Commentary on Rule III for Disciples and Initiates
Rule III: Synthesis/Summary of all Sentences in both Rule for Applicants and Rule for Disciples and Initiates
“Triple the call must be and long it takes to sound it forth. Let the disciple sound the call across the desert, over all the seas and through the fires which separate him from the veiled and hidden door. (R&I 20)
Dual the moving forward. The Door is left behind. That is a happening of the past. Let the cry of invocation [Page 68] issue forth from the deep centre of the group's clear cold light. Let it evoke response from the bright centre, lying far ahead. When the demand and the response are lost in one great SOUND, move outward from the desert, leave the seas behind, and know that God is Fire. (R&I 20)The Sentences for Both Rules
A. Triple the call must be and long it takes to sound it forth.
1. Let us be alert to the note which each vehicle is sounding, ensuring that the note is actually a “call”, an application, and not simply a sound which cannot possibly open any door to higher life.
2. We will know from a certain inner standard whether the note sounded by and through our vehicles is harmonious with what we might call the ‘standard of application’.
3. When the note is not harmonious, let us learn the means of tuning it. This will be a subtle act, necessary for all applicants. Heedless, continuous sounding of un-tuned notes is an offence to the beauty of the higher worlds and results in a friction which eventually debilitates the sounder.
4. When all vehicular notes are sounding satisfactorily, let us attune them to each other and to the soul. The ‘harmony of release’ will be the result. Energy flows rightly and joyously when there is harmony. To be sensitive to this type of harmony is to practice for a forthcoming buddhic realization—but the buddhic plane is the “plane of harmony:”.
5. While being vigilant, let us also be patient. This patience will be based upon the ability to sense the quality of the future, which quality exists, to some degree, in the present. The fullness of the higher life may not yet be ours, but there will be flashes of realization occurring at increasingly frequent intervals. These flashes are a substantial promises that the higher worlds will be attained, and they sustain us as we, perforce, endure a lower quality of circumstance.
6. Our ultimate release into greater light, love and life will lie in the quality of our sounding. The right quality will “open the door”. Our temporary fulfillment lies in the realized quality of the moment, which may not measure up to the standard of the higher worlds, but which is, nonetheless, to be appreciated. The Greater Good is on its way. The path to the Greater Good lies through the performance (and appreciation) of the attainable lesser good. Thus it will ever be until “the Day Be With Us”.
7. We cannot be perfect. No being can. Even the greatest of all cosmic Beings is as nothing compared to the INFINITE SELF.
8. Forever, we are “on our way”, and even when the Crown of Cosmic Evolution is achieve—even then, we are “on our way” to the Unattainable SELF. No attainment in cosmos ever “measures up” to the SELF, but the standard improves continuously.
9. In addition to that ‘sounding’ which represents our vehicular condition, let us vigilantly ensure that our words and thoughts are also engaged in the sounding of the call. Every thought is an invocation. Every word is an invocation. What are we invoking? Every creation must have its attractive effect—and its repelling effect a well.
B. Let the disciple sound the call across the desert, over all the seas and through the fires which separate him from the veiled and hidden door.
1. We are not dismayed by the condition of the physical plane. We are not overwhelmed. We sound the call nonetheless. We are the call, nonetheless.
2. We are not dismayed by the condition of the astral plane. We are not overwhelmed. We sound the call nonetheless. We are the call, nonetheless.
3. We are not dismayed by the condition of the mental plane. We are not overwhelmed. We sound the call nonetheless. We are the call, nonetheless.
4. We are positive to conditions. Conditions are of the elements. Our essential nature is superior to these elements. We use the elements rightly and are not used by them. (Of course, I cite the ideal. Many human beings, we well realize, are used by the elements.)
5. We realize that there is an apparent separation between our present condition and the state to be achieved, but we are not deterred.
6. Patiently we sound the triple note as a chord, attuning it to the patterned beauty which we are in soul. Later we attune our chorded notes to still higher energy-patterns within our energy system. We ascend through attunement and re-attunement.
7. Looking through and beyond that which around us appears to be, we concentrate upon the negation of the veil. The veil is an apparency which will yield to the right frequency of any of the seven ray qualities.
8. Just as the causal body can be destroyed in seven manners (cf. Letters on Occult Meditation p.15 et. seq.), so can the apparently separating veil.
9. That which we long to see and be is forever present. It is ‘here’, not elsewhere.
10. It will yield to power rightly used.
11. It will yield to love rightly expressed.
12. It will yield to intelligence rightly mobilized
13. It will yield to harmony rightly vibrating.
14. It will yield to mind rightly focused.
15. It will yield to idealism rightly motivated.
16. It will yield to magical process rightly enacted.
17. Our task is to negate the various veils by whatever means are appropriate to us. One of the first steps towards successful achievement is to realize that there is a veil.
18. So often the veil is invisible. We do not realize that our consciousness is veiled. But one or two flashes of realization disclose the existence of that which had not been suspected. From that time forward, divine discontent will do its work. Thenceforth, we shall always know of the existence of a veil—if not on one level, then on another.
19. The task indicated in this Rule for Applicants is the right use of sound—both internal and external, with the emphasis being placed on internal sound of which external sound is an effect.
20. To sound aright, one must know why the desert is a desert. How does one cross the desert?
21. To sound aright one must know why the seas are seas? How does one traverse the seas?
22. To sound aright one must know why the fires of mind are fires? How does one penetrate these fires?
23. First the sounding, then the crossing of the elemental condition or penetrating of that condition.
24. First the call sounds across the desert; then we cross the desert having made it bloom.
25. The call sounds over all the seas, before one crosses those seas—and cross one must.
26. First the call sounds through the fires, before the disciple, himself/herself, penetrates through those fires.
27. Let us imagine that the technological powers of modern civilization were no longer ours—that we had to rely more upon ourselves and upon what we, ourselves, had built. One passes through the “door” on the basis of what one is—not because of the supports which civilization offers us.
28. To cross the desert one needs water and food, persistent, enduring strength, protection from the blazing sun and the sudden cold of night, the wisdom to travel by night guided by the stars, a keen sense of timing, vision in the face of monotony, the keenness to sense the approach of sandstorms and the ability to survive them—and much more. What do you need to cross your desert?
29. To cross over the seas, one needs a well-provisioned seaworthy ship (shall we call it the well-built ‘ship of ego’, a knowledge of the stars to guide one, a compass for those darkened times when the stars are hidden by clouds, the capacity to ride the waves and not become ill or incapacitated, a knowledge of the winds and the ability to use (even though they be contrary) them to propel one’s ship forward, the power to sense the approach of storms and the ability to survive them without capsizing or being engulfed in heavy seas—and much more. What do you need to cross over “all the seas” within you energy system and environment?
30. To pass through the fires one must have protection from the raging flames. Must one wear this protection, or be protected by what one is? Surely, in some manner, we must become “fire proof”—especially to fire by friction. As it is possible to fight fire with fire, we may find that it is the presence of solar fire which serves as the best protection from “fire by friction”. (Those who have discovered how love heals irritation know this to be true.)
Surely, as well, we will need faith and courage. Animals, even the great and powerful ones, are “afraid of fire”; this is how they are held at bay by those who train and master them. The animal part of our nature will be afraid of fire. It knows nothing of solar fire. Thus, to penetrate the fires of separation, we must to some extent already be possessed of the ‘fires of unity’, solar fire, through which we gain a fierily-cohesive immunity to that which would divide all things and keep them separate and uncooperative. He passes through who realizes the beauties of union, of yoga. He passes through who seeks to unite the world in love and will—not to sever all its parts through the power of mind. Solar fire is the best immunity to the lesser flames. Love, therefore, is the best immunity to the lesser flames. Love will give us the courageous heart, strong enough to penetrate the ‘wall of flame’.
There are those whose strength of soul can calm the desert-storm, can force the waters to subside, can regulate the raging flames.
C. Dual the moving forward. The Door is left behind. That is a happening of the past.
1. We are personality and we are soul. Both move together. Each has its laws which must be obeyed. At last however, though each needs the other, the lesser is subjugated to the greater.
2. We move as two. We are, temporarily, a duality. Each “brother” is respectful of the other. Balance is required. Gemini (the “Brothers”) require Libra and they are closely interrelated. (c.f. Esoteric Astrology p. 332-333). We do not sever soul from personality. We, as soul, wisely use the personality as an instrument.
3. Thus we grow in intelligence (personality). Thus we grow in consciousness (soul).
4. Always a door is left behind. One does not linger at the portal. One passes through and beyond. The passing is a moment in time. Appreciation follows the passing (summation of the tribulation undergone) and then—forward movement.
5. Having passed the portal, one may cast a backward glance, to see how the door appears (positioned behind and not before), but one does not fix one’s backward gaze upon the door for a time inordinately long. Progress would cease.
6. The “Door” is indeed left behind. It is the future which preoccupies the newly Self-realized initiate or initiate group.
7. In our lives, what is the balance between the past and the future? Is our orientation healthy and progressive? Which doors are left behind—not only the doors of initiation? What is the value of knowing their nature? Once they are understood, do we need to remind ourselves constantly of these doors?
8. The past is past. It is useful to remember it—to learn the lessons of history, and then—to move on, fully engaged with that which presents on the way to the new.
9. How to successfully release the old? Perhaps—to be convinced that “the best is yet to be”. How to be convinced of this? See clearly the progress of the soul (or consciousness) which has resulted from passing through even the most difficult events. A life evaluation is due—what have we gained (of understanding) through adversity? Not the addictive, ruminative pain of the past, but the virtually boundless possibilities. Comparison shows the past as slight before promised expansion.
D. Let the cry of invocation issue forth from the deep centre of the group's clear cold light.
1. Deeply related to each other in soul, we are calling for the future.
2. We are on spiritually intimate terms with the members of our group. Relating has proceeded from deep to deep. All superficiality is past.
3. The group has gone through many phases; it is physically coordinated, astrally serene, mentally focussed and lucid. It functions as one, pervaded by love and wisdom. It has found the “clear cold light” and seeks to polarize itself therein.
4. The clear cold light reveals the Beautiful—the quality of the buddhic plane. Perhaps it also reveals the Good—the quality of the atmic plane, and of planes beyond.
5. The “Door” which has now been passed means but little to the group. Its “Eye” is fixed areas of greater livingness within the Divine Whole.
6. To reach these new areas of livingness, an invocation must go forth—not from one but from all. Each within the group is an agent of invocation, but the approach to life is successfully accomplished only by the group. Only those live who know that the fragmentary unit is a figment of limited perception.
7. The group concentrates its consciousness within the clear cold light (holding all lower faculties in its control).
8. The group, by its own Self-generated intensity, calls for that which lies still farther ahead.
9. At a certain point, the disciple will realize that progress is achieved through the group. Empowerment comes through the group. The group is the passage from the many to the One.
10. This realized, he/she will work as if the group (what, really, does that mean?), summoning future higher possibilities through the agency of the group. The Law of Group Progress comes into increasingly full expression.
11. The individual disciple is asking nothing for himself/herself. As he/she invokes, it is the group which is invoking, and the group is invoking on behalf of humanity and according to the Plan. The psychology is entirely different to that which stimulated personal appeal for personal welfare. The invoking disciple within the invoking group has the group at heart. The invoking group has humanity at heart. What does it mean to have something “at heart”?
E. Let it evoke response from the bright centre, lying far ahead.
1. The enterprise is a great one. The Energy to be contacted emanates from the most powerful Center on our planet.
2. The group is attempting no mean feat. A most significant empowerment is sought.
3. The group is here capable of accomplishing what the individual disciple cannot.
4. On the ever-ascending Path, the many fuse into the One. Thus, the pressure towards group realization, group fusion, group action becomes—for those on the ‘Path of Positivity’—irresistible.
5. The psycho-spiritual ‘distance’ between the individual disciple and the “bright center” is lessened by the united power of the group.
6. On our planet, the quest for light dominates the evolutionary process. There are so many kinds of light (of ‘vibratory heightening’), and each of us can list what, for us, have been our most important “entries into the light”. Faith and confidence in the process can be gained by this assessment.
F. 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.
1. Our call is to the “vivid, flaming, drenching life” characteristic of the higher worlds, and to a much greater extent, of Shamballa. The members of the Fifth Creative Hierarchy (the Solar Angels) are participants in the ‘Solar Council’ (far greater than the Council at Shamballa). Thus these angels of fiery love are able to distribute “vivid, flaming, drenching life”.
2. Those who invoke aright are functioning according to law. When the invocation is right, Shamballa must respond.
3. The great Rules of individual and group initiatic living are not about chance or probability. They concern states of realization and empowerment which come as a certainty when the Rules are fulfilled.
4. We are repeatedly told about the powerful occult effects of sound—the great building and destroying energy.
5. Let us think of the meaning of sound in our lives.
6. Perhaps certain words have been spoken and they have made a great difference to us.
7. Perhaps this difference has come as a result of the meaning of the words. But, perhaps, the energy itself embodied in the sound of the words has been the great transformative factor.
8. Think of certain magnificent sounds which we may have experienced through the great music of the world. Such sounds have often been thrilling , have they not? They have transported us into states of high realization, perhaps of ecstasy, have they not?
9. If sounds created or composed by human beings can have such an extraordinary effect on our consciousness and our energy system, we can only imagine what the great Sound emanating from Shamballa could convey.
10. Let us speak of transport—of being lifted out of the lower worlds altogether, through the agency of sound.
11. The angels sing (we are told and perhaps have heard); heavenly music is a great internal reality. To listen to this music is to be transported to the vibratory level from which the music originates.
12. Hierarchy has its music—of this we can be assured, either through inference or direct experience. And Hierarchy is music.
13. Shamballa, too, has its Music—of which the Tibetan speaks when telling of the “Daily Ritual of Sanat Kumara”.
14. The group invocation of which this Rule speaks, is a great act of power, love and harmony. The response will be tremendous—so tremendous that it empowers the group to “move outward from the desert, leave the seas behind, and know that God is fire”.
15. The slightest contemplation of these words reveals what extraordinary realizations are involved—and sound is the medium of these realization.
16. Perhaps a new attitude towards the group sound is required, a new sensitivity to the deeper notes which are sounding through our united process.
17. The achievements here proposed are, indeed, possible, but many are the sensitisations required of us before they become realities in our group consciousness.
18. As we study these Rules we become aware of the kinds of elevation offered (according the Fifth Law of the Soul—the Law of Elevation)—offered not for our sake, but to fit us for far fuller cooperation with the Hierarchy of Light and Love (and Power).
19. Presently the members of this group (the 28 Rules Group) are spread far and wide—geographically. Internally, they are blending and fusing, and their focus within ‘inner space’ is coalescing.
20. Growth is slow. It requires great patience. These Rules are difficult and require the esoteric sense for real understanding.
21. Everything about our progress will be subtle, and the appeal of these Rules cannot, as yet, be for all—even those who are spiritually well-intended.
22. The great note of persistence, sounding along with and ‘beneath’ the Group Note or Chord, will, at length, render that harmonizing Chord effective in its invocative power.
23. “We still persist” is an adapted first ray mantram so needed by those who are attempting to do what we are attempting to do.
24. The Sound is calling to us. We are sounding whether we will or no. Let our sound become an aspect of the Great Sound. Let us resound within the Sound. Let our sounding be harmoniously included within the Great Sounding.