and
objectives were widely different.
2. The imminence of this release—inevitable and under direction—produced an enormous tension in
hierarchical circles because (to express the idea colloquially) a race was on
between the Dark Forces
and the Forces of Light to acquire possession of the techniques necessary to bring about this liberation
of needed energy. Had the Dark Forces triumphed, and had the Axis Powers obtained possession of the
needed scientific formulas, it would have led
to a major planetary disaster. The released energy would have been used first of all to bring about
the complete destruction of all opposing the forces of evil, and then it would
have been prostituted to the preservation of an increasingly materialistic and
non-idealistic civilisation.
You might here fall back on the trite
religious platitude that the innate good in humanity and mankind's inherent
divinity would eventually have triumphed, because naught can finally overcome
the universal trend to good. You are prone to forget that if the evil forces possess potencies which
can destroy form in the three worlds on such a wide scale that the souls of advanced
aspirants and disciples, and those of initiates seeking incarnation, cannot
come into outer expression during a particular world crisis, then you have
direfully affected the time-schedule of the evolutionary process; you will have
greatly delayed (perhaps for millennia of years) the manifestation of the
kingdom of God. The time had come for that manifestation, and hence the
powerful activity of the dark forces.
The Nazis were close to success
in 1942
This attempt to hinder the planned progress
constituted a definite menace and indicated a supreme danger and problem. The
evil forces were closer to success than any of you have ever dreamed. They were so close to success in 1942 that there were four months when the
members of the spiritual Hierarchy had made every possible arrangement to
withdraw from human contact for an indefinite [Page 494] and unforeseen period
of time; the plans for a closer contact with the evolutionary process in the
three worlds and the effort to blend and fuse the two divine centres, the
Hierarchy and Humanity, into one working, collaborating whole seemed doomed to destruction. Their fusion would have meant the
appearance of the Kingdom of God on earth; the obstacles to this fusion, owing
to the active tension of the dark forces, seemed at that time insuperable; we believed that man would go down to
defeat, owing to his
selfishness and his misuse of the principle of free will. We made all preparations to withdraw, and yet at the same time we struggled to
get humanity to choose rightly and to see the issues clearly.
The necessity to withdraw was averted. I
may not say in what manner, beyond telling you that the Lords of Liberation took certain unexpected
steps. This They were
led to do owing to the invocative powers of humanity, used consciously by all
those upon the side of the will-to-good and unconsciously by all men of
goodwill. Owing to these steps, the efforts of those fighting in the realm of
science for the establishing of true knowledge and right human relations were
aided. The trend of the power to know and to discover (a definite form of
energy) was deflected away from the demanding evocative minds of those seeking
to destroy the world of men, leading to a form of mental paralysis. Those seeking to emphasise the right
values and to save humanity were simultaneously stimulated to the point of
success.
In these very few words I have disposed of
a stupendous world event, and in this brief paragraph I have summed up the
working out of a specialised divine activity.
3. When the sun moved northward that year (1942), the great White Lodge knew that the battle
had been won. Their preparations were halted and the Masters then organised for
renewed effort (through Their disciples) to bring about those conditions
wherein that which was new and that which was in line with loving divine
purpose could freely move forward. The war was not won by the surrender of
[Page 495]
b. A concerted effort was made by a number
of disciples who were working in fifth and seventh ray ashrams, and this
enabled them to impress lesser disciples in the scientific field and helped
them to surmount the well-nigh insuperable difficulties with which they were
confronted.
c. There was also a weakening of the
tension which had hitherto successfully held the forces of evil together, and a
growing inability of the evil group at the head of the Axis Powers to surmount
the incidental war fatigue. This brought about, first of all, a steady
deterioration of their minds, and then of their brains and nervous systems.
None of the men involved in the direction of the Axis effort in Europe is today
normal psychologically; they are all suffering from some form of physical
deterioration, and this has been a real factor in their defeat, though one that
may be difficult for you to realise. It is not so in the case of the Japanese,
whose psychological make-up is totally different, [Page 496] as are their
nervous systems, which are of fourth rootrace quality. They will be and are
being defeated by physical war measures and by the destruction physically of
their war potential and the death of the form aspect. This destruction ... and
the consequent release of their imprisoned souls, is a necessary happening; it is the justification of the use of the
atomic bomb upon the Japanese population. The first use of this released energy has been
destructive, but I would remind you that it has been the destruction of forms
and not the destruction of spiritual values and the death of the human
spirit—as was the goal of the Axis effort.
Forget not that all success (both good and
bad) is dependent upon the sustaining of the point of tension. This point of
tension involves the dynamic focussing of all mental, emotional and physical
energies at a central point of planned activity. This, by the way, is the
objective of all true meditation work. It is in this act of tension that the
German people failed. This cost them the war; their tension broke because the
group of evil forces who were impressing the negative German people were unable
to attain the point of tension which the Hierarchy could reach when it was reinforced through the action of the Lords
of Liberation.
d. Another factor was the constant,
invocative demand and the prayers (articulate and inarticulate) of humanity
itself. Men, impelled largely by fear and the innate mobilising of the human
spirit against slavery, reached such a pitch of demanding energy that a channel
was created which greatly facilitated the work of the Hierarchy, under the
direct influence of the Lords of Liberation.
The many different types of
atoms will release different kinds of atomic force
4. The release of the energy of the atom is as yet in an extremely embryonic stage;
humanity little knows the extent or the nature of the energies which have been
tapped and released. There are many types of atoms, constituting [Page 497] the "world substance"; each can release its own type of force; this is one of the secrets which the new
age will in time reveal, but a good and sound beginning has been made. I would
call your attention to the words, "the liberation of energy." It is
liberation which is the keynote of the new era, just as it has ever been the
keynote of the spiritually oriented aspirant. This liberation has started by
the release of an aspect of matter and the freeing of some of the soul forces
within the atom. This has been, for matter itself, a great and potent
initiation, paralleling those initiations which liberate or release the souls
of men.
In this process of planetary initiation
humanity has carried its work as the world saviour down into the world of
substance, and has affected those primary units of life of which all forms are
made.
5. You will now understand the meaning of
the words used by so many of you in the second of the Great Invocations: The
hour of service of the saving force has now arrived. This "saving
force" is the energy which science has released into the world for the
destruction, first of all, of those who continue (if they do) to defy the
Forces of Light working through the United Nations. Then—as time goes on—this
liberated energy will usher in the new civilisation, the new and better world
and the finer, more spiritual conditions. The highest dreams of those who love
their fellowmen can become practical possibilities through the right use of
this liberated energy, if the real values are taught, emphasised and applied to
daily living. This "saving force" has now been made available by
science, and my earlier prophecy substantiated.*
As I said above, the first use of this energy
has been material destruction; this was inevitable and desirable; old forms
(obstructing the good) have had to be destroyed; the wrecking and disappearance
of that which is bad and undesirable must ever precede the building of the good
and desirable and the longed-for emergence of that which is new and better.
The constructive use of this energy and its
harnessing for the betterment of humanity is its real purpose; this living
energy of substance itself, hitherto shut up within the atom and imprisoned in
these ultimate forms of life, can be turned wholly into that which is good and
can bring about such a revolutionising of the modes of human experience that
(from one angle alone) it will necessitate and bring about an entirely new
economic world structure.
It lies in the hands of the United Nations to protect this released
energy from misuse and
to see that its power is not prostituted to selfish ends and purely material
purposes. It is a "saving force" and has in it the potency of
rebuilding, of rehabilitation and of reconstruction. Its right use can abolish
destitution, bring civilised comfort (and not useless luxury) to all upon our
planet; its expression in forms of right living, if motivated by right human
relations, will produce beauty, warmth, colour, the abolition of the present
forms of disease, the withdrawal of mankind from all activities which involve
living or working underground, and will bring to an end all human slavery, all
need to work or fight for possessions and things, and will render possible a
state of life which will leave man free to pursue the higher aims of the
Spirit. The prostituting of life to the task of providing the bare necessities
or to [Page 499] making it possible for a few rich and privileged people to
have too much when others have too little, will come to an end; men everywhere
can now be released into a state of life which will give them leisure and time
to follow spiritual objectives, to realise richer cultural life, and to attain
a broader mental perspective.
But, my brothers, men will fight to prevent
this; the reactionary groups in every country will neither recognise the need
for, nor desire this new world order which the liberation of cosmic energy (even on this initial tiny
scale) can make possible;
the vested interests, the big cartels, trusts and monopolies that controlled
the past few decades, preceding this world war, will mobilise their resources
and fight to the death to prevent the extinction of their sources of income;
they will not permit, if they can help it, the passing of the control of this
illimitable power into the hands of the masses, to whom it rightly belongs. The
selfish interests among the big stockholders, the banking firms and the wealthy
organised churches will oppose all change, except in so far as it will benefit
them and bring more financial gain to their coffers.
Signs of this opposition can already be
seen in the utterances of certain powerful men who are today encouraging a
gloomy outlook in London and in Washington and elsewhere; the Vatican, that
wealthy and reactionary ecclesiastical organisation, has already expressed its
disfavour, because that Church knows—as do all the vested and monied
interests—that their days are numbered, provided humanity governs its decisions
during the next fifty years by the idea of the greatest good to the greatest
number. World decisions must therefore, in the future, be based upon a steady
determination to further right human relations and to prevent selfish control,
financial or ecclesiastical, by any group of men, anywhere, in any country. We
believe the determination of
These few suggestions will give you much
food for thought and real ground for happy, confident, forward thinking. [Page
500] Organise now for the goodwill work. The future of the world lies in the
hands of the men of goodwill and in those who have unselfish purpose
everywhere. This release of energy will eventually make money, as we know it,
of no moment whatsoever; money has proved itself (owing to man's limitations) a
producer of evil and the sower of dissension and discontent in the world. This
new released energy can prove itself a "saving force" for all
mankind, releasing from poverty, ugliness, degradation, slavery and despair; it
will destroy the great monopolies, take the curse out of labour, and open the
door into that golden age for which all men wait. It will level all the
artificial layers of modern society and liberate men from the constant anxiety
and gruelling toil which have been responsible for so much disease and death.
When these new and better conditions are established, then men will be free to
live and move in beauty and to seek the "
This concludes the section where
DK explains how and why atomic energy was released from the atom
(EOH 519) In these words I refer to an
aspect of the amazing enterprise upon which the Hierarchy is embarked within
this cycle: Its appearance, expression and activity upon the physical plane for
the first time since it withdrew into the subjective side of life and focussed
itself on the mental plane (instead of the physical) during the days of ancient
Atlantis and after the war between the Lords of the Shining Countenance and
Lords of the Dark Face, as The Secret Doctrine calls it. For millions of years,
as a result of the
triumph of evil in those days, the Hierarchy has stood in silence behind world events, occupied with
the following work—a work which will eventually be carried on exoterically
instead of esoterically:
(EOH 520) 5. The Hierarchy receives and
transmits energies and consequent forces from Shamballa, with resultant effects within the Hierarchy itself,
and also with effects upon humanity and upon the soul of all things to be found
in all kingdoms.
(EOH 522) These groups, indicated for
externalisation, exist on the inner side as part of one inner Group; they must
be externalised for service purposes. The fact that this externalisation is
possible indicates certain developments which are the result of the past, of
the unfoldment of humanity's developing powers to recognise Reality, of the
invocative cry of the masses everywhere, plus the directed invocation of the
spiritual people of the world, and the effect of the world war (1914-1945). All
these factors have wrought a great destruction in the materialistic world and
have produced a very real expansion in the human consciousness; also, as one
[Page 522] of the Masters, unknown to you, remarked at a meeting of Members of
the Hierarchy a few weeks ago, "One of the gates is open; those who are
ready can come in, but we now can go through it also, and can go to them in a
new sense and more directly. May Shamballa help us."
It is realised by all in the Hierarchy that
the major test connected with a higher initiation confronts Them. Disciples
should attempt to realise the tremendous sacrifice involved in this outward
move of the Hierarchy into secular existence. The higher the state of
initiation, the harder it will be for the initiate concerned. It is, for
instance, less of an effort for me to contact you than it would be for some of
the Chohans, such as the Masters M. and K.H. I am nearer to you, because I am
still utilising the same physical body in which I took the fifth initiation,
nearly ninety years ago. Chohans have taken a still higher initiation and are
focal points of powerful Ashrams; Their task of adjustment is very much harder.
Their invocative appeal to the Lord of the World in His Council Chamber at Shamballa has been mounting for some time. It has
been called "The Appeal for Alignment" because the Members of the
Hierarchy feel and know that this great return to Earth which has been arranged
for the Hierarchy after so long an absence, will call for a fuller expression
of the spiritual will than even They realise; They know that it will require
the cooperation of Shamballa as well as the cooperation of humanity.
(EOH 525) For aeons and for cycles, the
Members of the Hierarchy have been submitting Themselves to the needed training
in order to react correctly when fuller contact has been established by Shamballa with the Hierarchy. I would have you note
the phrasing here. That contact has now been established as a result of the
inflow of certain extra-planetary forces and by an "act of determined
direction," emanating from the Council Chamber of the Lord of the World. Misunderstand me not. The Hierarchy has
always been in touch with the "Place of Purpose" (as it has been
called) through the medium of its Chohans and its senior Directors, such as the
Christ, the Manu and the Lord of Civilisation. These great Beings have steadily
revealed this purpose to the Members of the Hierarchy so that They have been
able to grasp and work out the emerging Plan. But even to the Masters the Shamballa force has had to be stepped down, just as the force of the Hierarchy
requires modifying for the average disciple and aspirant, if they are to
respond constructively to it.
Shamballa energy is being
absorbed by the mineral kingdom-it causes volcanic episodes and basic
earthquakes
Today, however, things are somewhat
changed. New inflowing energies and the partial "sealing" of evil in
its own place (a sealing which will be progressively effective) have made a
closer relationship possible. The Masters are somewhat freer from certain of
the arduous labours of the past cycles. Some of the available inflowing Shamballa forces are being
absorbed directly by humanity and by certain of the subhuman kingdoms, particularly the mineral
kingdom. This latter absorption will lead eventually, when complete, to those volcanic episodes and those basic earthquakes which will change the face of the earth by the time the sixth rootrace comes into manifestation. It is this direct
inflow to the kingdoms functioning exoterically in the three worlds which has
relieved and will to some extent relieve the otherwise overpowering pressure
upon the Hierarchy, and will also act as a great aligning antahkarana between
the three planetary centres. It is to this alignment I refer in this
instruction—[Page 526] the alignment of the three centres upon this planet and
the adjustments that this necessitates and inevitably enforces.
(EOH 527) The seven major centres or Ashrams within the Hierarchy are each presided
over by Masters of Chohan rank; the seven subsidiary centres or Ashrams are
presided over by Masters and Adepts (of the fifth and fourth initiations),
aided by initiates of the third degree and certain picked and senior disciples.
Several of the seven affiliated Ashrams are, as yet, incomplete as regards
personnel, but vacancies are rapidly being filled as the spiritual effects of the
world war (1914-1945) make themselves felt. These effects are very real and
have been a source of great encouragement to hierarchical workers.
Before the Hierarchy can emerge (as is the
intention), the relation between a major Ashram and its subsidiary Ashrams must
be firmly established, whilst that between a major Ashram and other major
Ashrams has to be brought more definitely and unquestionably closer to Shamballa, and under the influence of that great first ray
centre. The energy which will align and adjust the subsidiary forty-nine
Ashrams is that of the second Ray of Love-Wisdom. That, however, which will
bring about a similar adjusting and aligning impetus in the seven major Ashrams
is the energy of the first Ray of Will or Power. I have here given you a most
important item of occult information, but one which is of no importance to you
individually; it serves, however, to present proof of the significant occult
relation between the three planetary centres. Just as the third planetary
centre, Humanity, has now reached a point of intelligent development [Page 528]
so that a closer rapport can be set up between it and the Hierarchy, so the
Hierarchy also has moved forward as a unit so that a closer corresponding
rapport can also be set up between It and Shamballa. Just as the rapport between the Hierarchy and
Humanity is established via aspirants, disciples and initiates in physical
existence who are responding to the love-wisdom of the universe in some measure
and who work via the intelligent people in incarnation primarily, so rapport
between Shamballa and the Hierarchy is being more closely
established via the senior Ashrams, and not via the secondary ones. You have,
therefore, a situation which might be depicted somewhat as follows:
I.First Planetary Centre………. Shamballa
working through
1. The seven Rays or the seven Spirits
before the Throne.
2. Certain great Intermediaries.
3. The Council Chamber of the Lord of the
World.
Masters who choose the Path of
Earth Service, constitute part of the Council Chamber
(EOH 532) As this subject concerns one of
the seven goals towards which the Masters aim after They have attained the
fifth initiation, it will be obvious to you that there is little that I can say
about it. One of the seven Paths for which the Way of the Higher Evolution
prepares the senior initiates is the Path of Earth Service. This Path, as you know, keeps the Masters attached
to service in the three worlds for a period much longer than the average. It
involves tremendous sacrifice. [Page 532] Just as the disciple has to live a
dual life, with one part of his reflective nature and awareness centred in the
life of the Hierarchy and the other part of his mental responsiveness equally
centred on life in the three worlds, and this simultaneously, so the Master,
when He chooses this Path, forms
a constituent part of the Council Chamber of the Lord of the World and at the same time works
consciously in the three worlds, via the Hierarchy (of which He remains also a
part), and with the human and subhuman kingdoms in nature. As evolution
proceeds, He will work increasingly via humanity because humanity will be
shouldering its responsibilities as the Macrocosm of the lesser microcosm. This
dual activity entails much specialised training, and as the initiatory process
becomes exoteric and men everywhere recognise it and participate in it, the
training which Members of the Hierarchy also undergo will not be so secret and
mysterious as it is today. But the time has not yet come to publicise it.
Only certain further generalisations are
here possible, some of which are already known to you because they are so broad
that their inclusions and implications are obvious. This, for instance,
concerns the "centre
where the Will of God is known". Here at Shamballa work Those Who have unified Their
personality will and Their spiritual will with the universal will, and such a
unification inevitably brings knowledge. It is, however, not knowledge as you
understand it. It is a blend of wisdom based on knowledge, understanding based
on intuitive perception, and identification based on alignment, esoterically
comprehended. For this peculiar condition or awareness we have no word in any
language, and only the utilisation (the trained utilisation) of the abstract
mind can possibly convey to you even an embryonic factual conception. But that
type of imaginative conception will become more common during the next two
centuries, and my words here will therefore serve an ultimate purpose.
Those Who form the Council Chamber
of the Great Lord are under no misapprehension as to His will because They see
it whole
Those Who form the Council Chamber of the Great Lord are under no misapprehension as to His will because They [Page 533] see it
whole. Paul, the
initiate, hints at this when writing one of the Epistles; he is in touch then
with certain Members of the Hierarchy and is concerned with the theme of Love,
which is the fundamental hierarchical theme and motive. He says to Them:
"Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face; now we know in
part, but then shall we know even as we are known." He there points
towards the future progress of the Hierarchy—a progress which remains as yet
only a vague promise, lacking form and shape. But he wrote for initiates to whom
love was a growing, vital concern, and to whom love and its practice meant
light and the basic motif of all living, divine activity. It is not possible to
reveal the will of God and the motivating Purpose of His manifesting Self,
except to Those Who have demonstrated perfected love and Who register no sense
of disunion or the faintest reaction to separateness.
The Eternal AUM is a symbol of
the eternal now and the Will of God at Shamballa-
composed of one major Sound,
three minor sounds, and seven subsidiary vibratory tones.
At Shamballa, the Great Lives Who function there not
only see manifestation whole and apart from all the limitations of time, but
They feel all the major evolutionary impulses which are bringing the developing
world into line with the divine Will. They embody those impulses not in terms
of progressive movement, but in terms of one great divine and spiritual
reaction. This idea can perhaps be best understood by you in terms of the Eternal AUM which is the symbol of the
Eternal NOW. You have
been told, and it has been demonstrated, that the AUM is composed of one major Sound, three minor sounds, and
seven subsidiary vibratory tones. So it is with the Will of God which is embodied and held in synthesis by the
Members of the Council Chamber. To Them, as They "hold the Will of God in
solution, it is one
clear note; as They see that Will in motion, it is three abiding chords, carrying outwards into all the worlds the Purpose of
the ONE Who for aeons will abide; as They impel that Will to demonstrate, it is
seven vibratory tones, drawing out into the reflected worlds the
structure of the Plan. And thus the note, the chords and tone produce the Plan, reveal the Purpose and
indicate God's Will." This [Page 534] is a quotation from certain of the ancient Archives
which constitute the study of the Masters; they relate to the nature of Shamballa, its work and emanating energies.
Shamballa, as it constitutes the synthesis of understanding where our Earth is concerned, is also the
centre where the highest
Will of the Solar Logos is imposed upon the Will of our planetary Logos, Who is, as you know, only a centre in His
greater body of manifestation. With this item of information you can have no
possible concern; the Masters Themselves are only learning the Will of the
planetary Logos; the objective
of effort in Shamballa is, however, the apprehension of solar Purpose, the Plan of which is working out on the
highest levels of our planetary system, just as the Will, Purpose and Plan of Shamballa work out on the three lowest levels of our planetary
system. Again, this item of information serves only to indicate hierarchical
objectives, and those objectives extend away from time and space into the Mind
of God Himself.
There are certain synonyms which here may
serve to develop your
synthetic thinking and
so bring in a definite measure of enlightenment.
SHAMBALLA HIERARCHY HUMANITY
Synthesis Unity Separation
Will Purpose Plan
Life Soul Appearance
Spirit Consciousness Substance
Livingness Organism Organisation
Apprehension Polarisation Focus of Activity
Power Momentum Action
Energy Distribution Forces
Direction Transmission Reception
Head Heart Throat
synthesis is, whilst unity is
achieved and is the reward of action and effort.
It will be apparent to you how little you
can understand of the Shamballa
intention when you
realise that it is not easy for you to see any true distinction between unity and synthesis and, at the same time, how impossible it
is for me [Page 535] to make the distinction clear. All I can say is that synthesis is, whilst unity is achieved and
is the reward of action and effort. As you progress upon the Path of Initiation the
meaning of unity clarifies. As you direct yourself towards the Way of the
Higher Evolution synthesis emerges. More than that it would be useless for me
to say.
This problem of the apparently impenetrable
darkness of intention as grasped by Shamballa, of meaning, of inscrutability, of a spiritual
imperviousness which holds, in spite of all fluctuations in the three worlds of
human evolution and the remaining two of superhuman unfoldment, provides a
situation to which the Hierarchy has to make adjustment through alignment. You
are, in your small way, making your adjustment to the Hierarchy through a
steady construction of the antahkarana, and in so doing are aiding in the
construction of the antahkarana which unites Humanity and the Hierarchy—the
first few strands of which were established through the sacrifices of certain
of the Sons of God when the Hierarchy was founded on Earth. Today, the
Hierarchy is working at the establishing of the linking strands between Itself
and Shamballa, and good progress has already been made.
It might be said here that for the past seven hundred years the chain of
Hierarchy has been complete; by this I mean that the planetary rainbow bridge
uniting the three major centres has existed. The task ahead of all these three
major centres, working in alignment through adjustment, is to strengthen and
beautify (if I may so express it), to electrify this bridge, thus producing
full planetary intercommunication between the three centres and the four minor
centres, so that "the weight of the Will of God, the momentum of the
Purpose of Sanat Kumara and the Plan of His Representatives may progress
unimpeded from point to point, from sphere to sphere and from glory to
glory."
Shamballa reaching Hierarchy
directly is equivalent to the head chakra reaching the throat centre
directly-or Vulcan and Uranus reaching Saturn directly-Usually Saturn is said
to rule the throat chakra, but at some stage it has a dual rulership of Uranus
and Saturn
(EOH 536) It is this complete establishment
of relationship between Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity which brought
about the planetary crisis through which the world has just passed and, from
some standpoints, is still passing. [Page 536] Shamballa, as I have told you, can now reach Humanity, the third major centre,
directly, and
therefore has two points of planetary contact: the first, via the Hierarchy, as
has been for long the case, and secondly, in a straight line, carrying energy
direct to Humanity, without any transmission and consequent modifying of
impact, as has also been the case hitherto.
Shamballa made its first direct
impact on Humanity after the Great centennial Council held in 1825, although
this energy was demanded at the Council of 1425-
When this direct line of spiritual,
dynamic, electrical energy made its first impact on earth (after the Great Council held in
1825), it first of all
awakened men's thinking in a new and comprehensive way, producing the great
ideologies; it aroused their massed desire, and registered obstruction on the
physical plane. It found its course impeded and discovered it was faced with
barriers. This energy from Shamballa, being an aspect of the ray of the
destroyer,
This Shamballa energy was the
cause of the world war
proceeded to "burn up" in the fires of destruction,
all such hindrances upon the planes in the three worlds. This was the deeply esoteric and unrecognised cause of the war—the beneficent bringing to an end of the
impediments to the free flow of spiritual energy down into the third centre;
this was the factor which called "evil from its hidden place" and
brought the opposing forces to the surface of existence, prior to their
"sealing". To the extent that this was so, mankind in the World War
(1914-1945) was the unhappy victim of spiritual circumstance; however, from the
angle of man's historical past, humanity was the engineer of its own fate; but
it took both the esoteric activity of Shamballa and the exoteric activity of humanity over a
millennia of years to precipitate the conditions which made this new alignment
possible and brought about the sealing (still being carried slowly forward),
and plunged mankind into the vortex of war. This impelling downpouring energy
from the highest centre penetrated not only to the heart of humanity, but into
the very depths of the mineral kingdom, implicating also the animal and the
vegetable expressions of divine life.
Because of this direct impact between Shamballa and Humanity, by-passing the Hierarchy, the Hierarchy
was left free for the work of rehabilitation and salvaging, for reconstruction
and for the application of the regenerative forces of [Page 537]
resurrection. The Hierarchy needed and
welcomed this interlude and recognised it as an essential aspect of the Plan.
The Shamballa impact is now over
The "cycle of Shamballa impact" is now over; the appeal of humanity to the Christ and
His Hierarchy has again refocussed the energy of Shamballa via the Hierarchy, and the direct work of the
Hierarchy with Humanity can again take on fresh meaning, can be re-established
on new and somewhat different lines, and thus definitely bring in that
"new heaven and new earth" for which men have so long waited. This
will take time, but the new energies and their emerging qualities are adequate
to the task, and will alleviate much and bring about great changes in due
course of time. You will note, therefore, that the Hierarchy has been faced
with three adjustments as the result of being deliberately "put out of
alignment," though only temporarily, with both Shamballa and Humanity. This was symbolised for us at the
Crucifixion when the Saviour hung pendant between heaven and earth. These
adjustments are:
1. Adjustment to those extra-planetary energies which were released into the highest
centre. This was made possible by two factors:
a. The direct impact between Shamballa and Humanity or between will and
intelligence. This is an important point to recognise.
b. The temporary quiescence of the love
principle, as the Hierarchy waited for the results and effects of this direct
impact upon the earth.
This was effectively carried out with much destruction in the world of
forms.
2. Adjustment to certain basic changes
within the Hierarchy Itself in preparation for the process of externalisation
which was begun this century.
3. Adjustment to a disciplined and
reoriented humanity, [Page 538] working today in the dark, it is needless to
say, groping along unknown ways, appealing to the Hierarchy for more light and
understanding, but awakened and alert for changes.
These adjustments are proceeding with
rapidity; the technique being employed is realignment, through a definite
action of the Will, as far as Shamballa is
concerned, and by an outpouring of Love, as far as humanity is concerned. This
Act of the Will is carried out by the three Heads of Departments in the
Hierarchy, under the guidance of the Christ and by the Chohans of the seven
major Ashrams. They constitute
a group of ten to Whom
this task has been committed, for the reason that They are the only Members of the Hierarchy Who possess the needed
qualifications and in Whom the Will aspect is adequately developed. The task of
pouring out the Love principle in a new and dynamic manner is being carried out
by all the Masters and by all initiates who have taken the third initiation.
This stream of love will focus itself each coming Full Moon in a special act or
demonstration of love.
You will note also how fully occupied the
Hierarchy is with work, preparatory to emergence, and with those plans and
activities which will lead to renewed interior activity, based not on lack of
previous unity and integrity, but on the absorption of new energies, made available via
Shamballa, of these
extra-planetary forces to which I have earlier referred. This task of
reorganisation prior to moving outward, will be completed by May, 1946. Then the task of the new alignment with
humanity will be started and the great work undertaken which will proceed for
several hundred years.
In Relation with Humanity
I shall not deal here with the work to be
done in centuries to come in and through humanity, which is the goal of all
these adjustments—at least as far as your present interest is concerned. I
shall touch only upon the activities of the Hierarchy as it establishes—on a
more powerful [Page 539] basis—a more direct contact with mankind. Since 1925 the Hierarchy has directed Its thoughts to men, but It
has not vitalised, as It will eventually do, the religious movements or
churches in all lands, or the educational work in all countries, or any of the
activities which are concerned with the aiding of humanity through welfare
movements. It was felt that it was necessary for mankind to show the Hierarchy,
as well as themselves, the nature of the impulses towards love and selflessness
which may have been already established, and to do this free of hierarchical
prompting and influence, and in this way demonstrating that they possessed that
which might be depended upon as innate and as present in a living, creative
manner. The demonstration has been good; humanity has shown creative love, of
which goodwill and humanitarian efforts are the lowest aspects. The showing has
been better than was anticipated, and this new and vital re-alignment between
the Hierarchy and Humanity becomes now beautifully possible and can be carried
forward without danger. The Hierarchy is now the Custodian of far greater power
than heretofore, on account of Its adjustment to Shamballa.
This hierarchical readjustment to humanity
is being carried out at this time in the Ashrams by the setting up of magnetic
centres which, through their directed activity, will influence humanity in the
coming large scale process of reorientation. In studying this, you must
remember that these are not centres or concentrations of forces, but groups of
disciples whose quality is oriented towards mankind and whose potency of
thought will act magnetically upon aspirants and humanitarians and, through
them and their goodwill activities, will reach and impress men everywhere. The
adjustment being at this time undertaken, therefore, is between hierarchical
groups and groups of men and women upon earth; it is intended, as you have been
told, that Humanity itself will be the world-saviour, working with the aid of
the Hierarchy—as yet invisibly behind the scenes. When this interim work of
salvage is accomplished, then the Hierarchy will externalise Itself.
[Page 540]
You can imagine the adjustments, therefore,
going on in all the Ashrams in preparation for all this and—though I touch not
upon it—you can imagine the general effect of these inter-hierarchical
adjustments and alignments upon disciples and aspirants upon the earth; they
are the first, needless to say, who will respond to this activity. As all this
is taking place in the present difficult period of world rehabilitation, the
immensity of the problem involved and the quality of the tension are abnormal.
It is not easy for disciples today; of this the Hierarchy is well aware. This
fact also involves for Them still another aspect of hierarchical adjustment.
They have—for the sake of the work to be done—to establish a closer alignment
between the inner Ashrams and the outer groups, between Themselves and Their
senior disciples carrying the burden of the outer world service; this alignment
has also to be extended between senior disciples and initiates and the workers
on earth.
The pureness of the motives animating the
Hierarchy will constantly emerge with greater clarity in your minds, as you
attempt to understand, even in a small measure, Their problems. There are other
problems of which you can know nothing—problems related to the new energies
pouring into our planet, impersonally and dynamically; problems of fresh
tensions, incident to stronger and new alignments; problems concerned with human
enlightenments and reactions in the face of the darkness which evil initiated;
problems of increased personnel, disturbing the rhythm but necessitated by the
demand for workers; problems connected with the growth and training of the
Members of the Hierarchy upon the Way of the Higher Evolution; other problems
incident to the planetary crisis, to the Initiation of the Lord of the World
Himself, and to the amazing demonstration of the success of the evolutionary
process up to the present time. This success has been proven by the alignment
for direct interplay of the three major planetary centres—Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity.
Up to hit 280
Compilation Shamball part6
(EOH 541) HIERARCHICAL PREPARATION AT THE
WESAK FESTIVAL
April-May 1946
I have delayed writing my usual Wesak
message until this late date because of a certain event in the Hierarchy which
was maturing and which necessitated my entire attention. This event was
connected with the Wesak Festival and involved among other matters the formation
of a new Ashram in which the Wisdom aspect would be of particular importance
and not the Love aspect; this Ashram would also be related in a peculiar manner
to the Buddha. It had to be formed at this time in order to be the recipient,
and then the custodian, of certain "endowments" which the Buddha will
bring at the time of the May Full Moon. The endowments concern the will-to-good
of the Lord of the World, the Ancient of Days, though they do not concern
goodwill as you understand that phrase. This Ashram, when duly formed and
established, will enable the Members of the Hierarchy to respond to this aspect
of the divine Purpose—the Purpose which as you know lies behind and implements
the Plan; this Ashram, related to the Buddha, will be specifically under the
close supervision of the Christ, and also of the Lord of Civilisation—at this
time the Master R. They are the only two Members of the Hierarchy able to
register the divine Purpose (in regard to its immediate objectives) in such a
manner that the entire Hierarchy can be informed and can then work unitedly and
intelligently at its implementation. More than this I may not tell you about
this particular hierarchical move, affecting as it does both Shamballa and the Hierarchy.
This Wesak Festival is of supreme
importance because it is the first Festival since the war ended, because it
takes place at a time when a definite orientation of the Hierarchy will take
place, and because a fresh tide of spiritual impulse and directed second ray
energy will flood the entire Hierarchy; the work, therefore, to be done by the
Hierarchy will be far more effective. This you may anticipate and upon this you
can count.
[Page 542]
But—as you may well have surmised—it is the
Full Moon of June which is (this year) the season of prime and outstanding
importance; it is in many ways easier for Western believers and esotericists to
tune in and participate in the activities of the Hierarchy when closely
connected with the Christ than it is in those related to the Buddha. The main intention
in these early stages of keeping the Eastern Festival of Wesak is to
familiarise the Western world with the fact of the presence of the Buddha and
with His activities in connection with humanity. Such great progress has,
however, taken place in the spiritual development of humanity that the Buddha
need no longer continue with His task unless He so desires—and then only for a
period of years, known to Him and the Lord of the World. He could cease His
annual contact with the Hierarchy at this time, if He so chose, owing to the
direct contact now established between the Hierarchy and Shamballa. This, however, He does not immediately choose to do.
For a few decades longer He will cooperate with the Christ in widening the
channel of contact between Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity. After that, He
will "proceed to His Own place" in the solar Hierarchy and will no
longer visit the
(EOH 544) For this new revelation the
Christ is preparing as are all the members of the Hierarchy, from the highest
Chohan down to the humblest accepted disciple; it is for this that all the
ashrams are getting ready; it is for this also that (in a weak and feeble
manner) Christian people, those of the other world faiths, and spiritually
minded people are likewise preparing.
Therefore, we have isolated (if I may use
such a word) three activities to which the Christ is at this time dedicated:
1. The reorganisation of the world
religions—if in any way possible—so that their out-of-date theologies, their
narrow-minded emphasis and their ridiculous belief that they know what is in the
Mind of God may be offset, in order that the churches may eventually be the
recipients of spiritual inspiration.
2. The gradual dissolution—again if in any
way possible—of the orthodox
Jewish faith, with its
obsolete teaching, its separative emphasis, its hatred of the Gentiles and its failure to recognise the Christ. In saying this I do not fail to recognise
those Jews throughout the world who acknowledge the evils and who are not
orthodox in their thinking; they belong to the aristocracy of spiritual belief
to which the Hierarchy itself belongs.
[Page 545]
3. Preparation for a revelation which will
inaugurate the new era and set the note for the new world religion.
To these three efforts of the Hierarchy,
superintended by the Christ, another two must be added, of perhaps even greater
importance. The first one is the reaction of the Hierarchy itself to the new
relationship established between It and Shamballa and to that new, direct and potent channel which has
lately been induced by the efforts of the Hierarchy and human invocativeness.
The second activity is one leading towards a much closer relation between the
Hierarchy and Humanity; this will lead eventually to the externalisation of
certain of the Ashrams, and later to the appearance of the Hierarchy on earth,
bringing the new revelation.
(EOH 549)
Analysed, these words simply mean that goodwill will result in right
human relations in that centre which we call Humanity; this will produce the
possibility of that peace which characterises the Hierarchy appearing on earth,
and leading to the glory of God, which animates the activity of Shamballa, the centre where the Will of God
is known. Therefore,
intelligent relationship, practical love and the full expression of the divine
will are bound to occur, if the correct sequence of activities is followed. At
present, even the first of them remains a hope. The factors of the failure of
the religious and political groups and the apathy of the mass of men have
greatly complicated the task of the Hierarchy.
(EOH 551) The Hierarchy is a great fighting body today, fighting for the souls of men, fighting
all that blocks the expansion of the human consciousness, fighting all that
limits human freedom (I said not license) and fighting to remove those factors
and barriers which militate against the return of [Page 551] the Christ and the
emergence of the Hierarchy as a fully functioning body on earth. There is
nothing weak, vacillating, sentimental or neutral in the attitude of the
Hierarchy; this must be grasped by humanity, and the strength and insight as
well as the love of the Hierarchy must be counted upon.
I have in the above remarks enumerated for
you certain of the objectives facing the Hierarchy at this time and involving
the personal attention of the Christ; they all have a potent and beneficent
effect upon humanity. Let me enumerate them in concise form, because it is
essential that there be clear perception of the emerging values on the part of
workers of all grades and kinds in the world, for otherwise perception is not
possible. To each point enumerated I will append in a few brief words the
reason why it is regarded as important:
1. The Reorganisation of the World
Religions.
Reasons
a. To make way for the World Religion, universal religion.
b. To return humanity to the simplicity
which is in Christ.
c. To rid the world of theology and
ecclesiasticism.
2. The Gradual Dissolution of Orthodox
Judaism.
Reasons
a. Because of its presentation of a
wrathful Jehovah, caring only for his chosen people. This is a basic evil. The Lord of the World, the God in whom we
live and move and have our being, is totally otherwise.
b. Because of its separativeness.
c. Because it is so ancient that its
teachings are largely obsolete.
d. Because when the Jews become spiritual
they will greatly benefit mankind, for they are found in every land.
3. Preparation for a New Revelation.
Reasons
a. Because where there is no vision the
people perish.
b. Because human expectancy indicates its
emerging presence.
c. Because the new Invocation will
inevitably bring it to us.
4. The Reaction of the Hierarchy to Shamballa.
Reasons
a. Produces a direct channel.
b. Conditions the inflow of power energy.
c. Relates the will-to-good to goodwill.
d. Creates new constructive tensions and new
ashrams.
The next war would annihilate
the greater part of the human race
Reasons
a. Produces (in the near future) the
externalisation of certain ashrams.
b. Leads to the reappearance of the
Hierarchy on earth.
c. Recognises that man's point of
development warrants this.
d. Presents a nearing opportunity for
revelation.
6. An Effort to avert War.
Reasons
a. Because the next war would annihilate the greater part
of the human race.
b. Because, having a religious basis, the
hate involved would be greater far than anything hitherto known.
c. Because Shamballa would be involved, and this has never been the case.
(EOH 553) You can see therefore how
critical, spiritually, are these times, and how urgent is the task which
confronts the Hierarchy and its workers on earth. The war may be over in the
physical sense, but great issues are still involved and undetermined and can
lead either to peace or to a renewal of those conditions in which wars are
generated and which, once generated, cannot be avoided.
It is with all these foregoing factors in
mind that we [Page 553] approach the next two great Festivals: the Wesak
Festival and Christ's Unique Occasion. One point I must make here, and I make
it with great joy: this year 1946 marks the beginning of a cycle in which
humanity is more closely involved in the Festivals than ever before and in
which they can take a much more important part than ever before. The Wesak
Festival has long been kept in many countries and—as time goes on and the
instruction of the masses proceeds—the meeting held at the time of the May Full
Moon will assume great importance, but its keynote will be changed. What the
new keynote will be has not yet been announced, and will not be for 35 years.
As I earlier pointed out, its significance, and that of Good Friday, belong to
the past and their usefulness is nearly finished. It is the intention of the
Buddha and the Christ that in each country there should eventually be someone
who will act as Their Representative at the time of the two Festivals, so that
the distribution of spiritual energy from the first great Aspect or Ray will be
direct from the Buddha
(and later Shamballa) to the Christ, and then from the Christ to those disciples in every
country who can be overshadowed, and so act as channels for the direct current
of energy.
The same procedure will be followed at the
time of the Full Moon of June, except that Shamballa will not be so involved, and with the difference that at the May
Festival it will be a first ray disciple who will be overshadowed, and at the
June Festival a second ray disciple will represent the Christ in every land.
This can mean either the soul or the personality ray of the disciple.
It has not been possible to organise this
development this year, but next year a beginning can be made, even if only
three or four countries can work under this inspiration. The effects of this
development will be far-reaching, though not immediately apparent to the
onlooker.
This year, at the great Festival in the
Himalayas at which the Buddha will appear as usual, He has let it be known that
His main duty is to bring the initial inflow of the threefold energy which the
Invocation invokes and will [Page 554] continue to invoke for many decades.
From the Mind of God, Light will flow through Him to the waiting world of
men—that human centre whose eternal mission is to bring light to all created
lives. From the Heart of God, He will bring to the Hierarchy, via the Christ,
that deep unending inflow of Love which will make it possible for the Hierarchy
to perform its hard task and externalise itself. It is not possible for human
beings to realise the sacrifice and the hardship which this emergence will
entail, and only a vast inflow of divine love can make it possible.
Shamballa will be related to the
New Group of World Servers
An effort also will be made to relate Shamballa, "the Centre where
the Will of God is known,"
directly to the New
Group of World Servers,
via those Ashrams which are working along the lines of outer, practical
goodwill. The reception of this energising will-to-good should produce a
definite "stepping-up" or increase of goodwill and enable the
Goodwill movement to proceed with greater momentum this coming autumn and
winter; it will take the entire summer for the needed assimilation by those
engineering this movement all over the world.
(EOH 557)
I have here told you the things which the Christ has planned for the
immediate future. I have told you also some of the things which He and the
Masters must do as preparatory steps to the new world which can and will
supersede the old unhappy world that lies immediately behind us. I have chosen
to speak to you of these activities in which it is now possible for you to
share, with the exception of those which affect the relation between Shamballa and the Hierarchy. However, those who are initiates of
the third degree (and there are quite a few working on the earth among men at
this time) can share in all of them.
This is an intensely practical message and
calls for your renewed pledge to serve humanity and to find your way into an
Ashram where that service may be directed. It calls for sacrifice until it
hurts, and where it touches you the most; it calls for a joyous sense of unity
with that station of power and light which we call the Hierarchy and which
stands ready—as never before—to share with humanity that power and that light
to the limit of human capacity to use it.
I beg you, in closing, to aid in two
matters which are of importance to Him Whom all disciples, initiates and
spiritual men have loved and followed for nearly three thousand years, the
Christ. (I am referring here to His appearance as Shri Krishna and as one other
who was little known [Page 558] but who did a great work in still earlier
centuries.) It is work in preparation for His coming.
I beg you to shoulder the responsibility of
distributing the Invocation on as large a scale as possible and in every
country. It is of great potency, and when used by men of all faiths can aid in
the process of averting war. I ask you also to make possible the wide
distribution of the book The Problems of Humanity which I have written, for
they strengthen the hands of those who are already seeking to deal with these
problems and they bring the need to the attention of the unawakened. This will
require sacrifice, for it calls for the expenditure of money; even the
Hierarchy works through normal channels and needs money, and even the Christ
has need of financial resources in order to reach the needy sons of men. I ask
your aid and I await your decision.
That He Whom we serve may be nearer to all
of us than ever before, that the work of establishing right human relations may
proceed apace, and that light and love may stream forth from Shamballa and the Hierarchy over all of you who love
your fellowmen is the earnest wish, accompanied by my blessing, for you at this
season of the will-to-good.*
Mode of Approach Toward Externalisation
(August 1946)
(EOH 559) One of the most important things
emerging from the theme of this amazing and imminent event (the reappearance of
the Hierarchy on the physical plane) is the factor of the developments and the
adjustments going on within [Page 559] the Hierarchy Itself in preparation for
this happening. Incidentally, I would here point out that what will take place,
and what is already tentatively taking place, is the externalisation of the
Ashrams. The great official departments, such as the teaching department or
that of emerging civilisations, will not at this time reappear. Their
activities will still, for a long time, be retained within the Hierarchy upon
Its own plane. The first step is the appearance of certain Ashrams, controlled
by certain Masters, upon the physical plane, evoking general recognition and
guaranteeing to the public the fact of the Hierarchy and the restoration of the
Mysteries. Later, if these steps prove successful, other and more important
reappearances will be possible, beginning with the return of the Christ.
But in the meantime, great and momentous
happenings are taking place within the Hierarchy and in relation to Its
Membership. Disciples upon the periphery of any Ashram are apt to be
unobservant of the training and attitudes of Those Who are senior to them in an
Ashram; They frequently overlook the fact that They too—from the Christ down to
the humblest initiate—are in process of steady and increasing hierarchical
discipline, training and instruction. Because the senior disciples and
initiates have reached a goal which has seemed for long quite unattainable to
the average aspirant, it is assumed that they have attained; the fact that they
have only passed a milestone upon the endless Way of Bliss is entirely
forgotten. But, owing to the impulsion of life itself, progress ever continues;
knowledge must ever be transmuted into wisdom; love must ever be accompanied by
divine will; planning must ever give way to divine purpose; light must ever be
succeeded by life; from the Hierarchy, the initiate must pass to Shamballa, and from Shamballa he will follow one or other of the seven Paths; the
Path of Evolution gives place to the Way of the Higher Evolution; planetary
recognitions eventually expand into solar contacts; the Christ-consciousness
eventually unfolds into something so all-inclusive that we have as yet no word
[Page 560] for it or any need of words; recognition of the Father and of
monadic being causes all lesser recognitions to fade out, and
soul-consciousness and progressive life in form are no longer goals but are left
far behind.
In spite of all this, it is necessary to
remember that the gain of all experience for ever persists, nothing is ever
lost; that which life in form has conferred is still in the possession of the
immortal spiritual entity; that which the soul-consciousness has enfolded and
included is still the rich endowment of Being, centred now in the Monad; hierarchical experience is merged into
the purposes of the Council
Chamber at Shamballa,
but ability to work in the Hierarchy ever lasts because the hierarchical
constitution and institution condition all manifestation—for what reason this
is so, no one knows, but so is the divine Will.
In synthesis and in the all-inclusive
awareness of the great Life which enfolds all that is, everything (except what
we know as evil) is persistent and for ever endures.
You will have noted (if you are true
students of what I have given out to the world) that information anent the
Hierarchy has fallen into three major categories:
1. The work of the Hierarchy in relation to
man and to the three worlds of human evolution.
2. The interior constitution of the
Hierarchy and its internal activity.
3. Its superior relation to Shamballa and to extra-planetary livingness.
A great deal that has been conveyed to you
in the two final categories has been merged by you into an interested but
totally impractical realisation that the Hierarchy apparently has a life of its
own which proceeds independently of humanity and that it also has its own goals
and objectives which are no concern of yours. These deductions are dependent
upon your domination by the separative mind, for in reality the work and the
activity proceeding in all three centres—Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity—are [Page 561] merged,
fused and interdependent; they are all mutually evocative and invocative.
The fact, for instance, that the Hierarchy
is approaching closer to humanity and will eventually make an appearance upon
the physical plane is due, not only to hierarchical intent, but to the demand
of mankind and to the strong vibration and note which humanity has set up. To
that extent, humanity controls some of the activities of the Hierarchy and thus
precipitates action. At the same time, all that is happening can be traced to Shamballa, is inherent in divine purpose and is
impulsed and impelled by
Shamballa energy,
distributed throughout the planet, via the Hierarchy in the majority of cases.
Both the Hierarchy and Humanity are brought under the influence of
extra-planetary forces which make their impact upon the planet, via Shamballa. Therefore, a great interdependence
emerges, of which the head, heart and solar plexus centres in the individual
man's etheric body are symbols; their unified relation keeps the man
functioning and demonstrating as a coherent whole at a particular level of
consciousness. It is essential that students endeavour to grasp this, and so
develop within themselves at least the rudiments of this synthetic unified
grasp of living conditions and of a vital situation.
These instructions can aid all earnest
aspirants and disciples to develop this type of understanding with as much
speed and accuracy as possible. It is distinctive of the hierarchical type of
mind: concerned with itself as a divine group, conscious of the pull and
evocative power of the highest
centre, Shamballa,
responsive to the demands of humanity, and sensitive to the "call" of
that third major centre through which the life of the planetary Logos expresses
itself. The consciousness of the Master is therefore preoccupied with three main
lines of responsibility, but only one of them is innate within the living
organism of which He is a part; that aspect of His life is invocative in two
directions: towards Shamballa and towards Humanity; to Him, the other
two centres are evocative.
Today, human beings as a whole are so
loudly invocative [Page 562] that the entire trend of the life of the Hierarchy
and Its plans to date have been subjected to change, to postponement as far as
certain interior and purely hierarchical determinations are concerned, and to a
hastening of certain plans which were slated (if I may use such a word) to take
place several centuries later than this but which—owing to the unexpected
preparedness of humanity—can take place, not prematurely really, but securely
and in the fullness of time; this fullness of time, as regards the particular
planning with which we are dealing, is from now until the year
1. It involved the ability of Those in the Council Chamber at Shamballa to react to and absorb certain
extra-planetary energies and to use them in an intra-planetary sense. It had
not been anticipated by the Directing Agents of these forces that our planetary
Logos would achieve a certain goal so early in time and space as He has.
2. It involved a great expansion,
numerically and in the consciousness of the Hierarchy. This predicates a great
influx of initiates and disciples and a tremendous inflow of what is
esoterically called "angelic essence" from the deva kingdom, under
the direction of certain great Devas who have affiliated during the past two
hundred years with the Hierarchy. This again had not been expected so early.
The result of this happening has been that the door of initiation through which
mankind passes stands wider open (symbolically speaking) than ever before, and
at the same time, the Masters are passing with greater rapidity on to the Way
of the Higher Evolution; this is due to the fact that initiates are fitting
themselves so rapidly to take Their places, and disciples are moving on into
initiate position so fast, that a great pressing forward has become legitimate.
Humanity is ahead of itself by
2300 years
3. It involved, finally, a great awakening
in the human family and a major spiritual reorientation. This again had [Page
563] been believed possible of accomplishment when the sun passed into Capricorn about 2300 years
hence. But—it has
already taken place and necessarily has brought about a basic adjustment in the
plans of the Hierarchy and a renewed emphasis upon the purpose, as registered in Shamballa.
This, being factual, and the time ripe for
decision, has caused an intra-planetary ferment and great activity in the three
major centres. In the last analysis (and this is the factor of supreme
importance) this development—this unexpected right absorption of spiritual
energy, and this seizing of spiritual opportunity—is due to humanity itself;
above everything else, it is the readiness of mankind for that which is new,
and humanity's determination to create a new and better world, adapted more
adequately to their "renewed" spiritual nature, that is responsible
for all the activity.
In this section of our training themes (if
I may call them so) we shall deal primarily with the response and the
subsequent activity of the Hierarchy in relation to humanity. This will take
the form of a new Approach and a reappearance exoterically.
It would be wise, therefore, to keep the
following ideas constantly in mind; I will enumerate them sequentially and for
the sake of clarity:
1. The work of the Hierarchy, throughout
the ages, has been fundamentally threefold in nature:
a. A constant effort to set up a closer and
more understanding relation with Shamballa. This involves:
An unfoldment of the will aspect in
conjunction with a full use of intelligent love.
A constant adaptation of the developing
Plan to the emerging, energising Purpose.
An increasing ability to transmit energy
from Shamballa to the three worlds, from the cosmic
etheric levels to the cosmic dense physical planes.
[Page 564]
b. To unfold—within the periphery of the
hierarchical centre—a life, a plan and a technique which will train all who
find their way into an Ashram, which is in itself an aspect of the life of the
Hierarchy. This ancient and intelligent effort has created and conditioned what
you know as the Hierarchy. However, it is constantly subject to change in
response to new situations and developments.
c. To represent, finally, within the
Hierarchy, the qualities of all the seven Rays, through the medium of the seven
major Ashrams and their allied and subsidiary Ashrams.
There are many other aspects of the
hierarchical constitution and objectives, but these three are the ones with
which we are at this time the most concerned.
2. Today, the relation of Shamballa to the Hierarchy is closer than at any previous time,
owing to the following factors:
a. The one-pointed work and plan—pursued by
the three great departments in the Hierarchy (the department of the Manu, that
of the Christ, and that of the Lord of Civilisation)—in which the three Leaders
have unitedly acted as a Triangle of transmission between the Council Chamber of the Lord of the World and the Hierarchy. They are, all three,
Members of the Council, though none of Them is yet working at the very centre
of affairs; in order to be of greater service in Their own sphere, They have
taken Their stand upon the periphery of the Council's influence.
b. The invocative work carried out both
consciously and unconsciously by humanity itself, which has been of such a
potency that it has penetrated beyond the ring-pass-not (symbolically
understood) of the Hierarchy to Shamballa
itself, and has evoked response. This invocative [Page 565] work reached a
c. The rapid development of integration
among advanced people, which has forced many on to the Path of Discipleship,
and therefore into certain of the Ashrams, and has likewise enabled many
disciples to take initiation.
3. The recognition by a very much larger
number of the general public of the fact of the Hierarchy; this has established
a new type of relation between the Hierarchy and humanity. Hitherto the
relation was dependent upon recognition, by advanced aspirants, of the nature
of their position in relation to the Hierarchy; today, the recognition of
thousands who are not in any way advanced aspirants or in any sense prepared
for affiliation with the Hierarchy has created a new type of problem; it
connotes to the Hierarchy a promising development, though at the same time an
embarrassing one, requiring as it does a different mode of adjustment to human
demands than that entailed by the admittance of disciples to Their Ashrams; it
requires the attention of certain disciples and initiates in all the Ashrams
and the ability of the Hierarchy to penetrate and dissipate the thick cloud of
inchoate thoughtforms which the bewildered, interested and curious public have
created anent Them.
4. The use by the Hierarchy of the
destroyer aspect of divinity, the first Ray, in such a manner that it is in
fact a creative factor and one which, in the last analysis, not only releases
the life from its previous limitations, but also calls in—under the Law of
Balance—the building activity of the second Ray. The work of destruction is now
practically accomplished and over, and the work of the Builders is beginning.
5. The New Group of World Servers has been
created as an [Page 566] intermediate body between the Hierarchy and the
general public. This group is divided into two lesser groups:
a. Those disciples and workers who are
already integrated into some one of the Ashrams.
b. Intelligent and humanitarian aspirants
and workers in world affairs and in all departments.
These two groups unitedly form a
transmitting agency through which the Hierarchy can reach the mass of men with
the new concepts, the techniques of the new civilisation and the basic
propositions under which humanity will move forward into greater light.
6. The recognition by humanity of its major
problems, and the increasing ability of the general public to view these
problems in terms of One Humanity, of the whole. This ability indicates to the
Hierarchy the position of Humanity upon the Path at this time and the readiness
of mankind for the new revelation—to be followed later by the restoration of
the Mysteries.
7. The new orientation of the human family
within itself to the concept of the One Humanity and the intensely alert
spiritual demand which is today distinctive of mankind everywhere, and which
has forced the Hierarchy to come to certain basic decisions and to readjust
Itself to a much closer cooperation with the human centre of life and purpose.
Only Shamballa and Humanity will
remain
It is interesting to note (though it is of
no immediate moment) that the work of destruction initiated by the Hierarchy
during the past one
hundred and seventy-five years (therefore since
the year 1775) has in
it the seeds—as yet a very long way from any germination—of the final act of
destruction which will take place when the Hierarchy will be so completely
fused and blended with Humanity that the hierarchical form will no longer be
required. The three [Page 567] major centres will then become the two, and the Hierarchy will disappear and only Shamballa
and Humanity will remain,
only spirit or life, and substance as an expression of intelligent love will be
left. This corresponds to the experience of the individual initiate at the
fourth initiation, when the causal body, the soul body, disappears and only the
monad and its expression, the personality (a fusion of soul and form) are left.
This event of final dissolution will take place only at the close of our
planetary existence, when the door to individualisation is finally closed for a
pralayic period and the Way of the Higher Evolution will be more closely
trodden than the Path of Initiation.
Therefore, my brothers, the closer relation
of the Hierarchy to Shamballa, the stimulation of its own interior life,
and the readiness of humanity for revelation and for certain unexpected development,
will condition the cycle into which we are now entering. This is, therefore,
the most amazing period in the history of humanity. Added to this, it must be
borne in mind that we are entering another greater round of the Zodiac, and
this coincides with the lesser zodiacal activity because Aquarius governs the greater immediate
cycle of 25,000 years
and is also the sign into which the sun is now moving for a period of 2300
years—a most amazing happening and full of import in our planetary history; it
is a coincidence of which our planetary Logos is well aware and of which He is
making full and intelligent use. It is a cycle also wherein, for the first
time, the three major planetary centres—Shamballa, Hierarchy and Humanity—are in direct and unimpeded
relation, for today the alignment is correct and adjusted for the first time in
planetary history. Even if this be only temporarily so, something has been
initiated, the effects of which will never be lost. It is a cycle also in which
the planetary Logos, having successfully taken initiation and thus affected His
entire planetary life, has also established certain extra-planetary
relationships which are necessarily incomprehensible to you and of no moment
whatsoever to the individual human being, but which will eventually create a
situation in which our planet will become [Page 568] a sacred planet. This
process, as it unfolds and develops, will have a potent subjective and deeply
spiritual effect upon every kingdom in nature and in the realm also of supernature.
Let us now proceed with our consideration
of our theme, after our study of these basic premises.
The Externalisation has been
planned since 1425
Steps in the Externalisation Process
For some time, ever since
You might well ask what were these steps
and along what lines has the preparation gone? The first steps concerned
internal preparation. Though the Masters of the Wisdom have all passed through
the human experience and are simply men who have achieved a relative measure of
perfection, there are aspects of physical contact which They have completely
transcended and utterly negated. There is nothing in the three worlds with
which They have any affinity, except the affinity of life and the impulse of
love for all beings. Recovery of certain facilities of activity has been deemed
necessary. For instance, the five senses, where a Master is concerned, exist
and are used at need, but the contact established and maintained with disciples
and senior aspirants in the world (through whom They primarily work) is largely
telepathic; hearing and sight, as you understand [Page 569] their uses, are not
involved. The science of impression, with its greatly increased effectiveness
over individual contact through the senses, has entirely superseded the more
strictly human method. Except in the case of Masters working on the physical
plane and in a physical body, the outer physical senses are in abeyance; for
the majority of Masters Who still use these senses, the use is strictly
limited; Their work is still almost entirely subjective and the mode of telepathic
interplay and of impression is practically all the means which They employ to
reach Their working agents. Therefore, the recovery of past usages of a more
physical nature has been one of the preparatory moves.
Another has been the achievement of a wide
culture and understanding of the current civilisation which will be coming into
activity and control when the intended project is carried out. You have been
told—and told correctly—that the Masters do not trouble Themselves to attain
proficiency in all educational subjects—in modern history, for instance, or the
newest scientific procedures, or in the use of foreign languages. In all Their
Ashrams there are those who can supply Them with any specified knowledge which They may need at any given time or for
any specific purpose. This will still remain true of Those Who have attained
the rank of Master, but it is not true of all the senior initiates, many of
whom, as they passed into higher grades and under instruction from a Master,
have retained their worldly knowledge, besides specialising in certain strictly
mundane approaches to worldly affairs. For instance, there are adepts who are
authorities upon modern financial matters, and these initiates of the fourth
degree are competently preparing to institute later those newer techniques and
modes of financial interplay which will supersede the present disastrous
methods; they will inaugurate
a system of barter and exchange, of which modern money is the travestied symbol. This
newer method of financial relationships will be comprehensively human and it
will supersede big
business and private enterprise. It will at the same time, however, retain those
phases of modern enterprise which will draw out the initiative and [Page 570]
the resourcefulness of the individual. Other initiates have specialised in the
various languages, and two of them are authorities in basic English; this is
the form of the English language which will eventually take the place of other
languages in all forms of international and business intercourse without in any
way obliterating the individual national languages in daily use in any country.
(EOH 582) The ancient activities of the
Hierarchy will still persist—the activities of preparing disciples and
initiates for initiation and for participating consciously in hierarchical
effort; the Schools of the Mysteries (as outlined by me in Letters on Occult
Meditation) will come into being and practice, but this will be temporarily a
secondary activity; the full expression of ashramic energy will be directed to
practical world affairs and to the education of the general public, and not in
the early stages to esoteric matters. In the last analysis, there is for the
Master and His disciples no such thing as esotericism, except in so far as Shamballa is concerned. There is only definite and
planned work with the consciousness of all forms, and—where humanity is
involved—this is regarded as a process of education, leading to an expansion of
perception and the changing of acquired academic knowledge into an
overshadowing and conditioning wisdom. The implementing of human affairs to
bring about this unfoldment in consciousness is in the hands of disciples who
are undergoing the process themselves, and it is not in the hands of the
Masters, Whose consciousness is fully expanded—a consciousness entering a
higher and greatly different phase, connected with Being and Life and the purposes of Shamballa.
(EOH 586) The situation, therefore, in
relation to the consciousness of disciples in the intensely difficult, though
interesting, period with which humanity is faced could be summed up in the
following statements:
1. The disciple is not motivated by any
desire to externalise the Hierarchy or to see the Ashram with which he is
affiliated functioning physically on the outer plane. He may be totally unaware
of this hierarchical intention. If he is aware of this underlying purpose, it
is entirely secondary in his consciousness. The good of humanity and a
stabilised spiritual future for mankind are his major life incentives.
2. The disciple is strictly humanitarian in
his outlook. He works for the One Humanity and though aware possibly that he is
affiliated with the Hierarchy, his loyalties, his service and his life
intention are directed entirely to the cause of human betterment. In this
attitude he is coming to resemble the Masters Whose life directive is not
hierarchical possibilities but adherence to the purposes of Shamballa, in action, in relationships and to the Plan for all
living units in the three worlds.
(EOH 591)
They will prepare and work for conditions in the world in which Christ
can move freely among men, in bodily Presence; He need not then remain in His
present retreat in
Temporarily, the fact of God Immanent will engross the attention of all true
spiritual teachers, and the fact of that divine immanence making itself felt in
perfection through the Christ and other divine Representatives will for a time
relegate the teaching on God Transcendent into the background. Undue emphasis
has been placed on this major truth, to the exclusion of the nearer and more
practical truth of God in every man and in every form in every kingdom in
nature; much evil has eventuated by the failure to lay the emphasis upon God
Immanent. Later on, when the [Page 591] truth of the Christ indwelling every
man and revealed in perfection through the historical Christ and His great
Brothers down the ages has been accepted, the teaching of God Transcendent, which is the secret mystery in the custody of Shamballa, will be revealed and emphasised. The two
halves of a perfect Whole will then be recognised by humanity.
(EOH 594) The great moment for which He has
so patiently waited has almost arrived; the "end of the age" to which
He referred when speaking to His small group of disciples—"Lo! I am with
you all the days even unto the end of the age"—has come and today He
stands and waits, knowing that the hour has come when He will "see of the
travail of His soul and be satisfied." May I repeat: Right through the
spiritual succession of the Sons of God there is naught to be seen and felt but
expectancy and preparation.
From the Father's House (the Shamballa of the esotericist) the fiat has gone forth: "The hour
has come." From the
(EOH 606) Why this triumph of the Christ
consciousness must always be spoken of in terms of religion, of church-going
and of orthodox belief is one of the incredible triumphs of the forces of evil.
To be a citizen of the
4. Finally, in the triumph of the
Crucifixion or (as it is more accurately called in the East) the Great
Renunciation, Christ, for the first time, anchored on earth a tenuous thread of
the divine Will, as it issued from the Father's House (Shamballa), passed into the understanding custody of
the Kingdom of God, and through the medium of the Christ was brought to the
attention of mankind. Through the instrumentality of certain great Sons of God
the three divine aspects or characteristics of the divine Trinity—will, [Page
606] love and intelligence—have become a part of human thinking and aspiration.
Christians are apt to forget that the crisis in the final hours of the Christ
was not in those spent upon the Cross, but during those spent in the Garden of
Gethsemane, when His will—in agony and almost despair—was submerged in that of
the Father. "Father," He said, "not my will but Thine be
done." (Luke XXII. 42.)
(EOH 610) What the members of the spiritual
Hierarchy are doing is much indeed; those disciples who are in conscious touch
with the Masters of the Wisdom—or, if you prefer the term, with the senior
disciples of the Christ—are working day and night in order to establish such
confidence, correct attitudes and understanding of the divine spiritual
"push" or enterprise that His way will be made easier. They and their
groups of lesser disciples, aspirants and students of the realities stand
unitedly behind the Christ and can thus enable Him to accomplish His purpose.
Their major realisation is that of a cyclic crisis in the spiritual life of our
planet; it is one which has been anticipated in the Father's House (Shamballa) for thousands of years. They have
registered the fact that, for the first time in human history, all the three
spiritual centres or groups through which God works are unitedly focussed on
the same objective. Shamballa, the Spiritual Hierarchy, and Humanity
(the Father's House, the
(EOH 644) Five of the Masters and Their
five Ashrams are primarily involved in this preparatory work. There is first of
all the Ashram of the Master K.H., which is the presiding Ashram in this work,
owing to the fact that it is a second ray Ashram, and therefore upon the same
line of spiritual energy and descent as the Christ Himself. Another reason is
that the [Page 644] Master K.H. will assume the role of World Teacher in the
distant future when the Christ moves on to higher and more important work than
dealing with the consciousness of humanity. Next comes the Master Morya and His
Ashram, because the whole procedure is projected from Shamballa, and He is in close touch with that
dynamic centre. The Master R., as the Lord of Civilisation, is necessarily
closely involved in this preparatory work, and also because He is what has been
called the Regent of Europe. Another Ashram is also very deeply concerned in
this work; I have, at times, referred to the Master Who was responsible for the
organisation of Labour. This work He began to do in the latter part of the
nineteenth century, but left it to carry forward of its own momentum when
Russia entered the field and laid an undue emphasis upon the proletariat during
the revolution and in the later years of the first quarter of the twentieth
century. I (D.K.) am the fifth Master concerned in this special work and am, as
it were, the liaison officer between those active and conscious disciples who
are working in the world of outer affairs and those directly responsible to the
Christ for the desired work of preparation. Certain disciples from these five
Ashrams or groups have been (and will be) especially trained for the work of
contacting the public.
The stimulation which can be given will be released at the coming Full Moon. The five specialised energies are as
follows:
1. The Energy of Love-Wisdom. This energy
always has an effect upon every type of human being in the world. Its effect is
to stimulate the tendency towards goodwill and to produce a mental development
which can transmute the knowledge—garnered down the ages—into wisdom. It is
wisdom which is needed today. Those who are now attempting to foster goodwill
in themselves and others will be stimulated into wise action. You can see,
therefore, that the outpouring of this energy is the first and greatest need.
It can reach mankind because the Founders of all the world religions (I refer
not to their many diversifications) are banded together in [Page 645] unison
with the Christ, Their Lord and Master; through Their united and directed
effort, these energies will flow. Forget not that Christ represents the energy
of love and the Buddha that of wisdom.
2. The Energy of Will or Power. The
outpouring of this energy, owing to the "little wills" of the
majority of men and the developed strenuous wills of certain present world
Leaders, will not have as wide or potent an effect or contact as may the
others. Its inflow will, however, serve to bring about a "fixed
intention" on the part of many to work ceaselessly for true peace and
understanding. These people will therefore aid in the task of implementing
goodwill. It will, nevertheless, strengthen the will of the selfish, ambitious
and obstinate men who are in positions of power and influence, and produce
increased trouble—at least temporarily. The salvation of the world and the
production of the needed security will be brought about in the long run by the
mass of men everywhere, in all lands; it will be the result of an intensified
educational process. Humanity, as yet, does not know how to handle wisely the
energy of the will-to-power, and it is largely this that has handicapped the
manifestation of the will-to-good. The Shamballa force is too strong for those who are naturally wilful. In
the case of certain potent men, this energy reaches them directly, and is not
stepped down for them through contact with the Hierarchy of Love; it naturally
expresses itself in the political fields and in the realm of governments,
through rulers, officials, statesmen and politicians. When the "little
wills" of the intelligentsia, of those who serve the public in some
capacity or other, and those above all who are working in some connection with
the United Nations, become strengthened, stimulated and focussed on goodwill,
the union of the two energies of Love-Wisdom and of Will can bring about the
needed changes in the planetary life. This is not an immediate happening, but
it is not a visioning of the impossible.
3. The Energy of Active Intelligence. This
third type of energy is the easiest one for modern humanity to receive—which is
perhaps a sad commentary upon man's aspirations. [Page 646] The proof of this
lies in the fact that much of this type of energy (through the selfish
perception and desires of mankind) has been crystallised into money. Human
intelligence has served on the side of materialism and not on the side of the
spiritual values. Money is the concretised expression of the third type of
spiritual energy. This particular expression appeared first in the ancient and
equally materialistic system of barter and exchange; then, in later
civilisations (predominantly including ours) we have the appearance of money,
made first from the products of the mineral kingdom, and then later came paper
money, made from the products of the vegetable kingdom. This has culminated in
the modern preoccupation with money. There is very deep occult meaning to be
found in the statement in the New Testament that "the love of money is the
root of all evil". It is largely money and selfishness which lie behind
the present disastrous economic situation. Great financiers are in reality
those in whom the receipt of money, or of this type of energy, constitutes the
line of least resistance, plus the will to make vast fortunes, which cannot be
gainsaid. They will to make a fortune; they bring their intelligence to bear
upon their goal, and naught can stop them. Many of them are purely selfish;
some regard their money as a trust to be used for others and are amazingly
generous in a philanthropic and humanitarian sense. These men are receptive to
the first type of energy, and frequently all the three types find a channel
through them, and the world is greatly benefited; such men are nevertheless
very rare. It still remains for the crystallised aspect of this third energy—money—to
be used on a large scale for the furtherance of the work of the Hierarchy. It
is at this point and in connection with money that the great test of goodwill
should demonstrate.
4. The energy which produces order. This is
the energy of the seventh ray or power of divinity. At this time, its major
expression will come through the relationships and adjustments required between
capital and labour, and labour will be primarily involved. This energy is being
assimilated in the Ashram of the Master Whom I mentioned above; at the [Page
647] inception of the industrial era He was responsible for the formation of
the labour movement—a movement bringing into relation the workers of the world.
It is interesting to have in mind that today labour functions internationally;
it is a group which learns with rapidity and has in it the seeds of vast good;
it is probably the group which will place goodwill in the forefront of human
thinking—upon a pinnacle of thought. This Master to Whom I refer belongs to the
Ashram of the Master R. He relieves Him of this phase of the work to be done.
5. The energy of right human relations.
This energy is a subsidiary expression of the energy of Love-Wisdom—the first
of the great outpouring energies. It emanates, therefore, from the subsidiary
Ashram for which I am responsible. I have written and taught much about it, and
with some success. "Right human relations" is not simply goodwill, as
people seem to think; it is a product or result of goodwill and the instigator
of constructive changes between individuals, communities and nations. About it
I need not write, for you have enough teaching from me to guide you. Your daily
actions will be those of goodwill, directed towards the establishing of right
human relations if you are rightly oriented within the race of men and towards
the spiritual Hierarchy.
(EOH 658) 6. The energy of the first divine
aspect (that of will or power) now being applied with the most scrupulous care
by Shamballa. This energy of the will is—as you have
been taught—the potency
of the life in all beings;
it has in the past only been permitted to make contact with "the substance
of humanity" via the Hierarchy. Lately, direct impact has been permitted experimentally and of
this the world war (1914-1945) was the first evidence, clarifying issues, presenting opportunity,
purifying human thinking and destroying the old and worn-out civilisation. It
is an exceedingly
dangerous energy and
cannot be applied in fuller measure until the race of men has learned to
respond more adequately to the energy of the second aspect of love-wisdom, and
therefore to the rule of the
7. There remains another energy which can only be applied very much later
on and only if the activity of the six preceding energies fulfil their purpose.
With it we cannot here deal, for the future is too uncertain, and in any case,
it will only come into activity in the middle of the Aquarian Age.
These energies, along with the five
specialised energies referred to in my June (1948) Full Moon Message will swing
into great activity as the years slip away. The year 1952 will see the five
specialised energies assuming great potency.
(EOH 662) Skill in action, wise and
understanding judgment, the adaptation of present affairs to the desired future,
the coordination of the work to be done, and the clear enunciation of the
platform upon which the new teaching must be founded, plus the survey (if I may
so express it) of the foundations upon which the new structure of the coming
civilisation must be founded—it is with these things that the Christ is at this
time concerned. You can realise, therefore, the tremendous and cooperative
activity with which the Master K.H. and His Ashram are concerned. The
stimulation of that activity comes from two directions: necessarily from Shamballa, from the Buddha and from the Avatar of Synthesis, and increasingly from the world of men,
as expectancy, hope and demand combine to make their united appeal.
the energy coming from the
Avatar of Synthesis will make its primary impact upon Morya’s Ashram,
The Ashram or group centre through which
the Master Morya works is also exceedingly busy. It is
obvious to you that as this is a first ray Ashram, the energy coming from the Avatar of Synthesis will make its primary
impact upon this Ashram,
which provides the line of least resistance. There, it is scientifically
stepped down or broken down, prior to distribution to the Ashrams of the five
Masters engaged in the work of preparation.
The highest aspect possible of assimilation
by the Hierarchy is directed by the Masters towards the Christ and is used by
Him in His individual and planned preparatory work. Though He demonstrated when
here before that His mission or work had a group or brotherhood objective, it
is well known in hierarchical circles that first ray synthesis is something
higher still than unity, and that even the Christ has somewhat to grasp anent
this new potency—coming
both from Shamballa or
from the Father (as the Christ used to call that emanating source), and also
from extra-planetary sources. Above all, He has the difficult task of training
or adapting His physical vehicle so that it can assimilate this extra-ordinary
high potency and, at the same time, keep it [Page 663] in a condition in which
He can move outward on the physical plane among men.
(EOH 674) It was the knowledge that this
important development was imminent which made the Hierarchy in the last century
widen the area or the scope of its teaching activity and thus bring to the
consciousness of modern man the knowledge of what occultism essentially means.
The keynotes upon which the occult philosophy is built are:
1. There is naught in manifestation except
organised energy
2. Energy follows or conforms itself to
thought
3. The occultist works in energy and with
energies.
The thought of God brought the universe of
energies into organised form upon the highest of the seven planes, or upon the
first cosmic etheric level. These energies have for untold aeons been directed
from the fourth or lowest of the cosmic etheric planes, the plane which we call
the buddhic and regard as the first definitely spiritual plane, in our usually
erroneous thought; this direction has been under impression from Shamballa, and the Masters have "manipulated
these energies in conformity with the Plan, which is the blueprint of the
Purpose."
(EOH 677) In London, in New York, in Geneva and Darjeeling and in
Tokyo, a Master will
eventually be found, organising a major energy centre; at the same time His
Ashram will continue to function upon buddhic levels, for the entire personnel
has not been alerted for externalisation. The Ashram will therefore be working
on two levels—and yet that is not a correct statement of fact, as there are no
levels, as well you know, but only states of consciousness. Ask me not how this
can be; ponder on the relation of this dual and simultaneous appearance by
attempting to grasp the nature of the manifested form of the planetary Logos in the Person of Sanat
Kumara. Sanat Kumara
is not the personality of the planetary Logos, for personality as you
understand it is not existent in His case. It is not the soul of the planetary
Logos, because that soul is the anima mundi and the soul of all forms in all
kingdoms. Sanat Kumara, the Eternal Youth, can be seen by Those Who have the
right, presiding, for instance, over the Council in Shamballa, yet at the same time He is present as the life and
the informing intelligence upon and within our planet.
(EOH 685) Necessarily, the problem is one
of a change in the orientation of perception but not necessarily in modes of
living or in any definitely physical plane adjustments. Hierarchical
orientation has for some centuries been one of a very strict internal
consolidation, in order that the magnetic aura of the Hierarchy may unfailingly
respond to impression from Shamballa, and also be of so potent a nature that it
can form a protective screen around the human family. Forget not the nature of
the protective service which the Masters have assumed on behalf of mankind,
standing between humanity and the emanations and influences and the magnetic aura of the Black Lodge.
This internal consolidation has been
greatly strengthened [Page 685] during the past one hundred years. Because of
this, and because of the resultant clarity of impression and of the potent
out-going influence, the Plan for humanity—as a Whole—was imparted with
emphasis to disciples in the Ashrams, and by them was formulated clearly and
presented to humanity.
H.P.B. (one of the first working disciples
to go forth on the externalisation impulse and with first ray energy driving
him) gave the background of the Plan, under impression from me; the more
detailed structure and the sweep of the hierarchical intention have been given
by me in the books which A.A.B. has introduced under her own name to the public
(in so doing acting under my instructions). For the first time in human
history, the purpose of past events—historical and psychological—can be clearly
noted as the foundation for all present happenings, thus bringing the
mysterious Law of Karma in an easy manner to public attention. The present can
also be seen, indicating the way of the future and revealing clearly the
Will-to-Good which is animating the entire evolutionary process—a process in
which humanity (again for the first time) is intelligently participating and
cooperating. It is this cooperative participation, even if unconsciously
rendered, which has made it possible for the Hierarchy to grasp the opportunity
to bring to an end the long silence which has persisted since Atlantean days;
the Masters can now begin to undertake to renew an ancient "sharing of the
secrets," and to prepare humanity for a civilisation which will be
distinguished by a constant intellectual perception of truth, and which will cooperate
with the externalised Ashrams in the various parts of the world.
The internal consolidation is now being
somewhat loosened, if I may use such an inadequate expression, and a majority
of the Members of the Hierarchy are withdrawing Their close attention from
reception of impression from Shamballa and
are now orienting Themselves—in an entirely new and directed manner—to the
fourth kingdom in nature. At the same time, a very powerful minority of Masters
are entering into a much closer association with the Council of Sanat Kumara.
[Page 686] In this way the potent and
dynamic influence of Shamballa
will be strengthened
instead of lessened by the reorientation of the majority of the Masters and
initiates. These statements have, of course, implications which will not be
understood by you and which will necessarily pass unnoticed; you will respond,
however, to the realisation that the minority—in renewed and closer contact
with Shamballa—have to master the technique of
relationship; this will entail much use of the sacrificial will. The reason is
that They are (on a higher turn of the spiral) submitting to a forcing process
which will make great demands upon Them, but which will serve to release the
majority to a new and more potent form of immediate Earth service. In other
words: a few of the Masters and higher initiates are undergoing a special and
applied stimulation and are undertaking work for which the united Ashrams, in
their higher brackets, have hitherto been responsible. This subjects Them to a great
strain and forces Them to use the will aspect of Their divine natures in
entirely new and unknown ways. They relinquish much, in order to enable the
entire Hierarchy to give far more in radiance, guidance, and magnetic
invocative strength than has even before been the case.
(EOH 687) The majority of the Masters and
initiates, in Their turn, also relinquish much in order to work exoterically
among men. They subject Themselves voluntarily to an active stimulation from
the senior "contacting minority" but relinquish the "joy of Shamballic contact". Temporarily, the training which the
majority have been receiving in "cosmic orientation," in the use of
the will-to-be (a meaningless phrase to you), and in the "bliss of
receptivity to the will-to-good
of Sanat Kumara"
is given up. The entire attitude of the group of Masters, initiates and
disciples who are to be responsible for the externalisation of the Hierarchy
and for the preparation for the reappearance of the Christ is focussed upon the
expert use of the Science of Contact. This time, the science is used upon a
wide and telepathic scale, with the souls of men, and upon the technique of
expressing spiritually the nature of "isolated unity" in the cities,
jungles and the [Page 687] massed inhabited areas of the earth. This involves,
as you can well imagine, the use of an expert ability to remain untouched by
the evil rampant upon the physical plane, and yet to remain in complete
sympathetic and understanding contact with all humanity and with all events that
affect humanity. It was prophecy which impelled the Christ to say, when last in
public appearance among men, that His disciples were "in the world and yet
not of the world"; Christ depicted in simple yet profoundly revealing
terms the life of the Members of His Ashrams (the entire Hierarchy) when again
He would walk with Them in the plain sight of humanity. He pictured Them as one
with the Father (the Council
of Life in Shamballa),
and yet as one with Him (as the hierarchical Head), and as one also with all
that breathes and that inhabits form. I advise all disciples who seek to
cooperate with the impending activity of the Hierarchy to study with care the
seventeenth chapter of the Gospel of St. John; this was written by that
disciple of love, under the influence of the energy emanating from the buddhic
vehicle of the Christ, which is also—as you have been told—identical with the
buddhic vehicle of the Buddha. The identity of the two vehicles is symbolic of
the entire teaching anent "isolated unity" and divine participation,
which the Masters in Their Ashrams are teaching Their disciples of all grades,
these days, as the first step toward the externalisation of Their activities.
An intensive training process, therefore,
is being carried out in every ashram and along identical lines, resulting in
the "isolation," occultly understood, of certain Masters and
initiates. They have been thus isolated in order that They may work more
readily and easily with Shamballa; They can thus form a dynamic and galvanic
storehouse of energy (the energy of the divine Will) and thus make it available
for the use of the other Members of the Hierarchy, as They stand in
"isolated unity" upon the highways of Earth, and thus are "in
the world and yet not of the world". The learning of this lesson calls
into activity the sacrificial will of both the hierarchical groups; this
remains the binding cord between Them and that aspect of the antahkarana along
which energy can [Page 688] flow in a new and electric fashion from Shamballa, via the hierarchical minority referred to above, and
into the large group of Masters and initiates and disciples to whom is
committed the task of consolidation. All this constitutes—for the Members of
the Hierarchy—a definite process of testing out and of trial, prior to and
preparatory to some of the higher initiations.
Again, the Members of the Hierarchy are not
only sensitive to impression from the two other planetary centres (Shamballa and Humanity), but They are acutely aware of the
Forces of Evil which are fighting furiously against the externalisation of the
spiritual work. The energy which cosmic evil generates is active along three
main channels:
It was the task of Shamballa to
protect humanity from the intention to destroy, of the cosmic forces of Evil
(EOH 689) 2. From the Black Lodge which is the externalisation of the centre of cosmic evil on Earth. Just as the White Lodge is the
representative or correspondence of the cosmic centre of light upon Sirius (the
true Great White Lodge), so the Black Lodge is also representative of ancient
and cosmic evil. The Black Lodge is also far more advanced in externalisation
than is the White Lodge, because materialism and matter are, [Page 689] for it,
the line of least resistance. The Black Lodge is therefore far more firmly
anchored upon the physical plane than is the Hierarchy. It requires a much
greater effort for the White Lodge to "clothe itself in matter and work
and walk on material levels" than for the Black Lodge. Owing, however, to
the spiritual growth of mankind and to the steady, even if slow, orientation of
mankind to the spiritual Hierarchy, the time has come when the Hierarchy can
materialise and meet the enemy of good upon an even footing; the Hierarchy need
not be further handicapped by working in substance whilst the Forces of Evil
work both in substance and in matter. Once the reappearance of the Christ and
of the Hierarchy is an accomplished fact, these Forces of Evil face sure
defeat. The reason for this is that the trend of human living and thought is
turning steadily towards the subjective spiritual values, even if these values
are interpreted in terms of material well-being at present and of better living
conditions for all—with peace and security also for all. The Black Lodge or the
planetary centre of evil works almost entirely upon the astral plane, and is
impressed directly and guided in detail from the cosmic astral plane.
3. From the negative or purely material
forces of the planet, which are not necessarily either good or bad but which
have been used instinctually and oft unconsciously by humanity for purely
material ends, and are therefore basically anti-spiritual and subject to the
influence of human desire—a desire oriented towards selfishness, and therefore
towards separateness. This form of evil is being combated today by the New
Group of World Servers. Of this battle you know something because every
thinking man and woman is immediately implicated.
I have spoken of the evil present in the
planet in very simple terms, and there are phases of it to which I have not referred;
the interlocking and inter-penetrating of the grades of evil are far more
numerous and intricate than you surmise.
In summing up, I would say that the present
reorientation of the Hierarchy, in relation both to Shamballa and to [Page 690] Humanity, ushers in the cycle of complete defeat of cosmic evil upon our
planet, leaving only
an isolated and weakened Black Lodge to die a slow death; this permits the
purification of human desire to such an extent that "matter will be
redeemed by the sacrificial will of Those Who know, by the will-to-good of
Those Who are, and by the goodwill of those sons of men who have turned their
faces to the light and who in turn reflect that light."
(GAWP 136) The major point I would seek to
make here is that the intuition is the source or the bestower of revelation.
Through the intuition, progressive understanding of the ways of God in the
world and on behalf of humanity are [Page 136] revealed; through the intuition,
the transcendence and the immanence of God is sequentially grasped and man can
enter into that pure knowledge, that inspired reason, which will enable him to
comprehend not only the processes of nature in its fivefold divine expression
but also the underlying causes of these processes, proving them effects and not
initiatory events; through the intuition man arrives at the experience of the
kingdom of God, and discovers the nature, the type of lives and of phenomena,
and the characteristics of the Sons of God as They come into manifestation.
Through the intuition, some of the plans and purposes working out through the
manifested created worlds are brought to his attention, and he is shown in what
way he and the rest of humanity can cooperate and hasten the divine purpose;
through the intuition, the laws of the spiritual life, which are the laws
governing God Himself, conditioning
Shamballa, and guiding
the Hierarchy, are brought to his notice progressively and as he proves capable
of appreciating them and working them.
Four types of people are subject to revelation
through the awakening of the intuition:
1.Those on the line of the world saviours.
These touch and sense the divine plan and are pledged to service, and to work
for the salvation of humanity. They are found expressing different and varying
degrees of realisation, stretching all the way from the man who seeks to reveal
divinity in his own life and to his immediate small circle (through the medium
of the changes and effects wrought in his personal life) to those great
Intuitives and world Saviours, such as the Christ. The former is motivated in
all probability by some one intuitive crisis which entirely remade him and gave
him a new sense of values; the latter can, at will, rise into the world of
intuitive perception and [Page 137] values and there ascertain the will of God
and a wide vision of the Plan. Such great Representatives of Deity have the
freedom of the
Up to hit 332
Compilation Shamballa part7
(GAW[ 159) Humanity today is the Dweller
whilst the Hierarchy of
Souls is the Angel and
behind stands the PRESENCE
of Divinity Itself,
intuited by the Hierarchy and dimly sensed by humanity but providing in this
manner that threefold synthesis which is divine manifestation in form.
All these three have powerful emanations
(though the emanation of the PRESENCE via Shamballa has been wisely held in leash since the human race came into being).
They all have auras, if you care so to call them, and in the three worlds at
present that of the Dweller is still the most powerful, just as in the life of
the aspirant, his personality is as yet the dominant predisposing factor. It is
this powerful human emanation which constitutes the major glamour in the life
of humanity and of the individual disciple. It is a synthesis of glamour, fused
and blended by the personality ray but precipitated by the effect of the
steadily influencing soul ray. It [Page 160] is the shadow or distortion of
reality, now sensed for the first time on a large scale by the race of men and
thrown into high relief by the light which shines from the Angel, the
transmitter of energy from the PRESENCE.
(GAWP 169) This is necessarily no rapid
process but is an ordered and regulated procedure, sure in its eventual success
but relatively slow also in its establishment and sequential process. This
process was initiated upon the astral plane [Page 169] by the Buddha, and on
the mental plane when Christ manifested on Earth. It indicated the approaching
maturity of humanity. The process has been slowly gathering momentum as these two great Beings have gathered around Them Their disciples
and initiates during the past two thousand years. It has reached a point of
intensive usefulness as the channel of communication between Shamballa and the Hierarchy has been opened and enlarged, and
as the contact between these two great Centres and Humanity has been more
firmly established.
At the June Full Moon, 1942, the first test as to the directness of the communication between the
Centre where the Will of God holds sway, the Centre where the Love of God rules, and the Centre
where there is intelligent expectancy was made. The medium of the test was the united effort of the Christ, of the Buddha, and of those who responded to Their
blended influence. This
test had to be carried
out in the midst of the terrific onslaught of the powers of evil and was extended over the two weeks beginning on the day of the Full Moon (May 30th 1942) and ending on June 15th 1942. There was a great concentration of the
Spiritual Forces at that time, and the use of a special Invocation (one which
humanity itself may not use), but the success or failure of the test was, in
the last analysis, determined by mankind itself.
You may feel, though wrongly, that not
enough people know about or understand the nature of the opportunity or what is
transpiring. But the success of such a test is not dependent upon the esoteric
knowledge of the few, the relatively few, to whom the facts and the information
have been partially imparted. It is dependent also upon the tendency of the
many who unconsciously aspire towards the spiritual realities, who seek for a
new and better way of life for all, who desire the good of the whole and whose
[Page 170] longing and desire is for a true experience of goodness, of right
human relations and of spiritual enterprise among men. Their name is Legion and
they are to be found in every nation.
The Will of God expressed in Shamballa
and focussed through the Buddha-the Low of God, focussed through the Christ
When the Will of God, expressed in Shamballa and focussed in the Buddha, the Love of God,
expressed in the Hierarchy and focussed through the Christ, and the intelligent desire of humanity, focussed
through the world disciples, the world aspirants and the men of goodwill are
all brought into line—either consciously or unconsciously—then a great
re-orientation can and will take place. This event is something that can happen.
(GAWP 183) This basic technique underlies
both primary and secondary revelations. In the case of the first, the time
cycle is long; in the second, the time cycle is short. A very good instance of
this process is demonstrated by one of the secondary points of revelation in
connection with the teaching which emanated from the Hierarchy (the Custodian
of secondary revelations, as
Shamballa is of primary)
fifty years ago and which took the form of The Secret Doctrine. H.P.B. was the
"penetrating, sensing, appropriating intuitive." The revelation she
conveyed followed the accustomed routine of all secondary revelation from the
Source to the outer plane. There the minds of men, veiled by illusion and
clouded by glamour, formulated it into an inelastic doctrine, recognising no
further revelation and holding steadily—many of the theosophical groups—that
The Secret Doctrine was a final [Page 184] revelation and that naught must be
recognised but that book and naught deemed correct but their interpretations of
that book. If they are correct, then evolutionary revelation is ended and the
plight of humanity is hard indeed.
(HIS 32) In Lemurian days, after the great descent of the spiritual Existences
to the earth, the work They planned to do was systematised. Offices were apportioned, and the processes
of evolution in all the departments of nature were brought under the conscious
wise guidance of this initial Brotherhood.
This Hierarchy of Brothers of Light still exists, and the work goes
steadily on. They are all in physical
existence, either in dense physical bodies, such as many of the Masters employ,
or in etheric bodies, such as the more exalted helpers and the Lord of the
World occupy. It is of value for men to
remember that They are in physical existence, and to bear in mind that They
exist upon this planet with us, controlling its destinies, guiding its affairs,
and leading all its evolutions on to an ultimate perfection.
[Page 33]
Shamballa will be revealed when
people have etheric vision-it is in the
The central home of this Hierarchy is at Shamballa, a centre in the Gobi desert, called in the ancient books the "
(HIS 40) 5. According to astrological
conditions, and according to the turning of the planetary wheel of life, so one
or another of these Kumaras will be active.
The three Buddhas
of Activity change
from time to time, and become in turn exoteric or esoteric as the case may
be. Only the King persists steadily and watchfully in active physical
incarnation.
Besides these main presiding Personalities
in the Council Chamber
at Shamballa, there is
a group of four Beings Who are the representatives upon the
planet of the four Maharajas, or the four Lords of Karma in the solar
system, who are specifically concerned with the evolution at the present time
of the human kingdom. These four are
connected with:—
1. The distribution of karma, or human
destiny, as it affects individuals, and through the individuals, the groups.
2. The care and tabulation of the akashic records.
They are concerned with the Halls of Records, or with the "keeping of the book," as it
is called in the Christian Bible; They are known in the Christian world as the
recording angels.
[Page 41]
3. The participation in solar councils.
They alone have the right during the world cycle to pass beyond the
periphery of the planetary scheme, and participate in the councils of the Solar Logos.
Thus They are literally planetary mediators, representing our Planetary
Logos and all that concerns Him in the greater scheme of which He is but a
part.
Co-operating with these karmic Lords are
the large groups of initiates and devas who occupy themselves with the right
adjustment of:—
a. World karma,
b. Racial karma,
c. National karma,
d. Group karma,
e. Individual karma,
and who are responsible to the Planetary
Logos for the correct manipulation of those forces and building agencies which
bring in the right Egos on the different rays at the correct times and seasons.
With all these groups we have little
concern, for they are contacted only by initiates of the third initiation, and
by those of even more exalted rank.
The remaining personnel of the Hierarchy is
divided into three main and four subsidiary groups, each of these groups, as
will be seen by reference to the appended chart, being presided over by one of
Those Whom we call the three Great Lords.
(HIS 46) Thus you have Will, Love, and
Intelligence represented in these three great Lords; you have the self, the
not-self, and the relation between synthesised in the unity of manifestation;
you have racial government, religion and civilisation forming a coherent whole,
and you have physical manifestation, the love or desire aspect, and the mind
[Page 46] of the Planetary Logos working out into objectivity. The closest co-operation and unity exists
between these three Personalities, and every move and plan and event exists in
Their united foreknowledge. They are in
daily touch with the Lord
of the World at Shamballa, and the entire guidance of affairs rests in Their hands, and in those
of the Manu of the fourth root-race. The
World Teacher holds office in connection with both the fourth and fifth
root-races.
Each of these departmental heads directs a
number of subsidiary offices, and the department of the Mahachohan is divided
into five divisions, so as to take in the four lesser aspects of Hierarchical
rule.
Under the Manu work the regents of the different world
divisions, such as, for instance, the Master Jupiter, the oldest of the Masters
now working in physical bodies for humanity, Who is the regent for India, and the Master Rakoczi, Who is the regent for Europe and
America. It must be remembered here that though the Master
R., for instance, belongs to the seventh ray, and thus comes under the
department of energy of the Mahachohan, yet in Hierarchical work He may and
does hold office temporarily under the Manu.
These regents hold in Their hands the reins of government for continents
and nations, thus guiding, even if unknown, their destinies; They impress and
inspire statesmen and rulers; They pour forth mental energy on governing
groups, thus bringing about the desired results wherever co-operation and
receptive intuition can be found amongst the thinkers.
(HIS 105) Among Those directly connected
with our Lodge of Masters in its various divisions upon the planet, the
following might be enumerated:-
The Silent Watcher is to Sanat
Kumara, what the Ego is to the personality
The "Silent Watcher," that great Entity Who is the informing life of the planet,
and Who holds the same position to the Lord of the World, Sanat Kumara, as the Ego does to the lower self of
man. Some idea of the high stage of
evolution of this Great Being may be gathered from the analogous degree of
evolutionary difference existing between a human being and a perfected
adept. From the standpoint of our
planetary scheme, this Great Life has no greater, and He is, as far as we are
concerned, a correspondence to the personal God of the Christian. He works through His representative on the
physical plane, Sanat Kumara, Who is the focal point for His life and
energy. He holds the world within His
aura. This great Existence is only
contacted directly by the adept who has taken the [Page 105] fifth initiation,
and is proceeding to take the other two, the sixth and seventh.
At the Wesak festival (Taurus
full moon), the Buddha distributes energy from the Silent Watcher and Sanat
Kumara to humanity
Once a year, at the Wesak Festival, the
Lord Buddha,
sanctioned by the Lord of the World, carries to the assembled humanity a dual
stream of force, that
emanating from the Silent Watcher, supplemented by the more focalised energy of the Lord of the World.
This dual energy He pours out in blessing over the people gathered at
the ceremony in the
During the 1st world war the
Silent Watcher was invoked
It
may not perhaps be generally known that at a certain crisis during the Great War[WW I], the Hierarchy of our planet deemed it well
nigh necessary to invoke the aid of the Silent Watcher, and—employing the great mantram whereby the Buddha can be reached—called the attention of the latter, and
sought his agency with the Planetary Logos.
In consultation between the Planetary Logos, the Lord of the World, one of the
Buddhas of Activity, the Buddha, the Mahachohan, and the Manu (these names are given in order of their
relative evolutionary stage) it was decided to watch proceedings a little
longer before interfering with the trend of affairs, as the karma of the planet would have been delayed should the strife have been ended too
soon. Their confidence in the ability of
men duly to adjust conditions was justified, and interference proved
needless. This conference took place at Shamballa.
This is mentioned to show the close scrutiny given to everything
concerning the affairs of men by the various Planetary Existences. It is literally true, in an occult sense,
that "not a sparrow falleth" without its fall being noticed.
The Bodhisattva (The Christ),
was not included in the Conference at Shamballa during the 1st world
war, because the war was in the department of the Manu-but the next great
strife will be in the department of the Christ-and could well indicate the
relgious world war that seems to be unfolding right now (written Dec 2006)
It may be asked why the Bodhisattva was not included in the
conference. The reason was that the war was in the department of the Manu, and members of the Hierarchy concern
Themselves with that which is strictly Their own business; the Mahachohan,
being the embodiment of the [Page 106] intelligent or manasic principle,
participates in all conferences. In the next great strife the department of
religions will be involved, and the Bodhisattva intimately concerned. His Brother, the Manu, will then be
relatively exempt, and will proceed with His own affairs. And yet withal there is the closest co-operation
in all departments, with no loss of energy.
Owing to the unity of consciousness of those who are free from the three
lower planes, what transpires in one department is known in the others
As the Planetary Logos is only concerned in
the two final initiations, which are not compulsory as are the earlier five, it
serves no purpose to enlarge upon His work.
These initiations are taken upon the buddhic and atmic planes, whereas
the first five are taken upon the mental.
Sanat Kumara and the Chohans,
meet at Shamballa (which is in etheric matter in the
The Lord of the World, the One Initiator,
He Who is called in the Bible "The Ancient of Days," and in the Hindu
Scriptures the First
Kumara, He, Sanat Kumara it is, Who from His throne at
Shamballa in the Gobi desert, presides over the Lodge of Masters, and holds in His hands the reins
of government in all the three departments.
Called in some Scriptures "the Great Sacrifice," He has chosen
to watch over the evolution of men and devas until all have been occultly
"saved." He it is Who decides
upon the "advancements" in the different departments, and Who settles who shall fill the vacant posts; He it is Who, four times a year, meets in conference with all the Chohans and Masters, and authorises what shall be
done to further the ends of evolution.
Sanat Kumara meets lesser
initiates at other times of the year, but only at times of great crisis
Occasionally, too, He meets with initiates
of lesser degree, but
only at times of great crises, when some individual is given the opportunity to bring peace out of
strife, and to kindle a blaze whereby rapidly crystallising forms are destroyed
and the imprisoned life consequently set free.
At the Wesak Festival, the Lodge
meets under the jurisdiction of Santat Kumara (head of Shamballa)
At stated periods in the year the Lodge
meets, and at [Page
107] the Wesak Festival
gathers under His jurisdiction for three purposes:
1. To contact planetary force through the
medium of the Buddha.
2. To hold the principal of the quarterly conferences.
3. To admit to the ceremony of initiation those who are ready in all grades.
Three other initiation ceremonies take
place during the year:—
1. For the minor initiations administered
by the Bodhisattva, all of which are in the department of the Mahachohan, and
on one or other of the four lesser rays, the rays of attribute.
2. For the major initiations on one or
other of the three major
rays, the rays of
aspect, which are administered by the Bodhisattva, and are therefore the first
two initiations.
Sanat Kumra, Lord of Shamballa,
wields the Rod at the 3rd, 4th and 5th
initiations
3. For the higher three initiations (3rd, 4th,
5th) at
which Sanat Kumara
wields the Rod.
At all initiations the Lord of the World is
present, but at the first two He holds a position similar to that held by the
Silent Watcher, when Sanat
Kumara administers the oath at the third, fourth and fifth initiations.
His power streams forth and the flashing forth of the star before the
initiate is the signal of His approval, but the initiate does not see Him face
to face until the third initiation.
The function of the three Kumaras, or the three Buddhas of Activity at initiation is interesting. They are three aspects of the one aspect, and
the pupils of Sanat
Kumara. Though Their functions are many and varied,
and concern primarily the forces and energies of nature, and the direction
[Page 108] of the building agencies, They have a vital connection with the
applicant for initiation, inasmuch as They each embody the force or energy of
one or other of the three
higher subplanes of the mental plane. Therefore at
the third initiation one of these Kumaras transmits to the causal body of the
initiate that energy which destroys
third subplane matter,
and thus brings about part of the destruction of the vehicle; at the fourth
initiation another Buddha transmits second plane force, and at the fifth, first
subplane force is similarly passed into the remaining atoms of the causal
vehicle, producing the final liberation.
The work done by the second Kumara, with second subplane force, is in
this solar system the most important in connection with the egoic body, and
produces its complete dissipation, whereas the final application causes the
atoms themselves (which formed that body) to disperse.
During the initiation ceremony, when the
initiate stands before the Lord of the World, these three great Beings form a
triangle, within whose lines of force the initiate finds himself. At the first two initiations, wherein the
Bodhisattva functions as the Hierophant, the Mahachohan, the Manu, and a Chohan
who temporarily represents the second department perform a similar office. At the highest two initiations, those three
Kumaras who are called "the esoteric Kumaras" form a triangle wherein
the initiate stands, when he faces the Planetary Logos.
These facts are imparted to teach two
things, first, the unity of the method, second, that the truism "as above
so below" is an occult fact in nature.
At the final two initiations
(the 6th and 7th?)-Sanat Kuamara and the Planetary Logos
(the Silent Watcher) merge-seeing as Sanat Kumara is to the Planetary Logos as
the Personality is to the Soul-DK is simply saying that the Personality and
Soul of Planet earth are merged in consciousness when initiates of the 5th
degree are taking either the 6th or 7th initiations-it
would be interesting and useful to consider exactly when in the year these 6th
and 7th initiations take place-at the Libra and Aries full moons?
SDP has written considerably on this subject
At the final two initiations many members of the Hierarchy who are, if one might
so express it, extra-planetary, and who function outside the dense physical and the etheric globe of
our planet, take part,
but a stricter enumeration is needless. Sanat Kumara is still the Hierophant, yet in a [Page 109] very esoteric manner
it is the Planetary
Logos Himself who
officiates. They are merged at that time into one Identity, manifesting different aspects.
Suffice it to say, in concluding this brief
statement, that the making of an initiate is an affair with a dual effect, for
it involves ever a passing on of some adept or initiate to a higher grade or to
other work, and the coming in under the Law of some human being who is in
process of attainment. Therefore it is a
thing of great moment, involving group activity, group loyalty, and united
endeavour, and much may depend upon the wisdom of admitting a man to high
office and to a place in the council chambers of the Hierarchy.
(HIS 126) CHAPTER XIII
THE RODS OF INITIATION
The Rods of Initiation are of four kinds:
1. Cosmic, used by a cosmic Logos in the initiations of a solar Logos and of the three major Planetary Logoi.
2. Systemic, used by a solar Logos in the initiations of a
Planetary Logos. With cosmic initiation
we have naught to do; it concerns expansions of realisation beyond even the ken
of the highest initiate in our solar system.
With systemic initiations we are concerned only in trifling measure, for
they are on so vast a scale that the average human mind cannot as yet envisage
them. Man appreciates these initiations
only in so far as they produce effects in the planetary scheme with which he
may be concerned. Particularly is this
so should the scheme in which he plays his microscopic part be the centre in
the Logoic body receiving stimulation.
When that is the case, the initiation of his own Planetary Logos takes
place, and consequently he (as a cellular body) receives an added stimulation
along with the other sons of men.
3. Planetary, used by a Planetary Logos for initiatory purposes, and for the third, fourth, and fifth major initiations, with the two higher. At the
planetary initiation the Rod of Power, wielded by the solar Logos, is charged
with pure electrical force from Sirius, and was received by our Logos during the secondary period of
creation, from the
hands of that great Entity Who is the presiding Lord of the Lords of Karma. He
is the repository of the law during manifestation, and He it is Who is the
representative in [Page 127] the solar system of that greater Brotherhood on
Sirius Whose Lodges are found functioning as the occult Hierarchies in the
different planets. Again, it is He Who,
with the solar Logos to assist Him, invests the various Initiators with power,
gives to Them that word in secret which enables Them to draw down the pure electric force with which Their rods of office must be
charged, and commits to Their keeping the peculiar secret of Their particular
planetary scheme.
4. Hierarchical, used by an occult
Hierarchy for minor initiations, and for the first two initiations of manas by the Bodhisattva.
The first direct impact of
Shamballa on Humanity took place in Lemurian times-the second was in Atlantean
times and initiated the flood, and the third was in the 20th century
and initiated the world war (1st and 2nd)
When man individualised in Lemurian days, it was through the application of the Rod of Initiation to the Logos of our earth chain, which touched into activity certain
centres in His body, with their corresponding groups. This application produced literally the
awakening of the life to intelligent work on the mental plane. Animal man was conscious on the physical and
on the astral planes. By the stimulation
effected by the electric rod this animal man awoke to consciousness on the
mental. Thus the three bodies were co-ordinated, and the Thinker enabled to function in
them.
All Rods of Initiation cause certain
effects:—
a. Stimulation of the latent fires till
they blaze.
b. Synthesis of the fires through an occult
activity that brings them within the radius of each other.
c. Increase of the vibratory activity of
some centre, whether in man, a Heavenly Man, or a solar Logos.
d. Expansion of all the bodies, but
primarily of the causal body.
e. The arousing of the kundalini fire (or
the fire at the base of the spine), and the direction of its upward
progression. This fire, and the fire of
manas, are directed [Page 128] along certain routes—or triangles—by the
following of the Rod as it moves in a specified manner. There is a definite occult reason, under the
laws of electricity, behind the known fact that every initiate presented to the
Initiator is accompanied by two of the Masters, Who stand one on either side of
the initiate. The three of Them together
form a triangle which makes the work possible.
The force of the Rod is twofold, and its
power terrific. Apart and alone the
initiate could not receive the voltage from the Rod without serious hurt, but
in triangular transmission comes safety.
We need to remember here that two Masters sponsor all applicants for
initiation, and represent two polarities of the electric All. Part of Their function is to stand with
applicants for initiation when they come before the Great Lord.
When the rods are held in the hands of the Initiator in His
position of power, and at the stated seasons, they act as transmitters of electric force from very
high levels, so high indeed that the "Flaming Diamond," at certain of
the final initiations, the sixth
and seventh, transmits
force via the Logos from
outside the system altogether. This major Rod is the one used on this
planet, but within the system there are several such Rods of Power, and they
are to be found in three
grades—if it may be so
expressed.
The Lord of The World-Sanat
Kumara-re-charges the Rod of the World Teacher (Boddihsatva) at the inaugeration
of each World Teacher-at Shamballa-which month?
One Rod of Initiation is used for the first two initiations, and is wielded by the Great Lord. It is magnetised by the application of the
"Flaming Diamond," the magnetisation being repeated for each new World Teacher.
There is a wonderful ceremony performed at the time that a new World
Teacher takes office, in which He receives His Rod of Power—the same Rod as used since the foundation of
our Planetary Hierarchy-and
holds it forth to the Lord
of the [Page 129] World,
Who touches it with His own mighty Rod, causing a fresh recharging of its
electric capacity. This ceremony takes place at Shamballa.
The Rod of Initiation known as the
"Flaming Diamond," is used by Sanat Kumara, the One Initiator.
This Rod lies hidden "in the East," and holds the fire hidden
that irradiates the Wisdom Religion.
This Rod was brought by the Lord of the World from Venus, and once in every world period it is
subjected to a similar process to that of the lesser Rod, only this time it is recharged by the direct action of the Logos
Himself, the Logos of the solar system. The exact
location of this Rod is known only to the Lord of the World and to the Chohans of the rays, and being the talisman of this evolution the Chohan of the second ray is—under the
Lord of the World—its prime guardian, aided by the deva Lord of the second
plane. The Buddhas of Activity are
responsible for its custody, and under Them the Chohan of the ray. It is produced only at stated times, when specific work has to be done. It is used not only at the initiating of men,
but at certain planetary functions of which nothing is at present known. It has its place and function in certain ceremonies connected with the inner round, and the
triangle formed by the Earth, Mars, and Mercury.
(HIS 130) The purpose of the Rods of Power.
In the sceptre of a ruling monarch at this
day is hidden the symbolism of these various Rods. They are duly recognised as symbols of office
and of power, but it is not generally appreciated that they are of electrical
origin, and that their true significance is concerned with the dynamic stimulation of all the subordinates
in office who come
under their touch thus inspiring them to increased activity and service for the
race.
[Page 130]
The great Rod of Power of the Logos Himself
is hidden in the sun.
To recapitulate, the esoteric location of
the various rods is as follows:—
The Rod of the Bodhisattva is
hidden at Shamballa in the
1. The Rod of the Bodhisattva lies hidden in the "heart of the wisdom,"
that is, at Shamballa.
2. The Rod of the One Initiator is hidden in "the East," a
definite planetary
location.
3. The Rod of the solar Logos is hidden in "the heart of the sun," that
mysterious subjective sphere which lies back of our physical sun, and of which
our physical sun is but the environing shield and envelope.
4. The Rod of the cosmic Logos associated with our solar Logos is
secreted in that central spot in the heavens around which our solar system
revolves, and which is termed "the central spiritual sun."
The Rod of the Bodhisattva is
charged for each new World Teacher-The Rod of Sanat Kumara is charge afresh at
each recurring world period (seven times in a planetary scheme)
One Rod is charged anew at Shamballa for each new World Teacher; the Rod of Sanat Kumara is charged afresh
at each recurring world period, and therefore seven times in the history of a planetary scheme. The Logoic Rod of Power is electrified at the
recurrence of each new period of creation, or for each solar system through which the Logos manifests, as a
man manifests through his physical body life.
Shamballa corresponds to the
heart chakra in a human being
The first two ceremonies take place at
Shamballa, the sacred
point of planetary manifestation, that central location in our physical planet
which corresponds to the heart
of a human being. Many of the places on the earth's surface,
for instance, which are famed for their healing properties, are thus noted
because they are magnetised spots, and their magnetic properties demonstrate as
healing influences. The recognition of
these properties by man is but the preamble of a later and more definite
recognition, which will eventuate when his etheric sight is normally developed.
[Page 131]
These magnetic spots are magnetised in three ways:—
The national heart (often the
chief city) of every nation is caused through the application of the Flaming
diamond to the ethers, by Sanat Kumara
2. By Sanat Kumara working through the
Bodhisattva. In this case, the electric
force in the Rod is wielded in order to draw closer together those influences
which demonstrate in the great religions of the world. The lesser Rod of Power is used here in
conjunction with the greater. By their
means the attractive quality or keynote of any religion is struck, and of any
organisation with a religious basis.
3. By Sanat Kumara working through the
Mahachohan. By the wielding of the Rod
of Power the magnetic focal points of those great organisations which affect
the civilisation and the culture of a people are brought into coherent
activity.
All physical plane
organisation—governmental, religious, or cultural—is the working out of inner
forces and causes, and, before they definitely appear in physical
manifestation, a focalisation—if it might be so expressed—of these influences
and energies, takes place on etheric levels.
The organisation of the Freemasons is a case in point. It has two magnetic centres, one of which is
in
When disciples initiate a movement on a
relatively tiny scale, the Master with Whom they work can similarly assist
them, and though He wields no Rod of Power, He has methods whereby He can
stimulate and cause to cohere the little endeavour of the faithful
followers. Thus in all departments of
human life the Rods of Initiation and the Words of Power are used. The entire world government functions under
law and order, and the whole scheme is interdependent.
(HIS 146) The earlier three stages of the
initiation ceremony are the same for all initiations. In the final two stages those who are not of
equal rank with the newly made initiate (such as first degree initiates at the
initiation of a third degree member drop back to the rear of the Hall of Initiation at Shamballa, and a "wall of silence" is
built up through mantric energy between the two groups; a vacuum, so to speak,
is formed, and nothing can then be transmitted from the [Page 146] inner group
to the outer. The latter confine
themselves to deep meditation and the chanting of certain formulas, and in the
inner group around the Hierophant a dual performance is taking place:—
a. The newly made initiate is taking the
oath.
b. Certain Words and Secrets are being
handed over to him.
(HIS 189) 5. The Ray Path.
It is difficult to know by what other name
to call this Path, as so little is known about it. In treading it, a man stays on his own ray, and works thereon in the various kingdoms
on all the planes, carrying out the behests of the Lord of the World, and
working under His direction. It carries
a man to every part of the solar system, yet links him definitely with the
synthetic ray. It is a very complex
path, for it necessitates a capacity for the most intricate mathematics, and an ability to geometrise in a manner
incomprehensible to our three-dimensional brains. This path is taken by the man to whom the law of vibration is of
profound importance. He works first in
the council chamber of the Lord of the World at Shamballa, manipulating the law of vibration on his
own ray. Later he will have his habitat
on the planet corresponding to his own ray, and [Page 189] not on the earth
unless he is on the ray of the Planetary Logos holding sway upon the
earth. Later again as his evolution
progresses, he will pass to the sun; then having mastered all connected with vibration
in this system he will pass to the cosmic system, going off his own ray (which
is but a subsidiary ray of one cosmic ray), on to the corresponding cosmic ray.
Just as the evolution of man in this system
is fivefold, so in the above we have enumerated the principal five Paths from
which a Master has to choose. The remaining two can only be touched upon still more
briefly, for they hold but a very few of the evolving sons of men, owing to the high point of attainment necessitated
for their entrance, and the fact that those who enter upon them pass out of the
system altogether. They do not lead to
Sirius, as do some of the other Paths.
It will be noted that four groups remain in the system, passing
eventually, in dim and distant aeons, to the cosmic planes. One group passes directly to Sirius, and the
remaining two groups pass directly after initiation to the cosmic planes, with
no period of intermediate work on earth, in the system, or on Sirius. These two Paths are:—
Shamballa is home to the Secret
Doctrine
(HIS 225) Shamballa. The City of the Gods, which is in the West to some nations, in
the East to others, in the North or South to yet others. It is the sacred island in the
(
Sanat Kumara, located at
Shamballa, is the highest expression of the Teaching Ray upon Earth
It is therefore very essential that the
emphasis is laid on the fact that no matter what the offshoots, the basic
school of occultism is that one which has its root in the sacred centre of the planet, Shamballa. At
that place, directly under the eyes of the One Initiator Himself, Who is—as is seldom realised—the highest expression of the Teaching Ray
upon the earth, is
found what might be termed the central office for the educational disciplinary
training work of the Hierarchy. There
will be found the Chohan Who is directly responsible for the various
endeavours, and to Whom the Masters Who take pupils, and the Heads of the various
occult schools are directly responsible.
All proceeds under law and order.
One point that it will here be necessary to
emphasise is that the Brotherhood of Light, as represented by the Himalayan
Masters, has its other representatives elsewhere who all carry out specific
work under proper and adequate supervision.
Too apt are the Theosophists to think that they alone are the
repositories of the wisdom religion. Not
so is the fact. At this particular
moment (with the aim in view of the development and tendering of opportunity to
the fifth subrace) the Himalayan Brotherhood is the main channel of effort,
power and light. But the work with other
races proceeds simultaneously and numerous other projects, all emanating from
the central office at
Shamballa, are
paralleling the Himalayan
work. Get this clearly in mind, for the point is
important. The
The one fundamental school may be
recognised by certain outstanding characteristics:—
By the basic character of the truths taught
as embodied in the following postulates:—
a. The unity of all life.
b. The graded steps of development as
recognised in man, and by the graded steps of its curriculum, which lead a man
from one expansion of consciousness to another until he has reached that which
we call perfection.
c. The relationship between the microcosm
and the macrocosm and its sevenfold application.
d. The method of this development and the
place of the microcosm within the macrocosm as revealed through the study of
the periodicity of all manifestation and the basic law of cause and effect.
By the emphasis laid on character building
and spiritual development as a foundation for the development of [Page 304] all
the faculties inherent in the microcosm.
By the requirement, demanded of all affiliated pupils without exception,
that the life of inner unfoldment and development should be paralleled by a
life of exoteric service.
By the graded expansions of consciousness
that are the result of the imparted training; these lead a man on from step to
step till he contacts his higher self, his Master, his egoic group, the First
Initiator, the One Paramount Initiator, until he has contacted the Lord of his
Ray and has entered into the bosom of his "Father Which is in
Heaven".
These are the outstanding features that are
descriptive of the one true fundamental School.
This fundamental school has three main
branches and a fourth
that is in process of forming and which will make the four branches of this
fourth round. These branches are as
follows:—
1. The trans-Himalayan Branch.
2. The southern India Branch. (these are Aryan Branches)
These branches are and will be closely
inter-allied and will work in the closest co-operation, being all focused and
under the control of the
Chohan at Shamballa. The heads of each of the four branches
communicate with each other frequently and are really like the faculty of one
stupendous university, the four schools being like the [Page 305] various major
departments of the foundations—like subsidiary colleges. The aim of all is the evolution of the race,
the object of all is to lead all to the point of standing before the One
Initiator, the methods employed are fundamentally the same, though varying in
detail, due to the racial characteristics of the races and types dealt with,
and the fact that certain schools work paramountly with one ray and others with
another.
The trans-Himalayan school has its adepts
as known to you, and others Whose Names are not known.
The southern Indian school has special work
with the deva evolution, and with the second and third sub-races of the Aryan
race.
The Himalayan school works with the first,
fourth and fifth sub-races.
The fourth root-race branch works under the
Manu of that race and his brother of the Teaching Ray. Their headquarters are in
The Master R.— and one of the English Masters are concerning Themselves with the gradual
founding of the fourth
branch of the school,
with the assistance of the Master Hilarion.
Ponder on these imparted facts, for the significance is of profound
importance.
Tomorrow we will deal with the future. Today I have but imparted facts in present
manifestation.
(ROP 32) From the Father's House (the
"centre where the will of God is known" or Shamballa of the esotericist) the fiat has gone forth: The hour has
come. From the
(ROP 53) 4. Finally, in the triumph of the
Crucifixion or (as it is more accurately called in the East) the Great
Renunciation, [Page 53] Christ, for the first time, anchored on Earth a tenuous
thread of the divine Will as it issued from the Father's House (Shamballa), passed into the understanding custody of
the kingdom of God and, through the medium of the Christ, was brought to the
attention of mankind. Through the instrumentality of certain great Sons of God,
the three divine aspects or characteristics of the divine Trinity—will, love
and intelligence—have become a part of human thinking and aspiration.
Christians are apt to forget that the crisis in the final hours of the Christ
was not that spent upon the Cross, but those spent in the
(ROC 58) The question now arises: In what
way can we be of service? How can we aid
during this preparatory stage?
What the members of the Spiritual Hierarchy
are doing is much indeed; those disciples who are in conscious touch with the
Masters of the Wisdom—or, if you prefer the term, with the senior disciples of
the Christ—are working day and night in order to establish such confidence,
correct attitudes and an understanding of the divine spiritual "push"
or enterprise that His way will be made easier. They and their groups of lesser
disciples, aspirants and students of the realities stand unitedly behind the
Christ and can thus enable Him to accomplish His purpose. Their major
realisation is that of a cyclic crisis in the spiritual life of our planet; it
is one which [Page 58] has been anticipated in the Father's House (Shamballa) for thousands of years. They have
registered the fact that, for the first time in human history, all the three
spiritual centres or groups through which God works are unitedly focussed on
the same objective.
Shamballa, the
Spiritual Hierarchy and Humanity (the Father's House, the
(ROC 85) As Dispenser of the Water of Life,
His work is most mysterious and not at all easy to comprehend. In His public
work, two thousand years ago, He said: "I am come [Page 85] that they may have life and that they may
have it more abundantly." (John X.10.) The Life Aspect—from the angle of
the vision of Christ—expresses itself in three ways:
1. As physical life, nourishing the cells
of the body. This life
is found within each atom of substance as the central point of living light.
2. As livingness, seen as love and light
within the heart. When this livingness is present and expressing itself, the
human atom becomes a part of the spiritual Hierarchy.
(ROC 97)
In order to make this possible and thus release His spiritual Brother
from the arduous task of relating humanity to the "centre where the will
of God is known" (Shamballa), Christ is subjecting Himself at this time
to an unique process of training. Of this training, His thirty years of work in
the carpenter's shop in
(ROC 154) t will be apparent to you that it
is only possible to indicate the broad general outlines of the new world
religion. The expansion of the human consciousness which will take place as a
result of the coming Great Approach will enable humanity to grasp not only its
relation to the spiritual life of our planet, the "One in Whom we live and
move and have our being," but will also give a glimpse of the relation of
our planet to the circle of planetary lives, moving within the orbit of the Sun
and the still greater circle of spiritual influences which contact our system
as it pursues its orbit in the Heavens (the twelve constellations of the
zodiac). Astronomical and astrological investigation has demonstrated this
relationship and the influences exerted but there is still speculation and much
foolish claiming and interpretation. Yet the churches have ever recognized this
and the Bible has testified to it. "The stars in their courses fought
against Sisera" (Judges V.20). "Who can withstand the sweet
influences of the Pleiades?" (Job XXXVIII.31). Many other passages bear
out this contention of the Knowers. Many church festivals are fixed by reference to the
moon or a zodiacal constellation. Investigation will prove this to be the case and
when the ritual of the new world religion is universally [Page 154]
established, this will be one of the important factors considered.
The establishing of certain major festivals in relation to the
Moon and in a lesser
degree to the zodiac will bring about a strengthening of the spirit of
invocation and the resultant inflow of evoked influences. The truth lying
behind all invocation is based upon the power of thought, particularly in its
telepathic nature, rapport and aspect. The unified, invocative thought of the
masses and the focussed, directed thought of the New Group of World Servers
constitute an outgoing stream of energy. This will reach telepathically those
spiritual Beings Who are sensitive and responsive to such impacts. Their evoked
response, sent out as spiritual energy, will in turn reach humanity after
having been stepped down into thought energy and in that form will make its due
impact upon the minds of men, convincing them and carrying inspiration and
revelation. Thus has it ever been in the history of the spiritual unfoldment of
the world and the procedure followed in writing the world Scriptures.
Ideally, people the world over
should keep the same holy days-based on various full moons
Secondly, the establishing of a certain uniformity
in the world religious rituals will aid men everywhere to strengthen each
other's work and enhance powerfully the thought currents directed to the
waiting spiritual Lives. At present, the Christian religion has its great
festivals, the Buddhist keeps his different set spiritual events, and the Hindu
has still another list of holy days. In the future world, when organised, all
men of spiritual inclination and intention everywhere will keep the same holy days. This will bring about a pooling of spiritual
resources, and a united spiritual effort, plus a simultaneous spiritual
invocation. The potency of this will be apparent.
Let me indicate the possibilities of such
spiritual events, and attempt to prophesy the nature of the coming worldwide
[Page 155] Festivals. There will be three such major Festivals each year,
concentrated in three consecutive months and leading, therefore, to a prolonged
annual spiritual effort which will affect the remainder of the year. These will
be:
The three festivals and full
moons of Aries, Taurus and Gemini (using the tropical zodiac)-are the primary
full moons of the new world religion
1. The Festival of Easter. This is the Festival of the risen, living Christ, the Teacher of all men and the Head of
the Spiritual Hierarchy. He is the Expression of the love of God. On this day
the spiritual Hierarchy, which He guides and directs, will be recognised and
the nature of God's love will be emphasised. This Festival is determined always by the date of the
first Full Moon of spring
and is the great Western and Christian Festival.
The May full moon will link
Shamballa and the Hierarchy
2. The Festival of Wesak. This is the Festival of the Buddha, the spiritual Intermediary between the
highest spiritual centre, Shamballa,
and the Hierarchy. The
Buddha is the expression of the wisdom of God, the Embodiment of Light and the
Indicator of the divine purpose. This will be fixed annually in relation to the Full
Moon of May, as is at
present the case. It is the great Eastern Festival.
The June full moon festival of
the spirit of humanity
These three Festivals are already being kept throughout the
world, though they are not as yet related to each other and are a part of the
unified spiritual Approach of humanity. The time is coming when all three
Festivals will be kept throughout the world and by their means a great
spiritual unity will be achieved and the effects of the Great Approach, so
close to us at this time, will be stabilised by the united invocation of
humanity throughout the planet.
The remaining full moons will constitute lesser festivals but will be recognised to be also of vital
importance. They will establish the divine attributes in the consciousness of
man, just as the major festivals establish the three divine aspects. These
aspects and qualities will be arrived at and determined by a close study of the
nature of a particular constellation or constellations influencing those
months. For instance, Capricorn will
call attention to the first initiation, the birth of the Christ in the cave of
the heart, and indicate the training needed to bring about that great spiritual
event in the life of the individual man. I give this one instance to you in
order to indicate the possibilities for spiritual unfoldment that [Page 157]
could be given through an understanding of these influences and in order to revivify
the ancient faiths by expanding them into their larger undying relationships.
Thus, the twelve annual festivals will
constitute a revelation of divinity. They will present a means of bringing
about relationship, first of all, during three months with the three great
spiritual Centres, the three expressions of the divine Trinity. The minor
festivals will emphasise the interrelation of the Whole, thus lifting the
divine presentation out of the individual and the personal, into that of the
universal divine Purpose; the relationship of the Whole to the part and of the
part to that Whole will be thereby fully expressed.
Humanity will, therefore, invoke the
spiritual power of the
To sum up therefore: on the basis of the
fundamental truth already recognised the new world religion will be built.
The definition of religion which will in
the future prove of greater accuracy than any yet formulated by the theologians
might be expressed as follows:
Religion is the name given to the
invocative appeal of humanity and the evocative response of the greater Life to
that cry.
It is, in fact, the recognition by the part
of its relationship [Page 158] to the Whole, plus a constantly growing demand
for increased awareness of that relation; it draws forth the recognition of the
Whole that the demand has been made. It is the impact of the vibration of
humanity—oriented specifically to the Great Life of which it feels itself a
part—upon that Life and the responsive impact of that "All-surrounding
Love" upon the lesser vibration. It is only now that the impact of the
human vibration can dimly be sensed in Shamballa; hitherto its most potent activity has only reached
the Hierarchy. Religion, the science of invocation and evocation as far as
humanity is concerned, is the approach (in the coming New Age) of a mentally
polarised humanity. In the past, religion has had an entirely emotional appeal.
It concerned the relation of the individual to the world of reality, of the
seeking aspirant to the sought-for divinity. Its technique was the process of
fitting oneself for the revelation of that divinity, of achieving a perfection
which would warrant that revelation, and of developing a sensitivity and a
loving response to the ideal Man, summarised, for present day humanity, in the Christ. Christ came to end the cycle of
this emotional approach which had existed since Atlantean days; He demonstrated in Himself the visioned
perfection and then presented to humanity an example—in full manifestation—of
every possibility latent in man up to that time. The achieving of the
perfection of the Christ-consciousness became the emphasised goal of humanity.
Today, slowly, the concept of a world
religion and the need for its emergence are widely desired and worked for. The
fusion of faiths is now a field for discussion. Workers in the field of
religion will formulate the universal platform of the new world religion. It is
a work of loving synthesis and will emphasise the unity and the fellowship of
the spirit. This group is, in a pronounced sense, a [Page 159] channel for the
activities of the Christ, the world Teacher. The platform of the new world
religion will be built by many groups, working under the inspiration of the
Christ.
Churchmen need to remember that the human
spirit is greater than all the churches and greater than their teaching. In the
long run, that human spirit will defeat them and proceed triumphantly into the Kingdom
of God, leaving them far behind unless they enter as a humble part of the mass
of men. Nothing under heaven can arrest the progress of the human soul on its
long pilgrimage from darkness to light, from the unreal to the real, from death
to immortality and from ignorance to wisdom. If the great organised religious
groups of churches in every land, and composing all faiths do not offer
spiritual guidance and help, humanity will find another way. Nothing can keep
the spirit of man from God.
The churches in the West need also to
realise that basically there is only one Church, but it is not necessarily only
the orthodox Christian institution. God works in many ways, through many faiths
and religious agencies; this is one reason for the elimination of non-essential
doctrines. By the emphasising of the essential doctrines and in their union
will the fullness of truth be revealed. This, the new world religion will do
and its implementation will proceed apace, after the reappearance of the
Christ.
(TEV 41) VII. THE SCIENCE OF IMPRESSION
The entire subject of telepathic
communication can be approached under a more subjective designation or name,
but one which is interpretive of the more universal and prior stage than that
of direct telepathic reception. The occultist ever approaches the subject
connected with the evolutionary process from the angle of the whole and then
the part, from the periphery to the centre, from the universal to the
particular. Among Themselves, the Masters do not deal with telepathy as a
science warranting consideration, endeavour and impartation; They are concerned
primarily with the Science of Impression. The term most often employed by Them
is the esoteric equivalent of what the average person means when he says,
"I have an impression." Impression is the subtlest reaction (more or
less accurate) to the vibratory mental activity of some other mind or group of
minds, of some whole, as its radiatory influence affects the unit or aggregate
of units.
The first stage of correct telepathic
reception is ever the registering of an impression; it is generally vague at
the beginning, but as a thought, idea, purpose or intention of the sending
agent concretises, it slips into the second stage which appears as a definite
thoughtform; finally, that thoughtform makes its impact upon the consciousness
of the brain in the location lying just behind the ajna centre and consequently
in the area of the pituitary body. It can appear also in the region of the
solar plexus centre. But for those Lives Who have surmounted life in the three
worlds and Who are not conditioned by the triple mechanism of the personality,
the impression is the factor of importance; Their consciousness is impressed,
and so sensitive is Their response to the higher impression, that They [Page
42] absorb or appropriate the impression so that it becomes a part of Their own
"impulsive energy."
This is by no means an easy subject for me
to elucidate, and the reasons are two:
1. The members of the Hierarchy (among Whom
I have the status of Master)* are Themselves in process of learning this
Science of Impression. This They do on the levels of the abstract mind, of the
intuition, or of manas and buddhi.
2. The science is as yet without a
vocabulary. It is not limited at any stage by thoughtforms but it is limited by
word forms; and it is therefore a difficult problem for me to pass on any
information anent this subtle mode of communication of which telepathy is in
fact but an exoteric externalisation.
Sources of Impression to the Three Planetary Centres
Impression, as an art to be mastered both
from the angle of the impressing agent and of the impressed recipient, is
definitely related to the world of ideas. As far as our planetary Life is
concerned, there are certain great sources of impression and one or two of them
might here be noted; you will thus gain some idea of the subtlety of the whole
subject, of its close relation to energy impacts and of its group reception as
differentiated from individual reception, as is the case in any telepathic
rapport.
1. The impression of Shamballa by:
b. From one or other of the constellations
which are at any particular time astrologically en rapport with our planet.
This impression can only be received by the Great Council when sitting in
conclave with a majority of its Members present. This, I would have you note,
does not entail the attendance of the entire Council.
c. From a triangle of circulating energy,
emanating from the two planets which—with our planet, the Earth—form a triangle
in any particular cycle. This impression is received by the three Buddhas of
Activity for distribution to the Hierarchy.
d. From the planet Venus, the Earth's alter
ego. This makes its entrance via the Lord of the World and three of His Council Who are chosen by Him at any specific time to
act as recipients.
These are the major entering impressions,
recorded by what is glibly called "the Universal Mind," the mind of
God, our planetary Logos. There are other entering impressions, but to them I
do not refer, as any reference would be meaningless to you.
2. The impression of the Hierarchy by:
a. Shamballa itself through the medium of groups within the Great
Council; these step down the impression which they register so that the
Hierarchy—as a whole—may cooperate with the purposes intended by those who are
forming the needed Plan.
[Page 44]
b. Certain great Lives Who, at specific
times and according to cyclic rhythm, or in times of emergency, are swung into
this type of activity. For instance, one such time would be the Full Moon
period, which is a time of reception by the Hierarchy as well as by Humanity;
an instance of the second type of activity would be the Wesak Festival, or
those acute crises when intervention is required from sources far higher than
those with which the recipient is usually en rapport. Such a crisis is fast
approaching.
The first type of impression is rhythmic,
recurrent and therefore cumulative in its intended effects. The second type of
impression is the result of invocation and evocation and is dependent upon both
the recipient and the agent.
c. That great group of divine
Contemplatives who are trained to act as an intermediate receptive group between
Shamballa and the
Hierarchy. They
receive impression from Shamballa and transmit it to the Hierarchy, thus
enabling the Members of the Hierarchy to receive it as "a sharpened
impression" and to register it accurately because the emanating impression
has passed through an area within the divine Mind where it is enhanced by the
trained perception and the determined receptivity of this group. They are
called, in the East, the divine Nirmanakayas. I only mention Their occult name
so that you may learn to recognise Them when you meet reference to Them.
d. The Buddha at the time when the Wesak Festival is celebrated. He then acts as a focal
point or as the "distributor of the impression"; He then has [Page
45] behind Him (little as you may realise it) the entire impressing force of
the Buddhas of Activity
Who are to Shamballa
what the Nirmanakayas are to the Hierarchy.
Let me here interpolate a remark which may
prove helpful and illuminating. We are dealing (as you will undoubtedly have
noted) with the reception of impression by groups or by aggregations of groups
composed of living Beings Who have Their own agents of distribution or
impression. The entire evolutionary history of our planet is one of reception
and of distribution, of a taking in and of a giving out. The key to humanity's
trouble (focussing, as it has, in the economic troubles of the past two hundred
years, and in the theological impasse of the orthodox churches) has been to
take and not to give, to accept and not to share, to grasp and not to distribute.
This is the breaking of the Law which has placed humanity in the position of
guilt. The war is the dire penalty which humanity has had to pay for this great
sin of separateness. Impressions from the Hierarchy have been received,
distorted, misapplied and misinterpreted, and the task of the New Group of
World Servers is to offset this evil. These Servers are to humanity what the Buddhas of Activity are to Shamballa, and the group of divine Contemplatives
(the Nirmanakayas) are to the Hierarchy. It might be stated therefore that:
1. The Buddhas of Activity are Themselves impressed by the
WILL of God as it
energises the entire planetary life.
2. The Nirmanakayas are impressed by the LOVE of God as it demonstrates itself as the
attractive force which impulses the Plan inspired by the Purpose. In other
words, it is the Hierarchy, impelled to action [Page 46] by Shamballa, or the Will-to-Good, externalising itself as goodwill.
3. The New Group of World Servers are
impressed by the active INTELLIGENCE of God; they translate this divine
impression and step it down in two great stages, therefore, bringing it into
concrete manifestation.
We now carry this conception of divine
impression down to the level of the human consciousness.
3. The impression of Humanity by:
a. The Hierarchy, through the stimulating
of ideas. These demonstrate through a steadily growing and enlightened public
opinion.
b. The influence of the Ashrams of the
Masters as they affect the aspirants of the world, the humanitarians and the
idealists. These impressing agencies, being seven in number, constitute seven
different streams of impressing energy which affect the seven ray types. The
united Ashrams, forming the great Ashram of the Christ, affect humanity as a
whole; this great united Ashram works solely through the New Group of World
Servers whose members are on all rays, of all grades of development, and who
work in all the various departments of human living and enterprise.
(TEV 51)
In the above I have given you an interesting and brief elucidation of
the technique to be applied to the energising of the centres in the human body.
I would remind you that what is true of the individual disciple must be and is
true of that great disciple—Humanity, the entire human family. It is also true,
as an outgrowth of this idea, of all the three planetary centres: Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity. The name Science of
Impression is that given to the process whereby the establishment of the
required relationship in all these units of life takes place. The Technique of
Invocation and Evocation is the name given to the mode or method whereby the desired
relationship is brought about. [Page 51] The Creative Work is the name given to
the manifestation of the results of the two above processes. The three aspects
of the Technique of Invocation and Evocation with which the average disciple
should concern himself are those of the building of the antahkarana, the
correct use of the lower mind in its two higher functions (the holding of the
mind steady in the light and the creation of the desired thoughtforms), and the
process of precipitation whereby the impression is enabled eventually to take
tangible form.
In the above exegesis I have given you much
food for thought in connection with telepathic possibilities; it all fits into
the theme of world service as it is to be applied in the expansion of the human
consciousness on a large scale. This is one of the major tasks of the New Group
of World Servers.
(TEV 52) VIII. THE SUPREME SCIENCE OF
CONTACT
It would be useful if you attempted to
master and to assimilate what I have to impart anent the three great sciences
which form the three modes of expression of what we might term the SUPREME
SCIENCE OF CONTACT. These three sciences are all equally interdependent and all
related to the art of responsiveness. They are:
Its Three Inter-Dependaent Modes of Expression
1. The Science of Impression . . . The
will-to-be.
Relation to the Spiritual Triad.
Source of emanation . . . Shamballa.
Connected with the abstract mind.
2. The Science of Invocation and Evocation
. . . Love or attraction.
Relation to the soul in all forms.
Source of emanation (at this time) . . .
The Hierarchy.
Connected with the lower mind, as the agent
of the soul.
3. The Science of Telepathy . . . Mind.
Human intelligence.
Relation to the personality.
Source of emanation . . . Humanity itself.
Connected with the head centre.
You will see how all these pairs of
opposites play their part, exemplifying the dualistic nature of our planetary
Life:
[Page 53]
1. The abstract mind and the lower mind.
2. The soul and the lower mind.
3. The lower mind and the head centre.
Each of them acts as an invocative agent
and produces evocation. All act as recipients and as transmitters, and all of
them together establish the group inter-relation and the circulation of the
energies which are the distinctive characteristic of the entire world of force.
(TEV 66) This Supreme Science of Contact
governs all reactions to impact. This statement includes the cosmic reactions
of Sanat Kumara down to the scarcely discernible reactions (invisible almost
even to the eye of the seer) of the infinitesimal atom. For the sake of
clarity, I divided this science into three major divisions, basing them upon
the reactions of the three major planetary centres to their environment. This
is a point which I would have you carefully bear in mind. I could write a
treatise longer than this one purely on the creation of the response apparatus
which each of these three centres of divine life-reason had to form in order to
make the needed contact and to interpret correctly. There are many paradoxes in
what I am here giving you, and apparently some contradictions where orthodox
occultism is concerned, but that is ever the case as the teaching expands in
content and the earlier all- inclusive facts are seen to be minor aspects of
still greater facts. You can see, therefore, the significance and the
importance of the dictum in The Secret Doctrine that the Hierarchy and all in
the Council Chamber of
Sanat Kumara (or Shamballa) have invariably passed through the human stage of evolution, for only
human beings can perfectly blend and express life-reason, and only human
intellect can consciously create what is needed in order to bring the needed
stages of manifested life into being.
[Page 67]
Here again emerges another reason for the
importance of the "centre which we call the race of men"; upon the
shoulders of humanity rests unbelievable responsibility. Therefore, whether we
are dealing with simple telepathy, or with invocation and evocation, or with
impression, we are in reality considering the effect of life-reason as it
manifests in relation to the available and suitable environment. Note this
phrase. All this takes place through men in process of being made perfect,
through men who have attained a relative perfection, and through men who—in the
majority of cases—arrived at perfection elsewhere than in this present
manifesting cycle. This should indicate to you the potentiality hidden in the
very lowest of the human family, and the future of wonder and of usefulness
which lies ahead for each and all in due time and after due effort.
Technically speaking, it is the Hierarchy
which is "impressed"
from Shamballa, and
Humanity which is reached by the Hierarchy via the method of invocation and
evocation. Within the human family two things occur as the result of this
received and recognised activity of a phase of the Science of Contact.
(TEV 68) Linking Groups Within the
Planetary Life
1. Telepathic relationship is set up. This,
my brother, has ever existed between members of the human family and, as previously
explained, is of two kinds: Solar plexus telepathy, instinctual, uncontrolled,
widely prevalent and allied to many of the surprising activities of forms of
life other than the human, i. e., the instinct of the homing pigeon or the
method whereby cats and dogs and horses will find their homes over immense
distances. The telepathic interplay between a mother and her children is
instinctual and seated in the animal nature. Mental telepathy is now being
recognised and studied. This is the activity and rapport established from mind
to mind; it also includes the telepathic response to current [Page 68]
thoughtforms and thought conditions in the world today. Interest in this is
already very great.
2. Intuitional telepathy begins to manifest
increasingly among advanced human beings in all lands and all races. This
indicates soul contact and the consequent awakening of group consciousness, for
sensitivity to intuitional impressions has to do only with group concerns.
This Science of Contact governs relations
within our entire planetary life and includes, for instance, the rapport being
established between humanity and the domesticated animals. These animals are to
their own kingdom what the New Group of World Servers is to humanity. The New
Group of World Servers is the linking bridge and the mode of communication
between the Hierarchy (the fifth kingdom) and Humanity (the fourth kingdom)
under the present divine Plan; the domesticated animals fulfil, therefore, an
analogous function between Humanity (the fourth kingdom) and the animal kingdom
(the third). These analogies are often fertile fields of illumination.
Sanat Kumara is in close contact
with other Planetary Logoi
As regards Shamballa, the impression there received is not the result of
invocation which in due course evokes extra-planetary response, as is the case
between the Hierarchy
and Shamballa, and the
Hierarchy and Humanity, with certain changes during the process of stepping
down or of descent. That which impresses Shamballa and is received by the Grand Council of the Lord of the
World, comes via Sanat
Kumara because HE is in
close contact with other planetary Logoi or groups of planetary Logoi, wielding a united,
focussed, intelligent Will.
It is Sanat Kumara Whose task it
is to impress the Lives Who meet periodically in the Council Chamber with the
next phase of unfolding Purpose
(TEV 69) It is Sanat Kumara Whose task it is to impress
the Lives Who meet
periodically in the Council Chamber with the next phase of unfolding Purpose. This
Purpose is later "occultly reduced" or stepped down until it emerges
as the hierarchical Plan. This Plan is contingent upon imminence, atmic
realisation [Page 69] and pure reason, as the Hierarchy has termed these three
"aspects of reaction" to impression from Shamballa. Let me make myself clear. The Hierarchy
is no group of mystical workers; only those aspects of divine Purpose which can
be immediately grasped and developed and which are patently valuable to
humanity—when presented in right form by the Hierarchy—are registered by Them.
They know what consciously to "repudiate" as it is occultly called,
and They act ever in
response to a Law of Imminence or of occult prevision which is almost unrecognisable and indefinable
by advanced humanity. The words, "atmic realisation" are most
interesting, for they refer to the quality and the mass of will energy which
could be made available by the pledged and unified Hierarchy to carry out the
imminent Plan. Never forget that in considering Shamballa and the Plan, we are thinking entirely within the
limits of the expression of the WILL aspect of the Lord of the World, and
this—except for advanced initiates—is well-nigh impossible. This factor has to
be accepted theoretically, even if not yet understood.
To these two unalterable requirements the
Hierarchy contributes the faculty of pure reason, which is the governing
faculty of the Hierarchy and which brings into activity the quality to which
man has erroneously given the name of "love". This emphasises the
sentimental aspect and signifies to the majority, very largely, simply the
sentimental and emotional aspect, which is entirely of an astral nature. Pure
reason, which is the supreme characteristic of the Members of the Hierarchy,
will ever express itself in right action and right human relations, and that
will manifest—when present—what love in reality is. Pure love is a quality or
effect of pure reason.
The pure reason of the hierarchical
response is needed for the grasping and the comprehension of the Purpose as
[Page 70] it works out through the Plan sponsored at any one time by the
Hierarchy, and the quality of pure love is needed and demanded (even if
unrealised) by a waiting humanity.
This "impression" emanating from Shamballa takes the form of a focussed emanation which employs
the higher aspect of the antahkarana as its channel of contact. I refer not
here to the thread as built by the disciple between the mental unit and the
abstract mind. I refer to its continuation through the buddhic and atmic levels
of consciousness into the area of magnetised consciousness (I use this word as
we have not yet the necessary word to express the exact nature of this higher
awareness, and the term "identification" seems somewhat unsuitable)
which surrounds and protects
the true Shamballa centre.
It is essential that you here bear in mind that just as the mass of men do not
know, recognise or respond to the Hierarchy, so—within the Hierarchy itself—you
have a group analogous to this mass of men. There are many lesser members of
the Hierarchy and many, very many, disciples who do not know, recognise or as
yet respond to the influence or the potency of Shamballa.
Within the Hierarchy, the Science of
Impression conditions the relation between senior and junior members in the
various Ashrams. All do not respond in the same way, for in its higher aspects
it is a science in process of mastering. It might be said, in order that you
may understand more easily, that "impression" governs and conditions
all those within the Hierarchy whose abstract mind is highly developed. It is
not fully developed in the case of many disciples in the Ashram, and hence only
certain Members of the Hierarchy (the Masters, the Adepts and Initiates of the
third degree) are permitted to know the details of the Plan; these are protected by means of this very Science
[Page 71] of Impression. The remaining members of the Hierarchy take their
orders from their seniors.
Mind the Focus of Planetary Development
I would ask you to remember that, in our
planetary development, the emphasis of the entire evolutionary process is on
the MIND and on the various aspects of the mind—intelligence, mental
perception, the Son of Mind, the lower mind, the abstract mind, the mind as
will, the Universal Mind. The three which are of major importance and which
form an esoteric triangle requiring to be brought into a vital inter-relation
are the Son of Mind, the abstract mind, and the Universal Mind. They are, when
fully related and active, the factors which engineer divine purpose and step it
down into such form that we call it the hierarchical Plan and can act upon it.
Only when the initiate has attained, through monadic contact, a touch of the
Universal Mind can the Purpose be sensed by him; this involves also the
development of the abstract mind, plus the residue of mental perception which
the Son of Mind (the soul) has bequeathed to him; through all this unfoldment
he can join the group
who are the Formulators of the Plan. We are dealing here with most difficult and complex
matters, inherent in the initiate consciousness and for which we have as yet no
correct terminology. Also, the average aspirant has no idea what is the nature
of the awareness or the reactions to contact of Those Who have passed beyond
the third initiation; these limitations of the average student must constantly
be borne in mind.
The Science of Invocation and
Evocation—which embodies the technique of interplay within the Hierarchy
itself, to a certain degree between Shamballa and the Hierarchy, and to an increasing extent between Humanity and the
Hierarchy—is based entirely on a sense of relation. Therefore only a certain
level of conscious Lives can
invoke Shamballa and
evoke response, and this because They [Page 72] have Themselves developed some
of the aspects of that type of mental understanding which is the hierarchical
expression of the Universal Mind. The light and futile talk of certain writers
and thinkers anent the cosmic consciousness, and their flippant use of such
phrases as "tuning in with the Infinite" or "tapping the
Universal Mind" serve only to show how very little is known in reality
about the responses and the reactions of those of high initiate rank or of
those on the highest levels of hierarchical life.
The pure reason of the hierarchical
response is needed for the grasping and the comprehension of the Purpose as
[Page 70] it works out through the Plan sponsored at any one time by the
Hierarchy, and the quality of pure love is needed and demanded (even if
unrealised) by a waiting humanity.
This "impression" emanating from Shamballa takes the form of a focussed emanation
which employs the higher aspect of the antahkarana as its channel of contact. I
refer not here to the thread as built by the disciple between the mental unit
and the abstract mind. I refer to its continuation through the buddhic and
atmic levels of consciousness into the area of magnetised consciousness (I use
this word as we have not yet the necessary word to express the exact nature of
this higher awareness, and the term "identification" seems somewhat
unsuitable) which surrounds and protects the true Shamballa centre. It is essential that you here bear in mind that just
as the mass of men do not know, recognise or respond to the Hierarchy,
so—within the Hierarchy itself—you have a group analogous to this mass of men.
There are many lesser members of the Hierarchy and many, very many, disciples
who do not know, recognise or as yet respond to the influence or the potency of
Shamballa.
Within the Hierarchy, the Science of
Impression conditions the relation between senior and junior members in the
various Ashrams. All do not respond in the same way, for in its higher aspects
it is a science in process of mastering. It might be said, in order that you
may understand more easily, that "impression" governs and conditions
all those within the Hierarchy whose abstract mind is highly developed. It is
not fully developed in the case of many disciples in the Ashram, and hence only
certain Members of the Hierarchy (the Masters, the Adepts and Initiates of the
third degree) are permitted to know the details of the Plan; these are
protected by means of this very Science [Page 71] of Impression. The remaining
members of the Hierarchy take their orders from their seniors.
Mind the Focus of Planetary Development
I would ask you to remember that, in our
planetary development, the emphasis of the entire evolutionary process is on
the MIND and on the various aspects of the mind—intelligence, mental
perception, the Son of Mind, the lower mind, the abstract mind, the mind as
will, the Universal Mind. The three which are of major importance and which
form an esoteric triangle requiring to be brought into a vital inter-relation
are the Son of Mind, the abstract mind, and the Universal Mind. They are, when
fully related and active, the factors which engineer divine purpose and step it
down into such form that we call it the hierarchical Plan and can act upon it.
Only when the initiate has attained, through monadic contact, a touch of the
Universal Mind can the Purpose be sensed by him; this involves also the
development of the abstract mind, plus the residue of mental perception which
the Son of Mind (the soul) has bequeathed to him; through all this unfoldment
he can join the group who are the Formulators of the Plan. We are dealing here
with most difficult and complex matters, inherent in the initiate consciousness
and for which we have as yet no correct terminology. Also, the average aspirant
has no idea what is the nature of the awareness or the reactions to contact of
Those Who have passed beyond the third initiation; these limitations of the
average student must constantly be borne in mind.
(TEV 72) The Science of Invocation and Evocation—which embodies the technique of interplay
within the Hierarchy itself, to a certain degree between Shamballa and the Hierarchy, and to an increasing extent between
Humanity and the Hierarchy—is based entirely on a sense of relation. Therefore
only a certain level of conscious Lives can invoke Shamballa and evoke response, and this because They
[Page 72] have Themselves developed some of the aspects of that type of mental
understanding which is the hierarchical expression of the Universal Mind. The
light and futile talk of certain writers and thinkers anent the cosmic
consciousness, and their flippant use of such phrases as "tuning in with
the Infinite" or "tapping the Universal Mind" serve only to show
how very little is known in reality about the responses and the reactions of
those of high initiate rank or of those on the highest levels of hierarchical
life.
(TEV 80) Planetary Sequence of Impression
You will note, therefore, the amazing
planetary sequence of impression—all of it emanating from the highest possible
sources, though stepped down and regulated to the receiving factors; all of it
concerned to a greater or less degree (according to the quality of the
mechanism of reception) with the will and purpose of Sanat Kumara; all of it,
during the aeons, achieving a group potency and a responding sensitivity.
The main factor preventing a completely
unimpeded sequence of impression
from Shamballa
straight down into the mineral kingdom, via all the other kingdoms, is the
factor of freewill, resulting in karmic responsibility. This can be either good
or bad. It is interesting to note here that both the good and the bad karma
produce conditions which not only have to be worked out, but that they lead to
conditions which delay what we—from our limited point of view—might look upon
as the liberation of the planet. The generating of good karma necessitates the
"living through" of conditions where everything (for the man
responsible or for any other form within its limitations) is good, happy,
beneficent and useful. The evil karma generated in any kingdom in relation to
the "realm where dwelleth the planetary Dweller on the Threshold"
stands between the cosmic Door of Initiation and our planetary Logos. This
Dweller represents all the mistakes and errors due to wrong reactions,
unrecognised contacts, deliberate choices made in defiance of known good, and
mass movements and mass activities which are temporarily not progressive in
time and space. I realise that where these facts apply to the subhuman kingdoms
in nature you are not aware of what I mean, but that does not alter the law or
movements which are in no way related to human evolution. In connection with
the planetary Logos I would like to add that in that great planetary struggle
and His subsequent [Page 81] initiation, we are all implicated—from the atom of
substance up to and including all the Lives which form the Council Chamber of
the Lord of the World; it is this titanic effort which is made by the sum total
of all the living processes and entities that compose the manifestation of
Sanat Kumara which is responsible for the creative evolutionary processes; it
is also responsible for what we call time, with all that that concept involves
of events, opportunity, the past, the present and the future, the good and the
evil.
The dynamic impression which emanates from Shamballa reaches forth in great cycles and cyclic waves; these
are impulsed from extra-planetary sources, as demanded or invoked by the Lord
of the World and His Associates; they emanate in response to the
"acclaimed will" of
Sanat Kumara in the Council Chamber.
The seven rays qualified and
coloured by Shamballic impression
This high spiritual and ultimate impression
moves outward along the
seven rays, viewing
them as seven streams of
spiritual energy,
qualified and coloured
by the Shamballic impression; this process repeats itself when hierarchical invocation is effective
and successfully established.
UP TO 376 OF 804
Compilation Shamballa part8
Neither the Hierarchy or
Shamballa anticipated the sudden response of groups and nations to mass
ideologies and to the group impression of ideas
(TEV 84)
We are to consider, therefore, the relation of the human centre to the
hierarchical centre and the growing responsiveness of humanity to the "Centre where the Will of God is known". As I said before, it is not my
intention to give here the rules governing telepathic intercourse. Such
intercourse is found between man and man and groups and groups. The
relationship is slowly and normally developed and requires no hastening. It is
developing as the other senses of man and his apparatus of perception have
developed. Humanity is, however, outstripping telepathic development in the
rapid responsiveness of entire groups, and of human beings en masse, to group
impression and to group
impartation of ideas.
The sudden response of groups
and nations to mass ideologies has been both unexpected and difficult to handle wisely and
constructively. It was not anticipated by either Shamballa or the Hierarchy that mass impression would develop
more quickly than that of individual sensitivity, but it has happened that way.
The individual within a group and working within a group is far [Page 85] more
correctly sensitive than is the man struggling alone to render himself
sensitive to impression.
One of the factors militating against
personal telepathic development lies in the fact that the strong, potent and
modern ascension of the spirit in man—as a whole—frequently offsets personality
reactions, and telepathy is a personality matter depending upon contact between
mind and mind. The moment, however, that man tries to be telepathic, he is
immediately swept into a vortex
of abstract energies
which condition him for spiritual impression far more than they fit him for
personal relationships telepathically established.
This surprising development freed the supervising
Masters for some of Their plans and led Them to abandon the training of
individual disciples in telepathic rapport and to recognise the opportunity to
train and develop invocative groups. Instead of working in lower mental
substance with picked aspirants, They changed the medium of contact to that of
the soul and launched the relatively new Science of Invocation and Evocation.
The lower mind then became simply an interpreter of impressions with the
emphasis upon the group mind, the group purpose and the group will. This
developing system of trained invocatives made the mind a positive acting factor
and tuned out all tendency to negativity.
This hierarchical decision then necessarily
led to the instituting
of the processes of group initiation, thus shifting the area of training and the whole of
the teaching process and of preparation for initiation on to higher levels. The
experiment of giving mankind the Great Invocation was tried and is proving
successful, though much yet remains to be done.
The disciple is not permitted to
practise the art of impressing unit he himself is among those who receive
impression from Shamballa (after the 3rd initiation)
(TEV 87)
Sources of Impression for the Disciple
For the aspirant and particularly for the
conscious disciple, the impression to be considered comes from four sources:
1. From the disciple's own soul.
2. From the Ashram with which he is to be
affiliated.
3. Directly from the Master.
4. From the Spiritual Triad, via the antahkarana.
[Page 87]
The first two stages cover the period of
the first two initiations; the third precedes the third initiation and persists
until the disciple is himself a Master; the fourth type of informative
impression can be registered after the third initiation and reach the disciple
in the Ashram; he then has the task himself of impressing his mind with what he
has been told and known within the Ashram; eventually, as a Master of an
Ashram, he starts upon one of the major hierarchical tasks of mastering the
Science of Impression. There are therefore, two aspects to this work of
impression: one deals with the capacity to be impressed; the other with the
ability to be an impressing agent. The disciple is not permitted to practise the art of
impressing until he
himself is among those who receive
Triadal impression and
therefore impression
from Shamballa, within
the protective area or aura of the Ashram with which he is affiliated. It must
be remembered that this Science of Impression is in reality the science of thoughtform-making, thoughtform
vitalisation and thoughtform direction; and only a disciple who has passed through the
processes of Transfiguration and is no longer the victim of his own personality
can be entrusted with so dangerous a cycle of powers. As long as there exists
any desire for selfish power, for unspiritual control and for influence over
the minds of other human beings or over groups, the disciple cannot be trusted,
under the hierarchical rules, with the deliberate creation of thoughtforms designed to produce specific effects, and
with their dispersal to men and groups. After he has passed the tests of the
Transfiguration Initiation he may do so.
(TEV 90) When the disciple has mastered to
some degree the significant difference between messages from his own subconscious
or the subconscious of other people with whom he may be en rapport, and the
messages coming from his own soul, his life then becomes more self-directed and
organised, more fruitful from the angle of service, and therefore of definite
use to the Hierarchy. He learns to distinguish the messages coming from his own
soul from those which are hierarchical; his life becomes more clearly directed;
he next distinguishes definitely and accurately the communications which come
to him from the Ashram and which are sent out to make impression upon the minds
of aspirants and disciples of all degrees and of all ray types. When he can
distinguish between these various communications, then and only then does the
third type of communication become possible—direct messages which are due to
contact with the Master of his Ashram in person. He, by that time, possesses
what has been called "the freedom of the Ashram" and "the keys
to the
(TEV 91) You can see, therefore, how the
theme of revelation runs throughout the entire evolutionary process; it must
never be forgotten that step by step, stage by stage, expansion after
expansion, initiation after initiation, the divine WHOLE is realised by man.
The method is impressed from a hitherto unrecognised environment; this only
becomes possible in this particular form when "the Sons of Mind who are
the Sons of God and whose nature is at-one with His began to move on
Earth". The Science of Impression is in reality the technique whereby
Humanity has been taught by the Spiritual Hierarchy from the moment of its first
appearance upon Earth; it is the technique which all disciples have to learn
(no matter which of the Seven Paths they may eventually choose) and it is also
the sublime art which every Master practises on inspiration from Shamballa; it is a technique which is implemented by
the Will, and its consummation is the complete assimilation of the "little
wills of men" into the divine Purpose; it is the acceptance on their part
of the promotion of that Purpose through right impression on all forms of life
at any particular point of evolution. Disciples then become agents of the
divine will and are entrusted with the direction of energies, with the plan and
with the secrets and the inspiration which are hidden in the Mind of God.
(TEV 95) XIII. TELEPATHIC SENSITIVITY A
You will have noticed that I have given no
instructions as to the art of developing telepathic sensitivity. The reason is,
as I told you before, that this sensitivity should be, and always is, a normal
unfoldment when the disciple is correctly oriented, completely dedicated and
learning decentralisation. If it is a forced process, then the sensitivity
developed is not normal and carries with it much difficulty and future danger.
Where the disciple is concerned, release from the constant consideration of
personal circumstances and problems leads inevitably to a clear mental release;
this then provides those areas of free mental perception which make the higher
sensitivity possible. Gradually, as the disciple acquires true freedom of
thought and the power to be receptive to the impression of the abstract mind,
he creates for himself a reservoir of thought which becomes available at need
for the helping of other people and for the necessities of his growing world
service. Later, he becomes sensitive to impression from the Hierarchy. This is
at first purely ashramic, but is later transformed into total hierarchical
impression by the time the disciple is a Master; the Plan is then the dynamic
substance providing the content of the reservoir of thought upon which he can
draw. This is a statement of unique and unusual importance. Later still, he
becomes sensitive to
impression from Shamballa, and the quality of the Will which implements planetary Purpose is added to the content of his available knowledge.
The point which I seek to make here, however, is the fact of the existence of a
growing reservoir of thought which the disciple has created in response to the
many [Page 95] varying impressions to which he is becoming increasingly sensitive;
the ideas, concepts and spiritual objectives of which he is becoming aware are
steadily being formulated by him into thoughts with their appropriated
thoughtforms, and upon these he learns to draw as he seeks to serve his
fellowmen. He finds himself in possession of a reservoir or pool of
thought-substance which is the result of his own mental activity, of his innate
receptivity, and which provides the material for teaching and the "fount
of knowledge" upon which he can draw when he seeks to aid other people.
The essential point to be grasped is that
sensitivity to impression is a normal and natural unfoldment, paralleling
spiritual development. I gave you a clue to the entire process when I said that
"Sensitivity to impression involves
the engendering of a magnetic aura upon which the highest impressions can
play."
(TEV 96) Paralleling Spiritual Development
It is this aura which is in reality the
reservoir of thought-substance upon which he can spiritually rely. His point of
focus is upon the mental plane. He is no longer controlled by the astral
nature; he is successfully constructing the antahkarana along which the higher
impressions can flow; he learns not to dissipate this inflow but to accumulate
within the aura (with which he has surrounded himself) the knowledge and the
wisdom which he realises his service to his fellowmen requires. A disciple is a
magnetic centre of light and knowledge just in so far as the magnetic aura is
held by him in a state of receptivity. It is then constantly invocative of the
higher range of impressions; it can be evoked and set into "distributing
activity" by that which is lower and which is demanding aid. The disciple
therefore, in due time, becomes a tiny or minute correspondence of the
Hierarchy—invocative as it is to Shamballa and easily evoked by human demand. These are points
warranting careful consideration. They involve a primary recognition of points
of tension and their consequent expansion into magnetic auras or areas, capable
of invocation and evocation.
These areas of sensitivity pass through
three stages, upon which it is not my intention to enlarge:
1. Sensitivity to impression from other
human beings. This sensitivity becomes of use in service when the needed
magnetic aura has been engendered and is brought under scientific control.
2. Sensitivity to group impression—the
passage of ideas from group to group. The disciple can become a receptive agent
within any group of which he is a part, and this ability indicates progress in
his part.
[Page 97]
3. Sensitivity to hierarchical impressions,
reaching the disciple via the antahkarana and—later—from the Hierarchy as a
whole, when he has attained some of the higher initiations. This indicates ability to register impression from
Shamballa.
It would be of value if we now considered
three points which are concerned with sensitivity to impression, with the
construction of the resultant reservoir of thought, and with responsiveness to
subsequent invocative appeals. These three points are:
1. Processes of Registration.
2. Processes of Recording Interpretations.
3. Processes of Resultant Invocative
Response.
(TEV 103) Later on, when the accepting
disciple becomes the accepted disciple and is permitted to participate in
ashramic activity, he adds the ability to register hierarchical impression;
this however is only possible after he has learnt to register impression coming
to him from his own soul (the vertical impression) and from the surrounding
world of men (the horizontal impression). When he has taken certain important
initiations, his magnetic aura will be capable of registering impression from
the subhuman kingdoms in nature. Again, later on, when he is a Master of the
Wisdom and, therefore, a full member of the fifth kingdom in nature, the world
of hierarchical life and activity will be the world from which horizontal
impression will be made upon his magnetic aura, and vertical impression will
come from the higher levels of the Spiritual Triad and, still later, from Shamballa. Then the world of humanity will be to him
what the subhuman kingdoms were when the fourth kingdom, the human, was the
field of his registered horizontal impression. [Page 104] You have here the
true significance of the Cross of humanity clearly revealed.
(TEV 113) The higher forms of mental
telepathy, involving the soul and the abstract mind are concerned solely with
the divine Plan—as the Hierarchy works it out in the three worlds. The Science
of Impression is concerned, therefore, primarily, with the divine Purpose as Shamballa is working it out, and also with those
higher aspects of hierarchical work which are not concerned with work in the
three worlds. This is a point upon which I would ask you to ponder.
(TEV 121) The Purpose of Sanat Kumara is created at present by the synthesis which
the nature of the final
seven Paths reveals.
It is adapted in time and space to human intelligence by the presented Plan,
and—in the glory of consummation—the completed Plan will reveal the Purpose on all the
seven planes of
evolution. Then evolution, as formulated and imposed by the Hierarchy, will end
and a greater dynamic expansion will take its place.
You will note that all along the lines of
teaching there comes an eventual merging and blending, and that, at a [Page
121] certain point in the development of consciousness, the many lines of
spiritual approach become the few lines of conscious spiritual awareness. So it
is in relation to the detail of the evolutionary process, with the formulation
of the hierarchical Plan, and with the recognition of the Purpose. Speaking
practically (and that is always of major importance), it might be said that
evolution controls the form of the Purpose; the Plan concerns the hierarchical
recognition of the Purpose, whilst the Purpose is the synthetic Thought which pours
into the supernal consciousness of the Lord of the World along the seven Paths
of which the Masters become aware at a certain very high initiation.
The seven great energies flow into our manifested world along the lines of the seven Paths; these are not the direct energies of the
seven Rays, because these concern consciousness in a most specific manner; they
are the substantial energies of material expression and their origin concerns a
great mystery. These two lines of energy—material energy and the energy of
consciousness—when brought together by divine Purpose, constitute the essential
dualism of our manifested life.
All that we are able to recognise of that
Purpose is the hierarchical Plan, and this only disciples and advanced
aspirants can judge and recognise. This Plan is based upon knowledge of divine
guidance in the Past, the recognition of progress out of that Past into the
Present, plus the effort to become sensitive to the right emergence of that
Plan (embodying ever an aspect of the Purpose) in the immediate Future. The Purpose is related to the Past, the
Present and the Future;
the Agents of the Plan
are impressed from Shamballa, via the Nirmanakayas; the process is then repeated, and advanced
humanity become the recipients, the sensitive recipients, of the Plan as
transmitted to them by the impressing Agents, the Masters, working through the
[Page 122] New Group of World Servers. This group is the lower correspondence
of the Nirmanakayas, the recipients
of impression from Shamballa. See you, therefore, the beauty and the synthesis, the inter-dependence
and the cooperative interplay which is demonstrated right through the chain of
Hierarchy from the very highest Agent to the very lowest recipient of divine
impression.
The key to all this is energy. Energy is
substance, and this substance is qualified by divine dynamic WILL. There is
much to be learnt anent the Will. Will as dynamic energy is not yet understood in its true sense by human
beings. Mankind usually recognises will as fixed determination; this is in
reality their individual effort to impress substance (personal or environing)
with their own self-will or with their well-intended effort to conform to what
they believe to be the will of God, speaking symbolically. But men know nothing
yet of the process of working with dynamic energised substance, for it basically impresses them and uses
them as they become aware of the Plan and thus come under the influence of the
Spiritual Triad. They are used and not using that which is available for the
furtherance of the Plan—the dynamic energy of the divine Will. This dynamic Will cannot become available nor can disciples
truly work with the Plan until the antahkarana is to some measure adequately
constructed, though not yet perfected.
(TEV 124) The relation evoked is, as you
can well imagine, inter-planetary and extra-planetary; these terms mean little
to [Page 125] the average disciple and he has to wait until the initiatory
process puts him in a position where he can frankly evaluate the situation. Of
the latter stages, we can know nothing; only in the Council Chamber of Shamballa are these extra-planetary contacts and
relationships recognisable. But one basic fact must be grasped, and that is
that the medium of relationship and of contact is SUBSTANCE; and the effect of
these relationships, carried on through this medium, is the gradual development
and progressive unfoldment of the three divine Aspects which all esotericists
recognise, and of others which the coming millennia will reveal. The contributing
factor, therefore, within and upon our planet is what we might regard as the
three major centres of the planetary Logos:
1. The Head Centre, the dynamic Agent of
the extra-planetary Purpose, the expression of the divine planetary Will as focussed in
Shamballa. This is the
energy of Synthesis, the source of all planetary life; it connotes essential
Being.
2. The Heart Centre, the Agent of the Plan
of evolution. This is the expression of divine Love or pure Reason, the
Hierarchy. It is essentially the energy of Attraction, the kingdom of souls.
3. The Throat Centre, the Agent of all the
three Aspects in relation to the three subhuman kingdoms in nature, the
expression also of the divine Intelligence, Humanity. This is the energy of
active Mind and makes humanity the macrocosm of the microcosm, the three
subhuman kingdoms. Humanity is to these kingdoms what the Hierarchy is to the
fourth kingdom in nature, the human kingdom.
The Omnipotent Lives in
Shamballa impress the omniscient Lives in the Hierarchy
(TEV 127) Because of this uniformity of
experience, the art of contact and the science of impression become entirely
possible and normally effective. The great and omnipotent Lives in Shamballa can impress the omniscient Lives and lesser lives in the Hierarchy because
They share a common humanity; the hierarchical Workers or Masters and Initiates
can consequently impress humanity because of shared experience and
understanding; then the lives that compose the human family present the goal to
the subhuman kingdoms and can, and do, impress them because of basic
instinctual tendencies which are expressed in the human group but which are
latent instinctual tendencies and potential assets in the three subhuman
groups.
This teaching has always been implicit in
the esoteric doctrines but has not been sufficiently emphasised, owing to the
point in evolution of mankind. Today, mankind has made such progress that these
points can be made effectively. I would call to your attention that this was
the keynote of the Gospel story: the human-divine nature of the Christ, [Page
128] relating Him to the Father through His essential divinity, and also to man
through His essential humanity. The Christian Church gave a wrong slant to the
teaching by making Christ appear as unique, though the higher criticism (deemed
so shocking fifty years ago) has done much to correct this false impression.
The outstanding characteristic of humanity
is intelligent sensitivity to impression. Ponder on this definite and emphatic
statement. The work of science is, after all, simply the development of the
knowledge of substance and of form; this knowledge will make it possible for
humanity eventually to act as the major impressing agent in relation to the
three subhuman kingdoms in nature; that is humanity's primary responsibility.
This work of relationship is practically the work of developing or the mode of
unfoldment of human sensitivity. I refer here to sensitivity to impression from
or by the Hierarchy.
The work done through the processes of
initiation is intended to fit disciples and initiates to receive impression from Shamballa; the initiate is essentially a blend of
scientific and religious training; he has been re-oriented to certain phases of
divine existence which are not yet recognised by the average human being. I am
endeavouring to make clear to you the basic synthesis underlying all manifested life upon our planet, and
also the close interplay or relationship which forever exists and expresses
itself through the supreme science of contact or of impression.
(TEV 130) Students are apt to make their
thinking unduly complicated when they seek to itemise and define, to separate
into academic groups and brackets the multiplicity of energies with which they
feel confronted when considering the planetary and the human centres. I would
advise you that you think simply and (certainly, at first) in terms of the
three major energies as they emanate from some centre, become impressing
agents, and then are again transmitted or stepped down:
1. The dynamic electrical energy of Life itself or divine potency, of embodied Purpose, expressing through evolutionary
manifestation the divine Will. It might be well to realise that purpose
emanates from the cosmic mental plane and is the all-inclusive, synthetic,
motivating principle which expresses itself as the divine will upon the cosmic
physical plane—the seven planes of our planetary Life. This dynamic energy
focuses itself through the Lives or Beings [Page 130] Who control and dominate Shamballa. Until the divine purpose has been
achieved, the planetary Logos holds all in manifestation through the potency of
His Will, and animates all forms with electric fire. Knowledge of this Will and
Purpose comes to the student who is constructing the antahkarana and who is,
therefore, coming under the control of the Spiritual Triad, the threefold
expression of the Monad.
2. The attractive magnetic solar energy to which we give the quite unsuitable name
of Love. It is this energy which constitutes the
cohering, unifying force which holds the manifested universe or planetary form
together and is responsible for all relationships; it is this energy which is
the soul of all things or of all forms, beginning with the anima mundi and
reaching its highest point of expression in the human soul which is the
constituent factor in the fifth kingdom in nature, the Kingdom of God or of
Souls. An understanding of this human potency comes as a man makes contact with
his own soul and sets up a stable relationship with that soul; then he becomes
a soul-infused personality. As you well know, the threefold personality is to
the soul what the Spiritual Triad is to the Monad: a clear medium of
expression. Most students are or should be today occupied with this attractive
energy, for until they have mastered the desire nature and have transmuted it
into aspiration and soul control, they cannot hope to comprehend the dynamic
energy of electric fire. This attractive magnetism is the energy dominating and
controlling the Hierarchy.
3. The intelligent activity of fire by friction. Students would be well advised to re-read
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire where I deal at length with these three conditioning
energies. This third energy is the basic energy expressing itself in the three
worlds and in the four kingdoms in nature, climaxing its expression in the
creative energy of the human kingdom. [Page 131] This energy emanated
originally (as far as our solar system and our planetary scheme are concerned)
in the first solar system and is the best proven and the best known energy in
manifestation. It is the medium for activity in all forms through which the
planetary Logos expresses Himself; it is the result of the activity of the
divine Mind, as that peculiar type of divine energy plays upon and through all
atoms and upon all atomic forms. The fission of the nucleus of the atom in the
past few years is the outer sign or demonstration that humanity has
"encompassed" the divine Mind and can now move on to
"encompass" the love or the attractive nature of divinity. Ponder
upon this statement. I know not what word to use but encompass and it is
entirely inadequate. A new and deeper esoteric terminology is badly needed.
(TEV 131) Seven Statements Depicting the
Pattern of the Present Planetary Work
Statement One.
Dynamic electric energy entered into our planetary sphere from
extra-planetary sources and from a point of definite focus upon the cosmic mental plane; this energy was paralleled by a secondary
energy from the sun
Sirius, thus
accounting for the dualism of manifestation.
Statement Two.
This energy expanded outward from its
central focus (the
centre called Shamballa)
and in this expansion became [Page 132] the agency which impressed the Plan upon the serving Hierarchy. The Plan is
that measure of possibility of immediate importance which the divine Purpose
can present at any given moment in time and space.
Statement Three.
This process of expansion set up another
focal point of energy, and the heart centre of the planet, the Hierarchy came
into being; thus two centres were created and en rapport, which constitutes a
major event upon the involutionary arc; to this, little attention has hitherto
been paid. It coincided with" the advent or the arrival of the Lords of
Flame from the alter ego of our Earth, the planet Venus. They created the
nucleus of the Hierarchy which—in that far, very distant time—consisted of only
forty-nine members; these were advanced human beings and not
souls awaiting incarnation in human form on Earth, as was the case with the
vast majority of these visiting Solar Angels.
Statement Four.
Alignment between the head centre and the
heart centre upon the involutionary arc was thus set up; another expansion took
place which resulted, as you know well, in the creation of a new kingdom in nature,
the fourth or human kingdom. This kingdom was destined to become and is today
the third major centre in the planetary life. Then another alignment, but one
which is still contained upon the involutionary arc, took place.
Statement Five.
Today, an evolutionary alignment is taking
place. The planetary centre which we call Humanity is active and vibrant, and
it is now possible to "progress along the
Statement Six.
At the same time, the heart centre of the
planetary Logos, the Hierarchy, whilst it is being responsive to the invocation
of the throat centre, Humanity, is becoming increasingly evocative and is
itself attaining a much higher contact and alignment with the head centre of the planetary Logos; it is, therefore, capable of receiving a
constantly developing dynamic
impression from Shamballa.
(TEV 133) Statement Seven.
Thus a great alignment is being achieved
through the relationship and the interplay going on between these three major
planetary centres; this produces a constant inflow of energies from several
different sources, and these energies galvanise these three centres into a new
and increased activity. Invocation is arising all the time between these
centres and producing a consequent evocation of impressing energies.
In these seven statements, you have
depicted a PATTERN of the present planetary work or the present logoic thesis.
An involutionary alignment (the guarantee of future successful alignments)
constitutes most ancient history; an evolutionary alignment in which all three
centres are involved is constantly producing an interplay of energies as well
as a constantly successful impression of one centre upon another. Humanity, as
the throat centre of the planetary Logos and the prime planetary creative
agency (which modern science demonstrates), invokes the heart centre, the
Hierarchy, and then receives the needed impression which will result in the
developing civilisations and cultures as well as the eventual appearance on
Earth of the fifth or spiritual [Page 134] kingdom.The Hierarchy or the planetary heart centre
invokes Shamballa, the planetary head centre, and the Plan—as an expression of the Purpose—is
impressed upon the hierarchical consciousness. If there is redundancy in these
various comments of mine, it is entirely intentional; repetition serves the
purposes of accurate presentation where esotericism is concerned.
As the invocative system spreads and a
greater alignment is attained, Shamballa—the planetary head centre—invokes energies outside the planetary life and the
inflow of cosmic and solar energies will be very much greater; for this the
esotericists of the world must be prepared. It will also produce the advent or
appearance of many AVATARS, bringing with Them many and very different kinds of
energies to those which hitherto have controlled human affairs and the events
and evolution of the other, the subhuman kingdoms in nature. With the
reappearance of the Christ as the focal point or the supreme Agent of the
planetary heart centre, a new era or "divine epoch" will be instituted.
The Avatar of Synthesis will draw very close to humanity and He will inaugurate the "reign of
Avatars" Who will
be embodied Purpose and spiritual Will; They will initiate both the Hierarchy
and Humanity into phases of the divine character of which, at present, nothing
is known and for which we have no terminology that could convey the exact facts
and nature. All that I am attempting to do here is to give you a general
outline of events which may lie centuries ahead
but which will inevitably occur—once the Christ is again in physical Presence
and recognition on Earth.
H.P.B. speaks in The Secret Doctrine of the
"three periodical vehicles," referring as he does so to the Monad,
the Soul and the Personality; he is dealing, therefore, with the nine aspects of
divinity which connote the nine major initiations and those divine
characteristics through which [Page 135] the three major aspects of divinity
reflect themselves. In this connection, it is well known to students that the
Monad expresses itself through the Spiritual Triad, the Soul through the three
aspects of the Egoic Lotus, and the Personality through the three mechanical
vehicles. It will be obvious to you surely that these three periodical vehicles
are under the influence or impression of the three major planetary centres and
are, therefore, finally conditioned by the three major energies to which I
referred earlier in this section. I do not feel it to be necessary to enlarge
upon this basic relation; it is that which integrates the human soul into the
vast general whole and makes the individual an intrinsic part of the sum total.
Shamballa is primarily second
ray as it is the ray of the present solar system-but the first ray aspect of it
is focussed in the heart
(TEV 135) The Centres and the Ray Energies
There is one aspect of the Science of
Impression upon which I have not yet touched and that is the place of the
centres as focal points, as transmitters or as agencies for the seven ray
energies. It is known to esotericists that each of the seven centres comes
under the influence or is the recipient of some ray energy, and there is a
general acceptance of the fact that the head centre is the agent of the first
Ray of Will or Power, the heart centre is the custodian of second Ray energy of
Love-Wisdom, whilst the third Ray of active creative Intelligence passes
through and energises the throat centre. These Rays of Aspect do find
expression through the three centres above the diaphragm, and—on the larger
scale—through Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity. It is,
however, equally true that Shamballa
is primarily second ray
as it is expressed, because that is the ray of the present solar system of which Shamballa is a part; and that the first ray, or its dynamic life aspect, is
focused in the heart,
for the heart is the centre of life. The great centre which we call Humanity is
predominantly governed by the third Ray of Active Intelligence. This ray energy
arrives at the throat centre via the head and the heart centres. I [Page 136]
am pointing this out for two reasons which must form part of your thinking as
you study this science :
(TEV 137) It is needless for me to point
out that—as man progresses upon the Path of Return—he consistently comes under
the impression of the centre of which he is an integral part: that is, first of
all, the planetary throat centre, the human family; then, as a soul, he comes
under the impression of the Hierarchy, the planetary heart centre, and at that
point he begins to express the combined energies of the intelligence and of
love; finally, on the Path of Initiation, he comes under the impression of Shamballa, the planetary head centre, and becomes a participant in the divine Purpose and
an Agent of the divine Plan.
Shamballa, Hierarchy and
Humanity are the three major chakras of the Lord of the World, Sanat Kumara
(TEV 148) All forms are related,
inter-related and interdependent; the planetary etheric body holds them
together so that a cohesive, coherent, expressive Whole is presented to the eye
of man, or one great unfolding consciousness to the perception of the
Hierarchy. Lines of light pass from form to form. Some are bright and some are
dim; some move or circulate with rapidity, others are lethargic and slow in
their [Page 149] interplay; some seem to circulate with facility in some
particular kingdom in nature and some in another; some come from one direction
and some from a different one, but all are in movement all the time; it is a
constant circulation. All are passing on and into and through, and there is not
one single atom in the body which is not the recipient of this living, moving
energy; there is no single form that is not "kept in shape and
livingness" by this determined inflow and outflow, and there is therefore
no part of the body of manifestation (which is an integral part of the
planetary vehicle of the Lord
of the World) which is
not in complex but complete touch with HIS divine intention—through the medium
of HIS three major centres: Shamballa, the
Hierarchy, and Humanity. In the multiplicity of the forms of which His great
composite vehicle is composed, there is no need for Him to be in conscious
touch. It is, however, possible, should He so desire it, but it would profit
Him not, any more than it would profit you to be in conscious touch with some
atom in some organ of your physical body. He works, however, through His three
major centres: Shamballa, the planetary head centre; the Hierarchy,
the planetary heart centre; and Humanity, the planetary throat centre. The play
of the energies elsewhere (controlled from these three centres) is automatic.
The objective of the circulating energies—as it appears to us when we seek to
penetrate divine purpose—is to vivify all parts of His body, with the view of
promoting the unfoldment of consciousness therein.
This is basically true from the angle of Shamballa "where the Will of God is known"; it is
partially true of those Members of the Hierarchy Who sense the Purpose and
formulate the Plan and then present it in an understandable form to the lesser
initiates and disciples and aspirants. These two groups work entirely on the
consciousness side, which motivates and directs (as needed) the moving, [Page
150] circulating energies. This is not true of the bulk of humanity, who are
conscious but only conscious within their ring-pass-not, and are therefore
fundamentally separated off by their emphasis upon form as it exists in the
three worlds—the dense physical levels of the cosmic physical plane. On the
lowest of these levels, the outer physical form reacts and responds to the
circulating energies through the medium of the etheric energy which comes from
the lowest of the four levels of the etheric plane.
Shamaballa is not the name of a
locality
(TEV 155)
The word "prana" is almost as much misunderstood as are the
words "etheric" or "astral." It is this loose connotation
which is responsible for the great ignorance prevalent in occult circles.
Prana might be defined as the life-essence
of every plane in the sevenfold area which we call the cosmic physical plane.
It is the LIFE of the
planetary Logos,
reduced within limits, animating, vivifying and correlating all the seven [Page
155] planes (in reality the seven subplanes of the cosmic physical plane) and
all that is to be found within and upon them. The cosmic sutratma or
life-thread of the planetary Logos enters His manifestation on the highest of
our planes (the logoic plane) and, through the instrumentality of the informing
Lives to be found in Shamballa
(which, I must remind
you, is not the name of
a locality) is brought
into contact with, or is related to, the matter of which the manifested worlds
are made—formless, as on the cosmic etheric planes (our highest four planes),
or tangible and objective, as on the lower three planes. The fact that we call
only that tangible which we can see or touch and contact through the medium of
the five senses is entirely wrong. All is regarded as belonging to the world of
form which is found on the physical plane, the astral plane and the levels of
the lower mind. This lower mental plane, referred to above, includes the level
on which the causal body is found—the plane in which "the lotus of love is
floating," as the Old Commentary puts it. All that lies above that on
mental levels, and on up to the highest of the cosmic physical planes, is
formless. These distinctions must be most carefully borne in mind.
There is within the human body a wonderful
symbol of distinction between the higher etheric levels and the lower so-called
physical levels. The diaphragm exists, separating that part of the body which
contains the heart, throat and head, plus the lungs, from all the rest of the
organs of the body; these are all of them of the utmost importance from the
angle of LIFE, and that which is determined in the head, impulsed from the
heart, sustained by the breath and expressed through the apparatus of the
throat determines what the man IS.
(TEV 159) III. PLANETARY AND HUMAN CENTRES
There is a factor bearing upon the etheric
body to which very little reference has ever been made, the reason being that
it would have been utterly useless information. Let me embody it in a tabulated
statement, beginning with a few points earlier imparted but which should here
be repeated for clarity and placed in proper sequence:
1. The planetary Logos works through the
medium of the three major centres:
a. The Centre where the will of God is
known: Shamballa.
b. The Centre where the love of God is
manifest: the Hierarchy.
c. The Centre where the intelligence of God
is producing the evolutionary process: Humanity.
(TEV 163) I have said earlier that the
intersecting energies in the etheric body of the planet are at this time a
network of squares. When the creative process is complete and evolution has
done its work, these squares will become a network of triangles. Necessarily
this is a symbolic way of speaking. In the Book of Revelations which was
dictated 1900 years ago by the disciple who is now known as the Master
Hilarion, reference is made to the "city which stands four-square."
The etheric vehicle of the planet was inherited from a former solar system,
with the purpose or intention in view of its transformation into a network of
triangles in this solar system. In the next one of the triplicity of solar
systems (the third or last) in which the will of God works out, the etheric body will begin as a network of
triangles, but this
will be resolved into a network of interlinked circles or of linked rings,
indicating the fulfilment of interlocking relationships. In this present
system, the result of evolution, as far as the etheric body is concerned, will
be the contact established between all three points of each triangle, making a ninefold contact and a ninefold
flow of energy; this
is consistent with the fact that nine is the number of initiation, and by the
time the destined number of disciples have taken the nine possible initiations,
this triangular formation of the planetary etheric body will be complete.
The idea can be conveyed symbolically by
the diagram below, which pictures the triangular formation and the mode of a
dual growth or progression and expansion of the network because, starting with
the initial triangle, two points only are left for the processes of extension.
[Page 164]
The initial triangle was formed by Sanat
Kumara, and we call
the three energies which circulate through its medium the three major Rays of
Aspect. The four Rays of Attribute formed their own triangles and yet, in a
paradoxical manner, they are responsible for the "squares" through
which their energies at this time pass. Thus the work of transforming the
inherited etheric body was begun and has proceeded ever since. In the etheric body of the human being you have a repetition of the same
process in the triangle of energies created by the relationship between the Monad, the Soul, and the Personality.
(TEV 165) The centres are in reality those
"crossing points" of energies where the etheric body possesses seven
triangles or transformed points. From the angle of Shamballa the centres in a human being resemble a triangle with
a point at the centre.
From the angle of the Hierarchy, conditions
are somewhat different. You have the seven centres portrayed as lotuses, with
varying numbers of petals; nevertheless there is always preserved and
recognisably present a triangle, at the very heart of the lotus; always there
is the triangle with its communicating point, and to this we give the name, the
"jewel in the lotus." You have therefore the following symbolic
presentation of the lotus, and you would do well to study it with care.
(TEV 167) We will now consider the centres
as controlling factors in the life of the personality in the three worlds, and
their relation to each other, always studying the subject from the angle of
their relation to one of the three major planetary centres—Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity—in connection with:
1. The Point at the Centre.
2. Related Energies.
3. Sphere of Radiation.
4. The Triangle of Energy.
Shamballa and its major activity is
bequeathing, distributing and circulating the basic principle of life itself to
every form which is held within the planetary ring-pass-not of the planetary
Life or Logos.
(TEV 182) We shall now endeavour to apply
whatever knowledge is available to you at this time in relation to the
planetary Life, expressing itself as a centre in the solar system. We shall
also study its secondary expression through the medium of three major centres: Shamballa, the Hierarchy, and Humanity.
(TEV 183) At the heart of this vast sea of
energies is to be found that cosmic Consciousness to Whom we give the name of Sanat Kumara, the Lord of the World, the Ancient of
Days. It is His Will-to-Be which brought His manifested form into the tangible
arena of life; it is His Will-to-Good which activates the Law of Evolution and
carries His Form, with the myriad lesser forms of which it is composed, on to
the ultimate glory which He alone visions and knows. It is His consciousness
and His sensitive response to all forms and to all states of being and to all
possible impacts and contacts which guarantees the developing consciousness of
all the many lives within or upon this Earth of ours.
This great Centre of Existence works through a triangle of energies or
through lesser centres, each of which is brought into active expression by one
of the three major Rays or Energies. The Centre which is created by the Ray of Will or
Power is called Shamballa and its major activity is bequeathing, distributing
and circulating the basic principle
of life itself to every form which is held within the planetary ring-pass-not of the planetary Life
or Logos. This energy is the dynamic incentive at the heart of every form and the sustained expression of the intention of Sanat Kumara—an
intention working out as the planetary Purpose which is known only to Him.
Shamballa could be called the
Science of Life or of dynamic livingness,
The second Centre is created by the Ray of
Love-Wisdom; this is the basic energy which brought into being the entire
manifested universe, for it is the energy of the Builder Aspect. To it we
give—as far as humanity is concerned—the name of Hierarchy, for it is the
controlling factor of the great chain of Hierarchy. The prime activity of this
Centre is related to the unfolding consciousness of the planet, and therefore
of all forms of life within or upon the planet; it is not related to the life
aspect in any sense.
The task of the "units of Energy"
who constitute the personnel of this Centre is to awaken and arouse the sense
of awareness and of consciousness which is sensitive in its response to the
life within all forms. Just as the basic mode of activity in and through Shamballa could be called the Science of Life or of dynamic livingness, so the basic science by means of which
the Hierarchy works could be called the Science of Relationships. Consciousness is not only the sense of
identity or of self-awareness, but it concerns also the sense of relation of
that recognised self or the "I" to all other selves. This
consciousness is progressively developed, and the Members of this second Centre,
the Hierarchy, have the major and important task, in this particular solar
systemic cycle, of bringing all the units in each kingdom of nature to an
understanding of place, position, responsibility and relationships. This
probably sounds entirely meaningless in relation to those conditions where the
units of life are, for instance, in the vegetable or the animal kingdom, but a
glimmering of understanding may come when you remember that the seed or germ of
all states of consciousness is latent in every form, and of this the instinct
to perpetuate and the instinct to mate are the major incubating areas.
The third Centre is that of the
The Triangle around Shamballa is
composed of the three Buddhas of Activity
(TEV 185) Central Triangle of Energies
Each of these three Centres has a governing and controlling Triangle or central Triangle of Energies. In
relation to Shamballa, this Triangle is composed of the three Buddhas of Activity Who represent conscious intelligent life,
conscious, intelligent and active wisdom, and conscious, intelligent and active
creation.
In connection with the Hierarchy, the central Triangle is composed of the Manu, representing loving intelligent life, the Christ, representing loving intelligent consciousness, and
the Mahachohan, representing loving intelligent activity,
and therefore between Them representing every phase of group livingness, group
expression and group action; these qualities focus through the Mahachohan,
primarily because He is the Lord of Civilisation and the civilisations of
humanity represent progressive growth and unfoldment.
In the final root-race-the 7th-
the essential central Triangle (Shamballa) make its appearance and function
openly in the third planetary Centre, that of Humanity
Only in the final root-race of men upon our planet will the essential central Triangle make its appearance and function openly in the third planetary Centre, that
of Humanity. Men are
not yet ready for this, but the areas of conscious creative activity, out of
which this triangle of functioning embodied energies will emerge, is already in
preparation. One point of this future triangle will emerge out of the field of
world governments, of politics and of statesmanship; another will appear out of
the world religions, and a third out of the general field of world economics
and finance. Today no such men of spiritual will, of spiritual love and of
[Page 186] spiritual intelligence are to be found upon Earth; even if they did
emerge in these three fields of expression they could do little good, for the
sense of recognition and of responsibility is as yet inadequately developed;
later, they will appear and will then openly relate the department of the Manu to that of
world government, the
department of the Christ to that of the world religions, and the department of
the Lord of Civilisation to that of the social and financial order. That time
will surely come, but it will come only after the externalisation of the
Hierarchy and its open functioning upon the physical plane. Then, some senior
disciples from each of the three hierarchical departments will appear and will
attempt the experiment of this centralising and embodiment of the three
qualities of the central Triangle. They will then discover, by direct action,
when and if mankind is ready for such an experiment of direct control and if it
has developed the needed sense of responsibility—a responsibility which will
produce cooperation.
when the right time comes
(though the hour is not yet) Sanat Kumara will place His Representatives (two of the
Buddhas of Activity) as the central points in both the Hierarchy and in
Humanity-the nine will have become the three
All these three Centres can therefore be
depicted in the following manner: with the completed circle of the entire
energy form, with the central triangle of energies carrying the qualities of
the three major rays, and then the point at the centre which stands for the
dynamic embodied Life. In connection with Shamballa, that point is Sanat Kumara
Himself; when the
right time comes (though the hour is not yet) He will place His Representatives as the central
points in both the Hierarchy and in Humanity. For this relatively distant event the doctrine or
the theory of Avatars, of Mediators or of Inter-Mediaries is
preparing the way, thus enabling men to think in these representative and
inclusive terms. Not even in the Hierarchy is the time yet [Page 187] ripe for
the "residence in state of the divine Representative.
The Hierarchy can only handle
the Shamballic force of the Buddha for a few minutes once a year
" Each year, the Buddha comes and carries
the force of Sanat Kumara to the Hierarchy but—He cannot stay. The "units of energy,"
the Members of the Hierarchy, cannot bear for long the strong quality of the
incoming vibration, except after due preparation and in group form, and then only for a few scant minutes; nevertheless the "period of dynamic
potency" is being prolonged during this century from one day to five; the next century may see an even longer
period of registration instituted.
At the close of the age, the three major Centres will be in complete, unified and synchronised activity, with Sanat Kumara in Shamballa overshadowing and informing His
Representatives in the hierarchical and human Centres; then the central Triangle in each Centre will not be only actively functioning, but
they will be working together in the closest rapport, thus forming symbolically
a "Star with nine points, ever revolving"; then the massed energies
of the three major Centres will dominate the other four centres, controlling
the manifestation of the Life Expression in all the kingdoms of nature.
When one comes to the consideration of the
sphere of radiation of these three major Centres, it is interesting to note
that, at this time and in this present world cycle, the most potent radiation
and the widest range of influence is that of the Hierarchy. Apart from
"giving life" to all forms upon and within the planet, the influence
or radiation of Shamballa
is definitely and consciously restricted, until such time as the Hierarchy and
Humanity can respond constructively. It is present, needless to say, and evokes
response from those able to swing within its sphere of radiation; but it is
felt that as yet there are too many forms of expression which could not react
correctly to the work of the "Destroyer of forms," which is the most
potent [Page 188] aspect of this first ray centre and the one which manifests
first, because its work must be accomplished before the two other aspects of
its potency can function rightly. The centre called humanity has as yet an
inadequate radiation because of its—at present—inadequate development; its
sphere of influence is relatively limited, though men are beginning to work
outward in the direction of the subhuman kingdoms and to attract more
forcefully the kingdom of souls than heretofore. The Hierarchy has, however, no
interior restrictions such as are consciously and deliberately imposed upon
itself by Shamballa or which are unconsciously imposed by
humanity; any blocking of the hierarchical radiation (if I may use such a term)
will come from the forms on which the impact of its radiation is sought, but
the outgoing influence of the central Triangle of the Hierarchy is unique and
far-reaching.
Some members of Shamballa are
functioning in physical vehicles
All that we have here been considering
takes place within the etheric
body of the planet,
for all these centres
exist etherically, and
only etherically, and are not affected by the fact that the "units of energy" in Shamballa or in the Hierarchy may be functioning in physical vehicles. Some are and some are not. The
conditioning Lives in both these Centres work entirely through etheric means,
wielding and controlling energies; the Human Centre, with its "units of
energy" works largely at present upon purely physical levels or in the medium
of that type of substance which we call "material"; men work with
outer forms, with the tangible elements and with material factors. The
"units" in the other Centres work with substance and not with matter.
This is an interesting and vital distinction. The Hierarchy is existent upon
the buddhic plane, which is the first of the cosmic ethers, and it works from
there, impressing mental matter. Shamballa works on the levels of the three highest
ethers (logoic, monadic and atmic planes) whilst Humanity works primarily in the
three worlds [Page 189] of the dense cosmic physical plane. The New Group of
World Servers has in it "units of energy" who can work both with
matter and with substance.
(TEV 190) The Sequence of Inter-Related
Triangles
The student is well aware that the three
major Centres have their correspondences in the human etheric body and that
each of them is related to its higher correspondence and can thus be
"impressed" or affected and awakened by the corresponding higher
agent. It might be stated that:
1. Energy from the planetary centre, Shamballa, utilises the head centre, the thousand petalled
lotus, when the man is adequately developed. This centre is the agent of the
divine will within the life of the spiritual man, working through the Spiritual
Triad. It is only actively useful when the antahkarana is constructed or in
process of construction.
2. Energy from the planetary centre, the
Hierarchy, utilises the heart centre. This centre is the agent of divine love
(expressing basically the will-to-good) working through the soul of the
individual aspirant or disciple; this becomes possible when contact with the
soul has been attained in some measure and the aspirant is on the way to become
a soul-infused personality.
3. Energy from the third planetary centre,
Humanity, utilises the throat centre, working through the integrated
personality, and therefore only when a relatively high degree of evolutionary
unfoldment has been attained. The throat centre only becomes creatively and
spiritually active when the lower nature has been to some degree subordinated
to idealistic aspiration: this aspiration need not be one that is usually
regarded as spiritual and religious by the orthodox and therefore imprisoned
thinker. It must, however, be one of which the whole integrated man [Page 191]
is the instrument and which will be of such a large nature that it will call
all his creative faculty into expression.
In this solar system, the heart centre is
the first usually to be awakened and active; as soon as there is life in that
centre and a measure of activity, the other two major centres can begin to
awaken. The correspondence to this can be seen in the fact that the Hierarchy
is the mediating or middle factor between the planetary head and throat centres,
between Shamballa and Humanity. That is why the emphasis is
laid upon the heart aspect in all the teachings.
Shamballa corresponds to the
Monad
(TEV 192) 2. The three periodical vehicles
which compose the expression of the human being and which make him what he is
(the Monad, the Soul, and the Personality) are each related to the three
planetary centres: Shamballa, the Hierarchy, and Humanity, and
therefore to each of man's individual three major centres.
3. The three centres in the human being
which are to be found above the diaphragm (the head, the heart and the throat
centres) are the organs of reception for energies coming from the three
planetary centres.
[Page 193]
4. The agent for the distribution of the
energies received via the head, the heart and the throat centres is the ajna
centre between the eyebrows.
5. The agent for the purification,
transmutation and transmission of the energies of all centres below the
diaphragm is the solar plexus centre. It is this centre through which the
majority of human beings are at this time working. It is the major controlling
centre, both for the reception and the distribution of energies, until such
time as the heart centre is awakening and beginning to control the personality.
There is necessarily much more to be said
anent this subject of the major planetary and human centres, but I have here
given the student enough upon which to ponder (I had almost said upon which to
puzzle). The one important thing to be borne in mind is the relationship
between the centres, i.e.:
1. Between the centres below the diaphragm
and those above it.
2. Between the three major centres with
each other.
3. Between the three major centres and the
three planetary centres.
All of this must be thought of in terms of
circulating and freely moving energies, distributing themselves throughout the
etheric body of the planet (and therefore through the human etheric body) under
the essential purpose of
Shamballa and under
the direction of the Hierarchy.
The Rod of Initiation wielded by
the World Teacher/Christ is re magnetised
during a ceremony at Shamballa when each new World Teacher takes office
(CF 211) First. The Rod of Initiation used for the first two initiations and wielded by the
Great Lord, the Christ, the World Teacher. It is magnetised by application of the
"Flaming Diamond"—the magnetisation being repeated when each new world Teacher takes office. There is a wonderful ceremony performed at
the time that a new World Teacher takes up His work. During the ceremony He receives His Rod of
Power—the same Rod as used since the foundation of our planetary Hierarchy—and
holds it forth to the Lord
of the World, Who
touches it [Page 211] with His own mighty Rod, causing a fresh re-charging of
its electric capacity. This ceremony takes place at Shamballa.89,90
Second.
The Rod of Initiation known as the "Flaming Diamond" and used by Sanat Kumara, the One Initiator, called in the Bible, the Ancient
of Days. This Rod lies hidden "in
the East" and holds the fire latent which irradiates the Wisdom
Religion. This Rod was brought by the
Lord of the World when He took form and came to our planet eighteen million years ago.
Once in every world period it is subjected
to a similar process as that of the lesser Rod, only this time it is recharged
by the direct action of the Logos Himself,—the Logos of the solar system. The location of this Rod is known only to the Lord of the
World, and to the
Chohans of the Rays, and (being the talisman of this evolution) the Chohan of
the second Ray is—under the Lord of the World—its main guardian, aided by the
deva Lord of the second plane. The
Buddhas of activity are responsible for its custody, and under them the Chohan
of the Ray. It is produced only at
stated times when specific work has to be done.
It is used not only at the initiating of men, but at certain planetary
functions, of which nothing as yet has been given out. It has its place and function in certain
ceremonies connected with the inner round91 and the triangle formed by the
Earth, Mars [Page 212] and Mercury. But
more about this is not at this time permissible.
To hit 416
Compilation Shamballa part9
.The Rod of Initiation wielded by the World
Teacher/Christ is re magnetised during a
ceremony at Shamballa when each new World Teacher takes office
(CF 211) First. The Rod of Initiation used for the first two initiations and wielded by the
Great Lord, the Christ, the World Teacher. It is magnetised by application of the
"Flaming Diamond"—the magnetisation being repeated when each new world Teacher takes office. There is a wonderful ceremony performed at
the time that a new World Teacher takes up His work. During the ceremony He receives His Rod of
Power—the same Rod as used since the foundation of our planetary Hierarchy—and
holds it forth to the Lord
of the World, Who
touches it [Page 211] with His own mighty Rod, causing a fresh re-charging of
its electric capacity. This ceremony takes place at Shamballa.89,90
Second.
The Rod of Initiation known as the "Flaming Diamond" and used by Sanat Kumara, the One Initiator, called in the Bible, the Ancient
of Days. This Rod lies hidden "in
the East" and holds the fire latent which irradiates the Wisdom
Religion. This Rod was brought by the
Lord of the World when He took form and came to our planet eighteen million years ago.
Once in every world period it is subjected
to a similar process as that of the lesser Rod, only this time it is recharged
by the direct action of the Logos Himself,—the Logos of the solar system. The location of this Rod is known only to the Lord of the
World, and to the
Chohans of the Rays, and (being the talisman of this evolution) the Chohan of
the second Ray is—under the Lord of the World—its main guardian, aided by the
deva Lord of the second plane. The
Buddhas of activity are responsible for its custody, and under them the Chohan
of the Ray. It is produced only at
stated times when specific work has to be done.
It is used not only at the initiating of men, but at certain planetary
functions, of which nothing as yet has been given out. It has its place and function in certain
ceremonies connected with the inner round91 and the triangle formed by the
Earth, Mars [Page 212] and Mercury. But more
about this is not at this time permissible.
Third.
The Rod of Initiation, wielded by the Logos of the solar system, is called among other things, the "Sevenfold Flaming Fire."
It was confided to our Logos by the Lord of Sirius and sent to our
system from that radiant sun. One of its
purposes is for use in emergencies. This
great talisman has never yet been employed in this particular manner, though
twice it was nearly thus used,—once in Atlantean days, and once in the third
year of the late war. This Rod of Power
is used at the initiation of the seven Heavenly Men on cosmic levels. It is used also in the initiation of groups,
a thing almost incomprehensible to us.
It is applied to the centres of the seven Heavenly Men in the same
general way as the lesser Rods are applied to the human centres, and the
effects are the same, only on a vaster scale.
This, needless to say, is a vast and abstruse subject, and concerns not
the sons of men. It is but touched upon,
as an enumeration of the Rods of Initiation would be incomplete without some
reference to it, and it serves to show the wondrous synthesis of the whole, and
the place of the system within an even greater scheme. In all things cosmic, perfect law and order
are found, and the ramifications of the plan can be seen on all planes and all
subplanes. This greatest Rod is in the
care of the first great group of karmic Lords.
It might be described as the Rod which carries a voltage of pure fohatic force from cosmic levels. The two lesser Rods carry differentiated
fohatic force. This logoic Rod of Power is kept within the
Sun, and is only
re-charged at the beginning of every one hundred years of Brahma.
The reason why the Rods of Power are here
discussed is that they have definitely to do with the centres which are force
vortices in matter and which (though channels [Page 213] for spiritual force,
or centres wherein the 'will to be' finds expression) demonstrate as activity
in matter. They are the centres of
existence, and just as one cannot, in manifestation, dissociate the two poles of
Spirit and matter, so one cannot, in initiation apply the Rod without bringing
about definite effects between the two.
The Rods are charged with Fohat which is fire of matter plus electric
fire, hence their effect. The mystery
cannot be explained in greater detail as the secrets of initiation are not
transmissible. More has been here
imparted on this matter than hitherto, though there are those who have heard
these things.
Sanat Kumara and his Pupils
dwell in etheric bodies at Shamballa
(CF 753) Again the Kumaras are embodied
principles, but in this connection we must remember that this means that the
force and energy of one of the principles of the Logos are pouring through Them
via that which—to Them—corresponds to the Monad. Through Them, during Their period of
incarnation and voluntary sacrifice, the great Prototype of the planetary Logos
begins to make His Presence felt, and force from the constellation of the Great
Bear faintly vibrates on earth. At
initiation, man becomes aware consciously of the Presence of the planetary
Logos through self-induced contact with his own divine Spirit. At the fifth Initiation he becomes aware of
the full extent of this planetary group influence, and [Page 753] of his part
in the great whole. At the sixth and
seventh Initiations the influence of the planetary Prototype is sensed,
reaching him via the planetary Logos working through the Initiator.
The method of direct incarnation was
earlier seen when the Kumaras were in physical form. This only applied to some of Them; Sanat Kumara and His Pupils are in physical
form, but have not
taken dense physical bodies. They work
on the vital etheric levels, and dwell in etheric bodies. Shamballa, where They dwell, exists in physical matter as do the
Kumaras, but it is matter of the higher ethers of the physical plane, and only
when man has developed etheric vision will the mystery lying beyond the
(EPII 35)
There are four ways which stretch before the disciples of the Lord of the World.
They must all be trodden before the inner Being is released, and the
liberated Son of God can enter, at will, what are symbolically called "the
four gates into the City
of Shamballa",—that
city of the Most High God, which is ever swept by the Life of Those who have
achieved liberation through loneliness, detachment, isolated unity, and
purification. A realisation of the goal
and the way to that goal is of service at this time, and it is to this
realisation that the teachers of humanity seek to stimulate the Sons of God.
The zodiacal signs primary
effect is upon the planetary Logos and this effect reaches us through him pouring through Shamaballa-the
head chakra of our planet-
(EA 22) It might be added in addition that
the signs of the zodiac are concerned primarily with the life
expression of the Heavenly Man (as far as our planet is concerned) and
therefore with the destiny
and life of the planetary Logos. They are also concerned with the great man of the
heavens, the solar Logos. I refer in this last instance to their effect as it
makes itself felt in the solar system as a whole and with this effect there are
few astrologers at this time fit to deal. I would remind you that to the lives
who inform these great constellations and whose radiation [Page 22]—dynamic and
magnetic—reaches our Earth, this effect is incidental and unnoticed. The primary effect that they have is upon our planetary Logos and this effect reaches us through Him,
pouring through that great
planetary centre to
which we have given the name of Shamballa. It
is, therefore, capable of evoking the major response from the monads, and these monads express themselves
through the kingdom of souls and through the human kingdom; it consequently
expresses itself through the Hierarchy and through humanity as a whole. This is
a point of real importance and should be noted and connected with all the
teaching you have had upon this most interesting theme of the three major
planetary centres.
It is the work of the zodiacal
influences to evoke the emergence of the will aspect of the Heavenly Man/Sanat
Kumara (Shamballa) and of all monads
It is the work of the zodiacal influences
to evoke the emergence of the will aspect of the Heavenly Man and of all monads, souls and
personalities who constitute the planetary body of expression. This statement
means but little to you today but it will mean much to those students who, in a
few decades, will study what I am here saying. Properly understood, it accounts
for much that is happening in the world at this time.
As these influences pour through our planet
and thence to the centres of force upon the planet, they produce a dual effect:
1. They produce an effect upon advanced
man, galvanising the centres above the diaphragm into activity and enabling him
to respond to the radiation and the activity of the Hierarchy.
2. They produce an effect upon unevolved
man, enabling him to function as an ordinary, unenlightened human being.
It should be noted here, however, that all
the energies—zodiacal, systemic, and planetary—have a definite effect [Page 23]
upon all the lives in all forms in all kingdoms of nature. Nothing can escape
these radiatory and magnetic influences. The goal of evolution for humanity is
to become consciously and livingly aware of the nature of these energies and
begin to know them and to use them. This is the field of occultism as the
Hierarchy has always told men. It might be stated that the disciple has to
become consciously aware of the planetary influences and begin to use them for
the carrying out of soul purpose. The initiate has to be aware of the zodiacal influences which emanate from outside of the solar system altogether. These can be recognised as
a. A vibration, registered in one or other
of the seven centres.
b. A revelation of a particular type of
light, conveying a specific colour to the initiate.
c. A peculiar note.
d. A directional sound.
The whole story of the zodiac can be
picturesquely yet accurately summed up in the following statement: There are
three books which the three types of human beings study and from which they
learn:
1. The Book of Life—Initiates—the 12 constellations.
2. The Book of Wisdom—Disciples—the 12
planets.
3. The Book of Form or of
Manifestation—Humanity—the 12 Creative Hierarchies.
The pure first ray type is one
who has both a 1st ray soul and a 1st ray Monad-this
combination may not be found in incarnation until the 7th root-race,
which is the root-race wherein 1st ray Monads will be most numerous
(EA 91) Strictly speaking, what I have to
say now concerns the pure
first ray type because
Aries is the zodiacal sign through which the first Ray of Will or Power reaches our planetary life. Such pure types are rare indeed and at
this period of evolution well-nigh unknown. Most people are governed by their
personality ray and as the present first ray types are expressing themselves
through personalities which are on all the rays, I would simply ask you to
consider what I have to say from the angle of character effects, of problems
presented and of quality unfolded. It is well-nigh impossible to be more
explicit until such time as the Science of the Rays has been further developed;
the astrologer must ascertain the ray type before he will be able to cast the
adequate horoscope of the soul. My remarks are therefore general and not
specific and are universal and not particular. I impose no doctrine. I indicate
phases of speculation which might prove illuminating and fruitful.
Aries is one of the constellations of the
Cardinal Cross of the heavens. This is the cross of God, the Father, and, therefore, of the incarnating monad. It is the expression of will or power as
it expresses itself through the great creative process. When the initiate (as
we shall later [Page 92] see) transfers himself on to the Cardinal Cross from
which he descended when coming into incarnation and mounted in its place the
Common or Mutable Cross, he no longer identifies himself with form or even with
soul, but with the will of divinity and with the eternal plan and purpose. It
becomes his plan and purpose. He knows no other in a sense which is unknown
even to an initiate of the third degree. He then enters into the council chamber of God; he becomes a part of the conclave at Shamballa; he functions no longer simply as a member of the
Hierarchy upon the mental plane. He can now function through all the three
world centres—Humanity, the Hierarchy and Shamballa.
Aries initiates the cycle of manifestation.
All souls, as individual entities, come into human incarnation for the first
time in the sign of Cancer, emerging as mental entities in the sign Aries, as
emotional-desire entities in the sign Taurus and as vital entities in the sign
Gemini, taking then physical form in Cancer. This is an involutionary,
subjective cycle. Thus they emerge into the ocean of physical plane existence,
into the world of matter. Yet the first impulse is awakened in Aries, for Aries
is the place where the initial idea to institute activity takes form. It is the
birthplace of ideas, and a true idea is in reality a spiritual impulse taking
form—subjective and objective. There originates the response of the soul to the
highest aspect or quality of deity because there appears the "will to
incarnate." The first
ray aspect of the Monad,
responding to the first aspect of deity, evokes response from the first ray
aspect of the soul and the first step towards incarnation is taken on that
plane in the system which is the mental plane. Aries "awakens the will to
reach the lowest and there control, to know the uttermost and thus to face all
experience"—thus runs an ancient statement.
The keynotes of the sign Aries are four in
number, all conveying the same idea. They can be expressed in the following
four injunctions which are given, symbolically, to the incarnating soul:
1. Express the will to be and do.
2. Unfold the power to manifest.
3. Enter into battle for the Lord.
4. Arrive at unity through effort.
Creation—Being—Activity—Strife—Synthesis,
these are the nature of the Lord of the first constellation and enable Him to
influence our planet to these results.
(EA 98) Thus there are symbolically the
death through fire, the death through earth and the death through
water—burning, suffocation and drowning—but, in this world cycle, the death
through air is not either known or understood. There are not therefore four
deaths, as the goal of our system during manifestation is "initiation or
release into the air," so that the bird of life out of time and space can
fly free. The concept which the Law of Correspondence brings of the final death
is covered by the words liberation, relinquishment and final initiation, and
means little to humanity, for it concerns the planetary Logos and His life
cycle. The three deaths which do overtake man, the individual and the human
family as a whole, release the soul into three great planetary centres:
1. The death by drowning or by water in Pisces
releases man again into that great centre which we call Humanity, [Page 98] and
there experience is gained. Herein lies the mystery of the fish-goddesses of
this sign "who spawn their young again and yet again."
2. The death by suffocation in Scorpio
releases man into the planetary centre which we call the Hierarchy.
3. The death by fire or burning in Aries releases man into another centre to which
we give the name Shamballa.
There is much to work out, is there not, in
these ideas which I offer to you as suggestive considerations and as hints
related to the Science of Triangles, which is the esoteric basis of astrology,
just as the doctrine of the trinity (microcosmic and macrocosmic) is the
esoteric basis of occultism. Death is, therefore, of three kinds. This Science of Divine Dying underlies the
well-known phrase "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,"
and when the relationship between Aries, Scorpio and Pisces is properly understood (as the linking and merging of the three crosses) a new light will be thrown upon all
subsidiary sciences—exoteric and esoteric. The teaching in The Secret Doctrine
about the reincarnating monads who are called the divine Sacrifices, Lords of
Knowledge, Will and Sacrifice, will be clarified. These monads, who are
ourselves, are Lords of Persevering Ceaseless Devotion —devotion even unto
death.
The majority complete their
cycle of lives in Aquarius-and become world servers-A rare few culminate in
Pisces, become world Saviours and pass on to Shamballa, having known the
highest, or first aspect of the 1st ray
(EA 140) ……. Planetary influences are unusually potent
in Aquarius during this world cycle because it is, in a peculiar way, a
culminating sign for the majority of people who proceed from Aries to Pisces upon
the Fixed Cross. A rare
few consummate the experience of life upon the three Crosses in the sign Pisces, and so become world saviours. They know
then, and only then, the highest aspect of the first ray as it expresses itself
through the activity of Death. The bulk, however, of the world initiates climax their
experience in Aquarius and
become liberated world servers. They turn their backs upon all further progress
for themselves in this cycle and on all satisfaction of their own spiritual
aspiration and become carriers of the water of life to humanity, joining thus
the ranks of the Hierarchy. Those who achieve in Pisces and make the higher and further grade in their
development pass into that centre to which we have given the name of Shamballa, but the bulk of the initiates and disciples remain
attached to the second centre, that of the Hierarchy of Service.
(EA 149) When the task of Saturn and of
Mercury has been accomplished, then during the third decanate, Venus, which is
the union of heart and mind, will usher in the long hoped for era of
love-wisdom, of brotherhood and of expressed brotherly relationships.
Opportunity— Illumination—Brotherhood: these are the gifts that Shamballa is planning to confer upon mankind during
the Aquarian Age, if man will but prepare for them, accept them, and use them.
Only the future will make clear man's reaction.
(EA 156) In an ancient astrological
treatise which has never yet seen the light of day but which will be some day
discovered when the right time has arrived, the relation between the horned
animals of the zodiac is thus described:
"The Ram, the Scapegoat and the sacred
Goat are Three in One and One in Three. The Ram becomes the second and the
second is the third. The Ram that breeds and fertilises all; the Scapegoat, in
[Page 156] the wilderness, redeems that all; the sacred Goat that merges in the
Unicorn and lifts impaled upon his golden horn the vanquished form—in these the
mystery lies hid."
It here becomes apparent that three
mysteries are hidden in the three horned signs:
1. The mystery of God the Father Creation
2. The mystery of God the Son Redemption
3. The mystery of God the Holy Spirit Lberation
It might also be pointed out here that it
is the will of the Father
aspect, manifesting through Aries, that governs Shamballa; the loving desire of the Son which attracts to the
Hierarchy; and the permeating, intelligent activity of the Holy Spirit which
animates that centre of divine life which we call humanity. Therefore we have:
Shamballa Hierarchy Humanity
Will Love Intelligence
Aries Taurus Capricorn
In both their higher and their lower
aspects these signs hold the secret of the "horns of strife and the horn
of plenty subjected to and guarded by the horn of life." Again, an ancient
proverb runs: "The Ram—when it has become the Scapegoat, has sought
illumination as the Bull of God and has climbed the mountain top in the
semblance of the Goat—changes its shape into the Unicorn. Great is the hidden
key." If the symbolism is carried a little further, it might be stated
that:
1. The Ram leads us into the creative life
of Earth and into the darkness of matter. This is the blue of midnight.
[Page 157]
2. The Bull leads into the places of desire
in search of "wrathful satisfaction." This is the red of greed and
anger, changing eventually into the golden light of illumination.
3. The Goat leads us into arid ways in
search of food and water. This is the "need for green," but the Goat
is equal also to climbing to the mountain top.
This is the experience of the Mutable Cross
in connection with these three signs. Upon the Fixed Cross:
1. Eventually the Ram becomes the Scapegoat
and the will of God in love and salvage is demonstrated.
2. The Bull becomes the bestower of light,
and the darkness of the earlier cycle is lightened by the Bull.
3. The Goat becomes the Unicorn, and leads
to victory. The Crocodile, the Goat and the Unicorn depict three stages of
man's unfoldment.
Aries, Taurus, and Capricorn are the great
transformers under the great creative plan. They are in the nature of
catalysts. Each of them opens a door into one of the three divine centres of
expression which are the symbols in the body of the planetary Logos of the
three higher centres in man: the head, the heart and the throat.
Aries opens the door into Shamballa, when the experience of Taurus and
Capricorn has been undergone.
Taurus opens the door into the Hierarchy
when the significance of Gemini and Leo is understood and the first two initiations
can therefore he taken.
Capricorn opens the door into the Hierarchy
in a higher aspect when the last three initiations can be undergone and the
significance of Scorpio and of Virgo is understood.
Libra admits the Soul into
Shamballa-the 7th root-race will probably be conditioned by this
polarity
(EA 168) The polar opposite to Capricorn is
Cancer and, as you have been taught, these two signs are the two great Gates of
the zodiac—one opening the door into incarnation, into mass life, and into
human experience, whilst the other opens the door into the life of the spirit,
into the life of the Kingdom of God, the life and purposes of the Hierarchy of
our planet. Cancer admits the soul into the world centre which we call
Humanity. Capricorn admits the soul into conscious participation in the life of
that world centre which we call the Hierarchy. Libra admits the soul into the world centre which we call Shamballa, for it is the polar opposite of Aries which is the place of beginnings. Libra
demonstrates the perfect balance of spirit and matter which first came together in Aries. This balance and this relation of the
great opposites, spirit and matter, is symbolised for us in the personality
situation of balancing the pairs of opposites on the astral plane, and finding
between them the "narrow razor-edged path" which leads the man into
the kingdom of the soul. As man passes around and around the zodiac in the
ordinary manner, he continually and consciously enters into life in Cancer, the
constellation under which the Law of Rebirth is applied and administered. But
it is only on the reversed zodiac that the man learns to pass with [Page 169]
equally conscious purpose through the gate of Capricorn. Five times he has to
pass through that Gate in full waking consciousness and these five happenings
are frequently called the five major initiations. Viewing the fourth Creative
Hierarchy as a whole, the appearance and experiences of the life of the
planetary Logos through the medium of the five races—two past, one present, the Aryan, and two to come—are
planetary
correspondences to the five initiations. This is peculiarly interesting to study because at the
time that any particular race comes into being both the doors in Cancer and
Capricorn stand wide open, being then occultly aligned.
(EA 194) 1. Aries is the focal point of the expression of the first aspect of divinity, the will aspect.
2. Leo is the focal point for the
expression of the second aspect, the love-wisdom or consciousness aspect. This,
primarily where humanity is concerned.
3. Virgo is the focal point for the
expression of the third aspect, that of active intelligence. In that sign the
highest function of matter is symbolised.
The four signs—Aries, Leo, Scorpio and
Aquarius—are related to the following stars which are not numbered in the
twelve signs of the zodiac; they constitute another field of relationships:
Aries to one of the two stars, found in the constellation, the Great Bear, which are called the two Pointers.
Leo to Polaris, the Pole Star, found in the
Little Bear.
Scorpio to Sirius, the Dog Star.
Aquarius to Alcyone, one of the seven
Pleiades.
There is little that I can tell you in
connection with the energies pouring into the four zodiacal signs from these
distant though potent points of outgoing energy; they are part of the life
expression of an Identity,
immeasurably superior
[Page 195] to and more
advanced than our solar Logos. A few hints may, however, be of service to the truly esoteric
astrologer who may study these pages, particularly where Scorpio is concerned.
Scorpio, at this particular stage of human evolution, governs the Path of
Discipleship. You will note here also how Leo-Scorpio-Aquarius form a peculiar
triangle of force, but of this I will later deal in Chapter III under the
heading, The Science of Triangles.
Aries is, as might be expected, closely connected with the
Great Bear but peculiarly so with one of the stars called The Pointers; these
point to the Pole star which is at this time a major "star of
direction." Direction, will, purpose and plan are all connected with the
solar Logos and with His evolutionary undertakings in connection with the many
lives manifesting in the vehicle of expression which we call the solar system.
All these respond to the influences of the first ray which is, to all intents
and purposes, the energy of divine embodied will, which has been esoterically
described as "unavoidable directed purpose." Within our solar system,
Vulcan and Pluto are
expressions or custodians of this first ray energy and are, as I have told you, esoteric
planets. The first indication of the true spiritual will only begins to
manifest upon the Path of Discipleship—hence the late discovery of these two
planets (late in point of time and from the angle of human knowledge) for it is
only in this Aryan race period that humanity is to any large extent beginning
to manifest evidence (and as yet it is no more) of a reaction or a response to
the spiritual will of deity as it comes to our planet and hence to us via Aries, Vulcan and Pluto. You have, therefore, the following direct
line of will energy:
The Pointer furthest from the
Pole Star is, esoterically speaking, [Page 196] a great reservoir or focal
point for divine energy, carrying out God's purpose-Shamballa energy
1.The Pointer furthest from the Pole Star in the constellation of the Great Bear. This is, esoterically speaking, [Page 196] a great reservoir or focal point for divine
energy, carrying out God's purpose. The Pointer nearest to the Pole Star is
expressive of a lower aspect of the will, which—in speaking of humanity—we call
self-will.
2. Aries, in which the will to create or to
manifest makes its appearance and the great divine experiment is initiated.
3. Vulcan and Pluto are related to the two Pointers and are only now beginning, in any
definite and clear manner, to affect human response. Their effect has been
planetary in its nature up to date and has not hitherto been at all effective
in either the fourth or the second kingdoms in nature.
4. Shamballa, the Custodian of the Plan for our planet.
Leo is the sign wherein the consciousness
of individuality is developed, utilised and finally consecrated to divine
purpose. It is related to Polaris, the Pole Star (found in the Little Bear) and
it is also peculiarly susceptible to the influence of that Pointer in the Great
Bear which is the nearest to the Pole Star. Esoterically speaking, the Pole
Star is regarded as the "star of re-orientation" whereby the art of
"refacing and recovering that which is lost" is developed. This
eventually brings a man back to his originating source. It might, therefore, be
correctly inferred that this Pointer and the energy emanating from it guides
humanity upon the involutionary path, and is constantly active in its influence
upon the man who is still upon the Mutable Cross. Then the energy of the
Pointer furthest from the Pole Star begins to make its presence felt and a
sense of right direction or guidance is registered by the disciple upon the
Path, and such guidance (when followed) leads man nearer to the Hierarchy. It
is here that the divine [Page 197] necessity of achieving alignment is
portrayed for us in the symbolism of the sky and when it has been achieved then
there is a direct inflow of divine energy and man is linked up in a new and
creative manner to sources of divine supply. Astrologers will do well (in
connection with the horoscopes of disciples and particularly of initiates) to
consider the two Pointers and the Pole Star. They are mysteriously connected
with the three aspects of incarnated man—Spirit, soul and body. More than this
it is not permitted to me to convey to you. I may, however, give you another
hint. These three stars are embodiments of the three aspects of divine will. It is the three aspects of all
expressions of divinity in manifestation which underlie the Science of
Triangles. This I will later elaborate.
Another triangle of energy also appears: Aries, Leo and Polaris, and they are doubly connected through the
medium of the Pointers.
Scorpio is under the influence or inflowing
energy of Sirius. This is the great star of initiation because our Hierarchy
(an expression of the second aspect of divinity) is under the supervision or
spiritual magnetic control of the Hierarchy of Sirius. These are the major
controlling influences whereby the cosmic Christ works upon the Christ
principle in the solar system, in the planet, in man and in the lower forms of
life expression. It is esoterically called the "brilliant star of
sensitivity." You have therefore:
Polaris—The Star of Direction—governing
Shamballa. Later, another Pole Star will take the place of Polaris, owing to
the interplay of forces in the universe and the general shift and movement. But
the name and quality of this star will only be revealed at initiation.
[Page 198]
Sirius—The Star of Sensitivity—governing
the Hierarchy.
Alcyone—The Star of the
Individual—governing humanity.
You can see from the above how the entire
plan of this Treatise is gradually unfolding. It was necessary for me to
indicate to you the nature and the purpose of the three divine centres—Shamballa, the Hierarchy, and Humanity—before I could make this
part of the teaching clear to you, or before I could point out the nature of
the energies pouring from distant constellations and zodiacal signs into our
planetary scheme.
Pisces and Shamballa
(EA 204) These three constellations,
therefore, form a triangle of initiation of profound importance because it
provides those conditions and that energy which will test and perfect the three
aspects of the personality so that they are true reflections of the three
divine aspects; they concern soul and body primarily and therefore their
expression is through the Mutable Cross and the Fixed Cross but not the
Cardinal Cross. We might add to the above the following:
1. Scorpio carries the test right down into
the physical plane life, and then, when it is faced and handled there, the life
of the man is carried up into heaven, and the problem which the test involved
is solved by the use of the reasoning mind.
2. Taurus governs desire and carries the
test into the emotional [Page 205] or astral plane, and carries
desire-sensitivity up from the form side of life into that world of sensitive
perception which we call the intuitional plane.
3. Pisces carries the test into the region of the mental
processes, which is the reflection of the will aspect of divinity; the problem
of the initiate in this sign is voiced by Christ in the words, "Father, not my will but Thine be done." The tests carry the self-will of the
personality up into the region of the divine will and the result is inspiration
and the emergence of a
world saviour.
A five fold linking leading to
Pisces and the first touch of Shamballa consciousness
(EA 318) There is also a significant
relationship between five signs which are deeply esoteric in their nature and
their effects when swept into this particular interplay. They are only called
into activity during the return half of the wheel of life or the "wheel of
living action or of conscious undertaking" as it is called in the Old
Commentary. This name is given to the wheel as it turns anti-clockwise from
Aries to Pisces via Taurus. This fivefold relationship is only established upon
the Path of Discipleship and is brought about by the esoteric linking of Cancer-Virgo-Scorpio-Capricorn-Pisces. In the future horoscopes of disciples,
this significant interplay of forces will be recognised as dominating the chart
at a particular and peculiar stage of discipleship. In this case, disciples
will be born in one or other of these signs or with one of other of these signs
rising.
You have two signs of water and earth
(Cancer and Virgo) in the stage of sub-conscious emphasis wherein everything is
latent and hidden. Human consciousness is only embryonic in Cancer, for it is
the mass mind which dominates and not the individual mind. In Virgo, the Christ
life or consciousness is hidden and the Christ Child is as yet embryonic in the
womb of matter and of time, and during this stage, the emphasis is upon the
form which veils and hides the reality. The human soul and the divine soul (the
essential duality) are there but their presence is not easily detected. In
Scorpio comes a point of transition, of change and of re-orientation. That
which has been hitherto hidden appears and is brought to the surface by means
of the experience, the tests, the trials and the "sting of life." In
Capricorn—[Page 319] as a result of the effects of the influences of Cancer,
Virgo and Scorpio—the disciple begins to demonstrate the capacity to express
the life of two kingdoms, at least in some measure, and is a developed human
being and also a citizen of the kingdom of God. Therefore, for an initiate and
for a period of three incarnations, the four signs of revelation (Cancer,
Virgo, Scorpio and Capricorn) intensify their effect upon him, until in the
fourth incarnation he begins to respond to the inner influence of Pisces. He
thus demonstrates his ability to react to the Shamballa influence and, when this influence is established, he
goes out to salvage and to save. He acts consciously as a world mediator.
Therefore, it might be stated that:
Such is the way of humanity. The human
centre is active.
Such is the way of the disciple. The
hierarchical centre is affecting him powerfully.
Such is the way of the initiate.
(EA 327) I would suggest to investigators
that the entire theme of "cyclic impulse" be approached from the
angle of the group, forgetting, as this is done, the glamour of the personality
[Page 327] impress. The sweep of known history will aid in this, indicating—as
it does—the possibility of clarification and the usefulness of classifying and
isolating group activity and character down the ages. When the major
reincarnating groups are thus distinguished and their work for the fourth
kingdom along many lines is more clearly seen then the whole subject will be
better understood, evoking the play of the intuition. This demonstrates a
second fact of importance, namely that, as yet, it will only be possible to
trace the progress of advanced souls in incarnation and not trace, at this
time, the cyclic appearing of the unevolved. They are the "material
units" which have to be saved by the more advanced. The theme of service
and sacrifice runs, unrecognised, through history. The key to the understanding
of these reincarnating, saving factors lies in a coming intuitive ability to
recognise the reincarnating groups, as groups and not individuals, through
their ray qualities, and it was for this purpose that I gave in Destiny of the
Nations a statement as to the rays governing certain nations. Groups are
governed by the astrological signs and by the rays just as individuals are, and
these rays affect them, via the ruling planets. I have here opened up to you a
very wide field of research and I have indicated a most interesting new form of
historical investigation and record. The history of the future will be the
history of the evolving plans of God as they work out through the serving
groups of egos who will come into physical incarnation under the influence of
"divine duality" to carry forward the development of the lives which
constitute the form through which divinity is seeking full expression. The
relation of the fourth ray to the fourth kingdom in nature (which is the fourth
Creative Hierarchy) is a predetermining influence in all world conflict up to
date and is the cause which has produced the history [Page 328] of war and
conflict down the ages. The theme of that ray is "Harmony through
Conflict" and it is the lower aspect of the ray energy, producing conflict
which has hitherto controlled, and is climaxing now through the impetus of the new incoming Shamballa force. As it exhausts itself (and this is
rapidly coming about) there will be a shift of direction and force to that
major ray, the second Ray of Love-Wisdom, of which the fourth ray is an aspect.
This second ray energy is very potently focussed through the constellation
Gemini via the planet, Jupiter. We shall then have the inauguration of a long
cycle of beneficent development in which the conflict essential to the
interplay between the dualities will be stabilised upon the mental plane
and—under the influence of the salvaging, serving egos of the fifth
kingdom—entirely change world civilisation.
(EA 329) The entire theme of the zodiac can
be approached from the angle of light and its unfolding and increasing radiance
and of the gradual demonstration in what I have called elsewhere, "the
glory of the One." The mode of the development of this inner light and of
its externalisation must remain—from the standpoint of its cosmic effects—one
of the secrets of initiation and this for a long time to come. It will,
however, not be out of place if I were to give symbolically certain phrases and
sentences which will indicate [Page 329] (for each sign )this "growth of
light in light," as it is esoterically called, bearing in mind that we are
attempting to express conditions connected with the soul whose essential nature
is light. This soul-light affects the form as evolution proceeds and produces
sequentially the revelation of that form, and of the nature of space-time as
well as of the goal.
1. Aries.—The Light of Life Itself. This is the dim point of light found at
the centre of the cycle of manifestation, faint and flickering. It is the
"searchlight of the Logos, seeking that which can be used" for divine
expression.
2. Taurus.—The penetrating Light of the
Path. This is a beam of light, streaming forth from the point in Aries, and
revealing the area of light control.
3. Gemini.—The Light of Interplay. This is
a line of light beams, revealing that which opposes or the basic duality of
manifestation, the relationship of spirit and of form. It is the conscious
light of that relationship.
(EA 371) It was the Buddha who clarified
for man the nature of desire and its results, with the unhappy effects which
desire produces when persistent and unenlightened. It was the Christ Who taught
the transmutation of desire into aspiration which, from the expression given to
it in The New Testament, was the effort of the human will (hitherto animated
by, or expressed through, desire) to conform itself to the will of God—this
without understanding but conformity, in perfect trust and with the inner
assurance that the will of God must be all that is good, both in the individual
and in the whole.
Now, as the Shamballa force is beginning to pour into the world, man is seeking
another interpretation of God's will which will not involve the hitherto blind
acquiescence and unavoidable acceptance of the inscrutable dictates of a
potent, inescapable Providence, but which will produce an [Page 372]
understanding cooperation with the divine Plan and an enlightened fusion of the
individual will with the great, divine will and this for the greater good of
the whole. For this desirable attitude there is worldwide preparation going
forward in a simple and unobtrusive manner through the gradual fomentation of
the will-to-good everywhere and the demand, so universally voiced, that human
conditions may be more truly enlightened, more acutely polarised for the
benefit of the whole and more definitely subordinated to the innate divine urge
for beauty, synthesis and the free expression of the hidden mystery which is to
be found at the heart of all forms. It is going forward also through the
constant attempt to comprehend and interpret the Plan for humanity, as its
broad outlines begin to become apparent to the developing intelligence of man.
The result of this dual effect
of the Shamballa force at the present time is the precipitation of that
cleansing but terrible process which we call War-It also stimulates the will to
power
This all indicates a growing responsiveness
on man's part to the incoming Shamballa
influences and the consequent evocation of the will aspect of man's nature.
This must produce undesirable as well as desirable results on account of man's
present point of evolution and is, therefore, responsible for much that is
taking place in the world today. The trembling response of humanity (through
the medium of the most enlightened and sensitive people in each country) to
this influence and the corresponding magnetic interplay between the great
centre at Shamballa and the human centre is a steadily growing
fact, registered and noted by the watching Hierarchy and making certain major
changes inevitable and unavoidable. This augurs well for the future in spite of
temporary misuse of the forces. Necessarily and simultaneously, this interplay
evokes response from the unprepared and the unready and from the wrongly
oriented and the selfishly polarised person. This stimulates the will-to-power in the
individual and fosters
personality integration [Page 373] of the wrong kind and its enforced desires.
Thus, through these personalities and their wrong emphasis and teachings,
nations also are misled—again temporarily—and the Shamballa force is wrongly employed and directed. The result of this dual effect of the Shamballa force at the present time is the precipitation of that cleansing but terrible process which we
call War. This war is
the consummation of the conflict between the pairs of opposites and the basic
duality of manifestation and is not motivated basically as have been all
previous wars. When I refer to this conflict I would remind you that to us (the
workers on the inner side) the 1914 conflict and this one are two phases of one
condition.
The war, when held in a steady focus by the
Guides of the race and when not permitted to pursue too long and too terrible a course, can most
definitely further the ends of evolution by creating situations which foster
mental development under spiritual guidance, necessitating clear thought (a
thing rare to find), the removal of undesirable conditions by their emergence
into prominence and by the consequent removal of their originating sources and
also by the definite effects produced upon the emotional body of humanity by
corporate suffering and pain. This suffering, deprivation, anxiety and distress
can lead to a reversal of human orientation upon the wheel of life, just as it
does in the case of the individual aspirant. It can lead to the focussing of
all the life tendencies upon a world of truer values and reality and thus
inaugurate the new and better civilisation for which we all hope. Looking at
the world today if you could but see it as we the teachers on the inner side
can see it, you would become aware of such a re-focussing and re-orienting on
all sides.
Again, however, the time element comes in
(that brain-conditioned sense of awareness) and the problem with which [Page
374] the Hierarchy is
now concerned is to see that the present conflict does not persist unduly long, to awaken all the nations, without
exception, to a sense of the dramatic import of the present time and of their
right share and their responsibility and thus to engineer a climax wherein the correct world lesson may
be learnt; whereby the
world may be purified by the elimination of the undesirable elements which
hinder the new era and the upspringing of a more spiritual civilisation; and
whereby the forces of hate, of cruelty, of materialism and of darkness may be driven
back (wherever found) before the sweeping onslaught of the Forces of Light.
It might be here pointed out that just as
the Aquarian Age is coming into manifestation for our planet as a whole,
bringing in its wake universal awareness and the new modes of expressing world
synthesis, human interests and the world religion, so humanity, the world
disciple, is beginning to come under the influence of Taurus. It is this
influence which will bring about at this time the reversal of the wheel of life
for those in the human family who are ready (and their numbers are now very
great). This is happening and the results are inevitable and cannot be evaded.
The great question is: Will this Taurian influence, increased as it is by the
incoming Shamballa
forces, produce the
floodlight of illumination of which Taurus is the custodian, or will it simply
foment desire, increase selfishness and bring humanity to the "fiery
heights of self-interest" instead of to the mountain of vision and
initiation?
(EA 375) I would like here to call your
attention to the fact that this sign is a synthetic sign in the sense that it
brings expression of an inner urge of some definite nature upon the physical
plane. This it does, because its basic quality demonstrates as desire in the mass
of men and as will or directed purpose in the disciple or the initiate. It
manifests as stubbornness in the average man (and this is literally wilful
adherence to personality aims) or as intelligently expressed will—actuated by
the impulse of love—in the advanced man. This connotes adherence to soul
purpose. People who are Taurians naturally and by natal inclination would do
well to consider this statement and thus test all their major determining
activities by the question: Is my present attitude, my work or intention
actuated by personality desire or am I working and planning directly under soul
urge and incentive? This should give the keynote of all Taurian [Page 376]
problems. The entire secret of divine purpose and planning is hidden in this
sign, owing fundamentally to the relation of the Pleiades to the constellation,
the Great Bear, and to our solar system. This constitutes one of the most
important triangles in our entire cosmic series of relationships and this
importance is also enhanced by the fact that the "eye of the Bull" is
the eye of revelation. The underlying goal of the evolutionary
process—"the onward rush of the Bull of God," as it is esoterically
called—reveals steadily and without cessation the stupendous and sublime plan
of Deity. This is the subject which light reveals.
A major Cosmic Triangle formed
of the Great Bear, one of the Pleaiades and Taurus-via Pluto to the head chakra
on Earth/Shamballa-has been newly
released by Sanat Kumara upon our planet
There is at this time, owing to the influx of the Shamballa force, the establishing of a peculiar relation
or alignment between the constellation,
Taurus (with its own
specific alignment with the Pleiades and Great Bear) the planet, Pluto, and our Earth. This produces much of the present world difficulty
and one which the modern astrologer would do well to consider. It constitutes a
major cosmic triangle at this time, conditioning much that is
now happening.
This Shamballa force is that which "fans or intensifies the light by
the removal of obstructions and proceeds from far distant places, pouring
through the eye of illumination into those spheres of influence upon the
sorrowful planet, the Earth, impelling the Bull upon its onward rush." So
speaks the Old Commentary. The import of this is that the energy of will—newly released by Sanat Kumara upon our planet—emanates, via the head centre of the planetary Logos, from the Great Bear; it is stepped down in vibration via one of the Pleiades (hence its influence upon matter and hence also its
pronounced Taurian effects upon humanity) and so enters into the solar system.
It is there absorbed by that major centre of our planetary life to which we
give the name, Shamballa. Its effect is necessarily twofold. It
produces in [Page 377] certain nations, races and individuals, a welling up of the self-will or of the
will-to-power which is
characteristic of the developed lower nature, the personality aspect of
integrated selfhood. It produces—though less readily—a stimulation of the
will-to-serve the plan as it is grasped by the world aspirants, the world
disciples and initiates. Thus are the purposes of Deity materialised.
Owing to the world glamour, the true
purpose and ideal set before our planetary forces by the all-creating Will becomes distorted by many people. They are
not polarised in the
divine will but are as
yet centred in their personalities and hence only the few appreciate the beauty
of the intended group life, group purpose and group fusion. Group living tends
to the fulfilment of free will in service and a free subordination of the lower
will to the higher purpose in group formation. Through the glamour contacted,
however, this group activity and life becomes twisted into the imposed will and
the concept of the super-state. This produces the imprisonment of the mind and
the curtailment of all freedom, all free thought and free will. The man becomes
the captive of the man-made state. This gives a clue to much that is happening
today and to the headstrong progress of the glamoured peoples, to the
stiffening of individuals in their separative, wrong idealisms and to their
acceptance of the imposition of a rule of life and an order of living which is
imposed upon them by force and which is not the free expression of a free
people.
The same force, secondly, brings to other peoples and individuals a
measure of illumination—an
illumination which
reveals the underlying synthesis, which indicates the dualism which must finally
vanish and which indicates also the secret of right human relations. One reaction
produces the onward rush of the materialistic systems of life, thought and
desire, [Page 378] dashing blindly forward in the force of their own momentum
and producing a stage of powerful expression and active movement; the other
demonstrates in a far vision of possibility and a steady movement forward in
spite of the immediate dangers and difficulties.
(EA 381) In the last analysis, we come back
to the eternal dualities, leading as they ever do to the interplay of the polar
opposites, to the cyclic ebb and flow of the inner life and the outer periphery
of expression, and to that attraction and repulsion which leads to a steady
shift of the attracting force to an ever higher and wider appeal. It is the
secret of eventual synthesis, which is the final illumination, seen through the
eye of Taurus. It is for this reason that this sign is regarded as being one of
universal movement, of great and constant activity under the impulse of
material desire or the urge of the divine will, when recognised and sensed. The
triangle of expression is one of potent energies:
1. Desire aspiration will.
2. Man the disciple the initiate.
3. Materiality duality
divinity.
4. Form Soul Spirit.
5. Humanity Hierarchy Shamballa.
I ring these changes constantly as the
consideration of them, intelligently grasped, will lead eventually and
inevitably to their fusion in your individual consciousness.
It is not my intention to say much here
anent the Fixed Cross of which Taurus is one of the arms. I dealt with this in
several places when considering with you the constellations Leo, Scorpio and
Aquarius. I would, therefore, refer you to my earlier comments. Scorpio is, as
you will have realised, the dominant arm through which the most effective
potency flows upon the reversed wheel, where advanced humanity is concerned
because it is the testing sign for humanity and [Page 382] the one in which the
human being reaches the depths or attains the heights. Taurus is the dominant
stream of energy upon this Fixed Cross where average man is concerned. The
energy let loose through this Cross is stupendous in its effects, producing
finally the great reversal and renunciation. In this Cross, Taurus is the
Initiator for it "impulses the Will," producing movement and
momentum. You have (if I may repeat earlier implications) the following
conditions and correspondences in connection with the three Crosses:
1. The Cardinal Cross Spirit Will Shamballa.
2. The Fixed Cross Soul Consciousness Hierarchy.
3. The Mutable Cross Form
Activity Humanity.
The initiate is one who is in process of
relating consciously and effectively all these three within himself. Man the essential
triangle of energy, man the square, man upon the Cross, and finally, man the
five-pointed star! In these four simple symbolic forms lies the whole history
of the fourth kingdom in nature. The triangle and the star are subjective
expressions of a fixed consciousness, focussed in reality, whilst the square
and the Cross are objective expressions of the man focussed outwardly.
(EA 386) The esoteric ruler of Taurus is Vulcan, the forger of metals, the one who works
in the densest, most concrete expression of the natural world (from the human
angle). He is the one who goes down into the depths to find the material upon
which to expend his innate art and to fashion [Page 386] that which is
beautiful and useful. Vulcan is, therefore, that which stands for the soul, the
individual, inner, spiritual man; in his activity we find the key to the soul's
task upon the eternal round of the wheel of life. You will remember how
Hercules upon the Fixed Cross had to fashion his own weapons before he
succeeded in the struggle. This is in reality a reference to the art of Vulcan
who rules the inner man and guides his fashioning.
Vulcan-governed by the first
ray-brings in the Shamballa force
Vulcan also rules nations at a certain
stage of embryonic soul expression, such as the present, and governs their
activities, fashioning the instruments of war when war and conflict are the
only means whereby liberation can come, though woe betide those through whom
wars come. Vulcan then takes hold and—since the Middle Ages—has brought the
mineral kingdom, "the depths from which supply must come," under
human control. In the present war, Vulcan is concerned along with Venus in the
relation of man to man, and of man to the mineral kingdom. Venus, the mental
energy of humanity, establishes relation between man and man, between nation
and nation whilst Vulcan establishes relation between the fourth kingdom in
nature and the first. Vulcan, as we shall see later, is governed by the first ray, and the first
ray and the first kingdom
are definitely bound together. This, therefore, brings in the Shamballa force and you consequently have an esoteric
triangle of energy—will,
humanity and the mineral kingdom. They have a very close rapport with each other, both
from the angle of the
Plan and from the
expression of material selfishness. Hence the great use of minerals (iron,
copper, etc.) in the World War II. It is literally a war in which the mineral
kingdom is used against the human. Humanity had gone down into the caves and
the depths of concretion and is ready now for an upward shift or move, this
time consciously taken [Page 387] and taken all together. This is a most
difficult situation for the average man to comprehend but the entire problem of
the conscious use of that which exists upon the planet and also its destructive
usage is tied together into one most critical situation. Part of the solution
will come along similar lines and of this the prophecy now coming into the
racial awareness that there are those "who sleep in the caves of the earth
who will arise and bring liberation" has reference. But be not too literal
in interpretation for "that which is of the earth can also be found in the
sky."
Hierarchically also the ruler is Vulcan, conditioning the planet and determining
the fact that man is the macrocosm of the microcosm and that the fourth kingdom
fashions or conditions all subhuman kingdoms.
(EA 387) It is the subjectivity of this
sign which makes the understanding of it so difficult. It will not be until
humanity has grasped the
nature of the will
that the true
significance of the Taurian influence will be grasped. Both the sign, Aries, and the sign, Taurus, are concerned with the initial impact of energy upon form or of energies upon the soul. Man today is
becoming slowly aware of the distinction to be found between the opposites and
is grasping vaguely the true nature of desire. But he is still in the vale of
illusion and—whilst there—cannot see with clarity. One of the first opposites
which the disciple has to grasp is that of the subjective and the objective
worlds.
Three signs are also closely connected with
initiation. The hidden secret of Aries, Taurus and Gemini is revealed at three
successive initiations:
At the 3rd
initiation-Aries aids the disciple to understand the Spirit aspect-the
Shamballa force
1. The secret of Aries is the secret of beginnings, of cycles and of emerging opportunity. At
the third initiation,
the initiate begins to
understand the life of
the spirit or the [Page 388] highest aspect; until that time, he has expressed first the life of
the form and then the life of the soul within that form. This experience is of
so high a nature that only those who have passed through it could in any way
comprehend anything I might say.
2. The secret of Taurus is revealed at the
second initiation by the sudden removal or disappearance of world glamour in
the blinding energy of light. This constitutes the final radiant activity which
consummates the play of the Taurian force upon humanity during the long and
cyclic journey to which man is committed. The individual enacts on a tiny scale
what humanity—as a whole—will enact when it takes initiation in Taurus.
3. The secret of Gemini has to be grasped
at the first initiation because it is the mystery of the relation of Father, Mother
and Child. The birth of the Christ-child upon the physical plane is the
consummating glory of the Gemini force.
UP TO HIT 411
Compilation Shamballa part10
At the 3rd
initiation-Aries aids the disciple to understand the Spirit aspect-the Shamballa
force
1. The secret of Aries is the secret of beginnings, of cycles and of emerging opportunity. At
the third initiation,
the initiate begins to
understand the life of
the spirit or the [Page 388] highest aspect; until that time, he has expressed first the life of
the form and then the life of the soul within that form. This experience is of
so high a nature that only those who have passed through it could in any way
comprehend anything I might say.
2. The secret of Taurus is revealed at the
second initiation by the sudden removal or disappearance of world glamour in
the blinding energy of light. This constitutes the final radiant activity which
consummates the play of the Taurian force upon humanity during the long and
cyclic journey to which man is committed. The individual enacts on a tiny scale
what humanity—as a whole—will enact when it takes initiation in Taurus.
3. The secret of Gemini has to be grasped
at the first initiation because it is the mystery of the relation of Father,
Mother and Child. The birth of the Christ-child upon the physical plane is the
consummating glory of the Gemini force.
(EA 411) Speaking with a wide
generalisation, it might he said that the three major groups of forces
affecting our planet are zodiacal, systemic and planetary in nature and—again
generalising—it might also be said that:
1. Zodiacal energies pass through Shamballa and are related to the first Ray of Will
or Power and affect the
Monad.
2. Systemic energies pass through the
Hierarchy and are related to the second Ray of Love- Wisdom or (as it is oft
called in esoteric astrology) the Ray of Attractive Coherency and affect the
soul.
3. Planetary forces impinge upon and pass
through humanity and are related to the third Ray of Active Intelligence and
affect the personality.
To this I earlier referred, but have
restated it here as I seek to have it definitely in your minds as we go forward
[Page 412] with our new studies. You have here a major trinity of energies,
emerging out of a vast and incomprehensible aggregation of forces and energies
which stands to them as the One Life stands to this lesser important triangle.
(EA 416) 1. Triangles of
Energy—Constellations.
Lying behind all the many interlocking
triangles in our solar system and conditioning them to a very large extent
(though today more potentially than expressively) are three energies coming
from three major constellations. They are the emanations from the Great Bear,
from the Pleiades and from Sirius. It might be pointed out that:
The sevenfold energies of the Great
Bear pass through Shamballa-Correspondingly DK is here giving us detailed
information on the sevenfold energies of our own Monads
(EA 416) 1. The energies coming from the Great Bear are related to the will or purpose of the solar Logos and are to this great Being what the monad
is to man. This is a deep mystery and one which even the highest initiate
cannot yet grasp. Its sevenfold
unified energies pass through Shamballa.
2. The energies coming from the sun, Sirius, are related to the love-wisdom aspect or to the
attractive power of the solar Logos, to the soul of that Great Being. This
cosmic soul energy is related to the Hierarchy. You have been told that the
great White Lodge on Sirius finds its reflection and a mode of spiritual service
and outlet in the great White Lodge of our planet, the Hierarchy.
3. The energies coming from the Pleiades, an aggregation of seven energies, are connected with the active intelligent aspect of
logoic expression, and influence the form side of all manifestation. They focus
primarily through Humanity.
Connected with this major triangle and
affecting powerfully our
entire solar system is
a triple inter-relation of great interest, which has a special and peculiar
relation to humanity. This triangle of forces relates one of these major
constellations, one of the zodiacal signs and one of the sacred planets within
our solar system.
Great Bear-Aries-Pluto (as I
understand it, this is the 1st aspect of the Monadic
triangle-whereas Great Bear-Leo-Saturn is the 1st aspect of the Soul
triangle-this is why Saturn Pluto aspects are so potent channels for 1st
ray energy)
First Triangle:
The Pleiades . . . Cancer . . . Venus.
Humanity.
Second Triangle:
The Great Bear . . . Aries . . . Pluto.
Shamballa.
[Page 417]
Third Triangle:
Sirius . . . Leo . . . Jupiter.
Hierarchy.
I wonder if you can grasp at least
partially and symbolically the fact that these triangles must not be thought of
as placed, static and eternally the same, or even as three dimensional. They
must be regarded as in
rapid movement, revolving eternally in space and ceaselessly moving onward and as of fourth and fifth dimensional extension. There is no way of depicting them or of
bringing them visually to your attention, for only the inner eye of vision can
imagine their progression, position or appearance. These three major triangles
are only partially as yet in expression as far as our solar system is concerned
and only one point of the great triangle—as for instance one point of the Great Bear—constitutes with Aries a related line of force; only one point of Aries—within itself or
within its own range of interplay with Leo and Capricorn (see Tabulation VIII) is related to Pluto. Therefore the entire cosmic web and solar system is
an intricate, constantly moving, interwoven series of triangles wherein each
point of a triangle emanates three lines or streams of energy (nine in all); it
is likewise responsive to and receptive of the energies—likewise triple in
nature—which lie within its periphery or sphere of influence and vibratory
activity
(EA 427) All these appearances, expressions
of qualities and material evidences of life are the symbols or outer and
visible signs of inner and spiritual realities or of Life, whatever you may
mean by that term. For our purposes, we could define Life as the energy
emanating from certain great Lives Who stand behind our solar system as its
life and source, much as the Monad stands behind the appearance of a man upon
the physical plane or of the soul upon its own level. Man, it might be stated,
is the expression of seven principles and of the life expression or activity of
five planes. In this 7 + 5 is to be found the clue to the mystery of the seven
and the five zodiacal constellations.
[Page 427]
Within this sum total of active, qualified
energies, we have (working out today) influences and impulses from three major
constellations. These pour through certain other related constellations and
planets into the three major planetary centres: Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity. It is with these three
centres I would seek to deal and to them and their inter-relations continually
make reference. I would ask you to bear in mind that these energies are
transmitted from one point to another, or pass through with transmuting effect
from one centre to another, thus bearing their own vibratory quality but
carrying also that of the centre of transmission. In the transit of energy from
a major centre to a human being and when the energy is finally grounded in the
disciple's centre, you will notice that it is then a fusion of six energies.
These three groups of energies (each of them a fusion of six) make the
dominating energies, controlling the human being, to number eighteen; this
holds the clue to the mystery of the "mark of the beast" which is
666. This is the number of the active intelligent man and distinguishes his
form nature from his spiritual nature which is 999. These three lines or
streams of energy in man may be listed as follows:
I. II.
III.
Will.
Purpose.
Love-Wisdom. Active
Intelligence.
Spirit. Consciousness.
Form.
1. The Great Bear Sirius
The Pleiades.
Cosmic. Cosmic.
Cosmic.
2. Leo
Pisces
Capricorn.
Zodiacal. Zodiacal.
Zodiacal.
3. Saturn
Uranus
Mercury.
Systemic. Systemic.
Systemic.
4. SHAMBALLA HIERARCHY HUMANITY.
Earth.
Earth. Earth.
Planetary
head centre. Planetary
heart centre.
Planetary ajna centre.
I.
II.
III.
Will. Purpose. Love-Wisdom. Active
Intelligence.
Spirit.
Consciousness. Form.
5. Head centre Heart centre Ajna
centre.
Initiate
Disciple
Aspirant.
Egoic purpose Egoic
love
Spiritual mind (abstract).
6. Base of spine Solar
plexus Throat
centre.
Initiate
Disciple
Aspirant.
Personal Will Personal desire Personal
creativity.
A study of this tabulation will demonstrate
that there will be found a structure therein of many triangles of force; some
of these are cosmic, some zodiacal, others systemic, still others planetary and
their reflections in the etheric body of the disciples of the world of all
grades. Through the great
triangle of Shamballa,
the Hierarchy and Humanity, cosmic, zodiacal and systemic force is focussed and
these three become, in their turn, a macrocosmic triangle of energies in
relation to the individual human being upon the planet. You have, therefore,
the following lines of transmission of force:
Shamballa Hierarchy
Humanity
Head centre. Heart centre. Ajna centre.
Base of the spine. Solar plexus. Throat.
One major centre is here omitted because it
is primarily related to the physical body and its expression of life
perpetuation. That is the sacral centre. Just as the physical body is regarded
by true esotericists as not a principle so the sacral centre is regarded as
"a necessary evocation between that which is high and that which is low,
and between that which is sounded forth from the centre in the throat and that
which replies to a deeply sounded note."
In this connection there is an interesting
triangle of energy formed by:
[Page 429]
1. The egoic lotus.
2. The throat centre.
3. The sacral centre.
This triangle when functioning produces a
subsidiary triangle of force which is formed by:
1. The throat centre.
2. The sacral centre.
3. The physical body—symbolised by the
organs of reproduction.
Let me pause a moment here to point out
that in this study of the Triangles it is not possible for us to do more than
study certain of the major groups of triangles and a few of the most important
triangles where humanity itself is concerned. It is of value for human beings
to realise that there are other evolutions and other forms of logoic expression
of equal importance to their own. There is, in truth, a veritable multiplicity
of triangles. For the triangle is the basic geometric form of all manifestation
and it is to be seen (by those who have eyes to see) underlying the entire
fabric of manifestation, whether it is the manifestation of a solar system, the
manifestation of the zodiacal round, the cosmic triplicities or the tiny
reflection of this divine triple whole which we call man. When the human being
is manifest but is not yet truly manifested, the triangles which symbolise this
manifestation are the two eyes and the third eye:
1. The right eye—the eye of buddhi, of
wisdom and of vision.
2. The left eye—the eye of mind, of the
commonsense and of sight.
[Page 430]
3. The eye of Shiva—the all-seeing eye, the
eye which directs the will and purposes of Deity.
These three are, in reality,
1. The eye of the Father—carrying light
from the Great Bear.
2. The eye of the Son—carrying light from
Sirius.
3. The eye of the Mother—carrying light
from the Pleiades.
and it is this latter "light
energy" which is necessarily peculiarity active when the sign of Taurus is
dominant in any planetary and individual horoscope.
In some unusual manner (from the human
angle), all that concerns the development of mankind has been—down the
ages—expressed by him in terms of illumination and knowledge, in terms of sight
and of the entrance of light, thus leading to revelation and (incidentally) to
the true theme of astrological interpretation. From this peculiar angle,
therefore, we can approach the great Triangles with which we are today
concerned and deal also with their significance in terms of Light. This
significance and approach can be summed up in the following stanzas from the
Old Commentary which—if studied carefully—will throw much light upon the theme
of this particular subject:
I The Great Bear-Leo-Saturn
"The sevenfold light of the Father
brought from chaos into the ordered day His purpose and His plan. The seven supreme Gods bent to this
purpose and with united will ordained the Plan.
The Bear and the Lion met together and laid their plans [Page 431] in
conformity with the plan and with the purpose of their controlling Lord. They
called on Father Time (Saturn. A.A.B.) for aid and strength and he responded to
their triple call. To this call likewise the Eternal Youth responded (Sanat Kumara, Lord of Shamballa); He set Himself anew to learn the plan,
aided by Father Time yet unaffected by the Lord of Time for He Himself was
timeless, though not the Lives which He enfolded in His thought and Plan....
Then the triple light which came from the
Bear in His high place, from Leo in his lesser place and from Saturn in his
little place poured into the planetary place of power. Shamballa was informed. The Lord of Life and of the World took
action....
The little one within the greater Whole
(the individual human disciple. A.A.B.) likewise responded to the triple light
but not until the cycles passed and passed again. Late in the day of time, Shamballa sent a call, relayed from voice to voice and rolling
forward on the O.M. The disciple, hearing that sound, lifted his head; an
impulse from the base mounted in time and space. Leo within the heart and head
shouted aloud and stood whilst Saturn did his work ... and thus the twain were
one.
II.
The central light of Sirius shone through
the eye of the Son; the vision came. The light of wisdom penetrated into the
waters and cast the radiance of the Heavens into the depths. At this attractive
call, the goddess rose unto the surface (the fish-goddess, the symbol of
Pisces. A.A.B.) and welcomed the light within the depths and grasped it as her
own. She saw the Sun, having seen her Son, and from [Page 432] that day the Sun
has never left her. There is no darkness. There is always light.
And then the heavens within the
ring-pass-not responded to the light from Sirius which, passing through the sea
of Pisces, lifted the fishes into the heavenly sphere (Uranus) and thus a
lesser triple light appeared, the radiant sun of suns, the watery light of
Pisces, the heavenly light of Uranus. This light descended on the waiting
sphere and lit the galaxy of little lights upon the Earth. A Hierarchy of Light
emerged from its own place; the planet was alight.
III.
The little one upon that little world
responded slowly to that light until today the little world of men begins to
throb in rhythmic unison. Changes are wrought. The cosmic heart, the heart
systemic and the little heart of man begin to beat as one and as this beat
pulsates with greater strength it blends a lower note (that of the solar
plexus. A.A.B.) within itself, removes its harshness and its note of fear and
thus it ends illusion. And then again the two are one.
IV.
The seven Mothers blend their light and make it six (refers to the lost Pleiad, A.A.B.) and yet the seven still are
there. Their light is different from the other lights. This light evokes
response from that which shouts aloud: `I am the densest point of all the
concrete world (Capricorn. A.A.B.). I am a tomb; I also am the womb. I am the
rock which sinks itself into the deep of matter. I am the mountain-top on which
the Son is born on which the [Page 433] Sun is seen and that which catches the
first rays of light.' To me a Messenger comes forth (Mercury. A.A.B.) and says
`the Dayspring from on high is on the way, sent by the Father to the Mother.'
Upon his way unto this nether star we call the Earth he stopped at a bright sun
where shines the light of love (Sirius. A.A.B.) and there received the accolade
of love. So thus he brings bright gifts to man. For he is man himself and from
these three (The Pleiades,
Capricorn, Mercury.
A.A.B.) Man takes a nature which is his today. Son of the Mother, born from the
tomb and showing after birth the light which he has taken from them all.
Then to the lower three he turns and to
these souls in prison he in time becomes a Messenger. Thus does the Lord of
Mercury repeat himself. The Son descends again into the place of earth and
iron. Again he knows His mother.
And thus the little one upon the littlest
sphere becomes the greatest God. From the directing centre of his life on Earth
he toils and works and carries out the Plan. (The ajna centre is the directing
centre. A.A.B.) He too awakens to the need and from the chosen place (the
throat centre. A.A.B.) he utters forth the Sound which in time becomes the
Word. And then the three are twain and these are One."
Again and repeatedly, students must remind
themselves that we are considering the impact of energy upon energy units (all
qualified and producing appearance) and with the response of those energy units
to the streams of force which reach them from "the furthest centre."
It is in the development of response to distant points of contact and [Page
434] emanating sources of energy that the needed sensitivity is produced.
Sensitivity, generally speaking, is of a threefold nature:
1. Sensitivity to that which is found
within oneself. This, when the consciousness is adequately self-sufficient,
opens a door for the entrance of energies coming from the "middle
centre." I speak in symbols and for those whose knowledge of cosmic
location and of points in time and space will enable them to comprehend; to the
uninitiate, I simply say, "Respond to soul impact."
2. Sensitivity to that which emanates from
the "centres left behind" or to those streams of vital energy which
lie active and focussed below the threshold of the waking consciousness. They
stir the threads of memory; they draw backward the glances (and there lies
magic in the energy of the eye) of the onward moving Point, the Pilgrim on his
way; they condition through ancient habit the responsiveness of the units in
the form.
A consideration of a hint given earlier as
to the symbolism and significance of the three eyes available for man's use
will be found illuminating and their relation to the heart and throat will
prove evocative of knowledge. They relate to the three centres above referred
to and in their wider connotation relate to the three planetary centres:
Humanity, Hierarchy and Shamballa; further back still lies a relation to the
cosmic centres of the
Great Bear, Sirius and
[Page 435] the Pleiades. In between these planetary centres to which I have
referred and their distant cosmic archetypes lie three systemic centres which
at this time and under cyclic law are Saturn, Uranus and Mercury. In between
these again are to be found a zodiacal triangle of Leo, Pisces and Capricorn. For purposes of our immediate
consideration the following three triangles are, therefore, to be found:
When the significance of this is grasped,
the following interesting points will appear. I give them to you for what they
are worth to you and that worth is dependent upon the goal ahead of you, and
where you stand today in time and space.
Triangle Three depicts the interplay of three streams of
force which, in this
particular world cycle condition and basically influence ordinary humanity. Forget not that humanity itself
constitutes a great centre in the life of the planetary Logos:
a. Capricorn connotes density, firm foundations, concretisation,
the mountain of karma that holds down the [Page 436] struggling soul or the
mountain of initiation which must eventually be climbed and surmounted. It
signifies, therefore, the great force of liberation which both drives into
experience and brings experience to an end, from the angle of humanity. This is
the major stream of force in this particular triangle at this time.
b. Mercury brings in that quick and intuitive mind which
interprets experience, fosters the growth of the intuition and relates the
inner spiritual man to the outer human being in such a way that their future
unity of purpose, plan and effort is assured. Mercury brings about those
changes in mental perception which eventually enable humanity to act as the
mediating interpreter between the higher worlds and the three lower kingdoms in
nature; thus Mercury institutes the threefold activity of this centre in the
body of the Heavenly Man which we struggle to perceive and comprehend, and
which we regard as forming the three phases of the mind:
1. The abstract mind—pure manas.
2. The Son of Mind—soul, manasaputra.
3. The concrete mind—mental body.
and their correspondences in
substance-energy:
1. The right eye.
2. The left eye.
3. The third eye.
In this particular world cycle it is Capricorn which is producing the moment of crisis—a crisis of
initiation plus a crisis of destruction (related primarily to the mineral
kingdom) paralleled by a crisis of mental perception, [Page 437] precipitated
by Mercury. It is this mental perception plus world
participation in the "crumbling of the mountain load of karma" which
heralds the vision of the new day from the top of the mountain.
Here in pictorial language I have
endeavoured to indicate the three streams of energy which meet in the centre
called Humanity, involving therefore:
1. The active intelligence of man, latent
in the human centre.
2. The initiatory activity of Capricorn.
3. The illumining radiance of Mercury.
This combination of energies produces a
triplicity of activity of supreme importance today.
Triangle Two has been called the "triangle of the advanced man"; it is associated with the kingdom
of souls, with the fifth kingdom in nature as it is related to the fourth. It
is this triplicity of forces which, playing on Triangle Three, attracts out of it those units of energy
which (as a result of the activity of Capricorn, Mercury and Humanity itself) are ready to come under
hierarchical influence and to be swayed consequently by different streams of
force to those hitherto evoking response:
a. Pisces is particularly potent at present in the life of
Humanity owing to its being the sign which is now passing out of influence as
we progress upon the great wheel of the zodiac. It is this sign with its combination
of energies which has produced such a potent vibratory activity in Humanity
that it can successfully and eventually enact the role of World Saviour. Of this salvation, Pisces is the sign.
Pisces is also the sign of [Page 438] death, as you know, and in its death
aspect we see the Piscean correspondence to the first aspect, the destroyer
aspect of the Logos. This death aspect is naturally active at the close of the
Piscean age and is consequently bringing about the present death of form in all
the three worlds.
b. Uranus is the planet of occultism for it veils "that
which is essential; it hides that which must be discovered and, at the right
moment, it transmits knowledge of the hidden mystery." Today, for the mass
of men, occultism is non-existent; for the aspirant and the disciple occultism
is rapidly becoming a source and system of revelation as they penetrate into
the wisdom of the Hierarchy.
The triangle of Pisces-Uranus-Hierarchy is becoming magnetically attractive to the
triangle of Humanity. Uranus and Mercury in combination are dualities which the
disciple learns to resolve and in the process of this resolution he shifts his
focus out of the human kingdom into the fifth kingdom, the Hierarchy of souls. Pisces and Capricorn in unison bring about those changes which "lift
the disciple out of the waters, wherein he is rapidly drowning, on to the
mountain top from whence he can watch the recession of the waters. Thus does he
know himself initiate."
The present world crisis should and will
see a close merging of the two triangles in a most potent manner and this
partial synchronisation (for close though it may be it will not yet be a
process of general identification) will produce the sixfold energy needed to
bring in the new sixth race and the new world period wherein fellowship and
brotherhood will be manifest in all human relations.
[Page 439]
Triangle One is produced by the
inter-relation of energies from Leo, Saturn and Shamballa. Its potency is naturally felt more directly in the
triangle of the Hierarchy than in that of Humanity. These three energies are
sometimes called (in an effort to make understanding more easy and to simplify
comprehension) the "triple
energy of WILL":
1. The will of self-determination—Leo.
2. The will of sacrifice—Pisces.
3. The will to choose—Capricorn.
because the Shamballa force lies behind the other two triangles and is the recipient of energy from the three above constellations, blending them into the united expression
of will, and thus proves to be the custodian of divine purpose. The triangles of which the Hierarchy and Humanity are the expression are becoming responsive
to Shamballa—the hierarchical centre greatly so and the
human centre gradually so. This first or fundamental triangle is occult in the truest sense of the word to even the
trained occultist and to the majority of the members of the Hierarchy.
Therefore only a few points can be mentioned in connection with it as there is
little to be found in even the advanced disciple with which to reach real
understanding. The information must perforce remain academic and theoretical.
The self willed man of the world
is more responsive to the Shamaballa force than is the disciple or aspirant
a. Leo, which is the will of the self-conscious Entity to manifest, holds the
clue or key to the entire problem of self-conscious being, whether it is the
will-to-be of a planetary Logos, of a group or of a man. The self-consciousness
of man is inherent in the planet itself, which is the life expression of a
fully self-conscious Being. The use of the will through the Shamballa centre [Page 440] involves the conscious use of
that energy by the planetary Logos; this is evoking response today from the
world of men in terms of will, both higher and lower. The wilful (self-willed) man of the world is apt to be more responsive to this Shamballa force than is the disciple or the aspirant
because they are more attuned to the gentler vibration of the Hierarchy. I have earlier told you that this Leo force from Shamballa is finding direct entry into the human centre instead of indirectly via the Hierarchy as
has hitherto been the case. The implications of this are obvious.
b. Saturn. This energy is primarily concerned with presenting
opportunity to the Hierarchy and its affiliated disciples. The phrase that
"Saturn is the
planet of discipleship"
is basically true because ordinary average man, except in group formation, does
not come so potently under its influence. For the Hierarchy—as a group—is facing a great crisis of approach to Shamballa, analogous to that confronting Humanity today, as it
seeks approach and contact with the Hierarchy. Thus there are two inter-related
crises affecting both Humanity and the Hierarchy, and these should produce—if
correctly effected—that which is called alignment or integration, resulting in
a far freer inflow of divine energy. Both these "approaches" (which
are in the nature of magnetic attractive "pulls") are conditioned by Saturn; in the case of Humanity this pull comes
via the Hierarchy and—apart from that Hierarchy—mankind cannot today surmount
or properly handle the crisis. This should be remembered and should speed the
work of the disciples and aspirants of the world as they struggle for human
liberation and to [Page 441] bring about divine intervention. The intervention
desired should come via the Hierarchy, if it is not to be too destructive in
its effect. The last
major intervention in Atlantean days came via Shamballa
and resulted in the partial
destruction of entire continents and lands.
These three triangles of energy can, therefore, be seen as basic and
determining in all planetary affairs and event-producing. I have consequently
chosen to consider them in our efforts to comprehend this basic astrological
science.
2. Triangles of Force—Planets.
At the same time, it will be obvious to you
that, in relation to these simple triangles, certain interlocking triangles
also emerge, as for instance the zodiacal triangle of Leo-Pisces-Capricorn and the allied planetary triangle of Saturn-Uranus-Mercury. These two triangles pour their six
streams of force into our three planetary centres at this time, vitalising and
stimulating the planetary
triangle of Shamballa-Hierarchy-Humanity.
Behind these three stands a cosmic triangle, emanating three streams of energy
which pour into and through the three lesser triangles, thus potently affecting
every kingdom in nature. This cosmic triangle is that of the Great
Bear—Sirius—the Pleiades. This paragraph simply summarises the preceding pages
and indicates the relation between four triangles of energy.
There are one or two subsidiary points
which are of interest to the esoteric astrologer and these we might briefly
list in connection with these effective triangles, using the word
"effective" to imply conditioning and potent in results. In this
present world cycle all results are of unusual significance and also unusually
emphasised in human consciousness.
(EA 442) 1. Saturn, through which energy flows from Leo, via Shamballa, to Humanity, governs two decanates in Capricorn. Hence its extreme potency today in the
triangle of Humanity. Saturn breaks up existing conditions by the force of its
energy impact, thus enabling the influence of Mercury to be more fully expressed. The vision can then be
intuitively perceived when obstructions have been removed.
2. Leo is one of the birth signs of the zodiac; it connotes the birth of
self-consciousness, as you know. Capricorn is also a birth sign, because it is also an aspect or
one of the arms of the Cardinal
Cross—the Cross of
that which initiates or brings into being. This has a peculiar relation to
Humanity. It is the birth of the two types of consciousness—self-consciousness
and Christ consciousness—which are brought to the attention of humanity by the
fact of this Leo force, pouring through Saturn to Humanity and thus bringing Shamballa and Humanity into a closer relation, via Capricorn,
active through Mercury.
At this point I would like to pause for a
moment and interpolate a word in answer to a perfectly normal question which is
liable to arise in the minds of thinking students and aspirants today. Of what
use is all this abstruse and abstract information to a world in agony and a
world distressed? The major usefulness of this imparted information which will
condition the astrology of the future lies far ahead in the period after the
war when again the field of world service opens and men have time for thought
and due reflection. World service is going on now perhaps in greater volume
than ever before but it is restricted to the field of releasing from slavery
and alleviation of pain [Page 443] and suffering, and, therefore, to the more
strictly physical forms of help. The service to which I here refer is that
educational process which will produce the coming civilisation and its
attendant culture. This will be based on all the cultural processes of the past
and of the present, but will discard all that has produced the disasters of
today, as far as may be possible. That means a gradual future usefulness for
the knowledge of the underlying potencies, for they can indicate the lines of
least resistance to the emerging good and the developing crises which
inevitably lie ahead in the period of reconstruction. But one potent good can
emerge even at this time from a study of these matters, provided the student of
esotericism rests not content with study (using it as an escape from the
disastrous present) but parallels his understanding of the causes and
conditions by a strenuous effort to be of aid in a practical and a definitely
physical sense.
This is the dominant emerging fact to which
all that I have said bears testimony: world conditions today—precipitated as
they are by human greed and ignorance—are nevertheless basically conditioned by
the will-to-good which is the primary quality of the energies and forces coming
forth from the great Lives in which all that exist live and move and have their
being. The Law of the Universe (and what is law but the working out of the
purposes of these all-embracing Lives, of Their impulses and Their plans?) is
to all eternity the good of the whole and naught can arrest this happening; for
who can arrest the impact of these energies which play upon and through our
planet. When I say this, I would at the same time point out that the attitude of
many students, inevitably participants in world events, that "such is the
Law and such is the Karma of people and nations and such is the pre-determined
destiny" [Page 444] is far from right. They believe—sometimes
sincerely—that all that should be done is simply to wait for results to appear
and for karma and destiny to fulfil itself. Then and not till then, all will be
well. But they forget that karma fulfils itself in relation to the form nature
upon which it expends its energy and that where there is a static condition and
a quiescent attitude, the process moves but slowly; the life then within the
form fails to experience the needed, forceful awakening; inevitably then there
lies ahead a repetition of the process until the time comes when activity and
response is evoked. This then leads to resistance to the apparent karmic
necessity and this brings about liberation. Only through resistance to evil
(and in this world period and in this kali-yuga, as the Eastern teachers call it, it is an essential
basic attitude) can karma be brought to an end. The law of matter still governs
in the three worlds of human experience and "fire by friction" must
burn up that which veils the steadily increasing brilliance of solar fire. It
is the recognition of "solar fire"—as it shows itself in a
transcendental idealism and radiance—by the unintelligent idealist, and his
simultaneous refusal to cooperate in this period of karmic necessity, that is
prolonging the difficult and cruel situation and leading him individually to sink
deep into glamour. The simplification of the world's problem in terms of matter
comes through a recognition of the essential dualism underlying events. I
commend this thought to all students, suggesting that they base optimism on the
long range vision, endorsed by the Heavens and corroborated by the activity of
the stars, and thus feel sure of the ending of this immediate tragic situation.
Energy from Shamballa embodying
the will-to-good passes to the Ray of Ritualistic Decency
It is interesting to note that the seventh Ray of Ceremonial Law and Order works through Uranus which is today the transmitter of Sirian force via Pisces to the Hierarchy. [Page 445] From that
"middle centre" it passes to that sensitive band of disciples,
aspirants and workers to whose hearts and hands is committed the heavy task,
incident to the re-organisation and the rebuilding of the shattered world structure. The seventh ray has sometimes been called
a peculiar name by Knowers. It is regarded as the "Ray of Ritualistic Decency." It aids and inaugurates the
appearing of a new world order, based on a spiritual drive and on aspiration,
mental freedom, loving understanding and a physical plane rhythm which provides
opportunity for full creative expression. To bring this about, energy from Shamballa (embodying the will-to-good) is fused and blended with the organising energy of the seventh ray and then carried to humanity along the stream of love
which emanates from the Hierarchy itself. Pisces governs this effort of the
Hierarchy because the highest
aspect of Pisces which
humanity can at this time in any way comprehend is that of Mediatorship. This
is the energy of mediation, of right relationship. Today as never before the
Hierarchy stands as a "mediating transmitter" between:
1. Humanity and the will of God. The
revelation of the true significance and purpose of that will as it stands
behind all world events is needed now as never before. This can come through a
closer relation between the Hierarchy and Humanity.
2. Humanity and its karma, for it is
equally essential that the laws for the transmutation of karma into active
present good are clearly grasped.
3. Humanity and cosmic evil, focussed for many millenia of years in what has been
called the Black Lodge. Speculation anent this Lodge and its
activities is both fruitless and dangerous.
The latter fact is responsible for the widespread attack made upon Masonry during
this century.
Masonry—inadequate and corrupt as it has been and guilty of over-emphasising
certain forms of symbols—is nevertheless a germ or seed of future hierarchical
effort when that effort is—at some later date—externalised on Earth. Masonry is
governed by the seventh ray, and when certain important changes have been made
and the spirit of Masonry is grasped instead of the letter, then we shall see a
new form of hierarchical endeavour appear to aid in the restoration of the
ancient and sacred Mysteries among men.
The energy of Uranus, pouring upon and into humanity, produces the urge to
better conditions to provide better forms for the occult and esoteric life and
to blend more adequately the inner and the outer man. This is one of the
reasons why the Moon is
spoken of so often as veiling Uranus. The Moon is frequently used as a blind when Uranus
is meant. Today the Moon is a dead world and the reason is that the Uranian
urge became so strong in that far distant time when there were living forms upon the Moon (the 3rd chain or
moon chain) that it
led to the complete and final evacuation of the Moon and the transfer of its
life to our planet. Such a transfer is not necessary today as the consciousness
of humanity is such that the needed changes can be brought about without such a
drastic procedure. It is, however, this Uranian influence which lies behind the
present shift of populations throughout Europe and Great Britain and which is
responsible for the steady movement of peoples from East to West, from Asia to
Europe in the earlier history of that continent and from Europe to the Western
hemisphere in more modern times.
The inflow of Shamballa force
into the centre we call humanity will continue into the aquarian age
In the study of the interlocking of these
triangles, it [Page 447] it will become apparent to the student that the
combination of the influences of Sirius, Leo and Uranus has been much needed at this time to foster and bring
about those conditions which will enable mankind, under the steady influence of
the Hierarchy, to take the first initiation and "give birth to the
Christ," thus revealing and bringing to the light of day the inner,
hidden, spiritual Man. It is in Leo that man undergoes the preparatory stages
of this first initiation. He finds himself and becomes self-conscious; then he
arrives at the stage of intelligent discipleship; he formulates a conscious
inner programme or purpose under the steady pressure of the life of the
indwelling Christ; he begins to exhaust and deny the demands and desires of the
lower nature. This cycle of experience is followed by a painful life of
conscious re-orientation—a cycle wherein he achieves balance and begins to
"stand in spiritual Being" as a result of constant trial and testing.
Finally he stands ready for the ordeal and the accolade of fire, preceding the
first initiation. At that final stage, Humanity today stands. When (as is now
the case) the influence of Uranus is added to the other influences and the seventh ray is at the same time entering into a major cycle of activity on the Earth, there is then present the energy needed
to precipitate the crisis of initiation and produce a great rhythmic awakening.
Astrologers would find it of interest to note similar combinations in the
individual horoscope.
It must not be forgotten that Leo marks the
height of achievement for the human soul, and this is today stimulated by the Shamballa force now flowing into the centre of humanity. This inflow will continue its critical work until in the Aquarian Age, so rapidly
coming into expression, the one-pointed attitude of the Leo person (or shall I
call it [Page 448] the self-centredness?) becomes the expanded consciousness
and the decentralised attitude of the Aquarian man. You can, therefore, see how
full of promise is the future.
In the Aquarian Age, the power of the planet Venus becomes a dominant factor in the last decanate.
This I have already told you when we were studying that sign. Upon the reversed
wheel in the case of the spiritually oriented man and the disciple, it is the
first decanate under whose influence he comes which is governed by Venus; this
should be remembered. Venus was the planet which we are told was responsible
for the appearance of the individualised consciousness in man—this in
combination with other influences and forces. In the Aquarian Age, Venus will
again have an analogous influence only with this difference that the emergence
into manifestation of an increased
individualism and
self-conscious realisation will be subordinate to the appearance of the first
stages of an expanded consciousness throughout all mankind—the consciousness of
group responsibility. It will be perhaps better expressed as a form of group
individualism.
Therefore: behind all these events, the dim
outline of a lesser triangle of energy can be seen; this is a blend of the
energy of three planets:
These produce a combination of the energies
of
Ray 3.—Active intelligence.
Ray 7.—Ceremonial order or magic.
Ray 5.—Concrete mind.
[Page 449]
It can be noted how this combination of
energies when playing upon Germany's
soul Ray of Harmony
through Conflict and her first
ray personality, on
the Ray of Power and the
Destroyer (responsive
to Shamballa) is responsible for much of the present
conflict, for the reason that the reaction of that country (under the influence
of its present rulers) has been in terms of the material aspect and not of the
spiritual.
This is a crucial point-“Another
series of triangles was also given (on page 416) involving the Great Bear,
Sirius and the Pleiades. These triangles concern the spiritual aspect of the
planetary life and of humanity”-This triangle works through Aries/Pluto,
Leo/Jupiter, and Cancer/Venus
Students would find it useful to re-read
some of the foregoing instruction anent the signs Leo-Pisces-Capricorn, so as
to familiarise themselves with the nature, quality and influences which this
great triangle (see page 435) expresses and through which humanity is being led
at this time forward along the path of return. In this connection it is well
also to remember that the series of triangles with which we have been dealing
refer to and produce changes in the human consciousness. Another series of
triangles was also given (on page 416) involving the Great Bear, Sirius and the Pleiades. These triangles concern the spiritual aspect of the planetary life and
of humanity, as well
as of the other kingdoms in nature. Humanity is of peculiar importance in
relation to these triangles because it is the destiny of humanity to transmit
life to the subhuman kingdoms. With these triangles of supernal forces I shall
not deal because conscious response to their influence will not be possible
till the time cycle of the third initiation arrives. I simply mention this
influence so that you will realise that there is no real contradiction or
discrepancy. Still another enumeration of the triangles of energy emanating
from the three major constellations are given earlier by me (on page 435) and
this again is correct and not a contradiction. In this group of three sets of
triangles—making nine all told—with their interlocking analogies and lesser
triangular relationships and with also their points of fusion, you have [Page
450] held in a "mystery of potencies" the entire story—past, present
and future—of human evolution. It accounts for the changing emphases of that
story, its shifting kaleidoscopic pattern, its recurrent points of fusion and
its steady progress, through changing process, towards an ultimate revelation.
Very briefly I would like to touch upon the
fact that, as might be expected, the influences of Leo-Pisces-Capricorn which dominate the present world situation,
via Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity, are potent in
their oft unrealised effect upon the individual people. They bring about
changes in his life focus and in his centres just as they have wrought
corresponding changes in the three planetary centres. In view of this certain
basic ideas can here be emphasised:
1. The influence of Capricorn, via Mercury, will have a dominant effect in the human
kingdom—itself a planetary centre.
2. The individual disciple will, therefore,
respond to this Capricornian influence most easily. It will constitute
a line of least resistance, offering opportunity, as well as the chance of
possible disaster if wrongly handled. Right response will lead the disciple
nearer to the door of initiation; wrong response will take him back into the
depths of crystallisation and of concretion.
“First ray disciples will, for
instance, respond to the Shamballa influence, transmitted from Leo and Saturn,
more easily than will second ray disciples”-As a generation, first ray energy
is very noticeable in those with Saturn in Leo
3. Disciples who respond to the influences
above mentioned will necessarily be largely conditioned by their rays, egoic
and personal. First ray
disciples will, for
instance, respond to the Shamballa
influence, transmitted
from Leo and Saturn, more easily than will second ray disciples. These will in their turn react more
rapidly and consistently to the Hierarchy, transmitting energies from Pisces
and Uranus.
[Page 451]
4. The above facts will demonstrate the nature
and quality of the response of disciples on Rays 1. 3. 5. 7. and Rays 2. 4. 6. and this must always be borne in
mind as being true of disciples, of all men and also of nations.
“impact of Shamballa force
(particularly in the case of a disciple (or Nation) on Rays 1. 3. 5. 7.) will
be of a personality nature”
5. According to the response so will be the
evocation of the activity of the centres, or a centre. But—and this is a point
of major importance—all disciples must at this time seek to find their dominant
reaction in a planned response to the influence of the Hierarchy and the
energies transmitted by it. As a general rule, the impact of Shamballa force (particularly in the case of a disciple on Rays 1. 3. 5. 7.) will be of a
personality nature. It
is the stimulation of the heart centre with a consequent control of the solar
plexus centre which should be the planned result. The heart must dominate the
solar plexus by the withdrawing of its energies to the heart.
6. The time has not yet come when it is safe
for the aspirant or the disciple to relate the head centre and the base of the
spine in response to a definite and conscious appropriation of Shamballa force. Whatever may take place automatically,
normally and naturally and through the development of the disciple can and
should be permitted to take place, provided there is no conscious intent and
that there is also a close and careful scrutiny and control of the personality
life.
7. The awakening of the ajna centre with
the consequent and subsequent conscious control of the throat centre must
inevitably take place provided the disciple fulfils two conditions. He can then
become consciously, safely and correctly creative. These two conditions are:
a. A conscious orientation towards the soul
and towards the Hierarchy.
[Page 452]
b. A deep love for humanity, present and
based on mental perception and intuitive understanding and not on emotional
reaction.
8. Where the above conditions are
fulfilled, then the impact of the inflowing energies will produce the required
stimulation and awakening.
This is all that I have to say about the
response of the centres in the human being to the activity of the planetary centres under systemic and zodiacal stimulation. I
am not here writing a treatise on the individual training of the disciple but
am attempting to demonstrate the fact of cosmic, zodiacal, systemic, planetary and human
interplay which in its
turn constitutes a great and living Whole—the life expression of a Being of
Whom we only know that love and the will-to-good, expressed through the
Universal Mind, are the outstanding characteristics and that these are steadily
emerging into increasing radiance.
3. The Triangles and the Centres.
It is necessary to remember that all
influences which impinge upon the individual or upon humanity as a whole pass
through or are transmitted by one or other of the planetary centres. I have
said little about these centres save to refer to the major three centres which
we call Shamballa, Hierarchy and Humanity. We recognise them
as:
I. Shamballa Power.
Purpose Planetary head centre
Directing Will
II.
Hierarchy
Love. Wisdom Planetary
heart centre Directed Love
III. Humanity Intelligence Planetary ajna centre Directed Mind
Four other centres remain to be considered:
the planetary throat centre, solar plexus, sacral centre and the centre at the
base of the spine.
(EA 453) In the planetary logoic life—as is
the case also with individual man, the microcosm of the Macrocosm—certain
centres are more awakened than others and vibrate in unison with systemic
impulse more fully than others. In the case of the planetary Logos of our
little sphere, the head centre, the ajna centre, the heart and solar plexus
centres and the throat centre are the five focal points of energy which are the
most alive and vibrant. The sacral centre is slowly dropping below the
threshold of the logoic consciousness whilst the centre at the base of the spine is practically entirely
quiescent, except in
connection with its pranic effects upon the form life, engendering the will to
live, the urge to survival and the vitalisation of forms. These facts will give
you an idea of our planetary status in the great family of the central sun and
indicate why our planet is not a sacred planet. No planet is a sacred planet unless the centre at the base of the spine (speaking symbolically) is aroused and the
great fusion of energies resulting therefrom has been effected. I refer to this
particular world cycle and period and to the state of affairs in this the fifth or Aryan root-race. Students of my books and of The Secret
Doctrine must remember that any contradictions which may appear are only
contradictions in Time and that when this time factor is properly understood
and the student knows to what specific cycle the information should be applied,
these apparent inexactitudes will disappear.
What is true of humanity, for instance,
during the third root-race, may not be true in the fifth root-race. Therefore,
all that can be done is to study and relate, to reflect and to apply the Law of
Analogy, knowing that when the expanded and more inclusive consciousness of the
trained initiate takes the place of the present human awareness, [Page 454]
then these debated points will be clarified; they will assume a true
consistency and the contradictions will disappear.
The planetary centre which
corresponds to the one at the base of the spine in the human being will not be
awakened until the seventh root-race
(EA 454) The planetary centre which corresponds to the one at the base of the spine in the human being will not be awakened until the seventh root-race and that only when right relationship is
established between the planetary sacral centre (which is related to the third
kingdom in nature, the animal kingdom) and the planetary throat centre,
functioning properly and in unison.
In the first volume of this treatise,
certain hints were given anent the planetary centres and the rays of energy
pouring through them. To these I would like here to refer because they are
related to the Science of the Triangles. You should note that the three lower
kingdoms in nature constitute in themselves a triangle of force and are
essentially a reflection of a particular planetary triangle. It might be of
service if I here briefly tabulated again for you certain of these major
inferences—for they are little more than inferences at this time. One point is
of real interest here. I have stated that Humanity is the correspondence in the
planetary Life to the ajna centre in individual man. Earlier I told you that
the fifth Ray of Concrete Knowledge is related to the ajna centre and,
therefore, in this present world cycle, you have:
Humanity . . . planetary ajna centre . . .
5th Ray of Knowledge . . . 5th root-race.
“(EA 411) ………..1. Zodiacal
energies pass through Shamballa and are related to the first Ray of Will
or Power and affect the Monad.”
& “ (EA 416) 1. The energies coming
from the Great Bear are related to the will or purpose of the solar
Logos and are to this great Being what the monad is to man. This is a deep
mystery and one which even the highest initiate cannot yet grasp. Its sevenfold
unified energies pass through Shamballa.”
(EA 454) Therefore five centres in man are
rapidly awakening. These relationships prove each other but only when seen in
relation to the greater cycle. Humanity was at one time the correspondence to
the planetary solar plexus and some day will shift the focus of its receptivity
to the planetary heart
centre; when this
takes place, the Hierarchy will [Page 455] shift its focus of
receptivity into the sphere of influence of Shamballa. Of this shift, the presence of the twelve-petalled lotus in the highest head
centre (the relating
point between the heart centre and the soul on its own plane) is the guarantee.
The following relations must consequently be borne in mind:
I. Head centre . . . Shamballa . . . 1st ray . . . 1st & 7th races . . . Will; the goal.
Energy of Life. Synthesis.
Seven centres awakened and functioning.
In first root-race alive and faintly
vibrating.
In seventh root-race fully awakened.
II. Heart centre . . . Hierarchy . . . 2nd ray . . . 6th root-race . . . Love; the goal.
Energy of Identification. Achievement of
fusion.
Six centres functioning.
The focal point of the egoic consciousness
of divinity.
The fifth kingdom. The
III. Ajna centre . . . Humanity . . . 5th ray . . . 5th root-race . . . Intuition; the goal.
The energy of Initiation. Development of
inclusiveness.
Five centres rapidly awakening.
The focal point of personality.
The human kingdom, the fourth kingdom in
nature.
IV. Throat centre . . . Animal . . . 3rd
ray . . . 3rd root-race . . . Intellect; the goal.
The energy of Illumination. Creating in the
light.
Four centres functioning.
Focal point of the instinctual
consciousness.
The third kingdom in nature.
[Page 456]
V. Solar plexus . . . Vegetable . . . 6th
ray . . . 4th root-race . . . Instinct; the goal.
The energy of Aspiration. Unfoldment of
sensitivity.
Three centres functioning.
Focal point of psychic response.
The second kingdom in nature.
VI. Sacral centre . . . Deva evolution . .
. 7th ray . . . 2nd root-race . . . Responsiveness; the goal.
The energy of Magnetism. Power to build.
Two centres functioning; heart and sacral
centres.
Focal point of vibratory response to the
"eye of God."
VII. Base of spine . . . Mineral . . . 4th
ray . . . 7th root-race . . . Synthesis; the goal.
The energy of foundational Synthesis. Completion.
All centres functioning as one.
Focal point of evolution.
The first kingdom in nature.
This tabulation may serve to make a little
clearer the present general plan or blueprint of the evolutionary development
of consciousness. Other developments are proceeding simultaneously, such as the
responsive unfoldment of the form aspect and the evolution of the deva, or
angel, line which parallels the human and to which I referred in A Treatise on
Cosmic Fire. A third great scheme of evolution is proceeding and that can only
be referred to as the unfoldment of divine purpose on its own plane; of this
humanity has, as yet, no faintest conception because its consciousness is still
held within the limitations of its own kingdom in nature; the Hierarchy is attempting
to become responsive to this form of energy.
[Page 457]
There is another point of interest to which
I wish to refer and it is one which is little realised by the average occult
student. I refer to the outlets of planetary energy through the means of which
great and general effects are produced in the external, planetary life. In this
fifth root-race, there
are only five such outlets as far as effects on humanity are concerned; man's responsiveness to
them, is demonstrated by the fact of their relative importance in conditioning
world events and world affairs. Wherever one of these outlets for spiritual
force is found, there will also be found a city of spiritual importance in the
same location. These five points are:
1. London.—For the
2. New York.—For the
3. Geneva.—For all of
4. Tokyo.—For the far East.
5. Darjeeling.—For all of central Asia and
Later, two more points or outlets for
energy will be added to these but the time is not yet. Through these five
places and areas in their neighbourhood, the energy of five rays pours forth, conditioning the world of men, leading to
effects of planetary significance and determining the trend of events. A study
of history and of current affairs will produce some understanding of their
importance in connection with four of them. The effect of the force flowing
through the
These five points of conditioning energy
produce two triangles of force in their interrelation:
[Page 458]
1.
2.
It may interest you also to know the
governing rays and astrological signs of these five places, so far as they can
be given at this time and during this present cycle. Forget not that the
personality rays change from period to period in connection with countries and
cities just as they do with individuals.
RAYS
City Soul Personality Sign
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The Cosmic triangle of
Leo-Virgo-Pisces will bring about the initiation of our Planetary Logos, Sanat
Kumara, Lord of Shamballa
(EA 469) There is one triad of cosmic
energy that is of supreme importance upon our planet and it is the united
influence of its three
constellations which
will eventually bring about the initiation of the planetary Logos; this will warrant any future planetary expression of
His life to be termed a "sacred planet."
At present our Earth is not regarded as a sacred planet. Later, when these
three energies have produced adequate effect and the needed planetary changes
have been produced, the term "sacred" will be deemed correct and
appropriate. This statement of course means little to any student at this time.
When, however, he is able factually to realise two things, the case will be
different. These are:
First, that the threefold energies which
lie back of the activity of the centre at Shamballa concern the planetary Logos; humanity is slowly
becoming sensitive to that influence, but only in mass formation and not
individually. Only theoretically can a disciple take note of this fact.
Second, these influences are playing upon
that aspect of human life which we call the Monad; they will, therefore, have a
steadily increasing effect upon the Path of Initiation.
These three constellations are Leo—Virgo—Pisces. They are spoken of esoterically as
"the Producers of that which knows, the Informers of that which is
awakened and the Constructors of the modes of fusing Wisdom. They produce a
unity; They shatter that which They have produced only again to produce it in
greater beauty and in wider fullness." These words are clear. This
triangle is, at this [Page 470] time, an inverted one with the Leo energies in
the closest contact with our planetary life. The following triangle will show
this more clearly.
(EA 478) 4. Conclusions.
We have reached a point in our
consideration of the Science of Triangles wherein we can pause for a minute to
consider our next approach to this subject and choose the theme by means of
which we can throw more light upon it. It should by now be obvious to you that this
Science of Triangles concerns the beneficence of Deity and that, through the
intricate combinations of cosmic, systemic and planetary triangles, the
purposes of God are working out. Those purposes are motivated by love. It is
through these relationships that love expresses itself, brings about the needed
changes for that expression, and human consciousness is brought into the
required state of inclusiveness.
[Page 478]
It is through the squares or the quaternial relation that the
form aspect is brought into relation and adequacy to the will of Deity, expressing itself
through the gradually unfolding consciousness aspect. I am explaining this
situation in these simple words because it must be apparent to you that only as
the soul illumines the mind can the significance of the teaching be grasped. It
is only when the stage of initiation is reached that the true meaning will
emerge. In the meantime, I have sought to awaken in your minds a reaction to
the abstract truth lying behind the two following statements:
1. The Science of Triangles is related to
the total expression of the divine triplicity of manifestation: will, love and
intelligence or life, consciousness and form. Until, therefore, the disciple
can express in himself the integrated resemblance to these three aspects, he will not be able to grasp the meaning
of this subjective
astrological science.
2. On our planet, the Science of Triangles
is related to the three major aspects, as they express themselves through Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity. Again, therefore, we come
up against the need for the approach of the integrated human being to this
science because only the man who is responsive to these three focal points of
energy can understand the interplay. Only, in fact, can the man apprehend the
underlying truth whose two
head centres and his heart centre form a triangle of flowing energies.
In this connection, I would remind you of
what I said earlier in the treatise that the Science of Triangles is related to
spirit and synthesis. I would remind you also that what I have written in this
astrological section of the Treatise on [Page 479] the Seven Rays is intended
for the instruction of disciples at the close of this century and during the
post-war period. Again I would also point out that I stated earlier that this
science must always be approached from the angle of the three basic energies:
i.e., those coming from the Great Bear, from the Pleiades and from Sirius;
because (conditioned by time and space) these three types of energy pour through
the three major centres, Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity.
My problem has been to choose which of the
myriad interlocking triangular relationships I would take up with you and thus
present this science in such a manner that it would prove of real interest. The
inner web of light which is called the etheric body of the planet is
essentially a web of triangles and when the evolutionary process is completed,
it will have been organised. At present a pattern of squares is the major
construction of the web but this is slowly changing as the divine plan works
out. The etheric webs of
the sacred planets are largely triangles whilst that of the Sun is that of interlaced circles.
The effort on Earth today (as seen by the planetary Logos) is to bring about a
transformation of the web of the planet and thus slowly change the existing squares into triangles. This is done by the creation of division,
by the application of the Law of Separation, but also by the recognition, in
consciousness, of duality, the application of directed motion and the
appearance of two triangles in the place of one square. When this has taken
place, the perceiving consciousness recognises identity and the rule of the square is ended. These words were once spoken to me by an
ancient seer who bisected the square esoterically, thus forming two triangles
and united them in a fresh manifestation to form a Star of Life. Ponder on
this.
(EA 482) There are four constellations, as
you know, which convey the required energies which will make humanity divine.
They are Aries, Leo,
Scorpio and Aquarius.
I need not enter into an analysis of them as this was covered when we studied
each of them earlier and separately. I would, however, like to point out that
each of these constellations is closely connected, as a transmitter of energy,
with certain stars, lying outside our zodiac altogether, thus
connecting our tiny planet with certain great focal points of energy.
The Pointer in the Great Bear
will make our Earth a sacred planet-this also means the bases chakra will
become active
Aries, the initiator of impulses (either the impulse to
incarnate or the impulse to return to the originating source) is closely in
touch with one of the
stars in the Great Bear
to which we give the name "Pointer"
in common parlance. This Pointer is a "major star of direction"
because through it (in this world cycle) flows the will to unify and to bring
about synthesis. This is the force which brings about the fusion or integration
of the personality, the at-one-ment of personality and soul, the unification of
humanity or the Great Approach of the Hierarchy to Humanity. It will produce also the integration of our Earth into the
body of the "sacred
planets" and the
consequent establishing of a triangle of force composed of the Pointer, Aries and our Earth. This triangular relationship will have a
potent effect upon the solar system as well as upon the planet itself and is
also one of the factors producing the shift in the Earth's axis. Related to
this triangle is a secondary one within our sun's orbit, composed of Vulcan, Pluto and the Earth. In the Archives of the Great Lodge this
is referred to symbolically as: (diagram not included)
(which entity is this that DK is
speaking of?)
Soul Ray–Pointer in the Great
Bear
Personality Ray-Aries
Mental body-Pluto
Astral body-Vulcan
Physical body-Earth
These are the five energies
which concern the informing life of our planet. They produce, in humanity,
conscious evolution, direction and the founding of Shamballa upon the Earth
This is one of the most interesting and
informing astrological symbols I have given you and indicates a most momentous
relationship. You have here two major and three minor energies brought into close relation; this is analogous to the
two major rays and the
three minor rays which
condition a human being in manifestation. These are the five energies which
concern the informing life of our planet. They produce, in humanity, conscious
evolution, direction and the founding of Shamballa upon the Earth. They are the five energies connected with the
will-to-be, but from the consciousness
angle and not the material expression of manifestation. Their activity and
united influence in the realm of consciousness produced the appearance of
another triangle: Leo,
Polaris and another of the Pointers and these two groups form an interlocking
directorate, potently effective in the evolution of consciousness.
You have, therefore, through these related
triangles, the appearance
of Shamballa and Humanity—the
two poles of divine expression—will and activity.
The triangle which produced the
manifestation of the Hierarchy
We come now to another triangle, the activity of which produces the
manifestation of Hierarchy—the intermediary between Shamballa and Humanity: Scorpio, Sirius and Mars. These, in relation to our Earth, produce
the four streams of energy (initiating and transmitting) which lead humanity
towards discipleship and initiation.
When the work of all these triangles has
been concluded, [Page 484] humanity (and in a mysterious sense our Earth) will
be functioning in perfect rhythm and will respond to the energies pouring in
from Alcyone.
(EA 520) c. The Shamballa force, thus pursuing its work of destruction, is an aspect of the will and intention of
the planetary Logos but its first and primary effect has been
to stimulate the will-to-power and the will-to-have of certain great and
unspiritual groups. Later
this will aspect will evoke the will-to-good and the will-to-build and to this humanity will
respond on a large scale. Thus the evil which is now being spread abroad by the
opponents of the Forces of Light will be neutralised by the fixed intention of
the men and women of goodwill to work for the good of the whole and not for any
one part.
It might, therefore, be said that what is
truly taking place in the world today is the transference of the energy of the
planetary solar plexus to the planetary heart centre. The forces of cupidity,
aggression, glamour and greed will be transmuted in the present furnace of pain
and fiery agony and will be raised into the heart centre. There they will be
changed into the power of sacrifice, of inclusive surrender, of clear vision of
the whole, and into cooperation; this is an aspect of the principle of sharing.
When I say these words, I am not speaking
idealistically or mystically. I am pointing out the immediate goal; I am
indicating a problem of our planetary Deity; I am giving [Page 521] you the
clue to a scientific process which is going on under our eyes and which is
today at a point of crisis.
As this is the Aryan or fifth root-race
(and I do not use this term in the German,
materialistic and untrue sense) there are today in the body of Him in
Whom we live and move and have our being, five focal points of spiritual
energy, expressing themselves through five awakened centres in that body. These
five are:
1. Geneva.—The European continent.
2. London.—The
3. New York.—The American continent.
4. Darjeeling.—Central and
5. Tokyo.—For the
Today, these five centres are being
abnormally and deliberately stimulated and vitalised. The energy which flows
from them is profoundly affecting the world, holding great hope for the future
but producing most disrupting and disastrous effects where the material side of
human life is concerned. There are two centres in the planetary Life which are as yet relatively quiescent as
far as any world effect is concerned. To them I assign no other focal point
beyond hinting that within the continent of Africa one will some day be found, and later still (many millions of years
ahead) another will be discovered in the region of
In light of the above we can be
fairly sure that the 6th race chakra (base chakra) will be found in
Africa and the 7th root-race chakra (crown chakra) found in
“(EA 454)
Energy of Life. Synthesis.
Seven centres awakened and
functioning.
In first root-race alive and
faintly vibrating.
In seventh root-race fully
awakened.
II. Heart centre . . . Hierarchy
. . . 2nd ray . . . 6th root-race . . . Love; the goal.
Energy of Identification.
Achievement of fusion.
Six centres functioning.
The focal point of the egoic
consciousness of divinity.
The fifth kingdom. The
(EA 521) The force which the centre at
The force which is centred in London is that of the first Ray of Will or
Power in its building
aspect and not in its destroying aspect. It is the service of the whole which
is being attempted at great cost and the effort is to express the Law of Synthesis which is the new emphasis, pouring through
from Shamballa. Hence the fact that the governments of
many nations found asylum in
The force expressing itself through the
centre,
The force pouring through
London, Darjeeling and Tokyo are
more influence by Shamballa, New-York and
(EA 528) The five cities which are the exoteric expression of the esoteric
centre of force and through which the Hierarchy and Shamballa are seeking to work are the correspondence in the
planetary body to the four centres up the spine and the ajna centre in the body
of humanity and of individual man. In all three cases, they are "living,
vital, focal points of dynamic force" to a greater or less extent. Some
predominantly express soul energy and some personality force; some are influenced by Shamballa and some by the Hierarchy. The head centre
of the Occident is beginning to react to second ray energy and the ajna centre
to fourth ray energy and in this lies the hope of the race of men.
UP TO HIT 480
Compilation Shamballa part11
More on the 100 year cycle in
relation to the three major constellations Leo, Capricorn, Pisces and the
direct impacts of Shamballa energy on humanity-To recap-
(EA 416) 1. The energies coming from the Great Bear are related to the will or purpose of the solar Logos
and are to this great Being what the monad is to man. This is a deep mystery and one which even the highest
initiate cannot yet grasp. Its sevenfold unified energies pass through Shamballa.
2. The energies coming from the sun, Sirius, are related to the love-wisdom aspect or to the
attractive power of the solar Logos, to the soul of that Great Being. This
cosmic soul energy is related to the Hierarchy. You have been told that the
great White Lodge on Sirius finds its reflection and a mode of spiritual
service and outlet in the great White Lodge of our planet, the Hierarchy.
3. The energies coming from the Pleiades, an aggregation of seven energies, are connected with the active intelligent aspect of
logoic expression, and influence the form side of all manifestation. They focus
primarily through Humanity.
Connected with this major triangle and
affecting powerfully our
entire solar system is
a triple inter-relation of great interest, which has a special and peculiar
relation to humanity. This triangle of forces relates one of these major
constellations, one of the zodiacal signs and one of the sacred planets within
our solar system.
(EA 537) CHAPTER V
Three Major Constellations and the Zodiac
There exists at this time an inter-relation between three of the constellations upon which I would like somewhat to
enlarge, because their potency and the climax of their inter-relation is being
reached at this time. From
1975 on, that potency will greatly lessen until it fades out. The period of this interplay of three major energies and their focussed potent effect upon our
planet began in 1875, achieved momentum in 1925, will reach its highest expression (for good or evil) in 1945 and will then decline slowly until 1975. These three constellations are: Leo, Capricorn and Pisces. These are curiously and most mysteriously
related to the fourth kingdom in nature and therefore to the evolution and the
destiny of the human family. Add to these the emerging energy of Aquarius, and
you have four energies which are playing upon the vehicles of men and producing
peculiar effects—both destructive and constructive.
“Twice before has this relation
and intensification of vibration occurred: At the time of the coming of the
Sons of Mind to the Earth during the Lemurian age and once in the Atlantean
period…..”
Twice before has this relation and intensification of
vibration occurred: At the time of the coming of the Sons of Mind to the Earth
during the Lemurian age and once in the Atlantean period at the climax of the conflict between the
Lords of the Dark Face and the Lords of the Shining Countenance. (See Volume II
of The Secret Doctrine or the Vishnu Purana. A.A.B.) In the earlier activity,
the fourth active
constellation was Gemini
and in the Atlantean
[Page 538] it was Sagittarius. The effect then was on the physical plane (the earliest was on the mental) and the great Flood eventuated to which the Bible
bears testimony. It brought about the destruction of the humanity of the time,
but released the indwelling life for further experience and development.
Direct Shamballa impacts for the
Great Bear, Sirius and the Pleiades-
Lemuria-Leo Capricorn
Pisces-Gemini-affect on mental plane-lead to individualisation
Atlantis-Leo Capricorn
Pisces-Sagittairius-affect on physical plane
Aryan-Leo Capricorn Pisces-Aquarius?
1. Leo, Capricorn and Pisces.
The effects produced are mass effects and the Rulers of these constellations
which move into activity at this time are those listed in one of the earlier
tabulations which I gave you.
Great Bear -Leo.—Ruler: The Sun, veiling Uranus, the
planet of occultism, and that which governs group relations, organisations and
the eleventh House. It relates the Leo influence to Aquarius.
Pleiadies-Capricorn.—Ruler: Venus, governing the second House, which is concerned with economics, the
distribution of money and metals and which rules Taurus, the "seed
house" of illumination and the new emerging light. Venus also rules Libra
exoterically and the seventh House wherein enemies are recognised and unions
and friendships achieved.
Sirius-Pisces.—Ruler: Pluto, governing the eighth House, the house of death, of dissolution, of
detachment and ruling Scorpio, the sign of testing and of discipleship.
This tabulation and its inferred
relationships warrant careful study in the light of modern affairs and the present
world situation. From the angle of the ray energies involved and seeking to
control human life, you have the influence of the seventh Ray of Ceremonial Law, Order and Magic, [Page 539] the fifth Ray of Concrete Knowledge, or Science and the first Ray of Will unitedly bringing about fundamental
changes, and ushering in the new era. This combination is terrifically potent
and brings about the precipitation of inner forces, an increased activity of
the lower mind and an outpouring of the Shamballa force—all three of which can be seen functioning in the
field of the planetary life today as never before. The greater effect is
produced owing to the greatly increased sensitivity of mankind, compared to the
two other times in which (in cyclic evolution) these three constellations were active. The combination is seen demonstrating in
human affairs today. It was responsible for the organisation which lay behind
the World War—an organisation involving all three levels in the threefold world
of human evolution and which affects also the three kingdoms in nature,
climaxing in the fourth. It is responsible for the use of mental power on a
vast scale, notably in the material sense as at present and for the achievement
of human desire, plus the self-will of an evil few, who, because of the seeds
of evil in their own nature, respond to the lower aspects of this force. It is
also responsible for the steadily mounting will-to-good of the awakening many.
DK is here considering the
Hierarchical rulers of these constellations-notice that Venus rules the 2nd
house whether it is considered from the orthodox, esoteric or Hierarchical
angle-what changes is the zodiacal source not the house or sign rulership
A close analysis of these constellations, their planetary rulers and the ray forces which these transmit
will clarify the world issues in an amazing manner, plus an appreciation of the
houses in which these effects will primarily be felt. The following brief
tabulation may prove useful, even if it is only a repetition of that earlier
said:
Constellation Ruler Ray House
Leo The Sun Seventh Eleventh
(Uranus)
Capricorn Venus Fifth Second and Seventh
Pisces Pluto First Eighth
[Page 540]
The energies poured out, therefore, will be
felt primarily in those aspects of human living which are influenced by the rulers
of certain houses.
The seventh Ray of Ceremonial Order or Organisation is felt in the
house of relationships, of organisations and of mutual effort and of aspiration
(either towards good or evil). The forces of this ray work out on the seventh
or physical plane—the plane whereon major changes in all forms are made and on
which the disciple must firmly stand as he takes initiation.
This seventh ray sweeps into organised and
directed activity the world of forces upon the outer sphere of manifestation, and
produces the precipitation of Karma, which, in this case leads to:
1. The working out into expression of all
the subjective evil of the life of humanity, thus producing the world war.
2. The initiation of the planetary Logos
and—with Him—of all who take their stand upon the side of the Forces of Light.
This takes various forms as far as humanity is concerned:
a. The initiation of the consciousness of
the masses of men into the Aquarian Age, bringing them under the new influences
and potencies, and enabling them to make a response of which they would not
otherwise be capable.
b. The initiation of the aspirants of the
world on to the Path of Accepted Discipleship.
c. The bringing about of certain major
initiations in the case of those world disciples who are ready enough and
strong enough to take them.
[Page 541]
In spite of the vast destruction
everywhere, the work of the seventh ray is being increasingly felt; the
destruction of the forces of evil is going on even though at great cost to the
Forces of Light; simultaneously there is a regrouping and a rearrangement of
human attitudes and thought; this is brought about as a result of the
tremendous demand upon the world thinkers for direction and guidance. Thus the
nebulous structure and the dim outlines of the New Age civilisation can already
be seen.
The underlying spirit of freedom will
triumph as it is organised into revolt against slavery. To this end, the
seventh ray will increasingly make contribution.
Leo, the constellation in which the keynote is full
self-consciousness, is becoming increasingly dominant. The issues involved in
today's situation are becoming clearer in the minds of the masses of the
people; they can and will act with full awareness and intentional conscious
purpose when the right time comes and will understand the implications and the
price involved in a manner not hitherto possible. Hence the meaning back of my
reiterated statement that the issues and determinations of the present
situation are in the hands of humanity itself. The "stars in their
courses" will aid humanity or bring destruction, according to human
determinations. Men can achieve liberty and organise for the New Age with its
unique civilisation and constructive synthesis, or they can commit suicide (if
I may speak symbolically) and hand over their immediate future to the forces of
evil and of death. These work for the death of all the true values and of all
for which the human spirit has fought.
The self-consciousness aspect of the human
being is [Page 542] being steadily expanded under this major interplay and
through the forces transmitted
by Uranus, via the eleventh house, and will ultimately give place to group
consciousness and group relationships and group work. Hence the trend towards
amalgamation today, towards federation, spheres of action and the many groups
which distinguish increasingly human intercourse. The group spirit and the
forms through which it will express itself are being increasingly demonstrated
and this constitutes a veritable initiation for the race. It is the emergence
of the glory of the human spirit in a more definite and arresting way and
involves an orientation towards freedom which will later stand in the
historical records as the outstanding characteristic of this age of major conflict.
Humanity is today participating in the preparatory tests for initiation, the
initiation of the world disciple. Great is your privilege to be taking part in
this. Forget not that eleven is the number of the Initiate and that today it is
the eleventh house which is so dominant; forget not that Aquarius, the eleventh
sign, is the sign of universal relationships, interplay and consciousness. For
all this, the combination of signs— Leo, Capricorn and Pisces—is preparing the
race.
The evil men who guided the destiny of
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."
Such are the possibilities confronting the
world of men today; the issue is dependent upon the final triumph of the Forces
of Light (working through the Allied nations) or on the control of the forces
of materialism.
The Venusian influence—as you will have noted—brings in likewise the
influences of Libra. You find today a cycle wherein an appropriate balance or
point of equilibrium has been brought about which is a correspondence to the
great point of balance on the Path of Involution when spirit and matter
balanced each other, making the upward arc of evolution the next possible step.
This time the balancing is on mental levels; in the earlier crisis, it was on
the physical plane. This point of equilibrium is to humanity, to the Sons of
Mind, what the earlier point of crisis was to the planetary [Page 545] Logos.
This is a fact to be remembered and given due place in your thinking. The
problem to be solved is: Which aspect of humanity will finally triumph and so
disturb the balance by achieving dominance—spirit or matter, soul or
personality? Such is the nature of these points of crisis. As in the planetary
crisis, if spirit should triumph, a new feature, function or quality of
divinity will begin to manifest—the highest mind. In the human crisis, the same
thing is possible. If the spirit of man triumphs, then the aspect of true love
in its divine nature and with its group emphasis will be possible. Such are the
issues involved.
To bring about the full presentation of the
choice and to indicate the mode whereby the spirit of man can triumph, the
influence of Pisces was called in or rather evoked. It is conditions which
evoke, aided at times by voiced Words of Power on the part of the Hierarchy.
Pisces, through its ruler, Pluto (ruling both the mass and the disciples
esoterically), necessitated the triumph of death—not necessarily physical
death—leading to the dissolution of the form of man. It is frequently the death
or ending of old forms of civilisations which cyclically come and go; of
religious teaching when it does not serve the need of the spiritual nature of
the people (as is today the case); of educational processes which fail to
educate the developing nature of man and serve only to delude and imprison. When
I say this, I mean not the death of religion or of forms of thought. I refer
here to death as the Great Releaser, which shatters the forms which are
bringing death to that which is embodied. It is to this philosophic death in
its lowest aspect that
The completely atheistic approach of
Pluto, therefore, comes into full force and expression in
order to stage the testings of the world disciple and to this end brings in the
potency of Scorpio, the sign of discipleship. Under these influences, the death
of forms must eventuate leaving the disciple free; the dissolution of old group
structures of thought, embodying worn-out ideas and ideals must necessarily
supervene; crystallised old forms must dissolve and disappear, but in their
place the undying spirit—impressed by revelation and sensitive to the emerging
new concepts of truth—will create the needed new forms of appropriate
expression.
Such are the influences which today are dominating
the world, finding expression according to the type of vehicle which reacts to
their impact. The type of conscious response and resultant activity is—as the
occultist well knows—dependent upon the quality of the vehicle which is
receptive to the approach of any type of energy. The interplay of the energy
and the vehicle then produces consciousness of some kind. This is a basic and
unalterable law.
In the few things which I have been able to
say anent these constellations and their relation to our planet at this time, I
trust I have made clear and practical something which esoteric astrologers need unceasingly to grasp—the fact that
once it has been established
which constellations are at any one time influencing our Earth, which planets—exoteric and esoteric—are transmitting their influence and which rays are consequently active, it should be possible to prove then the
fact of these distributed energies by the appearance upon Earth and among men
of their appropriate results, and the expected response.
The Cardinal
Crosss-Aries-Cancer-Libra-Capricorn- rules Shamballa
(EA 558) It might be added that the Mutable
Cross is the conditioning influence in that great planetary centre which we
call the human; that the Fixed Cross is paramountly the major controlling set
of energies governing, and being transmitted by, the centre which we call the
planetary Hierarchy; whilst the Cardinal Cross
rules and conditions (in a manner unknown to men) that great planetary centre
to which we give the name Shamballa.
a You will see, therefore, how stupendous is
my theme. Only those, may I again repeat, who can think in terms of one or
other of the three above Wholes, will know whereof I speak; lesser minds will
get a general picture or vision of transcendental possibilities which will aid
them to an expansion of consciousness, but what I say will remain far-off in
the realm of the (temporarily) unattainable.
Will it clarify the subject technically and
academically if I point out that—
1. The Mutable Cross is the Cross of the
Holy Spirit, of the third Person of the Christian Trinity, as it organises
substance and evokes sensitive response from substance itself.
2. The Fixed Cross is the Cross of the Son
of God, of the second Person of the Trinity, driven through love to incarnate
in matter and to be consciously crucified upon the Cross of matter.
3. The Cardinal Cross is the Cross of the Father, the first aspect of the sacred Trinity,
Who sent forth the Holy Spirit (the Breath) because the Mind of God visioned a
destiny for matter which had been long in coming. [Page 559] Now that the
"time was at hand," the Son fulfilled the law in cooperation with the
Holy Spirit and this in response to the fiat of the Father.
These three Crosses are, in their totality
of manifestation, related to the three basic energies which brought the solar
system into being; they constitute the three major and synthetic expressions of
the supernal Will, motivated by love and expressed through activity. Upon these
Crosses, the ability to see the Whole, purpose-motive-expression, life-quality-
appearance, shifts and changes. Upon the Mutable Cross, the crucified man sees
naught of the picture. He suffers, agonises, desires, strives, is the apparent
victim of circumstances, and is distinguished by a veiled vision and inchoate
longings. These gradually take shape until he reaches the stage of acquiescence
and aspiration. Then he finds himself upon the Fixed Cross and begins to grasp
the whole of the purpose of experience upon the Mutable Cross (as far as
humanity is concerned) and to realise that there is a hierarchical purpose
which can only be grasped by the man who is willing to be crucified upon that
Cross. He reaches the stage of responsibility, self-awareness and right
direction. His orientation is now "the spiritually vertical which involves
the inclusive horizontal." At this stage, the Plan of the Logos begins to
take shape in his consciousness. Upon the Cardinal Cross, the purpose and the unified
consummations of the
two earlier crucifixions become almost blindingly apparent and a vision of the
unified intent of the three Persons of the underlying Trinity (each upon His
Own Cross) emerges with clarity.
Perhaps the simplicity of the following three symbols may serve somewhat to clarify that which I
have tried to impart.
The Mutable Cross of material change and constant movement can be depicted by the swastika. The man is unconscious of the nature of
the four entering energies and
interprets little in terms of the soul. The
energies make their impact upon him and drive him into material activity. This
Cross of the personality dedicates the man who is crucified thereon to material
ends in order that he may learn eventually their divine use. It is in the lower
aspect of this Cross that the Nazis chose this symbol as theirs; they were
expressing, at the close of the material cycle of human existence, the false
and evil use of matter, of which separativeness, cruelty and selfishness is the
key. The misuse of substance and the prostitution of matter and form to evil
ends is the sin against the Holy Spirit. It might be said that the swastika
"drives into danger dire and into evil ways, those whose greed is great
and who see no beauty in the dawning light and who know no love of human lives."
To those who respond not to the lower aspects and effects of the whirling Cross
(as it is sometimes called) "the swastika flings them from itself and far
afield until they come to rest upon the Cross of chosen crucifixion," the
Fixed Cross of the pledged disciple.
The symbol of the Fixed Cross (as far as humanity is concerned) might be depicted
thus:
Here you have the [Page 561] Cross of
Humanity. On this Cross, the man is illumined and conscious of the effects of
the completed cycle (indicated by the circle) of the four energies to which he
was subjected upon the Mutable Cross.
The symbol for the Cardinal Cross is more
complicated and can be portrayed thus:
Here you have the triangle of manifested Monad, plus the three cycles of four energies, focussed and blended in unity; you have
also the line of evolution (the evolution of consciousness) going down deep
into, and becoming inclusive of matter and at the same time reaching out into
the "Spaces of Divinity."
(EA 568)
A study of these few suggestions anent the life of Christ will bring to
light and livingness this whole subject of the three Crosses. It is needless
for me to remind you at this point that on
1. The Mutable Cross—the unrepentant thief.
Humanity.
2. The Fixed Cross—the repentant thief.
Hierarchy.
3. The Cardinal Cross—the Cross of Christ. Shamballa.
(EA 574) Upon the Fixed Cross, the united
influence of its four streams of energy, when expressing themselves fully
through an individual disciple and through the Hierarchy, produces likewise
three emerging conditions:
1. There is a vast experience of group
life, group activity and group awareness. The self-conscious man in Leo becomes
the group conscious man in Aquarius.
2. There arises in the consciousness of the
disciple a vision of the "endless Way of which Nirvana is but the
beginning."
[Page 574]
3. He recognises his task of mediatorship
which is the major task of the Hierarchy, mediating between Shamballa and Humanity. He knows that he must carry forward the
dual task of invocation and evocation simultaneously—the evocation (through
right invocation) of the will-to-good of the world thinkers and aspirants, and
also the will-to-save of the Shamballa Lords,
via the Hierarchy, which he is in a position directly to approach. I touch here
on grave mysteries.
There awakens in him, therefore, a vague
determination at first which gives place in time to an evocation of the will in
himself. This eventually puts him en rapport with the will aspect of Deity as
it emanates and is stepped down from Shamballa, via the Hierarchy, into which spiritual organisation
he is being gradually integrated through experience upon the Fixed Cross. It
might here be pointed out that:
a. Experience upon the Mutable Cross integrates
a man into the centre which we call Humanity.
b. Experience upon the Fixed Cross
integrates the disciple into the second planetary Centre which we call the
Hierarchy.
c. Experience upon the Cardinal Cross
integrates the initiate into the primary planetary Centre to which we give the
name Shamballa.
He eventually becomes a radiating centre of
spiritual will, affecting humanity and evoking its will-to-good; he blends this
into the Hierarchy as far as he can, fusing this human will into hierarchical
activity in an effort to evoke response from Shamballa.
(EA 575) 3. The Cross of the Risen Christ.
More upon this subject I may not give to
you, nor will it profit for me to enlarge upon the conditions which emerge in
the consciousness of the initiate upon the Cardinal Cross. My words would be
meaningless. Most of you are in the transition state wherein you are
stabilising your individual will, and are attempting increasingly to express it
in the will-to-good. I would have you deeply realise that if the will-to-peace
is conditioning you, then you are still working on emotional levels and your
work will then have to be with the first stanza of the Great Invocation and
with its distribution to the masses. If it is the will-to-good which influences
and directs you, then to the awakening of mass aspiration you must add the task
of evoking the response to world need in the thinkers and aspirants through the
medium of the second stanza, blending the two approaches in an effort to
evoke—via the Hierarchy—the will-to-save of Shamballa.
(EA 579) CHAPTER VII
The Rays, Constellations and Planets
(As per Tabulation X)
We come now to our last discussion upon the
zodiac and its relation to the seven rays. We have been occupied with the signs
and their effects, and with the new and deeply esoteric astrology which will
gradually supersede the present mundane astrology. By the end of this century,
it will have won its rightful place in human thought. One thing you must
constantly bear in mind. Now that the war is over, and that time of acute trial
and tribulation has come to an end, a great spiritual awakening (of a quality
and a nature quite unpredictable today) will arrive. The war will have taught
humanity many lessons and have torn the veil of self away from many eyes.
Values which have been hitherto expressed and understood only by those whose
"eyes are on God" will be the goal and the desire of untold
thousands; true understanding between men and between nations will be a longed
for objective. What humanity determines to have, it ever succeeds in achieving.
This is an occult law, for desire is as yet the strongest force in the world;
organised, unified desire was the basic reason for the appalling early
successes of the Axis. The only factor which can successfully oppose desire is
Will, using the word in its spiritual connotation and as an expression of the
first great divine aspect. There was little of that organised, spiritual will
shown by the [Page 580] allies; they were animated naturally by desire for
victory, desire for the arrival of the end of this all-engulfing world
cataclysm, by desire for peace and the return of stability, the desire to end
war once and for all and to break its constantly recurring cycle, and a
steadily mounting desire to bring to a finish the terrible toll of suffering,
of cruelty, of death, of starvation and of fear which is gripping humanity by
the throat in the attempt to strangle out its life.
1. The Nature of the Will
But all this determination is in most cases
simply the expression of
a fixed and united desire.
It is not the organised
use of the will. The
secret of the will lies in the recognition of the divine nature of man. Only
this can evoke the true
expression of the will.
It has in fact to be evoked by the soul, as it dominates the human mind and
controls the personality. The secret of the will is also closely tied in with
the recognition of the unconquerable nature of goodness and the inevitability
of the ultimate triumph of good. This is not determination; it is not whipping
up and stimulating desire so that it can be transmuted into will; it is not an
implacable, unshakable, immovable focussing of all energies in the need to
triumph (the enemies of the Forces of Light are adept at that). Victory for the
allies did lie in the effort to produce this focussing with better effect than
the enemy. The use of the will is not expressed by an iron fixation to stand
steady and not yield to evil forces. Determination, the focussing of energy and the demonstration of an
all-out effort towards victory were only (where the allies are concerned) the
expression of a one-pointed
desire for peace and
for an ending of [Page 581] the trouble. This type of effort is something which
the masses can give and which they did give on both sides in this conflict.
There is, however, a plus, a something
else, which swung the tide of victory on to the side of the Allies. It came
through an unrealized effort to understand and express the quality of spiritual
Will; it was the manifestation of that divine energy which made the first
divine aspect of will or power what it is; it is that which is the distinctive
feature of the Shamballa
force; it is that
peculiar and distinctive quality of divinity which is so different that even
Christ Himself was unable to express it with facility and understanding. Hence
we have the episode in
significance in words. Two thousand years
have gone since
This Shamballa force is nevertheless available for right usage but the
power to express it lies in its understanding (as far as may be possible at
this midway point in human evolution) and its group use. It is a unifying, synthetic force, but can be used as a regimenting, standardising force. May I repeat those two key words to the
use of the Shamballa
energy: Group Use and
Understanding.
Mankind has had much difficulty in
comprehending the significance of Love. If that is so, their problem in
relation to the Will will naturally be still more difficult. For the vast
majority of men, true love is still only a theory. Love (as we usually
interpret it) works out as kindness but it is kindness to the form side of
life, to the personalities of those around us, and fulfils itself usually in a
desire to carry [Page 582] out our obligations and not to obstruct in any way
those activities and relationships which tend to the well-being of our
fellowmen. It expresses itself in a desire to end abuses and to bring about
happier, material, world conditions; it shows itself in mother love, in love
among friends, but seldom as yet as love among groups and nations. It is the
theme of the Christian teaching, just as Will, divinely expressed, will be the
theme of the coming world religion and has been the impulse lying behind much
of the good work done in the fields of philanthropy and human welfare, but,
factually, love has never yet been expressed—except by the Christ.
You might ask, why, if this is so, do you
emphasise this highest divine aspect? Why not wait until we know more about
love and how to manifest it in our environment? Because, in its true
expression, the Will
today is needed as a propelling, expulsive force, and also as a clarifying, purifying
agent.
The first recorded utterance of the Christ
was spoken to His mother (the symbol of the substance aspect of divinity) when
He said: "Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?"
That business, related by Him to the first divine aspect, the Monad or Father
aspect, was the fulfilment of purpose and the carrying out of the intention, the
will and the purpose of God. His second utterance came at the time of the
Baptism in
1. The Will which conditions the life aspect.
2. The Will which brings fulfilment of
right human relations.
3. The Will which finally conquers death.
These three aspects are all related to the
three divine expressions of spirit, soul and body, of life, consciousness and
form, of life, quality and appearance. This phase of Christ's life expression
has never been properly studied, yet even a little grasp and understanding of
it would aid humanity to drive evil (individual, group and planetary) back to
the place from whence it came and would aid in the release of humanity from the
terror which is today stalking abroad, defying God and man.
The Shamballa energy is, therefore, that which is related to the
livingness (through consciousness and form) of humanity; we need not consider
its relation to the rest of the manifested world; it concerns the establishing
of right human relations and is that condition of being which eventually negates the power of death. It is, therefore, incentive and not
impulse; it is realised purpose and not the expression of desire. Desire works
from and through the material form upwards; Will works downwards into form, bending form consciously to divine purpose. The one [Page 584] is invocative and the
other is evocative. Desire, when massed and focussed, can invoke will; will,
when evoked, ends desire and becomes an immanent, propulsive, driving force, stabilising,
clarifying, and—among
other things—finally
destroying. It is much
more than this, but this is all that man can grasp at this time and all for
which he has, as yet, the mechanism of comprehension. It is this will—aroused
by invocation—which must be focussed in the light of the soul, and dedicated to
the purposes of light and for the purpose of establishing right human relations
which must be used (in love) to destroy all that is hindering the free flow of
human life and that is bringing death (spiritual and real) to humanity. This Will must be invoked and evoked.
I am not referring here to the use of
either of the two Great Invocations or to the third which has lately been
given. I refer to the focussed consciousness of the men and women of goodwill,
whose lives are conditioned by the will to carry forward the purposes of God in
love, who seek selflessly to understand those purposes, and who are fearless of death.
There are two great handicaps to the free
expression of the Shamballa
force in its true
nature. One is the sensitivity of the lower nature to its impact and its
consequent prostitution to selfish ends, as in the case of the sensitive,
negative German people and its use by the Axis nations for material objectives.
The second is the blocking, hindering, muddled but massed opposition of the
well-meaning people of the world who talk vaguely and beautifully about love, but refuse to consider the techniques of
the will of God in operation. According to them, that will is something with
which they personally have naught to do; they refuse to recognise that God
works out His will through men, just [Page 585] as He is ever seeking to
express His love through men; they will not believe that that will could
possibly express itself through the destruction of evil with all the material
consequences of that evil. They cannot believe that a God of Love could
possibly employ the first divine aspect to destroy the forms which are obstructing the free play
of the divine spirit;
that will must not infringe upon their interpretation of love. Such people are
individually of small moment and of no importance but their massed negativity
was a real detriment to the ending of this war, just as the massed negativity
of the German people and their inability to take right action when Hitler's
purposes were disclosed made possible the great inflow of ancient and focussed
evil which has brought the present catastrophe to man. Such people are like a millstone around the neck of humanity, crippling true effort, murmuring
"Let us love God and each other," but doing nothing but murmuring
prayers and platitudes whilst humanity is dying.
You can easily appreciate the fact that the
evocation of the energy of the will and its effect upon the unprepared,
materialistically minded person might and would prove a disaster. It would
simply serve to focus and strengthen the lower self-will, which is the name we
give to realised and determined desire. It could then create such a driving
force, directed to selfish ends, that the person might become a monster of
wickedness. In the history of the race, one or two advanced personalities have
done this with dire results both to themselves and to the people of their time.
One such figure in ancient times was Nero; the modern example is Hitler. What,
however, has made the latter so dangerous an enemy of the human family is that
during the last two thousand years mankind has advanced to a point where it can
also be responsive to certain aspects of this first ray [Page 586] force.
Hitler, therefore, found associates and cooperators who added their receptivity
to his so that an entire group became the responsive agents of the destructive
energy, expressing itself in its lowest aspect. This is what enabled them to
work ruthlessly, powerfully, selfishly, cruelly and successfully at the
destruction of all that attempted to impede their projects and desires.
Shamballa force when used by
evil will, such as Nazi or those who wish to impose Islam on the world-must be
opposed by those who can use Shamballa force-Love is useless against such foes
and would only give them more power
There is only one way in which focussed evil will, with its responsiveness to the Shamballa force, can be overcome and that is by the opposition of an equally focussed spiritual
will, displayed by
responsive men and women of goodwill who can train themselves to be sensitive
to this type of new incoming energy and can learn how to invoke and evoke it.
The will-to-good must evoke and
use Shamballa energy
You can consequently see why there was more
than the casual use of a current word in my mind when the terms of goodwill and of the will-to-good were discussed. All the time, I had in my thoughts
not just kindness and good intention, but the focussed will-to-good which can and must evoke the Shamballa energy and use it for the arresting of the forces
of evil.
This, I realise, is a relatively new idea
to many of you; to others of you it will mean little or nothing; others again
may have faint glimmerings of this new approach to God and service which—again I say—can and must remake,
rebuild, and rehabilitate the world. I would like here to point out that the will aspect can be contacted only from the
mental plane and only
those, therefore, who are working with and through the mind can begin to
appropriate this energy. Those who seek to evoke the Shamballa force are approaching close to the energy of
fire. Fire is the symbol and the quality of the mental plane. Fire is an aspect
of the divine nature. Fire was an outstanding aspect [Page 587] of the war.
Fire is produced by physical means and the aid of the mineral kingdom and this
was the great menacing and chosen means of destruction in this war. This is a fulfilment of the ancient
prophecy that the attempt to destroy the Aryan race will be
by means of fire, just
as ancient Atlantis was
destroyed by water.
But, fiery goodwill and the conscious focussed use of the Shamballa force can counter fire by fire and this must be
done.
DK recommends a group should be
formed to fit themselves to contact and use the Shamballa energy
I cannot give you more upon this subject
until you have given time to its consideration and have sought to understand
the use of the will, its nature, purpose and its relation to what you
understand by the human will. You must ponder upon how it should be employed
and in what manner aspirants and disciples who are mentally polarised can focus
that will and safely shoulder the responsibility for its wise use. Later when
you know more about it, I can give you further knowledge upon the matter. I
would however like to make one practical suggestion. Might there not be organised a group who would take this subject as the theme
of their meditation and who would try to fit themselves—by right understanding
—to contact and use the Shamballa
energy? Would it not
be possible gradually to
elaborate this theme
of the revelation of the
divine will so that
the general subject may
be ready for presentation to the thinking public when peace truly comes? There is much to
be considered in this connection. There is the demonstration of the three aspects of the will as enumerated above; there is the
preparation of the individual for the expression of this energy; there is a
mature consideration to be given to the relation of the Hierarchy to Shamballa, carried forward as the Masters attempt to work out
divine purpose and to be the distributing Agents of the will energy. There is
the effort to be made to comprehend somewhat the nature of [Page 588] the direct impact of the first aspect upon the
human consciousness,
apart from the hierarchical centre altogether—an impact made without any of the
absorbing and stepping-down process to which the Hierarchy subjects it. I have
referred to this direct contact elsewhere; it can be more direct and complete
when there is greater safety brought about by a more understanding human
approach.
To offset this and eventually
bring about the elimination of the influence of the dark forces from our planet
must come the active, conscious use of the Shamballa force by the White Lodge
One of the causes lying behind World War II is to be found in a premature contact—a
contact made by certain selfish minds of a relatively high quality, aided by the Black Lodge. To offset this and eventually bring about
the elimination of the influence of the dark forces from our planet must come
the active, conscious
use of the Shamballa force by the White Lodge, aided by the men and women whose will-to-good is strong enough to safeguard them from personal peril in
their work and from being deflected on to wrong and dangerous lines. This aid
necessitates a certain definite and planned contact and interplay between the
two centres: Humanity and Hierarchy. When this is better established, there can
be organised and known cooperation and the members of both great centres can
"stand together with massed intent." This massed intent will be the
correspondence upon the mental plane of the massed intent of the general public
who stand with the power of appeal upon their lips and in their hearts. To this
appeal must be added the focussed will of the world thinkers and intuitives who
will use their minds and brains in the affirmation of right.
It was for the reason that the will aspect
was involved that I made our last point in our consideration of the seven rays
to be a consideration of the Rays, Constellations and Planets, as given in
Tabulation X. The
inter-relation there given concerns the first aspect of the will, as I have [Page 589] here indicated. The
analysis of this tabulation will complete our consideration of esoteric
astrology.
The seven stars of the Great Bear are the originating sources of the seven rays of our solar system. The seven Rishis of the Great Bear express
Themselves through the medium of the seven planetary Logoi Who are Their
Representatives and to whom they stand in the relation of Prototype. These
seven planetary Spirits manifest through the medium of the seven sacred
planets.
Each of these seven rays, coming from the
Great Bear, are transmitted into our solar system through the medium of three constellations and their ruling planets. The following
tabulation will make this clear, but must be interpreted only in terms of the
present turn of the great zodiacal wheel of 25,000 years.
2. Various Aspects of the Will
We have now the difficult task of
considering an aspect of divine manifestation which is as yet so little
apparent upon the physical plane that we lack the exact word with which to
express it and those words available are likewise misleading. I can, however,
attempt to give you certain concepts, relationships and parallels which may
serve to close this section on astrology and lay a foundation for future teaching around the year 2025. That is the mode whereby all revelation
comes. A thought is given; a symbol described; an idea portrayed. Then, as the
minds of men ponder upon it and the intuitives of the world pick up the
thought, it serves as a seed thought which eventually comes to fruition with
the presentation and the unfolding of a revelation which serves to lead the
race of men nearer to their goal.
Each Ray functions through three
constellations for a 25,000 year period after which new constellations make up
each ray triangle
TABULATION X
Ray
Planets
Constellations
Orthodox Esoteric
| Aries.
The Ram Mars Mercury
I. Will or Power |Leo. The Lion The Sun The Sun
|Capricorn. The Goat Saturn Saturn
|Gemini. The Twins Mercury Venus
II. Love-Wisdom |Virgo. The Virgin Mercury The Moon
|Pisces.
The Fishes Jupiter Pluto
|Cancer. The Crab The Moon
III. Active Intelligence|Libra. The
Scales Venus Uranus
|Capricorn. The
Goat Saturn Saturn
IV. Harmony through |Taurus.The Bull Venus Vulcan
Conflict |Scorpio.
The Scorpion Mars Mars
|Sagittarius. The Archer
Jupiter The
Earth
|Leo. The Lion The Sun The Sun
|Sagittarius. The
Archer Jupiter The Earth
V. Concrete Science |Aquarius. The Water
|
Carrier
Uranus Jupiter
|Virgo. The
Virgin Mercury The Moon
VI. Devotion. Idealism |Sagittarius.The
Archer Jupiter The Earth
|Pisces.
The Fishes Jupiter Pluto
|Aries.
The Ram Mars Mercury
We are considering the expression of the Shamballa force in terms of Will, i.e., of divine
purpose, latent in the mind of God since the beginning of time and the dawn of creation.
In God's mind, that idea
is seen whole and complete. In manifestation it is a gradual, self-revealing evolutionary and
demonstrated activity. We know somewhat of the intelligence aspect of God. It
is revealed in the living activity of substance. Of the love of that Great
Thinker, we are learning slowly and its revelation has reached the stage where
the human mind can contrast its [Page 591]
mode of living activity with the visioned and sensed love of Deity,
expressed as yet by the desire for right human relations and right treatment of
all that is non-human. Of
the will and purpose of God, humanity knows nothing, for the individual will or the collective
human will which could act as interpreter, revealer and also serve as a mode of
contact, is dedicated to selfishness and blind to the higher reaches of divine
expression. Mankind's so-called acquiescence in the will of God is based on his
wish life, on his negativity and on the visions of the saints. Their keynote
was submission and their highest point of spiritual contact was still tinged
with dualism and still conditioned by modes of human interpretation.
It should be possible, through a
study of the seven rays and their related constellations and their transmitting
agents, the planets, to gain some general idea of the pouring through of
the Shamballa energy
Under the occult method, we must begin with
the universal and the whole; in time the individual and the particular will
stand revealed, but in relation to the whole. It should be possible, through a
study of the seven rays and their related constellations and their transmitting
agents, the planets, to
gain some general idea of the pouring through of the Shamballa energy as emerging purpose on the physical plane.
Life-synthesises spirit, soul
and body
I have earlier referred to three major expressions of the will aspect. There is will, as the conditioner of the life aspect. This refers not to events, happenings and
occurrence, but to the nature of the life manifestations in any cycle, through
any nation or race, where humanity is concerned. This refers also to the broad
and general lines which at any time upon the planet are setting the pace for
the evolution of forms and which basically concerns the force and endurance of
the life as it manifests through and creates those external conditions which
are qualified and expressed in terms of life, of quality and appearance. The
word "life" in this triplicity of terms refers to life as [Page 592]
humanity understands it. The
word "life"
to which I here refer is the life to which H.P.B. refers as that which synthesises spirit, soul and body. (See The Secret Doctrine,
There is next the will which brings fulfilment. This is the basis of all relationships
and all processes of inter-relation in our solar system and (as far as humanity
is concerned) in the planet. It is the prime factor in bringing about the
inevitability of the divine consummation; it is the cause of all fruition of
all forms on all planes and of divine intention; it is that which lies back of
consciousness itself. I know not how else to express this in words and having
done so they prove wholly inadequate. There is a faint, dim, uncertain
reflection of this will-fulfilment in the joy of achievement as registered by a
human being who finds his heart's desire. Long processes of evolution precede
this fulfilment and long experience of the living activity of the will of God
as Life. This concentrated evolutionary effort, this undeviating purpose has
called forth more than desire and more than the will-to-be-active. There is a
realised achievement from the very start for this is the divine
will-to-completion which precedes the creative effort. It is the synthesis of creation,
or persistent endeavour, adherence to vision and complete sacrifice, and all of
these in terms of divine experienced experiment, if I might so formulate the
idea. Remember, therefore, that all through these experiences of the divine
will runs the thread of a fulfilled synthesis. This is more than cohesion in
time and space; it is more [Page 593] than the principle of privation about
which H.P.B. speaks, and more than self-imposed limitation. It is the end seen
from the beginning; it is alpha and omega producing the completed whole and the
perfect fruition of the divine will.
It is, finally, the will which conquers death. This again must not be interpreted in
terms of death as it affects the form nature of manifestation. The note of
synthesis and triumph—realised and complete—persists behind all that we can
recognise as death. This will is the principle of victory, of the ultimate goal
of life when fruition is achieved; it is the final united success or unified
conformity to a long foreseen purpose of spirit-matter, life-form, plus that
something which is the dream and goal of the highest initiates in the Hierarchy
to contact—the secret
revelation of Shamballa
itself. More it is not possible to say. If Christ Himself is striving towards
that knowledge, it is not possible for us to do more than speculate.
In these few words, I have sought to convey
an idea of a vast subjective realisation. What I am hinting at in reality is
the objective of that "endless Way of which Nirvana itself is but the open
door"—the Way to the higher evolution for which our evolutionary process
prepares mankind. I am indicating what is the goal of all hierarchical
endeavour. Mankind is so preoccupied with the attitude and effort of the
Hierarchy as regards human welfare and guidance that the goal of the efforts of
the Masters of the Wisdom is naturally overlooked. It is in reality no concern
of man. Nevertheless, the picture of the divine Plan so oft emphasised in
occult books and by occult teachers is distorted unless it is realised that
just as humanity strives towards the Hierarchy, so that Hierarchy itself
strives towards Shamballa. As the Old Commentary has it:
[Page 594]
"He who sees in the dark light of Shamballa penetrates to that which lies beyond our
little sphere to that which can be sensed behind the holy triangle (Venus,
Mercury, the Earth, A.A.B.). There is to be found the point of radiant fire
which shines within the eye (Taurus), which burns upon the mountain-top
(Capricorn) and which the water cannot quench (Aquarius). These are the holiest
three."
As we consider the seven rays as outlined in Tabulation X, I would have you bear in mind that we are viewing
them as expressions of
this threefold will.
We have studied them in some detail in my other books from the angle of
consciousness and from the point of view as producing changes and expansions of
consciousness in man, in nations and in races. Now, as far as may be possible,
we are going to consider these rays as they express the pure, living activity
of Deity as it fulfils Itself in manifestation as pure incentive, directed
impersonal energy, divine instinct which latter is a blend of instinctual force
and intuitive energy. It might be pointed out to those of you who have some
measure of occult perception that this synthetic Life, being cosmic, emerges
from cosmic planes and not systemic. Hence the difficulty in comprehending it.
1. The conditioning will is the synthesis of the life of the cosmic physical plane of which our
seven planes are the seven subplanes. Until, therefore, the human consciousness
is far more expanded than it is, it is not possible for man to understand this
synthetic realisation.
2. The will which brings fulfilment is the divine incentive [Page 595]
(impulse is not the correct term) coming from the cosmic astral plane.
3. The will which conquers death is an outpouring from the cosmic mental plane.
From these three cosmic planes (embracing the sacred personality of the Logoi, solar and
planetary) come the
united energies of the three
constellations which
control and energise our solar system: The Great Bear, the Pleiades and Sirius; these work through the medium of the seven rays and these in turn express themselves through the twelve constellations which form the great zodiacal wheel. The Lords
or ruling Powers of these twelve sources of light and life "step
down" the potency of these three major energies so that our solar Logos can absorb them; they "tune out" those aspects
of these three Potencies which are not suited to our systemic life at this
point in the evolutionary process, just as the Hierarchy upon our little planet
tunes out or steps down the energies from Shamballa. These three major energies in a mysterious manner
express themselves through the seven rays just as all triplicities subdivide into septenates, yet preserve their identity. These seven energies, emanating from the major three and transmitted via the twelve constellations, are embodied in the seven sacred planets
and are represented on our Earth by the seven Spirits before the throne of God
(the symbol of synthesis). This tremendous inter-relation is embodied in one
great process of: Transmission. Reception. Absorption. Relation and Living
Activity. The method is one of Invocation and Evocation. In these two sentences,
you have one of the most important clues to the whole evolutionary process; the
key to the mystery of time and space, and the solution of [Page 596] all
problems. But the factor which is of major importance is that the whole matter
is an expression of focussed Will.
In considering this process, I would have
you study Tabulation X, for it is a symbolic form, embodying what
I seek to convey. I would point out that the will aspect—as it is embodied in the rays and transmitted by the constellations—works out destructively when concentrated
through an orthodox planet and constructively
when concentrated through an esoteric planet. Here you have the secret guide to the significance
of death and immortality. This is something which the average astrologer will
be unable to prove because the cycles involved are too long; intuitively he can
however grasp the probability of my proposition. May I again remind you that
our theme is the divine plan, purpose and will; it is not the evolution of
consciousness, or of the second aspect of divinity. It concerns spirit and not
soul. We are attempting in some measure to formulate the life of the Father,
the will of the Monad and the purpose of Spirit. In all these (the three
aspects of the will) lies germinating the seed of the next solar system, the
third, and the fruition of the Personality Manifestation of the Logos. We need,
therefore, to formulate the interpretation of the seven rays in terms of will
and not of love or consciousness. This we will now attempt to do.
RAY I.—The energy of Will or Power. This ray is outstandingly
related to that aspect
of will which conquers death. It is nevertheless the Ray of the Destroyer. In this connection, I would remind you that the
human attitude that death is the destroyer presents a limited and erroneous
point of view. The first ray destroys death because in reality there is no such
thing; the concept is all part of the Great Illusion, is a limitation of [Page
597] the human consciousness, and is basically connected with the brain and not
with the heart, strange as that may seem to you. It is in a very true sense
"a figment of the imagination." Ponder on this. The abolition of
death and of the destruction of form is a manifestation of Ray I, for it brings
about in reality the death of negation and the inauguration of true activity.
It is the energy which can be called "divine incentive"; it is the
life in the seed which destroys successively all forms in order that realised
fruition may eventuate. That is the clue to Ray I. It is the Will which
initiates.
Today, as regards humanity, its highest realisation is initiation.
RAY II.—The energy of Love-Wisdom. This basic energy is the will to unify, to
synthesise, to produce
coherence and mutual attraction and to establish relationships, but—remember
this—relationships which are entirely apart from the consciousness of relation
or the realisation of unity. It is the fact of unification as seen from the
beginning and as existing ever and forever in the Mind of God Whose will
embraces past, present and future and Whose mind does not think in terms of
evolution or of process. The process is inherent in the seed; the evolutionary
urge is the inevitable accompaniment of life in manifestation. It is the Will to unification.
Today, as regards humanity, its highest expression is the mystical vision.
RAY III.—The energy of Active Intelligence. This is the will of conditioned purpose. The factors which are working out through
its medium are the forceful carrying forward of the recognised plan with a goal
intelligently [Page 598] conceived and an active incentive which carries the
process intelligently forward on the strength of its own momentum. Again I
would remind you that I am dealing not with human consciousness but with the
sum total of that undertaking which makes matter subservient to and adaptable
to the basic idea in the mind of God. And no human being is as yet able to
conceive of that idea. No one knows what is the will of God or what is the
nature of His intelligent purpose. It is the Will to evolution.
Today, as regards humanity, its highest expression is education, or progressive development through
experience.
RAY IV.—The energy of Harmony through Conflict. This is
fundamentally the will
to destroy limitation.
This is not the same thing as the will to destroy negation as in the case of
Ray I, but is an allied aspect of that. I am not referring to the consciousness
aspect which recognises and profits by such struggle. I am referring to the
energy, inherent in all forms and peculiarly strong in humanity (because man is
self-conscious), which produces inevitably and unavoidably the struggle between
life and that which it has chosen as a limitation; this eventually shatters or
breaks up that limitation the moment that a point of real harmony or at-one-ment
has been reached. Esoterically it might be said that the moment that form
(limitation) and life balance each other a rift immediately appears and through
it flows a fresh outpouring of the will. Christ had to die because He had
achieved harmony with the will of God and then "the veil of the
Today, its highest expression as regards humanity is the
intuition, as it works
out through group activity. Death always releases the individual into the
group.
RAY V.—The energy of Concrete Science or Knowledge. To
understand this expression of the divine will, the student should bear in mind
the occult aphorism that "matter is spirit at its lowest point of
manifestation and spirit is matter at its highest." Basically this is the will which produces concretion and yet at the same time constitutes the
point at which spirit and matter are balanced and co-equal. That is the reason
why human perfection is carried forward consciously upon the mental plane, the
fifth plane; this is brought about by the fifth ray and upon this plane
liberation takes place at the time of the fifth initiation. This is the will
which is inherent in substance and which actuates all atoms of which all forms
are made. It is closely related to the first solar system even whilst
liberating members of the human family who will constitute the nucleus around
which the third solar system is constructed. The energy of this ray is
intelligence; it is the seed of consciousness but not of consciousness as we
understand it; it is the inherent [Page 600] life of matter and the will to
work intelligently; it is that living something for which we have no name which
was the product of the first solar system. It is one of the major assets of
God, the Father and also of the human Monad. This is the Will to Action.
Today, as regards humanity, its highest
expression is liberation—through
death or initiation.
RAY VI.—The energy of Devotion or of Idealism. This is the will which embodies God's idea. It provides the motive power behind the
working out of whatever may be the purpose of creation. What that purpose is we
have not as yet the faintest idea. An ideal is related to the consciousness
aspect as far as human beings are concerned. An idea is related to the will
aspect. This ray embodies a dominant potency. It expresses God's desire and is
the basic energy emanating from the cosmic astral plane. It conceals the
mystery which is to be found in the relationship of the will and desire. Desire
is related to consciousness. Will is not. We are not, however, dealing with
consciousness but with that impersonal force which drives forward through all
the seven planes of our solar system and which makes the idea of God a
consummated fact in the Eternal Now. Does that statement mean much to you? I
would surmise that it means but little; it is a basic statement of occult fact
anent energy as it expresses itself through humanity in a manner which is
unique and peculiar. I would here remind you of a statement in The Secret
Doctrine that "an Idea is a Being incorporeal which has no subsistence by
itself but gives figure and form unto shapeless matter and becomes the cause of
the manifestation." This statement takes you straight back to God [Page
601] the Father, to the Monad, to the One. It is related, consequently, to the
Will and not to consciousness. Consciousness is per se the recognition of a
progressive plan. The Will is the cause, the energising Principle, Life, Being.
This is the Will to
Causation.
Today, as regards humanity, its highest expression is idealism, the
incentive and cause of human activity.
RAY VII.—This is the energy of Ceremonial Order. It is an
expression of the will which drives through into outer manifestation; it is
that which embodies both the periphery and the point at the centre. It is the
will to "ritualistic synthesis," if I might so word it. It is
Necessity which is the prime conditioning factor of the divine nature—the
necessity to express itself; the necessity to manifest in an orderly rhythmic
manner; the necessity to embrace "that which is above and that which is
below" and, through the medium of this activity, to produce beauty, order,
perfect wholes and right relationships. It is the driving energy which Being
emanates as It appears and takes form and lives. It is the Will towards Expression.
Today, as regards humanity, its highest expression is organisation.
In the above statements anent the rays, you
can see that the full circle of their activity is complete from the angle of
God the Father; the will to initiate manifestation and its attendant
progressive expression meets the will towards full achievement and the energy
of Being itself arrives—in time and space today (in the mind of God) at full
consummation.
The Keynotes of the Seven Rays
and the Will Aspect
3. The Keynotes of the Seven Rays and the Will Aspect.
The keynotes of these seven Rays are,
therefore, as they constitute the revelation of seven Great Beings:
Initiation. Unification. Evolution.
Harmonisation. Action. Causation. Expression.
These are the keynotes for humanity at its
present point of evolutionary development; as these seven energies play upon
the human consciousness in an effort to produce and evoke the Will aspect in
advanced man they produce:
Initiation. Vision. Education. Intuition.
Liberation. Idealism. Organisation.
A close study of these seven major rays and seven minor keynotes will reveal these truths and their
promise. At the close of the Aquarian Age, these keynotes will vary somewhat
because the recognition of the Will (leading to understanding cooperation) will
produce major changes in human polarisation and human objectives—realised
objectives.
Let us now see how these basic ray energies
will work out in man's planetary and zodiacal relationships and why certain
constellations and planets are related to certain rays and transmit into the
centre which we call humanity definite and specific influences. These produce
certain tendencies in humanity, evoke certain attitudes of the will, and lead
consequently to certain unavoidable events as well as to definite and
determined forms of Being.
As we proceed with our consideration of Tabulation X, there are certain fundamental ideas which
must be carefully borne in mind. Let me list them for your helping:
1. We are dealing with the effect of the
seven ray energies, as they pour forth from one or other of the seven stars of the Great Bear into
our solar system.
These energies [Page 603] are the life-quality of the seven great Beings Who are the Prototypes of
the planetary Logoi of the sacred planets, seven in number. These latter are
Their reflections in time and space, as the soul is the reflector of the Monad where human beings are concerned.
2. The seven rays express themselves, each through three of the zodiacal
constellations. The
analogy (but not the correspondence) is that these three constellations are to
the life of one of these ray Beings what the three aspects of monad-soul-body
are to a man. Again, it is only analogy. Forget not that analogy and
correspondence are not the same. In the first case there is resemblance but not
in detail. In the second, there is practically identical expression, usually on
a lower level.
3. These seven great Beings express
Themselves in our solar system as the custodians or the exponents of the Will aspect of Deity. Their effect, therefore, is ever to convey
into our solar system and eventually into our planetary life, the energy of the
Will, in its planmaking, form-building nature. Esoteric books and esoteric
teaching have necessarily laid the emphasis upon consciousness as it expresses
quality. That is as it should be. But behind all quality lies That of which the
quality is the expression and behind that is to be found the dynamic
"out-going" (if I might so express it) which is the motivation of
both the quality or consciousness and the life or appearance, the precipitation
of will and quality.
4. The nature of the will is as yet
undefinable for only the Monad responds to its impact, and only after the third
initiation does man somewhat grasp the nature of the will. All that is possible
to understand in this brief summation is the effect of the will as it makes its
presence [Page 604] felt and the result of its expression, emphasised through
the three constellations.
5. The constellations in groups of three
transmit the seven influences of the seven rays to our planet, via the Sun, and
the relationships which I am here indicating are only those in connection with
our Earth. They do not apply in relation to others of the planets in our solar
system, where the configuration of the relationship is different. This is
dependent upon the nature of the etheric web through which all transmission of
energies takes place. The lines of approach might be indicated as follows:
DIAGRAM ONE, DIAGRAM TWO
[Page 605]
6. This diamond shaped formation of the
inter-related energies is the prototypal pattern which lies behind the etheric
network and is its final, conditioning influence as far as our Earth is
concerned. It is hinted at in the reference to the "diamond soul" of
which the Buddha is an exponent. This is necessarily a deep mystery but the
correlation is interesting and guaranteeing.
7. These seven ray energies, expressing the
divine prototypal will in seven forms, are as follows:
Ray I.—The will to initiate.
Ray II.—The will to unify.
Ray III.—The will to evolve.
Ray IV.—The will to harmonise or relate.
Ray V.—The will to act.
Ray VI.—The will to cause.
Ray VII.—The will to express.
When their full creative work is completed,
there will emerge a "something else or other" for which we have no
name but which will be the seed of the next solar system. This third solar
system will express the divine will, as this is slowly developed through the
experiment and experience of the divine love.
8. These seven ray aspects of the will,
which are the goal of the higher initiations and which embody that which the
Masters Themselves are struggling to understand, is that which flowers in the
Monad when souls have reached perfected expression through humanity. They
express themselves where humanity is concerned as:
Ray I.—That which incites to and produces
initiation.
Ray II.—That which is the cause of vision
or the power to see.
Ray III.—That which develops sensory
perception into knowledge, knowledge into wisdom and wisdom into omniscience.
Ray IV.—That which is the illumined will,
the basis of buddhi or the intuition.
Ray V.—That which is the cosmic seed of
liberation. This is an aspect of destruction.
Ray VI.—That which is the cause of the
thoughtform building faculty, related to the creative urge.
Ray VII.—That which can be called the
principle of order.
9. Just as desire has produced this
"son of necessity," our solar system, there lies behind all the
energies of the Heart of God and all the forces which have produced the
manifested universe that which is the result of divine need. It is neither the
cosmic correspondence of brain or mind or focussed intention, as you might
surmise. It is that synthetic something which produces cohesion and results in
fruition or synthesis as the effect or final result of manifestation.
It is well-nigh impossible for me to make
this any clearer because I am speaking of some of the final aspects and effects
of the highest initiations. I only touch upon them because they consummate and
climax this study of divine psychology as it manifests through God and through
man. I am simply giving faint and inadequate indications of that which emerges
in the human consciousness after the third initiation—the point at which
personality or form life is transcended and the Monad becomes the object of the
desired attainment; its spiritual pressure is then increasingly felt. It is,
therefore, only possible to point to distant goals. [Page 607] We can, however,
gain some dim, human interpretations of divine goals by relating these rays and
their transmitting constellations to our Earth and by noting how this
triangular relationship can work out on our planet. Individual apprehension
will be dependent upon the point of development and only the higher initiates
will understand the real implications of my remarks.
You have to remember, therefore, as you
study these most deeply esoteric relations that we approach them from two
angles—the only angles which are as yet possible to the finite mind of man:
1. The relation of the three constellations
to the rays which are each expressing the quality of the Life of an Informing
Entity—the Being Who is expressing Identity through one or
other of the seven stars
of the Great Bear, Ursa Major, as we probably ought to call this constellation.
2. The three aspects of the will which the
three constellations are expressing and to which human beings will consciously
respond after the third initiation. These three aspects are:
a. The will which conditions and initiates.
b. The will which brings fulfilment.
c. The will which conquers death.
Before entering into a closer analysis of
our subject, I would remind you that we are in reality dealing with universals,
symbolised for us in the huge aggregate of constellations with which our theme
is concerned:
1. The seven stars of the Great Bear or
Ursa Major are involved in an intricate relation with Ursa Minor and the
Pleiades. With this we shall not deal. This major [Page 608] triplicity of
constellations has a peculiar relation to that Great Being to Whom I have at
times referred as the One
About Whom Naught Can Be Said. All that can be hinted at is that these three galaxies of stars are
the three aspects of that Indescribable, Absolute Monad, the Ineffable Cause of
the seven solar systems—of which ours is one.
2. The twelve constellations of the zodiac,
each with its own inter-relations, peculiar to its own integral Life, form—each
of them—part of a triangle of energies. Each of these triangles is a unit in
itself but in conjunction with the other triangles forms part of that major
quaternary which is the cosmic analogy of the quaternary of the One Life—soul
and the dual psychic nature, called in some of the esoteric books kama-manas, plus the vital nature. These four are the expression of the One
Ineffable Cause.
3. Our solar system (of supreme
unimportance) is yet a part of the sevenfold appearance of that same Essential
Cause. As you know, from a study of The Secret Doctrine, our solar system is a
tiny reflection or replica of the 1, the 3, the 7, the 12. Because of that
innate, inherent correspondence, it has within itself the capacity to respond
to the energies emanating from this fountainhead of light and will. More than
this I may not say, because the entire theme is too vast for human thinking,
with its limitations of consciousness and its inadequacy of language. But even
a dim perception of that vast aggregation of intelligent Forces and this
immense concatenation of stupendous, divine "Intentions" will serve
to bring into clearer light, the realisation that our solar system (and
consequently our planet) is a part of this vast whole, kept alive by its
"grace," [Page 609] fused by its will, and preserved by its
"Intention." Because these Forces are, we are; because They persist,
we persist; because They move in form, in space, in time, we do the same.
(EA 614) It is necessary to remember that
on the Path of
Initiation, the whole training process is turned towards the
evolution of the will
and this is possible because behind the development of love lies the revelation
of the will. It is rightly [Page 614] taught that man's immediate goal is the
unfoldment (into full expression) of the love nature. This begins to take place
and reaches a relatively high stage of unfoldment upon the Path of
Discipleship. The detail of the process in a broad and general sense might be
stated as follows:
1. Path of Evolution and Probation.
a. Unfoldment of intellect and of sensory
perception.
b. Response to the centre called Humanity.
c. The mind takes control. Personality
functions.
2. Path of Discipleship.
a. Unfoldment of the love nature.
b. Achievement of illumination.
c. Response to the centre called the Hierarchy.
d. Buddhi or the intuition is in control.
The soul functions.
3. Path of Initiation.
a. Unfoldment of the will.
b. Achievement of synthesis.
c. Response to the centre called Shamballa.
d. Dynamic Purpose in control. The will-to-good. The Monad functions.
“seventh initiation—an
initiation far more easily reached by people upon the first Ray than on any of
the others.”
This covers familiar ground for all of you
but in the effort to achieve a vision of the whole, constant repetition has its
place. We are now concerned with the third stage of the evolutionary process,
carried forward upon the Path of Initiation and entered into (as far as
humanity is concerned) at the third initiation, and consummated at the seventh initiation—an initiation far more easily reached by people upon the first Ray than on any of the others.
This—as far as you can at this time
grasp—concerns primarily the creative will as it:
[Page 615]
1. Initiates manifestation, and conditions
that which is created.
2. Brings about eventual fulfilment.
3. Overcomes death or differentiation.
“sustained effort is the seed of
synthesis, the cause of achievement and that which finally overcomes death”
All initiates must and eventually do
express dynamic,
creative will, a focussed purpose which expresses only the will-to-good and also that sustained effort which
brings fulfilment. I would remind you here that sustained effort is the seed of synthesis, the cause
of achievement and that which finally overcomes death. Death is really deterioration in time and
space and is due to the tendency of matter-spirit to isolate itself, whilst in
manifestation (from the standpoint of consciousness). This sustained effort of
the Logos is what keeps all forms in manifestation and preserves even the life
aspect as the integrating factor in form building and—which is equally an act
of the sustaining will—can abstract or withdraw the life consciousness intact
at the close of a cycle of manifestation. Death and limitation are synonymous terms. When the consciousness is focussed in form
and identified entirely with the principle of limitation, it regards freedom
from form life as death; but, as evolution proceeds, the consciousness shifts
increasingly into awareness of that which is not form and into the realm of that
which is transcendent or into the world of the abstract, i.e., into that which
is abstracted from form and focussed in itself. This, by the way is a
definition of meditation from the angle of goal and achievement. A man can
truly meditate when he begins to use the mind, the reflection of the will
aspect, and employs it in its three aspects: as initiating his entrance into
the world of souls, as conditioning his personality life and as enforcing and
eventually bringing about a full expression of soul purpose. This results [Page
616] in the complete overcoming of death. I am bringing this whole concept down
into terms of the microcosm even though it will be obvious that only the
pledged disciple in preparation for initiation can begin to grasp some of the
significant implications.
Perhaps I can best sum up the keynote of
the first Ray of Will or Power, as it seeks expression as dynamic purpose on
Earth and in relation to the human being, by quoting or paraphrasing the Old
Commentary.
"The Transcendent One, the Life, the
Whole, the All entered into communion with Itself and by this act became a
vital point of life and focussed power.
I am and I am not. Greater than This is
That; smaller than That is This. But That must show to This the nature of the
whole, and showing prove itself unto Itself.
I, the beginning am. I am the outward and
the inward Way and back into the point of concentration and from the point I
turn again unto Myself, carrying within my heart of love that which I, the One,
have served and that for which I sacrifice Myself."
In the process of sacrifice, that which is
the sustaining Whole, the inner core of all life and the principle of
integration, realises within Itself the following stages in consciousness:
1. It knows Itself as the transcending will, the will which sees the entire process
from the point of initiation, but which limits itself to the gradual expression
of that will on account of the limitations of those aspects of Itself [Page
617] whose consciousness is not that of the Whole. That which initiates, sees
the end from the beginning and works towards the goal in progressive stages,
not for Itself but for those aspects which are still limited, unaware, blind
and unseeing and unreasoning.
2. It knows Itself as the transmitting will, working from the point of synthesis,
stepping down the energies distributed, in line with the creative, evolutionary
plan. This, the Life of our planet, carried forward in three major stages,
particularly from the consciousness angle; that is via Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity. From thence the
transmitting Life moves outward into all the other kingdoms of nature. Each
great centre is, therefore, a transmitting agency. The fourth Creative
Hierarchy, the human Kingdom, is the agent through which eventually the
energies of Shamballa and of the Hierarchy will be focussed for
the redeeming of the life of all the sub-human kingdoms. This can only take
place when humanity can work with the focussed will, engendered by the life of Shamballa, inspired by love, fostered by the Hierarchy and
expressed through the intellect which humanity itself has developed—all of
these used dynamically and consciously under the pressure of that which is
higher and greater than Shamballa itself.
3. It knows Itself as the transforming will or that sustained, applied process which
brings about the needed mutations and changes through the action of the
constant incentive of the will-to-good. Yet at the same time it is not
identified in any way with the process. These mutations, producing
transformation of the One into the Many and later in time and space of the Many
into the One are carried forward from a point of [Page 618] focussed, dynamic
will, the "Point in the Centre" which changes not but remains ever
immovably subject to its own inherent purpose.
When the disciple or the initiate can stand
also at the centre as the transforming will, he can then bring about the needed
changes in the form nature without identifying himself with it or being himself
affected by the changes. This may serve to make my meaning clear.
4. It knows Itself as the transfiguring will. This transfiguration is the fulfilment of
purpose and the final expression of synthesis brought about by the sustaining
will-to-good of the transcending, transmitting, transforming will.
Students would do well to shift their eyes off the goal of
transfiguration
(achieved at the third initiation and increasingly present at each previous
initiation) and pay more attention to the recognition of that in them which
"having pervaded their little universe with a fragment of itself
remains." They will then have anchored their consciousness in the centre
of transcending power and guaranteed
the flow of the will-to-achieve. From that
The Transmitting Ray=Monadic Ray
Transforming Ray=Soul Ray
Transfiguring Ray=Personality
Ray
To return to our theme of the greater
Whole, leaving behind us for a minute the efforts of the microcosm to
comprehend the Macrocosm, let us consider the relation of the three
constellations in the task of expressing Ray One:
1. ARIES is the constellation through which initiating conditions will stream into our solar system. It embodies the
will-to-create that which will express the will-to-good. It is the monadic ray of our planetary Logos, Whose Soul ray is the second and the personality ray the third. You can note here, therefore, how the transmitting ray of our planetary Logos is
the first; and hence
the place which the will plays in our human evolutionary process; His transforming ray is the second and that eventually brings transfiguration through the medium of the
third and in this
combination you have the reason why, in the evolution of the will aspect, you
have the influence of Mars and Mercury—the one bringing conflict and the death
of the form and the other bringing illumination and the development of the
intuition as a result of that conflict and death. New cycles of Being and of
consciousness are initiated by conflict. Such seems as yet to be the law of
life and the governing factor in evolution. If, however, the result of this
initiating, energising will is to produce such beneficent effects of intuitive
understanding and the activity of Mercury as the messenger of the Gods, it can
be seen how truly through conflict the will-to-good can be wrought out.
2. LEO. This is the constellation through which the will-to-fulfilment or to achievement pours into humanity and
on to the planet. It is essentially the spirit of self-determination. [Page
620] It is at first the determination of
the little self, the personality, the self-conscious individual. It is next the
determination of the Self, the soul, the group conscious individual, aware of
the greater Whole and of itself as the part, integrated and basically at-one.
This will-to-good (achieved through fulfilment) works out in relation
to the human being through the medium of three climaxes:
1. The will-to-good, demonstrated by the
achieving of self-consciousness. This is the first stage of completed, divine
fulfilment. It connotes body, appearance. It is the expression of the third
aspect.
2. The will-to-good, demonstrated at the
third initiation when self-consciousness gives place to group consciousness.
This is the second stage of divine fulfilment. It connotes soul, quality. It is
the expression of the second aspect.
3. The will-to-good, demonstrated in the
higher initiations when God-consciousness is achieved. This is the third stage
of divine fulfilment. It connotes Monad, Life. It is the expression of the
first aspect.
It is useful to see these relationships. It
will also be obvious why the Sun rules Leo, both exoterically and esoterically.
The Sun reveals or "lights up" the two stages of the hidden will: the
physical sun, lighting up the personality upon the physical plane and the Heart
of the Sun revealing the nature of the soul.
3. CAPRICORN. This is the constellation by means of which comes
the conquering will which releases from form life and
initiates the man into the kingdom wherein the will aspect (not the soul
aspect) of divinity expresses itself. You will remember that there is a close
connection between [Page 621] the Earth and Capricorn. The reason for this is
that the Earth provides ideal conditions for this particular type of
achievement because it is in process of transforming from the stage of a
"non-sacred planet" into that of a "sacred planet." This is
why Saturn is so
powerful a ruler and transmitter to the Earth of the dynamic quality of the
first ray of power.
This inpouring of first ray energy will be greatly accelerated from now on.
These energies and their inflow must be carefully studied in connection with
the diagrams given earlier in this treatise, remembering that visualisation is
always a directing energy, employed to bring about a specific desired effect.
Aries, the Initiator, Leo, the Self, and
Capricorn, the transfiguring Agent—such are some of the implications in
relation to the first ray and humanity.
I would point out here that I have given
this triangle of constellations in the order of their relationship to the Great
Life Who employs them as transmitting agencies for first ray activities. It
should also be noted that the reason for this relation is inherent in the
nature of the informing Lives of the particular constellations. They are
Themselves expressions of the will-to-good and, therefore, constitute the line
of least resistance for the dissemination of first ray energy throughout our
solar system. From the angle of human relations, this triangle rearranges
itself. It becomes Leo, the giver of self-consciousness; Capricorn, the sign
wherein initiation can be taken; and Aries, the incentive towards a new
beginning. In the understanding of the significance of the distinction between
constellations as galaxies of stars, and signs as concentrated influences will
come fresh light upon the science of astrology. This is fundamentally connected
with the difference between the relation of a ray energy to the triangle of
constellations and the human [Page 622] relation. More I may not say but this
will give a hint to the intuitive astrologer.
| Gemini,
| Virgo working
through the medium of the five
RAY II.
Love-Wisdom. | planets: Mercury,
Jupiter, Venus, the
| Moon, Pluto.
| Pisces.
This "line of
distribution" (if I may so express it) is related to the will which
produces inevitable union, at-one-ment and synthesis, through the power of
attraction, based upon power to see the vision. In this solar system and during
this world cycle and, therefore, upon our planet and throughout the period
wherein our planet moves from the position of a non-sacred to a sacred planet,
this is the dominating will aspect of Deity; it is the energy with which our
planetary Logos is preoccupied. It is that which has brought the Hierarchy into
being, under the impact of the Shamballa or first ray force. It is, however, with hierarchical energy that
humanity is, at this time, preoccupied. In my use of the word
"preoccupied" in connection both with the planetary Logos and
humanity, you will find indication of a growing response between the two
centres, Shamballa and Humanity.
Anent this ray
energy, the esotericists of the world know much and this for three reasons:
1. The emphasis of
all the teaching given out during the past three hundred and fifty years has
been upon it.
2. The two great
exponents of this ray energy are the two best known world Teachers and Saviours
from the human point of view in both the East and the West: the Buddha and the
Christ.
3. The two Masters
Who have attempted to awaken humanity in the West to a realisation of the
Hierarchy [Page 623] are the Masters Morya and K.H., the two working in the
closest relation and expressing first and second ray energy.
The keynotes of
illumination, of vision, of sight or of spiritual perception and of the fusion
of the occidental or the mystic way are dominant in this cycle. The Buddha
summed up in Himself all the light of the past as far as humanity was
concerned. He was the culminating Messenger, and demonstrated the innate
possibilities of mankind, radiating the light of wisdom in relation to the
light of substance and producing that dual blaze or flaming light which had
been fanned and fostered (though not fully expressed) by humanity up to that
time. He came forth as the flower or fruition of the past and as the guarantee
of man's innate capacity. Christ, whilst able also to say "I am the light
of the world," went further in His manifestation and gave a vision of the
next step, demonstrating the light of the soul and pointing to the future, thus
presenting that which could be because He had released on Earth the cosmic
principle of love. Love is an aspect of the will, which is a point very little
realised by the mass of men. It is the will to draw into itself or the will to
attract into itself, and this will, when exerted toward that which is not
material, we, in reaction to the differentiating mind, call Love. But humanity
has to see that which must be loved before that power of the will is
sufficiently evoked. Then the vision can become a manifestation and a fact in expression.
It is here that
the wonder of the work of Christ, the Lord of Love emerges into our
consciousness. He makes it very clear that this love which He demonstrated was
an aspect of the will, functioning through the medium of the second ray; this
powerful love released into the world the [Page 624] cosmic principle of love.
Again the three aspects of the divine will can be seen functioning through the
second ray:
1. The
will-to-initiate or to condition demonstrates in Christ's work as He
inaugurates the era wherein it became possible for the
2. The will which
brings fulfilment demonstrates through the second ray by the means of that
driving force which enables the second ray soul steadily to achieve its goal,
relentlessly pushing forward, permitting itself no let-up or leeway until the
desired goal is reached. This is a different expression to the will of the
first ray which is dynamic and which crashes forward in spite of all obstacles;
the latter does not require the slower methods of the steady drive.
3. It is also the
will which conquers death because of its intense love of reality and of that "persistent
One" who exists behind all phenomena.
In the Old
Commentary this type of will—the will-to-love—is spoken of in the following
terms:
"The
Transcendent One said: I am alone. I must arise and seek with ceaseless urge,
that which produces completion, round out my circle whole, intensity My life
and make Me truly One, and this because I recognise the Two. I must have union
with my other self, the self I dimly sense.
[Page 625]
Unto My heart I
drew that other One and drawing thus I gave enlightenment; I dowered with
enrichments; I freely gave."
This embodies not
the mystical vision of the other one but the will aspect of the planetary
Logos, the incentive behind the life of Shamballa. It is the Lord of Sacrifice Who speaks. The keynote
of sacrifice or the "process of making whole" runs through all that
concerns the will aspect as it functions through the medium of the seven rays;
this becomes beautifully apparent in the activity of the second ray as it is
the channel for the will of God.
It knows itself as
the transcending will because behind its expression of cosmic love (attracting,
fusing and producing cohesion) lies a synthetic vision of divine Intention. It
differentiates between process and goal, between initiation and that which is
revealed by the initiatory process and that is something which as yet is
unknown to initiates below the third degree. Herein lies the distinction
between the Christ and the Buddha. The latter revealed the process, but the
Christ embodied in Himself both goal and process. He revealed the cosmic
principle of love and by its means—embodied in Himself—He produced effects also
and momentous changes in the world through those presented to Him for
initiation.
The second ray
knows itself as the transmitting will because through its means something
passes between the pair of opposites (spirit-matter) which draws them together
until eventually they form one blended whole. This is a basic mystery—the basic
mystery of initiation and concerns the at-oning will which functions through
love. Its lowest expression and its most material symbol is the love between
the sexes.
[Page 626]
It knows itself
likewise as the transforming will because the entire evolutionary process
(which is, in the last analysis, the working out of the inter-relation between
God and His world, between cause and effect and between Life and form) is based
upon the transformation brought about by divine attraction. This enables
"spirit to mount upon the shoulders of matter," as H.P.B. expresses
it, and forces
matter to achieve
the purification which will lead it eventually to act as a transparent medium
for the revelation of divinity.
It knows itself
finally as the will
which transfigures. It
was this transfiguration which Christ manifested when He emerged before the
startled eyes of His disciples as Light Incarnate and "was transfigured
before them."
The entire process
of transcendence, resulting in transfiguration, is worked out in relation to
the second ray by the combined influences of the three constellations through
which this ray chooses by an "act of its sufficient will to act in time
and space." Let us look at them for a moment:
1. GEMINI. This is
the great symbolic constellation of the Two Brothers, expressing the interplay
between the dualities. Because it is governed by Mercury and Venus, you have
the light of the intuition and of the mind blended together into one
illuminated whole, typical of the fusion of spirit-matter and the demonstration
of their essential oneness. Gemini, as you know, is the sign of divine
interplay and it is the life of the Father (of spirit and of will) which flows
through the Two Brothers, through the polar opposites, making them one in
reality though two in manifestation. Their real nature as the "elder
brother and the prodigal son" is revealed by the intuition when it takes
hold of the mind. But it is the will to love which governs the relationship and
which finally brings about divine synthesis.
[Page 627]
2. VIRGO is the
constellation which is symbolic of the second stage of the relation between the
pair of opposites. Here we have, as you know, the Mother of the Christ Child
and the fostering process of interchange which brings about life, love and
their united manifestation in one form. This second ray is, therefore, closely
related to Virgo and its lowest aspect is mother love with its instinctual care
of that which must be nourished and guarded. Its highest aspect is the
incarnated, manifested Christ. Then instinct is transmuted into wisdom and with
that the will-to-manifest and bring into the light of day the hitherto Hidden
Christ. This sign and this second ray Will have a mysterious relation to Time,
to process and to the sustaining life of the Mother (matter) which, throughout
the gestation period, nourishes and cares for the rapidly developing Christ
Child. The Moon has also a peculiar function which can only be expressed in the
idea of death—the death of the relationships between the Mother and the Child
because the moment comes when the Christ Child will emerge from the womb of
time and of matter and stand free in the light. This will have been due,
necessarily, to many inherent factors but primarily to the sustaining will of
the Mother, plus the dynamic will of the Christ Child. Here again is an aspect
of the curious and mysterious relation between the first and the second rays.
Gemini,
Virgo, Pisces; the latter is the angle from the standpoint of Shamballa.
3. PISCES. In this
sign the work is consummated and the will of the Father works out through the
second ray will as the will-to-save. In Gemini, therefore, you have the two,
the pair of opposites and the will-to-relate; in Virgo, you have their work in
cooperation, the nurturing of the life of that second ray phenomenon, a Christ,
the consummation of the task of matter and its elevation into heaven. In
Pisces, you have the consummation of the work of that [Page 628] which the
matter aspect has made possible, and the Christ emerges as the world saviour.
All this has taken place through the will aspect of the second ray, focussed in Shamballa, expressing itself through humanity and consummated
in the Hierarchy. Here you have the whole story of unity, brought about by the
life and the will of the second ray, producing the emergence of the Christ
consciousness and the appearing in objectivity of the Christ principle.
In time and space
and from the angle of humanity, the triangle of constellations is Virgo, Gemini
and Pisces and not the order as here given, which is Gemini, Virgo, Pisces; the latter is the angle from the
standpoint of Shamballa.
a | Cancer,
| Libra working
through five planets:
RAY III. Active | The
Moon, Venus, Saturn,
Intelligence. | Neptune,
Uranus.
| Capricorn.
In this divine
expression of ray energy is to be found the key or clue to what is commonly
called evolution. The emphasis, is necessarily from the angle of the form
nature and upon the phenomenal side. Today, however, the evolutionary process
can be considered from the two aspects of the evolution of form and the
evolution of consciousness; science and psychology contribute to this a
gradually developing whole or picture. But that which I deal with here is the
evolution of That which is both consciousness and form but which is more than
either, i.e. the One Who wills to manifest and to know or to become aware. It
is this which lies behind and which is greater than the Identity in time and
space to which we give the name Logos. I seek to deal, therefore, with the
Creative Will which is dynamically manifesting, consciously establishing
contact and persistently focussed in the form whilst time and space endure.
[Page 629]
This third aspect
of the divine expression is the result or outcome of the activity of the other
two major rays. You must, with care, distinguish in your minds between matter
or the Mother and substance or the "Holy Spirit overshadowing the
Mother"; it is with this latter we are concerned, for we are regarding all
these rays in terms of will, of spirit, and of life. This whole treatise,
therefore, deals with an idea which lies beyond or behind the entire content of
modern knowledge and is consequently inexplicable to the finite mind. All that
is possible is to indicate That which exists prior to manifestation and which
persists after the cycle of manifestation is over—unprovable, unknowable and
intangible. This inherent Reality is to the manifested Logos what the sensed,
immortal Self is to the man in incarnation. As the abstract mind of man
develops, these subjective themes, leading to the central Theme of manifestation,
will become clearer and the density of the mystery will lighten. With this
promise you must be content for you are not yet initiate. The initiate will
sense whereof I speak.
This evolving
Reality which is focussed in the third Ray of Active Intelligence during the
"period of appearance" has—in this solar system—undertaken the task
of developing conscious "awareness of Itself in that which it is
not." This is carried forward in three stages—all of them the result of
process, of progress, of activity and of mind or intelligent perception. These
three stages are:
1. The stage
wherein sensory perception is transmuted into knowledge. This is the stage in
which the form gradually and steadily adapts itself to the requirements of the
perceiving Self.
2. The stage
wherein knowledge is transmuted into wisdom, [Page 630] or consciousness
utilises the gradually acquired knowledge to achieve detachment from the form,
the organ of perception.
3. The stage
wherein wisdom is transmuted into omniscience and both consciousness and form
are superseded by the One Who exists, Who is conscious, but Who remains as
greater than either of these two phases of divine life. This One wills to
incarnate, wills to know, wills to be conscious, but is none of these phases
essentially, having realised them, prior to manifestation.
This third ray
will is the producer of external synthesis in successive stages, carried
forward from temporary syntheses until there is complete unification between
consciousness and form and later complete atonement realised between That which
is neither consciousness nor form but the Creator of both and the relating
Principle of spirit-matter. It will be seen how the above definition shows the
function of the third ray to be the will-to-initiate on the physical plane that
which will express divinity; that it defines not only appearance but the
revelation of that quality of which the appearance is the
effect or result,
and that inherent in these two propositions lies the third which states that
this creative will is not only the cause of manifestation and the guarantee of
achievement, but is also the proof of the potency of that Life which ever
defeats and annihilates death. So, we come back to our initial proposition of
that divine trinity of Life-Quality-Appearance (considered in the opening pages
of Volume I); thus also to the creativity of the three major rays; thus to
their basic relation and thus to their enduring and persistent synthesis. The
circle of revelation is rounded out; the cycle is completed; the serpent of
matter, the serpent of wisdom and the serpent of life are seen to be one [Page
631] whole and behind the three "stands the Eternal Dragon for ever
spawning forth the triple serpent, for ever saying: Go forth and come thou
back." Thus speaks the Old Commentary in reference to this matter.
Three words are
concerned with this triple manifestation: Attraction, Subtraction, Abstraction
and these three are related (as far as man is concerned) to the first three
initiations, but only from the will aspect and in relation definitely to the
third ray upon the physical plane, or rather on the plane of the etheric body
or the vital effective activity. It is this which must be borne in mind when
considering the active work of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
This Trinity in
manifestation knows Itself as the Transcending Reality and utters ever the
word: "Having pervaded this whole universe with a fragment of Myself, I
remain."
This Trinity in
manifestation knows Itself as the Transmitting One and says through the words
of the Christ: "I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me."
This, through the attractive power which the Transmitting One transmits.
This Trinity in
manifestation knows Itself to be the Transforming Agent and through the voice
of the many chants the words: "Glory to God in the highest, on Earth
peace, goodwill to men"—glory, peace and the will-to-good being the
effects of the transmitted life of the Transcendent One.
Finally, at the
end of the age, it knows Itself as the Transfigured One and realises that the
paean of the angels: "Glory to God in the highest" is the enunciation
of its ultimate perfection and triumph.
Can more be said
anent this subject? The major Rays of Aspect embody the entire story; the minor
Rays of Attribute contribute the detail in process and enterprise. They [Page
632] are conditioned by the three major rays. It is not, therefore, my
intention to take up the analysis of the four remaining triangles. I have
indicated enough in this treatise to enable the interested student to work out
for himself their subjective theme. I will, however, consider briefly the three
constellations connected with the third ray; their significance is relatively
clear.
1. CANCER. This is
the constellation which symbolises the will of the mass, which conditions mass
response and mass psychology. This has not yet been the theme of astrological
study for it connotes far more than the mass consciousness. It is basically the
focussing of the mass will through the medium of the mass consciousness—a thing
unknown as yet, though the rudiments of this knowledge can be seen in that
peculiar factor in the life of humanity which we call `public opinion.' This is
now being brought into the educational field through what is commonly called propaganda.
The implications will be clear to you. A trained and enlightened public opinion
is an unknown thing on a world-wide scale, though enlightened groups are
rapidly appearing. Out of public opinion (which is the focussed expression of
the growth of mass consciousness) will emerge the mass will-to-good, inherent
in every individual; for this humanity must work and wait.
2. LIBRA. This
constellation, as you know, connotes the point of balance in the long
relationship and interplay between the pairs of opposites. It indicates the
will-to-express—in perfected proportion and harmony—both the life of the spirit
and the potency of matter.
3. CAPRICORN. This
constellation stands for the influence which will carry the will of Shamballa to the Hierarchy or to the world initiates, giving to
Them that dynamic and [Page 633] enterprising spirit which will enable Them to
carry forward to completion the Will of God on Earth. It was the "angel,
born under Capricorn" which came to Christ in the
I. Ray I. The Holy of Holies. Shamballa.
The
Spirit. Life.
Energy.
Will.
Identification.
II. Ray II. The
The
Soul.
Consciousness. Light.
Love.
Initiation.
III. Ray III. The
Outer Court. Humanity.
Christ in us, the hope of glory.
Form.
Appearance. Body.
Intelligence.
Individuality.
Remember,
nevertheless, that these Three
are One. Behind all of
them stands for ever the One Who remains, transcendent [Page 634] and immanent
also, greater than our whole yet also within that whole.
Through Ray IV, we
learn to be at-one with this eternal synthesis and will; through Ray V, we
develop the means to understand the nature of that synthesis and will; through
Ray VI, we move forward to complete identification with that synthesis and
will, and through Ray VII we demonstrate on Earth the nature of that synthesis
through the medium of the appearing form and the purpose of that underlying
will.
And so the Many
are absorbed into the One.
UP TO HIT 511
Compilation Shamballa part12
The head chakra, is the
Shamballa centre in the physical
Body and registers purpose and
corresponds to
The electric fire of the solar
system
(EH 145) 1. The
Head Centre. This is located at the very
top of the head. It is frequently called
"the thousand-petalled lotus" or the Brahmarandra.
[Page 145]
a. It corresponds
to the central spiritual sun.
b. It is brought
into functioning activity after the third initiation and is the organ for the
distribution of monadic energy, of the will aspect of divinity.
c. It is related
to the triple personality by the antahkarana, which disciples and initiates are
in process of constructing and which reaches its full usefulness only after the
destruction of the causal body at the fourth initiation.
d. It is the Shamballa centre in the physical body and the agent of the Father
or of the first divine aspect.
e. It registers purpose, corresponds to the "electric fire" of the solar system, and is dynamic in quality.
f. Its dense
physical externalisation is the pineal gland in the head. This remains active during infancy and until
the will-to-be is sufficiently established so that the incarnating person is
firmly anchored in physical incarnation.
In the final stages of divine expression in man it again comes into
activity and usefulness as the agent for the accomplishment on earth of the
will energy of established Being.
g. It is the organ
of synthesis because, after the third initiation and prior to the destruction
of the causal body, it gathers into itself the energies of all the three
aspects of manifested life. Where man is
concerned, this means the energies of the Spiritual Triad, of the threefold
egoic lotus and of the triple personality, thus again making the nine of
initiation. The energies thus
synchronised and focussed in, around and above [Page 146] the head are of great
beauty and extensive radiation, plus dynamic effectiveness. They serve to relate the initiate to all
parts of the planetary life, to the Great Council at Shamballa, and to the Lord of the World, the final
Initiator—via the Buddha and one of the three Buddhas of Activity. The Buddha, in a most peculiar sense, relates the initiate to the
second aspect of divinity—that
of love—and therefore
to the Hierarchy; the Buddhas
of Activity relate him
to the third aspect of
divinity, that of active intelligence. Thus the
energy of will, of consciousness and of creativity meet in him, providing the
synthesis of the divine aspects.
h. This is the
only one of the seven centres which at the time of perfected liberation retains
the position of an inverted lotus, with the stem of the lotus (the antahkarana,
in reality) reaching up into "the seventh Heaven," thus linking the
initiate with the first major planetary centre, Shamballa. All the other
centres start by being inverted, with all the petals turned downwards towards
the base of the spine; all, in the process of evolution, gradually unfold their
petals and then slowly turn upwards "towards the summit of the rod,"
as it is called in the Old Commentary.
The above is a piece of information which is of small value, except in
so far as it presents a truth, completes a picture, and gives the student a
symbolic idea of that which is essentially a distributing agent of the will
energy of Deity.
2. The Ajna
Centre. This is the centre between the
eyebrows and is found in the region of the head just above [Page 147] the two
eyes, where it "acts as a screen for the radiant beauty and the glory of
the spiritual man."
a. It corresponds
to the physical sun and is the expression of the personality, integrated and
functioning—first of all as the disciple, and finally as the initiate. This is the true persona or mask.
b. It achieves
this functioning activity fully by the time the third initiation is taken. I would remind you that this initiation is
regarded by the Hierarchy as the first major initiation, a fact which I have
already communicated. It is the organ
for the distribution of the energy of the third aspect—the energy of active
intelligence.
e. It is related
to the personality by the creative thread of life, and is therefore closely
connected with the throat centre (the centre of creative activity), just as the
head centre is related to the centre at the base of the spine. An active interplay, once established between
the ajna centre and the throat centre, produces a creative life and a
manifested expression of the divine idea on the part of the initiate. In the same way, the active interplay between
the head centre and the centre at the base of the spine produces the manifestation
of the divine will or purpose. The
forces of the ajna and the throat centres, when combined, produce the highest
manifestation of "fire by friction," just as the energies of the head
centre and the basic centre produce the individual "electric fire"
which, when fully expressing itself, we call the kundalini fire.
d. It is the
centre through which the fourth Creative Hierarchy on its own plane finds
expression, [Page 148] and here also this Hierarchy and fourth kingdom in
nature, the human family are fused and blended.
The head centre relates the monad and the personality. The ajna centre relates the Spiritual Triad
(the expression of the monad in the formless worlds) to the personality. Ponder on this statement, because you have
here—in the symbolism of the head centre, physically considered—the reflection
of the spiritual will, atma, and spiritual love, buddhi. Here also comes in the teaching on the place
of the eyes in the development of conscious expression, creatively carrying
forward the divine purpose.
The Third Eye the
head centre Will. Atma.
The eye of the
Father, the Monad. SHAMBALLA.
The first aspect
of will or power and purpose.
Related to the
pineal gland.
The Right Eye the ajna centre Love. Buddhi.
The eye of the
Son, the Soul. HIERARCHY.
The second aspect
of love-wisdom.
Related to the
pituitary body.
The Left Eye the throat centre Active Intelligence.
The eye of the
Mother, the personality. HUMANITY.
The third aspect
of intelligence.
Related to the
carotid gland.
When these three
eyes are functioning and all of them "seeing" simultaneously, you
will then have insight into divine purpose (the initiate), intuitive vision of
the plan (the disciple), and a spiritual direction of the resulting creative
activity (the Master).
e. The ajna centre
registers or focusses the intention to create.
It is not the organ of creation in the [Page 149] same sense that the
throat centre is, but it embodies the idea lying behind active creativity, the
subsequent act of creation producing eventually the ideal form for the idea.
f. Its dense
physical externalisation is the pituitary body:
the two lobes of this gland correspond to the two multiple petals of the
ajna centre. It expresses imagination
and desire in their two highest forms, and these are the dynamic factors lying
behind all creation.
g. It is the organ
of idealism therefore, and,—curiously enough—it is closely related to the sixth
ray, just as the head centre is essentially related to the first ray. The sixth is peculiarly linked to the third
ray and the third aspect of divinity as well as to the second ray and the
second aspect. It fuses, anchors and
expresses. This is a fact which I have
not hitherto emphasised in my other writings.
The ajna centre is the point in the head where the dualistic nature of
manifestation in the three worlds is symbolised. It fuses the creative energies of the throat
and the sublimated energies of desire or the true love of the heart.
h. This centre,
having only two real petals, is not a true lotus in the same sense as are the
other centres. Its petals are composed
of 96 lesser petals or units of force (48 + 48 = 96) but these do not assume
the flower shape of the other lotuses.
They spread out like the wings of an airplane to the right and left of
the head, and are symbolic of the right hand path and the left hand path, of
the way of matter and the way of spirit.
They constitute symbolically, therefore, the two [Page 150] arms of the
Cross upon which the man is crucified—two streams of energy or light placed
athwart the stream of life descending from the monad to the base of the spine
and passing through the head.
The idea of
relativity is one that must ever be held in mind as the student seeks to
comprehend the centres, interiorly related within the etheric body, related at
the same time to the subtler bodies, to the states of consciousness which are
synonymous to states of being and of expression, to ray energies, to environing
conditions, to the three periodical vehicles (as H. P. B. calls the
personality, the threefold soul and the Spiritual Triad), to Shamballa and to the totality of manifested Lives. The complexity of the subject is extreme, but
when the disciple or initiate is functioning in the three worlds and the
various energies of the whole man are "grounded" in the earthbound
man, then the situation becomes clearer.
I use the expression "grounded" in its true and correct sense,
and not as the description of a man who has discarded his physical body as the
spiritualists use the term. Certain
recognitions in time and space become possible; certain effects can be noted,
certain ray influences appear more dominant than others; certain "patterns
of being" appear; an expression of a spiritual Being at a certain point of
conscious experience emerges into clarity and can then be spiritually
diagnosed. Its aspects and attributes,
its forces and energies, can be determined at that time and for a particular
created expression of life. This must be
borne in mind, and the thoughts of the student must not be permitted to rove
too far afield but must be concentrated upon the appearance of the man (himself
or another) and upon the emerging quality.
When that student is a disciple or an initiate, he will be able also to
study the life aspect.
(EH 154) d. It is
the centre through which the intelligence aspect of humanity focusses
creatively. It is therefore the [Page
154] centre through which the creative energy of that great planetary centre
called Humanity flows. The three major
planetary centres are Shamballa, Hierarchy and Humanity. When perfection has been achieved, the Shamballa energy of will, power and purpose will pour freely through the head centre,
the love-wisdom energies of the Hierarchy will flow through the heart centre,
and the energy of humanity will focus through the throat centre, with the ajna
centre acting as the agent of all three.
Then will take place a new activity on the part of mankind. It is the task of relating the three
superhuman kingdoms to the three subhuman kingdoms, and thus establishing the
new heavens and the new earth. Then
humanity will have reached the summit of its evolutionary goal on this Earth.
These
Lords of the Seven Rays are greater and more advanced in the spiritual scale
than are those great Lives who form the Council of the Lord of the World in
Shamballa
(EH 298) The
comprehension of the seven stanzas which I now propose to give you will lead
eventually to the isolation of the seven psychological causes of disease,
inherent in the substance of all forms in this world cycle, because all forms
are infused with the life energy of the "imperfect Gods." [Page 298]
The seven Spirits, we are told in the Scriptures of the world, are "before
the Throne of God"; this signifies that They are not yet in a position to
mount the Throne, symbolically speaking, owing to the fact that They have not
yet achieved complete divine expression.
These Lords of
the Seven Rays are
greater and more advanced in the spiritual scale than are those great Lives who
form the Council of the
Lord of the World in Shamballa. They are the
Representatives of the seven ray Energies Who inform the seven sacred planets
but are not yet as divinely developed as They are. The problem of humanity in respect to
imperfection is complicated, not only by the fact that the seven informing vitalising
Energies are "tainted with imperfection," but also by the fact that
the Lord of the World is Himself, from the angle of a Solar Logos for instance,
far from perfect; this is the reason why our planet, the Earth, is not a sacred
planet. We are told that Sanat Kumara is the divine prisoner of this planet,
held here until the "last weary pilgrim has found his way home." This is His heavy karma even whilst it is an
expression of His desire and of His joy; the "weary pilgrims" are the
atoms (human or otherwise) in His body, and they are tainted with imperfection
because of His imperfections; their complete "healing" will set the
term for His release.
period
of intensest meditation of our planetary Logos comes around at the full moon
period each month
(EH 341) I mention
these three things because they are responsible for much of the predisposition
to sensitivity of an abnormal kind.
Occult students well know that at the time of the full moon certain high
contacts are easier than at other [Page 341] times, but it is right here, my
brother, that the difficulty lies.
At the time of the
full moon (over a period
of five days) the moon
and the planet are the recipients of more reflected light from the sun than at
any other time. For this there is a
subjective cause. I can only explain it
to you by a symbol which may convey truth to you or which may act as a
blind. Symbolically speaking, the period
of intensest meditation
of our planetary Logos
comes around at the full moon period each month; just as you have your daily
meditation so He in His high place, has His cyclic point of contact. This produces the pouring in of radiance and
the entering in of energy both subjective and objective. For all true students, therefore, their work
on the mental plane is facilitated; they are enabled then to meditate more
successfully and to attain realisation with greater ease. They definitely share in the achievement of
the Lord of Shamballa.
The
moon is still closely linked with the astral body of Sanat Kumara, Lord of
Shamballa
The moon, as you
know, is a shell, an ancient form through which the planetary Logos at one time sought
expression. It is slowly disintegrating physically but
not astrally as yet, and is therefore still closely linked with the astral body of the
planetary Logos and
therefore with the astral bodies of all people.
Its influence is consequently more potent at the time of the full moon upon all who are unbalanced. This lack of equilibrium, which it really is,
will eventually be found to exist between the astral body, the etheric body and
the physical mechanism.
People who are
definitely aspirants and people who are definitely mental, can profit by these
full moon cycles; those who are definitely unbalanced, positively astral, and
emotional, and frequently swept by uncontrolled desire, are hindered,
overstimulated, and psychically upset by these same cycles. The veil of illusion is lit up at that time
with a consequent result of hallucination, astral visions, [Page 342] psychic
urges, and those misinterpretations of life, of overemphasis upon aspects of
life which we call phobias, lunacy, etc.
(EH 405) 1. The
Law of Karmic Liability, governing life in the three worlds of human evolution,
and which is ended altogether at the fourth initiation.
2. The Law of
Karmic Necessity. This governs the life
of the advanced disciple and the initiate from the time of the second initiation until a certain
initiation higher than the fourth; these initiations enable him to pass on to the Way
of the Higher Evolution.
See
EH 405)-cosmic desire from the cosmic astral plane demonstrates as spiritual
will on the cosmic physical plane
(insert) (RI 698) This
initiation is therefore, in a unique sense, a culminating experience and a
point of entrance into a new life for which all the past has been a
preparation. After the ninth
initiation, the Refusal
Initiation, there comes a cosmic repetition of the Renunciation experience, this time [Page 698] devoid of the
crucifixion aspect; the initiate at that great moment renounces or refuses
contact with the cosmic physical plane on all its seven levels of awareness, unless he has
chosen (at the sixth Initiation of Decision) the Path of World Service.
This
Law is concerned with the release of Sanat Kumara and his associates at Shamballa
from Cosmic desire-which on the cosmic physical plane demonstrates as spiritual
will-this takes place at the Refusal-the ninth initiation
(EH 405) 3. The Law of Karmic Transformation, a mysterious phrase governing the
processes undergone upon the
[Page 406]
To turn now to
another aspect of our theme. There are,
speaking in the larger sense, three major death episodes.
There is, first of
all, the constant recurrence of the fact of physical death. This is familiar to all of us through its
extreme frequency, could we but realise it.
This recognition would rapidly eliminate the present fear of death. There is then the "second death"
spoken of in the Bible, which is in this present planetary cycle associated
with the death of all astral control over the human being. In the larger sense, this second death is consummated at the fourth initiation, when even spiritual aspiration dies,
being no more needed; the Will of the initiate is now fixed and immovable, and
astral sensitivity is no longer required.
There is a curious
counterpart to this experience upon a much lower level in the death of all
astral emotion which takes place for the individual aspirant at the time of the
second initiation. It
is then a complete episode and is consciously registered. Between the second and the third initiations,
the disciple has to demonstrate a continuity of nonresponse to astralism and
emotionalism. The second death, to which
I am here referring, has to do with the death or the disappearance of the
causal body at the time of the fourth initiation; this marks the completion of
the building of the antahkarana and the institution of direct, unimpeded
continuity of relationship between the Monad and the personality.
Sanat
Kumara took the ninth initiation during the great cataclysm which inaugurated
the Lemurian age
The third
death takes place when
the initiate leaves
behind him, finally
and with no prospect of return, all relation with the cosmic physical plane.
This death, necessarily, lies far ahead for all in the Hierarchy and is
at present only possible and permissible for a few in the Council Chamber at Shamballa. It is not,
however, a process through which Sanat Kumara will pass. He underwent this
"transformation" many aeons ago, during the great cataclysm [Page 407] which
inaugurated the Lemurian
Age, and which was
induced by His cosmic experience and the need for an inflow of energy from
extra-planetary Beings.
Death,
through the destructive processes of war, is under the directive and cyclic
intention of the planetary Logos, working through the Council Chamber at
Shamballa.
(EH 432) You will
note that I am here dealing with the theme of death as it makes its presence
felt through disease or through old age.
I am not referring to death as it comes through war or accident, through
murder or through suicide. These causes
of death, and other causes, come under a totally different directive
process: they may not even involve the
karma of a man or his individual destiny, as in the case of war. Then vast numbers of people are killed.
This has nothing
to do with the Law of Cause and Effect as a factor in the soul career of any
individual. It is not an act of
restitution, planned by a particular soul as it works out its individual
destiny. Death, through the destructive processes of war, is under the directive and cyclic intention of the
planetary Logos,
working through the Council Chamber at Shamballa. The Beings Who
there direct world processes [Page 432] know that a time has come when the relation
between planetary evil and the Forces of Light or of Good have reached a point
of "explosive antagonism" (as it is called). This must be given free rein if the divine
purpose is to work out unarrested. The explosion is therefore permitted; nevertheless, all the time a controlling
factor is present, even though unrealised by man. Because these Beings (Who work out the will
of God) are in no way identified with form life, they have consequently a just
appreciation of the relative importance of life in form; the destruction of forms is, to Them, not death in the sense that we understand it, but
simply and solely a process of liberation.
It is the limited vision of those identified with form which has so
consistently nurtured the fear of death.
The cycle in which we now live has seen the greatest destruction of human forms in the
entire history of our planet. There has been no destruction
of human beings. I would have you note
this statement. Because of this
wholesale destruction, humanity has made a very rapid advance towards a more
serene attitude in connection with death.
This is not yet apparent but—in a few years' time—the new attitude will
begin to be marked and the fear of death will begin to die out in the
world. This will also be largely due to
the increased sensitivity of the human response apparatus, leading to a turning
inward or to a new orientation of the human mind, with unpredictable results.
The basis of all
wars is fundamentally the sense of separateness. This fundamental individualism or pleased recognition of isolationism leads to all the secondary causes of
war: greed, producing economic disaster;
hatred, producing national and international friction; cruelty, producing pain
and death. The roots of death are
therefore deep-seated; it is the destruction of the cycle of separateness as an
individual upon the physical plane which we call death [Page 433] in the usual
sense; consequently death is a process of at-one-ment. Could you but see a little further into the
matter, you would learn that death releases the individualised life into a less cramped and confined
existence, and
eventually—when the death process has
been applied to all the three vehicles in the three worlds—into the life of
universality. This is a point of inexpressible
bliss.
(EH 448) That
which effects a change is a discharge (to use a totally inadequate phrase) of
directed and focussed will-energy. This
is so magnetic in quality that it draws to itself the life of the centres,
bringing about the dissolution of the form but the release of the life. Death comes to the individual man in the
ordinary sense of the term when the will-to-live in a physical body goes and
the will-to-abstract takes its place.
This we call death. In cases of death in war, for instance, it is not then a case of
the individual will-to-withdraw, but an enforced participation in a great group abstraction.
From its own place, the soul of the individual man recognises the end of
a cycle of incarnation, and recalls its life.
This it does
through a discharge of the will-energy that is strong enough to bring about the
change....Christ referred to this work of abstraction as regards the third
great planetary centre, Humanity, when He said (and He was speaking as the
Representative of the Hierarchy, the second planetary centre, into which all
human beings achieving initiation are "withdrawn" esoterically),
"I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me." A different word to this word of His will be
spoken at the end of the age when the Lord of the World will speak from Shamballa [Page 449] (the first planetary centre), will abstract
the life principle from the Hierarchy, and all life and consciousness will then
be focussed in the planetary head centre—the Great Council Chamber at Shamballa.
(EH 501) Disease
and death are essentially conditions inherent in substance; just as long as a
man identifies himself with the form aspect, so will he be conditioned by the
Law of Dissolution. This law is a
fundamental and natural law governing the life of the form in all the kingdoms
of nature. When the disciple or the
initiate is identifying himself with the soul, and when the antahkarana is
built by means of the life principle, then the disciple passes out of the
control of this universal, natural law and uses or discards the body at will—at
the demand of the spiritual will or through recognition of the necessities of
the Hierarchy or the purposes of Shamballa.
(EH 503) Death is
to man exactly what the release
of the atom appears to
be; this the great scientific discovery of the release of atomic energy has
demonstrated. The nucleus of the atom is
split in two. (This wording is
scientifically incorrect.) This event in
the life experience of the atom releases a great light and a great potency;
upon the astral plane, the phenomenon of death has a somewhat similar effect
and has a close parallel in the phenomena brought about by the release of
atomic energy. Every death, in all the
kingdoms of nature, has to some extent this effect; it shatters and destroys substantial form and thus serves a constructive purpose;
this result is largely astral or psychic and serves to dissipate some of the
enveloping glamour. The wholesale destruction of forms which has been going on
during the past few years of war has produced phenomenal changes upon the
astral plane and has shattered
an immense amount of the existing world glamour, and this is very, very good. These happenings should result in less
opposition to the inflow of the new type of energy; it should facilitate the
appearance of the ideas embodying the needed recognitions; the new concepts
will now be seen, and their emergence into the realm of human thinking will be
dependent upon the formulation of the new "lanes or channels of
impression" whereby the minds of men can become sensitive to hierarchical
plans and to the purposes of Shamballa.
(EH 519) These two
points are given to you for the first time in the sequential giving out of the
occult teaching; hints have, however, prepared the way for these two facts. Information has also been given anent the
mayavirupa through which the Master works and contacts the three worlds and
which He deliberately creates in order to serve His purposes and plans. It is a definite substitute for the
personality and can only be created when the old personality (built and
developed during the cycle of incarnation) has been eliminated. I prefer the word "eliminated" to
the word "destroyed." The
structure—at the time of elimination—persists, but its separative life has
gone.
[Page 519]
If you will think
clearly about this statement, you will see that a very complete integration is
now possible. The personality life has
been absorbed; the personality form is still left, but it persists without any real
life of its own; this means that it can now be the recipient of energies and
forces needed by the working initiate or Master in order to carry on the work
or salvaging humanity. Students would
find it of value to study the three "appearances of the Christ" as
recorded in the Gospel story:
1. His
transfigured appearance upon the Mount of Transfiguration. That episode depicts symbolically the radiant
soul, and also the three vacated bodies of the personality, and hints also at a
future building of a vehicle of manifestation.
St. Peter says, "Lord, let us here build three huts" or
tabernacles.
2. His appearance
as truth itself (silent yet present) before the bar or judgment seat of
Pilate—repudiated by the world of men but recognised by the Hierarchy.
3. His radiant
appearances after the resurrection initiation:
a. To the woman at
the sepulchre—symbolising His contact with Humanity.
b. To the two
disciples on the way to Emmaus—symbolising His contact with the Hierarchy.
c. To the twelve disciples in the upper chamber—symbolising His contact with the Council Chamber of the Lord of the World at Shamballa.
You can thus see
the factual nature of the results to which I earlier referred in this
instruction. The disciple who has
eliminated (in the technical sense as well as in the mystical sense) the hold
of the personality has now the "freedom of the Ashram," as it is
called; he can move at will among his fellow disciples and initiates. There will be nothing in his [Page 520]
vibratory life or his quality which can disturb the rhythm of the Ashram; there
will be nothing to call forth the "calming intervention" of the
Master, as is frequently the case during the earlier stages of discipleship;
nothing can now interfere with those higher contacts and spheres of influence
which have hitherto been sealed to the disciple because of the intrusion of his
own personality.
(EH 615) It has
been taught also in the esoteric presentation (and this is closely allied with
the Christian doctrines) that the soul is the intermediary between the monad and
the personality; the same idea is also found in many other religious
presentations, i.e., the
Buddha is shown as the
intermediary between Shamballa
and the Hierarchy,
acting in this capacity once a year; the Hierarchy itself is the intermediary
between Shamballa and Humanity; the etheric plane (and by
this I mean the cosmic, planetary and individual etheric vehicles) is the
intermediary between the higher planes and the dense physical body. The whole system of occult or esoteric
revelation is based on this wonderful doctrine of interdependence, of a planned
and arranged conscious linking, and of the transmission of energy from one
aspect of divine manifestation to another; everywhere and through everything is
circulation, transmission, and modes of passing energy from one form to another
form, and always through an appropriate mechanism. This is true in the involutionary sense, in the evolutionary sense, and in a
spiritual sense also; this latter is slightly different to the other two, as
all initiates of the higher degrees know well.
An entire thesis upon transmitting agencies could be written, and it
would include, finally, the doctrine of Avatars. An Avatar is one [Page 616]
who has a peculiar facility or capacity (besides a self -initiated task and a
preordained destiny) to work with energies, transmitted via the etheric body of
a planet or of the solar system; this, however, is a deep mystery. It was demonstrated in a peculiar manner, and
in relation to cosmic energy, by the Christ Who, for the first time in
planetary history, transmitted the cosmic energy of love directly to the
physical plane of our planet, and also in a peculiar manner to the fourth
kingdom in nature, the human. This should indicate to you that though the love
energy is the second aspect of divinity, the Christ embodied and transmitted
four qualities of this aspect to humanity, and consequently to the other
kingdoms in nature—the only four which humanity could absorb. Only one of these four is as yet beginning to
express itself —the quality of goodwill. The other three will later be
revealed, and one is related in a peculiar sense to the healing quality of
love. According to The New Testament,
this quality was called by the Christ "virtue" (a somewhat inaccurate
translation of the word originally used); Christ employed it when healing force
had been taken from Him and He said "virtue has gone out of me."
(EH 619) Within
the solar system, as you know, are to be found the seven sacred planets, which
are the custodians or the expression of these seven rays, of these seven
qualities of divinity. within our
planet, the Earth (which is not a sacred planet), there are likewise seven
centres which become, as evolution proceeds, the recipients of the seven ray
qualities from the seven sacred planets, thus providing
(within the solar
ring-pass-not) a vast interlocking system of energies. Three of these centres,
representing the three major rays, are well known to you:
1. Shamballa ...........The
ray of power or purpose. The first aspect.
The energy of
will.
2. The
Hierarchy .....The ray of love-wisdom.
The second aspect.
The energy of
love.
3. Humanity .............The ray of active intelligence.
The third aspect.
The energy of mind
or thought.
[Page 620]
there are four
other centres, and these, with the above three, constitute the seven centres,
or the seven planetary focal points of energy, which condition the bodily
manifestation of our planetary Logos. Through them the Lord of the World,
working from His Own level on a cosmic plane and through His divine
Personality, Sanat
Kumara, carries out
His purposes upon our planet.
(EH 635) This spirit of the earth preserves its hold upon the atomic structures of which all forms are
made, including the
physical body of man; it gathers them together again eventually and reabsorbs
those elements of its life which were temporarily isolated from it during any
incarnated experience of any soul in any of the kingdoms in nature. These
atoms, it must be noted, are imbued or conditioned by two factors for which the
spirit of the earth is solely responsible:
1. The factor of
the Karma of the life of
the elemental of the planet. This is an involutionary,
precipitating karma, entirely different to that of the planetary Logos, Who is
a spiritual Life upon the evolutionary arc.
This involutionary
karma, therefore,
conditions the life experience [Page 636] from the purely physical angle of all
forms composed of atomic substance.
2. The factor of
limitation. Apart from the karma,
resulting in physical events, affecting all physical forms composed of this elemental essence, the physical vehicles of all lives in all
the kingdoms of nature are also conditioned by the point in time of the cyclic
influence of the planetary spirit and by its point in evolution. This involutionary spirit has not yet
attained a point of perfection, but is progressing towards a specific goal which
will be attained when the evolutionary arc of experience is reached. This lies very far ahead. Our planetary Logos, that great divine Life
in Whom we live and move and have our being, is one of the "imperfect
Gods" as yet, from the point of view of the goal set before all planetary
Logoi. His body of expression, our
planet, the Earth, is not yet a sacred planet.
The spirit of the earth is yet very far from even the relative
perfection of which a conscious human being is aware.
Sanat
Kumara-(The Lord of the Earth-The Planetary Logos)-and most of the Council
Chamber at Shamballa-cannot take dense physical bodies, and have to be content
with etheric bodies
(EH 637) The point
in evolution of the spirit
of the earth affects
every atom in his body—the body of an involutionary entity. The result of
this imperfection, which is not that of the planetary Logos but that of the
spirit of the earth, shows itself in the presence of disease in all forms in
all the kingdoms of nature. Minerals are
subject to disease and decay; even the "fatigue" of metals is a
registered scientific fact; plants and animals all react to disease within the
structure of their forms, and disease and death are inherent in the atom of
which all organisms are composed. Man is
not exempt. Disease, therefore, is not
brought about by wrong thinking, as oft I have told you, or by any failure to
affirm divinity. It is inherent in the
form nature itself, being indicative of the imperfections from which the spirit
of the earth suffers; [Page 637] it is the mode par excellence whereby this
elemental life retains integrity and the capacity to reabsorb that which is his
but which has been brought under other direction by the attractive potency of
the life of that which informs every other kingdom in nature during a cycle of
incarnation. This will give you surely
a new idea anent disease. Man creates,
under soul impulsion and the will to incarnate, a form which is composed of
substance already subjected to conditioning; it is already impregnated with the
life impulses of the spirit of the earth.
Man, in so doing, assumes responsibility for that elemental form but—at
the same time—limits himself definitely by the nature of the atoms of which
that form is composed. The atomic
substance through which the spirit of the earth expresses itself has in it ever
the "seeds of return," permitting a reabsorption. This substance is also composed of all grades
and qualities of matter, from the very coarsest up to the very finest, as for
instance the quality of the substance which makes the appearance of the Buddha
or of the Christ possible. The Lord of the Earth, the planetary Logos, cannot find substance animated by the
spirit of the earth of a quality and nature pure enough; He cannot, therefore,
materialise or make an appearance, as can the Buddha or the Christ. Few of Those who form the Council Chamber at Shamballa can find the needed or adequate substance by means of
which to appear; They cannot
take a dense physical body, and have to be
content with an etheric vehicle. There are
therefore three types of life, affecting the dense appearance of a human being
during his restricted manifestation or incarnation:
(EH 647) 2. Other
healers, not as few as in the above group but relatively few, work in
cooperation with a healing
deva. Such devas exist
and have the power of bestowing life.
They are to the involutionary lunar lords what the great Lives at Shamballa are to us.
They are not a menace to humanity but are not readily reached, except at
a certain stage upon the Path where, symbolically speaking, a door or point of
contact exists between the two evolutions, for the devas are not upon the
involutionary arc. Relations are established through affinity, but this can be
brought about only by the deva. and not by the healer. If the healer is very advanced, his Master may
instruct one of the serving devas to aid him.
Only healers of
great purity and of completely selfless motive can attract these angels, and
when they do, the potency of their healing is much greater; they make fewer
mistakes. They do not, for instance,
attempt to heal patients for whom there is no healing possibility. The Angel of Death (and this time I am not speaking symbolically but am
referring to an existing deva) will not permit a healing deva to
collaborate: they are only permitted to
approach where healing is indicated.
(EH 664) You have
oft been told that there are two modes of achievement; the long hard way of
evolution, in which aeons are taken to arrive at relatively small results, or
the short, still harder but much more rapid way of initiation. For ages it remained a question (a moot
point, do you not call it?) whether the world of men would choose (and had
better choose) the slow but safe method.
It is a method in which imperfection is only very gradually eliminated,
without much strain and with small effort on the part of man. It is a mode whereby good is only slowly
realised and evil only slowly, very slowly, driven out. The will-to-good of Shamballa is, under the usual evolutionary system, only faintly
present, and many, many aeons would still lie. ahead of humanity before even
the present point of human development could have been attained.
(EH 667) So great
has been the progress of man during the past two hundred years that the Council Chamber at Shamballa was forced to take notice. As a result of this attention
by the Great Lives around Sanat
Kumara and Their
interest in the affairs of men, two things happened:
1. The will aspect of divinity made its first definite and direct contact with the human mind. The impact was direct and not deflected-as had hitherto been the case-to
the Hierarchy and from thence to humanity.
According to the type of man or group who responded or reacted to this
contact, so were the results; they were very good or exceedingly bad.
Great and good men appeared and enunciated the truths needed for the New
Age, and of these Lincoln, Roosevelt, Browning, Briand and a host of lesser men
could be cited. Evil and pernicious men
also emerged, such as Hitler
and the group he
gathered around him, bringing much evil upon the Earth.
2. At the same
time, the will-to-good from Shamballa
evoked the latent goodwill in man, so that today and increasingly over the past
one hundred years, goodness of heart, kindness in action, consideration for others
and mass action to promote human welfare have spread over the Earth.
The emergence of
imperfection and the planned effort of evil have been paralleled by the
appearance of the New
Group of World Servers
and by the preparation which the Hierarchy is making towards its
externalisation upon the [Page 668] physical plane. The Hierarchy is at this time exceedingly
powerful; its Ashrams are full of initiates and disciples, and its periphery or
magnetic field is drawing countless thousands of aspirants towards it. The war struck a mortal blow to material
evil, and its hold on humanity is greatly weakened.
Confound not
evil with the activities of the gangster or the criminal.
Criminals and gangsters are the result of the emerging massed
imperfections: they are the victims of
ignorance, mishandling when children and misunderstanding down the ages of
right human relations; the Law of Rebirth will eventually lead them on the way
to good. Those men are truly evil who seek
to enforce a return to the bad old ways, who endeavour to keep their fellowmen
in slavery of some kind or another, who block the expression of one or all of
the Four Freedoms, who gain material riches at the expense of the exploited, or
who seek to hold for themselves and for gain the produce of the earth, and thus
make the cost of life's necessities prohibitive to those not richly
endowed. Those who thus work, think and
plan are to be found in every nation, and are usually of prominence because of
their riches and influence; however, they sin against light and not through
ignorance; their goals are material and not spiritual. They are relatively few compared to the
countless millions of men, but are exceedingly powerful; they are highly
intelligent but unscrupulous, and it is through them that the Forces of Evil
work, holding back progress, promoting poverty, breeding hatred and class
distinctions, fostering racial differences for their own ends, and keeping
ignorance in power. Their sin is great
and it is hard for them to change, because power and the will-to-power (as it
militates against the will-to-good) is a dominant all-controlling factor in
their lives; these men are today working against the unity of the United
Nations, [Page 669] through their greed, their determination to own the resources
of the earth (such as oil, mineral wealth and food) and thus keep the people
weak and with inadequate food. These
men, who are found in every nation, thoroughly understand each other and are
working together in great combines to exploit the riches of the earth at the
expense of humanity.
Evil
is the problem of Shamballa-only the will-to-good will suffice to blot out and
annihilate the will-to-evil-Goodwill will not suffice-“to seal the door where
evil dwells” therefore requires the use of Shamballic energy
I have used the
above illustration so as to make my theme somewhat clearer. The whole problem of evil is, however, too
vast to contemplate here, nor is it advisable or wise to discuss the source of
evil (not of imperfection), the Black Lodge. Energy follows thought, and the spoken word
can be potently evocative: therefore,
until one is a member of the Great White Lodge, it is the part of wisdom to
avoid consideration of forces potent enough intelligently to use the latent
imperfection in humanity and to impose the vast evil of war, with all its
results and far-reaching effects, upon humanity. The Black Lodge is the problem of the White
Lodge, and not the problem of humanity.
For aeons the Hierarchy has handled this problem, and is now in process
of solving it. It is essentially,
however, the main consideration and problem of Shamballa, for it is connected with the will aspect, and only
the will-to-good will
suffice to blot out
and annihilate the
will-to-evil. Goodwill will not suffice, though the united
and invocative appeal of the [Page 670] men of goodwill throughout the
world-increasingly voiced through the Great Invocation-will serve "to seal the door where evil dwells."
It is behind that
door and in dealing with the forces there concealed (and mobilised) that the
Hierarchy is effective; the methods and modes whereby They protect humanity
from mobilised evil, and are gradually driving the evil back, would not be
understood by you who have not yet passed through the door which leads to the
Way of the Higher Evolution.
(EH 674) Divine
Understanding must also be studied from two points of view. As a soul quality, it indicates a mind which
can be held steady in the light, and can therefore reflect the pure reason
(pure love) which qualifies the reflections of the Son of Mind, the soul on its
own plane. On the higher Way of the
Master, it relates to that identification which supersedes the individualistic
consciousness; all barriers have gone, and the initiate sees things as they
are; he knows the causes of which all phenomena are the ephemeral effects. This, consequently, enables Him to understand
the Purpose, as it emanates from Shamballa, just as the lesser initiate understands the Plan as
it is formulated by the Hierarchy.
(EH 679) LAW X
Hearken, O Disciple,
to the call which comes from the Son to the Mother, and then obey. The Word goes forth that form has served its
purpose. The principle of mind then
organises itself and then repeats the Word:
The waiting form responds and drops away. The soul stands free.
Respond, O Rising
One, to the call which comes within the sphere of obligation; recognise the
call, emerging from the Ashram
or from the Council Chamber where waits the Lord
of Life Himself. The Sound goes forth. Both soul and form together must renounce the
principle of life, and thus permit the Monad to stand free. The soul responds. The form then shatters the
connection. Life is now liberated,
owning the quality of conscious knowledge and the fruit of all experience. These are the gifts of soul and form
combined.
[Page 679]
This Law X is the
forerunner of many new laws concerning the relation of soul to form or of
spirit to matter; this one is given first for two reasons:
1. It can be
applied by disciples and thus proven to be true to the mass of men, and above
all, to the scientific world.
Natural
catastrophes and the One in Whom we live and move and have our being
There are three
sources of the abstraction which we call "death" if we exclude
accident (which may be incident to other people's karma), war (which involves
planetary karma) and natural
catastrophes (which
are connected entirely
with the body of manifestation of the One in Whom we live and move and have our
being).
Sanat
Kumara has full consciousness of the cosmic astral plane and of the cosmic
mental plane
I might pause here
at this thought and make somewhat clearer to you the distinction between this
"unknown God," who expresses himself through the
planet as a whole, and Sanat
Kumara in His high
place at Shamballa.
Sanat Kumara is in Himself the essential Identity, responsible for the
manifested worlds, but so great is His command of energies and forces—owing to
His cosmic unfoldment that He
requires the entire planet through which to express all that He is. Having the full consciousness of the cosmic astral plane and of
the cosmic mental plane,
He can apply energies and forces-under cosmic law—which create, sustain and
utilise, for the ends of His divine Purpose, the entire planet. He animates the planet with His life; He
sustains the planet and all that is in or on it through His soul quality, which
He imparts in varying measure to every form; He creates continuously the new
forms needed to express the "life more abundantly" and the
"increasing purpose of His will" which the progress of the ages makes
[Page 680] cyclically possible. We live
at this time in a cycle wherein His intense activity is utilising the technique of divine
destruction for the
release of the spiritual life, and He is simultaneously creating the new
structure of civilisation which will express more fully the evolutionary
attainment of the planet and the kingdoms in nature, leading eventually to the
perfect expression of His divine life and purpose.
(EH 687) 4. The
sphere of obligation. The initiate,
having learnt the nature of the three other spheres of right action,
and-through the activity of those spheres—having unfolded the divine aspects,
passes now into the sphere of obligation.
This sphere, which can be entered only after a large measure of
liberation has been achieved, directs the reactions of the initiate in two
phases of his life:
a. In the Ashram,
where he is governed by the Plan; this Plan is recognised by him as expressing
his major obligation to life. I use the
word "life" in its deepest esoteric sense.
b. In Shamballa, where the emerging Purpose of Sanat Kumara (of which
the Plan is an interpretation in time and space) begins to have meaning and
significance according to his point in evolution and his approach to the Way of
the Higher Evolution.
In the Ashram, the
life of the Spiritual Triad gradually supersedes the life of the
soul-controlled personality. In the Council Chamber at Shamballa, the life of the Monad supersedes all other expressions of the essential
Reality. More I may not say.
Recognise the
call, emerging from the Ashram or from the Council Chamber where waits the Lord
of Life Himself.
Here again we come
up against the whole underlying, evolutionary theme of Invocation and
Evocation. Here, it is the two higher
centres of the divine Existence which are invoking ceaselessly the lower
centre; one of the factors governing the whole creative process is dependent
upon the [Page 688] skill of the Great Lives in evoking response from the human
and subhuman kingdoms or grouped lives within the three worlds of form
life. Men are so pre-occupied with their
own problems that they are apt to think that-in the long run—what happens is
entirely due to their behaviour, conduct, and invocative powers. There is, however, another side to the
picture; this involves the skill in action, the understanding hearts and the
clear unimpeded will of both the Hierarchy and Shamballa.
(EH 690) From
"the silence which is sound, the reverberating note of Shamballa," the sound focusses itself either in the
Spiritual Triad or in the Ashram, according to the status of the initiate and
whether he is high in the ashramic circles, or still higher, in the circles
through which radiates the light from the Council Chamber. In the first
case, it will be the heart centre which responds to the sound, and from thence
the whole body; in the second case, consciousness has been superseded by a
still higher type of spiritual recognition, to which we have given the
inadequate name of identification. Where
the sound has been registered in the heart of the initiate, he has unfolded all
possible types of knowledge which the form nature—soul and body—can make
possible; when the registration is in the head, identification has produced
such complete unity with all spiritual expressions of life, the word
"more" (meaning increased) must perforce give way to the word
"deep," in the sense of penetration.
Having said this, brother of mine, how much have you comprehended?
It is at this
point that the initiate is confronted for the first time with the Seven Paths, because each Path constitutes a mode of penetrating
into realms of realisation beyond our planet altogether.
In order to do
this, the initiate has to demonstrate his mastery of the Law of Differentiation
and arrive at a knowledge of the Seven Paths through differentiating the seven sounds which make up the one Sound, but which are not related to the seven
sounds which compose the threefold AUM.
Both soul and form
together must renounce the principle of life, and thus permit the Monad to
stand free. The soul responds. The form then shatters the connection.
[Page 691]
You can see here
why I emphasised the fact that the initiate is the recipient of the essential
quality or qualities which form has revealed and developed, and which the soul
has absorbed. At this particular crisis,
the initiate within the Ashram or "on His way of glory to the Place where
dwells the Lord" (Shamballa) summarises or contains within himself all
the essential good which was stored in the soul prior to its destruction at the
fourth initiation. He epitomises in
himself the knowledge and the wisdom of aeons of struggle and of patient
endurance. Nothing further is to be
gained by adhering either to the soul or to the form. He has taken all they had to give which throws
light on the spiritual Law of Sacrifice. It is interesting to note how the soul
becomes at this point simply the intermediary between the personality and the
initiate of high degree. But now there
is nothing more to relate, to report or to transmit, and—as the Sound
reverberates—the soul disappears, as testimony of response. It is now but an empty shell, but its
substance is of so high an order that it becomes an integral part of the
buddhic level, and its function there is etheric The principle of life is renounced and
returns to the reservoir of universal life.
(EH 707) THE SEVEN
STATEMENTS
1. The first ray
technique.
Let the dynamic
force which rules the hearts of all within Shamballa come to my aid, for I am worthy of that aid. Let it descend unto the third, pass to the
fifth and focus on the seventh. These
words mean not what doth at sight appear.
The third, the fifth, the seventh lie within the first and come from out
the Central Sun of spiritual livingness.
The highest then awakens within the one who knows and within the one who
must be healed and thus the two are one.
This is mystery deep. The
blending of the healing force effects the work desired; it may bring death,
[Page 707] that great release, and re-establish thus the fifth, the third, the
first, but not the seventh.
This dynamic first
ray energy is usually employed by the trained spiritual healer when it is
apparent to him that the patient's hour has come and release approaches. In cases where the first ray is the soul ray of either healer or patient, this
application of first ray energy must move from head centre to head centre, and
from thence to the area of distress and to the centre allied with the
location. This may cause (when healing
is possible and karmically correct) a temporary increase of the trouble; this
is owing to the fact that the incoming energy "expels dynamically"
the very seed or roots of the disease.
There may be a rise in temperature, or a collapse of some kind or
another, and for this the healer, the patient and the attendant physician must
be prepared and should take the needed physical steps for amelioration—steps as
ordained by the orthodox medical profession, which will offset the purely
physical reaction. Where the soul ray of
the patient is not on the first ray, but the first ray is the ray of the
personality, the healer must use great caution in applying first ray energy,
and should proceed very slowly and gradually through the centre on the line of
1-3-5-7 which is nearest to the seat of trouble, passing the energy through
that centre and thence to the centre (whichever that may be) found in the
locality of the disease. If that
particular centre happens to be on the line of 3-5-7, the healer will have to
exercise special care, or else the dynamic first ray energy will destroy and
not heal.
(RI 13) It is of
course not possible for me to give you any true picture of the interior events
and happenings in the life of our planetary Being. I can only indicate and point out that the
world situation is simply an embodiment of the reaction and the response by
mankind to great paralleling and originating happenings which involve the
following groups:
1. The emanating
Avatar and His relationship to the Lord of the World, our planetary Logos.
2. The Lords of
Liberation, focussed in Their high place, as They become conscious of the invocation
of humanity and become more closely related to the three Buddhas of Activity.
3. The Great
Council at Shamballa and the planetary Hierarchy.
4. The Buddha and
His Arhats as They unitedly cooperate with the Christ and His disciples, the
Masters of the Wisdom.
5. The Hierarchy,
the embodiment of the fifth kingdom in nature, and its magnetic attractive
rapport with the human kingdom, the fourth.
6. The effect of
all these great groups of Lives upon humanity, and the inherent consequences as
they work out in the subhuman kingdoms.
UP TO HIT 544
Compilation Shamballa part13
(RI 13) It is of course not possible for me to
give you any true picture of the interior events and happenings in the life of
our planetary Being. I can only indicate
and point out that the world situation is simply an embodiment of the reaction
and the response by mankind to great paralleling and originating happenings
which involve the following groups:
1. The emanating
Avatar and His relationship to the Lord of the World, our planetary Logos.
2. The Lords of
Liberation, focussed in Their high place, as They become conscious of the
invocation of humanity and become more closely related to the three Buddhas of
Activity.
3. The Great
Council at Shamballa and the planetary Hierarchy.
4. The Buddha and
His Arhats as They unitedly cooperate with the Christ and His disciples, the
Masters of the Wisdom.
5. The Hierarchy,
the embodiment of the fifth kingdom in nature, and its magnetic attractive
rapport with the human kingdom, the fourth.
6. The effect of
all these great groups of Lives upon humanity, and the inherent consequences as
they work out in the subhuman kingdoms.
(RI 18) It is
these changes in the "moving, shifting realities" of the soul
consciousness and spiritual awareness of the Members of the Hierarchy which are
responsible for the new trends in the life of the Spirit and the new methods in
training disciples—in such an experiment, for instance, as externalising the
Ashrams of the Masters. It is this new
approach to life conditions, as a result of the inflow of new energies, which
is producing the universal trend towards group awareness, and its highest
result in the human family is the taking the first steps towards group
initiation. Such a thing as group
initiation was never heard of prior to the present time, except in connection
with the higher initiations emanating from the Shamballa centre. Group
initiation is based upon a uniform and united group will, consecrated towards
the service of humanity and based upon loyalty, cooperation and
interdependence. In the past, the
emphasis was upon the individual, his training and approach to initiation, and
his solitary admittance to the
In the first
thesis which I presented to the public I outlined the Rules for Applicants,
(Initiation, Human and Solar, pp. 192-208), summarising the past propositions
and indicating the individual preparation and requirements. These will now apply to the probationary
groups of disciples, and not to accepted disciples. They must and will still remain the character
and purificatory objectives of the dedicated individual, but are regarded as
adequately grasped by humanity; they have been proclaimed by all the great
world religions down the centuries and have been recognised as the main
conditioning qualities of all disciples.
These same Rules
or Formulas of Approach are the lower correspondences of higher rules to which groups of disciples are pledged to conform, and which they must follow and obey together. The Hierarchy into which they will enter when full
acceptance and demonstration have been shown will be the same Hierarchy,
characterised by the same soul awareness, animated by the same spiritual activity,
functioning under the same laws, but conditioned by two progressive and
evolutionary developments:
2. An invocative
attitude on the part of humanity, based on a fundamental decentralisation of
the selfish human consciousness and a rapidly awakening group consciousness.
In reality, this
means that the Hierarchy will be more closely related to the Great Council at Shamballa, and very much more closely interrelated with
humanity, so that a dual fusion will be taking place. This will bring about that integrative [Page
19] process which will be the quality of the New Age and will inaugurate the
Aquarian phase of planetary history.
The
will aspect of the Monad is Shamballa
(RI 28) In the
group application of these ideas the same basic and profound development must
take place, and a group of disciples must be distinguished by pure reason, which will steadily supersede motive,
merging eventually into the will aspect of the Monad—its major aspect.
It is, technically speaking, Shamballa in direct relation with humanity.
(RI 30) But the
burning ground referred to here is something [Page 30] very different. When the blazing light of the sun is
correctly focussed on or through a glass it can cause ignition. When the blazing light of the Monad is
focussed directly upon the personality, via the antahkarana and not
specifically through the soul, it produces a blazing fire which burns up all
hindrances in a steady, sequential process.
Wording it otherwise, when the will aspect streams from the Monad and
focusses through the personal will (as the mind can grasp and realise it) it
destroys as by fire all elements of self-will.
As the energy of Shamballa streams out and makes a direct contact
with humanity (omitting the transmission via the Hierarchy, which has hitherto
been customary), you have what has been seen in the world today, a destructive conflagration or a world
burning ground. When the antahkarana of a group is rightly
constructed, then the individualised group-will will disappear in the full
consciousness of the monadic
purpose or clear directed will. These are points which the
disciple preparing for initiation has to consider as he prepares for the higher
initiations, and these are the points which any group or ashram in preparation
for initiation has also to consider.
The secret of the
higher initiations lies in the trained use of the higher will. It does not lie in purification or in
self-discipline or in any of the expedients which have acted in the past as
interceptors of the truth. This whole
problem of the Shamballic will is in process of revelation, and will
eventually alter the entire approach of the disciple in the New Age to
initiation. The theme of "the Way
into Shamballa" requires reflective study and
esoteric understanding. In this concept
of the new and future section (if I may so call it) of the Way or Path with
which the modern disciple is faced lies the secret of the coming revelation and
of the spiritual dispensation which will emerge as humanity constructs the new
world civilisation and begins to formulate the new culture. The burning, purifying, destructive effects
of the monadic will upon its distorted reflection, the individual will, deeply
deserves consideration.
(RI 35) Much of
what I have said above will seem meaningless to you because the finished
contact between soul and personality has not been brought about and the will
aspect in manifestation is not yet understood in its three phases: Personality,
Egoic and Monadic. But, as I have
earlier told you, I write for those disciples and initiates who are now coming
into incarnation and who will be in the full flower of their [Page 35]
consciousness and service at the latter end of this century. But the effort you make to understand will
have its effect, even if the brain registers it not.
In the last
analysis, these Rules or Formulas of Approach are primarily concerned with the Shamballa or life aspect. They are the only Formulas or embodied
techniques at present extant which have in them the quality which will enable
the aspirant to understand and eventually express the significance of the words
of Christ, "Life more abundantly."
These words relate to contact with Shamballa; the result will be the expression of the will
aspect. The whole process of invocation
and evocation is tied up with the idea.
The lesser aspect is ever the invoking factor, and this constitutes an
unalterable law lying behind the entire evolutionary process. It is necessarily a reciprocal process, but
in time and space it might be broadly said that the lesser ever invokes the
higher, and higher factors are then evoked and respond according to the measure
of understanding and the dynamic tension displayed by the invoking
element. This many fail to realise. You do not work at the evocative
process. That word simply connotes the
response of that which has been reached.
The task of the lesser aspect or group is invocative, and the success of
the invocative rite is called evocation.
When, therefore, your life is fundamentally invocative, then there will come the evocation of the will. It
is only truly invocative when personality and soul are fused and functioning as
a consciously blended and focussed unit.
(Hitler
being the expression of the invocative arc of the Shamballa force)
The next point
which I seek to make is that these Formulas of Approach or Rules deal with the
unfoldment of group consciousness, because it is only in group formation that,
as yet, the Shamballa force of the will can be tapped. They are useless to the individual under the
new initiatory dispensation. Only the group, under the proposed new mode of working
and of group initiation, is
capable of invoking Shamballa. That is why Hitler, the
exponent of the reversed reaction to Shamballa (and consequently the evil reaction) had to gather
around him a group of like-minded people or [Page 36] personalities. On the upper arc of the evocative cycle (Hitler
being the expression of the invocative arc of the Shamballa force) it requires a group to bring about evocation.
(RI 37) 1. The
physical application refers to the usage by the group of the given knowledge
and intuitively perceived information in such a way that the needs of the
larger group, of which the group itself is a part, are constructively
served. The consummation of this ideal
is to be found in the activity of the Hierarchy itself which, from progressive point
to progressive point, finds itself in the position of intuitive interpreter and
force transmitter between the centre of Shamballa and Humanity.
The individual initiate, on the way to one or other of the higher
initiations, has in his lesser degree to achieve the same dual function and thereby
fit himself for the wider cooperation.
The
esoteric significance of tension (as far as I can explain it by limiting words)
is "focussed immovable Will."
(RI 46) c. Toward
a newer tension.
The interpretation of the phrase presents difficulty. This is owing to the false impression which
the word "tension" conveys at this time. It is associated in the minds of the reading
public with the thought of nerves, with points of crisis, with courage and with
fatigue. Is this not so? But in reality tension, occultly understood,
is not associated with these aspects of personality reaction at all. The esoteric significance of tension (as far as I can explain it by limiting
words) is "focussed immovable Will."
Right tension is the identification of brain and soul with the will
aspect, and the preservation of that identification—unchanged and immovable—no
matter what the circumstances and the difficulties.
You can see,
therefore, how far ahead of present attitudes and goals this teaching is. Identification with the soul and with the
Hierarchy is dependent upon the ability of the disciple rightly to love. It is the emergence of the second divine
aspect, for love is the expression of group life, and [Page 46] that is rare
indeed to find in these days. Right tension
indicates the emergence of the first aspect, of the will, and this is seldom to
be found as yet, save among the more advanced disciples and initiate members of
the Hierarchy.
Love governs the
Way into the life of the Hierarchy and is the foundation for all approach to,
and appreciation and acceptance of truth.
Will governs the
Way into Shamballa and is the foundation for all approach to,
appreciation of and identification
with, Being.
(RI 54) The masses
are hearing the sound of the A.U.M. and, in their higher brackets, are finding
that A.U.M. the expression of something from which they seek release. The aspirants and disciples of the World are
hearing the O.M. and in their personal lives the A.U.M. and the O.M. are in
conflict. This may represent a new idea
to you, but it conveys an idea of an eternal fact. It may help you to gain an understanding
[Page 54] of this phase if I point out for you that for this first group the
O.M. can be portrayed in the following symbol as expressing the material M
nature whereas the second group can be portrayed by the symbol m expressive of
the soul enveloped in matter. You will
see, therefore, how the teaching leads man progressively onward and how the
occult science brings man in touch with great mental reversals and divine
paradoxes. For aeons the Word of the
soul and the Sound of spiritual reality are lost. Today, the Word of the soul is being found
again, and with that finding the little self is lost in the glory and the
radiance of the divine Self.
This discovery is
consummated at the time of the third initiation. The initiate and the Master, along with those
of higher rank who are approaching identification with Shamballa, are steadily and ever more clearly hearing the Sound
emanating from the Central Spiritual Sun and penetrating all forms of divine
life upon our planet—via our Planetary Logos Who hears it with clarity and with
understanding—the Sound of the lowest syllable of the Ineffable Name of the One
in Whom all the Planetary Logoi live and move and have Their Being, for They
are centres in the LIFE which is expressing itself through the medium of a
solar system.
You can see how
little use there is in my enlarging further upon this. Its sole usefulness is to give an expanding
impulse to the consciousness of the disciple and to stir his imagination (the
seed of the intuition), so that even whilst occupied in expressing the M and
then the m, he will be reaching out after the Sound.
Earlier I pointed
out that the sound of the A.U.M., the sound of the O.M. and the SOUND itself
are all related to vibration and to its differing and varied effects. The secret of the Law of Vibration is progressively revealed as people learn
to sound forth the Word in its three aspects.
Students would also do well to ponder on the distinction between the
breath and the Sound, between the process of breathing and of creating directed
vibratory activity. The one is related
to Time and the other to
Space (RI 80)” The number 24 is of deep interest,
expressing as it does the double 12—the greater and the lesser zodiac. Just as the number 6 expresses space, so the
number 24 expresses time, and is the key to the great cycle of manifestation” and they are distinct from each other; and (as the Old
Commentary puts it) "the Sound, the [Page 55] final and yet initiating
Sound, concerns that which is neither Time nor Space; it lies outside the
manifested ALL, the Source of all that is and yet is naught." (No
thing. A.A.B.)
(RI 56) Here,
briefly, is a fresh slant upon the familiar theme of the Word—a theme preserved
in some form by all the world religions but a theme which, like all else, has
been so materialised that it is the task of the Hierarchy to restore the
knowledge of its meaning, of its threefold application and its involutionary
and evolutionary significances. Students
would do well to remember that its sounding forth vocally upon the physical
plane means little. The important
factors are to sound it silently, inaudibly and within the head; then, having
done so, to hear it reverberate there and to recognise that this self-initiated
Sound—breathed forth from a point of tension—is a part of the original SOUND as
it takes form as a Word. When a man
perfectly empresses the A.U.M., he can then sound the O.M. with effectiveness
from progressive points of tension, until the third initiation. Then the effect of the O.M. is such that the
personality as a separate identity disappears, the soul emerges in all its
glory, and the first faint sound of the originating SOUND breaks upon the ear
of the transfigured initiate. This is
the Voice referred to in the Biblical account of the Transfiguration. This Voice says, "This is my beloved
Son." The initiate registers the
fact that he has been accepted by Shamballa and has made his first contact with the Planetary Logos, the Hierophant, the Initiator at the third initiation, just as the Christ, the Master of all the
Masters, is the Initiator and the Hierophant at the first two initiations.
[Page 57]
The Word, however,
with which we are now dealing is not the Sacred Word itself, but a signal or
sound of acceptance. It is translated in
this Rule by the phrase: Accepted as a
group. This refers to aggregates and
blended combinations through which the Soul in relation to personalities, the
Monad in relation to the Spiritual Triad, the Master in relation to His Ashram,
and Shamballa in relation to the Hierarchy, can work,
expressing plan in the initial stages of contact, and purpose in the final
stages. Bear in mind that the analogy
holds true all the way through. A
personality is an aggregate of forms and of substantial lives which, when fused
and blended, present a unified sumtotal, animated by desire or aspiration, by
plan or purpose, and functioning in its place under the inspiration of a
self-initiated inner programme.
Progress, from the larger angle and from the standpoint of Those Who see
life in terms of ever enlarging Wholes, is from group to group.
This
pronouncement, issuing from a point of tension, is the Word of the soul as it
integrates with the threefold personality when that personality is consciously
ready for such a fusion. The hold of the
soul upon its instruments of expression, the network of the seven centres and
the subsidiary centres, becomes intensified and energy pours in, forcing the
acquiescent personality fully to express the ray type of the soul, and
therefore subordinating the ray of the personality (and its three subsidiary
rays) to the dominating soul energy.
This first great integration is a fusion of force with energy. Here is a statement of deep import, embodying
one of the first lessons an initiate has to master. It is one which can only be properly
comprehended through life experience, subject to interpretation in the world of
meaning. Some understanding of what this
implies will come as the disciple masters the distinction between soul activity
and the action of matter, between emotion and love, between the intelligent
will and the mind, between plan and purpose.
In so doing he acquires the capacity to find his point of tension at any
given moment, and this growing capacity eventually brings him consciously to
recognise group after [Page 58] group as units with which identification must
be sought.
He finds his soul
through the fusion of soul and personality; he finds his group through the
absorption of this fusing soul-form with a Master's group, and finally he is
absorbed into the Master's Ashram; there he, in concert with his group brothers
in that Ashram, is fused and blended with the Hierarchy and hears the extension
of the Word, spoken originally by his soul:
Accepted as a group. Later, much
later, he participates at that august recognition which comes when the Voice
issues forth—as annually it does—from the centre at Shamballa and the seal is set on the acceptance of the
Hierarchy, with all its new associates, by the Lord of the World. This acceptance involves those initiates of
the third degree who have been integrated more closely into the hierarchical
life than ever before. This is the signal
to them (and to their Seniors Who have heard it year after year) that they are
part of the instrument whose purpose is to fulfill the plan. Thus the great syntheses are slowly taking
place. It has taken many aeons, for
evolution (especially in the earlier stages) moves slowly.
(RI 60) Once he is an accepted disciple and has
definitely undertaken the work in preparation for initiation, there is for him
no turning back. He could not if he
would, and the Ashram protects him.
In this Rule for
accepted disciples and initiates we are faced with a similar condition on a
higher turn of the spiral, but with this difference (one which you can hardly
grasp unless at the point where the Word goes forth to you): that the initiate stands alone in
"isolated unity," aware of his mysterious oneness with all that
is. The urge which distinguished his
progress in arriving at personality-soul fusion is transmuted into fixity of intention, ability to move forward into the clear
cold light of the undimmed reason, free from all glamour and illusion and
having now the power to voice the three demands. This he can now do consciously and by the use
of the dynamic will instead of making "application in triple form" as
was the case before. This distinction is
vital and significant of tremendous growth and development.
The initiate has
heard the Word which came forth to him when he was irrevocably committed to
hierarchical purpose. He has heard the
Voice from Shamballa just as he earlier heard the Voice of the
Silence and the voice of his Master.
Occult obedience gives place to enlightened will. He can now be trusted to walk and work alone
because he is unalterably one with his group, with the Hierarchy, and finally
with Shamballa.
The key to this
whole Rule lies in the injunction to the initiate that he add to his
application three demands, and only after they have been voiced and correctly
expressed and motivated by the dynamic will, does the further injunction come
that he move forward. What are these
three demands, and by what right does the initiate make them? Hitherto the note of his expanding
consciousness has been vision, effort, attainment and again vision. He has therefore been occupied with becoming aware of the field—an
ever-increasing [Page 61] and expanding area—of the divine revelation. In terms of practical occultism, he is
recognising an ever widening sphere wherein he can serve with purpose and
forward the Plan, once he has succeeded in identifying himself with that
revelation. Until this revelation is an
integral part of his life it is not possible for the initiate to comprehend the
significance of these simple words.
Identification is realisation, plus esoteric experience, plus again an
absorption into the Whole, and for all of this (as I have earlier pointed out)
we have no terminology. Now a master of
that which has been seen and appropriated, and being conscious of and sensing
that which lies ahead, the disciple "stands on his occult rights and makes
his clear demands."
What these demands
are can be ascertained by remembering that all that the initiate undergoes and
all that he enacts is the higher and esoteric correspondence of the triple
manifestation of spirit-energy which distinguished the first and earliest phase
of his unfoldment. That is the
personality. I would like to call
attention to the word "unfoldment," for it is
perhaps the most explicit and correct word to use anent the evolutionary
process. There is no better in your
language. The initiate has ever
been. The divine Son of God has ever
known himself for what he is. An
initiate is not the result of the evolutionary process. He is the cause of the evolutionary process,
and by means of it he perfects his vehicles of expression until he becomes
initiate in the three worlds of consciousness and the three worlds of
identification.
According to ray
type this unfoldment proceeds, and each triple stage of the lower unfoldment
makes possible later (in time and space) the higher unfoldment in the world of
the Spiritual Triad. What I am doing in
these instructions is to indicate the relation between the threefold
personality and the Spiritual Triad, linked and brought together by the
antahkarana. Each of these three lower
aspects has its own note and it is these notes which produce the sounding forth
of the three demands which evoke response from the Spiritual Triad and thus
reach the Monad in its high place of waiting in Shamballa.
(RI 65) The third great demand has in it a different implication, and
sounds forth, we are told, "through the fires." In this solar system there is no evading the
fire. It is found at all levels of
divine expression as we well know from our study of the three fires—fire by friction,
solar fire and electric fire, with their differentiations, the forty-nine fires—of
the seven planes. Always, therefore,
whether it is the cry of the disciple or the demand of the initiate, the sound
goes forth "through the fire, to the fire, and from the fire." Of this technique, underlying the potent
demand, there is little that I may say.
From the highest plane of the spiritual will, what is technically called
"the atmic plane," the demand goes forth and the result of that
demand will work out on mental levels, just as the earlier two demands worked
out on the physical and astral levels. I
would interject here that even though there is no astral plane, from the
standpoint of the Master, yet thousands of millions recognise it and labour in
its delusive sphere and are there aided by the initiated disciple working from
the higher corresponding levels. This is
true of all the planetary work, whether accomplished by initiates and Masters,
working directly in the three worlds, or from higher levels, as work the
Nirmanakayas (the creative Contemplatives of the planet), or from Shamballa from the Council Chamber of the Lord of the World.
All the efforts of the Hierarchy or of the "conditioning
Lives" (as They are sometimes called) of Shamballa are dedicated to the furthering of the evolutionary
plan which will finally embody divine purpose.
I keep emphasising this distinction between plan and purpose with deliberation, [Page 66] because it indicates the
next phase of the working of the intelligent will in the consciousness of
humanity.
(RI 68) Rule III.
Dual the moving
forward. The Door is left behind. That is a happening of the past. Let the cry of invocation [Page 68] issue
forth from the deep centre of the group's clear cold light. Let it evoke response from the bright centre,
lying far ahead. When the demand and the
response are lost in one great Sound, move outward from the desert, leave the
seas behind, and know that God is Fire.
This is perhaps
one of the two most occult rules which the initiate has to master, whether as
an individual or in conjunction with his group.
The group recognises and works under the pervasive influence of the
purpose; the individual initiate works with the plan. The group expression, as far as in it lies at
any given moment in time and space, is in line with the will of the One in Whom
we live and move and have our being, the Life of all that is. The individual initiate uses the attractive
force (to which we give the oft misleading name of love) of that fundamental
Life to gather together that which will give body to form and so manifest the
will. The group can be, and frequently
is, responsive to the "bright centre," Shamballa, where the initiate by himself and in his own
essential identity cannot so respond.
The individual must be protected by the group from the terrific
potencies which emanate from Shamballa. These must be stepped down for him by the
process of distribution, so that their impact is not focussed in any one or all
of his centres but is shared by all the group members. Here is the clue to the significance of group
work. One of its major functions,
esoterically speaking, is to absorb, share, circulate, and then distribute
energy.
This process of
protection and of distribution is one of the functions of the great meeting of
all the Hierarchy, under the aegis of the three Great Lords (the Manu, the
Mahachohan and the Christ) in that high and sacred valley in the Himalayas
where annually—after due preparation—the Hierarchy makes contact with Shamballa and a relationship is then set up between the
"bright and living centre" and the "radiating and magnetic
centre," in order that the "acquiescent waiting centre" may be
stimulated to move forward upon the ladder of evolution. Even the Hierarchy [Page 69] itself needs the
protection of its full membership in order rightly to absorb the incoming
energies, and later wisely to distribute the forces of the divine will in the
three worlds where lies Their major responsibility. The focussed will of God, in its immediate
implications and application, constitutes the point of tension from which Shamballa works in order to bring about the eventual fruition
of the divine Purpose.
Will
is active. Purpose is passive, waiting
for the results of the activity of the will.
There is a definite distinction between Purpose and
Will; it is subtle
indeed, but quite definite to the advanced initiate, and therefore the
dualistic nature of our planetary manifestation and our solar Expression appear
even in this. The Members of the Council
at Shamballa recognise this distinction and therefore
divide Themselves into two groups which are called in the ancient parlance, Registrants of the Purpose and Custodians
of the Will. Will is active. Purpose is passive, waiting for the results
of the activity of the will. These two
groups are reflected in hierarchical circles by the Nirmanakayas or the
Planetary Contemplatives, and the Custodians of the Plan. The function of the Registrants of the
Purpose is to keep the channel open between our Earth, the planet Venus and the
Central Spiritual Sun. The function of the Custodians of the Will is to relate the Council, the Hierarchy
and Humanity, thus creating a basic triangle of force between the three major
centres of the planetary Life. This is
the higher expression (symbolic, if you like) of the six-pointed star, formed
of two interlaced triangles. A replica
of this fundamental triangle and of this symbol of energy, with its inflow and
distribution, is to be found in the relation of the three higher centres in the
human being—head, heart and throat—to the three lower centres—solar plexus,
sacral centre and the centre at the base of the spine. The Science of Invocation and Evocation is
also seen to be symbolically proceeding along evolutionary lines. Worship, the attitude of the mystic, must
give place to Invocation in the man who knows he is divine. This symbolic revelation is to be seen in the
lifting up of the three lower energies and their evocative response to the
three higher, thus producing [Page 70] an eventual unity at the point of
tension. I realise that this is a hard
thing to comprehend because it embodies truths which are difficult for the
disciple to grasp. But they will be
grasped and mastered by each one as he proceeds along the Path of Discipleship
and submits to the needed training for initiation. They will also be mastered, later in this
century and in the next, by the rapidly developing humanity, thus demonstrating
that the initiation of the moment becomes the past achievement of the masses
eventually. This enhanced liberation
will later appear as a definite result of the war. The Atlantic Charter and the Four Freedoms,
formulated in the tension produced by the world agony and strain, are the
reflections of this, and embody all that it is possible for average
materially-minded man to grasp of the present will of Shamballa as it conditions the plans of the Hierarchy and is impulsed by the Registrants of the Purpose.
This is as far as the two groups of Custodians have been able to convey
this revelation to the best human intellects—the first group dealing with the
senior members of the Hierarchy and the latter with those initiates and
disciples who are closely related to humanity.
Here again we come
up against the fact that the Science of Invocation and Evocation, with which
this Rule fundamentally deals, is primarily a great and scientific activity of
which modern humanity knows practically nothing, but which is related to
thought power and to thoughtform building.
Only initiates of the highest degree—such as the three Great Lords—have
the right to invoke alone and unaccompanied by any protective agency, such as a
group, and the reason for that is that They Themselves are members of the
Council at Shamballa and are individually Registrants of the
Purpose. The annual appearance of the
Lord Buddha is the outer demonstration or symbol of the emergence of this Science of Invocation and Evocation in the waking consciousness of
humanity. Prayer is the dim, faint and
inadequate expression of this; affirmation of divinity in order to gain
material well-being is a distortion of this truth. This needs to be remembered. The true significance of this [Page 71]
emerging science is that, in the early or first stages, it embodies the seed
concept of the new world religion.
“the
necessity for the [Page 76] destruction of inadequate forms”-“ This destruction
could have been brought about by an act of God”
(RI 76) One of the
purposes lying behind the present holocaust (World War II) has been the
necessity for the [Page 76] destruction of inadequate forms. This destruction could have been brought about by an
act of God, such as a
great natural catastrophe or a universal epidemic, and such had been the
original intention. Humanity was,
however, swept by forces that carried in themselves the seeds of destruction, and
there was that in humanity which responded to those forces. Therefore the Law of destruction was
permitted to work through humanity itself, and men are now destroying the forms
through which many masses of men are functioning. This is both a good and a bad thing, viewed
from the evolutionary angle. It is
nevertheless a fact which cannot be gainsaid, and the problem, therefore,
confronting the Custodians of the Will, working through the Custodians of the
Plan, is to bring good out of the evil which man has wrought, and thus gear
events to the larger issues.
That is one of the
objectives before the Hierarchy at this time (written April, 1943) as it
prepares for participation in the May and June Full Moons. Can the forces be so organised and the energies
so distributed that the full measure of good may be evoked from humanity by the
invocation sounded forth by Shamballa? Can this evocation of a new cycle of
spiritual contact and of liberation be brought about by the invocation of the
men and women of good-will? Can the
will-to-good of the spiritual Forces and the goodwill of humanity be brought
together and produce those conditions in which the new world order may
function? These are the important
questions which the Hierarchy is attempting to solve.
It must be
remembered that the Science of Invocation and Evocation is a reciprocal
effort. Humanity could not be invocative
were it not that the Spiritual Hierarchy (and by that term I include both Shamballa and the planetary Hierarchy) is evoking the spirit of
man. The invocative cry of humanity is
evoked by the invocation or Sound of the spiritual hierarchies. Man's responsibility, however, is to invoke
at this time the Lords of Liberation and the Spirit of Peace. These are the Beings which have the power to
raise humanity, once the race of men has assumed the right [Page 77]
attitude. They correspond to the group,
in the third degree of Masonry, who raise the Master. Their response to the cry of mankind is
largely, but not wholly, dependent upon the quality of that cry.
(RI 78) Let us now
consider briefly the nature of that which is being evoked, and thus gain an
insight into the interrelation which exists between the three great planetary
centres: The human centre, the
hierarchical centre, and Shamballa.
Each of these is evocative to the one functioning at a slower or lesser
speed (if I might use such inappropriate terms) and invocative to the one above
it—again using a form of words which is misleading in the extreme; there is no
higher or lower and no greater or lesser in our universe of reality. There is only the interpenetration of
substances which are all basically expressions of matter, and their
vitalisation and organisation into forms of expression of the unknown
Real. This essential Reality, we call
spirit or life.
As a result of the
interplay of these two, humanity eventually appears in time and space. Humanity is the result of all sub-human forms
of expression and experience and of the activity of superhuman Beings. These superhuman [Page 79] Beings are the
product of past evolutionary systems and are in Themselves the sum total of the
great Divine Sacrifice as it focusses itself in our planetary life. Having passed through all previous phases of
existence and perfected the consciousness aspect in Themselves through human
experiences, They have transcended all that men can know and all states of
consciousness with which he is or may be in the future familiar, and are now
expressing a phase of divinity of which he can know naught. They LIVE.
They are energy itself, and in Their totality They form the "bright centre lying far ahead."
why
666 is regarded as the number of the Beast or of materialism
(RI 80) 3. Let it
evoke response from the bright centre, lying far ahead.
To this centre we
give the name Shamballa, the component letters of which are
numerically: S.H.A.M.B.A.L.L.A. or 1.8.1.4.2.1.3.3.1.
This word equals the number 24 which in its turn equals 6. I would call your attention to the fact that
the word has in it nine
letters, and—as you
know—nine is the number of initiation.
The goal of all the initiatory process is to admit mankind into
realisation of and identification
with the will or purpose of Deity. The number 6 is the number of form or of manifestation, which is the agent or medium through
which this realisation comes and by which the consciousness is unfolded so that
it can become the foundation of the higher process which is instituted at the
third initiation. That initiation is
closely related to the third major centre, Shamballa; it is the third, from the angle of man's perception
and understanding, but the first from the angle of Deity Itself. Again, 6 being the number of the sixth ray,
it is therefore the number of idealism and of that driving force which makes
mankind move forward upon the path and in response to the vision and press
upward towards the light. It is in
reality devotion to an unseen goal, ever on ahead, and an unswerving
recognition of the objective. Like all
other divine qualities, it has its material counterpart, and that is why 666 is regarded as the number of the Beast
or of materialism, the
number of the [Page 80] dominance of the three worlds prior to the process of
reorientation and the expression of developed idealism and purpose. The third aspect expresses itself through
pure materialism, and hence the three sixes.
In an ancient book on numbers the initiate is defined as "the one
who has experienced and expressed 666 and found it naught; who has dropped the
6 and become the 66, and thus has found himself upon the WAY; later, again, he
drops the 6 and becomes the perfected 6—form, the instrument and expression of
spirit."
The
number 6 expresses space, so the number 24 expresses time
(RI 80) The number 24 is of deep interest, expressing as it does
the double 12—the greater
and the lesser zodiac. Just as the number 6 expresses space, so the number 24 expresses time, and is the key to the great cycle of manifestation. It
is the clue to all cyclic appearance or incarnation. Its two figures define the method of
evolution; 2 equals the quality of love-wisdom, working under the Law of
Attraction and drawing man from one point of attainment to another; whilst 4
indicates the technique of conflict and the achieving of harmony through that conflict;
4 is also the number of the human hierarchy, and 2 is the number of the
spiritual hierarchy. Technically
speaking, until the third initiation, the initiate is "occupied with the
relationship of the 2 and the 4; these, when placed side by side, connote
relation; and when placed the one above the other, the initiate passes from the
4 into the 2." Needless to say,
there is much more to say anent these figures, but the above will suffice to
show the satisfactory nature of esoteric numerology—not numerology as
understood today.
I would have you
note that the sounds which compose the word "Shamballa" are predominantly along the line of will or
power or of first ray energy. Of the
nine letters, six are on
the first ray line of force.
1.1.1.3.3.1.—spirit
and matter, will and intelligence. Two
of them are along the second line of force, 4 and 2. The number 8 inaugurates ever a new cycle,
following after the number 7, which is that of a relative perfection. It is the number of the Christ-consciousness;
just as 7 is the number of man, 8 is the [Page 81] number of the Hierarchy, and
9 is the number of initiation or of Shamballa. Forget not
that, from the angle of the Hierarchy, the third initiation is regarded as the
first major initiation.
These preliminary
remarks are intended to convey much esoteric information to those who realise
that number gives the clue to the form and purpose of the life which the form
veils. At the third major initiation,
the third planetary initiation (which is in fact the first solar initiation),
the liberated disciple for the first time—alone and unaided—invokes the highest
spiritual centre on our planet, Shamballa. This he does because, for the first time,
consciously and with understanding, he registers the life aspect (which has
brought his soul into action through the medium of form) and vibrates to the
Monad. That registration enables him to
contact "the bright centre, lying far ahead," to blend his individual
will with the divine will, and to cooperate with the purpose aspect of
manifestation. He has learnt to function
through form; he has become aware, as a soul, of the divine form in its many
aspects and differentiations; he now starts off upon the way of the higher
unfoldment, of which the first step is contact with Shamballa, involving the fusion of his self-will and his
spiritual will with the Will of God.
At the third
initiation he stands before the One Initiator, the Lord of the World, and "sees His star shine forth" and hears
the sound which—to quote the Old Commentary:
"...pours
forth from that central point of power where substance and the outer life have
met together, where spirit utters loud the cry which drew the form to meet the
highest need; where energy comes forth and blends with force and (in the blending)
music had its start within the sphere of blending and of being thus created.
"Man only
hears the distant sound and knows it not for what it is. The disciple hears the sound and sees its
form. The one who stands for the third
time upon the mountain top hears a clear note and [Page 82] knows it as his
own, as ours, as yours, and yet the note which none have sounded forth."
(RI 83) This
initiate realisation is all brought about by the sudden appreciation or
apprehension of sound, by the awakening of the inner ear to the significance of
the Voice, just as the disciple in the earlier stage awakened to the
significance of vision. That is why, at
the third initiation,
the initiate sees the star and hears the sound.
At the first
two initiations, he sees the light and hears the Word; but this is something
different and is the higher correspondence to the earlier experience. It will be obvious that I can say no more
upon this subject.
It is essential,
however, that some knowledge begin to reach the public anent the highest
spiritual centre to which (as the Gospel story intimates) Christ Himself was
attentive. Frequently we read in the New
Testament that "the Father spoke to Him," that "He heard a
voice," and that the seal of affirmation (as it is occultly called) was
given to Him. Only the Father, the
planetary Logos, the Lord of the World, enunciates the final affirmative
sound. This has no reference—when it
occurs—to the earlier initiations, but only to the final ones. There are five obvious crises of initiation
which concern the Master Jesus as step by step He took or re-enacted the five
initiations. But lying behind this
obvious and practical teaching, lies an undercurrent or thread of higher revelation.
This is concerned with the realisations of the overshadowing Christ as
He registered the Voice which is heard at the third, fifth, sixth and seventh
initiations. The Gospel story gives us the five
Initiations of the Master Jesus, beginning with the first and ending with the
fifth. But it also gives the initiations
of the Christ, starting from the second and ending with the seventh. The latter is left incomplete, and the Voice
is not recorded, because at the Resurrection and Ascension we are not told of
the hearing of the affirmative sound.
That will be heard when the Christ completes His work at the time of the
Second Coming. Then the great seventh
initiation, which is a dual one (love-wisdom in full manifestation motivated by
power and will), will be consummated, and the Buddha and the Christ will
together pass before the Lord of the [Page 84] World, together see the glory of
the Lord, and together pass to higher service of a nature and calibre unknown
to us.
three
great energies are focussed in Shamballa, the seat of fire:
1)The
Energy of Purification
2)The
Energy of Destruction
3)
The Energy of Organisation
In this connection
it is wise to remember that three great energies are focussed in Shamballa, the seat of fire:
1. The Energy of Purification:
This is the power, innate in the manifested universe, which gradually
and steadily adapts the substance aspect to the spiritual by a process which we
call purification, where humanity is concerned.
It involves the elimination of all that hinders the nature of divinity
from full expression, and this again from inherent or latent capacity. This necessitates the leaving behind, stage
after stage, cycle after cycle, life after life, and plane after plane, of
every tendency in the form nature which veils or hides the glory of God. It is essentially the energy which
substitutes good for evil. Human
thinking has debased this concept so that purification is related mainly to
physical phenomena and physical plane life and to a selfish idealism which is
largely based on the thought of the sanitary care of substance. An enforced celibacy and a rigid
vegetarianism are familiar instances of this, and these physical disciplines
have been put in the place of emotional loveliness, mental clarity, intuitional
illumination, and the thoughts of the aspirant become focussed downwards into
matter and not outwards and upwards into light.
2. The Energy of Destruction:
This is a destruction which removes the forms which are imprisoning the
inner spiritual life, and hiding the inner soul light. This energy is therefore one of the major
aspects of the purificatory nature of the divine Life, and that is the reason
why I have put purification ahead of destruction. It is the destroying aspect of life itself,
just as there is a destructive agency in matter itself. Two things must be borne in mind in
connection with the destroyer aspect of Deity and with those responsible for
its appearance:
a. The destructive activity is set in motion
through the will of Those Who constitute the Council at Shamballa and Who are instrumental in bringing the forms in all
the subhuman kingdoms into line with the [Page 85] evolving purpose. Under cyclic law, this destructive energy
comes into play and destroys the forms of life which prevent divine expression.
b. It is also
brought into activity through the determinations of humanity itself which—under
the Law of Karma—makes man the master of his own destiny, leading him to
initiate those causes which are responsible for the cyclic events and
consequences in human affairs.
There is naturally
a close connection between the first Ray of Will or Power, the energies concentrated at Shamballa and the Law of Karma, particularly in its planetary
potency and in relation to advanced humanity.
It will be apparent, therefore, that the more rapidly the individual
aspirant approaches the third initiation, the more rapidly and directly will
the individual's karma be worked out.
Monadic relation, as it becomes established, lets loose the destructive
aspect of the basic energy, and all hindrances are destroyed with
expedition. This is true also of
humanity as a whole. Two factors have,
subjectively and spiritually, precipitated this world crisis: The growth and development of the human
family and (as you have been told) the inflow of the Shamballa force at this particular time, both as a result of
Karmic law and the planned decision of the Great Council.
3. The Energy of Organisation:
This is the energy which set in motion the activity of the great Ray
Lives and started the motivation and impulse of that which produced
manifestation. Thus were the seven ray
qualities brought into expression. The
relation of spirit and matter produced this ordered process which again,
cyclically and under law, creates the manifested world as a field for soul
development and as an area wherein divine purpose is wrought out through the
medium of the plan. Again I call your
attention to the distinction existing between purpose and plan. This is the aspect, emanating from Shamballa, and inherent also in form (as are the other two),
which eventually relates the human will, through the right use of the mind, to
the organised planning of his separate and individual life in the [Page 86]
three worlds, and which eventually relates and reorients that will to the Will
of God.
These three
energies are faintly symbolised for us in the life of Christ when overshadowing
the Master Jesus, two thousand years ago.
The purificatory aspect of the monadic force is indicated at the Baptism episode;
secondly, the destroyer aspect can be seen expressing itself at the time of the
Crucifixion, when it rent the veil of the
It is these three
energies which have precipitated the world crisis, and it is helpful for us to
recognise the factual nature of the Shamballa forces as they play upon our planetary life and work
out human destiny. The great energy of
purification is regenerating humanity, and of this the widespread fires which
have been such an outstanding characteristic of this war (1914-1945) are the
outward and visible sign. Much evil is
being burnt out through the revelation of the appalling character of that evil,
and through this, unity is being produced.
Mankind has looked upon evil in every land and known it to be wrought by
men. Men have seen, and that sight will
never be forgotten, and the horror thus engendered will aid in stiffening the
will of humanity to betterment. The
energy of destruction has its side of beauty when the spiritual values are
grasped. That which has so grossly
imprisoned the human spirit is disappearing; the rocky grave of humanity is
breaking open and releasing men to a life of resurrection. Forget not that in the interim between the
tomb experience and the appearance in living [Page 87] form to His disciples,
the Master Jesus went down into hell (figuratively speaking), carrying release
for those to be found there. There will
be an interim between the darkness of the war with the evil history of the
past, and the appearance of a living civilisation and culture based on the
spiritual values and intelligently developing the divine purpose. The stage is now being set for this.
The Crucifixion
and the tomb experience lead eventually to resurrection and to life. The destruction is appalling, but it is only
the destruction of the form side of manifestation in this particular cycle, and
(a point which I would beg you not to forget) it is the destruction of much
planetary evil, focussed for aeons in humanity as a whole and brought to the
surface and precipitated into violent activity by a group of evil men whose
destiny it was. This destiny was the
result of their own deliberate choice, and of prolonged cycles of purely
material selfishness.
I would ask all
aspirants and disciples to ponder upon the destructive purpose of God—a purpose which is motivated by love,
guided by a balanced judgment as to form, and which cherishes and fosters the
life and its resultant spiritual values.
The
destroying power of spirit is not the same as that of matter
There is an inherent
destructive energy in matter itself and an energy of very great potency; it is
with this energy that the Axis
Powers are working. The destructive energy, emanating from
"the bright centre," Shamballa, is
something very different, and I would ask you to remember this. The destroying power of spirit is not the same as that of
matter. A human being destroys his own form again and
again through the evil which he does and by the material focus of his desires;
the following of a life of vice will breed disease, as is well known.
The disciple can
also destroy his form nature through selfless service and devotion to a
cause. In both cases the form is
destroyed, but the motivating impulse is different and the energy of
destruction comes from different sources.
The death of a Master Jesus or of a Father Damien, and [Page 88] the
death of a Hitler or of a murderer, are not the result of the same essential
energies.
When the din of
battle and the smoke and fire of bombing and the cruel effects on human bodies
have faded into the past, it will be apparent to the understanding aspirant
that much evil has been destroyed in all fields of human activity—in the field of theological religion, in the field of politics, and in the field of selfish economic competition. It
will be for humanity then to precipitate and stabilise the appearing good, and
this they will learn to do through the utilisation of the third Shamballa energy—the energy of organisation. The new world
will be built upon the ruins of the old.
The new structure will rise. Men
of goodwill everywhere, under the guidance of the New Group of World Servers,
will organise themselves into battalions of life, and their first major task
must be the development of right human relations, through the education of the
masses. This means the paralleling
development of an enlightened public opinion, which is (speaking esoterically)
right response to the sound which conveys the will of God to the ears of the
attentive. Then humanity will indeed
move outward from the desert, leave the seas behind, and know that God is Fire.
(RI 89) That
accomplished, He stays with His people as Head of the Hierarchy until His
second opportunity comes, in which as Representative both of Humanity and the
Hierarchy, He can relate them both to Shamballa. This He does
through a great act of evocation, seeking to bring about a closer relationship
between all the three great planetary centres:
Shamballa, the Hierarchy, and Humanity. He can do this because the development of the
Wisdom aspect in His nature makes it possible.
The major linking agent in the universe is the energy of
Love-Wisdom. Love relates the Hierarchy
to Humanity, and Wisdom relates the Hierarchy to Shamballa. Only when
Humanity and the Hierarchy are working together in a practical synthesis, can
the Shamballa energy be permitted complete inflow through the medium of the two
other centres.
[Page 90]
To aid in this
process of gradual perfecting and an eventual bringing about of a complete
alignment, the help of the Buddha must be invoked and accepted. The work of the Christ as God-Saviour can be
carried forward by Him alone and unaided.
The work of the Christ as God the Preserver needs the united work, as
yet, of the two highest Representatives of the second divine aspect when
present together upon the Earth, as is the case today of both the Buddha and
the Christ. This is the first cycle in
the history of humanity when this has been the case. One or the other has been present down the
ages, but not the two simultaneously.
The reason for this is that the time has now been reached when Shamballa can be contacted and its energy evoked. Hence we have the activity of the Buddha at the May Full Moon and that of the Christ at the following June Full Moon.
Their united activity serves to bring about a much closer approach
between the Lord of the
World and the
Hierarchy, via His four Representatives:
the Buddha, the
Christ, the Manu, and the Mahachohan—the five points of energy which are creating the
five-pointed star of Humanity at this time.
(RI 92) His task
today is threefold, and the Rule states in very simple language these three
aspects of His divine activity or phases of His work. These are:
2. He
"nourishes the lesser lives."
This refers to the task of the Christ which proceeds day by day, in His
capacity of God the Preserver. He
"tends the little ones." The
work here referred to concerns His activity as Initiator and His responsibility
as Head of the Hierarchy. The nourishing
of the little lives refers primarily to His task as World Teacher and to His
responsibility to lead humanity on into the light, with the aid of all the
Masters, working, each of Them through His Own Ashram.
3. He "keeps
the wheel revolving." This has a
specific relation to His work as the Word of God, which manifests as the Word
made flesh. This refers specifically to
the great Wheel of Rebirth whereby, upon that turning wheel, souls are carried
down into incarnation and then up and out of the soul's prison; through the
turning of the wheel, human beings learn their needed lessons, create
cyclically their vehicles of expression (the response apparatus of the soul in
the three worlds) and in this way, under soul guidance, and aided by the
Hierarchy and its schools of instruction, they arrive at perfection. This entire process is under the control of
the Christ, assisted by the Manu and the Lord of Civilisation. These three Great Lords thus represent the
three divine Aspects in the Hierarchy; They, with the four Lords of Karma, form
the seven Who control the whole [Page 93] process of incarnation. The subject is too vast and intricate to be
adequately considered here. The above
truth does, however, give us a clue as to why the Christ made no specific
reference to the work of incarnation in His spoken utterances whilst on
Earth. He was then occupied with His
task of World Saviour.
His work as
Preserver and as Head of the Hierarchy had not then begun. It was at that time dependent upon the
experience in the
At the present
time, and at the immediate point of tension, Christ has added to His two
immediate and constant tasks that of hastening the coming of the Avatar Who
waits for the perfected work of the Hierarchy, focussed in the Christ, and the
powerful work of Shamballa, focussed in the Lord of the World. When the exact moment has arrived, the work of the Buddha, representing Shamballa, and of the Christ, representing the Hierarchy, plus
the sincere demand of Humanity, will bring about an arrangement or an alignment
which will release an evocative Sound which will be extra-planetary, and then
the Avatar will come.
(RI 94) Ask me not
for the date or the hour, brother of mine, for I know it not. It is dependent upon the appeal—the voiceless
appeal—of all who stand with massed intent; it is dependent also upon the hour
of exact alignment and upon certain aspects of work being done at this time by
the senior Members of the Hierarchy, and also upon the steadfastness of the disciples
in the world and the initiates—working in their various Ashrams. To this must be added [Page 94] what
Christians call the "inscrutable will of God," the unrecognised
purpose of the Lord of the World Who "knows His Own Mind, radiates the
highest quality of Love, and focusses His Will in His Own high Place outside
the Council Chamber of Shamballa."
That the Avatar
will come is a predictable certainty.
That His forerunner will be the Christ is equally sure. When Christ comes it will be for the advanced
units of the human family; they will recognise Him because He has always been
with us, whilst His advent will evoke a responsive vibration from the masses,
but not straight recognition. In
connection with the Avatar, it will be a process of hierarchical recognition of
an overshadowing Presence within Whose aura the planetary Logos will take His
stand as the planetary Representative.
Then from Shamballa will descend a stream of spiritual
potency, qualified by
the will-to-good, and
this will reach the attentive Hierarchy.
The Members of this Group will, through the medium of the Christ, pour
light and healing energy upon the Earth and peculiarly into the consciousness
of men. I am not able to express the
effect of the outpouring from Shamballa in
clearer terms. We are told in the Bible
that Christ will come in the air, and that He will bring the "healing of
the nations" in His wings. I would
call your attention to this thought and to its appositeness to this day and
generation. I make no prophetical predictions,
I only indicate possibility.
(RI 95) The work
now being done by Shamballa
and the Hierarchy on
behalf of humanity will tend also to develop group consciousness and the
formation of many groups which will be living organisms and not organisations;
it will make group initiation possible and will enable certain aspects of the
will to flower forth correctly and with safety.
The tendency to overlook the distinction between groups and
organisations is still very deep-seated; the coming of the Christ will throw
much light upon this problem. A study of
Rule IV as given to disciples and initiates will also serve [Page 96] to
clarify this matter, and with that we shall now concern ourselves.
(RI 96) Let the
group see that all the eighteen
fires die down and
that the lesser lives return unto the reservoir of life. This they must bring about through the evocation of the Will. The lesser
wheels must not for aye revolve in time and space. Only the greater Wheel must onward move and
turn.
This is a rule
peculiarly related to the fourth Creative Hierarchy, embodying its goal as the
Aryan rootrace can sense and approximate it.
It is peculiarly related also to the quaternary to which we give the
name "personality," composed of a vital or etheric body, a sumtotal
of emotional states and a mind, plus that integrated something which we call
the whole man. Rightly understood and
followed, this rule reveals the nature of the fourth plane or fourth state of
consciousness, that of buddhi or the plane of pure reason, the intuition. From the angle of the higher initiate, this
rule is related to the activity of Monad, Soul and body within the planetary
Life, and covers a great mystery and an entire system of relationships of which
man in the three worlds is a dim and uncertain shadow. Some clue to the higher quaternary dealt with
in this rule will emerge dimly in your consciousness (more is not yet possible)
if you will attempt to realise the following:
1. The Monad relates the initiate to the Will of
God, to the Council at
Shamballa, to forces active on the planet Pluto, and on another planet which must remain
nameless, (Vulcan) and also to the Central Spiritual Sun. (Uranus)
2. The Soul
relates the initiate to the Love of God, to the consciousness aspect of Deity,
to the Hierarchy as a whole, entering it through the Ashram of the Master Who
has aided him to take initiation, to the planets Venus and Mercury, to the Sun
Sirius, and to the Heart of the Sun.
3. The Personality
relates the initiate to the Mind [Page 97] of God, to the intelligence
principle of the planetary Life, to humanity as a whole, to Saturn and Mars,
and to the physical Sun through its pranic aspect.
4. The Life aspect
of the planet, or that great ocean of forces in which all these three aspects live
and move and have their being, relates the initiate to that Life which works
out through Shamballa, through the Hierarchy and through
Humanity, thus forming part of the great sumtotal of manifestation.
(RI 110) The will
aspect of divinity can find expression only through humanity, for the fourth
kingdom in nature is intended to be the agent of the will to the three subhuman
[Page 110] kingdoms. It was therefore
essential that the spirit of inclusiveness and the tendency to spiritual
identification should be developed in humanity as a step preparatory to the
development of response to divine purpose.
It is absolutely essential that the will-to-good be unfolded by the
disciples of the world so that goodwill can be expressed by the rank and file
of mankind. The will-to-good of the
world knowers is the magnetic seed of the future. The will-to-good is the Father aspect, whilst
goodwill is the Mother aspect, and from the relation of these two the new
civilisation, based on sound spiritual (but utterly different) lines, can be
founded. I would commend this thought to
your consciousness, for it means that two aspects of spiritual work must be
nurtured in the immediate future, for on them the more distant hope of happiness
and of world peace depends. The New
Group of World Servers must be reached and the will-to-good developed in them,
and the masses simultaneously must be reached with the message of
goodwill. The will-to-good is dynamic, powerful and effective; it is based on realisation of the plan
and on reaction to the purpose as sensed by those who are either initiate, and
consciously in touch with Shamballa, or disciples who are likewise a part of
the Hierarchy but are not yet able to contact the central Purpose or Life. Not yet having taken the third initiation,
the monadic vibration is to them largely unknown. It would be just as dangerous for them to be
able to reach Shamballa (prior to the third initiation when all personality tendencies are obliterated) as it would be to teach the masses of men
today techniques of will which would render their still selfish will
effective. The main difficulty would be
that the disciples would destroy themselves, whilst the ordinary man would
damage himself.
(RI 112) Two
things have therefore been decided upon by the Masters as They face the future
of humanity and prepare to take the required steps to meet man's advancing
aspiration. I have chosen these two
words with care. These two requirements
have been demanded of the Hierarchy by Shamballa in order to safeguard the Mysteries and prevent a too
premature precipitation of the hierarchical life upon the Earth. Both these requirements are expressed in this
fifth Rule.
Rule V.
In unison let the
group perceive the Triad shining forth, dimming the light of the soul and
blotting out the light of form. The
macrocosmic Whole is all there is. Let
the group perceive that Whole and then no longer use the thought, "My soul
and thine."
“The
first demand made by Shamballa is that the groups being prepared for initiation
should consist only of those who are in process of building the antahkarana,
the bridge between the Triad and the personality; the second demand is that
those being prepared should show some signs of the sense of synthesis”
The first
demand made by Shamballa is that the groups being prepared for initiation
should consist only of those who are in process of building the antahkarana,
the bridge between the Triad and the personality; the second demand is that
those being prepared should show some signs of the sense of synthesis.
[Page 113]
You will note,
therefore, some of the factors that have controlled the presentation of the
truth which I have sought to give, down the years. The teaching on the Antahkarana (briefly
hinted at by H.P.B.) has been expanded by me in the book, Education in the New
Age and in this fifth volume of A Treatise on the Seven Rays (Part II), and has
already been given to a number of senior aspirants in the hope that they would
profit thereby; the need for synthesis has also been emphasised by me, and is
closely related to the will-aspect, the first divine aspect. In the past, during the cycle of mysticism
through which all aspirants very properly pass, they were taught to "see
the vision"—a vision of the goal, of the beauty to be sought, of the loved
one to be known, of liberation to be achieved, of spiritual satisfaction and an
opened door to greater wonders. In the
occult age which has now definitely dawned, the neophyte will be taught to see
the picture whole, to think in the larger terms, to emerge out of the normal
separative consciousness into the broad state of awareness that "sees no
difference." The goal, or rather
the result of the mystic and occult way, is the merging of the vertical way of
life with the horizontal way of service, and it is this merging which Shamballa demands should condition the attempt now in process
of training those who will together seek initiation, will together pass through
the Portal on to the Way, and who can together be presented to the One Initiator
as a "unit of Light." This sense of synthesis (which must be increasingly demonstrated
as each initiation is taken in group formation) is possible only to those who
have bridged the gap between the concrete lower mind and the higher mind or—to
word it technically and in the language of academic occult science—between the
mental unit and the manasic permanent atom.
two
demands will be the two basic requirements for the new schools of occultism
(RI 115) The two demands are expressed in Rule V as follows:
This is the demand
for the building of the antahkarana which relates the disciple in his
personality to the Triad.
2. The Macrocosmic
Whole is all there is. Let the group
perceive that Whole and then no longer use the thought, "My soul and
thine."
This is the demand
for a sense of synthesis which is occult vision and not mystic vision. These two demands will be the two basic requirements for the new schools of
occultism.
In view of all the
instructions given earlier in this volume, and in view also of the clarity of
the statement made above, there is little that it will be necessary for me to
say anent this first demand. The word
"demand" which has been used perhaps requires explanation. In considering this subject it should be
remembered that admittance to Shamballa and
a divine expression in life and service of the first great divine aspect, the
will aspect, is the goal held before the members of the Hierarchy. They too are on the way of evolution, and
Their goal is to pass through the "eye of the needle," on Their way
to the higher evolution. This higher
evolution is that which opens up before a Master of the Wisdom. The use of this esoteric term by Christ in
The New Testament story gives us a hint as to the nature of the exalted
consciousness which He expressed. Faced
by the rich young man who possessed so much, Christ indicated that he needed to
prepare himself for a great negation and for a step forward. The true significance of this has never [Page
116] been grasped and lies in the fact that the phrase "rich young
man" is in reality a technical term which is frequently applied to an
initiate of the third degree, just as the words "little ones" or
"little child" apply to an initiate of the first or second
degree. This rich young man was rich in
his range of awareness, rich in his personality equipment, rich in his
aspiration and in his recognition; he was rich as the result of age-long
experience and evolutionary development.
He is told by the Christ that he must now prepare himself for what is
called in Rule V "the Triad shining forth"; he must now prepare for
the unfoldment of the monadic consciousness and for the fourth initiation. In that initiation, the causal body, the body
wherein the soul experiences and reaps the fruit of experience, must be and
will be destroyed. This has to take
place before the initiate can enter into the Council Chamber of the Most High
and express the will-to-good and the will of God in fulfillment of the purposes
of God. The will of this particular "rich young man," initiate though he was, was not yet
adequate to the requirements, so he went sadly away; he had to prepare himself
for the fourth
initiation, the Great
Renunciation, the Crucifixion, and thus fit himself to pass through the
needle's eye.
UP TO HIT 592
Compilation Shamballa part14
(RI 116) In view
of all the instructions given earlier in this volume, and in view also of the
clarity of the statement made above, there is little that it will be necessary
for me to say anent this first demand.
The word "demand" which has been used perhaps requires
explanation. In considering this subject
it should be remembered that admittance to Shamballa and a divine expression in life and service of the
first great divine aspect, the will aspect, is the goal held before the members
of the Hierarchy. They too are on the
way of evolution, and Their goal is to pass through the "eye of the needle,"
on Their way to the higher evolution.
This higher evolution is that which opens up before a Master of the
Wisdom. The use of this esoteric term by
Christ in The New Testament story gives us a hint as to the nature of the
exalted consciousness which He expressed.
Faced by the rich young man who possessed so much, Christ indicated that
he needed to prepare himself for a great negation and for a step forward. The true significance of this has never [Page
116] been grasped and lies in the fact that the phrase "rich young
man" is in reality a technical term which is frequently applied to an
initiate of the third degree, just as the words "little ones" or
"little child" apply to an initiate of the first or second degree. This rich young man was rich in his range of
awareness, rich in his personality equipment, rich in his aspiration and in his
recognition; he was rich as the result of age-long experience and evolutionary
development. He is told by the Christ that
he must now prepare himself for what is called in Rule V "the Triad
shining forth"; he must now prepare for the unfoldment of the monadic
consciousness and for the fourth initiation.
In that initiation, the causal body, the body wherein the soul
experiences and reaps the fruit of experience, must be and will be
destroyed. This has to take place before
the initiate can enter into the Council Chamber of the Most High and express
the will-to-good and the will of God in fulfillment of the purposes of God. The will of this particular "rich young man," initiate though he was, was not yet
adequate to the requirements, so he went sadly away; he had to prepare himself
for the fourth
initiation, the Great
Renunciation, the Crucifixion, and thus fit himself to pass through the
needle's eye.
There is a
symbolic utterance in the Old Commentary which throws light upon the great
opportunities which are found in the critical moments in the life of the soul
as it experiences incarnation and becomes enriched thereby:
"Within the
womb of time and circumscribed by space and limited by darkness—though
sustained always by warmth—the life evolves.
It develops faculty. It becomes
in miniature that which it is. It takes
on form and knows the divinity of separation.
Such is its goal. Reflect. Knowledge will come.
"Beyond the
door is greater light and life. It knows
itself for what it is. It suffices not
unto itself and knows that it is That—part of the Whole, divinely one with others. Reflect.
Union will come.
"Before the
rampart of the place of God Himself, a [Page 117] Son Of God comes forth. He stands before the needle's eye and seeks
to pass the hindering wall. He is not
circumscribed by time or space, but light and life are his. He realises beauty and he knows that That
exists. Instead of time and space and
all the rich inducements of the form, he knows himself as rich in love, in
knowledge, wisdom, insight, and all the panoply of God (as he can grasp it),
except one thing. Reflect. Purpose will reveal itself; the Whole will
stand revealed and then the soul—loaded with riches and the fruits of labour
long—will vanish as the mist and only God, the living One, be left."
There is still
another set of phrases dealing with that through which the perfected Sons of
God in Their high place must pass when Their work is done on Earth and a
greater glory reveals itself ahead. But
this I give not. I give only three
symbols, which are:
The
womb...individualisation...separation.
Leading to
personality integration and self-realisation.
Climaxing on the
Path of Initiation...the birth of the Christ.
Producing
intelligent activity.
Initiation.
The two-leaved
door...initiation...group consciousness.
Leading to soul
expression.
Climaxing in the
third initiation.
Producing loving
living.
The third
initiation.
The eye of the
needle..higher evolution..monadic consciousness.
Leading to life
expression.
Climaxing in the
fifth initiation.
Producing
purposeful life.
Consummation.
Such are the three
points of entrance to the three planetary centres: Humanity, Hierarchy and Shamballa.
(RI 118) This
first demand is, curiously enough, the first expression of recognition—directly
accorded—that the Great [Page 118] Lives at Shamballa are now in direct relation with humanity. Hitherto that
contact has not been direct, and They have not been in touch with current
developments. Hitherto, all contacts and
spiritual impulses from this highest centre have reached humanity via the
Hierarchy, and vice versa. This demand
concerns the negation, the obliteration, the absorption, the putting out or the
synthesis of the lesser lights by the greater.
All the words which I have employed are efforts to express the truth and
all are entirely inadequate.
The moment the
initiate or the disciple sees, even dimly, the light of the Spiritual Triad which veils and hides the Central
Spiritual Sun, he realises that all other lights—that of the atom of matter,
that of the form and that of the soul itself—must inevitably fade out in the
stupendous glory and brilliance which emanate from God Himself and which he
senses as in process of revelation. He
becomes absorbed—intellectually, intuitively, spiritually and finally
factually—in that Light.
Here I would remind you that just as the light of the soul revealed to
the struggling aspirant a new vision, set for him new goals, enhanced all
qualities present in his equipment, and revealed the past, the present and the
future of the individual, so this still greater light reveals to the initiate a
horizon so vast that it has hitherto escaped his capacity and is yet but
possible to vision by an initiate of the third degree, endows him with an
occult perception hitherto not realised as existing—a perception which permits
him to penetrate increasingly and to cooperate understandingly in the purpose
of the Lord of the World. It enables him
later to develop the equipment—qualities and gifts of a divine nature—which
will eventually enable him to take his place in the Council Chamber at Shamballa and work in full unanimity with the Lords of Karma.
These qualities
and gifts concern divine attributes and capacities for which we have as yet no
words as they lie beyond the scope of human consciousness, being utterly
unknown even to advanced human beings.
They only begin to manifest as tendencies between the second and the
third [Page 119] initiations, in the same way as the instincts in a small child
are, in reality, the germs of later intellectual attitudes and activities. It is needless, therefore, for me to enlarge
upon them; unless you are an initiate of the third degree, my words would be
meaningless to you and would convey naught.
The clue lies for you in understanding the three words—Happiness, Joy,
Bliss. Do you, as you speak of bliss, understand
wherein it differs from happiness and joy?
Bliss is associated with complete Being; it concerns the interior
attitude of the Whole.
As the individual
disciple builds the rainbow bridge, the antahkarana, and as a group of
disciples build the group antahkarana, they make possible the "Triadal
perception" referred to above. When
the disciple has flung one strand of living light (through the power of
magnetic love) across the space separating the Triad and the personality, he discovers that he is a part of a
group. This group recognition—faulty and
unintelligently expressed at first—is the factor which enables him to pass,
along the anchored thread, into the Ashram of a Master.
From the angle of
the old teaching, the Ashram of the Master and the focus of the Hierarchy were
on the higher levels of the mental plane.
Today, that is not so. They are
on the plane of spiritual love, of the intuition and of buddhi. The Hierarchy is both retreating towards the
higher centre of Shamballa, and at the same time advancing towards the
lower centre, Humanity. Both these
activities have been made possible by man himself; the growing intuitive
perception of humanity, in its higher brackets, enables him to function upon
the Path of Discipleship and on higher levels than ever before. This the Hierarchy recognises. The growing aspiration of the masses is also
drawing the Masters closer to humanity than ever before. This is an instance of the ability of the
initiate consciousness to function on initiate levels and also in the three
worlds simultaneously. Of this the dual
activity of the mind is a symbol, acting as it does as the common sense and so
dealing with all matters in the three worlds, and as the spiritual [Page 120]
mind at the same time, dealing with all matters connected with the soul, with
light and illumination.
The
second demand, that the sense of synthesis should be the goal of the training
given to applicants in the New Age
(RI 120) The second demand, that the sense of synthesis should be the goal of the training given to applicants in the New Age, is a
direct evidence of the new Shamballa contact, because synthesis is an attribute
of the divine will and the outstanding quality of Deity. It was inevitable that intelligence and love
should be evolutionary objectives on the planet and the first two divine
aspects to be developed, for they are qualities of the will; they make the
manifestation of the divine will possible; they guarantee its intelligent
application and its magnetic power to draw to itself all that is needed for the
expression or the manifestation of the divine envisaged purpose, visualised
synthetically, and motivated, implemented, engineered and made possible by the
dynamic aspect of the same will.
It is interesting
to note that there is every evidence in the world today that the Shamballa energy
is directly impinging
upon the human consciousness and directly producing results.
The destroyer aspect of the first Ray of Will or Power is producing
worldwide destruction through the use of the first kingdom in nature, the
mineral kingdom. That which is made of
metals and chemicals is bringing catastrophe and destruction on earth, primarily in the human kingdom. At the same time the second attribute of the
will, synthesis, is evoking an equally widespread response. This sense of synthesis has a mass effect
earlier than it has an individual effect, and this is a thing of interest and
importance to note at this time. Later,
the dynamism inherent in the will, wielded by the New Group of World Servers
and by the disciples and initiates of the world, will turn that instinctive
mass response into factual experience and produce the "appearance" on
earth of the new, developed "quality" which "life" seeks in
the New Age to demonstrate. In the first
volume of this Treatise, I called attention to the three divine aspects: Life, Quality and Appearance. They are now in process of making their
appearance in final form for this particular cycle.
[Page 121]
Synthesis dictates the trend of all the evolutionary
processes today; all is working towards larger unified blocs, towards
amalgamations, international relationships, global planning, brotherhood,
economic fusion, the free flow of commodities everywhere, interdependence,
fellowship of faiths, movements based upon the welfare of humanity as a whole,
and ideological concepts which deal with wholes and which militate against
division, separation and isolation.
Little as people
realise it, these concepts are relatively new factors in the human
consciousness, and the fact that they are the result of a new and direct
relation between Those Who implement the will of God and humanity everywhere is
the guarantee of the inevitability of their expression in the future. It is only in the immediate interim—a period
of one hundred fifty years—that delay may seem the rule. Such, however, will not really be the
case. The forms through which these new and impending ideas
must take shape and manifest have yet to be created, and that takes time, for they are built
by the power of thought and due process of educating the public consciousness until
that consciousness becomes confirmed conviction and demonstrates as an
immovable public opinion.
“This
sense of synthesis is one of the things which the new esoteric schools will
develop in their students- They
will seek to relate the One, the Monad, to the personality”
This sense
of synthesis is one of
the things which the new
esoteric schools will develop in their students and neophytes, for it will be the people trained
interiorly in these schools who will be the builders of the new world and the trainers
of future public opinion. The labels and
the names whereby these schools may call themselves mean but little. Many will proclaim themselves as esoteric
schools and will communicate nothing of a truly esoteric nature. They will but attract to themselves the
gullible and the foolish. There are many
such functioning in this manner today.
Others may refrain from all outer indication of esoteric and occult
training, and yet convey the needed teaching.
They will seek to
relate the One, the Monad, to the personality, and to evoke in their students a true sense of
synthesis.
It is the sense of
synthesis, putting it very simply, which will be the goal of all the
educational movements, once the [Page 122] New Age idealism is firmly
established. Physical coordination,
personal integrity (which involves primarily the control and later the negation
of the astral body), and personality integration will be the essential first
steps. To this will succeed processes
whereby the fusion of the personality with the soul, of the lower self with the
higher Self, and of form with the divine Dweller in the form will follow
next. Then the truly esoteric phase of
the educational process will be attempted when the earlier steps or stages have
been satisfactorily grasped and there is indication of some measure of real
success. By that time the school of the Mysteries and the Halls of preparation for
initiation will be generally recognised by the thinking people and believed in
by the expectant masses.
In those schools, those
who are beginning to function as souls will be led on to take their next
step. Their developed soul nature will
be expressing itself through intelligent love and a sense of group fellowship;
these two divine qualities will form a basis or foundation from which the next
unfoldment can emerge and on which a more spiritual superstructure can be
built. The Science of Meditation and the conscious building
of the antahkarana will
be the first two
preliminary stages in the esoteric curriculum. Today, the true
teaching of meditation and the construction of the bridge of light between the
Triad and the personality are the most advanced teaching given anywhere.
(RI 123) A study
of what I have here outlined as basic requirements will show that the esoteric schools about which I wrote in Letters on Occult
Meditation lie far ahead
in the distant future. The work of the preparatory schools must come
first, and their work will proceed until such time that the work of the Ashrams
of the Masters is recognised as forming part of an outer hierarchical
activity. This in due time will lead to
the giving of the first initiation publicly, as a part of the great service
ritual of the then prevalent universal religion. The race of men will then—in its most
advanced brackets and groups in every country in the world—be normally
clairvoyant, and will therefore see for themselves the light within the
candidates; they will know then that the first initiation is justifiably
undergone, and they will also see the same light in thousands who in previous
incarnations have taken that initiation.
“The
clue to all this esoteric work demanded by Shamballa is to be found in the
development of the Art of Visualisation”
One thing only
will I add to the above and to the elucidation of the significance of Rule
V. The clue to all this esoteric work
demanded by Shamballa is to be found in the development of the Art of Visualisation.
Through visualisation, three expressions of the human consciousness will
become possible:
1. The antahkarana
can be built and the shining of the Triad be definitely seen. Such will be the new vision—an outcome of the
development of the sense of vision.
2. Groups, large
wholes and major
syntheses will also be visualised, and this will lead to a definite expansion of
consciousness. Thus the sense of
synthesis will be unfolded.
3. All creative
art will be fostered by this training, and the new art of the future in all
departments of creativity will be rapidly developed as the training
proceeds. The unfoldment of the sense of
vision and of the sense of synthesis, through visualisation, will lead to a
sense of livingness in form.
The
sixth kingdom is that of the "overshadowing Triads"- “The seventh kingdom in nature is that of
the Lives Who participate in full capacity of understanding with the group of
Beings Who are the nucleus of the Council at Shamballa”
(RI 130) 3. Let
then the group—merged in the fifth—be nourished by the sixth and seventh.
In other
words: "Then let the group—which is
identified with the soul—find its sustenance and vitality by the inflow of the
intuition and of the spiritual will, emanating from the Spiritual
Triad." There are, of course, other
meanings, but this is the most practical for disciples. A larger but similar concept lies in the realisation
that the human family, the fourth
kingdom in nature, is absorbed by the fifth or by the
The seventh kingdom in nature is that of the Lives Who participate in
full capacity of understanding with the group of Beings Who are the nucleus of the Council at Shamballa. Around the
Lord of the World this group pivots; Their consciousness and state of being is
only dimly understood by the most advanced Members of the Hierarchy, and the
relation of these Lives to the Lord of the World is similar, and yet
fundamentally different, to the relation of the Members of the Hierarchy to the
three Great Lords—the Christ, the Manu and the Mahachohan.
“Through
Sanat Kumara, the Ancient of Days (as He is called in the Bible), flows the
unknown energy of which the three divine Aspects are the expression. He is the Custodian of the will of the Great
White Lodge on Sirius”
Through these
three Lords pours the energy which streams from Shamballa, transmitting the purpose and motivating the plan of Sanat Kumara—His
Life Plan. What you call "the
Plan" is the response of the Hierarchy to the inflaming purposeful will of the Lord of
the World. Through Sanat Kumara, the Ancient of Days (as He is called in the Bible), flows the
unknown energy of which the three divine Aspects are the expression. He is the Custodian of the will of the Great White Lodge on Sirius, and the burden of this "cosmic
intention" is shared by the Buddhas of Activity and those Members of the Great Council Who are of so elevated a consciousness and
vibration that only once a year (through Their emissary, the Buddha) is it safe
for Them to contact the Hierarchy.
(RI 133) The Rule
which is our theme for consideration at this time is one of deep significance
and esoteric interest; it is concerned with the life of Shamballa and with the purposes of the Great Council. This rule is also one of rare beauty and
extraordinary implications, and it offers me the opportunity to enlarge upon a
subject little known or understood by any esotericist in the average esoteric
group. The [Page 133] reason for this is
that it is only as the new cycle draws closer—as it is drawing today—that the
new and fuller teaching, the greatly extended horizon and the tremendously
enhanced perception of the spiritual observer and worker become possible and
apparent. Much, very much, has been
given out during the past one hundred years anent the Masters, and (as we are
considering the subject of initiation and of preparation for that great
transitional experience) it is necessary to understand somewhat the nature of
Those with Whom the disciple has to associate, and the kind of world and of
consciousness in which They live and move and have Their being. The fact of the Hierarchy is to many thinkers
an established fact; the hypothesis that there may be a Hierarchy is a
widespread recognition. Information
concerning its grades, its modes of working and its objectives are now common
property; much has been accepted and much proved by those who believe this
teaching.
(RI 136) The
Hierarchy has been invoked and its Members are [Page 136] ready for a great
"act of evocation," of response to the invoking sound of humanity and
of a definite (though relatively temporary) "act of
orientation." This will force the
Hierarchy, of its own freewill, to turn towards a new and more intimate type of
relation with humanity. That period of
orientation will end when a powerful, earthly Hierarchy will factually,
externally and in reality hold sway on earth, working in all the kingdoms of
nature and thus bringing about (in truth) the expression of the divine
Plan. This plan is implemented through
the medium of the senior Members of the Hierarchy, Who invoke the "Lights which carry out the Will of
God"; They are
Themselves invoked by the Light-Bearers, the Masters; They again, in Their
turn, are invoked by the aspirants and disciples of the world. Thus is the chain of Hierarchy only a life
line, along which travel the love and life of God, from Him to us and from us
to Him.
This dual thought
of the relationship between humanity and the Hierarchy, and between the
Hierarchy and the highest Centre, Shamballa, is completely covered in Rule VII in its two
forms—for applicants, and for disciples and initiates.
(RI 138) In this
Rule we are therefore dealing with the work [Page 138] to be done by a group of
pledged disciples and initiates; they are learning together to make an approach
to Shamballa (involving the Will element); this is as
much a goal of the Hierarchy as approach to the Hierarchy is the goal of
advanced humanity. It concerns the
interrelation of great centres of force.
This is a point which esoteric students should attempt to grasp for it
completes the planetary chain of Hierarchy and throws a light upon the Way of
the Higher Evolution.
Great movements
and progressions have always taken place upon the subjective side of life; it
is these subjective activities which have made it hard for disciples to grasp
the truth and arrive at some true realisation of the subjective situation which
ever exists between the Hierarchy and Shamballa. The energies
concerned are so subtle, and the Beings involved are so advanced and so highly
developed (even from the angle of the initiate of the third degree), that it is
well-nigh impossible for the teachings (which I seek to give) to be worded in
such a manner that they become comprehensible.
All that I can do is to make certain statements which (from the
standpoint of those I teach) are not verifiable; they have to be accepted on
trust and with the reservation that time and the point of view of the
individual disciple will later prove their truth—or their non-truth.
The objective of
all training given to the disciple is to shift his conscious awareness from the
point where he is to levels which are higher than those in the three worlds of
definitely human evolution; the intention is to teach him to function on those
planes of conscious contact which are as yet so subjective that he only accepts
them as existent in theory. The trained
initiate knows that they have to become his natural habitat, and that
eventually he has to relegate the ordinary and normal human experience to the
three worlds of daily expression. These
become eventually the worlds that exist below the threshold of consciousness;
they are relegated to the realm of the subconscious—recoverable consciously, if
necessary for right service of humanity, [Page 139] but as much below the
threshold of consciousness as are the ordinary emotional reactions of the
average man. These are always
recoverable (as modern psychoanalysis has demonstrated) and can become capable
of expression and of formulation into conditioning concepts—thus actuating
mental perception if deemed of adequate importance. However, it should be borne in mind that the
greater part of the emotional life of the disciple must become increasingly
subconscious, just as the physical plane life of the normal, healthy human
being is entirely automatic and thus subconscious. When the disciple has striven to expand his
consciousness, when he has learnt to stabilise his consciousness in the
Spiritual Triad, then he becomes part of a great and constant hierarchical effort
which strives upwards towards the "Place of Clear Electric Light," to which the clear cold light of
the reason is the first
key to the first door.
There
are three doors into Shamballa, speaking figuratively:
There are three doors into Shamballa,
speaking figuratively:
1. There is the door of the reason, of pure perception of truth.
Christ gave the clue to this teaching when He said "I am the Way,
the Truth and the Life." Of that
Way we know much, because upon the Way a vast body of teaching has been given,
and that teaching, if followed, brings a man into the Hierarchy. He then becomes a factual part of the
hierarchical membership. Of that Truth,
we know (as aspirants) relatively very little.
Truth—as we understand it during the early treading of the Path of
Discipleship—is concerned with great verities which are (from the insight of
the Enlightened Ones) only the a b c of life.
These truths are:
The manifestation
of divinity on the physical plane.
The doctrine of
Avatars. This religious history reveals.
The nature of
consciousness, through the development of psychology.
The doctrine of
the Trinity, as it expresses itself through the aspects and the attributes.
These four
expressions of truth will be found to convey all the knowledge with which the
initiate must stand equipped [Page 140] when he climbs the Mount of
Transfiguration at the time of the third initiation. They have given him a spiritual perception of
the Plan.
Of that Life, we
know nothing whatsoever. The
contemplation of its significance belongs to Those Who can move at will within
the "precincts of the Lord of Life"—in Shamballa itself. All we can
know about it is its lowest step. This
enables us to study the impulse or instinct which enables all forms of life to
function, which embodies the principles of responsiveness to contacts and to
environment, and which embodies itself in the breath of life; this is also
related to the air in some mysterious manner, and also to fire. More anent this subject it would be useless
for me to say.
2. There is also
the door of the will.
This is a penetrating power which relates Plan to Purpose and which has in it the faculty of
coherent persistence. The reason for
this persistence is that it is not dependent upon the content of the
form—whether it is the form of an atom, of a man or of a planet—but upon a vital dynamic and immutable purpose, latent in the consciousness of the
planetary Being Who, "having pervaded this entire universe with a
fragment" of Himself, REMAINS—greater, more inscrutable and "firmer
in intent" than any of His creations, even the most advanced and the
closest to Him. Only those have clear perception of His divine purpose who do not belong to our earth humanity at
all; these are the Lives who came with Him to this planet when He came, and Who
remain with Him as "the prisoners of loving intention" until the last
"weary pilgrim has found his way home."
This
spiritual will is
something of which humanity knows nothing; it is hidden and veiled by the self-will of the individual and the group will of the soul. Through both of these experiences the human
being moves until his individual will is developed and grounded, focussed and
reoriented, and his group will is unfolded so that it includes and swallows up
the dedicated, conscious, individual will.
When this fusion has taken place (at the third initiation) a [Page 141]
great revelation unfolds itself, and for the first time the initiate senses and
then contacts the universal will; from that moment the initiate says,
"Father, not my will but Thine be done." Just a little of what that will includes may
emerge as we study this seventh rule and some of the succeeding rules.
3. I can find no
words to express the nature of the third door. Let us, in
default of a better term, call it the door of the monadic sense of essential duality.
Body and life, soul and personality, the Spiritual Triad and its
expression, the Christ in incarnation—all these dualities have played their
part. Man has passed from one expansion
of consciousness to another. Now he
comes to the final duality of spirit and matter, prior to their resolution into
something to which the terms "isolated unity" and "universal
synthesis" give only faint and inadequate clues. To the development of this system of
identification the initiate of the degree of Master of the Wisdom, and also (on
a higher turn of the spiral) of the degree of the Christ, are focussing all
Their efforts. Up to the fourth
initiation, the term "system of expansions" would seem illuminating;
after that great initiation, the term "system of identification" would appear more appropriate.
When the initiate
has passed through the three
doors, symbolically
speaking, he then faces all life, all events, all pre-determinations, all
wisdom, all activity and all that the future may hold of service and progress
from the angle of the pure reason (infallible and immutable), of true spiritual
will (completely identified with the purpose of the planetary Logos), and of the highest possible focussed
relation. The mystery of relationship
becomes revealed to him. Then the entire
scheme of evolution and of the intention of the One in Whom he lives and moves
and has his being becomes clear to him; he has no more to learn within this planetary scheme; he has become universal in his attitude
to all forms of life, and is also identified with the "isolated
unity" of Sanat
Kumara. Few of the great Lives Who form the inner
group of the Council Chamber at Shamballa are
now of [Page 142] greater advancement than he; the "Supernal Three,"
the "Radiant Seven," the "Lives embodying the forty-nine
Fires," the "Buddhas of Activity," and certain "Eternal
Spirits" from such centres of dynamic spiritual life as Sirius, or from the constellation which at any one time
forms a triangle with
our Sun and Sirius"
and a Representative from Venus are of greater—far greater—advancement. Otherwise, all initiates of the sixth degree,
and a few of the Masters Who have undergone specialised training because They
are upon the first Ray
of Will or Power (the
ray conditioning Shamballa itself), form part of the Great
Council. Many Masters and Chohans,
however, after serving upon the planet in various capacities, working with the
Law of Evolution, pass out of our planetary life altogether.
“the
Centre of Life where dwells the Ancient of Days, the Eternal Youth, the Lord of
the World, Sanat Kumara, Melchizedek—God”
(RI 143) We have
not yet carried the concept up to the Centre of Life where dwells the Ancient of Days, the Eternal Youth, the
Lord of the World, Sanat Kumara, Melchizedek—God. Yet from that Centre streams what has been
called the Light of Life, the Light Supernal.
These are empty words as yet until we know, as trained initiates, that
light is a symptom and an expression of Life, and that essentially, occultly
and in a most mysterious way the terms, Light and Life, are interchangeable
within the limits of the planetary ring-pass-not. Beyond those limits—who knows? Light can be regarded as a symptom, a
reaction to the meeting and consequent fusion of spirit and matter.
Therefore, where
that great point of fusion and of solar crisis (for that is what it is, even
when producing a planetary crisis) appears in time and space, light also
immediately [Page 144] appears and of such intensity that only those who know
the light of the soul, and who can bear the hierarchical light can be trained
to enter into and form part of the light of Shamballa and walk in those "radiant halls where move the
Lights which carry out the Will of God."
To carry the
concept a little nearer home: only when
the will of the personality and the will of the soul come together—evoked by
love—does the light of the soul dominate the material light of the
personality. This is a statement of
importance. Only when the will of the
Monad and the will of the Hierarchy of souls meet and blend in the "upper
brackets" (if I may use such a modern business phrase) can the radiant
light of Life dominate the blended lights of Humanity and of the
Hierarchy. Faintly this group fusion and
junction can be seen to be taking place.
It is also the first touch of the radiance of Shamballa which is bringing the universal revelation of evil, a
radiance which is now producing the world unrest and which has brought about
the lining up of good and evil; this touch of radiance is the conditioning
factor behind what is called post-war planning and the ideas of reconstruction
and of world rebuilding which are dominating the best human thinking at this
time.
It should be
carefully borne in mind that evil (cosmic evil or the source of planetary evil) is much closer to Shamballa than it is to Humanity. The Great Lives there move entirely free from
glamour; Their vision is one of extreme simplicity; They are concerned only
with the great and simple duality of spirit and matter, and not with the many
forms which the fusion of these two brings into being. The domination of spirit (and its reflection,
soul) by matter is what constitutes evil and this is true whether the statement
is applied to the development of the individual or of the group. The "Lights which carry out the will of
God" move free from the spell of evil.
The Light in which They move safeguards Them, and Their Own innate and inherent radiance
repels evil. But They "move alongside the evil to
which all lesser forms are prone"; They are part of a great [Page 145] observing Group which "moves forward in time and
space"; its members
watch the great war
and conflict proceed on Earth between the Forces of Light and the Forces of
Evil. They have let loose upon Earth the
Forces of Light, whilst the Forces of Evil are inherent in substance itself—of
which all the many forms of life are constructed.
“One
of the causes of the present cataclysm is the fact that humanity was deemed
capable of taking and receiving a "touch from Shamballa,"”
At this time, the
work of the Great Council at Shamballa,
working until now through the Hierarchy, is with the life within the form; They
have to proceed with the utmost caution as They thus work, because these Lights
know that the danger of premature direct contact with humanity, and of
consequent overstimulation, are great. One of the causes of the present cataclysm is the fact that humanity was deemed capable of taking and
receiving a "touch from Shamballa," without stepping it down via the Hierarchy, as has
hitherto been the custom.
“The
determination to apply this touch (which is in the nature of a great
experiment) was made in 1825, when the Great Council had its usual centennial
meeting”
The
determination to apply this touch (which is in the nature of a great experiment) was made in 1825, when the Great Council had its usual centennial meeting.
The results you know; they are working out before your eyes. The industrial movement began to take shape
one hundred years ago and received
a great impetus from this touch. The evil in
nations—aggression, greed, intolerance and hate—was aroused as never before,
and two world wars occurred, one of which is still raging (written October
1943). Paralleling this was an uprising
of good, again in response to the divine "touch," resulting in the
growth of understanding, the spread of idealism, the purification of our
educational systems and the inauguration of reforms in every department of
human life. All has been speeded up and little such growth was seen on a worldwide
scale prior to 1825. The knowledge of the Hierarchy is also
spreading over the earth; the facts anent discipleship and initiation are
becoming common property; humanity has consequently moved onward into a greater measure of light. Good and evil stand out in clearer focus;
light and dark are in a more brilliant juxtaposition; issues of right and wrong
are appearing with cleared definition, and humanity as a whole sees the great
problems of righteousness [Page 146] and love, of sin and separateness upon a
worldwide scale.
The old age and
the coming new age, old rhythms of thought and new approaches to truth and
consequent new and better ways of life are presented with clarity to the minds
of men. The guarantee of the success of
the experiment started more than a century ago is the fact that (in spite of
much that is undesirable) so many nations have ranged themselves upon the side
of right, and only two definitely and altogether upon the side of evil. The evil is more concentrated, and therefore
more powerful temporarily upon the physical plane; the good is more diffused
and not so pure in its concentrated essence being coloured by many undesirable
aspects; the good, however, is concentrating rapidly and will triumph. The "Lights that carry out the will of
God" now wait to give another touch which will enable the reconstruction
work to move forward along right lines, but They wait for the invocative cry of
humanity and for the dust of battle and of conflict to die down.
The next two rules
will reveal the issues still more clearly and will outline for you when better
understood, explained and amplified, the processes and methods of hierarchical
work, carried on in conjunction with the Great Council of Shamballa. To this must
be added the cooperation—as far as may be—of all enlightened men, working under
the Lightbearers, the Masters, and under the inspiration of the Lights which carry out the will of God.
In the foregoing I
have endeavoured to give some faint idea of the relation existing between the
Hierarchy and Shamballa. I
did this in order that you might grasp some measure of the synthesis underlying
the entire planetary life; in order also that this rule for initiates could be
interpreted as intended, as far as is possible, to the uninitiate
consciousness; and finally, in order that the entire concept of Shamballa and its immense reservoir of energy, which we call the will or the life of God, may take its rightful place in the occult
presentation of truth. The will of God
and the life of God are esoterically synonymous terms, and when the life aspect
of an individual and his spiritual, selfless will [Page 147] are completely
synchronised, then you have—in a human being—the full expression of divinity or
what has been called esoterically, "Shamballa is consummated in him."
This again is, of
course, only relative but the expression of this relationship may elucidate the
problem somewhat, and the aspirant or disciple needs to remember that it is
only through the analogies existing in the microcosm to the Macrocosm that
enlightenment can come. And how, I ask
you, will he understand the relation existing between the three great planetary
centres (Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity) when as yet he
scarcely knows himself as a human being?
How can he grasp these fundamental and advanced truths when he is only
just beginning to learn the nature of the hierarchical quality of love and when
his spiritual will (which links him to Shamballa) is as yet totally unawakened? And I mean, totally. But the dim outlines of the general picture
must be grasped, and each decade in the future will see the aspirant and the
disciple more capable of grasping it.
(RI 147) RULE
EIGHT
Rule VIII now
comes up for consideration. The previous
seven rules have been of a wide and general connotation. They have been largely postulates,
emphasising group life, group planetary relationships, and the fundamental
Science of Invocation and Evocation which underlies all world processes, which
is the inspiring energy behind all evolutionary unfoldment, and which creates
the medium or channel of related communication between the great centres in our
planet, through which the life of our Logos flows and His purposes are worked
out. I would remind you that the
creative process was initiated by Sound, and in that Sound the Logos both
invoked and evoked. He issued the call
and He engineered and implemented the response and thus the "Army of the
Voice" (as The Secret Doctrine calls it) came into being.
[Page 148]
The Head (the idea),
the Heart (the ideal) and the Throat (the creative agent of the resulting idol,
the temporary and fleeting expression of the ideal, inspired by the idea) came
into being; three great Centres emerged in time and space and—at this point in
the evolutionary cycle—we call them Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity.
(RI 150) I would
ask you here to refer to what I earlier said anent rules, laws and orders when
starting with you this particular study.
[Page 150]
1. The seven
greater groups...The seven groups or Ashrams within the Hierarchy.
THE HIERARCHY
These carry out
the hierarchical will, which is love.
They work through
love and understanding.
Each is presided
over by a Chohan and a group is called an Ashram.
These major
Ashrams have many affiliated Ashrams, presided over by a Master on the same ray
as the Chohan, and are capable at any moment of being absorbed into the primary
Ashram.
The perfect or
complete group is the Hierarchy itself, containing all the seven major Ashrams
and their affiliates.
2. The Planetary seven groups...the seven rays, the central septenate of
energy.
SHAMBALLA
These embody the
will of Shamballa, which is divine purpose.
They work as life
energy, as quality, and produce appearance.
Each is presided
over by one of the seven
Spirits before the Throne;
by one of the seven Ray
Lords.
Each of these rays
has its seven subrays which relate it to all the other rays.
These seven rays
can, under divine purpose, be re-absorbed into the Three and then into the One.
3. The lesser seven...the
seven types of men and also the seven root races.
HUMANITY
These embody the
intelligence of the Logos as it expresses itself through creativity.
They are learning
to work intelligently with matter in order to develop love in response to
divine purpose—which is will or life.
Each of the seven
types, responsive to one or [Page 151] other of the seven rays, is conditioned
or ruled by its prototype, the soul on its own plane.
These major types
or races of men have many subraces and subsidiary types, developed during the
evolutionary process; all will eventually demonstrate the seven major types.
The perfect type
is the Christ, the Heavenly Man, Who expresses all the major types and Who is
the "pattern of things as they are."
4. The
supplementary seven...the seven centres of energy in the individual man.
HUMANITY
These together
embody the combined forces of the planetary life as registered by the perfected
individual. They will eventually enable
the man to achieve perfection.
They enable the
individual to respond to material forces, to soul energy and spiritual life,
and they constitute a complete response apparatus to the planetary life,
purpose, intent and form.
Each of the seven
centres is responsive to one or other of the seven rays and their qualities
under the conditioning energy of the soul ray and the forces, emanating from
the environment.
These centres
develop progressively and under the impact of circumstances and the Law of the
Supplementary Seven, but all will eventually express in some measure the seven
types of ray energy.
The Law of the Supplementary Seven can be worded as follows:
"The Law
demands the entrance of that which can effect a change.
The Law demands
that right direction should then guide the entering forces.
The Law demands
that the changes thus effected remove the form, bring quality to light and lay
the emphasis upon life.
[Page 152]
The Law demands
that this is brought about by the One, working through the Three, energising
the Seven and creating the straight line from there to here, and ending in a
point which ignores the Three."
When, the rule
goes on, this is understood and applied, then four things happen:
1. The group must
understand the nature of the Three.
2. The nature of
the One must be grasped and comprehended.
3. The group must
work through the medium of the united breath.
4. The group must
attain a unified rhythm.
Here you have a
relatively simple analysis (on the face of it, though not in reality) of a
complex rule which the initiate has to apply to himself once he has grasped the
significance of the seven basic postulates.
The first seven rules provide the framework within which his work has to
be done. The last seven rules concern
various significant matters which, step by step, are revealed to the initiate
as his consciousness is expanded. They
relate to:
1. The work which
the initiate must accomplish within himself.
2. The group
relations of the initiate and his absolute need to work with his group and as
an integrated and conscious part of it.
3. The place which
invocation and evocation must take as instruments in his pledged intelligent
service.
4. The blending of
the four lessons which the applicant has to master and the four lessons which
the initiate has to complete in order that a complete fusion of personality and
Monad can be brought about.
5. The
significance of resurrection and ascension, particularly the latter, because
little has been given out to date anent ascension.
There are certain
major frameworks (if I may continue to use this phrase) within which the
initiate has to learn [Page 153] consciously to work, recognising them for what
they are; once he has learnt to master that which lies within some particular
framework, he finds that it is only a part, a small fraction, of a still greater
whole, within which he must also learn to function and play his part.
(RI 154) This all
takes much time, but when a certain measure of success has been achieved, when
the initiate's understanding is somewhat enlightened and his energy-use and his
power of direction are becoming intelligently applied, he can then begin to
work within the framework of the greater seven groups, that is, within the
Hierarchy. This he does first upon the
periphery of the hierarchical aura and later as a conscious, accepted and
pledged worker in some [Page 154] Ashram—the Ashram being dependent upon his
ray type. He then is in a position to
discover the close interlocking that exists between the supplementary seven
(his own seven centres) and the seven great groups within the Hierarchy; he comes to realise that only when his
centres are somewhat awakened and attuned is it possible for him to work within
the larger framework of the Hierarchy, and this because the quality of the
greater groups and the life expression of the seven planetary groups, the seven
rays, are being slowly developed by him under the influence of hierarchical
supervision through the medium of his own seven centres—the supplementary
seven.
Thus, from a new
angle which is practical and not simply theoretical, it begins to dawn on him
that he is an inalienable part of a group whole and that this incontrovertible
fact involves responsibilities and duties.
He discovers that his major responsibility—spiritually speaking—is to
permit no hindrance, on the part of the supplementary seven, to the free flow
of love from the greater seven, and later the free flow of life (inspired by
purpose) from the planetary seven. He
knows now that all form a great interlocking directorate through which the will
of God is working out. He now knows
himself to be a minute part of that great interlocking Whole, a responsible
conscious atom within its periphery.
Then as he goes on and learns to submit to the Law of the Supplementary Seven, he finds that from the life angle and
through his own conscious direction, gradually developed, all the potencies of divinity are his to
use, once he can be
trusted, as the advanced initiate can ever be trusted. He is then set free for complete cooperation
with the purpose lying behind the Plan. He
has passed out of the human kingdom into the Hierarchy; later he will pass out
of the hierarchical group into Shamballa, or
out of our planetary life altogether, and either here or there will begin a
greater and more extended service.
Coming down to the
immediate practical issues, the initiate is confronted with the problem of work
within the individual framework, for I am not here dealing with the [Page 155]
requirements for the initiations above or beyond the third. Here the initiate has reached the point where
he grasps the significant fact that the way into the innermost Centre is most securely guarded; no one can pass onward and take those
more advanced steps which admit into the higher worlds of being and of
unparalleled potency until he has demonstrated within the framework of his own
life a definite control of energy (and this the black adept also possesses), purity of motive (which the black adept
can likewise have, if by purity of motive you mean single-hearted and
one-pointed intent), deep love of humanity (which the black adept never has),
selflessness, willingness to follow the light wherever it may lead, ability to
begin work within the larger framework the moment such an attempt becomes
possible, clear vision and spiritual insight, a developed intuition, and an
undeviating intention and strong faith in the future. When these qualities begin to show
themselves, it then becomes possible to admit the initiate to further
advancement upon the Way.
(RI 158) The Law of the Supplementary Seven is the great synthetic Law of Life or of Spirit and is the law with which the initiate
works; it is this law he wields. From
acceptance of the laws of nature and obedience to the laws of the soul, he
passes into the positive phase of understanding and wielding the Law of
Life. Because this is a governing law
for all initiates, and because we know that the nature of life-energy or of
spirit cannot be grasped until after the third initiation, it is exceedingly
difficult for me to write in explanation of this law. You have not yet the initiate consciousness.
[Page 158] I have therefore had to express this law in terms of form, whereas
the initiate understands it from its formless angle.
This law is
concerned with the wielding of energy in the world of the Spiritual Triad and
not with the distribution or the transmission of this energy to the three
worlds in which average humanity habitually dwells. Right wielding of this law (controlling
energy in the initiatory world of causes) automatically brings about activity,
movement, force expression, and right distribution of these forces in the lower
three worlds. These are, under the
evolutionary law, direct reflections of the three higher worlds of the triadal
light and life. Motivation, the use of
the eye of vision (turned this time by the initiate functioning in the world of
causes upon the worlds of human living), and the correct direction of force in
cooperation with the hierarchical Plan condition all the activities of the
initiate working with this law. Clearer
than this I cannot be.
The
Law of the supplementary seven involves the energy of the seven rays
transmitted from the seven planetary centres of the seven root-races through
the initiate’s seven centres out into the world
This Law of
the Supplementary Seven
is concerned with the inflow
of energy from the seven planetary centres to the seven groups or types of men, via the seven
groups within the Hierarchy. In this
work of transmission the seven centres of the initiate are used as agencies;
their work, therefore, is not the interrelated work of right transmission of
energy within the septenary constitution of the etheric body of the individual
initiate, implementing his life expression, but is the task of being responsive
to the seven types of
planetary energy which
are received in a pure state. It is then
channeled through the seven centres in the initiate's etheric vehicle and out
into the world of men as regenerative and constructive forces. These living spiritual energies—transmitted by the individual initiate from
the planetary centres—are
handled by him under a great uniform plan and are the means whereby salvation
(to use an old familiar word) can come to the aid of humanity. This is the "saving force" in its
various aspects, of which the Great Invocation speaks:
Those
of the 6th initiation or above work with the energies coming from
the seven planets of the solar system as these feed the seven planetary centres
of Sanat Kumara-but the Law of the Supplementary Seven is applied by initiates
below the rank of Master
"The hour of service of the Saving Force
has now arrived". (The
Externalisation of the Hierarchy, page 249.) [Page 159] The high Initiates (Those above the rank of Master) work with the energies coming from the
seven planets of the solar system at this time active; these feed or implement the
seven planetary centres. But the Law of the Supplementary Seven is applied by initiates below the rank of Master, and they are therefore working solely
with the seven centres
within the Form of the
One in Whom we live and move and have our being.
One of their first
tasks is to bring about a free flow and right energy relations between the
three major centres in our planet which correspond to the head, heart and
throat centres in man. They are occupied
with the circulation of energy between Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity. This circulation, which for the first time in
planetary history includes the highest centre, Shamballa, is not yet completely established. Shamballa has been in touch with the centre called Humanity by impact several times in the history of
the race. But there has been no reciprocal action and
no free flow. Humanity has taken the
impact of energy and this impact has wrought changes in the activity of the
centre, but there has been no "responsive return," as it is
esoterically called, and hence no circulation.
The Shamballa force has hitherto been transmitted via
the Hierarchy. For the first time, and
in this century there has been direct impact.
The diagram on page 160 may make this clearer.
We shall
eventually have a free circulation and a veritable vortex of force set up
between the three centres; it will be of such an increasing radiatory activity
that—moving in both directions around the three centres—it will eventually
contact the radiations emanating from the other four centres of the planetary
Life, thus completing the interplay and the interrelation between all
seven. These four include the three
lower kingdoms of nature and a certain basic centre (corresponding to the
centre at the base of the spine in man) about which nothing is as yet known nor
will be known for ages to come.
(RI 160) The
importance, therefore, of the centre which we call Humanity will be
apparent. The Secret Doctrine has ever
taught that mankind has a special function in saving and regenerating
nature. The "saving force"—a
circulatory combination of the three major energies—is radiated by humanity as
a group-creative impulse, and this gradually sweeps all forms of life into the
field of its magnetic potency, thus relating them (or rather the soul of each
kingdom) to the Hierarchy and to Shamballa. This involves
a great mystery which is closely tied up—little as you may realise it—with the
doctrine of Avatars or of World Saviours.
It is in this
connection that the words I gave you previously are pertinent:
[Page 161]
1. "The group
must understand the nature of the Three."
This will be seen to refer to the three major centres and the nature of
their relationship, and not specifically to the Trinity.
2. "The
nature of the One must be grasped and comprehended." This has reference to the fact that our
planetary Life is Itself a centre within a still greater Life, and is today one
of the three planetary centres (even if not yet one of the seven sacred
planets) which are the custodians of the force, in process of transmission,
which will be to the greater Life what Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity are to Our planetary
Logos.
3. "The group
must work through the medium of the united breath." This deals with the processes of circulation,
for the breath is the life and pours through all the centres.
4. "The group
must attain a unified rhythm." This
has no reference in reality to the work of a group of disciples, but to a group
of centres of life, such as the three major centres or the entire group of
seven centres.
A study of these
ideas may carry illumination, but I would again remind you that I write for
initiates, living at a later period in this century and in the next.
(RI 162) What is
true of the individual is true too of the Heavenly Man, the planetary
Logos. In the long period of a world
cycle there comes a time when the Hierarchy itself, as a body organised and
functioning in order to implement certain evolutionary ends, is no longer
needed. It is then regarded as
"supplementary," and under the Law its life, its potency and its
entire consciousness are absorbed into the planetary head centre, Shamballa. A great
process of abstraction or of withdrawal takes place, covering necessarily a
long period of time, and which is consummated only when evolution—as we know
it—comes to an end and the planetary Life (again as we know it) also comes to
an end. This process of abstraction is
always going on. Men become disciples
and then initiates. Some stay as
hierarchical workers, choosing to work with the planetary forces of
evolution. Others pass on into the great
Council Chamber of the Lord of the World, and still others pass out of our
planetary ring-pass-not altogether.
Thus the Law of the
Supplementary Seven is ever in force. It
functions in the processes going on in the seven centres of the individual man,
gathering energy from one centre into another until all are centred, controlled
and directed in the head. In the stage
of what the Hindus call [Page 163] "samadhi" the vital energies from
all the centres are concentrated in the highest head centre in the etheric
body, in the area just above the physical head.
Thus the analogy is complete. The
processes of abstraction are (as you may thus see) connected with the life
aspect, are set in motion by an act of the spiritual will, and constitute the
"resurrection principle which lies hidden in the work of the
Destroyer," as an old esoteric saying expresses it. The lowest manifestation of this principle is
to be seen in the process of what we call Death—which is in reality a means of
abstracting the life principle, informed by consciousness, from the form or the
bodies in the three worlds.
Thus, the great
synthesis emerges, and destruction, death, and dissolution are in reality
naught but life processes. Abstraction
is indicative of process, progress and development.
It is this aspect
of the Law of Life (or
the Law of Synthesis
as it is called in certain larger connotations) with which the initiate
specifically deals when wielding the Law of the Supplementary Seven. The group angle of the matter can be seen if
you remember that the individual initiate, when wielding this law, draws upon
the united energy of the Will as the group is expressing it in "unified
rhythm." It is by the use of the
"united breath" of the entire group (as much of it as his individual
will can assimilate, focus, use and direct) that he augments his own will and
its directed force. The breath, as we
well know, is the life; this Law is the one wielded by the living or risen
Christ, in perfect harmony with the will of Shamballa. Herein lies
one of the mysteries of the resurrection initiation about which so little has
been told, and it is the very heart of the mystery of the ascension
initiation. In this latter initiation
the living risen Christ withdraws or abstracts Himself and enters consciously
and permanently into the great centre, Shamballa. The
resurrection and the ascension are the results of the death or destruction of
the causal body. It can be seen,
therefore, how true the Gospel story is to the purposes of Shamballa.
(RI 165) 2. The
Law demands that right direction should then guide the entering forces.
The entering
forces, working under this law, are directed first of all to the head centre,
from thence to the ajna centre and then to that centre which has been the
governing and most active centre during the incarnation of the life
principle. This varies according to the
point reached upon the ladder of evolution, and according to the personality
ray, with later the soul ray bringing about a major conditioning and
change. In the work of the initiate who
is consciously wielding this law, the principle of abstraction (when entering
the body) is held focussed in the head and is of such a magnetic potency that
the energy of the remaining centres is rapidly gathered up and withdrawn. What is true of the individual process of
abstracting the life principle, under the Law of the Supplementary Seven, is
equally true of the process in all forms and in all groups of forms. Christ referred to this work of abstraction,
as regards the third great planetary centre, Humanity, when He said (and He was
speaking as the Representative of the Hierarchy, the second planetary centre
into which all human beings achieving initiation are "withdrawn"
esoterically), "I, if I be lifted up will draw all men unto me." A different word to this word of His will be
spoken at the end of the
age when the Lord of
the World will speak from Shamballa, will abstract the life principle from the
Hierarchy, and all life and consciousness will then be focussed in the
planetary head centre—the great Council Chamber at Shamballa.
3. The Law demands
that the changes thus effected remove the form, bring quality to light, and lay
the emphasis upon life.
[Page 166]
Here the three
great aspects—form, quality and life—are brought into relation and the point of
the evolutionary objective is seen in its true light—LIFE. Note this phrasing. Form or appearance, having served its
purpose, disappears. Death of the form
takes place. Quality, the major divine
attribute being developed in this planet, becomes dominant and is "conscious
of itself "—as the ancient writings put it. It is identified and individual but has no
implementing form, except that of the greater whole in which it finds its
place. Neither form nor quality (body
nor consciousness) are paramount in the new state of Being, but only the life
aspect, the spirit on its own plane, becomes the dominating factor. Some faint dim light on the significance of
this may come if you bear in mind that our seven planes are only the seven
subplanes of the cosmic physical plane.
The process of developing sensitivity in this sevenfold evolution has
been undergone in order to enable the initiate to function upon the cosmic
astral plane, when withdrawn or abstracted after the higher initiations. He is abstracted from our planetary life
altogether. Only one factor could
prevent this, and that might be his pledge to serve temporarily within the
planetary ring-pass-not. Such Members of
the Hierarchy Who pledge Themselves to this work are stated to have the Buddhic
consciousness, and the line of Their descent (occultly understood) is from the Eternal Pilgrim, the Lord of the World,
then the Buddha, and then the Christ. They remain
identified through the free choice with the "quality seen within the
light," and for the term of Their freely rendered service They work with
the consciousness aspect in order to lay the emphasis later upon the life
aspect.
4. The Law demands
that this is brought about by the One, working through the Three, energising
the Seven and creating the straight line from there to here, and ending in a
point which ignores the Three.
Let me paraphrase
this, for detailed comment is not possible or permissible. The One directed will (of the individual,
[Page 167] of humanity, of the Hierarchy) and the great Lords of Shamballa, working through the three major centres (head, heart
and throat; Humanity, the Hierarchy and Shamballa), thereby energise all the seven centres (to the
point of abstraction), using the straight line of the antahkarana from above
downwards (from the centre of power, the head or Shamballa), and gather all upwards into a point which is
neither of the Three (Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity) and ignores
them, for they must no longer limit the life.
This point lies outside manifestation altogether. Abstraction is complete.
Ponder, therefore,
upon this doctrine of abstraction. It
covers all life processes, and will convey to you the eternally lovely secret
of Death, which is entrance into life.
UP TO HIT 625
Compilation Shamballa part15
(RI 168) Three
major ideas appear in this easier rule:
1. The idea of
complete identity with all other selves.
2. The idea of the
uniformity of their spiritual presentation to the world when unity is
established.
3. The idea
that—as a result of the two above achievements—the group force, as a real and
focussed energy, can then be used.
Glibly the
neophyte talks of identifying himself with others, and eagerly he endeavours to
ascertain his group and merge with it; yet in so doing the constant concept of
duality is ever present—himself and all other selves, himself and the group,
himself and the group energy which he may now wield. Yet this is not so in reality. Where true identity is achieved, there is no
sense of this and that; where the merging is complete, there is no recognition
of individual activity within the group, because the will of the merged soul is
identical with that of the group and automatic in its working; where true unity
is present, the individual applicant becomes only a channel for the group will
and activity, and this with no effort of his own but simply as a spontaneous
reaction.
I have emphasised
the above because in the rule for disciples and initiates, this will be found
to be still more the case and the results are brought about by a conscious use
of the will which is divine synthesis in action; also, the group referred to is
not the Ashram of some particular Master, but that of all Ashrams as they in
their entirety reflect the purpose of Shamballa and work out the Plan within the active sphere of the
hierarchical consciousness.
On
atmic levels, the levels of the spiritual will, are to be found the Ashrams of
those Masters Who are interpreting the will of Shamballa
(RI 170) On atmic levels, the levels of the spiritual will, are to be found the Ashrams of those Masters Who are interpreting the will of Shamballa and to Whom is committed the task of transmitting the purpose and organising the plans whereby that
purpose can be fulfilled. As on manasic
levels the Ashrams as a whole are presided over by the Master R., the Lord of Civilisation, so on buddhic levels all Ashrams are supervised by the Master K.H., with the aid of myself (the Master D.K.)
and three senior and initiated [Page 170] disciples; the objective is the
unfoldment of group awareness and of loving understanding, in order that the
forms prepared and conditioned under the supervision of the Master R. may be
sensitised and become increasingly conscious of reality through the development
of an inner mechanism of light which—in its turn—will condition and develop the
outer mechanism of contact. Ashrams on atmic levels are under the control of the Master M., Who fosters the will aspect within the developed
forms and Who (as the Old Commentary expresses it) "adds darkness unto
light so that the stars appear, for in the light the stars shine not, but in
the darkness light diffused is not, but only focussed points of
radiance." The symbolism will be
obvious to you though not the full significance.
Embracing, fusing
and unifying the endeavour of all these groups of Ashrams, stands the living Christ, the Head of all Ashrams and the Master of the
Masters, the Mediator between Shamballa and the Hierarchy and between the Hierarchy and
Humanity. Will you gain some insight
into the all-pervading conditions if I state that His work of mediating between
humanity and the Hierarchy was perfected by Him and carried to a conclusion
when He was last on Earth, and that He is now achieving facility in the higher
mediatorship which will bring about a closer relation of the Hierarchy with Shamballa at this time.
The
Christ is has developed the spiritual will and is still developing the
Universal Will-which will be consummated when he takes the ninth initiation
This mediatory work, based on the blending of
the spiritual will (which He has already developed) with the universal will (which He is developing), marks for Him a
goal which will be consummated
when He takes the ninth initiation. These are
great mysteries and I only indicate them in order to convey to you a sense of
the synthesis of the whole scheme and a recognition of the urge-to-good which
pervades every aspect of the planetary Life from the smallest atom of
substance, through all the intermediate living forms, on and up to the
planetary Logos Himself.
The will is too often regarded as a power by means of which things are done, activities are instituted and plans
worked out. This general definition is
the easiest for men [Page 171] to formulate because it is understood by them in
terms of their own self-will, the will to individual self-betterment—selfish
and misunderstood at first but tending eventually to selflessness as evolution
carries out its beneficent task. Then
the will is interpreted in terms of the hierarchical plan, and the effort of
the individual man becomes that of negating his self-will and seeking to merge
his will with that of the group, the group being itself an aspect of the
hierarchical effort. This is a great
step onward in orientation and will lead to a change in consciousness
eventually. This last sentence is of
importance.
It is at this stage
that most aspirants today find themselves.
However, the will is in reality something very different to these
expressions of it which exist in the human consciousness as men attempt to
interpret the divine will in terms of their present point in evolution. The clue to understanding (the clue which
will be the easiest for you to understand) is to be found in the words
"blotting out all form." When
the lure of substance is overcome and desire dies, then the attractive power of
the soul becomes dominant and the emphasis for so long laid upon individual
form and individual living and activity gives place to group form and group
purpose. Then the attractive power of
the Hierarchy and of the Ashrams of the Masters supersedes the lower
attractions and the lesser focal points of interest. When these, in their turn, assume their
rightful place in consciousness then the dynamic "pull" of Shamballa can be felt, entirely unrelated to form or forms, to a group or
groups. Only a group sense of "well-Being,"
esoterically understood is realised, for it is comprehended as the
will-to-good. No forms can then hold; no
group or Ashram can then confine the consciousness of the initiate, and all
differences of every kind disappear.
This preamble is given in an effort to clarify your minds before we
study Rule IX care-fully and arrive at its essential meaning.
…This
He also attempted to elucidate in the seventeenth chapter of St. John's Gospel
Christ constitutes the first attempt to convey reaction to contact with
Shamballa…….. in the words so familiar to Christians, "I and the Father
are One." There is no other passage in the literature of the world which
has exactly the same quality
(RI 173) Identification
(to use the only word available for our purpose) is connected with dynamic
life, with conscious enhancement, with completion and with creative sharing,
plus process. It is a process of
participation—consciously and constructively undertaken—in the life actions and
reactions of the One in Whom we live and move and have our being; it is related
to the network of life channels which keep the form aspect of the planetary
Logos functioning as a "Divine Representation." Note that wording. It is connected with the circulation of that
"life more abundantly" to which the Christ referred when dealing with
the true nature of His [Page 173] mission.
It might be said that as He uttered this phrase this mission dawned on
Him and He made a preliminary effort to serve Shamballa, instead of the Hierarchy of which He was even then
the Head. Later, He enunciated as best
He could the extent of this realisation, in the words so familiar to
Christians, "I and
the Father are One." This He also attempted to elucidate in the seventeenth chapter of
(RI 174) It is for
this reason that the symbolism of light and darkness is used in the words: Let the group know there is no colour, only light; and then let darkness take the place of
light.
Just as the
individual has to pass through the stage wherein all "colour" goes out of life as he emerges out of [Page 174] the
glamour which conditions the astral plane, so groups in preparation for
initiation must go through the same devastating process. Glamour disappears, and for the first time the group (as is the case
with the individual) walks in the light.
As the group thus walks, unitedly its units learn a lesson (one clearly
enunciated by modern science) that light and substance are synonymous terms;
the true nature of substance as a field and medium of activity becomes clear to
the initiate-members of the group. To
this H.P.B. referred when he said that the true occultist works entirely in the
field of forces and energies.
The next lesson
which the group unitedly apprehends is the significance of the words that
"darkness is pure spirit."
This recognition, realisation, apprehensive, comprehensive (call it what
you will) is so overwhelming and all-embracing that distinctions and
differences disappear. The disciple
realises that they are only the result of the activity of substance in its
form-making capacity and are consequently illusion and non-existent, from the
angle of the spirit at rest in its own centre.
The only realisation left is that of pure Being Itself.
This realisation
necessarily comes to the disciple through the means of graded revelation and in
balanced sequence; each contact with the Initiator leads the initiate closer to
the centre of pure
darkness—a darkness
which is the very antithesis of darkness as the non-initiate and the
unenlightened understand. It is a centre or point of such intense
brilliance that
everything fades out and at the place of tension, and at that darkest point,
let the group see a point of clear cold fire.
(RI 175) It is a
tension and a point of attainment that is only possible in group
formation. Even in the earlier
initiations, and when the initiate has proved his right to be initiated, the
process is still a group proceeding; it is undergone in the protective presence
of initiates of the same standing and unfoldment. It is their united focus that enables the
candidate for initiation to see the point of clear cold light and their united
will that "brings him upright, [Page 175] standing, unafraid, with open
eye before the One Who from the very first has conferred on him the gifts of
life and light, and Who now—with lifted rod, surrounded by the fire, reveals to
him the significance of life and the purpose of the light." It is that of which the minds of men know
naught, and which even the highest intellect is unable to grasp or even sense.
In the familiar
words (familiar to all esotericists) which are so often said or chanted at
moments of highest spiritual aspiration, the neophyte refers to the time when
"we stand where the One Initiator is invoked, when we see His star shine
forth." Two ideas then stand forth: the idea of invocation and of the result of
that invocation, which is the sudden and unexpected shining forth of the Star.
This star is
simply a point of vivid light. This invocation, though used
as the affirmation of a fixed objective by the aspirant to initiation, is
nevertheless a mantram
definitely appropriate to the third initiation. It is only
effective in its invocative appeal when used in conjunction with a Word of
Power. This Word of Power is
communicated to the candidate (ever an initiate of the second degree) by the
Christ Who has initiated him in the first two initiations but Whose protective
aura (in conjunction with the initiate's Master and another Master or an adept
of the fourth initiation) is required before the star can shine forth—the focussed light of the One Initiator.
For the first
time the expanded
consciousness of the initiate can contact Shamballa and the One Who rules there, the Lord of the
World. For the first time, the focussed
purpose which brought
Sanat Kumara into incarnation makes an impact upon the enlightened brain of the initiate, bringing
something new and different into his equipment, into his nature and his
consciousness. I know not how else to
express these ideas. It is a blinding conviction of an unalterable will, carrying all before it, oblivious of time
and space, aware only of intensity of direction, and carrying with it two major
qualifications or basic recognitions to the initiate: a sense of essential being which obliterates
all the actions and reactions of time and [Page 176] space, and a focussed
will-to-good which is so dynamic in its effect that evil disappears. Evil is after all only an impelling sense of
difference, leading inevitably to separative action.
Through
the heart of Christ passes the dynamic power of the One Initiator, as a stream of light
(RI 176) The dualities
are then resolved in synthesis and, again for the first time, the initiate
comprehends the meaning of the ancient words, so inappropriately translated
"isolated unity."
To him, in the future, there is no light or dark, no good or evil, no
difference or separation. The star that
has shone forth, veiling and standing between him and the Lord of the World, the Ancient of Days, is seen as the
entrance or doorway and as the admitting agency into something other and larger
than simply the planetary life. In the
earlier two initiations, the Angel of the Presence stood between the
disciple-candidate and the Presence. At
the later initiations, the Angel of the Presence is the Christ Himself, one
with the soul of the candidate (the individual Angel of the Presence). Through the heart of Christ passes the dynamic power
of the One Initiator, as a stream of light, stepped down or toned down by the Christ
in order that the candidate can appropriate its potency without risk or danger.
After
the third initiation, the candidate must face the One Initiator alone-The
Christ is present, supporting and attentive.
He stands directly behind the initiate
After the
third initiation, the
candidate must face the
One Initiator alone,
with no protective Individual standing between him and the eternal source of
all-power. The Christ is present, supporting and attentive. He stands directly behind the initiate so as to arrest and distribute the potency
passing through the initiate's body and centres; the candidate is also flanked
on either side by a Master.
Nevertheless, he faces the Initiator alone and unprotected. Even now, at this much later initiation, he cannot see "eye to eye"—as the phrase goes. He becomes aware of a growing point of light
which, from a pin-point of intensest brilliance develops before him into a five-pointed star.
At the fourth initiation, it is not a star which shines forth before him, but a
triangle; and within
that triangle he will
perceive an eye regarding him, and for the first time he does see the Most High "eye to
eye." At the fifth initiation no
[Page 177] symbol or light substance separates or protects him, but he stands
before the Initiator face to face, and the freedom of the City of
Membership
of the Great Council is reserved for relatively few-This is an interesting
statement, because to take a Cosmic Path one must take the 6th
initiation of Decision, so the fact that one has taken the 6th
initiation does not automatically lead to membership of the Great Council-We
are also told elsewhere, that the 7th initiation is much easier to
take if one is on the 1st Ray, presumably a 1st ray Soul
or Monad would do
He may not even finally become a Member of the
Great Council; that is
reserved for relatively few and for Those Who can take even still higher
initiations within the ring-pass-not of our planet—a task of profound
difficulty. There are other and
interesting alternatives, as I have elsewhere told you. The initiate may pass out of this planetary
life altogether along one or other of the various Paths by means of which a
Master can start upon the Path of the Higher Evolution and for which all that
has transpired in the past will have prepared Him. Whichever Way He goes, the Master remains a
part of the purpose; He
knows forever the secret of the darkness which brings light, and the "inscrutable will of
God" is no longer a mystery to Him.
He comprehends the divine idea and can now cooperate with it; He has
reached a point of realisation which enables Him to fathom what lies behind the
Plan for which the Hierarchy has worked for aeons.
Just as the
disciple enters the world of meaning and so can interpret events, just as the
Hierarchy works in the world of mediation, applying the Plan which the world of
meaning has revealed, so the higher initiate works consciously in the world of
purpose which the Plan implements, the world of meaning interprets, and the
world of events expresses in sequential order and under the evolutionary Law.
1)
The symbol which expresses the door of evolution is the crescent moon
2)
The symbol of the world of meaning is Light
3)
The [Page 178] symbol of the world of mediation is the revolving Cross
4)
the symbol of the world of purpose is a twofold one: the five-pointed star and then the radiant
heart of the Sun.
The symbol which expresses the door of evolution is the crescent moon; that of the process of evolution—as it affects the material or substantial
life of the man—is the waxing
and the waning moon—the
symbol of growing desire and of the dying out of desire. The symbol of the world of meaning is Light—the light which shines upon the ways of
men, interpreting events and bestowing revelation. The [Page 178] symbol of the world of mediation is the
revolving Cross,
whilst the symbol of the
world of purpose is a twofold one: the
five-pointed star and then the radiant heart of the Sun.
Remember that when we talk and think in symbols, we are placing
something between ourselves and reality—something protective, interpretive and
significant, but something nevertheless veiling and hiding. After the fifth initiation all veils are rent
and naught stands between the initiate and Essential Being.
The
problem of duality and release from
immersion in deva substance is related to the Will aspect of Shamballa
(RI 181) In this
teaching, you have presented to you, though in a somewhat different form, the
ancient problem of duality, involving as it does the immense potency of the
deva evolution. It definitely affects
humanity; this is due to the fact that it is an expression of the will aspect of Shamballa. As
man develops the will aspect, he learns to break loose from the aura of the
deva evolution, and the major task of the Hierarchy (as far as basic essentials
are concerned) is to "provide sanctuary" to those who have liberated
themselves from the ocean
of deva energies in which
their vehicles must perforce move and live and have their being, but with which
they have otherwise no point of contact, once liberated by their own effort and
will "from the angels." Let us
now study Rule Ten.
(RI 183) It should
also be noted here that the energies projected by the initiate into the world
of maya are directed by him from the various centres in his own body and from
the central point of energy in each particular centre employed. It is the central "jewel in the
lotus" from which the initiate works, and these seven central focal
points, these seven jewels, so-called, are the correspondence of the jewel in
the egoic lotus. This means, therefore,
that successful work "within the veils of maya" involves ever the use
of the will aspect and the conscious employment of that quota of the Shamballa force which the initiate is able to appropriate and
to use because he has begun to work as a focussing agent of the Spiritual Triad
and is no longer working as a [Page 183] soul or as a personality under soul
control. This is an important point to
remember.
(RI 188) All throughout this period, the organisation
of the etheric plane has been going on, subject to the impact of energies and
forces as listed above, plus certain other energies (latent or potent) with
which we have no immediate concern. Both
the great White Lodge and its opponent, the Black Lodge, increased steadily in
potency. Gradually the forces took
organised form and the four "veils of maya" or the seven separating energies became well-defined.
When this differentiation was complete, two great planetary events (if I
might call them so) were consummated:
[Page 188]
1. The seven
centres in the human body (five up the spine and two in the head) were
esoterically "in shape." The
seven lotuses or chakras were functioning, some powerfully, whilst others
remained unawakened. These seven were now visible to clairvoyant
vision.
2. The seven Ashrams of the Masters in Their seven groups (conditioned by the
seven Rays) appeared, motivated from Shamballa, organised at this time upon the higher levels of the mental plane, and gradually supplied with personnel from
the ranks of humanity itself, as one by one men achieved initiation.
(RI 189) One of
the results of this mental development was the sending of the disciples out
into the world of men; they issued forth in large numbers, and whilst
preserving their conscious link with the Ashram with which they were
affiliated, they could be trusted to live among men as men and to bring their
potency to bear upon the problem of maya and glamour, doing so from below
upwards. This work had to be done by
disciples who could stand under pressure, who would, in spite of all
difficulties, live nobly and prepare for and take the initiation which was for them
their next step. Several hundred years
ago, only a few could be so trusted.
Today (1944) there are many in every land, though there are very few in
(RI 199) Students
must remember that the four veils upon the etheric plane are only the lower
symbolic correspondences to certain great areas of divine expression, and that
ever the glory must be approached through the darkness. Such is the Law. These higher veiling factors can be mentioned
and enumerated, but more information concerning these mysteries, this
separating darkness encountered by the initiate, may not be given:
VEIL I. That which faces the disciple as he wrestles
with the Dweller on the Threshold and becomes conscious of the Angel of the
Presence, though as yet he sees Him not.
VEIL II. That which the initiate encounters at the
fourth initiation and which forces him to cry out in his blindness: "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken
me." The words uttered by the
Christ at that time, and as the Participator, have been forgotten by the
orthodox, though preserved by the esotericist.
To them H.P.B. refers in The Secret Doctrine.
VEIL III. That mysterious blindness which overwhelms
the initiate when—as the Embodiment of all the forces of the Spiritual Triad—He
faces the Monad and is impelled forward by the "devastating Will" of
the first aspect. Of this I may not
write. It concerns the sixth and seventh
initiations.
VEIL IV. That "unknown impenetrable Void, the utter darkness of negation"
which Those Who are in the Council
Chamber of the Lord of
the World and Who are focussed in Shamballa face when the time comes for Them to
"negate" our planetary life-expression and experience
altogether. They must then leave behind
all the seven planes of spiritual and human experience [Page 200] and pass
onward and out into phases of Life and being for which we have no words, and of
which we have no conception. They leave through the fourth veil on the cosmic physical etheric levels (on
the highest plane of our seven planes) and pass on to the cosmic astral plane.
There They negate its existence as They have earlier negated the
existence of the astral plane, so familiar an illusion to all of us. The initiate passes on to the cosmic astral
plane and finds—What? Who knows? I do not.
Sanat
Kumara-Lord of the World (who is a ninth degree initiate) utters the SOUND from
the centre of the Council Chamber
(RI 201) 3. Let
the Army of the Voice be no more heard, and let the brothers onward move within
the Sound.
Putting the idea
into esoteric terms, the above sentence could be paraphrased as follows: The voices and the Voice fade out. The A.U.M. is replaced by the O.M. and at the centre of that O.M. the
brother stands.
It
should be pointed out that He (Sanat Kumara) Who stands at the very centre of
the Council Chamber of Shamballa sounds forth all words, the Word, and He also
utters the SOUND
The many voices of
the world, the flesh and the devil are no longer distinguished; there is
nothing within the consciousness of the initiate which can respond to
them. The Voice of the Silence dies out
also and the Word itself [Page 201] cannot be heard. Only the SOUND remains. This is the Sound which reverberates in the formless worlds; it is the Sound to which the Spiritual
Triad responds and of which the initiate is a part, because the Sound which he
makes as he proceeds upon his creative way is a part of the universal
Sound. It should be pointed out that He Who stands at the very centre of the Council Chamber of Shamballa sounds forth all words, the Word, and He also utters the SOUND. This is apt to
be forgotten. He it is Who intones the
A.U.M. and all things come to be; He it is Who voices the Word, the O.M., and God incarnate in humanity appears on
earth:
Sanat
Kumara utters the SOUND and upon the outgoing involutionary breath creates the
worlds-the in breath is the evolutionary cycle of withdrawal-the intervals are
where the magic takes place
He it is Who
utters the SOUND, and upon
that outgoing Breath holds all things in life; and—in the rise and fall of its cadences—there is
found the cyclic rhythm of the creative process. He it will be Who will withdraw the Sound and centering the vibration within
Himself, will some day bring
to a close this periodic manifestation and carry the Sound to other localities in space,
holding it in quiescence on the withdrawn breath until a later cycle of
expression dawns. Then it will again be
exhaled and sent forth to provide a new field of experience for the Lives
which, in cyclic rhythm, again seek to manifest. The entire story of incarnation is hidden in
the understanding of the SOUND and its differentiation into the O.M. and the
A.U.M.
When we can
identify the Sound and are no
longer "moved" by the O.M., then the initiate becomes a Christ in expression
and makes His appearance, either in physical form or upon the planes of what to
us might be called the "areas of non-appearance." He can then contain and utilise the energies
of which the Spiritual Triad is the custodian and which are the expression of
the will and purpose of God. Though the
initiate may not be a
part of the planetary government, and though he may not be a member of the Council at Shamballa (for only a limited number of initiates are so
placed), he nevertheless has the right to move on identical levels and to
prepare himself for those higher evolutionary processes which will give him entrance to the cosmic astral plane. This will enable him to "see through" [Page
202] and to recognise "cosmic glamour," and will give him the hidden
key to the world of feeling and of sentiency of which our feeling-response and
our emotional and intuitional sensitivity are but the dim and distorted
reflections. This is a factor of some
importance to have in mind if a right sense of proportion is to be developed. The initiate has learnt on earth that the
astral plane is in fact non-existent—at least for those of the higher degrees
of initiation. This knowledge
constitutes the first step towards the comprehension of the secret of negation, towards a true understanding of the basis
of the ever-existent pairs of opposites, and towards the knowledge which lies
behind the significance of negation. The
above sentence is in all probability of little meaning to you, but it nevertheless
contains a truth for which the trials, experiences and initiations of planetary
existence prepare the initiate. They
endow him with those qualities which will enable him to contact cosmic evil and
yet remain untouched, eventually to play his part in bringing the Black Lodge
and its Brotherhood to an unholy finish.
The
roots of the White Lodge are temporarily on the Cosmic Mental plane
The roots of
the Black Lodge are on the cosmic astral plane, as the roots of the White Lodge and its Brotherhood are on the cosmic mental plane; this is, in reality, only for the time being and in order to see certain organised
activities upon the star
Sirius perfected and
carried to a consummation. This has oft
been hinted in my writings.
"The
Way of the Higher Evolution" leads to the cosmic astral plane, and the goal which carries a man there is
the transcendent vision accorded at some of the higher initiations; the quality
which enables him to work as a creative factor in the great White Lodge is the
developed buddhic faculty. It is upon
the "wings of Sound" that he travels, to use a well-known though
little understood metaphor. This can
only be when he can
Hear
the OM as it is sounded by Sanat Kumara-Lord of the World
(RI 203) 4. Hear the O.M. as it is sounded forth by Him Who stands and waits at the very centre of the Council Chamber of the Lord.
[Page 203]
These are grave
and solemn thoughts, and of small use to the average reader. It is essential, however, that he avoid the
concept that the attainment of the highest initiation upon this planet marks
the end or the consummation of a great and final stage. It only marks the beginning of
significance. This is a statement of
esoteric value. Just as the attainment
of physical control sets the neophyte free for the learning of higher lessons
in preparation for the major initiations, so the surmounting of the conditions
presented by the seven
planes of our planetary life sets the initiate (such as the Buddha or the Christ) free for still
higher and more important conditioning circumstances. Their real work as Members of the White
Brotherhood is on the point of beginning, and the true purpose of the existence
of the Great White Lodge begins faintly to dawn upon Their entranced and amazed
understanding. It is of real value to
us, therefore, to endeavour to grasp the continuity of revelation and the vast
future or vista of unfolding wonder which, stage by stage, grade by grade and
plane by plane, unfolds before the initiate-consciousness.
We enter here into
a consideration of realms of advancement of which even advanced humanity has no
faintest idea; we are touching upon goals and objectives which confront the
advanced Members of the Hierarchy; we are dealing with ideas and concepts for
which we have no adequate terminology and which are of such a nature that the
human mechanism of thought proves incapable of registering them. What, for instance, do the words or phrases,
"Divine purpose, Shamballa, the Lord of the World, states of
registration or awareness which have no relation to sentiency as it expresses
itself through consciousness, the Lodge on Sirius" and similar concepts
convey to you? I would venture to
suggest that in reality, they represent nothing, and this because the goal of
all who read these words is contact with the soul, recognition of and by the
Hierarchy, and initiation. If I say to
you that the words "the O.M., as it is sounded forth by Him Who stands
within the confines of Shamballa" signify that the one Sound, rounded
and full, [Page 204] of O is sounded forth, but that the concluding sound of
the M is omitted, does that convey aught to your intelligence? Again I venture to say that it does not. It is therefore of small importance for me to
enlarge upon this phase of the Rules. I
would be more profitably employed if I elucidated somewhat the meaning of the
words "the Council Chamber of the Lord." Three concepts have perchance taken shape in
your minds in connection with Shamballa, if
you have sought the true esoteric attitude:
1. That Humanity
exists as a great centre of intelligent energy in the substance of the
planetary Life.
2. That the
spiritual centre, where attractive, coherent, magnetic energy is focussed and
from whence it flows in two directions
a. Towards the
three worlds and the four kingdoms of nature,
b. Towards Shamballa and the two higher kingdoms in manifestation
is what we usually
call the Hierarchy, the
3. That there is
another centre which is neither spiritual nor human but which is characterised
by divinity. Divinity is the expression of the will or purpose of the One
in Whom we live and move and have our being.
That centre where
the will of God is focussed and dynamically sent forth to carry out the purpose is Shamballa.
Spiritual
and divine are not the same-The quality of spirituality is Love-The quality of
divinity is Will-
That
which relates the two is Wisdom
(RI 205) The time has now come when a distinction
must be made by esotericists between the words "spiritual" and "divine."
They are not the same, nor do they have the same significance. The quality of spirituality is Love. The quality of divinity is Will.
There is a definite distinction between the two and the mediating
principle (or that which
relates or unites the two qualities) is Wisdom. Of
that Wisdom the Buddha was the expression in time and space; that
means that there was only a relative and limited manifestation of that fusing linking principle. His great achievement, unrealised [Page 205]
by Him, was an innate and (at that time, not now) unconscious recognition of
the distinction between love and will, and an ability to express in Himself a
fusing, blending energy which could and did bring together love and will, soul
and Monad.
The
Buddha expressed the fusion of love and will, whereas the Christ demonstrated
the at-one-ment of love and intelligence
At the same time
(and later in full expression in
A
group of Beings who stand around Sanat Kumara embody divinity-the fusion of
love and will
Embodying,
therefore, divinity in
a sense and form incomprehensible to disciples, and which constitutes the goal
of such advanced individuals as the Christ, are a group of Lives or focussed
integrated Beings Who
stand around Sanat Kumara,
the Lord of the World.
Sanat
Kumara is to the Planetary Logos what the personality, plus soul,
is to the disciple-this suggests that the Planetary Logos is the Will aspect
whereas Sanat Kumara is the intelligence and love aspect
As I have earlier
said, Sanat Kumara is to
the Planetary Logos
what the personality,
plus soul, is to the disciple. He is also the coherent force
within the planet, holding, through His radiatory influence, all forms and all
substances in the planetary form so that they constitute one coherent,
energised and functioning whole. A
parallel to this, though on a much smaller scale, can be seen in the radiatory
influence of the Christ as it permeates, energises and holds in coherent
expression the Christian Church in all its many aspects in the world; a still
smaller analogy can be seen in the influence wielded by a disciple who stands
at the centre of a group and holds it also in coherent and useful
manifestation. Intermediate between
these two symbols of will and love, united in manifestation (the Christ and a
disciple), is the work of a world disciple, for the influence is wider and more
far-reaching than that of a disciple, yet not as potent or comprehensive as
that of the Christ.
the
Planetary Logos upon His own high plane, the cosmic mental plane; this great
and Unknown Being uses Sanat Kumara as the soul uses a temporary
personality when that personality is at an advanced stage of initiate
consciousness.
Coherency,
affecting lives, forms and substances, is an expression of will and purpose,
motivated by love and implemented intelligently in carrying forward the plans
through which the Purpose seeks expression.
When, however, you arrive at the potency of such a Being as Sanat Kumara, you find His individual potency enhanced
and [Page 206] amplified by the fused ability of a group of Lives Who—though
not as far advanced as He is upon the Path of Evolution which stretches before the Planetary Logoi—are yet greatly in advance of the most
developed members of the spiritual Hierarchy.
It is these Lives Who constitute the innermost circle of the Council Chamber of the Lord of the World. Their normal contacts are extra-planetary and
are very seldom of a planetary nature.
They are in direct
rapport with the Planetary Logos upon His own high plane, the cosmic mental
plane; this great and
Unknown Being uses Sanat Kumara as the soul uses a temporary personality when that
personality is at an advanced stage of initiate consciousness. This is only a parallel and an analogy and
must not be unduly elaborated in the detail of relationship.
The
three Buddhas of Activity are members of
the Great Council
The major
characteristic of these
Lives is Will or Purpose. They embody and consciously know and
intelligently appreciate what is the motivating idea which the Planetary
Logos—working consciously on His own high level—seeks to work out and achieve
in His planned
incarnation through a planet. He functions when in
incarnation on the cosmic physical plane, and embodies the seven principles of
which we know, and all
is focussed in and through the Individuality of Sanat Kumara, implemented and energised through the
seven planetary centres. The three Buddhas of Activity (Who are also Members of the Great
Council) are expressions of the counterparts on cosmic levels of the energies
latent in the three permanent atoms in the three worlds of human
endeavour. This is again a dangerous
parallel to propose for—as a symbol—it lacks any true analogy.
The
seven Spirits before the Throne of God are members of the Council at
Shamballa-and each is in close rapor with one or other of he seven sacred
planets
The Seven Spirits before the Throne of God are also Members of the Council, and each of Them is in close rapport and contact
with one or other of the seven
sacred planets in our solar system, and can thus draw upon the energies which they
embody.
(RI 207) It will
therefore be apparent to you inferentially, how comparatively few of the
Members of our Hierarchy have yet been able to reach the state or condition of
development which would warrant Their forming a part of the [Page 207] great Council, or which would enable them to respond to
the O, sounded out at
intervals of one hundred years by Sanat Kumara. It is this
sound which gathers together the responsive Units into the Council.
This Council is held at one hundred year intervals, and as far as our modern humanity is concerned,
these Councils have been held—under our arbitrary dates—in 1725, 1825, 1925.
At these Councils,
Those Who are responsible for the planetary development, along certain
predetermined lines, make Their reports; decision is made as to new
unfoldments; certain types of energy, cosmic and solar, are made available for
the carrying forward of the Plans which implement the Purpose; the evolution of
consciousness in the three worlds receives, necessarily, major attention.
I would have you
remember that this refers not only to the human kingdom and its unfoldment, but
to the three subhuman kingdoms also which are—from many points of view—of equal
importance to the human. This is a hard
saying for humanity to accept.
It is these great
goals which slowly dawn on the consciousness of the initiate as he advances
step by step along the Path of Initiation.
They must perforce be noted here, even if dealing with matters
incomprehensible to the reader; initiation otherwise would be apt to be
regarded as the attainment of a relatively static condition and would land the
initiate in an eternal impasse or impassable cul-de-sac. Initiation is in fact the recognition of the
goals which are implemented from Shamballa. It is not a
process whereby a man becomes solely a Member of the Spiritual Hierarchy. Initiation (as the candidate understands it)
is in reality only incidental and preparatory to the Path of the Higher
Evolution.
There is little
more that I can tell you anent this Rule.
The subject is, as you can see, too advanced even for the initiate who,
in a few decades, will read and study these instructions. That your vision may expand, and your power
to think and reflect abstractly may grow, is my hope and wish for you.
(RI 208) RULE
ELEVEN
Those
that are "Victors, through the clear pure will." take the 6th
and 7th initiations-does this mean that the majority of
Masters-those who go to Sirius-do not take the 6th initiation of
Decision?-perhaps because there is no decision to be made as there is no choice
I would like to
speak, at this point in our discussion of the fourteen rules for initiates,
upon the theme of group initiation; these rules are those to which groups that
are seeking, in unison, a group expansion of consciousness, must learn to
conform. It is for this reason that I
have hitherto omitted to go into detail in relating these rules to the seven
centres or, specifically, to the great seven solar initiations. Of these seven initiations only five concern average humanity. The
remaining two initiations concern only those who are willing to meet certain
unusual requirements and to produce that special effort which entitles them to
the appellation, "Victors,
through the clear pure will."
(RI 226) 5. The
stage of triadal perception and the establishing of spiritual contact, thus
negating both the life of form and the soul.
Duality is no longer recognised.
6. The stage of identification with the life aspect and the establishing of complete divine
integration into the greater Whole. The
initiate then moves onward in life and not in consciousness—a concept and a
truth which it is not possible for you to understand at this time.
7. The stage of a
group sounding-forth of the Word and establishing direct relation with Shamballa as an integral part of the Hierarchy. This means the enunciation of a dual chord.
8. The stage of
responding to the higher aspects of the seven Ray Lives and establishing
contact with the Three and the One. This
is done under the Law of the Supplementary Seven.
9. The stage of
spiritual negation, as it is called.
This establishes a new affirmative attitude and results in a recognition
of the true nature of the One Initiator.
10. The stage of
the dissipation of all veils and the establishing of the power to work with
light energy, thus earning the reward of new utilised ability, i.e., the
ability to work with the consciousness aspect in all forms.
11. The stage
where the potencies of the death aspect of divine purpose can be used to carry
out divine purpose, plus the establishing of complete identification (as a
group) with the divine will. This marks
the period of the Great [Page 227] Renunciation and prefaces the complete
transition out of the Fourth Creative Hierarchy, the human kingdom.
(RI 231) You will
note, therefore, that the effect of Aquarius upon the Hierarchy (as far as you,
at your particular point in evolution can determine it) is to bring in the
energy of Shamballa which is essentially the energy of life
itself, implemented [Page 231] by the will.
This necessarily has created (and will increasingly create) major
adjustments within the Hierarchy itself.
The principal type of energy hitherto used by the Hierarchy is—as you
well know—the energy of love. Now, to
that must be added the energy of the life-giving will. New methods, new approaches to the human
problem and new modes of work will have to be tried; experiment with the
incoming forces will necessarily be the order of the day, though they will be
experiments based upon vast knowledge and implemented with wisdom and
understanding. It is the reaction of
modern man to the ancient forces which produces the need for care. Mankind is oft unpredictable, owing to the
factor of free will. It is this which
lies behind the training given to disciples, upon which I have already given
you much instruction. The new techniques
and the changed approach from that of individual culture to united group
progress will bring about many types of development. It is this different approach to the same
basic problems which lies behind the new capacities which are emerging among
disciples; it is this which enables disciples of experience to work at high
speed and with a life potency that is unusual.
I would have all disciples begin to train themselves to respond to the
Aquarian energy now pouring into the Hierarchy.
Some of you can do so as accepted disciples, and as members of my
Ashram. Take advantage, therefore, of
the opportunity for re-energising that comes to all those who have established
contact, via their souls, with the Hierarchy, or who are members of an Ashram,
or who, as probationers, are upon the periphery of the great Ashram of Sanat
Kumara, the Hierarchy. This Aquarian
influence produces mainly the intensifying of the hierarchical relationship to Shamballa, and therefore affects every member of His Ashram,
from the Christ down to the most newly accepted disciple.
The
Christ has been preparing for an initiation for 3,000 years-Elsewhere we are
told this is the seventh initiation
It is through the
disciples that the New Group of World Servers are brought under the
stepped-down Aquarian influences; this has to be an individual matter, largely
dependent upon the point of evolution.
Some members of [Page 232] the New Group of World Servers will not
respond in any way; they cannot. Others
will respond as fully as their spiritual status permits. This inflow of Aquarian energy is one of the
factors which will enable the Christ to complete His task as World Saviour and
World Teacher; it will also enable Him to take the initiation which lies immediately ahead of Him and for which He has been preparing for close upon three thousand
years—so exalted and
peculiar an initiation it is. It is this
influence also which has enabled the Master R. to assume the mantle of the
Mahachohan and become the Lord of Civilisation—a civilisation which will be
conditioned by the rhythm of the seventh ray.
Incidentally, it
is this Aquarian influence which has given the adepts of the Black Lodge the power to bring universal
death throughout the
world. These evil beings have responded
to the will energy of Shamballa and to the life-giving vitality, but have
used it in keeping with their own evil intentions and with the power conferred
by their standing upon the cosmic ladder of evil. Hence the war. I only mention this as a striking example of
the oft misunderstood fact that the same energy or identical force will produce
results within the consciousness of a Christ or within the consciousness of
anti-Christ. It is the same energy, but
the forms upon which it plays differ so vastly that in one case the
will-to-good is intensified, and in the others the will-to-evil. Energy per se is entirely impersonal.
(RI 235) It should
be remembered that the Piscean energy with which the group has to work is
opposed to the incoming energies from the Hierarchy and the New Group of World
Servers. This is owing to the fact that
the energy of this constellation is passing out concurrently with the sixth ray
energy, with which it peculiarly "coincided," as it is esoterically
[Page 235] called. Hence the present
difficulties. The passing out of the
influence of Pisces, the slow
withdrawal of the sixth ray force, the incoming Aquarian energy, via the Hierarchy
(affecting at this time mainly the Hierarchy itself and the mental and astral
planes) are conditions to which we must look for the origin of all our present
troubles. In this involved situation,
you have a planetary demonstration of the significance of inner causes,
producing outer effects. Slowly,
however, the Hierarchy is beginning to implement both the Shamballa energy and that of Aquarius; the Masters Themselves
have to learn how to use new incoming energies in the service of the Plan, just
as the individual has to learn, in any particular incarnation, to work with and
use the available astrological forces which make their impact upon one or other
of his bodies or upon his entire personality; such energies, as you well know,
can be turned to good uses or to bad. It
is not possible for the Masters to turn energy to evil ends, but They
necessarily have to master new techniques and the new methods of work called
for by the new conditions; these can either affect the Hierarchy itself or will
produce reactions in the fourth kingdom and in the other kingdoms, producing
rapidly changing orientation and attitudes.
(RI 236) These
forces and energies—from the zodiac or from one or other of the seven rays—have
poured into and through our planetary Life for countless aeons. Each time that they cyclically make their
appearance, the forms and substance in the three worlds upon which they impinge
and through which they pass are different in the degree of evolutionary
response and of sensitive reaction to impact.
The response and the reactions of the human family as a whole, or of the
individual within that whole, will differ from that of the previous cycle; with
these factors the Hierarchy has to contend, changing cyclically its technique
and altering its modes of work in order to meet the changing need. Bear this in mind. This has never been more evident to the
Masters than today. The war might be
regarded as a revolt by the form side of nature against the old conditions, and
[Page 236] against the new incoming conditioning factors on the part of the
Black Lodge. Between the two forces—one
sensitive, onward moving, ready for that which is new and better, and the other
reactionary, static and determined to gain a strangle hold upon the life within
the form—the Hierarchy stands at the midway point:
a. Throwing all
its weight on the side of that which is new, spiritual and desirable.
b. Adapting itself
simultaneously to new conditions and new emerging factors.
c. Standing like a
wall of steel, unshatterable and immovable between humanity and the forces of
evil.
This has been an
epoch of crisis, and the great moment for which the Hierarchy has been
preparing ever since it was founded upon the Earth. Slowly down the ages, men have been trained
and prepared for initiation; they have been taught to develop the
initiate-consciousness; they have taken then their place within the ranks of
the Hierarchy and have—later—passed into the higher centre, Shamballa.
Paralleling this
line of unfoldment of the individual, there has also been a great though slow expansion
of the human consciousness and a gradual steady progress forward into
light. It has now become possible to
create the New Group of World Servers—men and women sensitive to the inner and
newer vision and to the incoming forces and energies. Each group, therefore, whether it is the
Hierarchy, the New Group of World Servers, or mankind itself, is wrestling with
its own interior problems of response, of recognition and of responsibility;
each also is actuated by an outgoing movement in two directions: towards that which is higher and which
indicates a better and more spiritual future, with all that that implies, and
also towards that which is rooted in and related to the past, which is
crystallising, reactionary, blind in its selfishness and materiality, and which
is implemented to retain the old things which should pass away and to fight
that which is new.
Shamballa
and the Hierarchy could have unitedly ended this world crisis
As individual
aspirants, you all know that this condition [Page 237] exists in the conflict
waged interiorly and expressed exteriorly between the soul and the
personality. The same conditioning
factors can be seen also working in every group, organisation, world religion,
and in every nation, as well as in the planet as a whole. Millions of years ago, the Hierarchy realised that such a time of crisis
and of conflict was inevitable. The
easiest way to handle it would have been as lesser conflicts were dealt with in
the past—by a process of
final intervention. Shamballa and the Hierarchy could
have unitedly ended this world crisis, but it would then have again arisen and have gone on
arising until humanity itself ended it once and for all upon the physical
plane.
Of this situation
the determination of the United Nations to win and to enforce complete
surrender upon the aggressor nations which are the agents of the Black Lodge is symbolic and also symptomatic of the
progress of the human spirit. (Written
in September 1944.) This time, the
Hierarchy refrains from outer action, but simply inspires and transmits the
needed energy, leaving mankind to find its own way into freedom, and out of
Pisces into the aura and the field of activity of Aquarius, guided by those who
are responsive to the illumination which Taurus confers.
The
energy, emanating from Shamballa, has been divided into two direct and
distinctive streams. One stream,
embodying the dynamic of purpose, is now pouring into the Hierarchy and into its seven major
Ashrams; another stream, embodying the dynamic of determination or of enlightened
enthusiastic will, is reaching humanity direct, via the New Group of World
Servers.
(RI 241) 3. The
third great change has been in the relation of the Hierarchy to Shamballa, and of this you can necessarily know and understand
little. I could perhaps express the
underlying significance to you in symbolic language. The energy, emanating from Shamballa, has been divided into two direct and distinctive
streams. One stream, embodying the dynamic of purpose, is now pouring into the Hierarchy and into its seven major Ashrams; another
stream, embodying the dynamic
of determination or of enlightened enthusiastic will, is reaching humanity direct, via the New Group of World
Servers. Hitherto a blended stream of Shamballa force has poured into the Hierarchy and has streamed,
in its undifferentiated type and quality, into all the groups within the
Hierarchy. Now the quality of
determination, or of what the average person understands by the use of the word
"Will," is pouring into the New Group of World Servers, whilst the
energy of dynamic
purpose, differentiated into seven diverging streams, is pouring into [Page 241] each of the
"seven points of reception," the Masters' Ashrams within the
ring-pass-not of the Hierarchy. These seven types of purpose embody the seven energies which will
reorganise and redefine the hierarchical undertakings, and thus inaugurate the
New Age. These seven purposes might be
called:
The
Seven types of Purpose (dynamic purpose differentiated into seven diverging streams)
a. The unknown,
unseen and unheard purpose
of Sanat Kumara. It is the secret of life itself and is known
only to Him alone. In its initial phase
of this new expression, it works through the Manu and the Master Morya; it is
that which veils the central mystery which all esoteric schools—if true to
their inaugurating impulse—will eventually reveal. What that is we do not yet know, but it is
hinted at in Rule XIII.
b. The purpose underlying revelation.
This may be a somewhat new idea to you for you are apt to regard
revelation as a goal in itself. You
seldom consider it as an effect of the inner purpose of Sanat Kumara. The emphasis hitherto has been on the aspect
of revelation, making it an effect of what the disciple has done with himself
and by means of which he is enabled to be the recipient of revelation. Yet behind all the successive revelations of
divinity down the ages is to be found one significant purpose; all of them are
and will prove themselves to be aspects of the Great Revelation. It is through the processes of revelation that
divinity is slowly dawning upon the human consciousness. It is a sevenfold revelation; each of the
seven kingdoms in nature reveals one aspect of it, and each of these seven
reaches revelation in seven or fourteen lesser revelations or phases.
Ponder on this and
learn to distinguish between vision (which is as much of the divine current
revelation as a disciple can grasp in time and space) and revelation which is
the synthesis of the divine expressive purpose.
This is related to the will-to-good which is, in its turn, a complete
expression of the love nature of Deity.
c. The (as yet) unrecognised purpose which evoked the
creative activity of our Planetary Logos. This brought
the [Page 242] third aspect of the divine Trinity into play. The usual reasons brought forward by the
finite mind of man to account for what is called by us
"manifestation," and to explain the dualism of all existence and the
relation of spirit-matter, are by no means the real explanation of the divine
purpose; they are based on man's own essential dualism; they are the highest
explanation of his own divine nature which he can achieve at this time. This is a point to be remembered. They are his response to the second Ray of
Mutual Attraction, which the Ray of Love-Wisdom is sometimes called. They are not an expression of his response to
the Will of God, and only indicate the limitations of his definition of divine
purpose. As you will note, they really
define nothing. Nor can I help you to
recognise this third aspect and the eternal purpose of the Lord of the
World. Just as a soul seeks incarnation
in order to carry forward some fixed design and to take one of the higher
initiations, so Sanat Kumara came into incarnation through the medium of this
planet in order to carry forward His fixed designs (known to Him as a cosmic
Soul on cosmic mental levels), and to take one of the higher initiations which
mark the Path of Initiation for these great informing Lives of planetary
spheres. He could take this particular
initiation through the experience to be gained in a vehicle constituted,
expressive and at the special state of consciousness of our entire planetary
manifestation. It required an instrument
in which the cells and atoms of His body (all lives in all kingdoms), and the
integrated organisms within that body (the various kingdoms of nature), were at
the peculiar point in evolution at which they are all now to be found.
DK
will not say which initiation Sanat Kumara is preparing for-but says it is the
same as the one the majority of humans are heading for-This is the fifth
planetary, and we know SK took the 9th planetary when ancient
Lemuria came into being, which is the fourth Cosmic, so SK must be preparing
for the 5th Cosmic (which will make our planet Sacred) which is the
same as the tenth planetary initiation-that’s just my educated guess (ZR)
That is as far as
I may go in giving you a hint, and you can see from this that in order to grasp
more and comprehend more of His divine purpose you also will have to be in
preparation for that particular initiation which for you—on your tiny level of
awareness of fixed design—is
the microcosmic parallel of His cosmic intention.
Which that initiation is I may not state. The only service which these hints can render
(as to the sevenfold divine purpose and [Page 243] the consideration of them)
is to develop in you, the disciple, the power to think abstractly—a much needed
capacity before you can begin to tread the Way of the Higher Evolution; for
this the five initiations open to humanity (as today constituted) prepare the
human spirit.
d. The mysterious purpose which has necessitated the calling into
activity the Principle of Pain. Suffering and Pain are essential
requirements in order
to carry this purpose to completion. The
capacity to suffer, which is distinctive of humanity, is the outstanding
conscious reaction to environment of the fourth kingdom in nature, the human. It is related to the power to think and
consciously to relate cause and effect.
It is a process on the way to something undreamt of today. And when I say this, my brother, I mean just
exactly that. This same ability to
respond through pain is not to be found (in the sense in which the human being
comprehends it) in any of the subhuman kingdoms, nor in the superhuman
kingdoms, any more than it was found in the previous solar system or will be
found in the next. It is related to an
aspect of the creative intelligence, an aspect and characteristic peculiar to
humanity.
This aspect was
not found in the previous solar system, in which the other aspects of the
creative intelligence functioned. In
this solar system, it has been developed and brought from latency to potency in
connection with the substance of the human bodies through which the human soul
is gaining experience. It holds the
secret of beauty in manifestation, and its first expression can be seen in the
creative perfection of certain phases of art for which man, and man alone, is
responsible. No other kingdom in nature
creates forms, produces colour and sounds in harmonious relation, except the
human; all of this type of creative art is the result of aeons of conflict,
pain and suffering. The Jews, as a
product of the humanity of the previous solar system, and as constituting the
incarnating residue from that solar system, have run the gamut of suffering and
are in the forefront of the creative arts at this time, particularly [Page 244]
in group production such as certain of the great motion pictures and in the
field of scientific discovery.
There will be, as
you can well see, a close relation between this fourth purpose of Sanat Kumara, the fourth kingdom in nature, the human,
and the fourth Ray of Harmony through Conflict.
It is the balanced relation of these three, consummated at the fourth
initiation, which produces the full beauty of the creative fixed design of the
individual soul, or—on a different level of initiatory process—of the fixed
design of the universal soul of the Lord of the World. The fourth ray being temporarily out of full
incarnation at this time is the reason for the relative interlude in the
production of human creative art of a very high order. The cycle of suffering is nearing its close,
and we shall later see—when the fourth ray again swings into full objective
activity—a recurrence of the arts on a turn of the spiral far more exalted than
any lately seen.
e. The fifth great secret underlying the purpose
of Sanat Kumara is
related in a peculiar sense to the cyclic manifestation of all that is found in
the three worlds of human evolution. It
concerns that which is working slowly into manifestation through the medium of
the lower concrete mind as it controls desire and brings substance and matter
into conformity with the divine thought along this line. The sumtotal of the highest phases of human
thinking along all lines, materially affects what appears on the physical plane
in all the kingdoms of nature, what precipitates civilisations and cultures,
and which expresses the best response at the moment of human sensitivity to
cosmic impression.
This is all that
can be said as we attempt to sum up the fixed desire and the pattern or purpose
of divine activity down the ages. We
know it to be profoundly inadequate as yet to express or to produce in
manifested form the beauty of that design and to create in conformity with
God's thought; but—age by age—the thinking capacity of man and his creative
imagination have wrought out the slowly unfolding design, and will continue to
do so; every [Page 245] great world cycle sees the emergence of greater beauty,
and sees the subtle effects of man's thinking upon the subhuman kingdoms in
nature steadily bringing the unknown to the surface, altering the nature of the
flora and the fauna of the planet, and preparing the way for that time of
wonder when the Hierarchy will again be exoterically directing the Plan upon
the earth and aiding mankind to work with a fuller understanding of the divine
design.
Here again is
another reason for the changing plans of the Hierarchy. The Masters have to prepare Themselves for
this intended and imminent emergence.
They are faced with the necessity of changing Their techniques of work
in order to meet adequately the demands upon Them. It is far easier for Them to work, as
illumined Minds, upon the mental substance of Their disciples than it will be
for Them to work down upon the physical plane, relating the minds and the
brains of advanced human beings. People
are apt to forget that with each forward advance of humanity, the demands upon
the Hierarchy change, new needs must be met, new techniques used, new and
experimental methods must be employed.
As I write for disciples and initiates, I call this to their attention. Their work of mental training does not end as
they attain certain spiritual initiatory goals.
This fifth
purpose is therefore closely related to the whole theme of "the garment of
God" and to the
emergence into manifestation of His "robe of beauty" as it is created
and brought into being by humanity, acting as the medium for ideas from the
superhuman kingdoms, and then influencing and swinging into creative
cooperation the subhuman kingdoms.
f. It is difficult
for me to give any idea whatsoever of the purpose with which we are now concerned, because it is expressed in the relation existing between
the significance of Desire, Will, Plan
and Purpose. All these words are symbols evolved by man in
his attempt to grasp logoic purpose. He
recognises the impulses of desire, and in the course of the evolutionary
process learns to transmute them [Page 246] into aspiration; he passes on to a
vague groping forward in an effort to understand and acquiesce in the
"will of God," as he calls it; as long, however, as human approach to
that will remains negative, submissive, and acquiescent (as it does under the
influence of the theological approach and in the manner inculcated by the
Churches), no real light on the nature of that Will will be seen. It is only as human beings enter into
relation with the Hierarchy and are gradually absorbed into the hierarchical
life and begin to take the higher initiations that the true nature of the
divine Will will be grasped and the purpose of Sanat Kumara be revealed by an appreciation
of the plan, followed
by a consequent cooperation with that Plan.
All this will be
done through the transmutation of desire into aspiration, and then into fixed
determination. When, however, the
initiate has related these phases of consciousness in his own inner experience,
and has permitted those inner realisations to affect his outer experience and
daily living, then the underlying Purpose will shine forth and he will no
longer be working in the dark. You see,
my brother, that all that I can do in these abstruse matters is to indicate
what you can do, as an individual, to fit yourself to grasp divine purpose, and
thus see the divine design and patterns as they are in reality. Once you have taken the needed steps and
complied with the requirements, the mystery disappears.
g. The final phase of the divine purpose is the most difficult of all to indicate, and when I say indicate, I mean exactly
that, and nothing more definite and clear.
Does it mean anything to you when I say that the ceremonial ritual of
the daily life of Sanat Kumara, implemented by music and sound and carried on
the waves of colour which break upon the shores of the three worlds of human
evolution, reveal—in the clearest notes and tones and shades—the deepest secret
behind His purpose? It scarcely makes
sense to you and is dismissed as a piece of symbolic writing, used by me in
order to convey the unconveyable. Yet I
am not here writing in symbols, but am making an exact statement [Page 247] of
fact. As beauty in any of its greater
forms breaks upon the human consciousness, a dim sense is thereby conveyed of
the ritual of Sanat Kumara's daily living.
More I cannot say.
Here are hints,
therefore, as to the divine
purpose; each of the
seven supplements and completes the other six.
Only by attempting to grasp the whole inner synthesis will we arrive at the merest hint of the nature of
that exalted consciousness which has brought our planet and all that is within
and upon it into being.
To hit 650
Compilation Shamballa part16
The
Law of Synthesis governs the thinking of the great lives who form the Council
of Sanat Kumara In Shamballa
(RI 249) The
higher correspondences of these four requirements are expressed in the
following terms:
1. Let the group
understand the Law of
Synthesis. (This is the law which governs the thinking
of those great Lives Who form the Council of Sanat Kumara in Shamballa.)
[Page 249]
2. Let the
threefold mode of working with that which is dynamic carry the group together
towards the Higher Three where the Will of God holds sway.
3. Let
Transfiguration follow Transformation and may
Transmutation disappear.
4. Let the O.M. be
heard right at the centre of the group, proclaiming God is all.
You can gather
from the above what a tremendous field of esoteric truth is here covered and
how abstruse to the average occult student is the theme. Again I would remind you that the real
significance will only be perceived by the trained initiate and that what I say
here must necessarily be veiled and even meaningless to the non-initiate, even
whilst radiantly clear to those who truly know.
Again, I would remind you that I write this particular section of A
Treatise on the Seven Rays entirely for initiates, and that aspirants who have
not taken initiation cannot understand or duly appreciate the inner meaning of
these fourteen rules. In this fact lies
no reason for discouragement, nor is there any suggestion that
those with initiate consciousness should endeavour to explain, even if—through compassion or from the
desire to stimulate approach to the Mysteries—they desired to do so. No true initiate would be so tempted, for he would realise that it would not only be impossible but also that there is a vital necessity
for the disciple to work out significances and meanings through the medium of
his own life experiment and to arrive at understanding through direct
experience. Then no questioning can ever
arise and sure knowledge takes its place.
There are no questions of any kind in the consciousness of those who
form the Hierarchy. The lower analytical
concrete mind which questions and separates this from that has been completely
controlled and superseded; response to indicated group activity takes
place. Students need to realise more
concretely that group consciousness, universal awareness, and therefore
synthetic effort, synthetic understanding and synthetic activity are possible
to a Master or an initiate of the higher degrees. That involves the keynote of this solar [Page
250] system, particularly within this planet, the Earth; it will be succeeded
in the next solar system by a type of life activity which is as yet only known
in Shamballa.
DK
lists the new Teaching on Shamballa as one of the main components in the
teachings he has given in his books-interestingly
He
regards directions as to the building of the antahkarana is
Teaching
on Shamballa
(RI 251) What are
some of these newer truths for which I am responsible as transmitting agent to
the world of occult students? Let me
briefly state them in the order of their relative importance:
1. The Teaching on
Shamballa.
Little has ever been given on this subject. Only the name was known. This teaching includes:
a. Information as
to the nature of the
will aspect.
b. Indications as
to the underlying purposes
of Sanat Kumara.
c. Directions as
to the building of the
antahkarana, which is
the first step towards achieving monadic consciousness, and thus the first step
towards the Way of the Higher Evolution.
2. The Teaching on the New Discipleship.
This has been revolutionary where the older schools of occultism are
concerned. The teaching includes:
The
Hierarchy is the Ashram of Sanat Kumara in sevenfold form
a. A presentation
of the new attitude of the Masters to Their disciples, due to the rapid
unfoldment of the mind principle and the growth of the principle of "free
will." This changed technique
negates the old attitudes, such as that portrayed in the Theosophical
literature, and it was a recognition of the difficulties of correcting the
wrong impression given which prompted H.P.B. in one of her communications to
the Esoteric Section of her day, to regret ever having mentioned Their
names. That earlier presentation was
useful but has now served [Page 252] its purpose. Unless the schools based on the old methods
change their techniques and their approach to truth, they will disappear.
b. Information as
to the constitution of the Hierarchy and of the various Ashrams of which it is
composed. I have presented the Hierarchy as the Ashram of Sanat Kumara in its sevenfold form, thus linking will
and love.
c. A presentation
of the newer type of meditations, with its emphasis upon visualisation and the
use of the creative imagination; I have presented a system of meditation which
has eliminated the attention paid hitherto to personal problems and the intense
earlier focus on the relation of the disciple and the Master. The keynote of group fusion and of service
underlies the newer form of meditation, and not this powerful emphasis upon the
personal relation of the disciple to the Master and the achievement of the individual
aspirant. This was degenerating into a
form of spiritual selfishness and separateness.
3. The Teaching on the Seven Rays.
The fact of the seven rays was well known to the heads of the
Theosophical Society, was mentioned very abstractly and vaguely in The Secret
Doctrine, and formed in an elementary form some of the teaching given in the
Esoteric Section; the names of the rays were given, and some information as to
their qualities, and the Masters on the rays, was imparted but not much else. I have given out much information upon the
subject and have endeavoured to show the importance of this teaching from the
psychological angle, because the new psychology is in the making. If esoteric teaching is eventually to be
public in its presentation, it will be given out along the lines of psychology
because esoteric teaching in its fullest and deepest sense concerns the
consciousness aspect of man and God.
4. The Teaching on the new Astrology.
This teaching too has gone out to a few hundred students before its
publication in book form. This new
astrology has been hitherto [Page 253] ignored by those astrologers who have
read it and (with the exception of four astrologers who have deeply appreciated
it but who wish I would be more explicit) see little in it. I have given enough, could the open-minded
astrologer but realise, to establish the coming astrology on a firm basis; the
accuracy of what I have given will in the course of time he ascertained when
astrologers who are dealing with the horoscopes of advanced people and
disciples will use the esoteric planets as given by me, and not the orthodox
planets as usually used. The accuracy of
their deductions will necessarily depend upon their own point of development
and also upon their ability to recognise an advanced person, a disciple or an
initiate when they meet him and undertake to cast his horoscope. If they are themselves advanced disciples,
they may have a tendency to set too rigid a standard for those seeking
astrological deduction, and thus fail to recognise a disciple; if they are not
advanced, they may regard people as advanced who are far from being even true
aspirants. In either case then the
horoscope may prove inaccurate. It is of
no use to use the esoteric planets in relation to the average man.
5. Information
about the New Group of
World Servers and
their work. This information includes
a. The recognition
of this group as intermediate between the Hierarchy and Humanity.
b. The nature of
their work as it influences the human soul and as it seeks through the
instrumentality of the men and women of goodwill to determine the period in
which we live.
c. The Triangle
work which embodies two phases of their work, i.e., the forming of the network
of light as the channel of communication between the Hierarchy and Humanity,
and the forming simultaneously of the network of goodwill, which is the
objective expression of the subjective influence of light. Ponder on this statement.
6. The attempt to
form an exoteric branch of the inner Ashrams.
This is evidenced in the work I have done with a [Page 254] special
group of aspirants and accepted disciples whose instructions, emanating from my
Ashram, have been embodied in the book Discipleship in the New Age (Vols. I and
II).
7. Teaching upon the new world religion, with its emphasis upon the three major
Full Moon periods (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, falling usually in April, May and
June respectively) and the nine (occasionally ten) minor Full Moons each
year. This leads to a consequent
relation being established between the work of the Christ and of the Buddha in the minds of spiritually inclined
people everywhere, with the result of a great broadening of the human
aspiration. This work is as yet
embryonic, but it should receive increasing attention. Eventually it will demonstrate as the main
linking unit between the East and the West, particularly if Shri Krishna is
shown to be an earlier incarnation of the Lord of Love, the Christ. Thereby three major world religions—the Christian, the Hindu and the
Buddhist—will be intimately related, whilst the Mahommedan faith will be found
to be linked to the Christian faith because it embodies the work of the Master
Jesus as He overshadowed one of His senior disciples, a very advanced initiate,
Mahomet.
(RI 257) What does
this mean? It signifies the fact that
the members of the group are each and all of them upon the Path of Initiation
at some one or other of its stages and that the group, as a group, is in
process of taking initiation, for initiation is a process at this stage, and
not an event. It signifies that the
group antahkarana is built and is being consciously used, and that therefore
divine purpose is being sensed (even if only faintly so) and that the Plan is
being obeyed and carried out. It signifies
also that the three strands of the "rainbow bridge" are now so strong
and so firmly anchored that they not only connect the two aspects of the mental
equipment (higher and lower mind), but that they have been carried also through
the three levels of the triadal consciousness; it means also that these three
strands are firmly anchored in what I have symbolically called the Council
Chamber at Shamballa.
This Council Chamber is not a location or a
place, but a state of
consciousness within the all-enveloping Life.
These three points of anchorage within the sphere of the planetary
Consciousness, or (if you like it better, though remembering ever that we are
speaking and thinking in terms of symbols) in the planetary brain, find their
feeble correspondence in [Page 257] the three points of sensitivity in the head
of a disciple or initiate, that is, in the region of the pineal gland, the
pituitary body and the carotid gland.
These, as you know, are to be found within the areas to which we give
the names the head centre, the ajna centre and the alta major centre. These correspondences are very real, even
though functioning upon a minute scale; the initiate achieves his desired
"perfecting" when the triad within his head is related, and love,
will and intelligence are functioning in synthesis. Here we find a relation to the spiritual
Triad and the three
points in the Council Chamber which are presided over by the three Buddhas of Activity, and within Whose exalted consciousness
the three strands of the antahkarana meet and become active in a way
incomprehensible to you. Necessarily,
this great antahkarana is not constructed correctly except by those whose
individual antahkaranas are likewise in process of construction.
See you,
therefore, the necessity of eventually organising a group in the world which
will be so constituted and so carefully chosen and interiorly related that all
its members are initiates, all have created their own "rainbow
bridges" with understanding and accuracy, and all can now work in such
complete unity that the group antahkarana becomes a channel of unimpeded
communication direct from Shamballa to the group because every member of the
group is a member of the Hierarchy. In
this manner the three planetary centres arrive at the needed relationship, and
another great triangle reaches true functioning activity. When this takes place, a revelation undreamt
of will be manifested upon the Earth; a new divine quality, of which no
knowledge at present exists, will make its presence felt, and the work of the
Buddha and of the Christ, and the work of the coming Avatar, will be superseded by One for Whom both Shamballa and the Hierarchy have unitedly waited and of Whom
the doctrine of the Messiah and the doctrine of Avatars have been and are today
only the dim distant symbols. They
preserve this concept of the Great Revelation in the consciousness of men, in
the expectancy which the Hierarchy evidences, [Page 258] and through the
"preparatory work" now being undertaken at Shamballa.
The
hidden mystery concerns the purpose of the planetary logos/Santa Kumara
(RI 260) When this
stage of centralisation is achieved, then the group can begin to reveal the hidden mystery. All
that I can tell you about that mystery is that it concerns the purpose and the reason for which our planetary Logos took
incarnation and became the informing Life of our planet, the Earth; it concerns
the necessity, inherent in His Own nature, to reach a point upon the cosmic
ladder of evolution which would make Him—as a result—the informing Life of a
sacred planet. Forget not that our
planet is not yet a sacred planet, though it is close to that great
transformation. The cosmic secret of this transforming process is one that Sanat Kumara is now learning, and when That which overshadows
Him during this incarnation has wrought the needed changes through a process of
transformation and transmutation, then a great Transfiguration will take place
and He will take His place among those empowered to work through a sacred planet.
The
hidden mystery is dimly sensed in the Council Chamber of Shamballa
This process is
that which implements the evolutionary process.
Evolution is an effect of this hidden work, emanating from cosmic
levels; only when evolution has run its course through all the multiplicity of
forms, of cycles, chains and spheres, of rounds and races and of world periods,
will we know something of the true nature of the hidden mystery. In the Council Chamber of Shamballa it
is being dimly sensed.
The Buddha and the Christ are expressing the qualities which—when more
universally demonstrated—will indicate its nature, if I might so express
it. They are together mobilising the
equipment upon our planet which will make the revelation of the mystery
inevitable. This should give you a hint
and much food for thought. More I cannot
say, and even this you will only vaguely [Page 261] understand. Let us pass now to the second of the
preparatory steps.
(RI 267) 4. Let
the threefold mode of working with that which is dynamic carry the group
together towards the Higher Three.
This injunction
holds in it information which is somewhat new to the modern initiate,
functioning in a physical body; it is difficult for him to grasp even a modicum
of its significance. To convey any
faintest hint of its meaning is incomparably difficult for me where disciples
such as you are concerned. All I can do
is to fall back upon the Law of Analogy, by means of which the microcosm can
arrive at a glimmer of understanding of the more obvious aspects of the
Macrocosm.
The
supreme task of the three Buddhas of activity is to hold steady the Purpose at
Shamballa
First, let me make
reference to the words "the Higher Three"; let me see if I cannot
somewhat clarify the entire complex idea.
The words "Higher Three" refer to the three Buddhas of Activity Who still remain actively cooperating with
the Lord of the World. They are, as you
have been told, close to Sanat Kumara and came with Him when He decided to take
incarnation through the medium of our planet, Earth. It is difficult to understand Their
mysterious and peculiar functions. They
do not belong to this solar system at all; They have passed through the human
stage in such far distant and remote world cycles that the experience is no
longer a part of Their consciousness; They act as advisors to Sanat Kumara
where His initial purpose is concerned, and that is why the words "the
will of God holds sway" occur in this rule. It is Their supreme task to see that, in the Council Chamber of Shamballa, that purpose is ever held steadily within the
"area of preparation" (I know not how else to word it) of that
Council. They function, in a peculiar
sense, as linking intermediaries between the Logos of our solar system and the informing Life of the constellation Libra; They relate these two great centres of
energy to our planetary Logos.
In the last solar
system They were the planetary
Logoi of three planets
in which the mind principle reached its [Page 268] highest stage of
development; They embody in Themselves in a most peculiar manner the wisdom aspect of the second ray, as it expresses itself primarily through
what has been called in the Bhagavad Gita "skill in action." Hence Their name, the Buddhas of Activity.
The
Purpose of Deity can be contacted as a group at a certain full moon when all
the Ashrams as a whole are stimulated by Shamballa-This could be the Wesak full
moon, when Sanat Kumara reaches his highest point of alignment during
meditation during the year
(RI 271) The purpose of Deity is necessarily embodied in a mental proposition; it is through this mental proposition
that the three Buddhas of Activity implement Their work. I can put it no clearer. There will come a time in the experience of
all initiates when—each for himself—a formulation of this mental proposition
will be absolutely necessary. By means
of this, each initiate will embody his individual understanding of the divine purpose as the Plan has been revealed to him.
This he can do
only through the means of group experience, in cooperation with his group and
when the group—as a whole—has reached a similar point of realisation [Page 271]
has together touched the fringes of this highest of all revelations for
humanity. When, for the first time, they
succeed in doing this, they will come—as a group—under the direct emanation of the Higher Three and under an aspect of the Council Chamber
at Shamballa which has been hitherto unknown and
unrealised. This will connote a high
stage of initiation of the group and is, in effect, connected with inter-hierarchical
activity. It is a working out into the
consciousness of the group members of an event which has taken place within the
Ashram of Sanat Kumara, the Hierarchy itself; this takes place through the stimulation of all the Ashrams at a certain Full Moon, and concerns the relation of the Ashrams as a whole
to Shamballa, and not to Humanity.
Can you grasp
something of what I am endeavouring somewhat unsuccessfully to convey? There is an ashramic activity of which
disciples know nothing in their brain consciousness until such time as the
third initiation has been taken and the results of it are then dimly but
increasingly sensed. It is related to
the interplay between Shamballa and the Hierarchy, but not between the
Hierarchy and Humanity. It concerns the
purpose and the plan as the latter is the instrument of the former. The event of realisation takes place via the
triad formed by a Master and His two senior disciples, or it is formed by three
Masters all upon the same ray, as for instance, the Master K.H. and his Ashram,
myself and my Ashram and another affiliated Ashram.
(RI 272) One
further point anent the Buddhas of Activity might here be of interest. Each of Them has a special relation to the three races which have been or are strictly human: these are the third, the fourth and the fifth rootraces which we call the Lemurian, the Atlantean
and the present Aryan race (I do not use the word "Aryan" in the
manner of the German race). In some
peculiar manner, They represent in Shamballa the soul of each of these three races. One thing complicates this question for you,
but it is in reality quite simple. The
same souls re-incarnate in each race, and each soul therefore comes in turn
under the influence of each of the three Buddhas, each of Whom is of a quality
different to that of his two Associates.
They represent—in Their lowest aspect—the three aspects of the mind, as I earlier said. There is:
1. The instinctual
nature as it develops into the mind nature and makes a transition into an automatic,
subconscious character and—at the same time—assumes some of its paralleling
higher qualities.
2. The lower
concrete mind in its more developed stage, as it gradually assumes control and
supersedes instinct in the consciousness of man. The Buddhas of Activity preside over what
might be called (using a technical, occult term) the ahamkara principle—the
mind as it serves the selfish interests of man and enables man thereby to
achieve a sense of proportion and a finer estimate of values. Forget not that selfishness is a stage of
unfoldment, and that it is a necessary stage whereby humanity learns the price
of self-interest.
3. The personality
mind. This assumes control over the man
and leads him to prove the nature of power and of success and—above all else—of
integration. This too is a necessary
phase and precedes a stage of awakening.
1)Sanat
Kumara is not the real name of the Lord of the World
2)It
is only the first letter of his name-which is known to the Masters
3)The
second letter is known only to the Chohans
4)The
first syllable of Sanat Kumara’s name is known in the Council Chamber at
Shamballa
These three great
Lives Who have associated Themselves with the Lord of the World might be
regarded as constituting aspects of His personality, though this is not
technically [Page 273] so. The name Sanat Kumara is not His true name; it is only the first letter of that name which is known only to the Masters, whilst
the second letter is
known only to the Chohans. The first syllable of His name is known in the Council
Chamber at Shamballa, but the rest of His name remains unknown as yet. The three Buddhas of Activity are to the
planetary Logos (to give you another definition) what the Spiritual Triad is to
the dedicated personality of the initiated disciple, for such is the spiritual
status of the planetary Logos; the one of the three Buddhas now coming into
activity is the one Who works through the spiritual will.
(RI 275) Those
responsible for the creative work upon the outer field must begin with the
esoteric work. I am writing here for
disciples, some of whom are members of my Ashram, and for the New Group of
World Servers; these are responsible for carrying forward the work as planned. The two groups of triangles already formed
are in reality building a thoughtform anent this work which will evoke response
from the true builders.
It will be
apparent to you, therefore, that this creative work, with its intelligent and
practical purposes and its ability when rightly functioning to unite the exoteric
and the esoteric workers in one spiritual undertaking, originates in reality in
Shamballa itself and was grasped—as to intent and
purpose—by Masters upon the first and second rays, though primarily the second ray disciple and Master
understood it the most easily. Later,
when steady and systematic work has been done, and the idea is familiar to the
public, this activity will form an important part of the new world religion and
be better understood; it will have its own inner group who will work entirely
subjectively, building the triangles of light and of goodwill, and then will
work objectively, directing the activities of those who are building the
organisational aspect of triangles of practical goodwill on earth with an
effective subsidiary activity.
That time is not
yet. Today we have the creation of a
general thoughtform or the germinating of the seed of an [Page 276] idea. Later, when the true outer work begins, its
potency will be objectively demonstrated because the Buddhas of Activity will
gradually become aware of the existence of the thoughtform in its nature of
light and its quality of goodwill. They
will then pour of Their life into it as need arises and emergency decrees. Then gradually "the will of God will
hold sway," as our injunction expresses it. Paralleling all this will be the work of the
men and women of goodwill throughout the world, but in itself entirely
objective—worldwide and amazingly useful.
Disciples need to
learn to think in terms of group synthesis.
This implies the achieving by them of deepened subjective relationships
and increased sensitivity to the higher impression and the inner
inspiration. The vertical life of the
spirit and the horizontal life of relationship must be expressed simultaneously
in some measure, before the significance of these Rules can be somewhat
grasped.
We have been
considering Shamballa, and I have given you some information
(hitherto not communicated in words) re the Council Chamber of Sanat Kumara and of Those Who constitute its membership. I would pause here to remind you of two
facts:
1. Shamballa is a state of consciousness or a phase of sensitive awareness wherein there is acute and dynamic response to divine purpose—a response made possible by the synthesis
of purpose and of spiritual relationship which exists between Those Who are
associated with Sanat Kumara.
2. Brotherhood, as
it essentially is, constitutes a major mystery; also it is one which is only in
process of solving, and that only on the two higher levels of the cosmic physical
plane—those levels which we call the logoic and the monadic.
A
definition of brotherhood as understood by DK “Brotherhood is an expression of
the relation which the planetary Logos (on the cosmic mental plane) bears to
His Personality”
I am aware that
you understand brotherhood in terms of the One Father and His children. That understanding is in itself so limited
and inaccurate that it serves mainly to distort the truth; yet all that you can
grasp at this time is [Page 277] embodied in this concept. The nearest description of the true
relationship might be said to be as follows:
Brotherhood is an expression of the relation which the planetary Logos
(on the cosmic mental plane) bears to His Personality as it expresses itself
through the planet with all its forms of life, upon the cosmic physical plane;
this relationship is focussed through Sanat Kumara Who is the individualised Mind of that great Life.
Wording it otherwise, the planetary Logos on His Own plane is to Sanat Kumara what the soul is to the human personality upon the physical plane in the three
worlds. The sum total of the relation
and of the relationships set up is, therefore, inadequately covered by the word
"brotherhood."
"Fellowship," so frequently used to express a similar idea, is
in reality the mode whereby a dimly sensed brotherhood seeks to make its
presence felt. The words "the
fellowship of Christ" indicate the emergence of this concept subjectively
upon the mental plane; this will be followed, as time elapses, by concrete manifestation
upon the physical plane. It is this idea
which lies behind the glibly used words "idea, ideal and idol," and
which is also responsible for the growing sense of responsibility which
characterises all human advancement upon the way of life. It is this basic idea which governs the
Council Chamber at Shamballa and which constitutes the motivating
impulse behind the planetary expression of livingness. It is this also which characterises the ideal
for which the Hierarchy stands and which implements the Plan; it is this
spiritual planning which results in the growing "forms of
relationship" which today seem to be taking definite shape in the
concretising of the divine project:
Right Human Relations.
I have written
these opening remarks because it is this elevated understanding of brotherhood which conditions divine purpose and which
leads to the spiritual planning that will give you the due to the third major
injunction, with this we shall now deal.
This injunction is worded as follows:
“the
knowledge of the initiate is concerned with that which is produced by SOUND”
(RI 289) If I say
to you, my brothers, that the knowledge of the initiate is concerned with that
which is produced by SOUND and not by the A.U.M. or the O.M., I shall have linked up these comments
with much else given previously in the analysis of these fourteen rules. The "listening" of the aspirant has
now been transformed into the effectual recognition of that which the Sound has
created. I refer not here to the
creation of the phenomenal world, or to the world of meaning which is
essentially the Plan or the pattern underlying that phenomenal world, but to
the intention or [Page 289] the Purpose Which motivated the creative Sound; I
am dealing with the impulsive energy which gives significance to activity and
to the life-force which the Sound centralises
at Shamballa.
It is not the
fault of humanity that it is only now possible for the significance of the
divine purpose to emerge more clearly in the consciousness of the initiated disciple. It is a question of timing and of movement in
space; it concerns the relation of the Hierarchy, working with the Plan, to Shamballa, the recipient (by means of the Sound) of the
creative energy which it is the divine intention to expend in producing a
perfect expression of the divine Idea.
It is to the knowledge of this relationship and of its effects that the
first word of Rule XIV refers.
(RI 290) A hint
lies here. This
These are deep
mysteries. Their value to the disciple
in training lies in the recognised and considered relationships.
These rules are—as
you know—the rules controlling group life; they constitute the key to the laws
under which all planetary groups work.
The hierarchical life, through its major aspect of Love, was a familiar
area of consciousness and well-known to the Masters and to the Master of Them
all, the Christ. But a further
"knowing" lay ahead of even this "perfected Son of God"; the
nature and the mind of that great Being, embodied in the Lord of the World at Shamballa, was now revealed to Him.
It is this living
realisation of Being and of identification with the planetary Logos upon the cosmic mental
plane which
constituted the unfolding awareness of the Christ upon the Way of the Higher Evolution. Therefore, experience, perception and Being
are the keynotes of:
1. The Path of
Evolution.
2. The mode of
unfoldment upon the Path.
3. The state of
divine focus upon the Way.
In other words,
you have the states of Individualisation, of Initiation, and of Identification.
“…..furthering
of those conditions which will destroy those who are attempting to prevent
divine purpose from materialising as the Plan…”
(RI 306) But in
this word "destroy" given (as an expressed command) for
those who are members of the Hierarchy or who have moved or are moving from an
affiliated relationship on the periphery of that Hierarchy toward the centre of
activity and into close contact with some Ashram, the significance is very
different.
The type of
destruction here dealt
with is never the result of desire; it is an effort of the spiritual will and
is essentially an activity of the Spiritual Triad; it involves the carrying out
of those measures which will hinder obstruction to God's will; it is the
furthering of those conditions which will destroy those who are attempting to prevent divine
purpose from materialising as the Plan—for which the Hierarchy is responsible. Therefore, it is connected primarily with the
relation of Shamballa to the Hierarchy, and not with the
relation of the Hierarchy to Humanity.
This is a formidable esoteric statement and its implications must be
considered most carefully. This type of
destruction has only a secondary relation to the destruction of form life as
you know it. When steps are taken to
implement divine purpose, the resultant effect may be the destroying of forms in the three worlds, but that is an effect and only a
secondary destruction; something else has been destroyed on a higher level and
outside the three worlds. This, in due
time, may produce a form-reaction to which we may give the name of death. But the death of that form was not a primary objective and was not even considered, because it
was not within the range of awareness of the destroyer.
“Perhaps
the simplest illustration I can give you of this type of destruction would be
concerned with the major ideologies which down the ages have conditioned or may
[Page 307] condition humanity”
The higher
destruction which we are considering is related to the destruction of certain
forms of consciousness which express themselves in great areas or extensive
thoughtforms; these may have, in turn, conditioned human thinking. Perhaps the simplest illustration I can give you of this type of destruction
would be concerned with the
major ideologies which down the ages have conditioned or may [Page 307]
condition humanity. These ideologies produce potent effects in
the three worlds. This type of
destruction affects those civilisations which condition the human family for
long periods of time, which
concern climatic conditions that predispose the forms in the four kingdoms to certain
characteristics in time and space, which produce effects in the great world religions, in world politics and all other "conditioning forms of thinking." Does this convey much or little in connection
with the concepts which I am attempting to make clear?
That which is
destroyed, therefore, are certain
group forms and these
upon a large scale; this requires an exercise of the spiritual will to bring about, and does not require
simply the withdrawing of the attention of the soul, the decision to vacate the
form and the failure of the basic desire to perpetuate, which is what we imply
when we speak of death in the three worlds.
The lack of the will-to-live of which we so glibly speak has little
relation, in reality, to the will itself; it refers only to its faint or
distorted reflection in the three worlds; this is much more closely related to
desire and aspiration than to pure will, as spiritually comprehended.
The Purpose
of God (to use a
familiar phrase) is that which implements the Plan. This purpose is the motivating life behind
all that emanates from Shamballa and it is that which impulses all the
activities of the Hierarchy; the task of the Hierarchy is to formulate the Plan
for all forms of life in the three worlds and the four kingdoms in nature. This Plan, in time and space, is not in any
way concerned with individual man or with the life of any microcosmic entity in
any of the kingdoms of nature, but with the wholes, the cycles of time, with
those vast plans of livingness which man calls history, with nations and races,
with world religions and great political ideologies and with social
organisations which produce permanent changes in types, constitutions,
planetary areas and cyclic manifestations.
It will therefore be obvious to you that from the standpoint of man's
little mind, these plans are well-nigh impossible to [Page 308] grasp. From the standpoint of the vision of the
initiate who has developed or is developing the wider grasp and who can see and
think and vision (I care not what word you choose) in terms of the Eternal Now,
the significance is clear; at times, the initiate creates and then anchors a
germ of livingness; at times he builds that which can house his living idea
with its conditioning qualities; at times, when these have served their
purpose, he definitely and deliberately destroys. The reference is necessarily ever to form;
with the initiate it is, however, to the "formless form" which is
always the subjective aspect of the tangible world. It must be remembered that from the point of
view of esotericism, all forms in the three worlds are tangible, in
contradistinction to forms in the two higher worlds of the Spiritual Triad.
“It
might be said (accurately to a certain esoteric extent) that the destruction
brought about in obedience to this fourth word in Rule XIV is the destruction
of some aspect of the plan as it has been functioning in the three worlds…..”
The
destruction considered is that of the formless structure on which the grosser structure is
built. Some understanding of this will
come if you consider the relation of the four subplanes of the physical plane,
the four etheric levels, and the three subplanes which we call the dense
physical planes. These constitute our
physical plane in its two aspects. This
is only a reflection of the three planes of the three worlds and the four
planes from the buddhic plane up to the logoic, which constitute the cosmic
physical plane. The destruction
considered by the initiate is connected with the subjective worlds of the four
higher planes and the three worlds of human living, and of other forms of life
such as the three subhuman kingdoms.
In the human
family, death supervenes when the soul withdraws its consciousness thread and
its life thread; this process of death is contained, however, entirely within
the three worlds. The soul has its
station on the higher levels of the mental plane, as well you know. In connection with the forms of expression to
which I have referred above—cycles, civilisations, cultures, races, kingdoms in
nature and so forth—their destruction is brought about from still higher
sources than the three worlds in which they manifest. This destruction takes place under the direction of Shamballa as it evokes the will of the Hierarchy or some
particular [Page 309] Ashram or some member of the Hierarchy in order to
produce a predetermined result in the three worlds in line with the purpose of
God. It might be said (accurately to a
certain esoteric extent) that the destruction brought about in obedience to
this fourth word in Rule XIV is the destruction of some aspect of the plan as it has been functioning in the three
worlds, and this under divine purpose and intent.
“the
Spiritual Triad, related as it is to the Monad in much the same way as the
threefold personality is related to the soul, expresses the three major aspects
of Shamballic energy….”
(RI 311) If the
initiate is upon the first ray, and therefore working in the Department of the
Manu, he will use and express [Page 311] the innate will aspect through the atmic nature or through the highest aspect of the
Spiritual Triad, to which we give the inadequate name of "divine
Will." Students are apt to forget
that the Spiritual Triad, related as it is to the Monad in much the
same way as the threefold personality is related to the soul, expresses the three major aspects of Shamballic energy, which three are all of them expressions of the
will of the planetary Logos and His essential Purpose. If the initiate is on the second ray, and
therefore is working in the Department of the Christ, he will use the will
through the medium of buddhi, the second aspect of the Spiritual Triad. If he is on the third ray and in the
Department of the Mahachohan, the Lord of Civilisation, he will work through
the higher mind, the lowest aspect of the Spiritual Triad. Forget not, however, that none of these
aspects can be regarded as higher or lower, for all are equally divine. Understanding of these ideas may come if, for
instance, you realise that the expression of buddhi, or of the intuition, in
the consciousness of the spiritual man will lead to the use of the will in
working out the purposes of Shamballa in
the field of religions, of education, and of salvaging or saving the life
aspect in all forms in the three worlds, but it will have no relation to the
individual and personal problems of the man himself. If the expression is that of the higher mind,
the use of the will will be in connection with civilisations and cultures for
which the third department is responsible, and there will be the carrying out
of the will of God in the large and general plans. If it is the will as it expresses itself
through the atmic aspect of the Triad, it will function in relation to races,
nations, and the kingdoms in nature, and to great planetary arrangements at
present unknown to man. The synthesis of
this picture will be apparent if carefully studied.
“the
destroying aspect of this pure will, expressing through the Monad, implements
the purpose of Shamballa and is one of the major manifestations of the Love
nature”
At the same time
it must be borne in mind that the destroying aspect of this pure will, expressing through the Monad, implements
the purpose of Shamballa and is one of the major manifestations of the Love nature of the One in Whom we live and move and
have our being; it is also [Page 312] the guarantee of our ultimate and
inevitable attainment, perfection, illumination and divine consummation.
This destruction
wrought by the initiate is preparatory to his responsiveness to the fifth word which he receives at the fifth
initiation and to
which we give the inadequate name:
Resurrect.
Prior to
considering that word, I would like to point out that these five words have a
clear reference to each of the five initiations; they give the initiate the
keynote to the work which he must carry forward between the various initiatory
processes. The work indicated has
nothing whatever to do with the training and the discipline to which he will
(needless to say) subject his personality; they are related instead to the work
which he has to render. This work
concerns what I might call certain essential realities connected with the
purpose of Shamballa and with his ability to react or respond
to the will of the Monad. As
you know, this ability does not become an established fact and functioning
realisation until after the third initiation; nevertheless, the preparatory
sensitivity (if I may use this word is this connection) is slowly developing
and paralleling the two other activities—Destroy and Resurrect—to which he is
pledged:
1. The
disciplining of his lower nature so that the unfolding initiate-consciousness
may find no hindrances and obstacles.
2. Service to the
Plan, under hierarchical impression.
3. The development
of monadic sensitivity.
It might be of
interest at this point if, in view of this third development—responsiveness to
pure will—we considered these five words in relation to the five initiations
with which you are all so theoretically familiar.
Four
recorded moments in the New Testament which refer to the Monad
(RI 314) There are
in the Gospel story four
recorded moments in
the life of the Christ wherein this process of development within His
consciousness, this monadic centralisation (I know not what other word to use,
for we have not yet developed the terminology of the monad, the will aspect)
begins to demonstrate and can be traced in a definitely unfolding process. In the past I have incidentally referred to
these points, but I would like to gather all four of them together here for
your illumination.
1. His statement
to His parents in the
a. He was twelve years old at the time, and therefore the work upon which He had
been occupied as a soul was finished, for twelve is the number of completed
[Page 314] labour. The symbolism of His
twelve years is now replaced by that of the twelve Apostles.
b. He was in the
c. He was serving
as a member of the Hierarchy, for He was found by His parents teaching the
priests, the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
d. He spoke as an
expression of the substance aspect (He spoke to His mother) and also as a soul
(He spoke to His father), but He was controlled by neither; He now functioned
as the monad, above and beyond yet inclusive of both.
“…Shamballa
is a place of "serene determination and of poised, quiescent will" as
the Old Commentary expresses it.”
2. His statement
to His disciples, "I
must go up to
3. The exclamation
of the Christ, "Father,
not my will, but Thine be done," indicated His
monadic and realised "destiny." The
meaning of these words is not as is so oft stated by Christian theologians and
thinkers, a statement of acceptance of pain and of an unpleasant future. It is an exclamation evoked by the
realisation of monadic awareness and the focussing of the life aspect within the
Whole. The soul, in this statement, is
renounced, and the monad, as a point of centralisation, is definitely and
finally recognised. Students would do
well to bear in mind that the Christ never underwent the Crucifixion subsequent
to this episode, but [Page 315] that it was the Master Jesus Who was
crucified. The Crucifixion lay behind
Him in the experience of the Christ. The
episode of renunciation was a
4. The final words
of the Christ to His apostles, gathered together in the upper chamber (in the
Hierarchy, symbolically) were, "Lo, I am with you all the days, even unto the end of
the age," or
cycle. Here He was speaking as Head of
the Hierarchy, which constitutes His Ashram, and also speaking as the Monad and expressing His divine Will to pervade
or inform the world continuously and endlessly with His overshadowing
consciousness; He expressed universality and the ceaseless continuity and
contact which is the characteristic of monadic life—of life itself. It was also a tremendous affirmation, sent
forth on the energy of the will, and making all things new and all things
possible.
If you will
carefully study these four statements you will see what is the knowledge
referred to in this command given in Rule XIV to the initiate at the first
initiation, the command to Know. It is
the order to reorient the soul to the monad and not an order to reorient the
personality to the soul, as is so oft believed.
The word Express,
in its deepest meaning and when given at the second initiation, does not mean
the necessity to express the nature of the soul. It means (behind all other possible meanings)
the command to express the will nature of the monad and to "feel
after" and embody the Purpose which lies behind the Plan, as a result of
the developed sensitivity. Obedience to
the Plan brings revelation of the hidden Purpose, and this is a phrasing of the
great objective which impulses the Hierarchy itself. As the initiate learns cooperation with the
Plan and demonstrates this in his life of service, then within himself and
paralleling this activity to which he is dedicated as a personality and soul,
there is also an awakening realisation of the Father aspect, of the nature of
the will, of the existence and factual nature of [Page 316] Shamballa and of the universality and the livingness of
whatever is meant by the word "Being." He knows and is beginning to express that
pure Being as pure will in activity.
When the third initiation is taken the initiate becomes aware, not
only of the significance of the command to Know and of his innate ability to
Express the will nature of the monad in carrying out the Purpose of Shamballa, but that (through his fused personality-soul) he is
now in a position to "make revelation" to the Hierarchy that he is en
rapport with the monadic source from which he originally came. He can now obey the command to Reveal,
because the Transfiguration is consummated.
He is not now revealing the soul only, but all the three aspects now
meet in him and he can reveal the life aspect as will and not only the soul
aspect as love or the matter aspect as intelligence. This is, as you know the first major initiation
from the angle of the greater Lodge on Sirius, because it is the first
initiation in which all the three aspects meet in the initiate. The first two initiations—oft regarded by
humanity as major initiations—are in reality minor initiations from the Sirian
point of view, because the relation of the man "under discipline and in
training" is only a tendency; there is only a developing recognition of
the Father and a slowly growing response to the monad, plus an unfolding
sensitivity to the impact of the will aspect.
But in the third initiation these developments are sufficiently present
to merit the phrase, "revelation of the glory," and the
Transfiguration initiation takes place.
(RI 320) The line
or the path or the Way of Resurrection is the "
Therefore, the
order to resurrect, as understood by the [Page 319] initiate, concerns solely
the application of the will nature and the aspect of Shamballa to the impulsing of hierarchical attraction and
activity. It does not concern the
individual life of the upward-moving aspirant or disciple, no matter what his
degree, except incidentally and because major divine macrocosmic impulses must
have lesser microcosmic effects. All
these stupendous words with which we have been dealing relate to the
cooperation of the initiate with the Will of Shamballa, and therefore, my brothers, are only dim hints to
you.
(RI 327) II. I
found it necessary also to indicate the nature of the Way of the Higher
Evolution which had been hinted at but about which absolutely no information
had been given. It is the Way which
opens out before the Master of the Wisdom, leading to states of identification
and levels of awareness which lie outside our planetary sphere altogether. The following of this Way enables the Master
to "abstract" Himself from the seven planes of our planetary life and
divest Himself of all we understand as material existence. [Page 327] Forget
not that our seven planes are only the seven subplanes of the cosmic physical
plane.
III. I therefore
opened up the subject of the possibility of the higher initiations which
confront the Members of the Hierarchy.
In this connection it is useful to remember that:
1. The Council Chamber at Shamballa provides a goal for the Members of the Hierarchy, but
not an abiding place.
2. The seven Paths
which stretch out before a Master are entered by the treading of the Way of the
Higher Evolution.
3. The so-called
third initiation, the Transfiguration, is only the first major initiation, from
the standpoint of the Hierarchy; it marks the moment in time and space when the
initiate sees truly and for the first time the door which opens on to this
higher Way. Then—if he chooses the Path
that the Christ chose (and there is no reason that he should)—he will "set
his face to go up to
These are some of
the things which I have hinted at in past writings; they have been touched
upon, vaguely and mysteriously, by past teachers and somewhat more explicitly
by myself; I propose to be a little more definite in this new section.
UP TO HIT 681
Compilation Shamballa part17
(RI 335) This inclusive and planned activity
of the Hierarchy is related to spiritual incentives which have their roots in Shamballa. There the life
aspect is being almost violently stimulated through the action of the Lords of
Liberation Who have swept into planetary activity because of the use of the
second Stanza of the great Invocation—which was used potently by Members of the
Hierarchy. Again, it was not used by
Them solely on behalf of humanity or for the liberation of mankind; it had
hierarchical implications also and was in part a demand by the Hierarchy for
permission to move along the Way. The
releasing of the "saving force" because the hour of service had
arrived, permitted (at the same time) the inflow of an aspect of energy which
never reached humanity at all and was not intended for strictly human use, but
which was retained by the Hierarchy for the vitalising into renewed livingness
of the seven major Ashrams, thus enabling the entire Ashram of the Christ to
lift itself on to a higher spiritual level and closer to the door which leads
to Life.
(RI 338) Having
garnered the fruit of the experiment above indicated, there follows a certain
period wherein experience in the use of the related potencies tales place. This occupies the interlude between one
initiation and another. This may cover a period of many lives or prove relatively short. The results of the experiment of initiation
and of experience [Page 338] with the then endowed energies emerge as the
ability of the initiate to express divinity more fully than heretofore; this
means that he increasingly can function as a divine creator in relation to the
hierarchical Plan, as the manipulator of the attractive energies of love, and
as one who determines under the impelling will of Shamballa—the phase or aspect of the divine purpose with which
he must himself be occupied in relation to the manifestation of the planetary
Logos. You will note that I do not say
in relation to humanity. The initiate
works in many fields of divine creativity of which the field of mankind is only
one.
The
dual effect of the zodiac when the initiate undergoes the eighth and ninth
initiations
(RI 339) As
esoteric astrologers know well, there comes a life cycle wherein the disciple
reverses himself upon the Wheel
of Life (the zodiacal wheel) and from going clockwise around the zodiac, he now begins to go anti-clockwise;
he learns that the substance aspect of his nature may still be conditioned by
the forces flowing through them sequentially and serially, and according to his
horoscope and according to the exoteric mode of the zodiacal revolution; at the
same time, the disciple is receiving energy currents from the reversed wheel
whereon he, as a soul, finds himself. He
is consequently the recipient of two currents of energy, going in reverse directions; hence the increased conflict in his life
and circumstances; these constitute the reason for the tests of initiation.
This, on a tiny
scale, is true of the centres in the etheric body of the disciple; they too
evidence the same dual activity, once the Path of Discipleship is trodden and
the Path of Initiation is entered. The
zodiacal wheel is itself essentially a cosmic centre; it is a twelve-petalled
lotus, but it is a twelve-petalled
lotus within the thousand-petalled lotus of an unknown cosmic Entity, the One referred to in my
earlier books as the ONE ABOUT WHOM NAUGHT MAY BE SAID.
The multiplicity
of zodiacal influences have eventually a dual effect: one upon Shamballa (the planetary head centre) and the other upon the Hierarchy (the planetary heart centre); the effect is also felt
in the head centre and the heart centre of every initiate. This final dual activity is registered by the
initiate of the highest degrees when he undergoes the eighth and ninth initiations; the other seven initiations are governed
by the seven rays.
You have,
therefore:
[Page 340]
Initiation 1. Birth
Sacral centre 7th ray Physical plane
Beginnings Relationship Sex Magic
Initiation 2. Baptism
Solar plexus
centre 6th ray Astral plane
Dedication Glamour Devotion
Initiation 3. Transfiguration
Ajna centre 5th ray Mental plane
Integration Direction Science
Initiation 4. Renunciation
Heart centre 4th ray Buddhic plane
Crucifixion Sacrifice Harmony
Initiation 5. Revelation
Base of spine 1st ray Atmic plane
Emergence Will Purpose
Initiation 6. Decision
Throat centre 3rd ray Monadic plane
Fixation Intelligent cooperation Creativity
Initiation 7. Resurrection
Head centre 2nd ray Logoic plane
The eternal
Pilgrim Love-Wisdom Attraction
Initiation 8. Transition
Hierarchy Four minor rays Planetary
Choice Consciousness Sensitivity
Initiation 9. Refusal
Shamballa
Three major rays Systemic
Seven Paths Being Existence
(RI 357) It is
owing to the deeply esoteric meaning of the Resurrection and the Ascension and their major significance, referring to
the consciousness of the Christ, that nothing much is told us about these
initiations in The New Testament, except the vaguest generalities, in
contradistinction to the wealth of detail given anent the other four initiations. Four of these initiations are related to the
"door of initiation" as occultly understood and with the
interpretation of which we are familiar; these four are related also to the electrical "fire by friction" of which that door is constructed,
and which spreads to and creates the burning ground across which the initiate
must four times move in order to "enter through that door."
The other two
initiations (vaguely called the Resurrection and the Ascension) are related to
the second so-called
"door." This door is not in the same sense an
obstruction as is the first door; it opens on to the Way of the Higher
Evolution. The first door symbolically
admits the initiate into the "heart of the Sun," whilst the second door—in a most mysterious sense—indicates the route which
must be followed by the liberated initiate who seeks to penetrate to the Central Spiritual Sun—to which all the seven Paths eventually lead.
The Door to the
Way of the Higher Evolution
I write not for
those initiates who have taken the third initiation, whose personality is
soul-dominated and who [Page 357] "walk ever in the light." It will therefore be obvious that there is
relatively little that I can say at this point which will be comprehensible, as
far as the true meaning goes, to you who have not as yet achieved that
state. The key to your understanding
lies in the realisation that our seven planes are only the seven subplanes of
the cosmic physical plane, and that all that now transpires in the life of the
initiate simply releases him from physical experience (technically physical,
even on the atmic, monadic and logoic planes), into that vortex of force which
we know and understand as LOVE, or onto the cosmic astral plane. The note, the quality and the influence of
the cosmic astral plane is love—the higher correspondence of emotion as
experienced upon the astral plane of the planetary or solar manifestation. It is therefore to be realised that the
Hierarchy is definitely under the impact of energies emanating from the cosmic
astral plane, whilst Shamballa reacts to influences coming from the cosmic mental plane. The related stream of energy can therefore be seen to
be from:
1. The cosmic
astral plane.
2. The solar
buddhic plane, reflected in our planetary buddhic plane.
3. The astral
plane, the plane of glamour in the three worlds.
In relation to the
mind, you have:
1. The cosmic
mental plane.
2. The solar atmic
plane, reflected in our planetary atmic plane.
3. The mental
plane, the plane of illusion.
“The
four planes are composed of forces which are basically responsive to, and
finally conditioned by, the energies wielded by the Hierarchy and directed by Shamballa”-the
lower 3 subplanes are considered unprincipled substance
(RI 358) As we
study the whole subject of initiation and the advanced initiations, it will be
found necessary to remember always the relation of our seven planes to the
cosmic range of planes. It is necessary
also to bear in mind a fact oft forgotten, but which has been known and taught
ever since modern occultism began to influence human thinking: the four planes which connote the highest
possible spiritual influences, as far as humanity is concerned, are only—in the
last analysis—the four
etheric subplanes of the cosmic physical plane.
These highest
planes of our planetary life are, therefore, the source of all energy and all originating activity in our entire planetary
expression and experience. These four
planes are (as you already know):
1. The highest
plane...Logoic plane...Will
(Adi) Life 1st aspect
2. The monadic
plane...Universal...Love
Human monads 2nd aspect
3. The atmic
plane...3rd aspect...Intelligence
4. The buddhic
plane...Pure reason...Intuition
This 4th or
buddhic is a fusion of 2 and 3, of love and [Page 359] intelligence, and
produces understanding and intuitive perception.
All influences and
energies, therefore, which are prevalent in our planetary existence, flow
through and create the four above-mentioned planes and thus determine the
nature of the evolutionary process at any given time in the three worlds. From the standpoint of a Master, the four planes are composed of forces
which are basically responsive to, and finally conditioned by, the energies
wielded by the Hierarchy and directed by Shamballa. In a peculiar
manner, and under the Law of Correspondences, the three lower planes—mental,
emotional and physical—constitute the three dense physical subplanes of the
cosmic physical plane and are not, consequently, regarded as embodying
principles. H.P.B. says, in connection
with our physical plane (the lowest subplane of the cosmic physical plane),
that it is not a principle, and this holds good also for the greater
whole. The dense physical plane is
matter conditioned by a previous solar system, and is almost automatic in its
response to etheric energies; these constitute the etheric bodies of all forms
created out of this "unprincipled substance," as it is occultly
called.
The three lower planes of our seven planes are, from the angle of the esotericist,
the equally unprincipled dense cosmic substance; the mark or indication of the
true initiate is the transfer of his life and his point of identification from unprincipled substance and substantial
forms to "principled" substance and etheric forms. The
tendency of the occult student to think ever in terms of spiritual abstraction
can (and often does) militate against a grasp of the truth and presents a false
picture to the intelligence; the facts which I have just emphasised have much
to do with the nature of the higher initiations. I would ask you to remember this.
The third
initiation, therefore, releases the initiate from the planes of unprincipled
substance (the lower subplanes of the cosmic physical plane), whilst the next
two initiations make it possible for him to work with intelligence [Page 360]
and love on the two lower levels of the cosmic etheric plane—the buddhic and
the atmic, the planes of spiritual love and intelligent will. The Way of the Higher Evolution leads through
the monadic and logoic planes (the two highest levels of the cosmic physical
plane); when the four
planes of the cosmic etheric plane are completely mastered and under occult direction, the initiate
is faced with the seven
Paths and with the
choice to tread one or other of them.
His choice is naturally dependent upon ray determinations and past
activity but is nevertheless a free choice, because all limitation has been
removed, all wrong identification with physical forms is now impossible, and
the initiate's only limitation is that imposed by entrance into cosmic levels
of awareness with which he is still unfamiliar.
Bear, therefore, continually in mind that the highest spiritual
attainment upon and within the seven planes of our recognised planetary life is
entirely conditioned by the fact that they are the seven subplanes of the
cosmic physical plane and are composed of the three dense physical planes (our
three worlds of human evolution) and the four cosmic etheric planes (the four
levels of so-called spiritual development); these are conditioned by three
forces and four energies. I have
emphasised this by constant repetition on account of the great importance the
recognition of these facts will play in any grasp you may achieve anent the Way
of the Higher Evolution.
After the Master
has taken the fifth initiation, He has—as you know—covered and mastered the
ordinary field of evolution for humanity; that means the three worlds of
ordinary human experience and the two worlds of superhuman effort, making the
five fields of the spiritual activity of man.
Love and intelligence are now perfectly developed in Him, though their
expression and emphasis may vary according to His rays; He is aware of the fact
of the Will or of the first divine aspect, with its two qualities (veiling a
third) of destruction and of purpose; He is becoming active on the second plane
of our planetary life, the monadic plane, and that great centre of life, Shamballa, is having a [Page 361] definite vibratory effect
upon Him; also (and this will be incomprehensible to you) He is becoming
sensitive to a range of energies and influences which can now be registered by
Him, owing to His
increasing monadic polarisation and His contact with Shamballa.
(RI 361) The
cosmic astral plane becomes, for the Master, a definite objective; He is
beginning to develop a great sensitivity to that level of awareness, but
consciousness of that within the planetary life—as He knows it—prevents Him
from registering this energy of pure cosmic love as He later will. It is this sense of limitation which is the
cause of His recognition of the Door on to the Way of the Higher Evolution, for
the fifth and sixth initiations liberate Him into the atmic and monadic states
of awareness; these initiations are to the initiate at this stage of
development what the first and second initiations are to the disciple who is
seeking to tread the earlier stages of the Path of Initiation. They might therefore be regarded as
initiations of the threshold—one leading to the awareness of the higher levels
of conscious unfoldment which the third initiation (the first major initiation)
inaugurates, and the other to those levels of impression, of contact and of
future ascension which are the sevenfold goal set before the Master when the
sixth initiation (the true ascension) is consummated. It is for this reason that this particular
initiation is called the Initiation
of Decision. The Master then chooses which of the seven
Ways or Paths He will follow, because His aeonial experience has enabled Him to
choose any of them and know that He has chosen aright. Though these seven Paths, being one of the septenates, are
necessarily related to the seven rays, they are not ray paths, nor are they governed by the seven rays. Any one of them is open to a Master of the
Wisdom, and His choice will not be dependent upon His ray type, though He will
take that factor into consideration.
They are more definitely related to the seven cosmic planes than to the
seven rays; this we will consider in greater detail when dealing with the
factor of the seven Ashrams which are "proving" grounds for all the
Masters confronted with the Initiation of Decision.
[Page 362]
Disciples are more
apt to be interested in the Ashrams from the angle of their own development;
they are not prone to remember that the life progress and purpose of the Master
not only determines the quality of the Ashram but that His own development and
His eventual decisions are closely related to the Ashram which He
controls. It is not easy for students to
shift their attention away from the relation of the Ashram to humanity as a
whole, or to realise that this relation is secondary to the Master Whose
primary preoccupation is the unfoldment of the purposes of Sanat Kumara and the attainment of that state of Being
which is significant of Shamballa.
Students need to bear in mind that one phase of preparation for future
work is that which will succeed the Initiation of Decision, and that this is
dependent upon the type, quality and service rendered by the Master as He
conditions and controls His Ashram. This
I will attempt to enlarge upon under our next heading. It is useful however, for aspirants to
discipleship, and above all for those preparing for initiation and consequently
already working in an Ashram, to get this different point of view and begin to
unfold within themselves a new sensitivity to impression coming from sources
higher than the Hierarchy itself. This
involves in them a new and higher type of orientation, and though it remains as
yet impossible of attainment there is definite developing value in a grasp of
the concept and the effort of the abstract mind and the intuitive perception to
seize upon and reflect upon a new and entirely foreign concept. This higher reflective process is to the
disciple who is working in an Ashram what aspiration is to the student upon the
Probationary Path and the early stages of the Path of Discipleship.
In the latter
case, the aspirant's emotional body becomes responsive to the principle of
buddhi, reaching him via the love petals of the egoic lotus; in the more
exalted situation, the disciple becomes aware (for that is all it is) of the
possibility of an impression reaching him from the cosmic astral plane, via
monadic levels of awareness. Note what I
say—simply the possibility—for there is at this stage no assured [Page 363]
recognition of this goal; it is an impression which is to the disciple
preparing for one of the higher initiations what an occult theory is to an
aspirant on very much lower levels. The
only way in which I can give any faintest idea of the higher reaches of the
initiate consciousness will be through reference to lower grasped capacities
and the presentation of undefinable truths in terms of that which has been
defined and which (to these higher states of awareness) are in the nature of
seed thoughts.
Some small grasp
of the nature of the consciousness of Shamballa will emerge as we study this section of the Treatise,
for the higher levels of the cosmic etheric plane are permeated with energies
emanating from the cosmic
astral plane and the cosmic mental plane; these energies, playing through and directed by the great Lives Who form a permanent nucleus of the Council Chamber at Shamballa, do
condition and are the impelling, motivating and relating power behind all the
evolutionary processes on lower levels.
Yet, the life and
consciousness of the Hierarchy are very different to the life and consciousness
of Those Who constitute the great centre called Shamballa; the developing sensitivity to increasingly high
impression, which is the result of each stage of the final initiatory process,
is the only way in which the distinction and the goal become apparent. Just as those who read and study these ideas
are occupied with concepts and thoughts totally unrealised and wholly
inexplicable and sometimes even senseless, to the ordinary everyday businessman
in the street, so there are also ranges of thought and eternal extra-planetary
concepts which are equally unknown and temporarily inexplicable to the initiate
working in an Ashram under some Master.
When the student realises that the great universal Oneness which he
associates with monadic consciousness, is only the registration of impressions
localised (and therefore limited) and defined within the etheric levels of the cosmic physical
plane, he can perhaps
grasp the implications of the wonder which will be revealed to the initiate who
can transcend the entire cosmic physical plane (our seven planes of the [Page
364] human, superhuman and the divine worlds) and function upon another cosmic
level. This is what the treading of the
Way of the Higher Evolution enables a Master eventually to do.
“………Sanat
Kumara, the Lord of the World. I seek to
enter into no discussion of this leading Life of our entire planet. HE is to a still greater Being, the One
referred to elsewhere as "the One about Whom naught may be said,"
what the vehicle of a Master in physical incarnation is to Him”
(RI 367) THE
ENTERING OF THE ASHRAM
This theme
necessarily has great interest for all aspirants and would-be disciples, but I
am not at first going to deal with the subject from the angle of humanity and
its effort to establish contact with the Ashram. I desire first of all to speak of the Ashram
as a whole, constituted of many Ashrams and creating an "invoking
area" of relationship for the supreme Head of the Ashram, Sanat Kumara, the Lord of the World. I seek to
enter into no discussion of this leading Life of our entire planet. HE is to a still greater Being, the One referred to elsewhere as
"the One about Whom naught may be said," what the vehicle of a Master in physical
incarnation is to Him,
and on a less accurate basis, what your personality is to you; it is an
expression of the soul or of the Monad when a disciple has attained
initiate-consciousness. [Page 367] All
the qualities, the love and the purpose of a supreme Entity, referred to in The
New Testament as the "Unknown
God," are
focussed in Sanat Kumara.
Some gauge of the unfoldments which can lie ahead of humanity will enter
the human consciousness when:
1. The fact of the
Hierarchy,
2. The nature of
its relationship to Shamballa,
3. The spiritual
nature of Those Who respond in reverent obedience to the slightest wish of the
Lord of the World,
are among the
accepted truths whereby men live. This
will happen after the externalisation of the Hierarchy.
This Lord of the World is the sole repository of the will and purpose of the One of
Whom He is an expression;
this again can be understood by you as evoking the same relation to the
"unknown God" as your personality—when expressing adequately the soul
and later the Monad—conditions your perception, knowledge, plans and purpose,
and controls the quality of your life and directs the energy which you express.
His vehicle of
manifestation is the planet with its seven centres, of which only three are yet recognised by
the occult student: Shamballa, His head centre, the Hierarchy, His heart centre,
and Humanity, His throat centre. The
other four centres are concerned with evolutions which are reached, controlled
and related from one or other of these three major centres. The solar plexus is dominated by the
Hierarchy, the heart
centre of Sanat Kumara,
and has a close relation to the deva evolution, hinted at by me in A Treatise
on Cosmic Fire. The vastness of this
subject will be understood by my use of the word "hint" in reference
to what I have earlier written on the subject.
The centre which
we call Shamballa controls that mysterious centre which is
the correspondence to that which we call "the centre at the base of the spine"; this is the inadequate name given
to the reservoir of threefold fire, latent and quiescent, which is found at the
base of the human spine; it is entirely inactive except in those people who
have [Page 368] taken the third initiation.
The planetary centre is related to the three fires (electric fire, solar
fire, and fire by friction) which are the source of the life, warmth, moisture
and growth of all forms upon our planet.
It may seem curious and inexplicable to you, but the centre of
creativity is affected, and I had almost said guarded, by the "centre
which we call the race of men"; the reference in the serious occult books
to the future of humanity as the Saviour of all the subhuman kingdoms has
relation to this fact.
The
NGWS will later receive energy from Shamballa
(RI 368) The ajna centre of the Lord of the World is just beginning to express itself in a
recognisable manner through the New Group of World Servers. This intermediate group—between the Hierarchy
and Humanity—is a carrier of the energy which makes the Plan possible (the Plan
of which the Hierarchy is the custodian).
This Plan
implements the Purpose,
and later, when the New Group of World Servers is organised and is recognised
as a living organism, it will definitely receive energy from Shamballa in a direct reception, via the Hierarchy. This information is, I realise, of little
immediate importance to you, but—towards the end of the century—it will be
found explanatory of much.
“Though
the Christ is the Head of the Hierarchy, it is Sanat Kumara, the Ancient of
Days, Whose Ashram it truly is”
Though the Christ
is the Head of the Hierarchy, it is Sanat Kumara, the Ancient of Days, Whose Ashram it truly is. The Christ (I
am using one of His official names) is indeed the Master of all the Masters and
the Coordinator of the entire life of the great Ashram, in conjunction with the
two other hierarchical Officials, the Manu and the Mahachohan. The information I gave as to the constitution
of the Hierarchy, in Initiation, Human and Solar, was along the same line. The Hierarchy is the Ashram of Sanat Kumara, but He has delegated His authority, right
down the ages, to the so-called World Saviours successively; Their life
expression embodied in every case the goal of the period during which They held
office.
In the early days
of the Hierarchy, millennia of years ago, neither the official Directors of the
Hierarchy nor the Masters were of the calibre which They are today. Had They been so, They would have been too
far removed from [Page 369] the factual life of the cycle, and therefore
useless for the cycle of divine life which existed. The growth of humanity and its evolutionary
status (when compared with primordial and primitive man) can be seen in the
quality of the Hierarchy today, which humanity produced and towards which it
looks for guidance and teaching. This is
an interesting point which I offer for your consideration. Never forget, my brothers, that as it is
humanity which has furnished the personnel of the Hierarchy—including the
Christ, the first of our humanity to achieve divinity—we have, therefore, the
guarantee and the assurance of humanity's ultimate success.
(RI 369) The three
major Executives of the Hierarchy:
1. The Christ,
representing the second Ray of Love-Wisdom,
2. The Manu,
representing the first Ray of Will or Power,
3. The Mahachohan,
representing the third Ray of Active Intelligence,
are responsible to
the Lord of the World for the processing of the life and impulse which
condition the evolutionary process. This
statement is made without any further definition by me because the whole
subject is too abstruse and it would require another Treatise like that on
Cosmic Fire to make it even a little clearer.
Humanity can only
be the recipient of this type of information after the first Ray of Will or
Power has become more active; this will take place when the work of the second Ray of Love-Wisdom has reached its
next cyclic crisis point. The crisis points of a ray are ever
indicative of success and have in them the quality of joy. Mankind will then be much freer from the
spirit of separateness, and a measure of peace, unity and cooperation will be
conditioning human relations. There is a
constant shifting in the state of the planetary consciousness and this, though
implemented from Shamballa, is produced by humanity itself; this
unfolding human consciousness leads mankind eventually out of the fourth
kingdom in nature into the fifth, the hierarchy of souls, and—at the same
time—raises the level of consciousness [Page 370] in all the three subhuman
kingdoms. This series of happenings will
remain for a long time inexplicable to man, though the results can be seen in
the effect which humanity has had on the animal kingdom, through domestication;
on the vegetable kingdom, through specialisation and science; and on the
mineral kingdom, through the skilled utilisation of metals and the widespread
use of the mineral products of the earth.
It must be borne
in mind that the Council
Chamber of the Lord at
Shamballa is a unit, but that the Hierarchy is a
differentiation of this basic unity into the seven major Ashrams and the forty-nine Ashrams which are gradually forming. The Hierarchy is, however, a unity within
itself, for the entire ashramic life is guarded by a ring-pass-not, created by
its radiation; the seven and the forty-nine Ashrams are held together by the
magnetic interplay of the whole. It is
this radiation which affects by its quality the senior aspirants in the world,
and draws them gradually into relationship with itself and finally into its
magnetic field. This is aided by the
clarity of perception, the intensification of the livingness of the rightly
oriented aspirant. I prefer the word
"livingness" to that of "vibration," so widely used in
modern occultism.
There is therefore
a dual inflow into the Ashram
of Sanat Kumara,
controlled and directed by the three hierarchical Directors:
“From
Shamballa itself. This is a flow of
energising life or of what we might call "unfettered enlightenment”
1.From Shamballa itself. This
is a flow of energising life or of what we might call "unfettered enlightenment"; this impresses the purpose or the
will of the Lord of the World upon the united Hierarchy in a manner incomprehensible
to you; it also creates a dynamic magnetic impulse which enables the graded
initiates, through the medium of the Ashrams, to organise the Plan and set it
in motion, so that the Purpose gradually materialises on earth. Because the senior initiates, from the Christ
down to initiates of the fourth
degree, are conscious
in varying ways (according to ray) of the Eternal Now, and can work free from the compulsion of time, They can see the impressed Purpose as a [Page 371]
more complete whole
than can initiates of lesser degree and development. It is this capacity which makes Them
responsive to Shamballa, where the living will of the "Unknown God" (for a period of a life cycle) is seen in completeness and is already
existent. The Hierarchy is, however, handicapped in its
activity by the time sense and the materialistic focus of the "centre
which we call the race of men."
2. From
Humanity. There is a constant (and
increasing) flow of reoriented human energy penetrating into and beyond the
radiatory periphery. This penetrating
energy, implemented by the individual aspirant and disciple, is that of
intelligent activity and—little as you may have realised it—it is this constant
inflow which aids in the intelligent application of the Plan to human affairs. The Science of Impression, which governs the
technique of Shamballa, functions through the three different
centres in three different ways:
a. Shamballa...dynamic impression
b. The
Hierarchy...magnetic telepathy
c.
Humanity...radiatory sensitivity
yet these three
are only manifestations of the will of God as it works out in the activities of
His three major centres.
One point should
here be made: the entry of a member of
the human family into the ranks of the initiates and his participation in the
activity of some one or other of the Ashrams produces a movement out of the
Hierarchy of some Master and into the highest centre of all; it has this effect
only after the entering initiate has taken the third initiation, and can
therefore take his part in the hierarchical life as a monadic expression
susceptible to impression from Shamballa. When a Master thus emerges He is immediately
confronted with the choice between the seven Paths. With this development and decision we shall
later deal. The seven Paths are all
concerned with purpose, just as the seven Ashrams are all concerned with the
plan. There is, as you will later see, a
direct relation between the seven Paths and the seven Ashrams. Though we
shall not deal with the subject at all, there is likewise a correspondence in
the third [Page 372] major centre, Humanity.
You have, therefore, curiously interrelated:
The seven Paths
The seven Rays
The seven Ashrams
The seven Races
Students would do
well to bear in mind that these relationships are the result of the
involutionary activity of the life expression of the Lord of the World.
The key to the mystery of differentiation is found by the Master when He
is faced by the choice of the seven Paths.
At that
In the human
centre, the man becomes identified with himself; in the Hierarchy, he becomes
identified with the group; in Shamballa, He
becomes identified with
the planetary WHOLE. When that takes place, He is then aware for
the first time that other identifications—lying beyond the planetary
ring-pass-not—confront Him; His choice of one or other of the Paths is
conditioned by the quality of His previous identifications, which are in their
turn conditioned by His ray type.
(RI 373) Passing
from these broad generalisations, which in reality lie far beyond our present
grasp but which will have their future usefulness, let us now consider the
Hierarchy as it exists (in the consciousness of Sanat Kumara, as His Ashram) and as it constitutes "the noble
middle Path" to which the Buddha refers,
and fills the intermediate and the [Page 373] mediating place between Shamballa and Humanity.
This position of the Hierarchy must never be forgotten.
The seven Groups
of Ashrams within the Hierarchy
It is because the first Ray of Will or Power, through its Ashram, is related to Shamballa, that the Master Morya is the Head of all truly esoteric schools. In
the esoteric enterprise and in the work done by disciples in the Ashrams, the
Will is developed so that the Purpose may eventually be understood. He relates
the three points of the triangle composed of the Hierarchy, the world of souls
on the mental plane, and those human souls who (on all Rays) are ready for
contact with the Hierarchy. They have
made contact with their souls, and this is registered in the Hierarchy. The triangle is, therefore, as follows:
(RI 373) As the
externalisation of the Ashram proceeds, those souls upon the physical plane who
are ready for enlightenment will find their way into the New Group of World
Servers; this group will increasingly assume potent relation between the units
of life within its periphery, the Ashram, and humanity. From one point of view, the New Group of World
Servers can be regarded not only as a relating group, but also as a great
transforming station, dowered later (though not noticeably so at the present
time) with two functions in relation to the Ashram:
1. One function is
to enable "externalising units of perfection" (the higher initiates
and the Masters) to step down Their individual potency to such a degree that
They will be able to work in physical objectivity on the earth, with no
undesirable effects upon humanity. I
refer to average and undeveloped human beings.
Students should bear in mind that contact with Those Who are initiates
of high degree [Page 374] and members of an Ashram has the following three
effects upon humanity:
a. On evolved men,
aspirants, probationers and disciples, the effect is stimulating and magnetic.
b. On average
human beings, capable of little response yet susceptible to impact and
sensitive to impression, the effect is not helpful and is often destructive,
because their etheric bodies are not competent to entertain and employ such
high vibrations.
c. On undeveloped
humanity, the effect has been called "condensation or
concretisation"; all their natural qualities (the qualified substance of
their three bodies) are solidified; thus they create an automatic barrier to
the entry of the too high impulses and vibrations.
2. The second
function is to enable those who are making definite soul contact, reorienting
themselves and nearing the periphery of the Ashram, to absorb with profit the
radiation of the Hierarchy.
I would like at
this point to refer back to the time sense in relation to the Hierarchy and its
work, to which I referred a few pages back.
It involves the inability of the average disciple to think in terms of
the Ashram—the Ashram of the Christ, representing Sanat Kumara.
When he turns his thoughts to the Master and the radiatory and magnetic
group which He has attracted to Himself, the disciple almost inevitably thinks
in terms of "my Master and His Ashram." Yet this is not in any sense a statement of
truth. There is one great Ashram, the
Hierarchy, radiating (after due absorption of light, understanding and power
from Shamballa, and this inflow is adequate to
hierarchical need) as it seeks to aid not only the human evolution but all the
other evolutions, of which humanity, in several cases, knows nothing. The great Ashram is likewise magnetic in its
effect, and through its magnetic potency (brought about by an inflow of first
ray power) "units of life and devotion"—human beings—are brought into
the Ashram as disciples in preparation for initiation. People are apt to regard magnetic [Page 375]
potency as evidence of love; it is, in reality, evidence of the radiation of
love when enhanced and strengthened by first ray energy. It is the admixture (if I may use such a
peculiar term) of love and will which produces radiation. It is the conscious use by the Hierarchy of
the power coming from Shamballa which results in the magnetic impact and
the spiritual "pull" which draws the soul, incarnated in the body,
towards the Ashram. This pull is
directed towards the world of souls which is, through its manifesting units,
undergoing experience in the school of life, yet overshadowed by the soul on
its own level. It is this overshadowing
soul which absorbs and utilises the magnetic power and which, from soul levels,
transfers it to the souls of men.
There is still
another point upon which I would like to touch.
Owing to the fact that the Law which governs the Hierarchy is the second systemic law, the Law of Attraction, students are apt to think that magnetism
is a second ray quality.
They are right in so far that all the systemic laws are expressions of
the life of God through the medium, at this time, of the second ray, which
makes our solar system a second ray system. All other laws and qualities (for a law from
the divine angle is the motivating, qualified agent of the divine will, as
understood in Shamballa) are related to the second ray as it
manifests through our planetary Logos.
Nevertheless, magnetic action is more closely allied to first ray
functioning than it is to the second ray, and is an aspect or quality of the Law of Synthesis. It
was this magnetic power of the first ray to which the Christ referred when He
said "I, if I be lifted up (The Ascension Initiation. A.A.B.), will draw all men unto
me." He faced then those
initiations which would qualify Him to become what is esoterically called
"a Shamballa recipient." There is, in magnetic action, more of the
element of the will and of an expressing purpose. In explanation it might be said that the
radiation of the Hierarchy, which is definitely second ray in nature, and which
is projected as attractive radiation, is implemented by the magnetic aspect. This—as the Old Commentary puts it—is "a point of focussed fire, found in the
centre of the jewel.
[Page 376] It stirs to life the quality of love which permeates the Ashram of
the Lord. Radiation then can penetrate
to other centres and to other lives, and thus the Lord is served." It is this point of focussed dynamic will at
the very heart of the Hierarchy which in reality implements the Plan.
To put the matter
as simply as possible—too simply to be entirely exact, yet near enough to the
truth to be clarifying and helpful—it is this magnetic potency, this dynamic
active and energising will, which enables the Hierarchy to move forward upon
the eternal Path. Its functions might be
listed as follows:
1. It is the
connecting energy which comes from Shamballa and "enlivens" (literally and occultly
understood) the Ashram
of Sanat Kumara. It is, in one sense, the higher
correspondence to the prana which "enlivens" the dense physical body
of man.
2. It is the
stimulating factor which produces cohesion among the various Ashrams, and is
one of the sources of hierarchical unity.
Putting it in other words, it is the service of the Plan which binds the
seven Ashrams, with their subsidiary Ashrams, coherently into the one great
Ashram. The Plan is the expression of
the Purpose or the Will of God.
3. This Shamballic magnetism not only relates the Ashrams to each other,
but it is also the potency which evokes the will or the first ray nature
inherent in every man but which is only consciously and definitely unfolded
within the periphery of the great Ashram.
a. In the "centre which we call the race of men" the potency of intelligence
(developed in a previous solar system) is brought to fruition and the stirrings
of the potency of love are felt.
b. In the "centre which is nearest to the Lord" the potencies of intelligence and
love are expressed, and at the third initiation the magnetic pull of the
potency of will is felt.
[Page 377]
c. In the "centre where the will of God is known" the intelligent loving Master, now
responsive to the energy of the will, is faced with the seven Paths whereon
that will can come to fruition and the "units of love can be transferred
because they also will and know."
They can then form
part of the third solar system which will be definitely under the influences coming from the cosmic mental plane, just as, in this solar system, the
energies coming from the cosmic astral plane have been the major influence.
All this is, of
course, an inadequate expression of abstruse truth. The cosmic astral plane is not an illusion,
as is the astral plane with which we are all so unhappily acquainted. The reason for this lies in the fact that all
our planes constitute the cosmic physical plane and are therefore regarded—as
far as three worlds of human evolution are concerned—as illusion, for the dense
physical substance is not a principle.
This you have oft been told. The cosmic astral plane is a reservoir of love energy, pouring
into two of our planes which constitute part of the cosmic etheric body—the monadic plane and the buddhic plane.
“determination
is the lowest aspect of the will”
5. It is that
which permeates the radiation from the Hierarchy to which humanity is
responsive. No disciple or aspirant can
be drawn into the periphery of the Hierarchy, and from thence into an Ashram,
without finding that his will nature is being affected. It will only show itself at this stage as
persistence and determination. Persistence is a quality of life and related to immortality, whilst determination is the lowest aspect of the
will. Their development produces a reorientation which
becomes a permanent attitude, and the disciple then becomes responsive not only
to the "vitalised radiation" coming from the periphery of the
Hierarchy but also, in an increasing measure, to the "magnetic pull"
which emanates from the Hierarchy itself, and in particular from the Ashram to
which he must eventually find his way.
(RI 378) If you
will make a close study of all the above information, you may find some measure
of enlightenment. It is the great
simplicities which must be ever kept in mind: the [Page 378] three great divine
aspects, the septenates of the evolutionary process, the divine qualities or
principles, and the relation of energy to force. With these clearly held in mind, the detail
is of small moments the intuition rapidly assimilates and relates the detail,
if there be need to do so, to the manifesting whole.
To return to our
theme, which is the expression of the great Ashram through the medium of the
seven Ashrams, it is this magnetic energy of the first aspect which is found at
the heart of the seven Ashrams, energised and enlightened from the reservoir of
will energy found at the heart of the great Ashram itself. This reservoir is fed from the "centre
where the will of God is known," and the directing agent of this energy,
within the Hierarchy itself, is the Christ and His two Associates, the Manu and
the Mahachohan. The forty-nine subsidiary Ashrams (not all of which are yet functioning) are
energised by the potency of will from the reservoir of energy at the heart of each major Ashram, these in their turn being fed from the
central reservoir. The correspondence of
this in the human centres is called the "jewel in the lotus."
Let us now study
the formation of the
great Ashram and then
(this will have more meaning for you) the gradual formation of the seven Ashrams under direct ray activity. This process lies in the past history of
humanity and I shall only briefly touch upon it. Once formed, it became the task of these seven Ashrams to produce the forty-two
Ashrams. These seven Ashrams express ray qualities,
and the whole forty-nine are expressive of the forty-nine fires, referred to in
The Secret Doctrine; through these fires, the God of Fire seeks to make Himself
known.
As we study some
of the esoteric details connected with the life, the quality and, later, the
appearance of the Ashrams of the Masters, I would remind you of certain points
I have already made; your minds then will be predisposed to right thinking and
interpretation. I am anxious for your
approach to the subject to be correct. I
have given you a number of definitions of an Ashram in the previous pages [Page
379] and in my other books, and I would have you bear these in mind. The concept of a college group, of a band of
workers or of a number of men and women working under the supervision of a
Master is too apt to colour your thoughts.
The complete freedom from all coercion or from any supervision of daily
activity, the instinctive reaction of all within the Ashram to the ray
influence and to the "breath
of the prevailing Will"
(as it is called) is something very different.
I seek in what I intend to impart to you to give a very different
impression. In our next section, on the
dual life of the initiatory process, the newer concepts may emerge more
clearly. The points I want you to bear
in mind are as follows:
1. The great
Ashram, the Hierarchy, is composed of many Ashrams, creating an "invoking
area" of relationship for Sanat Kumara.
2. The Christ,
aided by the Manu and the Mahachohan, is the Coordinator of the entire life of
the great Ashram.
3. The personnel
of the great Ashram is today entirely provided from the ranks of humanity. This was not so in the earlier cycles.
4. The great
Ashram is formed of seven
major Ashrams and forty-two secondary Ashrams which are gradually forming.
5. The entire
Ashram is a unity, for the ashramic life in its differentiated groups is
guarded by a ring-pass-not.
6. This
ring-pass-not is provided by radiation.
7. The forty-two
lesser Ashrams are held together by the magnetic interplay of the whole.
8. Aspirants are
drawn into relation with the Ashram through its radiation and enter finally
into its magnetic field.
9. There is a dual
flow of energy or force into the great Ashram:
a. Energising life
from Shamballa or what is called "unfettered enlightenment."
[Page 380]
b. The energy of
active intelligence from Humanity, thus enabling the Masters to formulate the Plan.
10. The seven Ashrams are all concerned with the
Plan.
11. The Master Morya is the Head of all esoteric
schools which truly
prepare an aspirant for ashramic contact and work. The reason that a first ray Master is thus
the Head is because it is the Will aspect which is developed within the Ashram.
12. It is the service of the Plan which binds the seven
Ashrams, with their
subsidiary Ashrams, into the one great Ashram.
13. It is only
within his ray Ashram that the will of the disciple is developed.
14. The magnetic,
dynamic energy of the first aspect of divinity is found at the heart of each of the seven Ashrams, fed from a reservoir of will energy which
is found at the heart of the great Ashram itself.
15. The forty-two
subsidiary Ashrams are energised by the reservoir of will energy found at the heart of each of the major Ashrams.
16. The seven
Ashrams express each the quality of their ray, one of the seven ray types.
If you will have
these points in mind, the whole hierarchical theme will be recognised and
correctly interpreted by you.
Originally,
there was no Hierarchy, only Shamballa and Humanity
There was a time
when (in the early history of the planet) there was no Hierarchy; there were only two major centres in the expression
of the life of the Lord of the World: Shamballa and His embryonic throat centre, Humanity. Shamballa was the head centre.
There was no humanity, such as we now know it, but only something so
primitive that it is well-nigh impossible for you to grasp its significance or
factual expression. But the life of God
was there, plus an inherent "urge" and a dynamic
"pull." These two factors rendered
the mass of men (if one may call them so) inchoately invocative, thus drawing
from high spiritual centres certain developed and informed Lives Who—in
increasing [Page 381] numbers—"walked among men" and led them slowly,
very slowly, forward into increasing light.
The early history of the Hierarchy falls into two historical eras in the
process of its becoming a "mediating Centre":
(RI 381) First: The time when the relating, mediating,
enlightening correspondences to Those we now call the Masters trod the earth
with men and were not withdrawn and apparently invisible, as is now the case. Their task was to bring the primitive
intelligence of humanity to the point where there could be the presentation of
the Plan, with eventual cooperation. In
occult parlance, Their work was the establishing of a rapport between the
unrevealed second aspect (to which They were responsive) and Humanity. In this They succeeded, but the matter aspect
and quality—that of active intelligence—was so strong that the second
historical phase became essential.
Second: The time when the Hierarchy was created as we know it today; the heart centre of Sanat Kumara came into its own life, formed its own
magnetic field, possessed its own ring-pass-not, and became a dynamic mediating
centre between Shamballa and Humanity.
It has oft been
told in occult and theosophical literature that the Hierarchy withdrew as a
penalising measure because of the wickedness of mankind. This is only superficially true and is an
instance of a man-made interpretation; giving us the first example of the
fear-and-punishment psychology which—from that time on—has conditioned all
religious teaching. The withdrawing
Masters had Their Paul to distort the truth, just as had the Christ, Their
august Head today. The truth was far otherwise.
The time came in
those distant aeons when a certain percentage of human beings reached, through
their own efforts, the stage (at that time demanded) of preparedness for
initiation. This attainment brought
surprising results:
a. It became
possible for certain of the Masters to "return from whence They
came."
b. It became
necessary to provide conditions where [Page 382] these men "accepted for
unfettered enlightenment" could receive the needed training.
c. The process of
creation had reached the evolutionary stage where the centres of the Lord of
the World were differentiated; function and radiatory activity were
established, and this produced a stronger "pull" and placed the
Hierarchy "at the midway point."
A station of
light and power was formed. All this was made possible
because humanity could now produce its own "enlightened ones."
When
Humanity and the Hierarchy can work in full cooperation, then Shamballa will no
longer only exist in Cosmic etheric substance (the logoci, Monadic, atmic and
buddhic planes)
These two
historical periods (not events, except in so far that all TIME is a sequence or
pattern of events) covered vast cycles; aeon by aeon, the work went on until we
have today the three major centres in the planet, demonstrating great activity,
much more closely related than ever before, and ready now to enter into a third
historical period. In this coming cycle
we shall see the first stages of the great spiritual fusion towards which all
evolution tends; it will take the form of the externalisation of the Ashram, so
that the Hierarchy (or the centre where the love of God is known and the
purpose of Sanat Kumara is formulated into the Plan) and Humanity
will meet on the physical plane and occultly know each other. Two centres then will be "visible in the
light"—the Hierarchy and Humanity.
When these two
centres can work in
full cooperation, then Shamballa will take form and will no longer be found
existing only in cosmic
etheric substance, as
is now the case.
(RI 384) The seven major Ashrams are each responsive to one of seven types
of ray energy and are focal points in the Hierarchy of the seven rays. The central, senior and major Ashram is (at
this time) the repository of second ray energy, as this ray governs this second
solar system. It is the Ashram of
Love-Wisdom—the Ashram in which the Buddha and the Christ received Their
initiations and through which each of Them works. It will be obvious that if the process of
invocation and evocation governs the interplay of the planetary centres, you
have in this fact another reason why the senior Ashram is second ray in
quality. Invocation is related [Page
384] to radiation. Evocation is related
to magnetism. These are two points
worthy of your consideration.
The other six major Ashrams came sequentially into being as the invocation of primitive man reached
such a point of intensity of expression that a response was evoked from Shamballa, via its ray Representatives, working with directed
energy in the three worlds. A
"point of radiatory force" was established, at first in relation to
the second ray Ashram, and later to the other Ashrams. One by one, as the rays cycled into activity in the three worlds and eventually on the physical plane, the
seven Ashrams were founded, developed and expanded until the time
arrived—several aeons ago—when all seven Ashrams were fully organised, and
through them passed a steady flow of human beings liberating themselves from
the three worlds.
(RI 384) In the
earliest times this flow of disciples was exceedingly small. One by one, individual aspirants found their
way out of the ranks of humanity and inside the ring-pass-not of the
Hierarchy. In the beginning, only the
first two initiations were given and only through the instrumentality of the
second ray; and at these initiations the World Teacher of the period of
officiated.
Then at a time
when the seventh Ray of
Ceremonial Order (the
ray which plays so potent and mysterious a part in the phase of discipleship
called initiation) was in cyclic activity, a much greater number of disciples
appeared, prepared for initiation; the initiatory process was then administered
in a seventh ray Ashram; this seventh ray Ashram was the second to be formed, owing to the fact that the seventh ray is
the relating factor between life and matter upon the form side. Again, so the ancient Archives tell us, there
came a great crisis in the evolution of humanity; this necessitated one of the
rare cyclic changes which have distinguished the fluid policy of the
Hierarchy. Men began to demonstrate
responsiveness to the Law of Integration and personality appeared with all its
potentiality for good and evil. Man
became an integrated unit in the three worlds.
A great possibility then emerged; man could, through training [Page 385]
and the use of the mind, make contact with the soul. This had not hitherto been done except to a
slight degree. This crisis therefore led
to the creation, or rather to the appearance, of the initiatory process to
which we have given the name of the third initiation.
The Hierarchy for
the first time realised the complete success of the vast work, carried on in
the human centre for millions of years.
Soul and personality could be and were intelligently fused. This is one of the reasons why the Hierarchy
regards the third initiation as the first major initiation; it marked a point
of complete soul-personality integration.
In the earlier initiations, the soul was present but was still only
occasionally in control; constant failure in the three worlds was still
possible, and the relation between the man in the three worlds and his soul was
nebulous and largely potential. You will
realise what I mean when I point out that many thousands of people in the world
today have taken the first initiation and are oriented towards the spiritual
life and the service of their fellowmen; their lives, however, frequently leave
much to be desired, and the soul is obviously not in constant control; a great
struggle is still being waged to achieve purification on all three levels. The lives of these initiates are faulty and
their inexperience great, and a major attempt is instituted in this particular
cycle to achieve soul fusion. When that
is attained, then the third initiation (the first, hierarchically speaking) is
taken. Today this triple process of
preparation, purification and fusion is the ordinary practice of the disciple
and the process has prevailed for untold years; but when this fusion first
occurred, it marked a great hierarchical event.
It was a crisis of supreme spiritual import.
The
Buddha and the Christ took the 3rd initiation together-this was the
first time Sanat Kumara conducted the 3rd initiation on this planet,
and indicates Shamballic activity-this 3rd initiation was taken in a
4th ray Ashram
As you know, the first human being out of that "centre which we call the
race of men" to achieve this point was the Christ; in that first great demonstration of His point of
attainment (through the medium of what was then a new type of initiation) the
Christ was joined by the Buddha. The Buddha had attained this same point
prior to the creation of our planetary life, but conditions for taking the third initiation [Page
386] were not then available, and He and the Christ took the initiation together. At
this initiation, and since then for all initiates of that degree of attainment,
They stood in the
Presence of the One Initiator, the Lord of the World, and not in the Presence of the Initiate Who
was then Head of the Hierarchy. This third initiation was taken in a fourth
ray Ashram, the Ray of
Harmony through Conflict. This Ashram
had taken form and attained functioning activity some time earlier. You can see, under the Law of
Correspondences, why this was so. The first human being in the fourth kingdom in nature to take
this initiation did so in a fourth ray Ashram
and then, esoterically speaking, "the Way lay open toward the Cross";
the initiate faced the process of extension on the Cross, and from that vantage
point could view the three worlds. The
fourth initiation then became a possibility; the crucifixion faced the disciple
of the third degree with its promise of complete liberation and final
resurrection.
You can see,
therefore, what a tremendous crisis took place in the relation between Humanity
and the Hierarchy—a crisis of such importance that Shamballa became involved and the Lord of time World Himself
admitted the initiate to the higher contacts.
Between that time
and the crucifixion of the Master Jesus, the sixth ray Ashram, the fifth and the third, have all been formed around the nucleus
of light, started by the
ray Lords much
earlier. The point of light and of will
energy at the centre of each Ashram has existed for untold millennia of years,
but the Ashrams themselves were only slowly formed around the nucleus as the
various types of energy swept into manifestation and brought with them human
types responsive to the ray energy.
When
the Master Jesus took the 4th initiation, the Christ took the 6th
and 7th initiations-elsewhere DK tells us that the Christ has been
taking the 7th initiation for 3,000 years and has still not
completed the task-also DK has told us elsewhere that the 7th
intiation is much easier for those on the 1st ray, this probably
means either a 1st ray Monad or Soul
(RI 387) When the Master Jesus took the Crucifixion
Initiation, another
crisis arose of equally great import, if not greater. The crisis was brought about because
simultaneously with the crucifixion of the Master, the Head of the Hierarchy,
the Christ, took two
initiations in one: the Resurrection Initiation and that of the
Ascension. These are the fifth and sixth
initiations, according to the Christian terminology. [Page 387] This was
possible because the first
ray Ashram was now active,
making entry into the Council
Chamber at Shamballa possible. When
the Christ achieved this, He was deemed worthy of embodying in Himself a new
principle in evolution and of revealing to the world the nature of the second
ray aspect—the divine principle of love (as humanity calls it) or of pure
reason (as the Hierarchy calls it).
the
order of the appearance of the major Ashrams, (the ones controlled by a
Chohan)—under ray activity—was 2, 7, 4, 6, 5, 3, 1-In giving us this
information DK is telling us how the heart chakra of Sanat Kumara has been
developed under the impact of the cyclic impact of the seven rays-remember
earlier how DK explains the dual impact of the zodiac on both the head chakra
and the heart chakra-registered at the 8th and 9th
initiations
Since that time,
all the seven major
Ashrams have been
fully organised and are steadily increasing in radiatory activity. As you will have noted, the order of their appearance—under ray activity—was 2, 7, 4, 6, 5, 3, 1. In
giving this item of ashramic information I am giving you more hints than you
will immediately realise.
(Included
for a second time)-The dual effect of the zodiac when the initiate undergoes
the eighth and ninth initiations
(RI 339) As
esoteric astrologers know well, there comes a life cycle wherein the disciple
reverses himself upon the Wheel
of Life (the zodiacal wheel) and from going clockwise around the zodiac, he now begins to go
anti-clockwise; he learns that the substance aspect of his nature may still be
conditioned by the forces flowing through them sequentially and serially, and
according to his horoscope and according to the exoteric mode of the zodiacal
revolution; at the same time, the disciple is receiving energy currents from
the reversed wheel whereon he, as a soul, finds himself. He is consequently the recipient of two currents of energy, going in reverse
directions; hence the
increased conflict in his life and circumstances; these constitute the reason
for the tests of initiation.
This, on a tiny
scale, is true of the centres in the etheric body of the disciple; they too
evidence the same dual activity, once the Path of Discipleship is trodden and
the Path of Initiation is entered. The
zodiacal wheel is itself essentially a cosmic centre; it is a twelve-petalled
lotus, but it is a twelve-petalled
lotus within the thousand-petalled lotus of an unknown cosmic Entity, the One referred to in my
earlier books as the ONE ABOUT WHOM NAUGHT MAY BE SAID.
The multiplicity
of zodiacal influences have eventually a dual effect: one upon Shamballa (the planetary head centre) and the other upon the Hierarchy (the planetary heart centre); the effect is also felt
in the head centre and the heart centre of every initiate. This final dual activity is registered by the
initiate of the highest degrees when he undergoes the eighth and ninth initiations; the other seven initiations are governed
by the seven rays.
(RI 387) Each
Ashram, as you know, expresses ray quality in its purest and most essential
form. During the process of creating the
seven Ashrams, they have shifted their focus (or location) from the lowest of
the three levels of the abstract mental plane at each major crisis, until today
the Ashrams are to be found on the buddhic plane and not on the mental plane at
all. This marks the triumph of the
hierarchical work, because pure reason—through the second ray—is now the
dominant quality in all the Ashrams.
Forget not in this connection that all the rays are subrays of the second Ray of
Love-Wisdom, but that
in the early days of hierarchical activity, it was the particular quality of
the ray which dominated an Ashram that first demonstrated, and not the quality
of the great major ray of which they were all a part.
Today this is all
changing, though the process is not yet perfected, and pure reason or true love
is beginning to manifest itself through the quality of all the rays, functioning
through their respective Ashrams. The
secondary ray quality will not die out or in any way be lessened, but each ray
quality will serve to implement the expression of pure love, which is the
essential and—at this time—the primary quality of the Lord of the World, Sanat Kumara.
The
1st ray Ashram is the only one with no subsidiary Ashrams
As the centuries
have slipped away and the potency of the rays has increased on Earth, humanity
has become more and more invocative; this has necessitated the expansion of
[Page 388] the Hierarchy itself, and each Ashram has become the creator of six
other Ashrams (few of them as yet complete, and some entirely embryonic), so
that, in fact, all the forty-nine
Ashrams are in the
making. The second ray, for instance,
has five affiliated Ashrams and one of which only the nucleus exists, and all
these are working under its inspiration and through the effect of the second
ray central fire. All have at their
centre a second ray disciple. The third ray has already two subsidiary
Ashrams; the sixth has four, and so on. The first ray is the only one at this time with no subsidiary fully functioning Ashram, and this because the will aspect is as
yet very little understood and few initiates can meet the requirements of the
first ray initiation. This is no
reflection upon humanity. It is a
question of divine timing and expediency, and Shamballa is not yet prepared for an influx of first ray initiates.
Ages must pass before this Will aspect will have reached the stage of unfoldment
and expression on the physical plane and through the medium of mankind which
will warrant the fusing
of six first ray fires—the
purest fires there are.
Pure first Ray types are unknown at this
present period in time-what does he mean by pure 1st ray type? It is
most likely a person with both a 1st ray Monad and 1st
Ray Soul-1st Ray Monads will be the majority in the 7th
root-race just as 2nd Ray Monads will be the majority in the 6th
Root-race and 3rd Ray Monads are the majority in this present 5th
root-race
(EA 91) Strictly speaking, what I have to say now concerns the pure first ray type
because Aries is the zodiacal sign through
which the first Ray of Will or Power reaches our planetary life. Such pure types are rare indeed and at
this period of evolution well-nigh unknown. Most people are governed by their personality ray and as the
present first ray types are expressing themselves through personalities which
are on all the rays, I would simply ask you to consider what I have to say from
the angle of character effects, of problems presented and of quality unfolded.
It is well-nigh impossible to be more explicit until
such time as the Science of the Rays has been further developed; the astrologer must ascertain the
ray type before he will be able to cast the adequate horoscope of the soul. My remarks are therefore general and not specific and are
universal and not particular. I impose no doctrine. I indicate phases of
speculation which might prove illuminating and fruitful.
All
1st Ray Souls currently in incarnation have 2nd Ray Monads
(EA 156) All
so-called [Page 27] first ray egos are on the first subray of the second
ray, which is in
incarnation. A
pure first ray ego in
incarnation at this time would be a disaster. There is not sufficient intelligence
and love in the world to balance the dynamic will of an ego on the ray of the
destroyer.
The
bulk of those in power in
(DON 53) &(EPI
386) The static stabilising tendency of
(RI 388) If you
will add all the above information as a background to what you know about
ashramic work today, you will have a more complete picture of evocative and
spiritual reality. You know much (for I
have told you much) anent the Ashrams open today and the requirements for
acceptance. It is essential that the
uniqueness of the initiatory process be discounted. Down the ages men have achieved, are
achieving and will achieve. The only
difference is that—as the intellect of man develops—the requirements for
initiation become more drastic and exacting, and the initiate therefore becomes
of a distinctly higher order. The Master today is infinitely wiser and more full of love and more
"occultly reasonable" than was the Master in Atlantean times.
This in itself constitutes a reasonable fact, does it not, my brothers?
Shamballa
reacts to the Mind of God on the Cosmic mental plane
(RI 392) 10. I would remind you of an
earlier statement that the Hierarchy reacts or responds to the energies and
influences coming from the cosmic astral plane; from that level of spiritual
life true divine love pours into it. Shamballa reacts to the cosmic mental plane, and therefore to the nature and purposes of the Mind of God; the expression of THAT which overshadows Sanat Kumara is similar to the soul overshadowing the
incarnated spiritual man.
If you will bear these facts in mind, some
light may break through and, in any case, when the student or disciple returns to
incarnation, this imparted knowledge (stored in the soul's content) will then
be usefully available.
I would like to
enlarge somewhat upon an earlier remark.
I stated that the "seven Ashrams are 'proving grounds' for all the
Masters confronted with the sixth Initiation of Decision."
This constitutes
part of the problem facing the Masters Who are thus to move forward; it is
particularly crucial for Those Who have chosen the first Path, the Path of Earth Service, and for all in preparation for the sixth
initiation. This process of changing for
a final, conditioning decision—in line, consciously realised, with divine
Purpose and entailing responsiveness to Shamballa—is a major undertaking; it is related to the
development of understanding the Will, and concerns the spirit or life aspect;
it involves an increasing revelation of the purpose and the "fixed
intention" of the planetary Logos but (even more than that) it has
relation to extra-planetary sources and energies and to those cosmic conditions
which are responsible for the Presence of Sanat Kumara upon the Earth.
It is will which has brought Him here, and the unfoldment of the will
nature of the Masters and still higher Initiates admits Them into His inner
deliberations by means of the highest form of telepathic rapport or impression
to be found upon our planet. [Page 393] This impression is, however, made
possible by the development of the intuition, and has no relation to the mind
nature.
The
Masters meet every seven years-the entire Hiearchy meets every 100 years on the
25th year of each century
(RI 393) This
training in decision is given by forcing the Master to make basic decisions
within His Ashram affecting world work and involving all within the
Ashram. It is given by His admission to
the conclave of the Masters, meeting every seven years. At that
conclave They make decisions which concern all forms of life in all the
kingdoms in the three worlds and their evolutionary progress; it is put to the
test in group form when the entire Hierarchy meets at Its centennial conference and—at that time—decides what form of
crisis, on what level of consciousness, and involving what group of lives, must
be implemented and presented to humanity, though the other kingdoms of nature
will be necessarily implicated. The
reason for this is that the meeting of such a planned crisis will hasten
certain realisations. Forget not that
humanity grows through the presentation of moments of crisis. These moments of crisis, based on past karma,
conditioned by the point in evolution already achieved, and on the presence in
the three worlds of certain appropriate ray forces, are brought to the point of
precipitation by united decision in the conclave of the Masters.
These decisions do
not affect man's free will, for the Hierarchy does nothing to condition man's
approach to the crisis and, occultly speaking, Their "attitude is
deliberately turned to other things" during the period of man's decision;
thus the potency of Their thinking does not affect the human mind. Once the precipitation of the crisis is
complete, and humanity has begun to take action of some kind, then the full
attention of the Masters, working through Their Ashrams, is committed to the
giving of full assistance to all those who are seeking to guide humanity along
correct lines—a relative few among the countless millions of the ignorant.
“these
centennial conclaves are being held at the close of the first twenty-five years
of every century”
(RI 393) While
these centennial
conclaves are being
held at the close of the
first twenty-five years of every century, the Lord of the World
with the Members of His
Council watch the
process of decision in order to see how far the will of the [Page 394]
Hierarchy conforms to that aspect of the divine will which should be expressed
in the three worlds as the result of Their decision. They watch also Those particular Masters Who
should in a short time be ready
for the sixth initiation,
in order to see how much of that divine will They register and what is the
nature and quality of Their use of it.
By recording that quality, the Council at Shamballa is able to determine with great accuracy which of the seven Paths a certain Initiate will choose. In this manner They become aware of how many
senior disciples will be needed to take over the headship of an Ashram, with a
consequent admittance of many disciples to the initiation next in order for
them. At the same time, aspirants on the
periphery of an Ashram are enabled to move forward into full ashramic
participation.
All this should
give you some idea of the synthesis which expresses itself through the three
planetary centres: Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity. These are responsible for the conditioning of
the other planetary centres and the consequent demonstration of divine
intention. The basic purpose of Sanat Kumara is to bring about right relations in every
field of His manifested life. The
encouraging factor is today that the activity of humanity itself is, for the
first time, concerned with the entire subject of right human relations and how
to bring it about. I would have you
reflect on this, for it means that, again for the first time, humanity is
consciously responding to the will and intention of Shamballa, even though without realising the esoteric
implications. This is of far greater
importance than you can imagine, for it signifies a new relationship of a
spiritual nature and deeply spiritual results.
The preparation of
the Masters for this sixth
initiation is
exceedingly strenuous. They find it as
difficult to achieve Their goal as does the average disciple as he looks ahead
at the initiation which immediately confronts him. They have to master the technique of handling
the most potent energy and influence in the world, that of the
intelligence. They have to penetrate
into the mystery of electricity and implement [Page 395] its expression in the
creative process under the directive of Shamballa; They have to learn to work with electric fire in the
same way as—much earlier—They worked with fire by friction as personalities,
and with solar fire as disciples and lesser initiates. In this way, They become familiarised with what is meant by the
words the "Central Spiritual Sun," just as They were familiar with the appearance
of the physical Sun when members of the human family, and with the "Heart
of the Sun" as Members of the Hierarchy.
Again you can see the same unfolding synthesis—a synthesis which
originates in that focal point of attractive dynamic energy, known to us as the
Sun and its planets.
Thus within His
Ashram the Master learns "occultly to decide" and to condition the creative centre for which He is
responsible. He has to do this with the
Ashram, surrounded by all those who are in training and who are the agents of
His will. Through them He must act, and
they thereby limit necessarily the vision to which He reacts, and step down the
rate and quality of the energy of which He is the focal point. This energy constitutes the animating life of
the Ashram as well as the force which the disciples and initiates must use in
their work in the world, this of course in cooperation with the energy which
each disciple within himself "occultly generates" and for which he—in
his lesser degree—is responsible.
More anent this
subject will be given when we study specifically the nine initiations wherein
another synthesis, interlocking with the synthesis of the Will, will appear.
UP TO HIT 720
Compilation Shamballa part18
(RI 395) The seven Paths confronting the Master
It will be
apparent to you now that the Master confronts two crises:
1. The crisis of
the will, as it demonstrates in unalterable decision.
2. The crisis of
the new step which will probably "cast Him adrift upon the shore of some
distant sphere wherein His will must be expressed in love." These ambiguous words of the Old Commentary
mean that [Page 396] His decision will (with one exception) take Him away from
all that He has hitherto known.
The majority of
the Masters then enter into realms wherein They are needed "to impart,
strengthen and enlighten that which is already fused, already strong and
already full of light, but which needs that which He brings in order to express
the all-encompassing whole."
The
Buddha, when he took the 6th initiation of Decision, chose the path
of Earth Service, which according to DK is not the one he should have chosen,
although there is complete freedom of choice-
(RI 396) I have to
leave you with these words as food for reflection as there is little further
that I may say upon this point. In any
case and for all deciding groups of Masters, the work with the Hierarchy is
over, except for the few
Who choose Path I. Part of the mistake which the Buddha made was connected with this subject of
decision. He loved humanity so much that
He felt He could not and did not choose the Path which He was in reality
ordained to follow; He
chose instead the Path of Earth Service—which was not His Path at all. This He knows and will in due time pass on to
His rightful Path. This little incident
will demonstrate the complete
freedom of choice
which distinguishes the sixth
initiation.
The seven Paths
are, as you know from your study of Initiation, Human and Solar the following:
1. The Path of
Earth Service.
2. The Path of
Magnetic Work.
3. The Path of
Training for Planetary Logoi.
4. The Path to
Sirius.
5. The Ray Path.
6. The Path on
which our Logos is found.
7. The Path of
Absolute Sonship.
In that first book
which I wrote for the world, I gave a simple definition of the exoteric
significance of these Paths—so simple as to convey but little. I wrote then for the general public. I will now endeavour to convey some of the
deeper meanings, writing as I do for advanced disciples and for initiates who—reading
between the lines and understanding the symbolism involved—will comprehend
according to their point in evolution.
As we approach the
subject of the seven Paths, I would point out that the only basic point which
can be presented to you is that of relationship. All these seven Paths lead to some objective
which is thereby put in touch with our planetary life; these objectives—with
the life and conditions they represent—present to the Master a vision of
possibility. This vision is adequate to
the task of drawing Him forth from the hierarchical Ashram, except in one case
where vacancies in Shamballa need to be filled. The progressive experience of the greater
Lives Who work in the Council
Chamber of Sanat Kumara form no part of our studies. Many of these supreme Workers, as you have
read in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, found Their way to our planet from our sister planet, Venus, thereby in Their turn establishing
relationship. Remember also that all the
seven rays are the subrays of the great cosmic Ray of Love-Wisdom, which is
ever expressive of relationship, implemented under the Law of Attraction; it is
this form of esoteric attraction which draws the Master forth from His Ashram,
conditions His decision and eventually leads to His passing through the door
which opens on to other spheres and planes of activity.
Sanat
Kumara, the Lord of the World-reserves the right to retain any Masters (who
have taken the 6th initiation) he regards as essential to the
service of the Hierarchy, and keeps them on the path of Earth Service until he
gives the word, at which time they can move on to their chosen path
(RI 397) Let us
now consider—very briefly and necessarily inadequately—these seven Paths,
taking them one by one:
1. The Path of Earth Service
This is the only
Path which the Lord of
the World regards as
within the field of His spiritual interference.
He reserves the
right to retain in the service of the Hierarchy, and consequently of Humanity and the subsidiary
evolutions, Those Masters Whom He regards at any one time as essential to the
work to be done. This He does by asking
Them to record Their decision when taking the sixth initiation, but to postpone moving on to one or other of the Paths until He gives the word.
The
Buddha will move on to his chosen path soon-Elsewhere DK says the current World
Teacher (the Christ), will maintain his position as World Teacher for the
zodiacal age of Aquarius, after which time the Master K.H will assume role of
World Teacher
This word He has lately given in the case of the Buddha, Who has expiated His most understandable mistake and
will now move forward—in His own good time—on to the Path which will lead Him
to His rightful field of expression. In
due time also, though [Page 398] not for some time, the Christ will move forward "to the place which calls
Him," and the Master
K.H. will assume the role of World Teacher. All these
moves present their unique problems; they produce vacancies in the ranks of the
Hierarchy which must be filled; they lead constantly to the inflow of new and
powerful energies, for it must be recognised that these energies reach us along
Paths leading to our planet as well as away from it. The invocative note of our united evolution
at stated times and cycles sounds out and reaches Those Who are waiting for
spiritual opportunity and service. They
then follow the Path to our planet. From
other spheres and planes They emerge along the lines of Their destiny and
intention; we then call Them Avatars or Great Enlighteners or Planetary
Saviours or Spiritual Regents; They act at the request of Sanat Kumara, given on higher cosmic levels.
“even
Those Who choose the Path of Earth Service and remain in hierarchical work are
eventually given the right to follow Their decision and pass to extra-planetary
service”
(RI 398) It is
nevertheless a statement of fact that in due time even Those Who choose the Path of Earth Service and remain in hierarchical work are eventually given
the right to follow Their decision and pass to extra-planetary service. The Hierarchy, as we have seen, gives the
needed training for that wider service, and the theme of what I might call the
educational process to which the Masters submit is the unfoldment of the
consciousness of the relationships which lie beyond the aura of our planet;
this is, in reality, a higher and most abstruse branch of the Science of
Impression, which disciples upon their lower level have to master. This aspect of impression is, however,
concerned with the formless worlds, whereas all the impressions to which the
disciple has to learn to react emanate from and within the cosmic physical
plane, of which all our seven planes are an integral part; our highest
spiritual world is a part of the substantial world. The Masters, therefore, are working at a
conscious receptivity or sensitivity to the cosmic astral plane, the source of
the spirit or energy of love. There is a
fundamental connection between the Hierarchy (the source of expression of love
on Earth) and the cosmic astral plane, and it is towards this objective that
the Masters work Who choose the Path [Page 399] of Earth Service.
The major ray of our solar system is that of love-wisdom, and there is no better field on which to master the preliminary stages
of that divine unfoldment and receive the needed development and education than
on the Earth.
(RI 399) On the
Earth, the Masters have overcome glamour and illusion, and for Them no astral
plane exists. Now ahead of Them, and
owing to Their freedom from these "bewilderments," will come the
opportunity to enter into the Heart of God, the centre of pure love, and from
that centre to tread the way of love.
All these seven
Paths lead either to the cosmic astral plane or to the cosmic mental plane, according to the decision made at the sixth initiation.
Upon the cosmic astral plane there is no glamour, but instead a great
vortex of energy—the energy of pure love—under the domination of the Law of Attraction. It
might be stated that:
Path 1. The Path of Earth Service leads to the cosmic
astral plane.
Path 2. The Path of Magnetic Work leads to the cosmic
astral plane.
Path 3. The Path for Training for Planetary Logoi
leads to the higher levels of the cosmic mental plane.
Path 4. The Path to Sirius leads to the cosmic astral
plane.
Path 5. The Ray Path leads to the cosmic mental plane.
Path 6. The Path the Logos Himself is on leads to the
cosmic buddhic plane.
Path 7. The Path of Absolute Sonship leads to the cosmic mental plane.
“All
Who work in Shamballa find Their way to this supreme centre by the three most
arduous ways” The most arduous ways are those which lead to the Cosmic Mental
plane-and paths 3,5 & 7
Three Paths,
therefore, lead to the realm of loving attractive energy; one Path leads to its
higher correspondence, the cosmic level of pure reason; three lead to the realm
of divine Mind. Four of the Paths relate the advancing Master to the Heart of the Great Life Who functions through this solar system, and three to His Mind nature.
All of them lead the initiate eventually to the Central Spiritual Sun.
[Page 400] All Who work in Shamballa find Their way to this supreme centre by
the three most arduous
ways, whilst the
remainder reach the same goal via the way of love.
(RI 400) The unfoldment of the will has much to do with Their decision. It must not be thought that Those Masters Who
are on the first, third
and fifth rays, for
instance, follow the Path numerically the same; such is not the case; nor that
Those Who are predominantly on the second line of energy find the cosmic astral
plane Their goal. Such again is not the
case. Their response and decision is
based on a realisation of cosmic need—a need of which you can know nothing, any
more than it is possible for you to comprehend the nature of cosmic evil.
Those
who stay on Earth and follow the Path of Earth Service work with the Hierarchy
As to the detail
of the work of Those Who choose—until released—to stay on Earth and work in or with the
Hierarchy, is there
more that I can tell you? You know much
anent this subject for I have given much—far more than has ever been given
before. I have not dealt with the work
of the Hierarchy in relation to evolutions other than the human, for two
reasons:
Your unfoldment is
still such that you do not and cannot yet include or register the consciousness
or nature of the subhuman kingdoms.
The work done by
the Hierarchy in those kingdoms is largely carried forward via humanity and
modern scientific development.
There are many
Masters Who do not work with the human kingdom at all, but are fully occupied
with carrying out the divine Will in other kingdoms. With this work we have, at present, no
concern. When any one takes the sixth initiation and makes his decision to follow the Path of Earth Service (either temporarily at the request of Sanat Kumara, or until the end of the world cycle), he
will find himself faced with a secondary decision as to which of the four kingdoms
will profitably provide the field of his sacrifice and service. We will now consider:
[Page 401]
(RI 401) 2. The Path of Magnetic Work (leading to the Cosmic astral
plane)
In referring to
this Path, I have stated that Those Who find Their way on to this Path work
with fohat, or with the essential energy of our solar system which
differentiates into seven major types of energy. Our planet with its ruling Lord is an
integral part of the life expression of a still greater Entity, the solar Logos, and it is with the astral energy incident to His cosmic nature that the Master has to
work. He learns to direct the currents
of this essential energy, and because of His past relation to the Earth, He is
part of the directing agency for astral energy within the planetary
ring-pass-not. I also said that many
Masters Who leave reached liberation upon the fifth ray find Their way to this Path, thus proving the statement that it is not
the ray which determines decision. These
fifth ray Masters (among many others, of course) will be working in a great
second ray vortex of energy.
It must be pointed
out that, in its original state, this pure astral energy, directed under law
into our planetary life, is free from all that is at present associated with
the astral plane: glamour and delusion,
emotional fog and poisonous deceiving phenomena. These well-known aspects of the astral plane
are all the creation of humanity down the ages and present, therefore, an
increasingly difficult problem to all aspirants. The tormenting turmoil and chaos of the
astral plane are due largely to three factors:
The force of the
constantly developing glamour as self-centered and undeveloped human beings
create it.
The force of those
aspirants and disciples who are seeking to combat this in their own lives and
in the lives of others.
The inflow of pure
solar astral energy under cyclic law and the direction of the Master working on
the second Path.
(RI 402) These
three factors create great trouble; during the past crisis of the world war
(1914-1945) it reached most serious proportions. The hierarchical crisis to which I have
earlier [Page 402] referred was involved, and many Masters from the various
Ashrams made a decision to work on this second Path in order to bring order out
of chaos by pouring into the planetary astral plane pure astral energy,
untainted by glamour and revelatory of pure love. They were experts in timing and in energy
manipulation.
You will also note
how three types of astral energy are therefore related:
The astral force
of our planet, distinctive of the planetary astral plane in the three worlds of
human enterprise.
The astral force
of the solar Logos, the true God of Love.
The astral energy
of the cosmic astral plane.
These forces are
symbolised to the manipulating Master by a triangle. In the Old Commentary it says:
"The Master
throws Himself—under the liberating Law of Sacrifice—into the vortex of the
astral life of the One to Whom our Lord relates Himself with humble joy. And as the Master works, there forms before
His eyes a triangle of force in shades of varying rose. By His magnetic power, He concentrates the
energy required. Then through this
triangle of force, as through an open door, He sends the potency of love into
our planet, and till His cycle ends He thus must work."
This is but a
rough translation of some very ancient phrases, and is perhaps less symbolic
than it may appear. It is in connection
with this Path that the work of the Triangles which I initiated is related; the
function of these Triangles is in reality to facilitate the work of
distributing the pure incoming love energy (expressing itself as light and as
goodwill) into the Hierarchy and Humanity.
This deeply esoteric purpose of the Triangles will not be understood by
the general public, but some of you who read this will appreciate the
opportunity to serve in this manner consciously.
(RI 403) The Path of Magnetic Work takes the Master, first of all, to the Heart of the Sun, and from thence to the cosmic [Page 403] mental plane, passing through and pausing temporarily
upon the cosmic astral plane. The above
statement does not in reality refer to progress from point to point in an
ordered sequence. It refers to high
states of awareness and to a form of cosmic contact which is registered by the
Master from the point at which He stands upon this second Path, for all the
planes are interpenetrating. This has
been somewhat easy to understand in connection with our seven planes, as the
rarer substances could be visualised as interpenetrating the denser. It is not so easy to comprehend, however,
when we pass out of the cosmic physical plane (in our imagination, needless to
say) and enter those planes of which we know nothing and of whose composition
and substance (if they are substantial, as we understand the term) we are
totally ignorant; besides that, we are not in a position to ascertain the
truth.
The method of the
Master's work upon this Path is also not easily understood. It can be summed up in the following words
which may bring some light via their united meaning (each phrase contributing
an idea), if due reflection is brought to bear upon them:
Isolated
Unity.................................................the position of the
Master
A positive
Focus.............................................the mental attitude
Sound, under the
Law of Attraction.................the means employed
Precipitation....................................................the
intention visioned
Passage through the
Triangle............................the projection ensuing
Directive work
under the Law of Distribution...direction towards the goal
These phrases may
give some vague idea of a process, based on "reception, then direction,
producing rejection and impact where the rejecting agency ordained."
(RI 402) Another
aspect of the work done by the Master on the second Path is the drawing off of
those phases of glamour which no longer have the power to deceive mankind. They are not allowed to accumulate or to remain
upon the astral plane. They are
therefore, through the magnetic power of the Master, withdrawn from our
planetary life and are "occultly [Page 404] absorbed" by the Master;
the substance of the glamour, purified and freed from all that conditioned it on
the planetary astral plane, and with only the pure essence retained, sets the
law in motion which draws this purified remainder into the cosmic astral plane.
Constantly,
therefore, this great circulatory process goes on, demonstrating anew the
essential synthesis underlying all life—human, planetary, systemic and cosmic;
it reveals also that the Law of Attraction, the Law of Magnetic Work, and the
cosmic Law of Synthesis are three aspects of one Law for which, as yet, we have
no name.
It might be said that
the Masters working on the second Path are working in relation to and in
contact with certain great Lives Who work on the periphery of the constellation
Libra, the Balances. This is due to the
fact that Those Masters Who can work with magnetic energies, and with the three
above Laws, have achieved a point of balance which makes Their work possible;
it involves also a poised attention and directive power, permitting the inflow
of energies from Libra which could not otherwise enter our planetary life at
all. These Libran energies enter our
solar system via the Heart of the Sun and are peculiarly amenable to magnetic
attraction and distribution.
All these Paths
gradually came into being when our planetary Logos created the Earth and
started the involutionary process of creation, leading in due time but much
later, to evolution. They are therefore,
all of Them, Paths of Return. This
second Path was one of the first to be used and (again quoting the Old
Commentary) "the door once opening inward now opens outward and permits
the exit of those who hold the key because they entered by that door in aeons
long gone by."
(RI 405) All the
Masters (and not only Those upon the fifth ray) receive careful training in the
manipulation of energies, and hence the statement of the Master K.H. to His
disciples that the occultist has to learn to master and control the forces and
energies within himself; the disciple and the initiate work with hierarchical
energies and with the forces [Page 405] of the kingdoms of nature in the three
worlds; the
Master receives
instruction in the handling of the energies which are extra-planetary but
within the solar ring-pass-not. Those Masters Whose decision it is to tread the second Path are taught
the control and direction of systemic energies and of certain energies emanating from Libra and from one of the stars in the constellation of the Great
Bear. In the more advanced stages of Their work,
and when the Master is far more advanced than the word indicates, He works
consciously upon the cosmic mental plane; His activities will then be concerned
with the relation of the energies of the Great Bear to the Pleiades, and their dual relationship (a higher correspondence
to atma-buddhi) to the solar system and only incidentally to our Earth. Great is the interlocking, the
interdependence and the interpenetration!
3. The Path of Training for Planetary Logoi (this is one of the three most
arduous ways and leads (after some study under Sanat Kumara) to the Cosmic
mental plane after some time on Venus)
It is obviously
impossible to say much about this Path.
Those Masters Who tread it find Their way to the various schools for the
training of planetary
Logoi which are found
within certain of the major
planetary schemes, as
stated in Initiation, Human and Solar.
They are necessarily few in number, and a small group of Them remains to
study in our particular planetary enterprise under Sanat Kumara. This They do
after making Their decision and passing through the door on the periphery of
our planetary ring-pass-not. Then—out of
incarnation and working through the medium of the higher telepathy—They receive
instruction of a nature incomprehensible to us, from the Members of the Council Chamber at Shamballa, and primarily from two of the Buddhas of Activity.
Having learnt the technique and having passed certain tests, They move into the planetary life of Venus, our Earth's Alter-Ego, and there They
complete Their training, as far as our solar system can give it, finding Their
way eventually on to the cosmic mental plane.
Two things should
be borne in mind in connection with this abstruse subject:
(RI 406) First: These Masters work primarily with the
"psyche" [Page 406] or the soul aspect within the solar system. They are occupied with the subtler
expressions of consciousness, with occult impressibility and that acute
sensitivity which produces instant and accurate registration of all soul
reactions within any particular planetary life.
These kingdoms are not necessarily identical with those found on the
Earth, but they are, in all cases, vast groups of living forms which are
manifestations or expressions of the nature of any particular planetary
Logos. The Masters taking this training
are not occupied with individual states of consciousness within any group. It is the consciousness of the whole, and its
responsiveness to cosmic impacts, that engages Their attention. They are not (if I might so express it)
interested in any individual unit of any kind or in its individual reactions,
responsiveness or susceptibility to impression.
They are only concerned with those higher processes of identification
which indicate an advanced state of evolutionary development. Their work is to further progressive
development of identification. They
begin with the identification of the Monad within our planetary sphere with the
Purpose and the Will of the Lord of the World, and proceed—as Their training produces the desired
capabilities—with greater identifications within the solar system. Beyond that we need not proceed.
“Forget
not that relating our planet to the planet Venus is a planetary antahkarana,
passing from thence to the Heart of the Sun” the heart of the Sun is Neptune
Their whole
training is concerned
with the planetary,
systemic and cosmic building of the antahkarana, for it is via the antahkarana that spirit
works, that life processes are controlled, and the will of all developing
aspects of Deity function. Forget not
that relating our planet
to the planet Venus is a planetary antahkarana, passing from thence to the Heart of the Sun and later to the cosmic mental plane.
There are "rainbow bridges" carrying the sevenfold energies of
the seven rays from planet to planet, from system to system, and from plane to
plane on cosmic levels. It is over these
bridges that the will of the related spiritual Identities is projected,
producing that synthesis
of effort which is
distinctive of the cooperative systemic life.
The
work of those in training for the 3rd path is to develop sensitivity
to the purpose of the Solar Logos and transmit that purpose to the Council
Chamber at Shamballa
(RI 407) The work of the Masters in training from our
planet is, among other [Page 407] things, to unfold within Themselves not only
sensitivity to systemic purpose, but the ability to transmit that Purpose to the Council Chamber at Shamballa. They have—in
an extraplanetary sense—a definite correspondence with and relation to the
group of Nirmanakayas within our planet Who work in contemplative activity with
the antahkarana which connects the Hierarchy with Shamballa and Humanity with the Hierarchy.
As planetary
Logoi when Their Own
time comes, these Masters will be concerned with the registration of the Purpose and expressed
Will of some solar Logos. They will then, through the planetary and
systemic antahkarana, supervise the gradual evolutionary impartation of that
Will (which is now Theirs) to all the forms through which They function in any
particular planet for which They have assumed responsibility. This definitely involves working with the
soul aspect and with the unfoldment of conscious responsiveness and sensitive
reaction to all the higher impressions.
Second: These Masters are the directing builders and Creators eventually of all forms of planetary
life—forms embodying qualities and intentions as yet undreamed of by us. They have developed in Themselves a perfected
synthesis of the two energies of atma-buddhi, or of spiritual will and
spiritual love, completely unified and energetically active in a comprehensive
condition seldom attained by any other group of Masters in training.
Masters
on the 3rd Cosmic Path have
to become Buddhas of Activity
(there
are only three on our planet) and have to serve in that capacity in some
planetary scheme before becoming Planetary Logoi and embodying some planet as
Sanat Kumara does-
It must be
realised that the Buddhas
of Activity, of Whom
there are only three on
our planet, are
similarly active. They are active
love-wisdom or a complete synthesis of active intelligence, active love and
active will. The Masters on this third Path will, therefore, some day complete Their training for planetary Logoi by attaining the status of Buddhas of Activity, and will for a period serve in that
capacity in some planetary scheme, before taking the control and guidance of
Their Own body of manifestation.
The
training for the 3rd path gives the Master experience of the methods
used by the planetary logoi of the seven sacred planets
(RI 408) The training of these Masters on the third Path might be described as an intensive study
of a most exalted form of the Science of Impression. The supreme task of a planetary [Page 408]
Logos is to impress His
sevenfold body of manifestation, via its seven states of consciousness and the seven
centres, with His will and intention; these are progressively imparted as the
etheric body is brought into an increasing state of receptivity through the
awakening of the seven
planetary centres, primarily
the three major centres. The Masters
thus in training gain experience of the methods used by the planetary Logoi of all the seven sacred
planets, and the
training is therefore an exceedingly
lengthy one. It must be remembered however that—except in
dense physical incarnation and, therefore, conditioned by the brain and its
special limitations—the spiritual man is not conscious of time, once He is
separated from the physical body. Time
is the sequential registration by the brain of states of awareness and of
progressive contacts with phenomena.
There is no such thing as time on the inner planes, as humanity
understands it. There are only cycles of
activity or of non-activity; this non-activity for Masters on the third Path
takes the form of cyclic periods of contemplation and mental activity, followed
by active periods of energy direction to impress the will of certain planetary Logoi and Their agents upon the Council Chamber of our planet in particular, and upon other planets, as
Their training is perfected.
It is the
impulsive incentive of these Masters which bridges and links between the Monad
on the monadic plane and the three worlds of dense expression on the cosmic
physical plane; in this process the antahkarana between the spiritual man in
incarnation and the spiritual Triad is aided and finally constructed, but this
is only incidental to the far greater work of relating Shamballa to all kingdoms in nature and to other planets.
The number of
Masters deciding on this Path is, as I said, not large; the training is peculiarly arduous and is followed, when opportunity is
offered to function as a
planetary Logos, by an
act of sacrifice which confines Them indefinitely to the limitations of the
ring-pass-not of Their body of manifestation, a planet. It is for this reason that Sanat Kumara has ever been called "The Great
Sacrifice."
(RI 409) Certain
Hierarchical Changes
Before proceeding
with our consideration of the seven cosmic Paths, I would like to pause here
and clarify your mind, A.A.B., and answer certain questions which you are
formulating.
Some years ago (in
1925) I gave out to the world through your instrumentality A Treatise on Cosmic
Fire. In that volume I elaborated upon
the very elementary information given upon this subject in Initiation, Human
and Solar—a book published earlier (in 1922).
In both these volumes I touched upon the cosmic Paths. I gave (in very abstruse terms) some
information; the terms were so abstruse that few can understand their
meaning. The true significance is only
for advanced initiates, of which I am not one, from Their point of view, though
from yours I may be. In Initiation,
Human and Solar very little was said, because the book was written for the
general public and thus only a few ideas were indicated to point direction. Now, in A Treatise on the Seven Rays I have
added to that already given; this book is, however, intended for a much larger
number than those who read (and claim, erroneously, to understand) A Treatise
on Cosmic Fire. In what I have to say,
the teaching is carefully guarded. Two
things should, however, be pointed out here in order to save confusion:
1. It had not been
the intention of the Hierarchy to give any further information anent these
Paths; it was felt that enough had been said about this naturally
incomprehensible subject. Owing,
however, to the fundamental changes in the hierarchical plans, this decision
was altered. I was permitted to add to
that already given. This was due to two
causes:
(RI 410) a. The
tremendous unfoldment of the human consciousness during the last twenty-five
years warrants more information; so many aspirants were being admitted to the
Path of Discipleship and were finding their way into the Ashrams, thus forcing
the passage of many initiates on to the Way of the Higher Evolution. [Page 410]
This in itself is a most joyous happening, but necessitated many ashramic
adjustments.
b. Owing to this
advancement, owing to the increased sensitivity of the human mechanism, and
owing to the decisions humanity is in process of making (as a result of the
frightful testing period of the war, 1914-1945), the Hierarchy—far earlier than
had been hoped or anticipated—has prepared Itself for physical plane
manifestation, or for what is called by Them "the process of
externalisation."
This has
necessarily produced problems, and among them the strictly hierarchical problem
of the passage of the initiate of the sixth degree on to the cosmic Paths. You will find, if you study closely the three
presentations of the teaching (in Initiation, Human and Solar, A Treatise on
Cosmic Fire, and A Treatise on the Seven Rays) what may appear to you as
contradictions or differences. This is
not truly so, but the casual reader may feel them to be present even though the
differences are apparent more than real.
Two causes account for this:
a. The decision to
throw open initiations higher than the fifth to the ready Master, and to
familiarise the world of aspirants with their existence. Little has ever been given beyond the fifth
initiation. Many initiates are becoming
Masters, and many disciples are achieving the first initiation, and this fact
confronts the three Great Lords Who rule the Hierarchy with a definite problem.
b. To make the
sixth initiation and not the fifth initiation the Initiation of Decision. Here I must state the existence of a hierarchical
problem: the use of the will aspect in
the unfoldment of the initiate. It must
be remembered that this first ray aspect is:
(RI 411) A definite and most potent energy. It is the most potent energy in the planetary
life and is carefully held in leash by Those Who are in a position to wield it.
[Page 411]
The medium whereby
the purpose of creation is finally revealed.
The force which
enables the Hierarchy to present the Plan in the three worlds.
The needed dynamic
whereby the "deciding" Master sets His foot upon the Path of the
Higher Evolution.
(RI 411) Owing to
the success of the
influence of this Shamballa energy upon humanity when the experiment was made to test its impact without stepping it down through the medium of the
Hierarchy, the entire course of man's spiritual history was most peculiarly
altered. This had not been anticipated, for—as oft I have told you—the Masters
know not which way mankind will go, nor may They interfere by action or
thinking in humanity's decision. It was
therefore necessary to control more definitely the passage of initiates on to
the seven Paths; only a certain number are required to fulfill cosmic
intention; it was therefore decided to make the rules of entrance more
difficult and more rigid.
The
6th initiation is now the initiation of Decision whereas it used to
be the 5th-There are now nine Cosmic Paths to choose from and not
seven
Forget not,
brother of mine, that this is not the first time that this has happened. Changes were made in Atlantean times; the door of entrance for the animal kingdom or for animal man into the human kingdom was stopped. No
more units have since then been admitted from third kingdom into the fourth,
except in a few cases and for specific reasons.
Here, however, you have a reverse situation. The Hierarchy, owing to its constitution at
that time and to the fact that very few, relatively, of our Earth humanity were
members of the Hierarchy, could not influence directly the more developed human
beings or train more aspirants. They
therefore closed the door. That
particular condition does not now exist, and the supreme Directors of the seven cosmic Paths are today in the same position as was the
Hierarchy then; the word has gone forth to our three Great Lords—the Manu, the
Christ and the Mahachohan—via the three Buddhas of Activity, to act in order to tighten up on
requirements, to make
the sixth initiation and not the fifth, the decisive one, and to present those on the seven rays with
[Page 412] a wider range of choices and a greater diversity of choice. Thus the Masters will have nine choices to face when They face Their decision;
there will then be no need for Those on certain rays to pass to certain already
determined Paths, but They can move forward under Their Own inspiration and
with greater freedom. The cosmic mental plane is not barred to
Them, as has hitherto
been the case.
All
these changes are a result of the inflow of Shamballa energy since the
centennial conference in 1825
All these changes
have been due to the successful response of our planetary life, expressed
through the human kingdom at this time, to the processes of evolution and to
the inflow (since 1825) of the will energy from Shamballa. This, in its
turn, is due to the progress of Sanat Kumara
Himself, within His Own identified life upon the cosmic Path which emerges from
the cosmic mental plane. All that we can
contact and know is interdependent, and the unfoldment of the Life in Whom we
live and move and have our being affects every aspect and department of His
manifestation, just as the successful spiritual unfoldment of a human being and
his ability to contact his soul produces incredible changes in the personality
and affects every aspect and organ of his little manifestation upon the
physical plane.
2. The
intelligence of humanity now is of such a nature that certain earlier
initiations no longer exist, and mankind has shown itself to possess the
potentialities which will enable its individual units to tread not only the one
or two cosmic Paths hitherto open to them, but all of them, if given the right
training. This the premature discovery
of the release of atomic energy has well demonstrated to the Hierarchy.
A
conference in the Council Chamber of the Solar Logos has led to greater
opportunity in Shamballa on our planet
All these factors
have forced a reorganisation in the Plans at Shamballa and, in a unique conference, in that far greater Council Chamber over which our Solar Logos presides; greater opportunity was consequently offered to the
Members of our planetary Hierarchy. I
stress that point: the opportunity was
not offered or presented to the fourth kingdom in nature, but to the fifth
kingdom.
DK
here seems to be suggesting that the training of a Master for the 6th
initiation includes the information found in his book A Treatise on Cosmic Fire
(RI 413) It is all
these facts which have caused what may look to you like discrepancies and
limitations in what I have given and [Page 413] in comparison with that given
in the earlier volumes of this Treatise, but they are not so in reality. The Master of the fifth initiation, even if
now He does not at that time make His decision, faces intelligently and with
some understanding of the choices to be made, the sixth
nitiation and its
decisions. He begins to take also the particular
training, and to this the teaching in A Treatise on Cosmic
Fire now applies. He is shewn the newer opportunity, the modes
of decision, and the limitations which are no longer legitimate. I would like to point out here that these
changes are a cause of deep joy to the Hierarchy and to the Great (RI 413) Lives
in the Council Chamber at Shamballa, for they indicate the strength and potency
of Sanat Kumara's success and the incredible progress made
in the consciousness of humanity as a consequence; this will lead also to
future paralleling decisions on the physical plane in human affairs; this
deeply spiritual and mysterious success (mysterious because the human mind
knows naught about it) was also the reason for the violent attempt of the
Forces of Evil to gain control, and their resultant failure.
4. The Path to Sirius (this path leads to the Cosmic
astral plane)
I have frequently
hinted in my various books that the Sun, Sirius, is closely related to our planetary Life; much is
known in the Hierarchy anent this connection, and the particular relationship
of this fourth Path to humanity, the fourth kingdom in nature, but little can
be communicated to the general public. I
may, however, tell you certain things which may make your imaginative rangings
(if I may use so strange a phrase) creatively profitable to you.
On
the subjective level our planet is already considered to be a sacred one
(RI 414) This great Sun which is to our solar Logos
what the Monad is to the spiritual man, has a peculiar part to play where our Earth is
concerned. It might be considered by
those with a sound sense of occult proportion that our tiny planet with its
planetary Logos (one of the "imperfect Gods" of The Secret Doctrine)
would be too small to enter in the slightest way into the consciousness of that
Supreme Illumined Entity Who is greater even than our Solar Logos. [Page 414]
Such, however, is the case. There is a relationship of very ancient date between our Lord of the World, Sanat Kumara, and the Lord of Sirius, and this exists in spite of the fact that our planet
is not a sacred planet. It might be
added that our planet is, in the immediate cycle, owing to the factors I have
lately considered with you, rapidly passing out of this category, and on the
inner planes and subjectively considered is a sacred planet; the effects of this transition from non-sacred to
sacred have not fully demonstrated themselves objectively. The mystery of this relationship is partially
revealed at one of the higher initiations and it is then realised by the
initiates that there is a good and adequate reason for the relation and that
the following esoteric events, relations and happenings are simply
consequences:
Sanat
Kumara is the logos of a non –sacred planet and is almost the logos of a sacred
planet so must be near to taking the 5th initiation
(EA 504) "The Logos of a non-sacred planet...has taken three cosmic initiations."
(EA 504) "The Logos of a sacred planet... has taken five cosmic initiations."
(CF 384) Our planetary Logos has for objective seven initiations, the second cosmic Initiation being his goal.
Man has for objective five initiations, the first cosmic Initiation being his goal.
(WM 390) our planetary Logos Himself is focussed in His mental Body. He, it has been said, is striving towards the fourth cosmic initiation, which makes possible our attainment of the fourth Initiation.
(EOH 568). It is a cycle also in which the planetary Logos, having successfully taken
initiation ...which our planet will become [Page 568] a sacred
planet.
(CF 374) The Logos of our scheme, Sanat Kumara, will take a major initiation in the middle of the fifth round, but is preparing for a minor one at this time.
In
this Solar System Sanat Kumara should take the 4thand 5th
initiations-because he will take the 6th and 7th in the
next solar system
(CF 590) This achieved, our
Logos has triumphed, and measured up to the sixth Cosmic initiation, just as
he should measure up in this
system to
the fourth.
Our planetary logos is to take his 4th initiation in
during this 4th Chain, the 4th Chain presumably
corresponding to his heart chakra.
(CF 384)
The planetary Logos of our scheme.....is midway through His career upon the cosmic
Path of Initiation, and consequently is to take
the fourth Initiation in this Chain (the 4th)...this globe...through it our planetary Logos is undergoing...the Crucifixion.
Each
initiation has four minor initiations contained within it
(CF 387)
This caused an acceleration of
vibration, and enabled the Heavenly Man of our scheme to take a
minor initiation, and to set about His preparations for a major initiation.
(CF 725) At the initiation of a planetary logos, an avatar may appear in His scheme on the seventh globe from The cosmic centre or star which is ensouled by the particular Rishi Who (in the constellation of the Great Bear) Is his cosmic prototype.
A
planetary Logos-such as Sanat Kumara-can take up to four initiations in this
Solar System-
(CF 726) The number if initiations taken by a planetary Logos in this system vary from
two to four.
The
majority of liberated humanity choose the 4th Cosmic Path
(RI 414) 1. The majority of liberated humanity, and therefore a large number of the
initiates who have to make decision, choose this way to the cosmic centre.
It
is the Hierarchy which is linked to the Sirius, not Shamballa, which is linked
to the Great Bear
(RI 414) 2. The
relationship as it expresses itself is between the Hierarchy and Sirius, and not between Shamballa and that stupendous Sun. The energy evoked in response to this
relationship enters the Hierarchy via the Heart of the Sun, creating as a
consequence a triangle of spiritual energy of enormous potency. You have, therefore:
Sirius
*
The Hierarchy * * Heart of the Sun
3. As progress is
made in the course of taking the higher initiations, it becomes apparent to the
initiate that two major
streams of energy
enter our planetary life:
The
principle of LIFE comes from the Great Bear via the Cosmic mental plane and is found in all forms on the planet
a. A stream of
energy coming from the cosmic
mental plane and from
that focal point which is to Sanat Kumara
what the egoic lotus, the soul, is to the spiritual man; it carries the life
principle of our planet and centres itself in Shamballa. From there it
is dispersed throughout all forms upon the planet and we call it LIFE. It must be
remembered that this life principle embodies or is impregnated with the will and purpose [Page 415] of THAT which overshadows Sanat
Kumara as the soul overshadows the personality.
The
principle of buddhi comes from Sirius via the cosmic astral plane and is found
at the heart of every atom
b. A stream of energy coming from the sun,
Sirius; this enters
directly into the Hierarchy and carries with it the principle of buddhi, of cosmic love.
This, in a mysterious way, is the principle found at the heart of every atom.
The life principle
follows the line of 1.3.5.7, whilst the buddhic flow follows the line of
2.4.6. Thus atma-buddhi becomes the
blended reality which is brought to full unfoldment as evolution proceeds. The energy of Sirius by-passes (to use a modern word) Shamballa and is focussed in the Hierarchy. Its effect is not felt until after the third
initiation, though the Masters use this energy whilst training disciples for
the second, the fourth and the sixth initiations.
4. The entire work
of the Great White Lodge
is controlled from Sirius;
the Ashrams are subjected to its cyclic inflow; the higher initiations are
taken under its stimulation, for the principle of buddhi, of pure love (i.e.,
love-wisdom) must be active in the heart of every initiate prior to the
initiation of the great decision; it is therefore only initiates of the fifth,
sixth and higher initiations who can work consciously with the potent buddhic
"livingness" which permeates all Ashrams, though unrecognised by the
average disciple.
The
Christ will eventually take the 4th Cosmic Path to Sirius-
5. This Sirian influence was not recognised, and little of it was
definitely focussed in the Hierarchy, until Christ came and revealed the love of God to humanity. He is the expression, par excellence, of a Sirian initiation, and it is to that high place He will
eventually go—no matter what duties or hierarchical obligations may take Him
elsewhere between that time and now. The
Buddha was originally to have chosen the fourth Path but other plans confront Him now and will probably
claim His choice.
6. Sanat Kumara is not on the Sirian line but—to speak in symbols, not too deeply
veiled—Lucifer, Son of the Morning, is closely related, and hence the large
number of human beings who will become disciples in the Sirian Lodge.
This [Page 416] is the true "Blue Lodge," and to become a
candidate in that Lodge, the initiate of the third degree has to become a lowly
aspirant, with all the true and full initiations awaiting him "within the
sunshine of the major Sun."
7. None of the
above facts indicates divergence of view between Shamballa and the Hierarchy, nor do they signify cleavage or
differing aims and goals. The whole
subject is reflected in such minor relations on Earth as those between:
a. The Spiritual
Triad and the Personality.
b. The mental unit
and the manasic permanent atom.
c. Atma-Buddhi.
d. The Christ and
the Buddha.
(RI 416) The above
somewhat uncorrelated items of information will give you a general idea of the
significant connection between our unimportant little planet and that vast
expression of divinity, the Life which is
manifesting through Sirius; it is an expression which is organised
and vital beyond anything man can vision and which is free to a completely
unlimited extent, again beyond the power of man to comprehend. The principle of freedom is a leavening
energy which can permeate substance in a unique manner; this divine principle
represents an aspect of the influence which Sirius exerts on our solar system
and particularly on our planet. This principle of freedom is one of the attributes of Deity (like
will, love and mind) of which humanity knows as yet little. The freedom for which men fight is one of the
lowest aspects of this cosmic freedom, which is related to certain great
evolutionary developments that enable the life or spirit aspect to free itself
from the impact, the contact and the influence of substance.
(RI 417) It is the
principle of freedom which enables Sanat Kumara to dwell on the Earth and yet stand free from all
contacts, except with Those Who have trodden the Path of Liberation and now
stand free upon the cosmic physical plane; it is that which enables the
initiate to achieve a state of "isolated unity"; it is that which
lies behind the Spirit of Death and forms the motivating power of that great
releasing Agency; it is that which provides a "pathway of power" [Page
417] between our Hierarchy and the distant sun, Sirius, and gives the incentive
towards the "culture of freedom" or of liberation which motivates the
work of the Masters of the Wisdom; it is that which produced the ferment and
the vortex of conflict in far distant ages and which has been recognised in the
present through the results of the Law of Evolution in every kingdom in nature;
this is that which "substands" or lies under or behind all
progress. This mysteriously "exerted
influence," this "pulling away" from form (as we might simply
call it), emanates from Sirius and for it we have no name; it is the law of
which the three cosmic laws—the Laws of Synthesis, of Attraction and of Economy—are only aspects.
None of these three subsidiary laws imposes any rule or limitation upon
the Lord of the World. The Law of
Freedom, however, does impose certain restrictions, if one can use such a
paradoxical phrase. It is responsible
for His being known as the "Great Sacrifice," for (under the control of this law) He created
our planetary life and all that is within and upon it, in order to learn to
wield this law with full understanding, in full consciousness, and yet at the
same time to bring release to the myriad forms of His creation.
The Law of Economy
affects humanity as a whole today throughout every phase of its life; the Law
of Attraction is beginning to gain some control, particularly in the work which
the Hierarchy undertakes to do; and many initiates and senior disciples are
becoming aware of the significance of the Law of Synthesis and are reacting to
its impact. Later on, when moving to one
of the seven Paths, the Master will work with the Law of Freedom. This is not, as you may well surmise, its
true name, for in the last analysis, freedom and liberation are effects of its
activity. This unique and mysterious law
governs the Life and the Lives upon Sirius, and it is to that unknown
"sphere of functioning and intelligent activity" what the Law of
Economy is to our planet—the lowest of the laws controlling existence in
planetary form.
(RI 418) This Law
of Economy includes, as you know from my earlier writings, many lesser or
subsidiary laws; it might therefore be stated that this Law of Freedom also
does the [Page 418] same. Until more
divine attributes are realised as existing and recognised as aspects, it is not
possible for the name of the law which embodies the Law of Freedom to be given,
for there is no word in our language adequately available. The above information will, however, link
Sirius and our little planet, the Earth, in your minds.
Masonry, as
originally instituted far back in the very night of time and long ante-dating
the Jewish dispensation, was organised under direct Sirian influence and modelled as far as possible on certain
Sirian institutions and bearing a slight resemblance also to our hierarchical
life—as seen in the light of the Eternal Now.
Its "Blue Lodge" with its three degrees is related to the three major groups of Lives on Sirius, for there are there no kingdoms of nature,
such as we possess; these groups receive all Those Who choose the fourth Path, and train Them in the mode of existence and the type
of livingness which is found on Sirius.
This will make it plain to you that the least developed of the Sirian
Lives are—from our standpoint—all of Them initiates of very high degree. Masonry is, therefore, connected in a
peculiar way with the fourth Path. Down
the ages, the Masonic tradition has been preserved, changing its nomenclature
from time to time, reinterpreting its Words of Power, and consequently getting
further and further removed from its original beauty and intent.
(RI 418) The time
has now come, under cyclic law and in preparation for the New Age, for certain
changes to be worked by Masons with spiritual understanding. The present Jewish colouring of Masonry is
completely out of date and has been preserved far too long, for it is today
either Jewish or Christian and should be neither. The Blue Lodge degrees are entirely Jewish in phrasing and wording, and this
should be altered. The Higher Degrees are predominantly Christian, though permeated with Jewish names and
words. This too should end. This Jewish colouring is today one of the
main hindrances to the full expression of Masonic intention and should be
changed, whilst preserving the facts and detail and structure of the Masonic
symbolism intact. Whatever [Page 419]
form the new nomenclature will take (and this change will inevitably come),
that too will pass away after due service rendered. Thus the cyclic transformation will proceed
until such time as the bulk
of humanity, standing upon the fourth Path, will pass through the initiatory process on Sirius,
of which our E.A degree is a faint reflection.
(RI 419) 5. The Ray
Path (this
is one of the three most arduous ways and leads to the Cosmic mental plane)
The history of
evolution upon the Earth, from the angle of humanity is one of progress,
emphatic revolutionary decisions and climaxing crises. Without such a history we should not realise
the progress made and the steady though gradual growth of sensitive response to
environment, to contact and to impressions—mental and spiritual. The history of evolution is in reality and
from the occult point of view the history of the freeing of the spirit by the
mode of steadily developing forms which—in orderly unfoldment and at the demand
of spirit—meet its requirements in any particular cycle and at every stage of
growth, consequent upon the response of substance to spiritual impact and
impression.
This impact and
this impression relate to the bringing together of substance and spirit, of
form and matter, and is also closely connected with the cyclic appearance of
the rays, with their varying ray influences, qualities and intentions, for they
all contribute to the evolutionary process as they cycle in and out of
manifested expression. It should be
recognised that each ray Lord, whilst following His own path of development,
has certain qualities to express and certain aspects of life to unfold and
manifest. The effect of these intentions
of the ray Lords or Lives upon our planet is, from Their angle, purely
incidental and takes place without planning, being due to definite cyclic,
circulatory and cosmic activities wherein They are eternally engaged. Their intention and purposes are not,
therefore, in any way related to humanity—a fact which men are apt to forget.
Many
1st and 2nd Ray Souls find their way onto the 5th
Cosmic Path, although souls from other rays occasionally do too
(RI 420) It is,
however, with these ray intentions that the Initiate of the sixth degree is occupied when He passes on to the fifth
or Ray Path. His decision and the
intention of the ray [Page 420] Lord at first, and the united intention of all
of Them eventually, are curiously and uniquely connected. The Master on this Path works at the
comprehension of the intention and the life purposes of the ray Lords. Many first ray souls find their way on to this Path, for there is a close connection between
the decision at the sixth initiation and this fifth Path; this might be
expected for two reasons: one, that every Master is on one of the three major
rays, and secondly,
every Master has to develop an understanding of the world of cosmic
Purpose. It is a connection based upon
the use of the will; it is the will-to-power, the will-to-love and the
will-to-know, plus the other four aspects of will* which form the elementary
basis of the training given on this fifth Path.
Souls from other
rays reach the same
goal and occasionally
choose this Path, but
it is not the one which constitutes for Them the line of least resistance, as
it often is for Masters on the first ray.
Masters from the first ray and the second ray tread it often, and each of Them has a different mode of
approach, technique and type of realisation:
1.First ray
souls have to negate
their "isolated unity" and study the beauty and value of
differentiation. This period of training
is followed by a mysterious process called "multiple identification." Note how the adjective here conveys the many and
the plural whilst the noun gives the concept of unity and the singular. In these two words, apparently contradictory
though esoterically significant, there is embodied one aspect of the initiation
to be experienced on this ray Path.
(RI 421) 2. The second ray Master who decides to go this way has to negate
his attractive, magnetic tendencies and learn the meaning of "isolated
intention with a multiplicity of goals."
I know not how else to translate the archaic phrase which describes the
objective of the Master's training on this Path. The exclusive has to become the inclusive in
an [Page 421] entirely newly apprehended world of realisation, whilst the
inclusive has to master the technique of exclusiveness and become exclusive in
a new realm of realisation; it is an exclusiveness which has in it no slightest
element of the great heresy of separateness.
Masters
who take the 5th Cosmic Path have to learn to comprehend some of the
qualities or intentions of the Ray Lords-which leads to working in the equivalent
of Shamballa on some sacred planet or in some solar system
(RI 421) I may not
here even indicate the type or quality of the intentions of the ray Lords which
the Master of the sixth initiation has to learn to comprehend. The training given Him ends in another
tremendous decision which will place Him in a group of Lives on some sacred planet or in some solar system which will be a correspondence to Shamballa on our little planet.
Shamballa embodies the will or purpose of our
planetary Logos. The goal which these
initiates (trained on the ray Path) eventually reach is some sphere of activity
wherein sublime purposes
and divine intentions are
worked out.
6. The Path the Logos Himself is on (this path leads to the Cosmic
Buddic plane-and to becoming a Solar Logos)
It should be
remembered as this peculiarly abstruse subject is approached that the Solar
Logos is as far removed (in the evolutionary sense) from our planetary Logos as
the latter is from the point of attainment of an accepted disciple. Yet the two are linked by a subjective unity
and similarity of objective. At certain
points upon the Way of the Higher Evolution Their two lines of energy meet and
blend. Our Solar Logos also plays a
peculiarly interesting part in the development of our entire planetary
life. For the sake of clarity, yet at
the same time speaking symbolically, Sanat Kumara might be regarded as a personal disciple of the Solar
Logos, with all that that indicates of cosmic responsibility.
Sanat
Kumara is training to be a Solar Logos-the ensouling life of a Solar System-Not
all planetary Logoi become Solar Logoi
We had much
difficulty in considering understandingly the path trodden by Those Masters Who
decided to tread the Path of training for planetary Logoi. It is therefore far more difficult and
practically impossible to say anything anent this Path which is trodden by
Those Great Beings Who are in
training for Solar Logoi. Of These, Sanat Kumara is One. Not all the
planetary Logoi tread the Path of Solar Logoi, for just as exalted positions
await Them elsewhere in the universe.
It
is now possible to transfer directly to the 6th Cosmic Path
directly-previously one had to enter the deva evolution then transfer to the 5th
Path, then to the 6th Path
Those
Masters, as I have
said in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, Who tread this Path are rare indeed, and hitherto have had to enter this Path
via the angel or deva
evolution and by
transference then to the fifth
or ray Path. Changes have however been made, and a Master
can now pass on to this sixth Path directly and without entering the deva
evolution.
Those
who take the 6th Path enter the Council Chamber or Shamballa aspect
of some of the Sacred Planets
This sixth Path is
one on which the Masters in training have to work with the devas who are so frequently the mobile agents of the
creative process in solar creation. The
Masters Who enter upon this Path, eventually and as part of Their training, enter the Council Chamber of some of the sacred planets, before transferring into the group which
guides our Solar Logos; this in its turn is only a temporary
phase, though in both cases the time embraced may cover vast periods, from the
point of view of humanity. They work
with principles unknown to us on Earth, though two of these principles will
later be revealed; many of them are controlling factors on other spheres and in
other planetary schemes which are more advanced than ours; the Master in
training then acts as the custodian of these "energetic principles"
or as distributing agent; in this way Venus was the custodian of what we call
the principle of Mind and brought it as a pure gift to embryonic humanity.
7. The Path of Absolute Sonship (leading to the Cosmic astral plane)
(RI 423) As I have
previously pointed out, not much can be given out concerning this mysterious
Path which leads into a triangle (if I may so express it) formed of three lines
of energy of differing and greatly varying vibratory effectiveness. This triangle is in the nature of an open
door, presenting unique and unprecedented opportunity to Those Who discover
this Path. Just as one of the seven Paths produced ultimately relationship to the Pleiades, so this Path relates our solar system to the constellation of the Great Bear. You have,
therefore, the following triangle composed [Page 423] of one stream of energy emanating from the
Great Bear, another
stream of energy issuing from the Heart of the Sun or from our Solar Logos, and the base line constituted of the
seven streams of energy which come from our seven sacred planets. The potency and the effectiveness of this
triangle is therefore unique and apparent; it produces relation between our
system, our planets and the universe.
This "open" triangle presents opportunity to Those Lives Who,
from the other side of the triangle to that presented to our solar system and
its contents, seek to help our solar system and bring the non-sacred planets to
the point of liberation which is their particular goal. Through this triangular door all the great Avatars enter our system and "find the Point
where They can serve."
The inflow of
extra-solar energy is what produces the seven cosmic Paths. There is no
such grouping as the seven solar Paths.
In most cases, the Paths lead away from our solar system altogether.
If you will study
the more abstruse teaching (more veiled and more symbolic than this) you will
find certain statements made which—to the esotericist—will throw much light on
the simpler presentations in this Treatise on the Seven Rays. It is simpler because only those points are
given which carry in them the germ of possible enlightenment to the general
public. A Treatise on Cosmic Fire is not
written for the general public; it is strictly a presentation of truth for the
initiated disciple. Its line is strictly
a first ray and third ray presentation, whilst this Treatise is strictly a
second ray approach. This is a statement
warranting careful thought, and one that has as yet received no recognition.
(RI 424) Among the
changes necessitated by the abnormally rapid development of mankind, with its
consequent stepping up of the qualities of disciples, is the fact that no
longer does the Master—faced at the sixth initiation with a stupendous decision
to make—enter upon the indicated Path entirely blindly, as heretofore. He is now given a revelation of the true
united goal of the seven Paths and likewise a vision of their varying
intermediate, individual goals. Hence
the name of the fifth initiation is that of the "Initiation of
Revelation." He can thus make His
decision with opened eyes and unblinded by the glory.
One point requires
elucidation here. The whole standard of
the mental equipment of entering disciples is so much higher than it used to
be, owing to the mental and intuitive development of man, that this fact has
forced corresponding changes within the Hierarchy itself. The Masters Who are now moving forward on to
the Path of the Higher Evolution are equally of much greater unfoldment; the
will aspect is present to a great degree (little as you may realise it), and
this is a new factor, conditioning much.
Love and intelligence distinguished the Masters up to three hundred
years ago. Love and intelligence and
will distinguish Them today. This again
is another reason for the comprehensive changes made and it is interesting to
note that the bulk of the changes are due to the response of men to the
hierarchical work. It is humanity that
has forced these events of so far-reaching a nature; mankind has also forced
revelations which it had been believed could not be given to men for thousands
of years or until the sixth
rootrace had come into
being. An instance of the expansion of
the information given can be noted in connection with the second Path. Nothing is mentioned in my earlier
presentation of the seven Paths in Initiation, Human and Solar of a
conditioning constellation. In A
Treatise on Cosmic Fire, I mention that energy enters our system from an
unknown source, via Gemini. In this
latest contribution on the subject I mention that Libra, the Balances, is
involved. Thus there are found on this
Path of [Page 425] Magnetic Work two blended influences, those of Gemini and
Libra. You have, therefore:
(RI 425) The dual
energy of Gemini is brought to a point of balance by means of the influence of Libra,
and this balanced and dual energy is released then into our solar system. This entering stream of balanced energies
forms the second Path. I have given you
much information in the above statement.
I have asked
A.A.B. to incorporate at the close of this instruction a passage from A
Treatise on Cosmic Fire, for this teaching anent the seven Paths is as a
climaxing comment. I shall not enlarge
upon it, but if you have spiritual imagination and speculative ability you can
comprehend much. I have also asked
A.A.B. to add to this instruction the seven tabulations earlier given so as to
complete and round out this triple presentation. I do not urge you to study or to give much
time to the consideration of the seven paths.
The treading of one or other of those Paths lies far ahead of you, and
it would be a waste of time. I would
however remind you that every effort to live rightly, beautifully and usefully,
to control the mind and to achieve loving understanding, lays the foundation
for right decision at the sixth initiation; some day you too will stand at this
point of unique choice and it is what you do here and now which will determine
the way which you will go.
An Extract from A
Treatise on Cosmic Fire
Pages 1243-1266
The seven Paths, at a certain stage which may not be defined, become the four Paths, owing to the fact that our solar system
is one of the fourth order. This merging
is [Page 426] effected in the following way:
The initiates upon
Path I "fight their way" on to Path VI. (those who take the Path of
Earth Service eventually become Solar Logoi)
The initiates upon
Path II "alchemise themselves" on to Path VII.
The initiates upon
Path III through "piercing the veil" find Themselves upon Path V.
This leaves Path IV to be accounted for.
Upon this Path pass all those who, through devotion and activity
combined, achieve the goal but who lack as yet the full development of the manasic
principle. This being the solar system of love-wisdom or
of astral-buddhic development, the fourth Path includes the larger number of
the sons of men. In the Hierarchy of our
planet the "Lords
of Compassion"
are numerically greater than the "Masters of the Wisdom." The
former must therefore pass to the sun Sirius there to undergo a tremendous manasic stimulation,
for Sirius is the emanating source of manas.
There the mystic must go and become what is called "a spark of
mahatic electricity."
These seven Paths
are not concerned with nature or the balancing of the pairs of opposites. They are concerned only with unity, with that
which utilises the pairs of opposites as factors in the production of LIGHT.
PATH I. EARTH SERVICE
Attributes.............Wise
compassion.
Source.................Constellation
of the Dragon, via Libra.
Method.................Twelve
cosmic Identifications.
Hierarchy..............The
sixth.
Symbol.................A
green dragon issuing from the centre of a blazing sun. Behind the sun and overtopping it can be seen
two pillars on either side of a closed door.
Quality
gained....... Luminosity.
PATH II. PATH OF MAGNETIC WORK
Attributes............Responsiveness
to heat and knowledge of rhythm.
Source................An
unknown constellation, via Gemini.
Method................The
entering of the burning-ground.
Hierarchy............The
third and fourth.
Symbol................A
funeral pyre, four torches, and a fivefold star mounting towards the sun.
Quality
gained........Electrical velocity.
PATH III. PATH OR TRAINING FOR PLANETARY LOGOI
Attributes............Cosmic
vision, deva hearing and psychic correlation.
Source................Betelgeuse,
via the sign Sagittarius.
Hierarchy.............The
fifth.
Method................Prismatic
identification.
Symbol................A
coloured cross with a star at the centre and backed by a blazing sun,
surmounted by a Sensa Word.
Quality
gained........Cosmic etheric vision or septenary clairvoyance.
PATH IV. THE PATH TO SIRIUS
Attributes............Cosmic
rapture and rhythmic bliss.
Source................Sirius
via the Sun which veils a zodiacal sign.
Hierarchy.............Veiled
by the numbers 14 and 17.
Method................Duplex
rotary motion and rhythmic dancing upon the square.
Symbol................Two
wheels of electric fire, revolving
around an orange
Cross, with an emerald at the centre.
Quality
gained........Unrevealed.
PATH V. THE RAY PATH
Attributes............A
sense of cosmic direction.
Source................The
Pole Star via Aquarius.
Hierarchy.............The
first and the second.
Method................Process
of electrical insulation and the imprisonment of polar magnetism.
Symbol................Five
balls of fire enclosed within a sphere.
Sphere is formed of a serpent inscribed with the mantram of insulation.
Quality
gained........Cosmic stability and magnetic equilibrium.
PATH VI. THE PATH OF THE SOLAR LOGOS
Not
given.............Not given.
PATH VII. THE PATH OF ABSOLUTE SONSHIP
Not
given.............Not given.
UP TO HIT 734
Compilation Shamballa part19
(RI 440) The dual
existence of the Master involves what we might call the two poles: that of the monadic consciousness, whatever
that may be, and that of the self-created form which He may use as a member of
the Hierarchy and a worker in the three worlds of human enterprise. I would here remind you that there are many
groups and types of Masters, and most of Them are quite unknown to occult
students either from Their work or from rumour or from knowledge of the many
evolutionary processes of which the human is only [Page 440] one. Not all the Masters work in the three worlds;
not all the Masters need
or possess physical bodies; not all the Masters "have Their faces turned towards the realm
of dark light, but many face for aeons towards the clear cold light of
spiritual existence"; not all the Masters make or are required to make the
sacrifices which work for the fourth kingdom in nature entails. Not all souls liberated or limited constitute
the Kingdom of God in the sense which that phrase conveys to us; that term is
limited to the soul which informs units in the human family; not all the
Masters work under the great Buddha of Activity Who is responsible to Sanat Kumara for the Plan working out in connection
with Humanity. He works through the
three Great Lords of the Eternal Ashram of Sanat Kumara, but His two Brothers have Each of Them an equally
important work and are responsible—as He is—to the Council Chamber. Each of Them also works through a triangle of
energies with grouped subsidiary forces working in seven departments and differentiated
also into forty-nine lesser departments, as is the Ashram which we call the
Hierarchy. Forget not, there are many
Hierarchies and the Human Hierarchy is but one.
This whole theme
is one of great complexity and yet at the same time so simple that when the
simplicity of the planetary constitution is truly grasped and the analytic
disputations of the concrete mind are overcome, the liberated Master enters a
world of spiritual endeavour which is free from forms and symbols or the veils
which hide the basic truth and the underlying mystery.
Being is simple,
free, unlimited and unimpeded and in that world the Master moves and
works. Becoming is complex, imprisoning,
limited and subjected to hindrances, and in that world the disciple and the
lesser initiates live and move and have their being. The Master works simultaneously in two worlds
or states of awareness; i.e., that related to pure existence, to the
untrammelled life of the planes controlled by the Monad, and also by the
Hierarchy. There naught but the Plan engrosses His attention. He deals safely with "the simplicity
which is Shamballa" and its [Page 441] sphere or aura of
influence and "with the field of relationships which are nurtured from the
Ashram of the Christ." I am here
quoting one of the Masters Who was endeavouring to explain to a disciple the
simplicity of the life which a Master expresses.
(RI 460) The goal
towards which the average disciple has worked in the past has been soul
contact, leading eventually to what has been called "hierarchical
inclusion." The reward of the
disciple's effort has been admittance into the Ashram of some Master, increased
opportunity to serve in the world, and also the taking of certain
initiations. The goal towards which
higher disciples are working involves not only soul contact as its primary
objective (for that has to some measure been attained), but the building of the
bridge from the personality to the Spiritual Triad, with consequent monadic
realisation and the opening up to the initiate of the Way to the Higher
Evolution in its various branches and with its differing goals and
objectives. The distinction (I said not
"difference," and would have you note this) between the two ways can
be seen in the following listed comparisons:
Desire—Aspiration Mind—Projection
The 1st and 2nd
Initiations The 3rd and 4th Initiations
Universal Love and
Intuition Universal Will and Mind
[Page 460]
The Path of
Light The Way of the Higher
Evolution
The Point of
Contact The
Antahkarana or Bridge
The Plan The Purpose
The Three Layers
of the Egoic Petals The Spiritual Triad
The Hierarchy Shamballa
The Master's
Ashram The Council Chamber
The Seven
Paths The
Seven Paths
(RI 461) 3. The
abstract mind. This reveals itself most
completely under the influence of the first Ray of Will or Power, reflecting
the higher aspect of the will of divinity or of the atmic principles it
summarises in itself when fully developed the purpose of Deity, and thus
becomes responsible for the emergence of the Plan. It energises the will petals until such time
as the eternal life of the soul is absorbed into that which is neither transient
nor eternal but which is endless, boundless and unknown. It is brought into conscious functioning
through the building of the antahkarana.
This "radiant rainbow bridge" unites the illumined
personality, focussed in the mind body, motivated by the love of the soul, with
the Monad or with the One Life, and thus enables the divine manifesting Son of
God to express the significance of the words:
God is Love and God is a consuming Fire.
This fire, energised by love, has burnt out all personality qualities,
leaving only a purified instrument, coloured by the soul ray and no longer
necessitating the existence of a soul body.
The personality has by this time completely absorbed the soul, or to put
it perhaps more accurately, both soul and personality have been fused and
blended into one instrument for the use of the One Life.
This is but a
picture or a symbolic use of words in order to express the unifying goal of
material and spiritual evolution, as it is carried to its conclusion—for this
world cycle—through the development of the three aspects of mind upon [Page
462] the mental plane. The cosmic
implications will not be lost to you, but it profits us not to dwell upon
them. As this process is carried
forward, three great aspects of divine manifestation emerge upon the theatre of
world life and on the physical plane.
These are Humanity, the Hierarchy and Shamballa.
Humanity is
already the dominant kingdom in nature; the fact of the Hierarchy and of its
imminent approach into physical appearance is becoming well known to hundreds
of thousands of people today. Its
recognised appearance will later set the stage for the needed preparatory
phases which will finally lead to the exoteric rule of the Lord of the World, emerging from His aeonial seclusion in Shamballa, and coming forth into outer expression at the end of
this world cycle.
(RI 466) You can
see, therefore, why so much emphasis is laid by esotericists upon fusion, unity
or blending; only when this is intelligently realised can the disciple begin to
weave the threads into a bridge of light which eventually becomes the Lighted
Way across which he can pass into the higher worlds of being. Thus he liberates himself from the three
worlds. It is—in this world cycle—pre-eminently
a question of fusion and expressing (in full waking awareness) three major
states of consciousness:
1. The Shamballa Consciousness.
Awareness of the
unity and purpose of Life.
Recognition and
cooperation with the Plan.
Will. Direction.
Oneness.
The influence of
the Triad.
2. The
Hierarchical Consciousness.
Awareness of the
Self, the Soul.
Recognition and
cooperation with divinity.
Love. Attraction.
Relation.
The influence of
the Soul.
3. The Human
Consciousness.
Awareness of the
soul within the form.
Recognition and
cooperation with the soul.
Intelligence. Action.
Expression.
The influence of
the consecrated personality.
(RI 471) Students
would do well to consider the building of the antahkarana as an extension in
consciousness. This extension is the
first definite effort made upon the Path to bring in the monadic influence with
full awareness, and finally directly.
This process constitutes the individual parallel to the present inflow
of force from Shamballa, about which I have elsewhere spoken. That highest Centre of energy upon our planet is now having a definite
effect upon that centre which we call Humanity.
This is brought about by direct alignment, and not via the Hierarchy as
has hitherto been the case. When the
individual antahkarana has been successfully started, and there is even a
tenuous thread of living energy connecting the threefold personality and the
Spiritual Triad, then the inflow of the will-energy becomes possible. This, in the early stages, can be most
dangerous when not offset by the love energy of the soul. Only one thread of the threefold antahkarana
passes through the egoic lotus. [Page 472] The other two threads relate
themselves directly with the Triad, and hence eventually with the Monad, the
source of the triadal life. This is true
of the individual and of humanity as a whole, and the effects of this alignment
can be seen demonstrating in the world at this time.
(RI 473) Today,
through human effort and hierarchical endeavour, a great alignment and linking
up is taking place, and Monad-Soul-Personality are being more directly related
than has hitherto been possible. One
reason for this is that there are present in incarnation upon the planet many
more initiates of the third degree than ever before; there are many more
disciples being prepared for the third initiation; and in this third strictly
human race, the Aryan (using this term in its generic sense and not in its
prostituted German connotation), the three aspects of the personality are now
so potent that their magnetic influence and their creative effect are making
the building of the antahkarana an outstanding achievement, thus linking and
aligning the three aspects in man. The
same is true of the three divine centres in the planet which embody these
divine qualities: Shamballa, Hierarchy, and Humanity. These are now closely aligned, thus producing
a fusion of energies which is causing an inflow of the spiritual will, as well
as a demonstration of the Destroyer aspect.
I have here
indicated much of interest; I have pointed out a goal and indicated a Way. I have related (in consciousness) the
Hierarchy and Shamballa.
This signifies a great and critical moment in human affairs and an
opportunity hitherto unparalleled in history.
The need for a due appreciation of this will be evident, and should
incite all who read to renewed effort and to fresh endeavour. Students must [Page 474] seek to meet all the
planetary changes and opportunities with corresponding changes in their own
lives. They must seek those new
attitudes and those new creative approaches which will result not alone in the
building of the individual antahkarana, but also in the fusion of the many
"radiant strands" which will produce those "connecting
cables," speaking symbolically, which will relate the planetary centres
and present the medium along which can pass the fiery will and the
predetermined purpose of Deity. This
will bring about the reconstruction of the manifested worlds, and in this task
each and every one of you can have his share.
(RI 481) 1.
Humanity, in which he can focus himself at will through the medium of what is
called technically the "mayavirupa"—a bodily form which he creates
for the fulfillment of monadic purpose.
He then fully
expresses all the energies of the Mutable Cross.*
2. The
Hierarchy. Here, as a focussed unit of
all-inclusive buddhic awareness, he finds his place and mode of service,
conditioned by his monadic ray.
He then expresses
the values of the Fixed Cross*
3. Shamballa. This is his
highest point of focus, the goal of the exertions of all initiates of the
higher degrees and the source of the sutratma, through which (and its
differentiations) he can now consciously work.
Here he finds
himself still crucified, but on the Cardinal Cross.*
The task with
which the human being in all his stages [Page 482] of unfoldment has been
occupied might therefore be stated to be the bridging of the gap between:
1. The Mutable
Cross and the Fixed Cross.
2. Humanity and
the Hierarchy.
3. The lower
triplicity, the personality, and the Spiritual Triad.
4. The Monad on
its own plane and the outer objective world.
This he does
through a process of Intention, Visualisation, Projection, Invocation and
Evocation, Stabilisation and Resurrection.
With these various stages, we will now deal.
(RI 483) There has
been much emphasis upon the life of the soul and its expression upon the
physical plane; this has been necessary and a part of the evolutionary
development of the human consciousness.
The kingdom of souls must eventually give place to the rule of the
spirit; the energy of the Hierarchy must become a force, receptive to the
energy of Shamballa, just as the force of humanity has to
become receptive to the energy of the kingdom of souls. Today all three processes are going on
simultaneously, though the receptivity of the Hierarchy to the second aspect of
the Shamballa energy is only now beginning to be
recognisable. The Hierarchy has for long
been receptive to the third or creative aspect of the Shamballa energy, and—at some very distant period—it will be
responsive to the first aspect of that same energy. The triple nature of the divine manifestation
must also express itself as a duality.
This can be understood in a faint way when the disciple realises that (after
the third initiation) he too must learn to function as a duality—Monad (spirit)
and form (matter)—in direct rapport with the consciousness aspect, the
mediating soul being absorbed into both of these two aspects of divine
expression, but not functioning itself as a middle factor. When this has been achieved, the true nature
of Nirvana will be comprehended, the beginning of that endless Way which leads
to the One; this is the Way whereon duality is resolved into unity, the Way
that Members of the Hierarchy are seeking to tread and for which They are
preparing.
(RI 492) Therefore, before the bridge can be truly
built and "projected on the upward way, providing safe travelling for the
pilgrim's weary feet" (as the Old Commentary puts it), the disciple must begin to react in
response to the closed lotus bud or jewel at the centre of the opened
lotus. This he does when the sacrifice
petals of the egoic lotus are assuming control in his life, when his knowledge
is being transmuted into wisdom, and his love for the whole is growing; to
these is being added the "power to renounce". These three egoic qualities—when functioning
with a measure of potency—produce an increased activity at the very centre of
soul life, the heart of the lotus. It
should be remembered that the correspondences in the egoic lotus to the three
planetary centres are as follows:
Shamballa....The jewel in the lotus.
Hierarchy....The
three groups of petals.
Humanity....The
three permanent atoms within the aura of the lotus.
(RI 495) This is
the technical process of invocation and evocation. There is a gradual approach from both the
divine aspects. Little by little, the
vibration of both becomes stronger reciprocally. There comes then a moment when contact
between the two projections is made in meditation. This is not a contact between soul and
personality (the goal of the average aspirant), but a contact between the fused
soul and personality energy and the energy of the Monad, working through the
Spiritual Triad. This does not
constitute a moment of crisis, but is in the nature of a Flame of Light, a realisation of liberation, and a
recognition of the esoteric fact that a man is himself the Way. There is no longer the sense of personality
and soul or of ego and form, but simply the One, functioning on all planes as a
point of spiritual energy and arriving at the one sphere of planned activity by
means of the path of Light. In
considering this process, words prove completely inadequate. At this stage, when very advanced, there is no
form attracting the Monad outwards into manifestation. There is no way in which the call of matter
or of form can evoke a response from the Monad.
There remains only the great pull of the consciousness of humanity as a
whole and to this, response can be made via the completed antahkarana. Down—or rather [Page 495] across—this bridge,
descent can be made at will, in order to serve humanity and to carry out the
will of Shamballa.
This is a
statement of the final consummation. But
before that can take place in its perfected completion, there must be a long
period of gradual approach of the two aspects of the bridge—the higher,
emanating from the Spiritual Triad, in response to monadic impulse, and the
lower, emanating from the personality, aided by the soul—across the chasm of
the separating mind. Finally, contact
between that which the Monad projects and that which the disciple is projecting
is made, and then come the fifth and sixth stages.
5 and 6. Stabilisation and Resurrection. The bridge is now built. Thin and tenuous may be its strands at the
beginning, but time and active understanding will slowly weave thread after
thread until the bridge stands finished, stable and strong and capable of being
used. It must perforce be used, because
there is now no other medium of intercourse between the initiate and the One
Whom he now knows to be himself. He
ascends in full consciousness into the sphere of monadic life; he is
resurrected from the dark cave of the personality life into the blazing light
of divinity; he is no longer only a part of humanity and a member also of the
Hierarchy, but he belongs to the great company of Those Whose will is
consciously divine and Who are the Custodians of the Plan. They are responsive to impression from Shamballa and are under the direction of the Heads of the
Hierarchy.
The "freedom
of the three Centres" is Theirs.
They can express at will the triple energy of Humanity, the dual energy
of the Hierarchy, and the one energy of Shamballa.
Such, my brothers,
is the goal of the disciple as he begins to work at the building of the
antahkarana. Reflect upon these matters
and proceed with the work.
(In some Talks to
Disciples, the Tibetan makes the following remarks which apply here with
peculiar force. A.A.B.)
(RI 508) It has
not been easy to put these abstruse ideas, expressed in the most archaic
language and symbolism, into modern terms and words. I have but conveyed the general idea—the
collaboration of all the seven rays in the building processes of Deity and
their planned interaction, on a tiny scale, [Page 508] infinitesimal in
comparison with the great Whole. Man
responds within the circle of humanity, enclosed within the greater circle of
the Hierarchy, and becomes conscious of this fusion and uses the potencies of
both groups of lives, through the medium of the antahkarana. The moment the disciple approaches that point
in consciousness and the antahkarana is firmly anchored (even if as yet but a
tenuous structure), he becomes aware of the factor of the greater circle which
encloses the other two—Shamballa, the Secret Place where the will of God is
formulated for the immediate present and for the long range future.
With this vision
and suggested preamble let us now ascertain the seven techniques to be employed
at the projection stage of the building process.
(RI 516) This
factual assumption is not faith, but knowledge and conviction, and upon this
realised conviction the disciple rests, acts and depends. It becomes an unalterable and unchangeable
attitude. The meaning of the above
seven-fold statement will become clearer if the disciple will ponder the
distinction between faith and conviction.
It is this divine assertion which holds the universe in being; it is
this divine assertion which is the embodied summation of all knowledge and
love, and the first ray disciple must begin to use this technique, resting back
upon his divine prerogative of assertion.
Ponder on this statement. It is
the [Page 516] technique of Shamballa and
the established right, prerogative and privilege of all first ray souls.
(RI 519)
Invocation and Evocation (continued from pages 493-495):
These two words
are descriptive of that mysterious something—emanation, voiceless appeal,
inherent urge towards the light—which is innate in all forms, which produces
interplay and relationship, and which is the cause of all progress or pushing
forward along the path of an expanding consciousness and a penetration into the
light. This is true of a plant pushing
its way out of the darkness of earth into the light of the sun, a child extricating
itself under the life impulse from the womb of its mother, of the human being
pushing himself into realms of greater knowledge and effective physical living,
of the aspirant driving forward out of the Hall of Learning into the Hall of
Wisdom, of the disciple penetrating into the realm of soul light and life, of
the initiate passing from grade to grade in the Hierarchy of Liberation, of the
Christ moving on into the Council
Chamber of Shamballa, and of the Lord of the World Himself undertaking
those processes which will lead Him into realms of divine life—of which even
the highest initiate on our planet has no conception. All comes about as part of a great system of
invocation and evocation, of appeal and response, and all are distinctive of
the "mode of Life" which governs the entire graded hierarchy of Being
upon our planet.
(RI 521) Religion
is the name given to the invocative appeal of humanity and the evocative
response of the greater Life to that cry.
It is, in fact,
the recognition by the part of its relationship to the Whole, plus a constantly
growing demand for increased [Page 521] awareness of that relation; it draws
forth the recognition of the Whole that the demand has been made. It is the impact of the vibration of
humanity—oriented specifically to the Great Life of which it feels itself a
part—upon that Life, and the responsive impact of that "All surrounding
Love" upon the lesser vibration. It
is only now that the impact of the human vibration can dimly be sensed in Shamballa; hitherto its most potent activity has only reached
the Hierarchy. Religion, the science of
invocation and evocation as far as humanity is concerned, is the approach (in
the coming New Age) of a mentally polarised humanity. In the past, religion has had an entirely
emotional appeal. It concerned the
relation of the individual to the world of reality, of the seeking aspirant to
the sought-for divinity. Its technique
was the process of fitting oneself for the revelation of that divinity, of
achieving a perfection which would warrant that revelation, and of developing a
sensitivity and a loving response to the ideal Man, summarised for present day
humanity in the Christ.
The
Buddha opened the door to the 3rd initiation and therefore to
Shamballa-he took it back in Atlantean times with the Christ in a 4th
Ray Ashram
(RI 527) Vyasa—the original Vyasa, Who was the Great Individuality
evoked by the invocation of the early animal-men—is still more than just a
name, even though He has passed out of our planetary scheme millions of years ago. He opened a door into the human kingdom through His
response to the animal kingdom in its higher invocative ranks; His work brought
about the process known as individualisation.
Down through the ages, these Sons of God have come, evoked by human
invocation; in Their turn, They have invoked certain aspects of the divine
nature, deeply hidden in mankind—all related hitherto to consciousness and to
responsiveness of the part to the Whole.
[Page 527] Eventually Hercules came forth and opened the door on to the
Path of Discipleship, His work being preserved for us in the Twelve Labours of
Hercules. These epitomised the various
tests to which all disciples are subjected, prior to the various
initiations. Shri Krishna came and opened the door through which
mankind could pass to the Second Initiation.
The Buddha, a still greater Figure, the One Who is
known as the "Enlightened One," also came and demonstrated to
humanity the nature of the Lighted Way, its revelations and its effects in
consciousness. He enacted for us the supreme
achievements of the mystic way. Then
came the Christ and performed a triple work:
1. He opened the door to the third
initiation.
2. He anchored on
Earth "the Will of God in the matrix of love" (as it has been
esoterically called).
3. He pointed the
way through "the needle's eye" which gives entrance to the passage
through the Pyramid (the symbol of the Spiritual Triad in this case. A.A.B.) which leads out on to the Way which
terminates in Shamballa.
His work was of a
major consummating nature; He demonstrated in Himself two divine aspects, thus
giving "shape and substance to love"; this had been sequentially
fostered by several
preceding lesser World Saviours, of Whom Shri Krishna was the greatest.
The Christ completed the work of the Buddha by manifesting in its fullness the nature
of love, thus permitting the full expression of love-wisdom in its dual
aspect—the one aspect demonstrated by the Buddha and the other by the
Christ. But His greatest work has not
yet been emphasised in the worlds of thought and of religion—the revelation of
the Way of the Higher Evolution. This
entails the bringing through of pure divine will and the relating of the
spiritual Hierarchy to the great Council at Shamballa. It will be
apparent to you, therefore, that He was the first to carry through—from stage
to stage—the complete revelation of humanity to the Hierarchy and of the
Hierarchy to Shamballa.
This He did by virtue of a [Page 528] completely finished and
constructed antahkarana, and thus He facilitated the work of all future
aspirants and disciples. He made
possible their unimpeded progress, as far as the opening of each stage of the
planetary antahkarana is concerned. He
presented the "first thread of living substance, irradiated by love,
intelligently woven and energised by will" which any human being of our
Earth humanity had interwoven with the planetary antahkarana. Here lies the secret of the sixth initiation,
which has not yet received the attention of the occultist—it is that of the
Ascension.
(RI 529) To sum
up. We have carried our study of the
esoteric aspects of mental unfoldment to a point where we have lifted the
entire spiritual man into realms which are neither those of the soul nor of the
personality; they are those which make him an integral part of monadic
experience. We are therefore dealing
definitely with initiate experience.
That the personality remains as an instrument or vehicle of expression
for the one universal soul in its many personality aspects upon the physical
plane has been duly emphasised; that the soul per se has been lost to
consciousness in the sea of universal realisation has also been made clear;
that the state of being which the initiate has now reached, as a result of the
six stages of conscious building of the antahkarana, has been detailed; but I
have pointed out in this connection that what has transpired lies beyond what
we call consciousness, and is consequently undefinable by the human
intellect. We have dealt with certain
high stages of unfoldment which remain impossible to any human comprehension
outside that of Those Who can function in the Courts of Shamballa. When these
stages have been passed, then the goal of all the evolutionary processes has
been reached, as far as humanity is concerned.
These concepts cover our presentation of truth and of our theme up to
the present point. Further we cannot go,
for it would be profitless; nor would the human constitution prove adequate to
the imposed task.
I have in these
previous sections carried our theme to the point where it climaxes all that has
been hitherto given out anent the human mind and its capabilities. I have indicated the method whereby the mind,
trained in meditation, and therefore soul-conscious, can—through the
construction of the antahkarana—reach heights and stages of inclusiveness which
will introduce to it certain aspects of the so-called Universal Mind, the mind
of God, as it is familiarly called. What
I have really done is to deal very briefly with the mode whereby the disciple
or the initiate can, with increasing power, tune in on the mind of the planetary Logos, Sanat Kumara.
Just as the disciple can, [Page 530] when soul conscious, tune in on the
mind of his Master, so the initiate, upon a higher turn of the spiral, can
register the thoughts of the divine Being in Whom we all live and move and have
our being.
Through the
development of the antahkarana and its conscious, scientific use, the initiate
becomes aware of what transpires in the Council Chamber of Shamballa; he can then efficiently begin to work as an exponent
of the Will aspect of divinity. Yet all
this time we have confined ourselves entirely to the consideration of the mind
aspect in its three phases upon the mental plane, and with their extension into
states of being unknown to all except trained disciples and initiates. It has been my intention thus to give a
theoretical, though not yet practical insight into modes of activity and
possible states of being to which you can some day aspire and eventually
attain.
(RI 533) The form
aspect culminates experience and presents the disciple's comprehension of the
initiatory process; the consciousness aspect indicates in a mysterious manner
the rate of expansion as the disciple has undergone the process; the life
aspect permits of extra-planetary contact, thus indicating the possible future
and the eventual processes of identification.
It might be added that the factual ceremonial admits the disciple into
full fellowship with the Hierarchy; that the symbolic representation indicates
to the disciple the Way into Shamballa, and that illumined revelation presents to the
initiate the bridge between our cosmic physical plane and the inner subjective
and cosmic worlds; this entrance to the bridge (I am speaking in symbols) [Page
533] reveals the existence of the cosmic Antahkarana, created by the Lord of the World and His group of Executives.
The
lives within the Council Chamber of Shamballa move within the second light
(RI 538) In the
Masters' Archives there are some Rules for Disciples of very ancient
origin. Among them is one that is so old
and so abstruse that it is only now possible to bring it to the attention of
humanity, owing to the increased mental and Spiritual perception of the modern
aspirant. It can be inadequately translated
as follows:
"The light is seen, a tiny point of piercing
light. This light is warm and red. It nearer draws as it reveals the things that
are, the things which may be. It pierces
the third centre and removes all glamour and desire.
"A light is seen through the medium of the
lower light—a light of
warmth and heat. It pierces to the heart
and in that light all forms are seen pervaded by a glowing light. The world of lighted forms is now perceived,
linked each to each by light. This light
is blue, and flaming is its nature.
Between the warm and reddish light and this clear light there burns a
glow of flame—a flame which must be entered, ere the light of blue is entered
and is used.
[Page 539]
"Another light is then perceived, the clear
cold light which is
not light but darkness in its purest purity—the Light of God Himself. It renders dark all else beside Itself; all
forms fade out and yet the whole of life is there. It is not light as we know light. It is that pure essential essence of that
Light which reveals Itself through light."
It was the second light to which the Buddha and the
Christ both referred
when They said: "I am the light of
the world." It is the Light of God
Himself, the Lord of the Worlds, in which the Lives within the Council Chamber
of Shamballa live and move and have Their Being.
It is the
recognition of the varying "lights" upon the
(RI 549) Impression
on the mind of the disciple of hierarchical intent
This is something
far greater and more inclusive than the ability of the mind of the disciple to
register the content of the minds within the Ashram with which he is affiliated
or even the mind of the Master. The purpose
aspect of the Plan begins to impress his now highly illumined abstract mind,
for the integrated purpose—as far as the Hierarchy is concerned—begins slowly
to impress him. Little by little, he
begins to register impressions from Shamballa. With this I
cannot deal; it concerns the growth which follows the fourth and fifth initiations, and therefore training given to a
Master. With it you have no concern.
Your major task,
as aspirants, is to cultivate the higher sensitivity; to render yourselves so
pure and selfless that your minds remain undisturbed by the happenings in the
three worlds; to seek that attentive spiritual sense which will enable you to
be impressed, and then to interpret correctly the impressions received.
I have said that
initiation is in reality a great experiment with energy. The life of the occult student is consciously
lived in the world of energies. Those
energies have always been present, for the whole of existence in all the kingdoms
of nature is manifested energy, but men are not aware of this. They are not conscious, for instance, when
they succumb to irritation and find themselves voicing that irritation in loud
words or in angry thoughts, that they are taking astral energy and using
it. The use of this energy admits them
with ease to a level of astral living which is not suitable for them; continual
use of this energy brings about what the Master Morya has called "habits of residence which imperil
the resident." It is when the
aspirant recognises that he himself is composed of energy units—held in coherent
expression by a still stronger energy, that of integration—that he begins
consciously to [Page 550] work in a world of forces similarly composed; he then
begins to use energy of a certain kind, and selectively, and takes one of the
initial steps towards becoming a true occultist. This world of energy in which he lives and
moves and has his being is the living, organised vehicle of manifestation of
the planetary Logos. Through it energies
are circulating all the time and are in constant movement, being directed and
controlled by the head centre of the planetary Logos; they create great
vortices of force or major points of tension throughout His body of
manifestation. The Spiritual Hierarchy
of our planet is such a vortex; Humanity itself is another, and one which is
today in a condition of almost violent activity, owing to its becoming a focus
of divine attention.
Certain great
readjustments are going on in that centre, for it is beginning to conform at
long last to divine intention. I have
elsewhere pointed out that for the first time in the long history of human
development, energy from Shamballa
has made a direct
impact upon this third planetary centre.
This is not due entirely to the point in evolution attained by mankind;
this attainment is only a secondary reason or cause. It is due to the will of Sanat Kumara Himself as He prepares for a certain cosmic
initiation. This initiation requires the reorganisation
of the energies flowing through and composing that "centre which we call
the race of men"; this creates a rearrangement within the centre itself,
and thus brings into manifested expression certain aspects and qualities—always
inherent in those energies—which have not hitherto been recognised. This creative crisis has been made possible by
three major happenings:
(RI 551) 1. The
conclusion of a twenty-five thousand year cycle or movement around what is
called the lesser zodiac. This connotes
a major cycle of experience in the life of our planetary Logos. It is related to the interplay between the
planetary Logos and the solar Logos as the latter responds to energies
emanating from the twelve zodiacal constellations.
[Page 551]
2. The end of the
Piscean Age. This simply means that the
energies coming from Pisces during the last two thousand years are now being
rapidly superseded by energies coming from Aquarius. These result in major changes in the life of
the planetary Logos and potently affect His body of manifestation through the
medium of His three major centres: Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity.
3. The
increasingly dominant activity of the seventh Ray of Order or Ceremonial Magic,
as it is somewhat erroneously called.
This ray is now coming into manifestation and is in close cooperation
with the two above factors; it produces also the lessening of the power of the
sixth Ray of Idealism. This has had a
long cycle and has greatly hastened the evolutionary process; it demonstrates
its effective work in the emergence today of the great world ideologies. I am necessarily considering these energies
only in relation to the human consciousness.
There are other
factors present in our planet today, but these are the ones which will (in a
vague sense) mean something to you, as you think and seek to understand.
The great cosmic
initiation through which our planetary Logos is passing (forget not my words,
"initiatory process") produces an entire reorganisation of all the
energies of which His body of manifestation is composed; it heightens the
quality or the vibration of certain of the ray energies, and lessens the
potency of others. Direction also enters
in; certain planetary centres become the recipients (in a new and vital manner)
of the redirected ray potencies. Among
these, at this time, the human family (or the third vital centre) becomes a
prime objective. The three major centres
in the body of the planetary Logos are:
The head centre—Shamballa—1st Ray of Will
The heart
centre—Hierarchy—2nd Ray of Love-Wisdom
The throat
centre—Humanity—3rd Ray of Active Intelligence
(RI 558) I would
ask you to remember that all human beings must finally express the quality and
livingness of one of the three Rays of Aspect, even if—in time and space—their
souls may originally be upon one of the four Rays of Attribute. It might be useful here to enumerate the
rays, and thus refresh the memory of the neophyte:
Rays of Aspect:
1. The Ray of
Power, Will or Purpose
2. The Ray of
Love-Wisdom
3. The Ray of
Active Creative Intelligence
Rays of Attribute:
4. The Ray of
Harmony through Conflict
5. The Ray of
Concrete Science or Knowledge
6. The Ray of
Idealism or Devotion
7. The Ray of
Order or Ceremonial Magic
It is contact with
the energy of the third
Ray of Active Intelligence or (as it is sometimes called) the "acute energy of divine mental
perception" which admits the consciousness of the initiate into the "secrets of the Mind of God".
It is the four Rays of Attribute which, in the evolutionary cycle,
condition his character (or apparatus of contact) and evoke his essential
quality. The three Rays of Aspect enable
him to take the four
higher initiations—initiations
6, 7, 8, 9—and are connected purely with Shamballa. The four Rays
of Attribute, particularly as they are synthesised through the medium of the
third Ray of Aspect, are related more definitely to the Hierarchy, and
therefore are related to the first five initiations. The Rays of Aspect are essentially related to
the life or will aspect of divinity; the Rays of Attribute are related to the consciousness
aspect.
(RI 579) It is the
activity of this sixth ray which has brought out into the light of day the
growing ideological tendencies of mankind.
These world ideologies (of which there are many present in the world
today) are created by a triple reaction to the two streams of energy mentioned
above:
1. The unfoldment
of the mental principle in mankind during this Aryan Age has forced desire into
the form of great mass concepts; these unitedly are governing the mass tendency
toward mental unfoldment.
2. The steadily
growing soul influence, working like a leaven on the astral plane, has lifted
kama or desire out of its purely self-centred focus and brought in a new and
hitherto unexpressed group emotional consciousness; this leads the fused
emotional nature of men into great ideological mass expression, still selfish;
expressed and impulsed as yet by emotional excesses, but indicating new and
better goals. These goals will assume
clearer and more desirable [Page 580] outlines when the second initiation is
undergone by the world aspirant.
3. The influence
generated by the Shamballa energy which has, for the first time, made
direct contact with Humanity, is producing an emotional vortex in which old
ideals and institutions are seen divorced from their hitherto controlling
glamours, thus permitting the new and better ideologies to emerge in the
consciousness of the race.
Initiations
from the 3rd onward are administered by Sanat Kumara from Shamballa
(RI 585) As we
study the other ray energies and their initiatory effect, we shall not be able
to indicate a great deal in relation to humanity itself. Only the first two initiations which are
implemented by the Christ and which are "under the supervisory probation
of the spiritual Hierarchy" are as yet possible to humanity. The initiation of the Transfiguration is not yet for the
mass of men. We can, however, study the effects of these
rays where the individual disciple is concerned, because the later
initiations—from the third
initiation onward—are
administered by the Lord
of the World from His
high place in Shamballa; in the present world period, these
initiations are individually administered and registered, and are undergone
consciously and with an entirely awakened awareness.
(RI 587) 2. The group which may regard itself consciously
as the initiate's own group, in the sense that he is slowly influencing those
around him, collecting the personnel and forming the nucleus of the Ashram by
means of which he may some day serve the world.
All those who are taking initiation do not necessarily create their own
ashrams, though a large number do so.
The work of those initiates who do not form an ashram is mysterious in
the extreme, from the point of view of aspiring humanity, and there is little
that I may say about the subject. These
initiates work [Page 587] in connection with plans emanating from Shamballa, of which humanity can know nothing; they work with
the three subhuman kingdoms in nature, each of which has its own peculiar and
specific band of initiate-workers. If
they do not do this, they transfer into certain groups of workers who are
engaged in activities connected with the deva or angel evolution, or in
relation to the manifestation of energies about which I can tell you
nothing. We shall deal only with the
expansion of consciousness and the experience of those initiates who remain—in
their activities and aims—related to humanity and to the Hierarchy. It might here be pointed out that:
a. The work of the
deva evolution comes under the ray energy of the third Buddha of Activity.
b. The work with
humanity comes under the influence of the ray energy of the second Buddha of
Activity, Who embodies in a most peculiar sense the conditioning energy of the
Hierarchy.
c. The work with
the subhuman kingdoms of nature is under the energy stimulation of the first
Buddha of Activity.
Each of these
great energising Lives works through certain Masters and Initiates of the sixth
initiation; these Masters work in full consciousness upon the atmic plane, the
plane of the spiritual will; from that high level, They function as
transmitting agents for the energy of one of the three Buddhas of
Activity. These three Buddhas are the creative Agents of
the planetary Logos
and are Wielders of the Law of Evolution.
(RI 609) The
Principle of Conflict is the prime factor lying behind the evolution of form as
the field of experience for the soul in the four kingdoms in nature: the human
and the three subhuman. It is based on
the intellectual factor of discrimination which is inherent in the smallest
atom of substance, and which reaches its fullest expression in advanced
humanity; the indications that it has achieved its purpose, as far as humanity
is concerned, are to be found in the passing through the Initiation of
Renunciation. The Principle of Decision
which controls the Master governs His work within the Hierarchy, in relation to
Shamballa and in connection with all the service
rendered in the three worlds; it is based on the energy of the second Ray of
Love-Wisdom, just as the Principle of Conflict is based on the energy of the
third Ray of Active Intelligence. [Page
609] This Principle of Decision, as a controlling factor, is put to the test at
the sixth initiation, the Initiation of Decision; at that time,
the will aspect of divinity summarises in a unique manner all past achievements
of the two principles and brings in a final cycle of unfoldment to which I can
give no truly appropriate name, but which climaxes in the ninth Initiation of Refusal.
You have, therefore, in relation to these principles (which are all
related to the Law of Karma) three great initiations at which the effectiveness
of the liberation brought about by their inherent action is finally tested:
1. The Initiation
of Renunciation... 4th Initiation
The Principle of
Conflict
Governed by Ray IV
Active in the
Leading to right
Discrimination
2. The Initiation
of Decision... 6th Initiation
The Principle of
Decision
Governed by Ray
III
Active in the
Hierarchy
Leading to right
Perception
and Participation
3. The Initiation
of Refusal... 9th Initiation
The Principle of
liberated Being (shall we call it thus?)
Governed by all
three major Rays
Active in Shamballa
Leading to one or
other of the 7 Paths
In the above
tabulation you have a wide and general picture of three major Principles,
leading to three great spiritual events, each of which is an expression of the
personality, the soul and the Monad.
Where humanity as a whole is involved, the effect is upon the reincarnating
soul of the human kingdom, then on the liberated souls of the members of the
Hierarchy, and finally on the Being which is distinctive of the Council at Shamballa.
(RI 619) The heart
centre of humanity is created by the sum total of the hearts (symbolically
speaking) of all those men of goodwill (in or out of the churches and
irrespective of their political concepts) who are serving their fellowmen,
sponsoring human welfare movements, working for the establishing of right human
relations, and constantly offsetting the separativeness of the human mind
through the inclusiveness of the divine love nature. You have, therefore, as a guarantee of the
return of Christ into public recognition, an implementing of a great alignment. This alignment, when effectively concluded,
will bring about a clear channel or pathway of return or line of light or
magnetic power between:
1. The centre
where the will of God is known. This is Shamballa where the will-to-good originates. This will-to-good is essential love.
[Page 620]
2. The Hierarchy,
which is the planetary heart centre.
3. The Christ, the
very heart of love within the Hierarchy.
4. The initiates,
disciples and aspirants who form the New Group of World Servers, seeking to
embody the love and light needed in the world today.
5. The hearts of
the men of goodwill in all lands who are responsive to love as it can express
itself through right human relations.
6. The focal point
through which the Lord of Love will work on Earth.
If you will study
this sixfold progression of divine love from the highest manifestation of Deity
down to its appearance through the medium of some focal point in our known
modern world, it will be apparent to you that a very definite "structure
of approach" has been created, and that a "Path of Return" is
being constructed which will bring the long-awaited Christ into our midst. Nothing can stop or prevent His return today;
the evidence of this structure can be seen everywhere.
Shamballa
produced two potent results-The war, and the fission of the atom resulting in
the atom bomb-these were caused by the 3rd aspect of the 1st
Ray
(RI 647) The
Effect of Ray I on Humanity Today
Owing to
extra-planetary stimulation, to the immediate planetary crisis and to the
present invocative cry of humanity, energy from Shamballa has been permitted to play upon the "centre
which is called the race of men" and has produced two potent results:
first, the world war was precipitated and, secondly, the fission of the
atom, resulting in the atomic
bomb, was brought
about. Both these events were made
possible by the pouring-in of the energy and power of the third aspect of the first Ray of Power or
Will. This is the lowest aspect, and definite [Page 647]
material effects were produced. The destroyer aspect was therefore the first aspect to take
effect. It split the thought-form of
materialistic living (which was governing and controlling humanity everywhere)
upon the mental plane and, at the same time, it produced a great agent of
destruction upon the physical plane.
Thus was the new
era ushered in; thus was the stage set for a better future. This was the intent and the purpose of Those
Who compose the Council
Chamber of the Lord. It rests with humanity itself to take
advantage of the proffered opportunity which this destructive manifestation
made possible.
Shamballa having acted in this manner, it is
nevertheless the Hierarchy which will bring into expression a measure of the
second aspect of the first Ray of Will or Power, and it is for this that the
Hierarchy is preparing; it is for this event that the Christ is fitting Himself
to be the distributing Agent and the directing Factor, with the concentrated
assistance of the united Hierarchy; it is this that will begin to manifest when
He appears. You have here the true
reason for His proclaimed Coming or Reappearance. The distinction between material living and
spiritual living will be clearly demonstrated.
This is made possible by the cleavage of the ancient materialistic
thoughtform on mental levels; the reorientation of human thinking, as this fact
is grasped, will have its first results upon emotional levels through the
focussed expression of human goodwill; this is the lowest aspect of the second
Ray of Love-Wisdom, implemented and strengthened by the second aspect of the
first Ray of Will.
On the physical
plane, the great scientific discovery, called colloquially the "splitting of the atom," will be turned eventually to the
production of those conditions which will enable mankind to follow the good, the beautiful and the true.
This men will then be able to do, freed from the dread presence of
purely materialistic thinking. This is
no idle vision or vague dream. Many
scientists today (and particularly those who love their fellowmen) [Page 648]
are not only visioning the non-destructive aspect of atomic energy but are
already engaged in harnessing—for the good of humanity—some of its products and
its radioactive properties.
Curiously enough,
it is the wise, controlled use of the results of this scientific adventure in
connection with the atomic bomb which will eventually bring about a specific
revelation of the nature of certain forces in relation to light; this event
will transform world thinking and lead to a new type of transmutative process,
as far as man is concerned.
Many
thousands may take the 5th initiation in the near future
It must not be
inferred from the above that humanity, as a whole, will be taking the fifth initiation, for such is not the case. Many advanced souls (perhaps amounting to many thousands) may and will take this initiation, but the masses of men everywhere,
constituting the sum total of the world disciple will eventually take either
the first or the second initiation. The
effect however of hierarchical happenings, in conjunction with Shamballa, will lead finally to the great stimulation of the
fifth Principle of manas, the intelligence principle in man. A revelation which is not perceived, which
remains unrelated and unexpressed, is of no true service to mankind, except
from a purely subjective standpoint; nevertheless, through the proposed
stimulation, through the efforts of those who have taken or who will take the
fifth initiation, and through the new direction of first ray energy from Shamballa, the mental plane will receive such an inflow of
energy that the thinking principle, the reasoning factor within humanity, will
reach new heights. Thus will the
"light stream forth into the minds of men," and the first stanza of
the Invocation prove that it can and does receive an answer to its invocative
appeal.
It would be good
to let your spiritual imagination look forward into the future, and then
vision—if you can—what is the true significance of the tremendous activity of
the Hierarchy. One of the signs of the
coming of this new light and energy inflow is a definitely curious one; it is
[Page 649] to be found in the instability of the human mental mechanism and the
human thinking processes at this time.
This is due to their premature response to the new incoming potency. It is a mass reaction, and therefore the
statistical returns are somewhat misleading.
It is the unready who thus react, and this entails no possible
reflection upon those thus distressed (and they are to be found today in all
classes and nations). The Law of Rebirth
will take care of this reaction, and in the next incarnation these same people
will enter a physical body with a better equipment. In reality, it is this energy from Shamballa in its third and destructive aspect which is acting
upon certain members of the human family and unfortunately evoking a ready
response. I tell you this for your
encouragement; destruction always evokes questioning in minds attuned to human
welfare and in those thinkers who are apprehensive of the suffering to which
their fellowmen are subjected.
(RI 653) It might
be said that that which holds the Hierarchy together, and that which produces a
coherent Ashram, is the revelation, received in the light which that revelation
produced and which leads to realisation.
Ashramic responsibility, constant service within the planetary Life and
the subjection of Himself and of His Ashram to cyclic stimulation from Shamballa, plus certain mysterious processes which have naught
to do with form or consciousness, but with the "sensitivity of the
universe," occupy the interim between the fifth and the sixth initiations.
(RI 656) Now let
us look at these initiations from the angle of the planetary Life, as far as in
us lies. We have for long looked at them
from the angle of humanity, the world disciple, as well as from the angle of
the individual initiate, but it must not be forgotten that these initiations
have also a planetary significance. From
the standpoint of the Hierarchy and of Shamballa, they constitute the major factors which make
possible the initiatory process on Earth among men.
This naturally
means in relation to our planetary Logos.
It must never be forgotten that it is the progress forward upon His chosen cosmic Path which makes the entire evolutionary
process possible. Just as a Master Who
has taken the fifth initiation has to project His own specific undertaking,
through the medium of His Ashram, thus [Page 657] proving His response to the
will aspect of the planetary Logos and making Himself responsible for a phase
of the planetary Plan, so a planetary Logos has likewise—under the Law of
Synthesis—to carry forward a specific project in line with the will of the
Solar Logos. This our planetary Logos, Sanat Kumara, is in process of doing, providing a
definite culture wherein the germ of the solar will can be fostered in one of
its aspects. Then—in conjunction with a
similar project going on in two other planets, thus fostering two other
aspects—the nucleus of the third solar system will be brought eventually into
expression.
(RI 659) Our
modern civilisation today (under the hammer of the destroyer aspect) is being
changed; old things are passing away, having served their purpose. The new thing is not yet noted or
appreciated, though already present. The
work of preparation for the planting of the germ or seed of the divine will on
Earth is nearly over; when the Hierarchy is externalised, and men as a whole
recognise the position on Earth of the Christ and of His church
"invisible" (the union of all souls made perfect, which is a true
description of the Hierarchy), then—in a manner unforeseen by humanity—Shamballa will assume control, and from the Council Chamber of Sanat Kumara will issue forth the Sower of the seed; He
will sow it within the ground prepared by humanity, and thus the future is
assured, not for the planetary Logos alone, but for that greater Whole in which
our planet plays its little part. That
moment lies ahead in the civilisation which shall be, and in the next great
race which will emerge out of all our modern races and nations, the sowing will
take place. The next race will be a
fusion of the whole, and a world-wide recognition of the One Humanity is an
essential prerequisite of the sowing. It
is the creation of this universal recognition which will be one of the major
tasks of the reappearing Christ and His attendant Hierarchy. When the "little wills of [Page 660]
men" are beginning to respond on a measurably large scale to the greater
Will of the divine Life, then the major task of Shamballa will become possible; nevertheless, prior to that,
humanity must respond to the light and the love which are the preparatory
streams of spiritual energy and which are already pouring forth in response to
human invocation.
(RI 687) Initiation
III. The Transfiguration
There is no need
for me to enter into the symbolic details anent this initiation. The whole theme is adequately dealt with in a
book written by A.A.B. entitled From
(RI 690) 4. The
peculiar energy which is transmitted
to him by Sanat Kumara
at the time of his initiation. This is a
totally different energy to that transmitted to him at the earlier
initiations. It comes from Shamballa and is uniquely (in a sense undefinable and hence
incomprehensible to you) the energy of the planetary Logos Himself. He directs extra-planetary energy (in the
initiations which follow the third initiation) from the ajna centre of which He is possessed, to the head centre of the initiate and
from thence immediately to the ajna centre of the initiate. Then this energy is directed outward into its
destined field of service. This energy
is of so high a quality that there is nothing of a registering mechanism in the
initiate's equipment capable of registering its admission and circulation
through his three head centres.
Nevertheless, this energy does pour through him and out into the world,
in spite of the fact that he remains unconscious of its presence.
(RI 707) It is not
possible for me here to indicate the nature of the revelation which is accorded
to the initiate of the fifth initiation.
It is too closely related to Shamballa, and I have not myself done more this life than take
the fifth initiation and climb the Mount of Ascension. The revelation for me is not completed and—in
any case—my lips are sealed. I can,
however, take up two points with you which may clarify your vision. I would remind you again that what I am here
writing in this last volume of A Treatise on the Seven Rays is written for
disciples and initiates. Disciples will
see some of the significances behind the symbol and will make interpretations
according to the point they have attained upon the Path. You need to remember that the world of men
today is full of those who have taken one or other of the initiations and that
there are great disciples, from all the rays, working on the physical plane as
senior workers for humanity under the Hierarchy; there will be many more during
the next one hundred years. (Written in
1949.) Some of these do not know their particular
hierarchical status in their physical brains, having deliberately relinquished
this knowledge in order to do certain work.
That which I here write is intended—during the next forty years—to find
its way into their hands with the deliberate intent of bringing to the surface
of their brain consciousness who and what they are in truth. This is a part of the programme planned by
the Hierarchy, prior to the externalisation of the Ashrams. The Masters feel that these senior disciples
and initiates (being on the spot) should soon begin to work with more
authority. This does not mean that they
will assert their spiritual identity and claim initiate status. This they could not do on account of their
point on the ladder of spiritual evolution.
But—knowing who they are from the angle of the Hierarchy and what is
expected of them—they will strengthen their work, bring [Page 708] in more
energy, and point the way with greater clarity.
Their wisdom will be recognised as well as their compassion, but they themselves
will recede into the background; they may even appear to be less active
outwardly, and so be misjudged, but their spiritual influence will be growing;
they care not what others think about them.
They recognise also the mistaken views of all the modern religions anent
the Christ; some may even be persecuted in their homes or by those they seek to
help. None of this will matter to
them. Their way is clear and their term
of service is known to them.
(RI 714) The Place
that the Will plays in inducing Revelation
There are three
words connected with this initiation which are of real importance to its
correct understanding. They are: Emergence.
Will. Purpose. With the emergence aspect we have already
dealt under the term "raising up" or the "transition" from
the darkness of matter to the light of the Spirit. But of the Will, its uses and its function,
as yet we know little. Knowledge as to
the nature of the will in any true sense only comes after the third
initiation. From that time on the initiate
demonstrates increasingly and steadily the first divine aspect, that of the
Will and the right use of Power. This
first aspect of divinity is necessarily closely associated with the first Ray
of Power or Will. I shall, however, only
consider the ray angle incidentally, for I want to elucidate for you the nature
of the will in some clear measure, though complete understanding is not
possible.
After
the 5th initiation the Master begins to glimpse the purpose of the
planetary logos
The Lord of the
World is, we are told, the sole repository of the will and the purpose of His
overshadowing, cosmic soul. These two
words—will and purpose—are not identical in meaning. Sanat Kumara and His Council at Shamballa are the only Beings upon our planet Who know just what is the nature of the divine purpose. It
is Their function and obligation to work that purpose out into manifestation,
and this They do by the use of the will.
The will ever implements the purpose.
The repository of the will aspect of man's innate divinity is to be
found at the base of the spine; this can only function correctly and be the
agent of the divine will after the third initiation. The head centre is the one which is the
custodian of the purpose; the centre at the base of the spine indicates the
will as it implements the purpose. The
purpose is slowly, very slowly, revealed to the initiate during the final five
[Page 715] initiations and this only becomes possible after the Initiation of
Renunciation. At that time the initiate
says, in unison with the great head of the Hierarchy, the Christ: "Father, not my will but Thine be
done." Then comes the initiation of
emergence out of matter and, from that point on, the initiate begins to glimpse the purpose of the
planetary Logos;
hitherto he has only seen the plan, and to the service of the plan he has been
dedicated. Hitherto also, he has only
sought to be an exponent of the love of God; now he must express, with
increasing fullness, the will of God.
Earlier in these
pages (Page 410) we are told that the problem which confronts the Hierarchy as
it seeks to prepare disciples for the successive initiations is the right use
of the will, both Their Own use of the will in relation to the initiate, and
the initiate's use of the will as he works for the Plan as that Plan implements
Purpose. To produce this, a direct,
understanding and powerful expression of this first aspect is demanded. There are several reasons why the will
presents a problem. Let us list a few of
them and thereby get understanding.
“The
moment Sanat Kumara has attained His planetary purpose, He will withdraw this
potent energy, and (in this withdrawing) destruction will set in”
1.This energy of
the will is the most potent energy in the whole scheme of planetary
existence. It is called the "Shamballa Force," and it is that which holds all
things together in life. It is, in
reality, life itself. This life force or
divine will (implementing divine intention) is that by means of which Sanat Kumara arrives at His goal. On a tiny scale, it is the use of one of the
lowest aspects of the will (human self-will) which enables a man to carry out
his plans and attain his fixed purpose—if he has one. Where the will is lacking, the plan dies out
and the purpose is not achieved. Even in
relation to self-will, it is veritably the "life of the
project." The moment Sanat Kumara has attained His planetary
purpose, He will
withdraw this potent energy, and (in this withdrawing) destruction will set
in. This Shamballa force is steadily held in leash for fear of too great
an impact upon the unprepared kingdoms in nature. This has reference to its impact also upon
humanity.
Masters
who have taken the 6th initiation come under the jurisdiction of
Shamballa
(RI 722) At this sixth initiation the Masters Who participate in it no
longer come under the jurisdiction of the Hierarchy. They have moved out from under it. Their long connection with the Hierarchy is
translated to a higher centre and is transferred to Shamballa, unless (as in the case of the Christ) They choose the Path of Earth Service and return to work with the evolutions
upon our planet; there are many such evolutions and several kingdoms in nature
besides the human, including the deva or angel evolution.
“……..the
seventh initiation. This can only be
undergone when the will of the Master is completely merged in that of the
planetary Logos”
The sixth
Initiation of Decision is preparatory to the true Initiation of the Resurrection, the seventh
initiation. This can only be undergone when the will of
the Master is completely merged in that of the planetary Logos. Between the sixth and the seventh initiations
"an interim of divine fusion" takes place; an elementary and somewhat
distorted picture of this critical fusion is given to us in The New Testament,
where we read of the experience of the Christ in the
Those
who are taking the 6th initiation are conditioned by the 3rd
Ray, and Lord Saturn when they wipe the slate clean and clear all karma
(RI 724) You have
oft been told that there are four Lords of Karma associated with the Council Chamber at Shamballa. They
represent—in Their totality—the three Rays of Aspect, and one of Them represents the four minor Rays
of Attribute. It is the Lord of Karma Who implements the
destinies of Those Who are conditioned by the third Ray of Active Intelligence
(and this is ever the case with Those Who are taking the sixth initiation) and
Who—symbolically speaking—"wipes clean the slate" of this particular
group [Page 725] of initiates at this particular time. Karma no longer holds Them.
At
the eighth Initiation of Transition the purpose of all our planetary activity
is revealed to the Master
(RI 726) At the eighth Initiation of Transition the purpose of all our planetary activity is revealed to
the Master, and all
Masters or initiates of this eighth initiation (working either through the Hierarchy
or in Shamballa) are needed at this initiation so as to
stimulate the point of tension of the new initiate in order to make the
revelation possible.
(RI 730) The word
"resurrection" has deep significance latent in its derivation and one
that is not often emphasised. The usual
interpretation has been that the word comes from "re," again, and
"surgere," to rise, therefore to rise again. Yet a consultation with the dictionary shows
that the prefix means "back to an original state" by rising. This return to an original state is pictured
for us in The New Testament under the story of the Prodigal Son, who said
"I will arise and go to my Father," and by the story of the
resurrection in which the Master Jesus arose out of the tomb; the chains of
death could not hold Him. At that time
of His "rising," a far more important event took place and the Christ
passed through the seventh Initiation of Resurrection and returned back to His
original state of Being—to remain there throughout all the eternities. This is the true and final resurrection. The Son of God has found His way back to the
Father and to His originating Source, that state of Existence to which we have
given the name Shamballa.
The consciousness of the Universal Life is His: this [Page 731] is far
more than simply the consciousness of immortality, because the idea or concept
of mortality is not contained within it at all.
There have been many deaths within the aeonial life cycle of the
initiate:
1. The familiar
and constantly recurring death of the physical body, incarnation after
incarnation.
2. The deaths of
the astral and the mental vehicles, as the undying soul discards them life
after life—only to create new ones until mastery is attained.
3. Then—as a
result of the incarnating process and its evolutionary effects—there comes the
death of desire and its replacing by a growing spiritual aspiration.
4. Then, through
right use of the mind, comes the "death" of the personality or,
rather, its repudiation and renouncing of all that is material.
5. This is
followed by the death or destruction of the causal or soul body at the great
Initiation of Renunciation. This process
of death and resurrection goes on ceaselessly in all the kingdoms of nature;
each death prepares the way for a greater loveliness and livingness, and each
death (if you analyse it with care) prefaces resurrection in some form or
another until we come to this final resurrection and into the position of final
attainment.
(RI 733) After the
fifth initiation, the initiate has slowly been sensing the nature of this
greater Life, the Life
of "The [Page 733] Unknown God," as it has been called, which enfolds all
livingness and all forms upon and within our planet and yet remains—greater
than our planetary Life, more all-encompassing than is our planetary Logos, and
Whose greatness, beauty, goodness and knowledge are to our planetary Logos what
His life is to the lowest form of life in the third or animal kingdom. It is only by such inadequate comparisons
that one can arrive at some faint comprehension of that great WHOLE in which
our planet and our planetary Logos are but a part. It is this revelation which is accorded to
the initiate at this seventh
Initiation of Resurrection. He takes this initiation upon
what (for lack of a better phrase) we call the "logoic plane," or on
the level of consciousness
of the Lord of the World.
At
the 7th initiation Sanat Kumara is attended by two groups of beings,
who together make up the Ajna centre of Sanat Kumara-They function on the
Logoic plane and are the directing agents of the seven ray energies from the
Ray Lords
At this initiation
the Initiator is attended by two groups of Beings; one is a small group of the "Knowers of the Purpose, the
Custodians of the Will,"
and the other is a much larger group, the personnel of which are known as
"The Wise Ones and
the Attractive Energies
of Shamballa."
I am of course endeavouring to translate certain brief words and
intricate symbols into phrases which you can understand and which only dimly
convey the true significance of Those Who function on this highest level of the cosmic physical
plane. On this level, dynamic electricity is held as
in a great reservoir of potency and is directed by these two groups which
embody the will and the quality of the will of Deity, called by us the
Will-to-Good. They are the directing Agents and are a correspondence to the ajna
centre of mankind, only here it is the ajna centre of the planetary Logos, in the same sense as Shamballa is His head centre, the Hierarchy His heart centre
and Humanity His creative throat centre.
Motion, planned activity and the seven great creative ray energies are directed into
action by Them under
the influence of the seven Ray Lords; the Ray Lords are embodied livingness
qualified by the seven aspects of Love, but Who are Themselves of so high an
order that They cannot function as directing creative Agents but work through
Their trained and developed Representatives.
[Page 734]
Just as there is a
group of Contemplative Initiates, called in the Eastern phraseology
"Nirmanakayas," Who function in deep meditation at a point midway
between the Hierarchy and Shamballa, so this much higher group of Ray Lords
function in the deepest cosmic meditation between our planet, the Earth, and
our sister planet, Venus. You would find
it useful to read with care The Secret Doctrine and A Treatise on Cosmic Fire
and refresh your minds as to this relationship.
A lower correspondence to these two important groups has been forming
midway between the Hierarchy and Humanity, and to it we give the name of the
New Group of World Servers. All these
three groups are fundamentally "transmitters of energy"; the two
highest are exceedingly susceptible to cosmic impression and to the vibratory
quality of the extra-planetary body of Avatars Who hold Themselves in readiness
to function as destroying or building Energies in any part of our solar system
and are under the direction of the Solar Logos.
The Avatar
of Synthesis, Who is
working in cooperation with the Christ, is one of Them. Bear in mind that these extra-planetary
Avatars have not arrived at Their high state of spiritual unfoldment on our
planet or even in our solar system.
Their origin, source and spiritual relationships are a great mystery
even to the planetary Logoi—to Whose help They go when the invocative appeal of
any planet is adequate. Think not that
They come to put wrong right or to arrest evil.
A few, a very few, may do so, but They work along the line of the seven
ray energies in the solar system and produce certain energy effects desired at
any particular time; the constructive work of the Avatar of Synthesis will be
apparent to you in the name He is known by; He is coming to the Earth in order
to further the manifestation of unity, of oneness and of inter-relation, and He
comes, therefore, to wield and apply first ray energy. He will charge or galvanise the three
groups—the directing Agents in Shamballa, the
Nirmanakayas and the New Group of World Servers—with dynamic energy and, in a
mysterious way, relate them to each other so that a [Page 735] new synthesis
and alignment will be present upon the Earth.
All these Avatars embody energy to the extent that any particular planet
is capable of receiving it.
“This
seventh initiation gives the initiate the right to "come and go in the
courts of Shamballa”
(RI 735) This seventh initiation gives the initiate the right to "come
and go in the courts of Shamballa" as Their work may dictate and Their
service may require. It is there also
that he goes for the needed periodic or cyclic re-chargings which enable him to
work.
There is one
aspect of initiation which is apt to be overlooked. Every initiation is a process of energy
transmission from a higher centre of energy to a lower; every initiation
charges the initiate with electrical force, and this charging and re-charging
is related to what H.P.B. calls "the mystery of electricity " These transmissions of energy enhance the
magnetic-attractive force of the initiate, and at the same time are eliminative
in their effects. In this fact lies a
great planetary truth and the key to the science of planetary redemption. When the spiritual and the electrical [Page
736] charging of the three major centres on the planet—Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity—has reached a high stage
of receptive efficiency, a certain cosmic Avatar will "become conscious of
the vibratory quality of the little point of light within the solar
sphere" and will then "turn His gaze and send His force unto that
point of light, and cosmic evil will be driven out and find no more a place on
Earth."
(RI 737) The
planetary Lodge of Masters has absorbed Him and, at the final initiation, the
Great Lodge on Sirius has recognised Him, and with the Black Lodge of Adepts He will have nothing to
do. He will mitigate its evil effects and will
struggle to offset its results, but He knows that the final overcoming of
cosmic physical evil must be undertaken by Existences much further advanced
than even the Members of the Council Chamber at Shamballa; certain solar Entities and certain great Lives from
Sirius are dealing with the problem.
(RI 754) There are
certain areas of evil in the world today through which these forces of darkness
can reach humanity. What they are and
where they are I do not intend to say. I
would point out, however, that
The task ahead of
humanity is to close the door upon this worst and yet secondary evil and shut
it in its own place. There is enough for
humanity to do in transmuting planetary evil without undertaking to battle with
that which the Masters Themselves can only keep at bay, but [Page 755] cannot
conquer. The handling of this type of evil and its dissipation, and therefore the
release of our planet from its danger, is the destined task of Those Who work
and live in "the centre where the Will of God is known," at Shamballa; it is not the task of the Hierarchy or of humanity. Remember this, but remember also that what man
has loosed he can aid to imprison; this he can do by fostering right human
relations, by spreading the news of the approach of the spiritual Hierarchy,
and by preparing for the reappearance of the Christ. Forget not also, the Christ is a Member of
the Great Council at Shamballa and brings the highest spiritual energy
with Him. Humanity can also cease
treading the path to the "door where evil dwells" and can remove
itself and seek the Path which leads to light and to the Door of Initiation.
5. The Use of the
Great Invocation
Some time ago I
gave out to the world—under instruction from the Christ—an Invocation that is
destined to become of major usefulness in bringing about certain great
events. These are:
1. An outpouring
of love and light upon mankind, from Shamballa.
2. An invocatory
appeal to the Christ, the Head of the Hierarchy, to reappear.
3. The
establishing on earth of the divine Plan, to be accomplished willingly by
humanity itself.
(RI 757) The
uniqueness connected with the Invocation consists in the fact that it is, in
reality, a great method of integration.
It links the Father, the Christ and humanity in one great relationship. Christ emphasised ever the Fatherhood of God
and substituted it in place of the cruel, jealous tribal Jehovah of the nation
to which He had gone for a physical vehicle.
Christ was a Jew. In the 17th
chapter of
(RI 378) The
arousing of manas or mind in animal man in a triple way.
a. By the direct
incarnation of certain members of the White Brotherhood, in which way They
brought in the new and necessary factors by transmission to their children.
b. By the definite
implantation of what is called in the occult Scriptures "the spark of
mind" in animal man. This is simply
a pictorial way of picturing the creation, by a direct act, of the necessary
mental unit or mental apparatus of thought, within the causal or spiritual
body.
c. By the gradual
stimulation of the mental faculty in animal man, and the steady vitalisation of
the latent germ of mind until it flowered forth as manifested mind.
This covered a
vast period of time, and though the Brotherhood made its headquarters at Shamballa and directed its activities from there, it was found
necessary during the first
sub-race of the Atlantean Root Race to make certain efforts, if the evolution of the race
was to proceed according to plan.
Students of these mysteries need to remember that though Shamballa is spoken of as existing in physical matter and as
occupying a definite location in space, the physical matter referred to is
etheric, the Lord of the
World and His assistants of
the higher degrees occupying
bodies formed of etheric matter.
“founding
of Shamballa being about eighteen and a half million years ago”
5. It was decided
about seventeen million
years ago (the coming
of the Hierarchy and the founding
of Shamballa being about eighteen and a half million years ago) to have on the dense physical plane an
organization and a headquarters for the mysteries, and to have a band of
Adepts, and Chohans who would function in dense physical bodies and thus meet the need of the rapidly awakening
humanity.
“The
first outpost for the Shamballa Fraternity was the original
6. The first
outpost for the Shamballa Fraternity was the original temple of Ibez and it was located in the centre of South America, and one of its branches at a much later
period was to be found in the ancient Maya institutions, and the basic worship
of the sun as the source of life in the hearts of all men. A second branch was later established in
We might here note
the fact that the word
Ibez is literally in
the nature of an acrostic veiling
the true name of the planetary Logos of the earth, one of Whose principles is working in Sanat Kumara, making Him thus a direct incarnation of the planetary Logos and an expression of His divine
consciousness. These four letters are the first letters of
the real names of the four Avatars on the four globes of our
earth chain who have
embodied four of the divine principles.
The letters I B E Z are not the true Sensar letters, if such an
inaccurate expression can be used of an ideographic language, but are simply a
Europeanized distortion. The true meaning is only conveyed at the fourth
initiation when the nature of the planetary Logos is revealed and His four Avatars are definitely
contacted through the direct mediatory work of Sanat Kumara.
(WM 380)
8. At the time the
door of initiation was opened, many millions of years ago the Lodge came to two decisions:
That
individualisation must cease until man had not only coordinated the physical and astral bodies and
could think self-consciously but until he had also transcended the physical and
the astral. When he is becoming
group-conscious, then the door into the kingdom of self-consciousness will
again be opened.
That the path of
mysticism must lead eventually to the occult path, and that plans must be made
to impart teaching, and mysteries must be organized which would reveal the
nature of God in all that is seen, and not only in man. Man must be taught that though an individual,
he is but part of a greater whole and that his interests must be made
subservient to those of the group.
Gradually the teaching was re-organized, and the curriculum increased;
little by little the mysteries were developed as the people became ready for
them until we have the marvelous
schools of the Mysteries of
9. Three things
might be mentioned:
a. The relatively
low point of evolution of many men and their naturally physical polarization.
b. The work of the black adepts and the followers of the left hand
path. When the Ibezhan adepts (again under instructions from the Masters
at Shamballa) began to withdraw into the Temples, to make the mysteries more difficult of
attainment and to work against abuses and distortions, a number of Their erstwhile
followers, many of great power and
knowledge, fought Them and thus we have one of the causes of the appearing of
[Page 382] black and white magic, and one of the reasons of the purifying waters of the flood being deemed necessary.
c. The powerful thought-forms built up in the early Ibezhan
mysteries and which
(particularly in
10. The work of
the Ibezhan adepts and the mysteries of the
Some
original documents are held at Shamballa-so it is not a purely etheric place
but physical too
(WM 547) Second,
he must recognize "the city that stands foursquare." He must understand the meaning, of "man,
the cube", and this in three ways:
[Page 547]
1. Himself as a
human being;
2. His fellow man
in relation to himself and the Whole;
3. The fourth
kingdom in nature, the human kingdom, viewing that entire kingdom as an entity,
an organized life functioning on the physical plane, indwelt by soul, animated
by spirit.
This means, therefore,
that as a man he is responsive to his kind and is aware also of the purpose of
the kingdom to which he belongs. This
can best be expressed in some wonderful words from an ancient writing in the
Masters' Archives. It is said to date back to early Atlantean times.
The material on which the writing is found is so old and so frail that
all that the Masters themselves can touch and see is a precipitation made from it, the original being kept at Shamballa. It runs thus,
with certain deletions, which it is wiser not to insert:
"At the four
corners of the square, the four angelic...are seen. Orange they are, but veiled in rosy
light. Within each form the yellow flame
is seen and round each form the blue...
"Four words
they utter forth, one for each human race, but not the sacred sound which
bringeth forth the seventh. Two words
have died away, four sound today. One
sounds in realms so high that man can enter not as man. Thus are the seven words of man ringing
around the square, passing from mouth to mouth.
"Each day of
man the words take form and different seem.
In...the words will be as follows:
"From out the
North a word is chanted forth which means...be pure.
"From out the
South the word peals out: I dedicate and...
"From out the
East, bringing a light divine, the word comes swinging round the square: Love all.
"From out the
West, answer is thrown back: I
serve."
This is the end of the 19 part
compilation from the Bailey books CD