Commentary on Rule III for Disciples and Initiates

7. The “response” comes from the “bright Centre lying far ahead”. This is, necessarily, a very high response, as even a response from the Ashram with which the group is affiliated would be a high response. Still higher (but less high than a Shamballic response) would be a response from the greater Ray-Ashram in which the group is included. A still higher response (short of a response from Shamballa) would be a response from the Hierarchy as a whole—all these would certainly be high responses though not from Shamballa. But when it is the Divine Will which is being invoked, Shamballa must, necessarily, be to some extent involved. Perhaps the stage of the invoking group is such that there is not yet a full relationship between it and its parent Ashram, or its more inclusive Ray-Ashram, or with the Hierarchy as a whole, yet, nevertheless, Shamballa is invoked. There is an analogy here to the individual disciple who may not yet have fulfilled the program of love, who may not yet be a completely soul-infused fourth degree initiate, but who, nevertheless, invokes the monad before this program of love is fulfilled.

8. We remember that we are presently involved in a significant forcing process due to circumstances which we cannot fully understand. By means of this process, the program of love and the program of will are being fulfilled simultaneously, though complete fulfillment of the program of love will necessarily. precede that of will.

9. However, just as the invoked monad does not respond with all of its power, so the “bright Centre”, also does not respond with all its power to the invoking group. A “great Sound” may be produced and Shamballa may indeed respond to the invoking group, but the Shamballic response must necessarily be a measured one, otherwise the group would certainly be destroyed, just as would the individual initiate, should the monad release the entirety of its potency. A personality could not even stand the complete infusion of the soul-entirety; how, then, the entirety of the monad?

10. Occultism frequently speaks of notes and sounds, and one wonders whether these sonic events are actually ‘heard’ in anything resembling a normal manner. Every event, such as a “cry of invocation” is certainly a sustained vibration, and, logically, every vibration can be ‘heard’, provided the instrument of registration is sufficiently sensitive.

11. Probably at the stage of sensitivity characteristic of the average student of these Rules, the vibratory events known as the “cry”, the “demand”, the “response” and the “one great Sound” will be experienced as a quality of energy rather than as a specific Sound.

12. Probably each of the three personality vehicles and the causal body as well experiences a kind of registration of these vibratory events. It is possible to discriminate the ‘qualitative feel’ of these different vibratory events without necessarily experiencing the registration of an internal sonic phenomenon.

13. Probably the ‘qualitative feel’ is the first registered discrimination. Registration of color and sound phenomena may come later. At first they may be accurate or not. Probably only a Master can be sure that He is accurately ‘hearing’ and ‘seeing’ sonic, coloristic and light demonstrations which accompany such high vibratory events as the sonic interplay between Shamballa and an invoking group.

14. It is noteworthy that the demand and the response are “lost” in the “one great Sound”. At first the “cry of Invocation” may be qualitatively discernible. Perhaps the Shamballic response (prior to the blending of the two) is also qualitatively discernible. Anyone or any group which has ‘touched’ the Shamballic vibration for even a moment knows that it is something altogether extraordinary, and can be differentiated (by our subtle inner organs) as that which is distinct from the usual types of even high registrations.

15. But, according to the Rule, the two—the “demand” and the “response” are “lost” in “one great Sound”. So a third vibratory event supervenes—the “one great Sound”—and both the demand and the response are no longer distinguished, so overwhelming is the “one great Sound”.

16. Probably, this process cannot be successfully discussed, but, rather, must be experienced. Maybe musicians who are singing antiphonally—i.e., singing or playing a theme which is answered by another part of the orchestra or choir—can find an illuminative analogy. In most antiphonal works, the interplay, the “back and forth”, the asserted theme and the response to that theme, eventually give way to a section in the music when both groups of voices play or sing simultaneously. Then, the two parts are no longer the object of attention, but, rather, that which they produce when blended. The two parts, then, are lost in the combined effect of their blending.

17. As interesting as invocation and response (theme and counter-theme) may be, a fullness involving both is far more glorious, unitive and satisfying.

18. When the invoking agency and the agency evoked fuse and blend in a mutual process, there then comes a great fulfillment. Psychologically, for the group, it might be the realization that, essentially, the invoking group and Shamballa are one and fundamentally indistinguishable. This would be a very high point of group identification.

19. This “one great Sound” would be experienced as ‘Shamballic infusion (which, though necessarily partial, would probably be the highest type of experience of which the group was capable).

20. In a way, is would be the presence of the monad making itself felt, or, at the very least, atma as the agent of the monad.

21. Probably, from time to time, we have all had what, for us, have been “peak experiences”. For some, such experiences may have involved the energy of love. For other, perhaps something of the meaning of synthesis and homogeneous oneness may have emerged.

22. It seems necessary that the “response” of Shamballa must bring a kind of irresistible fusion which transports the group into a state, minimally, of atmic realization verging on monadic awareness. We can gather, therefore, something of the elevated ‘reach’ of Rule III.

23. The “one great Sound” must convey an experience of synthesis and, on the ‘wings’ of that sound, a kind of forward movement, not previously possible, becomes so.

24. For it is only when the “demand and the response are lost in one great Sound”, that the group’s possibility for moving forward comes. This would mean that the “one great Sound” must be established and experienced before the group elevation occurs.

25. As a qualified group (supposing that, at some point, we were qualified), we can do nothing about the Shamballic “response”. Our job would be to establish the right kind of invocation, which is tantamount to saying that our job is to ensure the group quality, integrity, elevated polarization and the adherence to group purpose. The “cry of invocation” would necessarily arise therefrom. The Shamballic “response”, therefore, is really out of our hands, though law necessarily prevails. When the invocation is correct, then, according to law, response must come.

26. Our approach, therefore, would be to ensure the establishment of the correct invocation, and, then, be attentive to the possibility of the Shamballic response followed by the emergence of the “one great Sound”.

27. What kind of inner listening would characterize this attentiveness? Perhaps a king of listening which involved both the heart center and head center.

28. The coming of the Shamballic response, however, would not be the group’s main concern. Because the “cry of invocation” arises as a result of group service, it would be the specific concern of the group to ensure that the quality and intensity of the group’s service were sufficient to ensure a successful invocation.

29. During the execution of group service, there would also be required a different kind of ‘upward’ attentiveness—namely to the thoughts of the Ashram, the Hierarchy, and even, perhaps, of Shamballa, in relation to the nature of the Divine Plan and Purpose. There can be no sufficiently invocative group service unless that service is closely aligned with the intent of the higher Sources.

30. One day, during the constant ‘listening’ to the Plan and Purpose-based injunctions from ‘above’, registration of the “response” from Shamballa might come.

31. When it does come, it will come as a group empowerment, readying the group for forward movement and elevation.

B. … move outward from the desert,

1. Both the “desert” and the “seas” are conditions of insufficiency—at least, relatively so and with respect to the fulness of spirit.

2. The first desert is the physical plane which, we are told, must be made to “blossom like the rose”. We are all well-aware of the limitations of the physical plane.

3. From another perspective we might see the second desert as the mental plane as a whole, and in the case of this Rule, the abstract mental plane, even though skillful functioning upon that high plane is still a goal for many.

4. The abstract mental plane is a plane whereon the deeper relationships between concrete things are set forth. It is plane associated with sacred geometry, and with the intelligent ordering of the objects in the lower three worlds. This plane is concerned with things “in general” rather than things “in particular”. It provides the geometric and, in general, mathematical patterns into which things “in particular” are fitted.

5. There is a still higher interpretation of the “desert” which the Tibetan presents, and which will be developed below.

C. … leave the seas behind

1. The first sea is the astral plane which must be rendered calm and reflective of the higher light. Furthermore, it must be crossed, signifying that the disciple is no longer subject to astral phenomena.

2. The second sea can be considered the buddhic plane (the plane of intuition), certainly a goal for mentally polarized humanity, but, from a very lofty perspective, considered a limitation.

3. The buddhic plane is an ‘ocean of harmony’, in relation to which the essential harmony of all things with each other is revealed.

4. While the buddhic plane is a plane of realized love, unity and harmony, it is not yet a plane of synthesis.

5. To leave the buddhic ‘seas’ behind, (even though, for the majority, they have not been reached), would mean to move beyond the world of harmonized color and quality into a world of foundational light, from which all color and quality are derived. Beyond the buddhic plane are worlds characterized still less by differentiation.

6. There is a still higher interpretation of “seas” which the Tibetan presents, and which will be developed below.

D. … and know that God is Fire…

1. The first fire is the fire of the mental plane; this fire is the fire of discrimination creating distinctly differentiated perceptions.

2. The second fire can be seen as the fire of the atmic plane (to which the mental plane is a correspondence).

3. Upon this plane all barriers creating distinct perceptions are burned away, and all things are perceived as fire.

4. Upon this plane the Will of “God” (the planetary Logos) is somewhat understood. On the atmic plane there can be registered distinct principles and laws (held in existence by the fiery Will of God), but not so much distinct objects and creations deriving from these principles and laws.

5. This fiery world of atma represents a simplification with respect to the world of buddhi. The atmic world is not a world of color and quality (whether harmonized or not). It is a world of law, principle and fiery will, from which all things are derived and (on the buddhic plane) held in harmonious relation.

6. From this plane, the fiery Purpose of God can be somewhat apprehended, and the way in which the Divine Plan is intended to manifest that Purpose—for the atmic plane is a plane of intelligent planning as well. It is primarily a world of first principle and first formulas (formulas which generate the Divine Plan).

7. The atmic plane is, as well, a world of fiery sustainment. Lower planes (buddhic and manasic) are held in manifestation by its fiery (i.e., living) principles and laws.

8. The monadic world is a synthesis of all three triadic worlds, fusing and blending them into an undifferentiable synthesis.

9. There is a still higher interpretation of “fire” which the Tibetan presents, and which will be developed below.

The Themes Included Under the Sentence 4

E. The most elementary and obvious meaning of this forth sentence of Rule Three for Disciples and Initiates is: When the initiate hears the Sound, he leaves behind the desert life of physical incarnation, the emotional life of the astral plane, seething and unstable as the sea, and functions on the plane of mind, of which the symbol is fire. (cf. RI, p. 82)

The broader and deeper meaning of this forth sentence of Rule Three for Disciples and Initiates is:

(a) The words "outward from the desert" have application for the entire life of the incarnated Monad in the three worlds of human endeavour and enterprise.

(b) The words "Leaving the sea behind" have reference to the withdrawal of the initiate from all sensuous experience; the initiate leaves consciousness itself behind. (cf. RI, 82)

Fire is the sumtotal of that which destroys form, produces complete purity in that which is not itself, generates the warmth which lies behind all growth, and is vitality itself. (cf. RI, p. 82)

4. 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 means more than its obvious significance. Superficially it can mean that when the initiate hears the Sound, he leaves behind the desert life of physical incarnation, the emotional life of the astral plane, seething and unstable as the sea, and functions on the plane of mind, of which the symbol is fire. That is the most elementary and obvious meaning, and as this section of A Treatise on the Seven Rays is written for those with initiate understanding, the obvious interpretation will not prove satisfactory.

The meaning must be broader and deeper. The words "outward from the desert" have application for the entire life of the incarnated Monad in the three worlds of human endeavour and enterprise. "Leaving the sea behind" has reference to the withdrawal of the initiate from all sensuous experience because, as I have pointed out, the state of consciousness or awareness is superseded when the higher initiations are taken and their place is filled by a state of being for which we have no word but the unsatisfactory one of identification. This state of being is something very different to consciousness as you understand it. The phrase therefore means (if such a misleading form of words can be justifiably used) that the initiate leaves consciousness itself behind and the five worlds of life expression are transcended; at the third initiation the initiate grasps what is meant when the One in Whom we live and move and have our being (note that expression) is referred to as Fire. I elaborated this theme in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire—a book which evades understanding by all except those with initiate consciousness. Fire is the sumtotal of that which destroys form, produces complete purity in that which is not itself, generates the warmth which lies behind all growth, and is vitality itself.

1. The Tibetan points to the necessity of understanding the sentence under consideration from the perspective of initiate understanding. Therefore, it cannot be interpreted from the perspective of the three lower worlds of evolution (though the understanding of such an interpretation must exist). In other words, as a preliminary consideration, it must be understood why the physical plane can be seen as a “desert”, the astral plane a “seas” and the mental plane as the “fire”.

2. The individual involved in the process of soul culture will transcend the desert, sea and fire (considering the lowest interpretation of these terms)e as he/she repolarizes consciousness within the causal body or Egoic Lotus.

3. For the initiate, these three lunar levels will function automatically and in response to soul motivations and patterns. No longer will these spheres of lunar expression trap or preoccupy the consciousness.

4. If the lower personality is a correspondence to the spiritual triad (considered that triad as the personality of the monad), then the concepts of the desert, the sea and the fire will also be applicable to the three levels of that higher triad—the term “desert” to the higher mental plane, the “sea” to the buddhic plane and the “fire” to the atmic level.

5. Of course there are other, and still higher interpretations.

6. With respect to the meaning of the desert, the Tibetan broadens the consideration, naming the entire normal “three worlds” of evolution as the “desert”. Certainly, like a desert, these three worlds have to be sustained (shall we say, ‘watered’) from ‘above’. The lower lunar vehicles/forms would never cohere without the form-building and form-sustaining potencies of the Solar Angel/Egoic Lotus. The lower three worlds are dependent upon the higher worlds, and the aspects of man which are related to the lower three worlds (namely the etheric-physical, astral and lower mental bodies) are derived from or emanated from the soul (of which they are an expression).

7. Without soul nourishment, these three worlds limit greatly limit consciousness. These worlds are ruled by Saturn (in His role of ‘god of limitation’), and of course by the Moon (“Mother of the Form”), and by Mars (from one perspective, ‘god of friction and inharmony’).

8. At the third initiation (the minimum requirement for a true understanding of a Rule such as this), the lower three worlds are left behind (certainly in terms of preoccupation—though service within these worlds remains as an objective). Thus, on hearing the “one great Sound”, we leave the “desert” of form life, of “lunar” life behind and are no longer limited by the energies characteristic of the third aspect of divinity (energies which originated within the previous and very material solar system—so we are told).

9. “Leaving the sea behind” is a withdrawal from the usual kind of sensitivity or consciousness. We are leaving normal sentiency—the feeling response within the “Self” as it ‘touches’ the “not-Self”. “Sensuous life” is based upon dualism—i.e., upon the relation between that which is sensitive and that to which it is sensitive. ‘This’ responds to ‘that’, but ‘this’ does not know itself as ‘that’—a later and more sophisticated development.

10. The sensuous life is usually associated with the planet Neptune (Who could be called the ‘god of sensitivity’). There comes a time, the Tibetan tells us, when the “waters break” and “there shall be no more sea”. This refers to the overcoming of the usual astral sensitivity, which is reactive and personal.

11. Neptune, however, also has higher functions, and is closely related both to the intuition and to the faculty of identification.

12. Neptune is related to the astral, buddhic and monadic planes. Just as the astral plane is a condition of relative limitation, so the same could be said of the buddhic plane (but for us, in our present state, buddhic function will be seen as a goal rather than a limitation, and this for a long time to come). Yet there will come a time when everything ‘beneath’ the plane of the monad will be seen to limit the full being of the monad. Then sensuous life (even in its relatively higher octaves) will disappear, and we will be left with that inconceivably synthetic state which is characteristic of full monadic awareness.

13. For our present consideration, “leaving the seas behind” should mean the capacity to transcend “consciousness” (in its usual meaning). As I have said elsewhere, however, consciousness is such a cosmic principle, that, in a way, it can never be transcended as long as a cosmos exists.

14. If the injunctions in the sentence under consideration were to be completely fulfilled, we would see the initiate leaving the three worlds of normal evolution behind (namely, the “desert”) and, further, leaving behind even the five worlds of superhuman evolution—including the atmic plane. Somehow, in ways which would be difficult for us to understand, all these five worlds could be understood as relating to the “sensuous experience” of the monad as, on its “pilgrimage”, it ventures into the worlds of the “not-Self”.

15. The Tibetan (without elaborating the matter) contrasts “identification” with “consciousness” (as that term is usually conceived). Identification, from one perspective, is, indeed, operative on the lower planes, but it is identification with rather than identification as. When we identify with the “not-Self” we limit our consciousness and our being. But when we learn to identify as, we, as it were, transform the object into the subject; we transform (through a deep act of perception) the apparent not-Self into the Self.

16. Most if not all of us are in the process of developing consciousness. We are attempting to become more sensitive and to broaden the range of that sensitivity. But the Tibetan is also calling our attention to the necessity to practice identification (or, what we might call, ‘merging in spirit’). When we are successful, we shall find that we have transcended the phenomena characteristic of even the triadal realms; thus, we cannot possibly have full success until we are at least Masters of the Wisdom. We can, however, think in these terms and begin the process.

17. Perhaps the point to extract is that true identification pertains to the world of the monad, and not to the worlds of the personality or spiritual triad (though those worlds can eventually be seen and understood in terms of identification).

18. The Tibetan offers the following amazing thought:

“at the third initiation the initiate grasps what is meant when the One in Whom we live and move and have our being (note that expression) is referred to as Fire.

There are many ways to define God, and one of the best is as “fire”.

19. An important definition of fire (and hence, of God) is then given:

“ Fire is the sumtotal of that which destroys form, produces complete purity in that which is not itself, generates the warmth which lies behind all growth, and is vitality itself.

We might say that fire is that which so acts upon things apparently other than itself, that it renders those things into itself. When subjected to fire, all things become fire. When subjected to God, all things become God. Of course, they already are God, but (if they are self-conscious units) they come consciously to know that they are God.

20. Probably we think of God (or more locally) the God of our planet in many ways, but it would repay us to think of this God as fire. This fire, when burning in us, destroys the illusion that there is anything else other than God. When this fire burns, things will still be understood ‘in themselves’, but, in a still deeper way, will no longer be seen as independent from or ‘other than’ God. We can well realize how much pain and unhappiness has resulted down the ages from the perception that God is other than His “Creation”. Pantheism, correctly understood, is an enlightened perspective.

21. When fire at length produces “complete purity” in that which (apparently) is not itself, that purity reveals that that which has been purified is, in fact, essentially fire. The whole reason for purification is so that we can realize ourselves as God, Life, Reality, Essence—whatever you choose to call the Fundamental Being.

22. Fire, therefore, promotes identification—in the high meaning of that term discussed in the text. When fire has done its work, all impediments to identification are burned away. Thus, interestingly, fire destroys consciousness, as it removes the perception that there is a subject and an object.

23. Each of us should consider how fire works within us, and which may be the fires with which we work and which work upon us. A realization of oneness, wholeness, synthesis, depends upon the progressive action of fire.

24. Just as God is life, so is fire. Fire is Life.

F. This initiate realization 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. (cf. RI, p. 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.

1. The Tibetan speaks of “initiate realization”. The word realization should be pondered. Some have suggested, meaningfully and associatively, that it means to ‘see with real-eyes’. True realization is a high state, an atmic state, focussing on the fifth plane of the atmic plane (counting downward from above). We must remember that the ability to polarize upon the atmic plane is the prerogative of the Master. It may be that the Initiation of Revelation (the fifth) is related to the faculty of realization; at least one can reasonably say that atmic realization is precursor of the full revelation which comes at the fifth degree.

2. The Tibetan contrasts certain registrations at the third initiation with those of the first two degrees. The registration of the “Word” and the “light” pertain to the first two degrees, just as the “Sound” and the “star” pertain to the third. The third degree represents an intensification of experience when compared to the experiences in first two degrees. When, during the first two initiations, the “Voice” speaks the “Word”, and when the “vision” reveals the “light”—guidance of a higher kind is offered to the human soul. In such guidance, the second aspect of divinity is active. The consciousness of the candidate is broadened; he knows more clearly which way he should go and what he must do. He is not yet, however, in a condition of completed fusion with the soul.

3. At the third degree however, the registration of the “Sound” and the seeing of the “star” bring him/her into a new relation with life, and synthesis begins to be something of a reality. The first aspect of divinity becomes pronounced.

4. Why can the Tibetan say no more upon the subject? Clearly, we have to experience these things for ourselves as we become increasingly intimate with the Solar Angel and with the higher aspects of our own nature.

5. We might begin to question ourselves: Do we hear a “Voice”? Is a “Word” sounding? What “vision” is presented to us? Are we following it? What “light” do we see?

6. Or is a great and inclusive “Sound” reverberating? Is a “star” looming on the horizon of our consciousness? Or have we truly seen the “star shine forth”?

7. The whole process is progressive and ever-more inclusive. The “Word” is surely included within the “Sound”. The “light” condenses into the “five-pointed star”.

G. Why is it essential that some knowledge begin to reach the public anent the highest spiritual centre, Shamballa? (cf. RI, p. 83)

Only the Father, the planetary Logos, the Lord of the World, enunciates the final affirmative sound. (cf. RI, p. 83)

The Gospel story gives us the five Initiations of the Master Jesus, beginning with the first and ending with the fifth. (cf. RI, p. 83)

The Gospel story also gives the initiations of the overshadowing Christ, starting from the second and ending with the seventh. (cf. RI, p. 83-84)

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.

1. The Tibetan tells us that the public must begin to have some knowledge of Shamballa? Why? Perhaps a deeper sense of plan and purpose are now required so that we (humanity) may really know where we are going and how to get there.

2. Shamballa is now ‘moving’ in relation to humanity—no doubt for reasons of its own having to do with great cycles of which humanity knows virtually nothing. Humanity must become an intelligent participator in this process, learning something of the relatively unused faculty of will which, according to planetary timing, is now ripe for development.

3. Human intelligence has released great potencies into human control—atomic energy, for instance. Unless the higher will is governing the life of humanity (to some reasonable extent) these released potencies present a very real threat to human welfare and even survival. It is the spiritual will which must regulate their use.

4. It is apparent that humanity is participating in a “forcing process” the Source of which is not, principally, itself. Planetary impulses from much higher Sources are impelling and compelling humanity to unfold more rapidly that may be comfortable. If one is riding on the back of a tiger, certain means of control are indispensable.

5. Since Shamballa is almost forcing its way into human consciousness, humanity must awaken intelligently to the nature of this newly appearing energy.

6. Note in this passage that the Tibetan makes the Planetary Logos and the Lord of the World somewhat equivalent. Although They can be distinguished, and often are, They work in such complete alignment that for practical purposes they may be undifferentiable.

7. The remainder of this paragraph is of very great importance. The work of the Master Jesus and of the Christ are contrasted. The initiations which concerned Them, respectively, are discussed.

8. We come to understand that the “Voice” appears at certain points in the initiation process in order to confirm and affirm the initiate’s progress. Perhaps, in lesser ways, we have had experiences of inner confirmation and affirmation. An inner “voice” emerges and informs that a desired internal process has been accomplished. We learn where we actually stand and need not be told from without.

9. D.K. speaks of the five “obvious” crises of initiation in the life of Master Jesus. This suggests that there were important crises which were not obvious.

10. In relation to the information given here, we must contrast the idea (also presented by the Tibetan elsewhere) that the Master Jesus took the fifth initiation as Apollonius of Tyana, and so, in His life in Palestine, had not really completed the fifth degree. The “Resurrection” through which the Master Jesus passed, however, seems here to be considered a precursor of the fifth degree, even though the true Resurrection does not occur until the seventh initiation.

11. Two “thread(s) of revelation” are present in the Biblical narrative—one concerning the Master Jesus (the silver thread) and one concerning the Christ (the thread of gold).

12. It is important to note that during the cooperative process between the Christ and the Master Jesus, the Christ, too, was experiencing initiatory “realizations”. There was occurring a dual initiatory process, the Christ’s realizations being, of course, higher than those of the initiate, Jesus.

13. For both of these Master, some of the initiations experienced (or, should we say, ‘dramatized’) were re-enactments. The Master Jesus had already passed through the first two initiations in former incarnations, and the Christ was already a Master of the Wisdom, and head of the Spiritual Hierarchy at the time of the Palestine overshadowing. It would seem that as Krishna, some three thousand years earlier, He had experienced the fourth degree. Since the time of the Buddha (probably following the Buddha’s incarnation as Prince Siddhartha), He (the Christ) had assumed the role of Head of the Hierarchy.

14. But, then, the Christ is said to re-take the first initiation with every new initiate (such is His deep identification with all human beings), so in a sense it may be accurate to say, as the Tibetan here says, that the initiations of the Christ are given, “starting from the second and ending with the seventh”. Of these, only the sixth and seventh were ‘new’, as well, perhaps, as some later aspects of the fifth. If the Christ ‘took’ earlier initiations during the Palestine experience, it would seem reasonable to think that He ‘took’ them only through acts of identification.

15. Perhaps there is a student in the group who would be interested in collecting the “Words” as they were pronounced at the third, fifth and sixth initiations. The Tibetan tells us that no “Voice” spoke in relation to the Christ’s seventh initiation because that initiation is not yet complete. It will be completed during the Aquarian Age during the Christ’s “Second Coming”.

16. When one thinks of the cooperation between the initiate, Jesus, and the Christ, it becomes clear that at many times it was the Christ Who was expressing through the body of Jesus. At other times, it appears to have been Jesus, Himself. The Bible story must be interpreted from this perspective, and, as the Tibetan suggests, the gold and silver threads disentangled. It may be that some of the more violent demonstrations were enacted by Jesus (throwing the money changers out of the Temple, cursing the fig tree, etc.) who was surely working upon the sixth ray and probably upon the first as well.

17. There is some confusion concerning the meaning of “Resurrection” and “Ascension”. The Resurrection in the Bible story precedes the Ascension. The true Ascension is the sixth degree; the true Resurrection, the seventh.

18. The paragraph suggests that an affirmative Voice is missing only in relation to the seventh initiation, but enigmatically goes on to say that “at the Resurrection and Ascension we are not told of the hearing of the affirmative sound”. Yet the Resurrection and Ascension (as here discussed) relate to the aftermath of the fourth degree and to the sixth degree, respectively. Some additional clarification is needed.

19. What is most important to realize is that the Christ’s work is not yet complete. He has not yet completed the lengthy process known as the seventh initiation, but will do so “at the time of His Second Coming”—presumably, not at the beginning of the Second Coming, but only after His proposed work has been done during the Aquarian Age. (There is, however, some ambiguity concerning the meaning of “at the time of His Second Coming”.) From what is said here, the true “Second Coming” seems a consummation following the Christ’s anticipated work during the Aquarian Age. It is only then that the Christ the Buddha “will together pass before the Lord of the World, together see the glory of the Lord, and together pass to higher service of a nature and calibre unknown to us.”

20. These words suggest the completion of the seventh initiation by both the Buddha and the Christ at some point during the Aquarian Age—probably near its ending. These words also suggest that new modes of service (not concerned with the redemption of humanity) will occupy the Christ and the Buddha from that point forward.

21. Perhaps, even after the Aquarian Age, both the Buddha and the Christ will continue to serve together. That is one possibility suggested by the words “together pass to higher service”; or They could pass together to distinctive modes of higher service. Their ‘passing’ would be together, but Their destinations would be different. Indeed, Their ultimate destinations are said to be different, for the Christ will, eventually, make His way to Sirius—a destination which was to have also been the Buddha’s destiny, but which is no longer so.

22. In any case, Christ must and will finish His task in relation to humanity, and that will surely take time. It is reasonable to think that only then, will He, with the Buddha, pass before the Lord of the World. The implication is that the Buddha, too, will retain His connection to humanity and to this globe during the period of the redemptive work of the Christ. The Buddha is already a ‘resident’ of Shamballa, and this probably will not change. Yet, just as He has for centuries retained a relationship to humanity (long evidenced through His yearly ‘appearance’ at the Wesak Festival in Tibet), it is likely that during the Aquarian Age some sort of supportive connection with humanity will continue, though who can describe its nature? In any case, the Buddha’s support of and cooperation with the Christ amounts to a support of humanity.

23. The seventh initiation is a dual, solar initiation—a Love-Wisdom initiation. The Christ and the Buddha symbolize Love and Wisdom respectively. The Buddha (with the Spirit of Peace and the Avatar of Synthesis) is destined to be part of a supportive Triangle surrounding the Christ during His work on behalf of humanity and the planet. This Triangle is, in fact, already in effect. Will that particular supportive Triangle continue its function throughout the Aquarian Age? Will the Christ, Himself, continue His work for humanity during the entire Aquarian Age? These questions cannot be definitively answered by a mere human being, but there is much to suggest that the Christ’s work will endure throughout that Age, and so, perhaps, the Triangle will be sustained for as long.

24. Surely, by the end of the Aquarian Age, both Love and Wisdom must be in far greater evidence through humanity than is presently the case. The final decanate of Aquarius is the Venus decanate, and Venus is a planet of Love-Wisdom and of brotherhood. This final decanate comes into power some 1500 years from now. The Christ (so closely associated with Venus) will probably “be with us” in an obvious and noticeable way (for those who have eyes to see) for a much longer time than was the case during His brief appearance in Palestine some two thousand years ago.

H. Three great energies are focussed in the Shamballa, the sea of fire, called

(a) “The Energy of Purification”
(b) “The Energy of Destruction”
(c) “The Energy of Organisation” (cf. RI, p. 84-86)

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.

1. Here begins a description of the three major energies focussed in Shamballa—purification, destruction and organization.

2. The first of the energies mentioned is purification and it concerns the second ray more than the first or third, although, since they are Shamballic energies, all three of these energies are expressions of the first ray. One hint concerning the importance of the second ray in relation to purification are the words, “gradually and steadily”. The term “adapts” also suggests some use of the third ray.

3. Compared to destruction, purification is a gradual process of refinement. It is essentially a cleansing, regenerative, restorative process.

4. Purification is a gradual process of detachment from the malfunctions and incomplete expressions of the various vehicles of expression. It involves the restoration of all vehicles to their true and uncorrupted functionality. Distortions, blockages, unwholesome energy flows—all these are eliminated and optimal functioning restored during the purification process.

5. In a way, purification is a return to archetype through the agency of fire.

6. Ages of wrong usage have corrupted the functioning of the various vehicles. The gradual application of fire removes these dysfunctional patterns.

7. Purification is an age-long process, but there are moments of greater intensity in the process. The second initiation (“Baptism by Fire”) is just such a moment.

8. D.K. tells us that purification is “essentially the energy which substitutes good for evil”. It is the superimposition of higher (archetypal) patterns upon lower patterns. The possibility of successful superimposition is prepared first through water and then fire. After water and fire have done their work, the higher pattern may descend without encountering the usual impediments—dirty, discordant vibrations.

9. Purification is the means by which higher fires take the place of lower fires. By means of purification “heaven” establishes itself on “earth”.

10. From another perspective, purification is a kind of ‘vibratory reconditioning’. In a purified system, the various parts are in harmonious and resonant relation to each other. The persistent application of fire ensures this concord.

11. The Tibetan points to the current distortions of the concept of “purification”; in short, it has been materialized, applied almost entirely to the physical plane. We can see that He does not support an “enforced celibacy” and a “rigid vegetarianism”. The terms “enforced” and “rigid”, suggest the problem—coercion rather than wise adaptability. Celibacy and vegetarianism may be correct practices for certain people at certain times and in certain circumstances, but not for all, at all times and in all circumstances.

12. A higher form of purification would focus on the heart and mind (the astral and mental vehicles) and would produce “emotional loveliness, mental clarity, intuitional illumination”. Working with the physical vehicle is always the line of least resistance for humanity at its present stage of evolution. Deeper foci are required, however. When purification is applied to the subtler aspects of man, the results will inevitably work out on the physical plane. The reverse is not necessarily the case.

13. Preoccupation with the condition of the physical vehicle is ever a limitation. D.K., therefore, seeks for us to ‘re-conceive’ the true meaning of purification

I. There are no excised point relation to this paragraph.

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.

1. Destruction is more drastic than purification and relates quite specifically to the first ray.

2. Sometimes, the impedimentary forms are so corrupt that there is no use seeking to purify them; they must simply be removed.

3. Interestingly, destruction is seen as “one of the major aspects of the purificatory nature of divine Life”.

4. Both purification and destruction can work through fire, but purification still retains the form worked upon; destruction breaks the links between the different factors, which, once related, are recognized as form.

5. There is some destructiveness in the overall process of purification; foreign elements which have nothing to do with the archetypal integrity of the form are removed—their relationship with the structure of the form is broken.

6. Destruction, therefore, is sometimes applied to entire forms, and sometimes only to parts of a form which do not serve the archetypal integrity of the form. When destruction is focussed on certain undesirable parts rather than on the entirety of the form, we may call that destruction an act of purification. For instance, if a surgeon removes a cancerous tumor from an organ, he is destroying the tumor and purifying the organ.

7. In the general process of evolution, it is rare that destruction is applied in a wholesale manner. There are many little destructions which must occur within the context of the purification process, while the form, as a whole, remains intact.

8. D.K. calls our attention to two modes of destruction: “the destroying aspect of life itself” and the “destructive agency in matter itself”. While the latter of these two can be depended upon to act, whether we will or no, it is the first of these processes which He would like us to understand and be able to apply when needed.

9. Life destroys to liberate itself. Matter simply contains the seeds of its own destruction; it is corruptible and non-enduring, whether that matter is associated with the vehicles of “good” or “bad” individuals or groups. In matter, itself, the secret of harmony is missing, and, hence, friction gradually produces an inevitable destruction.

J. There are no excised points in relation to these two paragraphs.

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.

1. Since, under the impression of ignorance, matter is configured in formal arrangements which thwart the expression of plan and purpose, such forms must be periodically destroyed.

2. During ages of ignorance, the members of the subhuman kingdoms have built inappropriately into forms. The destructive impulses emanating from Shamballa periodically liberate these kingdoms offering an opportunity for rebuilding along more beneficent lines. The greater structures into which these subhuman kingdoms can be incorporated will, then, be of a nature and pattern more conformative to Divine Will.

3. Cyclically, the destroying agencies enter and do their work. First ray cycles, and the cycles of such destroyers as Pluto and Vulcan initiate the necessary destruction.

4. These destructive cycles are active in the lives of individuals and groups. It is well to be aware of them and to cooperate intelligently with their beneficent work. So often there is resistance rather than cooperation—so great is the attachment to the ‘bad, old forms’.

5. Destruction also arises from man’s mismanagement of his creative powers. Under ignorance and wrong motive, he builds inharmonious forms which cannot long endure. He must then suffer the dissolution of his own creations which inevitably disintegrate under karmic law. No destructive impulse from Shamballa is needed to expedite their removal. Their term is set by the faulty nature of their design.

6. Sometimes Shamballic intervention is required when man’s mismanagement of his creativity becomes excessively obstructive. Such an intervention occurred in Atlantean days, bringing the destruction of that powerful civilization. Some interventions of a significant but less destructive kind may even now be in preparation, for rapid progress must now be made by humanity and the planet, and obstruction cannot be allowed. Violent earth changes, disruptive climatic changes and virulent epidemics are examples of Shamballic interventions as they might occur.

7. The risks of Shamballic intervention are so great, however, that, for the most part, Shamballa would rather leave humanity to make its own corrections. The Tibetan tells us that during the First World War a Shamballic intervention was a distinct possibility, but, fortunately, was avoided. Humanity was able to solve its own problem.

8. In the Second World War, a kind of unspecified Shamballic intervention by the Lords of Liberation did occur, but it was, apparently, a response to humanity’s sufficient (if inchoate) invocation of the Good. There is a difference between an invoked intervention and one that simply occurs because Shamballa sees the necessity for it.

K. 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. (cf. RI, p. 85)

Two factors have, subjectively and spiritually, precipitated the present world crisis (World War I+II and the present danger for a third World War, predicted by D.K. in “The Externalisation of Hierarchy”, p. 442-443, 545): The growth and development of the human family and 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. (cf. RI, p. 85)

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.

1. A little thought on the matter will reveal close relationships between the first ray and the Law of Karma. The Karmic Lords—unbending in Their justice—are strongly upon the first ray, though their mathematically astute minds are powerfully influenced by the fifth and third rays, and their motives by the beneficent second ray and the harmonizing fourth ray.

2. “God” has a “Fixed Design” which must be manifested. Only so much deviation from the outlines of this design is tolerated before that deviation is corrected. To build out of conformity with the Pattern of the Fixed Design is to build against God’s Will. The Lords of Karma are the upholders of God’s Will and the guarantors of the achievement of the Fixed Design.

3. At length, Divine Purpose tolerates no impediment. Divine Purpose is the “Good”, and the Lords of Karma work for the “Good of All”. Their methods are so often first ray methods as they “draw the line”, ensuring that no unit of life is allowed to break the law without learning the lessons needed to ensure that it will not so readily break the law again.

4. As the higher levels of human evolution are reached, there is a general speeding up. Spirit is swift and as one approaches the realm of spirit, inconsistencies between personal structure and archetypal structure are swiftly adjusted (much to the distress of the “applying” personality).

5. The basic energy of the monad has several aspects of which destruction is one. Destruction is the third aspect of monadic energy; synthesis and the will-to-be can be seen as the other two.

6. The Tibetan assures us that as we approach the third initiation, hindrances will be destroyed “with expedition”. For this we must prepare, and with this process we must be ready to cooperate.

7. The process of evolution is somewhat conical and is characterized by a rapidly, tightening spiral. The beginning phases are slow; the middle phases faster; and the final phases extremely rapid. We see such distinctions in rates when we compare the durations of the lengthy Path of Evolution, the shorter Path of Probation/Discipleship, and the final and rapidly traversed Path of Initiation.

8. Thus, as we measure up to higher opportunity, as we qualify ourselves for spiritual usefulness, we, in a sense, ‘invite the fires of destruction’ into our individual lives. Therefore, crisis and ensuing destruction must not necessary be seen as “bad”; they may, in fact, be indications that things are going well (spiritually), and that, spirit, at last, can make itself effective in our normal, individual lives.

9. It would seem that the bliss of spirit is prepared through the experience of momentary agony. The first ray in us (patient over the aeons) grows, it would seem, suddenly ‘impatient’ to manifest in ‘us’ the “Life more Abundantly”. The personality/soul form then suffers momentarily; the spirit rejoices at its opportunity to be free.

L. There are no excised points in relation to this paragraph.

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.

1. The Energy of Organization (working out so often as re-organization) is more related to the third ray than to the first or second.

2. Ultimately, the appearance of the human kingdom was impulsed by Shamballa. All of human manifestation and progress through a variety of forms was organized according to the cyclic appearances of the seven rays. We must remember that, from one significant perspective, the Ray Lords are Shamballa Beings.

3. As far as our planet is concerned, Shamballa is the source of cyclic law. God’s Will (as God’s Law) works out through the cyclic expression of certain fundamental energies—all according to Plan.

4. If one wants to understand what the Divine Plan is, one must study the ray cycles and the astrological cycles. On the third subplane of the atmic plane, this type of knowledge is more fully (if not completely) revealed.

5. In order to manifest His Purpose, our Planetary God employs great intelligence, manifesting that intelligence through orderly cycles involving the expression and withdrawal of certain ray, astrological and other energies. Shamballa controls the beginning and end of these cycles and, thus, their duration.

6. In summation, D.K. tells us of the Energy of Organization:

“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 three worlds, and which eventually relates and reorients that will to the Will of God.”

The little human life must be related to the larger life; the little human will to its larger correspondence; the little human intelligence to the great, coordinating Intelligence. The higher and lower aspects of human nature, and of planetary manifestation in general, must be intelligently related, and this is the function of the Energy of Organization.

7. It is Shamballa that controls all planetary arrangements and evolutionary patterns through the Energy of Organization.

M.              The three great energies, which are focussed in the Shamballa, are symbolized in the life of Christ:

(a) The purificatory aspect of the monadic force is indicated at the Baptism episode.

(b) The destroyer aspect can be seen expressing itself at the time of the Crucifixion, when it rent the veil of the Temple from the top to the bottom.

(c) The episode which indicates the energy of organisation and the relation of the spiritual will of the Christ to the purpose and the will of the Father appears when He said, in the Garden of Gethsemane, "Not my will but Thine be done." (cf. RI, p. 86)

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 Temple from the top to the bottom. The episode which indicates the energy of organisation and the relation of the spiritual will of the Christ to the purpose and the will of the Father appears when He said, in the Garden of Gethsemane, "Not my will but Thine be done." This final episode is closely related to the consciously expressed will of the Christ Child when He realised in the Temple that He must be about His Father's business and that His will was to do the will and fulfill the purpose of the Father, the Monad and the One of Whom the Monad is the expression.

1. On a few occasions, the Tibetan applies the energies He is discussing to the life of the Christ. He does this with all the zodiacal energies and, in this paragraph, with the three energies characteristic of Shamballa—purification, destruction and organization. Surely, this could be done with the energies of the chakras, for it is said that the Christ had the perfectly balanced endocrine system, and, also, with the energy of the seven rays. The Christ is such a synthetic being, and, relatively, so inclusive and perfectly balanced.

2. In the time of the last historical appearance of the Christ, the Baptism was enacted through water, but the Christ promised baptism by the Holy Spirit and through flame. This promised development is now occurring in relation to the second initiation. The modern initiate of the second degree must pass through the fire, however much the Church has preserved the symbolism of baptism by water. Baptism by water is not abrogated, however; rather, it is retained and superseded. The astral plane (the focus of the second degree) is a plane of both fire and water—sixth ray Neptune and the Moon representing water, and sixth ray Mars, fire.

3. We see that the second aspect of the Shamballa Energy—the purificatory aspect—is associated with the second initiation. The first aspect—that of destruction—naturally enough is associated with the fourth initiation (in which the causal body and in many cases, the personality, is destroyed). The third aspect of the Shamballa Energy—the Energy of Organization—is interestingly associated with the sixth initiation. These two numbers, three and six are easily related, and indeed, the sixth initiation is ruled by the third ray.

4. The third ray is related to the seventh—the seventh being a more concrete manifestation of the energy of intelligence, even as it is a more concrete manifestation of the first ray and energy of will. Under the seventh ray, the “Highest and the Lowest meet”; in this case, the Will of the Father and the will of the individual are related. The many threads of life are related to the third ray, and through the seventh ray of organization proceeds the power of linking and relating. The first real strand linking the human will to the Divine Will was, we are told, established by the Christ in the Garden of Gethsemene.

5. The first episode of real importance in the life of the child Jesus is recorded as having occurred in the Temple when He was twelve years old. There, He was found teaching the elders. Twelve is a number of zodiacal completion, and is a number associated with the sign Pisces—the sign of salvation, of which the monad or spirit is the representative. Was it Jesus Who said this?—“wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” Or was it the Christ? And yet the Christ is said to have associated Himself (at least in terms of the initiatory exemplifications) for the first time at the Baptism when Jesus was thirty years old. It is, however, impossible for us presently to know when and to what extent the Great Teacher, Lord Maitreya, began His influence upon Jesus. Perhaps there was a long period of training, but a kind of “taking over” of the body of Jesus only at the Baptism. Perhaps it was then, for the first time, that the initiate Jesus “stood aside” for the entrance of the Christ—both of Them cooperating in an advanced form of conscious mediumship—a Tulku phenomenon.

6. In any case, Jesus’ first recorded public statement speaks of the Father and the Father’s business; as well, the internally climactic episode in the Garden of Gethsemene relates Christ (presumably within the body of Jesus) to the monad in a new and dynamic manner. The beginning episode of Jesus in the Temple shows an orientation towards the Will of the Father (“my Father’s business”); the episode in the Garden shows full and willing subjugation to that Divine Will. The link with Divine Will was made and utilized, and—speaking of the Energy of Organization—humanity’s relation to the Father and the Father’s Home was, thereby, forever changed—re-organized. An entirely new dispensation had begun which is only now, two thousand years later, working into the possibility of fruition.

7. There is an important statement at the close of this paragraph. We learn that there is “One of Whom the Monad is an expression”. All of us, as monads, are an expression of that One—i.e., of the Father.

N. 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. (cf. RI, p. 87)

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.

1. In this paragraph the Tibetan applies the energies of purification, destruction and organization to an understanding of the precipitation and enactment of the World War (1914-1945). This war was a war of fire; not only the burning of military machinery, and the bodies of millions of victims, but of great cities—consumed in fire storms, climaxing with the fiery destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Purification and destruction worked hand in hand.

2. We are told that evil was burnt out through the revelation of the appalling character of evil. Apparently the horror of that realization was needed to stiffen the will-to-betterment in humanity.

3. It is hard to appreciate the “beauty” of such horror unless one is thinking in terms of the strengthening of spiritual values. Certainly this strengthening has occurred. Built into the consciousness of humanity is the conviction, “never again”. This conviction may yet save humanity from involvement in a Third World War which could mean the destruction of the human race.

4. In the development of the soul (so oft asleep to the real issues and spiritual values) horror and terror have their place.

The “sharp shears of sorrow must separate the real from the unreal; the lash of pain must awaken the sleepy soul to exquisite life; the wrenching away of the roots of life from the soil of selfish desire must be undergone, and then the man stands free.” (R&I 499)

It would seem that humanity has been so lulled to sleep concerning its real spiritual nature that, sometimes, only the most drastic experiences can awaken it. We can see the value of this awakening in retrospect, but it is a rare soul who chooses willingly and joyfully to pass through the horror which brings awakening.

5. When we read of the breaking open of the rocky cave which has imprisoned humanity, we find the influence of the undiscovered planet, Vulcan—a planet which works both constructively and destructively with matter. Humanity is preparing for the first initiation, and Vulcan, descending to the depths of matter, is part of this preparation. Vulcanian and Plutonic experiences of the most drastic nature precede the first initiation.

6. Historically, we now stand at a point between the darkness and horror of the past, and the beginning of the new civilization. Analogously, we are passing through a period which could be called the “harrowing of hell”. During this time, those who are “fallen” but who yet may be redeemed must be reached, and oriented towards the new possibilities.

7. So, our present historical period is a period of transition. How long will it last? Certainly, at least until the first part of the 22^nd century, when the Aquarian Age is said by the Tibetan to begin.

8. This is the period of possible “delay” which the Tibetan said could occur. During this time the sixth ray souls will, for the most part, pass out of physical incarnation, and with them the energy which principally inhibits the impending and beneficent influence of the seventh ray. During this transition time, as well, those upon the second ray must have completed their work of spiritual education and spiritual “propaganda”, so that the majority of humanity may more clearly see the fundamentals of the Divine Plan, and realize, to some extent, their greater possibilities. We are currently “rebuilding the shrine of man’s living”.

“The remainder of this century must be dedicated to rebuilding the shrine of man's living, to reconstructing the form of humanity's life, to reconstituting the new civilisation upon the foundations of the old, and to the reorganising of the structures of world thought, world politics, plus the redistribution of the world's resources in conformity to divine purpose. Then and only then will it be possible to carry the revelation further.” (DON 106)

It would seem that the process must carry on into the 21^st century, for it is far from completed, and there are new threats based on group selfishness.

9. We anticipate the coming of

“a living civilisation and culture based on the spiritual values and intelligently developing the divine purpose.”

Shamballa will be involved, and principally through the Energy of Organization. Purification and destruction precede organization. The New Age will, increasingly, be organized along Shamballic lines, and according to the Divine Will. This will not be immediate, but the trend can already be seen in globalization, internationalism and the developing of synthetic and holistic approaches.

10. From a service perspective, the true members of the New Group of World Servers are busy “harrowing hell” in full cooperation with the Christ and the Hierarchy. Do we find ourselves doing this, each in our own way?

O. The Crucifixion and the tomb experience lead eventually to resurrection and to life. (cf. RI, p. 87)

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.

1. Here we see how evil is transformed into good—a skill at which Sanat Kumara is a supreme cosmic Adept.

2. Humanity has been passing through a kind of “Crucifixion”—not the true fourth initiation, but the kind of crucifixion necessary before it possible to enter the Kingdom of the Soul at the first initiation.

3. Ever the Tibetan emphasizes that the World War destroyed human forms but not human beings. Those who seek life in terms of spiritual and subtle values will know this to be true. Others will discover it in time.

4. Apparently much planetary evil has, for years, been focussed through humanity. Note that the Tibetan speaks of planetary evil and not cosmic evil, though from time to time cosmic evil, too, has made its unwelcome entry into the thought and conduct of certain groups within the human race. Cosmic evil was, however, involved in this process of the World War by means of which humanity ridded itself of planetary evil. It took a greater evil to draw a lesser evil to the surface.

5. Astrologically, we cannot help but notice the influence of the planet Pluto, associated with evil of all kinds, whether planetary or cosmic. The evil with which Pluto is associated almost overcame humanity; but Pluto is a “Healer” as well, and the dreadful process of war will, at length, be seen to have been a great healing for the human family. It will only appear so to those who have developed the necessary degree of impersonality. Of course, the first ray (the ray of Pluto and Vulcan) promotes impersonality.

6. This planetary evil had been focussed in humanity “for aeons”. How many years? Hundreds of thousands? Perhaps some millions? A dread and long-lasting disease. How necessary, then, the uprooting and purgation of this evil! How necessary (from an historical perspective) the destruction and purification which humanity has recently and painfully experienced.

“Perfection calls imperfection to the surface. Good drives evil always from the form of man in time and space.”

The “good” of Shamballa must be close indeed given the appalling horror of the World War. When the last great 250,000 year cycle of our Sun around the Pleiades was completed some 2000 years ago—the approximate time when the Christ appeared in Palestine—it signaled a new relation of Shamballa to humanity—the emergence of the Will-to-Good in such a powerful way that it could not be resisted. From that time forth, evil was made apparent to humanity in ways it never had been. We can say that the last twenty centuries have been evil in the extreme, but perhaps it is rather that our awareness of evil has grown immeasurably. We are recognizing its appalling nature because the planet is, as it were, “throwing it off” in a manner never before possible. Of course, there are many confrontations with evil lying ahead (the “Judgment Day”, for instance, in the fifth round), but Christ, the Hierarchy and the Will of Shamballa are bringing an hitherto unparalleled release to humanity. We must, however, pay the painful price of recognition and direct confrontation with the forces of evil.

P. 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. (cf. RI, p. 87)

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.

1. D.K. is here inviting us to share in the perspective characteristic of the Hierarchy.

2. He emphasizes the love behind the destruction, and “balanced judgment as to form”—clearly a ‘dis-illusioned’, de-glamored and unbiased perspective.

3. He is inviting us to a deeper appreciation of spiritual values. He is speaking in the language of the first ray whose task it is to preserve values.

“The preservation of values is the task of the initiate of the first ray;…” (R&I 507)

No doubt when we are Masters of the Wisdom we will see and understand as He does. For now, we can set ourselves to overcome the usual biases which exist within the psyches of those inhabiting an essentially second ray planet in an essentially second ray solar system (for the soul ray of both our Planetary and Solar Logois is the second). Because our sight is limited, our understanding is compromised. Through persistent study and meditation and the will-to-apply in service all we learn, the scope of our sight inevitably increases, and with it the quality and impersonality of our judgment.

Q. 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 have been working. The destructive energy, emanating from "the bright centre," Shamballa, is something very different. (cf. RI, p. 87)

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. (cf. RI, p. 87)

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.

1 Disease is related to inharmony and chaos—symbolically, to the Moon. Black magic and disease are both related to the Moon. The seeds of destruction are found within the lunar nature—our habitual self.

2 The Axis Powers were working with the energy of the past—the energies related to the Moon, the lunar nature, and the matter of the first solar system. Their movement (masked as a bold move into the future) was, in fact, a great retrogression.

3 The Tibetan is making the issues very clear. There are values emanating from the spirit and those which emerge from matter. The former are essentially good as the latter are essentially evil (though matter and form have their proper and sanctified plane in the scheme of things).

4 All of us are involved in some form of destruction or another. Our form is destructible and corruptible, and we are, in one way or another, engaged in the process of destroying it—however unconsciously to ourselves. D.K. is asking us to choose the form of destruction in which we engage—no longer to be victims of an ignorant, unconscious destruction based on material desires and values, but to choose the liberating destruction of the spiritual will which destroys form only if it impedes the expression of spirit. That same form can be maintained in perpetuity by the same will, if the purposes of spirit are further by that retention. Master R. is one Who knows the secrets of such retention.

5 Right now, many of us overvalue the form and cling to it. This overvaluation is a form of material desire and undermines the health and integrity of the very form we would preserve.

6 To the true initiate, form is instrumental. The instrument is retained as long as it is useful, but not as an end in itself.

7 So, let us examine the factor of destruction in our lives and see from whence it emanates. Inharmony, ignorance and vice destroy; but, so also, may the Will-to-Good, if the form cannot withstand its pressure.

8 In all matters concerning destruction or preservation, the sign Libra (a major sign of ‘healing through harmony’) is of critical importance. Destruction ensues when balance is lost. Sometimes, the spiritual goal is seen as so all-important (as it was in the life of H.P.B) that preserving the balance was considered secondary. But sometimes, the term of valuable service may be lengthened if balance is preserved; thus more of the Will-to-Good would be enacted than if the form was unwisely and prematurely destroyed through excessive pressure.

9 It is for each to evaluate his/her own circumstances. Destruction there will be, but can it and will it be of the higher more noble kind? And will wisdom administer its application?

R. A disciple can destroy his form nature through selfless service and devotion to a cause. (cf. RI, p. 87)

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.

1 Here the Tibetan develops this very theme—the two types of destruction, that inspired by the drive of soul and spirit, and that occurring through the inherent energies of matter/form.

2 Those who have studied the life of Hitler witnessed his progressive degeneration as the tide of the War turned.

3 Jesus and Father Damien destroyed their form through a burning commitment to the will and love of God. They would not allow the form to be comforted. They mounted upon their “slain self”. For them, the ideal burned so brightly that the condition of the form was seen as naught. They counted all as loss, except that the high ideal be achieved.

4 Hitler too had an intense idealism, but it was hateful and horrific. He was probably a first ray soul with a sixth ray personality. His demanded of his followers “utter fanaticism” unto death. But there was no energy of love to hold his vehicles in coherence. In a way, he died of an inherent inharmony between his life motives and the Will of God. His life was held together by the compression of an odious ideal. When that ideal was destroyed, he too, fell apart. The degeneration was complete by the time he took his own life.

S. When the world crisis (World War I+II and the present danger for a third World War, predicted by D.K. in “The Externalisation of Hierarchy”, p. 442-443, 545) will be 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.” (cf. RI, p. 88)

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. (cf. RI, p. 88)

The development of an enlightened public opinion is—speaking esoterically—right response to the sound which conveys the will of God to the ears of the attentive. (cf. RI, p. 88)

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.

1 The Tibetan is viewing the result of the Great War through the clearing smoke. Again, He specifies that the cruel effects have been “on human bodies”, though elsewhere He warns of psychological trauma, as well, when speaking of the dangers of a war too prolonged.

2 There are wonderful mantrams and definitions in this paragraph:

It is all so clear and so practical; no inflation, no unwise euphoria. Just the common sense of one who knows life deeply and wants to see good come out of evil rapidly, wisely, sanely.

3. Education is seen as indispensable. Without it, there can be no “right human relations”.

4. Through right education will come the development of right public opinion—a mighty force for good. The occult nature of public opinion is given; it is “right response to the sound which conveys the will of God to the ears of the attentive”. How interesting to relate the Will of God to public opinion! Let us think of the effect upon global civilization when a global public opinion reflects (at least to some extent) the Will of God!

5. The New Group of World Servers must guide the men and women of goodwill in the general regeneration and reconstruction.

6. In these pages, D.K. has told a story of a necessary Shamballic destruction, and of the good which can be built from it. The invitation to us is clear—no less urgent now than it was almost sixty years ago.

7. We are told that there must not be a Third World War because “Shamballa would be involved, and this has never been the case” (EXH 552) It would seem that it is the constructive side of the Shamballa Energy which is now needed, and not, immediately, its characteristic destructive potency. This particular Shamballa Impact (of the year 2000) would be (and now has been) less destructive than others. There is hope for the Shamballic Energy of Organization to play its necessary re-organizational role. In this we are all attempting to help, and every one of us is needed, as is every group motivated by love, good will and the spiritual will.