28 Rules Group
Commentary on Rule XIV Part IV of V, Section II
R&I (312-319)
(All
Highlighting, Bolding and Underlining—MDR)
Please read this Commentary with your book open or with reference to an electronic copy of the text. This will facilitate an appreciation of continuity
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;
1.
These injunctions are encapsulations or essentializations of
that for which each initiation stands. If we really grasp the meaning of these
words we have an infallible hint regarding the nature of the initiation.
2.
It may be that they can also be applied to still higher
initiations, with the series ending in the seventh initiation of
“Resurrection”.
they give the
initiate the keynote to the work which he must carry forward
between the various initiatory
processes.
3.
If these keynotes are sounding, the candidate for a particular
initiation has true guidance in its achievement.
4.
Note that the initiations are more “processes” than events.
5.
Following each of the five initiations, the word or injunction
must be applied. The initiation, itself, stands but for the beginning of the
process which will see the word applied. Think this through
The work
indicated has nothing whatever to do with the training and the discipline to
which he will (needless to say) subject his personality;
6.
This disciplining is simply assumed. It is not that one can say,
“I have moved beyond the need for disciplining the personality”. As long as the
personality exists, discipline is required. After the fourth initiation this is
no longer an issue as the personality as a collection of lunar vehicles no
longer exists, so what is there to discipline?
7.
The phrase “needless to say” tells much about the attitude of
the Master to the process of disciplining the personality.
they are related
instead to the work which he has to
render.
8.
Initiates are great workers.
Much of their training as a human being, per se, has been successfully
accomplished.
9.
At this point of development, attention is given to the work and
not to preparing the personality instrument for that work. Again, the
preparation is assumed in the case of the true initiate.
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.
10.
Clearly, this is work of a very high order.
11.
The initiate’s work lies beyond the province of the soul, per
se. It is connected with the truly higher nature of the human being.
12.
The work concerns the registration of Divine Purpose and the
ability to respond to the Divine Will. We remember in this context,
“Registrants of the Purpose” and “Custodians of the Plan”.
As you know, this ability [to respond to the will of the Monad] does not
become an established fact and functioning
realisation until after the third initiation;
13.
Before the third initiation this ability may be somewhat sensed and may be in process of
cultivation, but the necessary realizations concerning this ability occur only sporadically
and the probationary initiate cannot depend upon them.
14.
It is not enough simply to realize.
One must be able to function in a new way as a result of the realization. Thus,
the realization becomes functional.
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:
15.
The advancing initiate (even a probationary initiate of the
first and second degrees) is pledged to move forward in his understanding of
the destruction and resurrection which lies before him.
16.
We are all developing a “preparatory sensitivity”. It precedes
the stage of “functioning realization”.
17.
The sequence is:
1. The disciplining of his lower nature
so that the unfolding initiate-consciousness may find no hindrances and
obstacles.
18.
Hindrances are found precisely here—upon the lower eighteen
subplanes and the vehicles which are composed of these substances.
19.
It is obvious that undisciplined personality vehicles act as
hindrances to the expression of Divine Purpose, Divine Plan, Divine Will and
the expressions of these three through the soul.
20.
Some have inspiring glimpses of reality as seen from the
initiate consciousness, but cannot sustain such perception because of the
hindrances and obstacles here discussed.
2.
Service to the Plan, under hierarchical impression.
21.
This is true service
and not a humanly conceived imitation of service, often for incorrect motives.
3. The development of monadic sensitivity.
22.
This is, essentially, sensitivity to the Will of the Planetary
Logos and then to the Divine Purpose of that Logos.
23.
We have a threefold process:
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.
24.
DK points out that we are only “theoretically” familiar with these
initiations. True familiarity is
another thing entirely and is based upon direct
experience with particular initiatory processes. Our task, we well know, is
to transform theory into practice.
25.
The Path of Initiation is one of increasing responsiveness to
“pure will”.
26.
We must now prepare for a fuller understanding of the five words
given in this Rule. We are certainly not seeking merely an understanding of the
obvious implications.
27.
All the words, we realize, are being interpreted in relation to
the initiate consciousness. They are words intended to bring monadic life into
full consciousness and expression.
The word
Know, in relation to the
initiate-consciousness, concerns the certainty
of the initiate, and his profound
conviction of the fact of the Christ in the heart(s)
28.
This certainty, of course, arises from having faced the Christ
in the “Chamber of Initiation”.
it is at the same
time coupled with a reaction which emanates from the sacrifice petals in
the egoic lotus—those petals which
are composed
of the will quality of the Monad and relate the soul to the emanating Monad.
29.
Chart VIII (TCF 817) should be studied to learn the sources of
the energies which influence the sacrifice petals of the egoic lotus. We will
find that the atmic permanent atom of the spiritual triad is to be considered a
source as is the Monad.
30.
It is important to realize that the sacrifice petals of the
egoic lotus are conduits for the “will quality of the Monad”. In other words,
monadic energy is reaching the personality via the sacrifice petals.
31.
Not only are the sacrifice petals conduits. Those petals are actually “composed of the will
quality of the Monad”. This bears pondering.
32.
It may be inferred that it is the energy of the Monad which in
some way underlies the structure of the egoic lotus. If we can say that
sacrifice petals are composed of the will quality of the Monad then why can we
not say that the love petals are compose of the love quality of the Monad and the knowledge petals of the knowledge quality of that same Monad.
33.
So to “Know” in the initiate sense is
34.
It is clear, then, that this knowing
concerns both love and will
The
first faint tremor of the [Page 313] impact of monadic "destiny" (I
know not how else to express this concept) makes itself felt, but is registered
only by the soul of the initiate and on the level of soul consciousness; it is
never registered by the man on the physical plane who is taking the first
initiation;
35.
We are speaking of inner events which occur at the time of the
first initiation—the “Birth of the Christ in the Heart”.
36.
At that first degree, the Monad is indeed felt, but only on soul levels upon the higher mental plane. Yet,
“monadic destiny” begins to impel the lower process.
37.
Thus, the initiate as the
Ego on the higher mental plane, registers the incipient influence of the
Monad and is directed towards a certain destiny which awaits the Monad. This is
“monadic destiny”.
his brain cannot respond to this
high vibration.
38.
By the time the third initiation is taken, his brain can respond to the monadic vibration.
Theoretically,
and as a result of the teaching of the Ageless Wisdom, the spiritual man (in
incarnation) has known that
he is essentially the indwelling Christ, and the attainment of the Christ
consciousness has been and will be his goal;
39.
We are speaking her of the attainment of a small degree of the
possible fulness of Christ Consciousness.
40.
From a broader perspective, however, this goal does not stop at
the third initiation. The Christ is an initiate of the seventh degree (in
process) and the road to the fulness of His type of consciousness is long.
41.
Further, we can say that there is no conceivable end to the
development of the Christ Consciousness. There is, after all, a “Cosmic
Christ”.
42.
Yet for practical purposes we are speaking of the attainment of
soul consciousness, calling it “Christ consciousness”.
the knowledge here referred to
concerns something higher still—the
Self-identification of the soul on its own plane and the Self-recognition which
relates that Self to the enveloping whole, the Monad.
43.
In this type of identification, the man knows himself to be the
Ego on its own plane and more still—to be that which envelopes the soul—the
Monad.
44.
Note how DK speaks of the Monad as if it is “the enveloping whole”.
45.
We note that the term “Self” (as here used) is not equivalent to
the Monad, for the Self is to be related
to the Monad—“the enveloping whole”.
46.
DK is developing His notion of the use of the word “Know”.
If I might word it symbolically, I would say
that the soul, the Christ (after the first initiation), knows that the
inevitable processes of Christ-expression on Earth have been started and that
the attainment of "the full-grown man in Christ" cannot be arrested.
47.
DK tells us of the type of knowing
which follows the first initiation.
48.
The soul on its own plane has known that this expression on
Earth was divinely intended from the moment of individualization. After the
first initiation, that soul or Ego may be assured
that the process will go forward
without arrest.
49.
As the process progresses, the soul-in-incarnation (the
extension of the soul or Christ) comes to know this as well. This happens
because the soul-in-incarnation comes into increasing identification with the
soul on its own plane.
The centre of interest which has hitherto been
directed to bringing this about now shifts and the soul on its own plane (not in the reflection of its
consciousness on Earth) becomes determined to "go to the Father" or to demonstrate the highest aspect of
divinity, the will aspect.
50.
This is a fascinating thought. DK is telling us that it is not
the soul-in-incarnation who is determined to “go to the Father” but the “soul
on its own plane”. We see, then, something of the high state of consciousness
of the “Prodigal Son” who is usually portrayed in very human terms.
51.
When we speak of the soul on its own plane we are speaking of
the individual as the Ego.
52.
Perhaps by the time of this arising,
the soul-in-incarnation is identified as the soul on its own plane. It would
seem that the period of the third initiation would have to be in sight.
53.
And yet there are earlier arisings or reversals which reveal a
more human portrait of the Prodigal Son. That which occurs within the
consciousness of the soul on its own plane (the Ego on the higher mental plane)
also occurs at an earlier stage for the soul-in-incarnation. We could call this
strictly human reorientation towards the soul (and not the Monad) the first
reversal of the wheel and it occurs when the fifth petal is in process of
unfoldment.
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)
54.
This is a fascinating thought and an incentive to us regarding
our ability to capture the highest realizations in revelatory language.
55.
How shall we define “monadic centralisation”? Shall we call it
the ‘centralisation of the consciousness which the all-pervading awareness of
the Monad’?
56.
In speaking of the “monadic centralisation” in the life of the
Christ, let us make sure that it is, indeed, the Christ and not the Master
Jesus. This is briefly discussed below.
57.
Taking the Tibetan’s statement at face value, however, we are to
look for the unfoldment of monadic consciousness in the life of the “Christ”.
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.
58.
We are being told that “monadic centralisation” and the
emergence of the will aspect is a definitely unfolding process.
1. His
statement to His parents in the Temple, "Wist ye not that I must be about
My Father's business?" I would have
you note that:
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.
59.
Twelve is a number related both to the soul (with its twelve
petals) and to the Monad, ruled by the sign of salvation, Pisces, the twelfth
sign.
The symbolism of His twelve years is now
replaced by that of the twelve Apostles.
60.
The twelve Apostles represented His Teaching to the world.
61.
As a number related so directly to the heart, the number twelve
will always be important in relation to the life of the Christ.
62.
As mentioned above, must ask whether we are speaking of Jesus or
the Christ. Did the first tangible cooperation of the Lord Maitreya with the
initiate Jesus occur at the time of the Baptism when Jesus was thirty years old
(this is the usual esoteric presentation), or had it begun much earlier—when
Jesus was twelve years of age?
63.
The Tibetan does use the word “Christ” even though speaking of
an event which occurred when the individual called Jesus was twelve years old.
64.
Perhaps the interplay between the Great Teacher and His
disciple, Jesus, was progressive and dated from an early age. Perhaps the Lord
Maitreya was in close affiliation with the initiate Jesus for a very long time
before Their public ministry began.
b. He
was in the Temple of Solomon, ever a symbol of the causal body of the soul, and
He was therefore speaking on soul
levels and not as the spiritual man on Earth.
65.
Such was the elevation of that Being Who spoke through a twelve
year old form, whether that Being was the initiate Jesus or the Christ
overshadowing Jesus, or the Christ in possession of the form of Jesus.
66.
We must note the important distinction:
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.
67.
All members of the Hierarchy no matter what their ray are
necessarily Teachers to human beings.
68.
(We must remember, however, that two thousand years ago the
Christ was not just a “member” of the Spiritual Hierarchy but the Head of that
Hierarchy. Was the one who was serving “as a member of the Hierarchy” the
initiate, Jesus?
69.
The authority of the fully developed soul was manifest to the
astonishment of those He taught.
70.
IT could be said that Jesus (since He had been the high priest
Joshua at which time he had taken the third initiation), had recovered his
previous knowledge and authority and was sharing it with those who knew far
less. Yet the word “Christ” is used.
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;
71.
To demonstrate His independence of the control of both these
aspects He said: “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?”
He now functioned as the monad, above and
beyond yet inclusive of both.
72.
The Christ’s identification as
the Monad was clear. To an extent, even the initiate Jesus (as the former
third-degree initiate Joshua) could have been
increasingly identified with the Monad.
73.
Usually (in the Hebrew tradition) the advanced individual who
has reached the age of twelve is being prepared to “become a man” (by passing
through the Bar Mitzvah) and, thus, to achieve some degree of independence from
his strictly lunar nature.
74.
In this case (the case
of Christ-Jesus) reaching the age of twelve signaled independence from even the
soul aspect, strictly speaking.
75.
We can question whether any third degree initiate (such as Jesus
was) could really function as the Monad. It seems that this type of functioning
could only be true of the Christ.
2. His
statement to His disciples, "I must go up to Jerusalem," after which
we read that He steadfastly set His face to go there.
76.
In relation to point two we are certain that we are speaking of
the Christ using the body of the initiate, Jesus.
77.
One should review in this context the very important section in Esoteric Astrology (563-568) in which
the role of the zodiacal signs in the life of the Christ is discussed. When He
set his face steadfastly to go to
Jerusalem, He was under the influence of Sagittarius.
This was an intimation
that He had now a new objective.
78.
Something of the fulness of this new objective was revealed in
the Garden of Gethsemene when the Christ acquiesced to the Father’ Will,
agreeing to fulfill the role of World Saviour for some 5000 years.
The only place of complete "peace"
(the meaning of the word Jerusalem) is Shamballa;
79.
This is a statement of paramount importance and relates
Shamballa to the sign Libra.
80.
In the search today for peace in the Middle East, and in the
central role of the city Jerusalem in discussions concerning achieving that
peace, we can see a very dim reflection of the Shamballic association.
the Hierarchy is not a centre
of peace in the true meaning of the term,
which has no relation to emotion but to the
cessation of the type of activity with which we are familiar in the world of
manifestation;
81.
Another statement of unusual significance! Many people interpret
peace as relating to the emotional body. One of its meanings does, indeed,
relate to the tranquilization of the emotions but this would not be “the true
meaning of the term”.
82.
In the world of manifestation we are familiar with activity
based upon the third aspect of divinity, the Activity Aspect. It is this type
of activity which ceases in a condition of true peace.
the Hierarchy is a
very vortex of activity and of energies coming from Shamballa and from
Humanity.
83.
DK is speaking of the Hierarchy as a meeting ground of two types
of energies—the energies of Humanity and the energies of Shamballa. This
meeting, we judge, produces a vortex of energies which eventually unites the
lowest with the highest.
84.
The contrasting of the following ideas may bring an important
illumination:
From the
standpoint of true esotericism, Shamballa
is a place of "serene determination and of poised, quiescent will"
as the Old Commentary expresses it.
85.
In this definition we find an expression of will devoid of
resistance—thus the presence of serenity, of poise and quiescence. We are often
accustomed to contemplating the expression of will amidst turbulent conditions.
86.
In this definition we again notice the influence of the sign
Libra, which is particularly the sign of poised quiescence.
3. The
exclamation of the Christ, "Father, not my will, but Thine be done," indicated His monadic and realised
"destiny."
87.
This exclamation occurred in the Garden of Gethsemene.
88.
We have read of the touch of monadic destiny which occurred
faintly as early as the first initiation (though confined to soul levels). Now
we read of its full realization presumably at the sixth initiation of the
Christ.
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.
89.
Only an Initiate of vast realization could pronounce those words
with full meaning: “Father, not my will, but Thine be done.” At that time there
dawned upon His consciousness an immense realization concerning the destiny of
our planet and its humanity—though perhaps not the ultimate realization as it
exists in the consciousness of the Planetary Logos. He was given a measure of
understanding of the Purpose of the Father, of the reason for which the Father was
manifesting through the planet Earth.
The soul, in this statement, is renounced,
and the monad, as a point of
centralisation, is definitely and finally recognised.
90.
In other words, that limitation upon consciousness which soul
(as we usually understand the term) represents was renounced.
91.
From one perspective soul (as consciousness) can never be renounced (for all great Logoi
have consciousness or soul of a cosmic kind),
but that limitation of consciousness
which soul upon triadal levels
represents—that was renounced.
92.
The statement represented a huge expansion of consciousness.
93.
Let us ponder on the words: “the monad as a point of centralisation”.
Do we have the faintest living experience of what it means to be centralized
within the Monad?
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.
94.
Here we have what most Christians would consider a radical (and
also heretical) statement.
The Crucifixion lay behind Him in the
experience of the Christ.
95.
Perhaps it was experienced as the Lord Krishna some three thousand
years before.
The
episode of renunciation was a high point in the life of the World
Saviour, but was no part of the experience of the Master Jesus.
96.
Even though the fourth initiation is often called “the Great
Renunciation”, the renunciation through which the Christ was passing was far
greater. He was renouncing the inherent limitations of His soul will (His Will
as a spiritual triad or true Ego) for the far greater powers inherent in the
Father’s Will.
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.
97.
These words were spoken following what we understand as the
“Resurrection”.
98.
The Christ’s apostles have here been elevated to hierarchical
status (at least symbolically). The Christ, we are told, demonstrated through His work with His
disciples, the gathering of an outer Ashram (or group affiliated with the inner
Ashram) and His expression through that outer Ashram.
99.
To remain until the “end of the age” was, we may suppose, an
aspect of the monadic destiny which the Christ realized in Gethsemene and which
He began immediately to enact. That “age”, it seems, was not only the Age of
Pisces but included the Age of Aquarius. Was it at the time of His realization
of monadic destiny that the Christ knew
He would fulfill the function of World Saviour for two consecutive precessional ages—a period of some 5000 years? So
it would seem.
Here He was speaking as Head of the
Hierarchy,
100. This He had been
since the transition of the Buddha some five hundred years before.
which constitutes His Ashram,
101. We note that the
Hierarchy is considered not only the Ashram of Sanat Kumara but also the Ashram
of the Christ.
and also speaking as the Monad and expressing His divine Will to pervade or inform the
world continuously and endlessly with His overshadowing consciousness;
102. Christ is surely
a Monad upon the second ray.
103. We learn here of
the vast scope of the Christ’s service to both humanity and the Earth—He
pervades and informs the world continuously.
104. The consciousness
of the Christ, therefore, is a great pervading, informing presence always accessible to those who are qualified and approach
rightly.
105. We see that it is
possible to speak “as the Monad”.
106. Further, the One Who is Head of the Hierarchy necessarily speaks as the Monad.
107. In this statement
the Christ demonstrated His ability to see thousands of years into the future.
He expressed universality and the ceaseless
continuity and contact which is the characteristic of monadic life—of life
itself.
108. Here we have one
of the great definitions of “monadic life”—“universality and…ceaseless
continuity and contact”. While the Monad is in one sense remote, it is also immediately
present.
109. We see no
fluctuation in this type of contact. It is characterized by “ceaseless
continuity”. It is utterly and consistently present.
It
was also a tremendous affirmation, sent forth on the energy of the will, and
making all things new and all things possible.
110. This is an
extraordinary statement. It is as if this statement by the Christ inaugurated
an entirely new dispensation for humanity and the planet.
111. We can understand
it as a huge ‘gift of life’—of “Life more Abundant”.
112. It is as if this
statement released humanity from an ancient bondage from which it could not
release itself.
If you
will carefully study these four statements
113. We have been
given four moments of “monadic centralisation”.
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.
114. The knowledge is
not at all soul knowledge but is monadic knowledge.
115. The initiate must
begin to know what the Monad knows (or what He, as the Monad, knows).
116. We can see that
the injunction does not pertain only to the first initiation. In its wider
meaning, such knowledge cannot even begin until the third initiation has been
taken.
117. In all
simplicity, the injunction is give to know
oneself as the Monad, and of course, to begin to act accordingly.
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.
118. The Word “Know”
is an order, a command, an injunction. Consciousness is to be reoriented towards
the Monad. This assumes that the one to be reoriented is already conscious as
an Ego on the higher mental plane. One is to
know the nature of monadic life.
119. We can see how
far this Rule is in advance of the usual soul culture.
120. If the word
“Know” is given at the first initiation, its full meaning can only be
appreciated on soul levels by the higher Ego and not within the physical brain
of the new initiate. Even at the first degree there is a reorientation by the
Ego on its own plane towards the Monad, but of this the personality is unaware.
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.
121. We are gathering
the impression that all these injunctions are monadic in nature.
It means (behind all other possible meanings)
122. And there must be
a number of these…
the command
to express the will nature of the monad
123. The relation
between desire and will begins to be fathomed at the second degree.
and to "feel after" and
embody the Purpose which lies behind the Plan, as a result of the developed sensitivity.
124. It is the
idealism of the incarnated Spirit which “feels after” the Divine Purpose.
Idealism (representing a high expression of the sense of smell) finds its way back to the monadic plane—the sixth
plane (counting from below), just as idealism is an expression of the sixth
ray.
125. Thus far, we
understand that the injunction “Express” calls for two things:
126. We find that
sensitivity to the Monad is being developed at the second degree. The plane of
the Monad is, we realize, correlated with the astral plane. From different
perspectives, they are both the sixth plane.
Obedience to the Plan brings revelation of the
hidden Purpose,
127. How shall we
grasp the “hidden Purpose”? The method is here given—“obedience to the Plan”.
128. This is another
way of saying that “those who do the
Will of God shall know”.
129. We find that the
concept of “obedience” is related to the second initiation and, one may
suppose, to the sixth ray.
130. Will we find that
“occult obedience” is particularly emphasized at the second degree and
in relation to the injunction “Express”?
and this is a
phrasing of the great objective which impulses the Hierarchy itself.
131. For the
Hierarchy, itself, is attempting to fathom the Divine Purpose. It has by no
means done so entirely.
132. And, Hierarchy
must obey the Will of Shamballa.
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,
133. So the initiate
must first cooperate with the Plan and demonstrate this cooperation in service.
To this cooperation and expression he is dedicated as both personality and soul.
134. When this
cooperation and service demonstration are in full tide, there comes an
awakening realization of the Father aspect. This awakening cannot happen unless
the initiate is fully engaged in the understanding and expression of the Divine
Plan. Before he can express as a Monad, he must understand and express both as a soul and as a personality.
135. The gradual
revelation of the Divine Will arises through occult obedience.
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."
136. Let us tabulate
the nature of this “awakening realisation”. When the initiate is fully
cooperative with and expressive of the Divine Plan, there comes-
137. These
realisations are, symbolically, the ‘adding of darkness to light’.
138. From one
perspective, “Darkness” is Shamballa and “Light” is Hierarchy.
He knows and is beginning to express that pure
Being as pure will in activity.
139. We can say that
this expression begins to occur at the second initiation, but at the higher
correspondence to the second (i.e., the fourth) the expression is far more
unobstructed and effective.
When the
third initiation is taken the initiate becomes aware, not only of the
significance of the command to Know
140. I.e., to know as the Monad would know…
and of his innate
ability to Express the will nature of
the monad in carrying out the Purpose of Shamballa,
141. I.e., to express as the Monad would express…
142. We note a very
important idea—the will nature of the Monad carries out the Purpose of
Shamballa. The Monad is directly related to and expressive of Shamballa. We might
almost consider the Monad, in its own nature, as a ‘resident’ 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.
143. Here we have been
given one of the significances of the injunction, “Reveal”.
144. Only the fused
personality-soul can truly be en rapport with the monadic source.
145. We note that the
revelation to be made is a revelation to
Hierarchy and not (in this context, at least) to humanity.
146. Apparently, to know the Monad and to express the Monad are somewhat lesser
stages than to be “en rapport with” the Monad (a state characteristic of the
third initiation, and, perhaps, on a higher turn of the spiral, characteristic
of the fifth initiation).
147. We must pause to
focus on the words “the monadic source from which he originally came”.
Are we speaking only the Monad, per se, or of that which is the source of the
Monad? Are we speaking of our Planetary Logos or of a Planetary Logos as a “monadic source”?
148. Certainly we can justifiably
consider the Monad as the source from which the soul-in-incarnation came, but
it may also be necessary to consider the origin of the Monad and the Planetary
Logos which that Monad represents—at first the Planetary Logos of the
Earth-scheme.
He can now obey the command to Reveal, because the Transfiguration is consummated.
149. What does the
Transfiguration Initiation reveal that the initiate can now reveal? What new
realization does the revelation upon the mountain top confer?
150. The consciousness
of the initiate is no longer form-bound in the same sense as heretofore.
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.
151. A triple
revelation is now in process.
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.
152. This is
interesting because usually the fifth initiation is considered the first
initiation in relation to the Sirian system of initiations.
153. We might say that
at the third initiation the transfigured initiate becomes a true disciple from
the Sirian perspective.
The first two initiations—oft regarded by humanity as major initiations—are in reality
minor initiations from the Sirian point of view,
154. And also, one
would think, from the point of view of the Solar
Logos
because the relation
of the man "under discipline and in training" is only a tendency;
155. Until the third
initiation is passed, this spiritual tendency is not firmly established as a
reliable pattern of thought, feeling and behavior.
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.
156. In fact, during
the period of probationary initiations (the first and second degrees) the
Father aspect is coming into
recognition; there is a growing
response to the Monad and there is an
unfolding sensitivity to the will aspect. It is not as if the probationary
initiate is entirely incognizant of the Father and the Monad.
But in the third initiation these developments are sufficiently
present to merit the phrase, "revelation of the glory," and
the Transfiguration initiation takes place.
157. The “glory” is
that of the Father—the “Supernal Light”. The tendencies towards the recognition
of the Father and of the will (the Divine Will) are, at the third degree, well-established
in the consciousness of the initiate. Then, the Transfiguration initiation can
take place. The Father and the Divine Will have (to a sufficient degree) become
established realities in consciousness.
158. We can see that
this degree is closely related to the fifth which is called by the related
name, “Revelation”.
159. In this final
Rule we are learning of the initiate’s approach to the Father, the Divine Will
and the Monad. We are learning that the five injunctions are injunctions to
live the monadic life—the life of one who knows
the Monad, who expresses the Monad
and who can reveal the nature of the
Monad.
At the
fourth initiation the destroying aspect of the will can begin to make its
presence felt;
160. Notice the word
“begin” because, apparently, the destroying aspect of the will continues to make is presence felt in
later initiations.
161. Every initiatic penetration
of a great veil is an act of destruction. The Christ penetrated a great veil at
the sixth initiation and the initiate of the ninth degree penetrates a still
greater veil.
the soul body, the
causal body, the Temple of the Lord, is
destroyed by an act of the will
162. From whence does
this destroying will emanate? Can we say that it is the will of the Monad?
163. We must remember
that it is the second aspect of the
will which is responsible for the destruction.
What, therefore, brings about the destruction of the soul
body? The destroying agent is the second aspect of the Will. The third or lowest aspect of the Will,
working through the mind or the manasic principle, was the sustaining factor in
the long cycle of personality development; it was the principle of intelligent
synthesis, holding the life principle intact and individualised through the
long series of successive incarnations. (R&I 216)
and because even the soul is recognised as a limitation by that
which is neither the body nor the soul,
164. The Monad
recognizes that form of consciousness customarily called “soul consciousness” as a limitation.
165. Since we have not
achieved full soul consciousness (achieved at the fourth degree) the ability to
recognize the soul as a limitation lies far ahead of us.
but that which stands greater than
either.
166. I.e., the Monad.
The awareness of the perfected man is now
focussed in that of the monad.
167. This is an
interesting sentence because it tells of two kinds of awareness:
168. The monadic
awareness persists constantly (on its own level) and within that pervasive and
consistent awareness the perfected man focusses his awareness.
169. This is a
repetition on a higher turn of the spiral of that process in which the aspirant
focuses his consciousness in the ongoing meditative consciousness of the soul
on its own plane.
170. In both cases, the
higher type of awareness or consciousness is ongoing. The lower type of
awareness must merge and blend with the ongoing higher awareness.
171. In both cases we
might call the process the entering of a continuous higher consciousness by a
discontinuous lower consciousness.
The road to Jerusalem has been trodden.
172. Jerusalem is
Shamballa.
This is a symbolical way of saying that the
antahkarana has been constructed and [Page 317] the Way to the Higher
Evolution—which confronts the higher initiates—has now opened up.
173. The Way of Higher
Evolution is, these days, trodden following the sixth degree. The Way “to” that
higher Path opens at the fourth degree though it cannot actually be trodden
until the sixth degree.
174. We are being told
that the full construction of the antahkarana is achieved by the fourth degree.
(The idea of full construction, however, is relative.)
175. From another
perspective, the construction of the antahkarana is an ongoing process. The
antahkarana (broadly conceived) is the instrument of ‘universal return’ and
will not disappear until the ‘Universal Day-Be-With-Us’.
The
three aspects of the will, as focussed in the Spiritual Triad, are now in full
expression.
176. Not before the
fourth degree does this occur.
177. One might wonder
whether the full expression of atma can possibly be achieved at the fourth degree? Would not the fifth degree be required?
The initiate is animated by Purpose,
178. He is no longer
animated merely by the Divine Plan.
179. To be “animated”
by Purpose is to be ‘moved’ by Purpose. Hitherto the soul on the higher mental
plane has been the ‘Animator’. Now the Spirit ‘animates’ the soul-infused
personality and the Ego on its own plane.
180. In fact, the
Spirit becomes increasingly the ‘Animator’ of the spiritual triad which is the
true Ego.
but faces still
greater evolutionary developments;
181. Developments
relating to the fifth degree and beyond…
of these I do not need to speak,
as they concern divine aspects as yet unknown and unregistered by man.
182. We usually think
of three major divine aspects and four lesser ones (attributes), yet DK
constantly hints at the existence of divine aspects of which we have no notion.
183. Ten is a more
perfect number than seven (a number of relative perfection). Could the
unrevealed aspects relate to the higher and synthesizing three?
The
reason for this complete ignorance is that the vehicles of any man below the third
initiation contain too much
"impure matter" to record the impact of these divine qualities.
184. The important
thing to register here is that impure matter prevents the registration in
consciousness of certain higher, Spirit-related energies.
185. Thus, purification
of the material sheaths is a necessity inseparable from the expansion of
consciousness. The process of purification is probably applicable to all planes on the cosmic physical plane.
Only the "created body" (the
mayavirupa) of an initiate of the fourth initiation can begin to register these
divine impacts;
186. This is
interesting, as the ability to create a Mayavirupa is usually associated with
the fifth degree.
187. We are being told
that the mayavirupa consists of very pure matter. We can say that the process
through which the mayavirupa is created mobilizes and configures atomic matter
in the lower three worlds. Atomic matter is the purest type of matter.
188. DK seems to be
telling us that no matter to be found in the normal personality vehicles of
even a high initiate is of sufficient refinement to register the very high
divine impacts of which we are speaking.
189. We may remember
that the vehicles of the Arhat are said to be composed entirely of atomic
matter. This thought must be carefully analyzed as there is no atomic matter in
the dense physical vehicle and, also, the usual mental body contains no atomic
matter. Only a mental vehicle focussed entirely on the highest subplane of the
mental plane can consist entirely of atomic mental matter.
it is therefore waste
of our time to consider even the possibility of their existence.
190. DK draws a
ring-pass-not separating speculations which (for us) are useful and those which
are useless.
191. In other places,
however, He does discuss developments which seem to lie even beyond those He
now refuses to discuss.
Even
I, a Master, and therefore an initiate of a relatively high degree, am only
faintly sensing them,
192. This puts the
whole matter in proportion, does it not?
and that because I am
learning to obey the fifth
word which we will briefly, very briefly, now consider.
193. DK is a Master
and yet He is only learning to obey the word related to the fifth degree.
Apparently the taking of an initiation represents only a beginning point in
relation to the full development of powers and qualities related to that
initiation.
194. We may infer that
resurrection is not just something which happens
to a high initiate. We may infer that the injunction, “Resurrect” is a command
to that initiate to perform a certain
spiritual act.
5. Resurrect.
One of
the greatest of all distortions, and one of the most misleading of the
theological teachings, has been the interpretation put upon the word
"resurrection" in the Christian approach.
195. DK challenges the
foundations of modern Christian theology.
This resurrection has been applied in many
cases to the resurrection of the body;
196. This distortion
is the result of a grossly materialized consciousness.
it is also applied to
the fact (the selfishly motivated wish) of immortality;
197. Those who seek such an ‘immortality’ are closely identified with the body
and with the personality as a whole.
it is applied also to
the physical resurrection of the
Christ after he supposedly died upon the Cross.
198. The interest,
apparently, is in phenomena and in the ‘guarantee’ of immortality which the
phenomenon of resurrection gives to the selfishly motivated,
personality-identified consciousness.
199. The Christ, we
know, did not die upon the Cross. The
Master Jesus sacrificed His life for the sake a most necessary divine enactment.
Resurrection teaches essentially the
"lifting up" of matter into heaven;
200. Here we have the
“assumption of the Virgin”, the purification and etherealization of the third
aspect of divinity—the matter aspect.
it does not
teach the eternal persistence of the physical body of a man, as many
Fundamentalists today suppose,
201. Actually this
would be a ghastly proposition freezing the development of consciousness.
looking for the
reappearance of the discarded physical body;
202. Such is the level
of identification with the material vehicle that this gross distortion is
believed by millions. Obviously the atavistic consciousness which hopes for
such a resurrection must be refined.
it does teach the "livingness
of Life" and the state of "unalterable Being."
203. Here the true
nature of resurrection is defined. Resurrection relates directly to the nature
of the “life aspect” and not at all to the endless perpetuation of any lower
form.
This unalterable Being constitutes the
nature of the Monad,
204. The essential nature
of the Monad is “unalterable Being”. The monadic vehicle is, nevertheless, a form and is not meant to be unalterable.
The essential nature of the Monad must be discriminated from the vehicle
through which that Monad expresses.
205. Notice the word
“unalterable”. Pure Being changes not.
and it is to this condition of
awareness
206. I.e., awareness
of “unalterable Being” and identification as unalterable Being…
that Christ attained
when He functioned as a World Saviour and thereby guaranteed,
207. Christ as a
“World Saviour” had attained the condition of awareness we are describing as
“unalterable Being”.
by the force of His achievement
as a personality-soul,
208. Although the
Christ attained monadic awareness, it was as a personality-soul that He
achieved, setting an example of the manner in which we must achieve.
the same point of
attainment for us,
209. We are to
forcefully achieve just as the Christ did. His achievement made our impending
achievement easier.
for we are equally
and essentially sons of the Father or expressions of the Monad,
210. The Ego is a “son
of the Father”. The Ego on the higher mental plane is an expression of the
Monad.
211. In a sense, even
the Monad is also a “Son of the Father” (a cell within one of the chakras of
the Planetary Logos).
[Page 318] the One.
212. We must not think
of the Monad as ‘granular’ and ‘particulate’- The Monad is, indeed, the “One”.
In All there is but One MONAD.
213. We are all
expressions of the One and are, in
fact, the One.
It
does not, however, signify the resurrection of some personality in a particular
vehicle used in a particular incarnation.
214. The personality
is a transiency. Form must ever keep pace with the Divine Purpose emerging
through the Divine Plan. To resurrect a personality (and sustain that
personality in perpetuity) would be to resurrect and sustain the past and would
be distinctly evil.
The whole concept of
resurrection is the new and most important revelation which is coming to
humanity,
and which will lay the basis for the
new world religion.
215. Here is a most
important statement. Revelation concerning resurrection will lay the basis for
the new world religion. It becomes apparent that this is a religion to be based
upon more than merely the soul aspect. It is to be based upon the life aspect—upon the livingness of the Spirit.
216. Obviously our
concepts of resurrection will have to be drastically altered.
In the
immediate past, the keynote of the Christian religion has been death,
217. Christianity is,
after all, a Scorpionic religion and Scorpio is the sign of death.
symbolised
for us in the death of the Christ, and
much distorted for us by St. Paul in his effort to blend the new religion which
Christ gave us with the old blood religion of the Jews.
218. We see how even a
great soul can be responsible for distortions of the Divine Plan.
219. St. Paul,
apparently, intended to create a bridge between Judaism and the religion given
by the Christ, but his attempt to put new wine into old bottles tainted the new
wine.
220. It is hard to
relinquish that which is old and bad but to which we have become accustomed.
In the coming cycle, this distorted teaching on death will assume its rightful place and
be known as the disciplining urge to relinquishment and to the ending
by death of the hold by matter over the soul;
221. DK is telling us
that the emphasis upon death does have some use as a method of release:
222. While death can
be utilized to prepare the way for entry (or re-entry) into Life, death is not that Life. The emphasis in the
future will be upon Life.
the great goal of all
religious teaching will be the resurrection of the spirit in man, and
eventually in all forms of life, from the lowest point in evolution to the
highest monadic experience.
223. The true goal of
all religious teaching is given. This goal relates to the Spirit in man and its
liberation from the trammels of matter.
224. Spirit is
entombed in matter and must be lifted out of matter, thus uplifting and
redeeming matter as well.
225. Spirit, entombed
in all dimensions of matter, must be resurrected.
226. The “highest
monadic experience” represents, for man, the completed liberation of Spirit
from the trammels of matter. Of course, further liberations lie ahead for man
as he becomes more than man—i.e., as man-the-Monad ventures onward.
The
emphasis in the future will be upon the "livingness of the Christ
nature"—the proof of which will be the Risen Christ—and upon the use of
the will invoking this "living display."
227. The Christ will
reappear and thus demonstrate that He has indeed “risen”.
228. He will express
in full livingness the Christ Nature—that of solar and cosmic Love.
229. The future
emphasis will be twofold:
230. We note that the
emphasis will not be upon the intelligence aspect, per se.
231. In “living
display” the Spirit shines forth through the matter in all forms.
The glory and the radiance of the
Transfiguration initiation will eventually be relegated to its destined place,
232. It is a relative glory and just the beginning of
that which will manifest as an intensifying “display of life”.’
233. The word
“relegated” suggests that the Transfiguration and its relative glory will be
surpassed.
and what is meant by the
"display of life" will dimly be sensed in its unimaginable beauty.
234. We will sense
into the World of Ultimate Causes on the logoic plane (ultimate with respect to
the cosmic physical plane). The unimaginable beauty of the archetypal world
will be revealed.
235. All this is in
store for humanity through the efforts of the Christ and, behind Him and
supporting Him, the Lord of the World.
236. That this
archetypal beauty is “unimaginable” reveals that our imagination cannot yet
reach to the higher levels of the cosmic ethers. Simply because something is
unimaginable by man does not mean it
does not exist.
The line
or the path or the Way of Resurrection is the "Radiant Way" to which
we have given the cumbersome name of the Antahkarana;
237. We see that the
antahkarana must necessarily extend far beyond the Monad, for the Way of Higher
Evolution is itself a greater
“Radiant Way”.
238. DK, must,
perforce use certain names because they are already part of the language of the
Ageless Wisdom. Here, he finds the term “Antahkarana” cumbersome. Elsewhere He
has found the term “Isolated Unity” inadequate.
this Way leads
straight and directly from one great planetary centre to another—from Humanity
to the Hierarchy and from the Hierarchy to Shamballa.
239. From this description
it is apparent that the antahkarana leads directly into Shamballa, linking the
three main planetary centers.
This is the Way of Resurrection.
240. The antahkarana itself is the Way of Resurrection.
It
is a Way which is composed of the light of intelligent substance, of the
radiant attractive substance of love, and the karmic way which is infused by
the essence of inflexible will.
241. We see that the
antahkarana is really threefold:
242. Note the
adjective “inflexible” used to describe will. There is much to be learned by
considering the inflexibility of will.
243. We are given an
important occult hint when it is said that the antahkarana is the “karmic way”.
We see that karma and “inflexible will” are intimately related. From a
planetary perspective, it is the Will of the Planetary Logos which determines
the edicts of karma. When this Will is violated, there are necessitated karmic
adjustments.
244. We are being told
that Karma descends from the Spirit/Monad and one of the ways of its descent is
the antahkarana. This descent occurs at a time that the human being can be
conscious of the nature of the descending karma (for that antahkarana is only
built by the conscious disciple). It can be presumed that the Law of Karma can
also be effectively applied via the sutratma of life thread before the
antahkarana is built.
245. The soul/Ego is a
center of karmic direction and imposition, but the soul/Ego is actually the
agent of the Monad.
Forget
not that karma is essentially the conditioned will of the planetary Logos as He
orders all things toward the ultimate goal of life itself through the process
of livingness, of loving understanding, and of intelligent activity.
246. There is an
imposed divine order. If that order is violated, it is karmic adjustment which
brings the violator again into line with the intended order.
247. We note that the
will of the Planetary Logos is a “conditioned will”. It is a conditioning will because is imposes
itself on all lesser lives within the Planetary Logoic ring-pass-not. It is a conditioned will because it is executing
karmic directives from greater Planetary Logoi, from the Solar Logos and even,
we may suppose, from the Logos of Sirius.
248. We understand
that through the agency of karma the ultimate goal of the Planetary Logos is
achieved. The Law of Karma ensures that necessitous guidelines are
followed—eventually.
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.
249. We are to
understand the “order to resurrect” as applicable to great planetary centers—in
this case, to Shamballa and to Hierarchy. The order or injunction comes from
Shamballa and impulses “hierarchical attraction and activity”. Through this
attraction and activity, the soul achieves its freedom from the lower forms.
More importantly, humanity as a whole eventually achieves its freedom from the
lower forms which imprison it.
250. Really,
“Resurrect” is a planetary injunction.
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.
251. The Tibetan
insists that we see and understand in larger terms. If Hierarchy responds to
Shamballa in the way indicated, then the resurrection of individual initiates
will occur, but it is not to individuals, per se, that the order is directed.
252. In other words,
macrocosmic resurrection will evoke microcosmic resurrection.
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.
253. DK has lifted our
consideration of “these stupendous words” entirely out of the context of the
individual aspirant, disciple or initiate. He has shared with us their
macrocosmic meaning.
254. We are to
remember that these words are Shamballic words and if obeyed properly bring the
Will of Shamballa/Monad into the life of the microcosm.