DINA Studies: Commentary 10

8. The creative imagination is to be used to change the configuration of conditions. Conditions as they exist on the physical plane are simply ‘materialized images’. Such conditions can be changed by direct application of force and energy existing on the same ‘level’ as the conditions; for instance, hands or their extensions can move objects around in ‘space’ causing a rearrangement of conditions (the materialized images). A subtle form of manipulation (through the power of visualization) can also cause a reconfiguration of conditions. The energy/force of the subtle images (visualized) will work (by yet unknown occult means) eventually upon the outer images and bring about a change. In the magical process this working of subtle upon gross is direct. It is also possible that subtle images will influence human beings and other creators to apply their own energies and forces in order to ‘re-image’ outer conditions.

9. The result of all this will be creative activity, a re-shaping, reconditioning, re-configuring of outer conditions by means of the application of subtle images. As stated, that application will either be direct as in magical processes, or mediated through the agency of some human or other ‘re-creator’.

10. We note that in order to further the ends of Hierarchy and to carry out the Divine Plan, mental energy must also be applied along with the creative powers of the imagination.

11. The purpose of mental energy is to assure that the correct image is visualized and that it is applied to the right ‘place’ and at the right time. Creative imagination is not a random and unregulated process. Many kinds of images may be created, but only certain kinds of images, of a certain quality, color, consistency, clarity, etc., and built upon a certain Plan-conforming subjective template will serve to further the ends of the Hierarchy and help to carry out the Divine Plan at any particular time and in relation to any particular place.

12. We might say that mental energy guides, regulates and adjusts the formation of the created images. Without the right use of this energy in association with the processes of the creative imagination, that imagination cannot be used as a tool for service and is of no real use to Hierarchy.

All the new processes in meditation techniques (for which the New Age may be responsible) must and will embody visualisation as a primary step for the following reasons:

1. Visualisation is the initial step in the demonstration of the occult law that "energy follows thought." This, of course, everyone interested in occult study recognises theoretically. One of the tasks confronting disciples is to achieve factual knowledge of this. Pictorial visualisation (which is a definite feature of the work in many esoteric schools) is simply an exercise to bring about the power to visualise. In the work of those disciples who are being trained for initiation, this external aspect of visualisation must give place to an interior process which is the first step towards the direction of energy. The visualising of pictures is intended to focus the aspirant within the head at a point midway between the pituitary body and the pineal gland. In that area, he draws pictures and paints scenes and thus acquires facility to see—in large and in detail—that which he desires and for which he intends to work. The visualising of what might be called "directed process" goes on in a more focussed manner and in the area directly around the pineal gland. The pineal [Page 90] gland then becomes the centre of a magnetic field which is set in motion—in the first place—by the power of visualisation. At that point, energy is gathered by the disciple and then directed with intention to one or other of the centres. This focussed thought produces inevitable effects within the etheric body and thus two aspects of the creative imagination are brought into play.

1. There will be new meditation techniques—this is clear. During the New Age they will emerge and visualization will be a primary step in their emergence

2. We must remember that the Aquarian Age will be a very creative Age in which a “new Heaven and a new Earth” will take shape. Much concerning the “old world” will have to be ‘re-imaged’ under the seventh ray (re-patterning), fourth ray (beauty and balance) and second ray (attractive coherency). This re-imaging must be in accordance with the patterns of the Divine Plan or else the re-creation intended for the Aquarian Age will not be fulfilled.

3. When we say that “energy follows thought” what do we mean? There is a danger that when a truism is oft repeated its meaning will be lost. Quite simply, if we think in a certain direction (whether the focus of that direction is within the microcosm or within the larger environment), a flow of energy/force will be directed to that focus. For example, if I think of my throat center, there will be a flow of energy/force directed to my throat center. The same is true for any of the chakras. If I think towards another person, energy/force will be directed to that person. If I think of a location, such as the White House or the General Assembly within the United Nations, energy/force will be directed to those destinations, those ‘targets’.

4. Visualization is a prime method of directing that energy/force, for through a visualized image which replicates the proposed destination of the energy/force (for instance an image of a chakra, a person, the White House or General Assembly) the visualized image is brought into resonance with the destination or target. This has been called “sympathetic magic”. The more closely the visualized image replicates the ‘original’, the more in resonance they will be. Energy/force visualized as directed towards the image will also (due to resonances in the etheric field and in other subtle fields) find its way to the ‘original’. The exact mechanism of this will probably take centuries to explicate, but we can count on the validity of the occult law of which we have been informed. “Energy follows thought”. Energy will follow (pursue its way to) that which is imagined through thought/visualization.

5. We should not overlook the fact that it is possible to direct energy/force to an actual object within the field of vision. In this case the object need not be visualized because it is tangibly present and can be seen through the sense of sight, but the energy which is directed may be visualized as pursuing its way to the tangible, sensorially revealed object.

6. The Tibetan is suggesting that we are all familiar with the adage “energy follows thought” but must make the theory a factual realization.

7. The Tibetan seems to be distinguishing between “pictorial visualisation” and the “power to visualise”. Pictorial visualization is simply a beginning step, and may involve the utilization of memory to promote the clear holding of an image. But such work would simply be a “warm-up” for the real act of visualization.

8. We are interested in what may be that “interior process which is the first step towards the direction of energy”. Obviously, the holding of a clear image is not sufficient. The method of activating the held image in relation to its destination/target must be found. If the image held is different from the ‘target image’ (the concretized condition which the held image is meant to transform) then there must be found a method of ‘seeing’ the ‘target image’ transformed into the ‘held image’. A kind of rapport must be established between the new pattern (embodied in the held image) and the old pattern or target image which ideally will be reconfigured so that it reflects the held image. Probably, those who work in this way will be able to note the moment when the two images come en rapport.

9. One way of promoting such rapport would be the capacity to hold both images in the mind’s eye simultaneously, and note the transformation of the target image into a close or closer replication of the image held. Obviously, much practice and much inner, visual steadiness are needed until success crowns the efforts of the visualizer.

10. In all this kind of work, however, it is necessary to work without attachment to results, as, even if sympathetic rapport is established between the visualizer, his held image and the target image, it may take a long while before the target image actually begins to reflect the configuration of the held image.

11. The Tibetan becomes anatomical in his description of the ‘place’ where visualization is to occur—“within the head at a point midway between the pituitary body and the pineal gland”. In this ‘location’ we are told to “draw pictures”, “paint scenes” and “acquire the power to see”. Students should consult an anatomy book to ensure (in a fifth ray/seventh ray manner) that they ‘place’ their images in the proper location.

12. We have been given enough to begin our practice. One may simply begin with familiar and simple images, practice reconfiguring them, changing their shape, color, the relative proportion of their parts, and their size—for the Tibetan tells us that we must be able to see “in large and in detail”. Anything a modern “Photoshop” computer program can do, we should be able to do with our inner imaging apparatus and more. It may, however, take years to develop sufficient skill to work in this manner. Still, the capacity to do so must be developed, as all our future usefulness to Hierarchy depends upon it.

13. Let us realize the importance of the teaching we are now being given. Specific locations in the head are being proposed for the “visualising of pictures” and a different location for the visualization of “directed process”. The pineal gland has a significance associated with the crown center and the first ray, and so it is the suitable ‘locus’ for the visualization of directed process. The term “directed” belongs to the first ray. The pituitary body has (depending upon the context of consideration) either a second ray or third ray meaning. When the carotid gland is considered, the pituitary takes on a second ray meaning. The visualization of images, per se, is related to the form-building second ray. The directing of these images relates to the first ray of will, power and direction.

14. The functioning of the pineal gland (in this specific instance) is clarified for us. The process of visualization stimulates it. When stimulated, it serves as a magnetic center—the “centre of a magnetic field”. Through this magnetism energies to be directed are first gathered, then focussed, then directed.

15. Master DK is talking here about what might be called ‘microcosmic direction’ (to the chakras within one’s own system), but they can be directed to the chakra system of others (provided one is sufficiently initiate to know what one is doing—thus, unless very well informed, we should not) or, in general, into the macrocosmic environment.

16. The major point is that two aspects of the creative imagination have been brought to our attention, and the manner of bringing them into play has been suggested. Now we must practice.

2. The power to visualise is the form-building aspect of the creative imagination. This process falls into three parts, corresponding somewhat to the creative process followed by Deity Itself:

1. DK becomes specific about the “power to visualise”; He calls it “the form-building” aspect of the creative imagination. There are obviously other aspects of work with the creative imagination. It can also be used for energy direction and for the ascertainment of truth or falsity. Perhaps there are other modes as well

2. Form-building comes under the second ray, and so the power to visualize, as well, comes most specifically under the second ray. The power to rearrange and reconfigure that which is visualized and the power to direct that which is visualized come under the third and first rays respectively.

3. DK offers us a sequence of steps entailed in visualization.

4. The first step involves “the gathering of qualified energy within a ring-pass-not”. We note that not just any energy will do, but only that energy the quality of which is suited to the purpose of the building. Further, there must be a ring-pass-not or the gathered energy cannot be managed; it will disperse and cannot be ‘grasped’ for directing.

5. Gathering is one phase and focussing another. One focusses by ‘attending intently’ to that which has been gathered. The attention is applied to gathered energy, and not to the energies/forces surrounding the gathered energy.

6. We ask ourselves, “What is the power of intention?” It is a power which derives from purpose, and it executes a certain series of actions rather than others. Intention is extremely selective, choosing a preferred pattern to emphasize, and removing emphasis from all others.

7. We note that the focussing is to occur in the “neighborhood” of the pineal gland. Approximation is sufficient. DK does not want us to become too minutely exacting in the anatomical sense, as such an attempt could distract from the purpose of the process.

8. In point “b”, we see that focussing prevents diffusion; diffusion would lead to a concentration of energy insufficient for impact. There must be a certain ‘occult density’ of energy if anything impactful is to be done with it. In this respect, ‘intensification is densification’. We can think of that stage in the process of building the antahkarana called “Intention” and realize that a certain concentration/densification of energies is being achieved.

9. DK now speaks of step three, “c”—the “dispatch of this focussed energy”. The term “dispatch” means a sending forth, and implies a process which has some speed.

10. We note that the will is (“at this time”) to be held in leash, just as it is in the healing process. A pictorial process will execute the dispatch and not the force of will. Later, when more is known about the will, it too, apparently, may be brought into the service of this sending forth of energy/force. A Master does this.

11. DK does not here enlarge upon the pictorial process, but it can be assumed that once the energy/force is gathered and focussed, reasonably appropriate images arise spontaneously (and can be ‘edited’ by the mental energy).

12. In all simplicity, the sequence is gather, focus, dispatch.

13. What is the act of will in which we are not to be engaged at this time? Perhaps it means that we are not to forcefully insist on the impact of the pictorially directed energies/forces. The process will be self-regulating according to the nature of the pictorial process. We are not to impose additional force upon the pictorial image insisting that the ‘target’ of the pictorial process change and change now.

14. These are subtle matters and will require practice. Probably mistakes will be made, but an ‘inner monitor’ will advise us when this is the case.

15. We note that the dispatch is microcosmically directed—to certain chakras and in a certain order. This process needs a Master’s guidance, and, indeed, He has offered us, in His various meditations, some patterns and sequences we may follow.

16. Dispatch, however, is also possible in relation to the macrocosm (or the greater environment). The main thing to bear in mind is that we are not forcing anyone to do anything. To force in this manner is the method used by the ‘powers of opposition’ and with this technique we cannot involve ourselves.

This process of energy direction can become a spiritual habit if disciples would begin to do it slowly and gradually. At first, the visualising process may seem to you to be laboured and profitless but, if you persevere, you will find eventually that it becomes effortless and effective. This is one of the most important ways in which a Master works; it is essential, therefore, that you begin to master the technique. The stages are:

1. DK combines the idea of visualization with energy direction. We visualize so that energy may be beneficently directed. He wishes for us that this method of energy direction will become a “spiritual habit”. It is important that it become entirely natural to us so that it may be wielded with skill. Thus, our capacity to cooperate with Hierarchy in Their service to humanity will grow.

2. We note that we are not to dive in precipitously and expect instantaneous results. The power to visualize is essentially a second ray process and the second ray moves slowly and deliberately (through the wise use of slow action).

3. The thoughts suggested are simple. Results will not occur immediately and at first all efforts may seem labored and relatively profitless, but if there is persistence, the work of visualization (and the direction of the visualized images) will become “effortless and effective”.

4. We may at times wonder how the Masters work. Here, DK tells us. Visualization is “one of the most important ways” in which They work.

5. Therefore, it is not only desirable that we master the technique of visualization but “essential”. These “words to the wise” should be sufficient.

6. DK reiterates the sequence we have been studying above.

The disciple learns to do this within himself and later to direct the energy (some chosen and particular kind, according to the demand of the occasion) to that which lies without himself. This constitutes, for example, one of the major healing techniques of the future. It is also used by the Master in awakening His disciple to certain [Page 91] states of consciousness, but with these you have naught to do.

1. Here Master DK addresses the question of microcosmic and macrocosmic direction.

2. Our first work with the “power of visualization” is to be within ourselves and upon ourselves.

3. The directing of energy to “people, places and things” outside ourselves is to come later, and there are specifics to be observed. The energy to be directed is to be well chosen and of a particular kind, and there must be a demand for this energy which depends upon the requirements of particular occasions.

4. It is obvious that groups of healers are involved in the directing of such energies and forces. Already there are those who are practicing in this manner, but they must be sure that, microcosmically, they are pure, clear, organized, alert, and soul-aligned otherwise they may do damage rather than good.

5. DK hints at the use of such energy direction by a Master for purposes of “awakening His disciple to certain states of consciousness”. Obviously, He knows how to do this and has probably done it with respect to the groups He has been training. Such work, however, is not open to us as we do not yet know enough.

6. We must begin slowly, putting first things first. The demands of the times may assist in rendering more rapid our progress with these techniques.

3. The power to visualise correctly is one definite mode of ascertaining truth or falsity. This is a statement difficult for you to comprehend. Visualisation is literally the building of a bridge between the emotional or astral plane and the mental level and is, therefore, a personality correspondence to the building of the antahkarana. The astral plane, the second aspect of the personality, is the correspondence to the form-building aspect of the Trinity, the second aspect. The creative imagination "pictures a form" through the ability to visualise and the thought energy of the mind gives life and direction to this form. It embodies purpose. Thereby a rapport or line of energy is constructed between the mind and the astral vehicle and it becomes a triple line of energy when the soul of the disciple is utilising this creative process in some planned and definitely constructive manner.

1. Of Goodness, Beauty and Truth, Truth belongs to the third ray (though it is not unrelated to the other two rays).

2. DK suggests for us a very occult use of the visualization process as a “definite mode of ascertaining truth or falsity”.

3. DK enters into more technicalities regarding the visualization process. An important definition of visualization is given: “Visualisation is literally the building of a bridge between the emotional or astral plane and the mental level and is, therefore, a personality correspondence to the building of the antahkarana”.

4. We have seen that mental energy must accompany the power to visualize if this process is to be of use to the Hierarchy in Their service of the Divine Plan.

5. We learn, regarding the visualization process, of the “division of labor” between the astral body and the mental body. The astral body “pictures a form” and “the thought energy of the mind gives life and direction to this form”. We remember that the mind is in close resonance to the will, which is the directing power.

6. DK does not want the work of the astral and mental bodies to remain unattended by the soul. The soul must link, creating thereby a triple “line of energy”—soul, mind, astral vehicle. In this manner the visualization process can become the instrument of the soul’s “creative process” on behalf of the Divine Plan. When the soul links to the other two fields (mind and emotions), the factor of purpose enters, and the process turns spiritually constructive.

This visualising process and this use of the imagination form the first two steps in the activity of thoughtform building. It is with these self-created forms—embodying spiritual ideas and divine purpose—that the Masters work and hierarchical purpose takes shape. Therefore, my disciples, it is essential that you begin with deliberation and slowly to work in this manner and to use the above information constructively and creatively. The need of the times is increasingly great and the utmost of work and of purpose is desired.

1. We are acquainted with the idea that we are to build thoughtforms in service of the Divine Plan. DK gives us the first two steps in this process of thoughtform building: “the visualising process and this use of the imagination”. In “this use of the imagination” presumably the mind is involved, giving life and direction to the visualized form.

2. Master DK speaks of “self-created forms”, reminding us that it is the task of any creator to evolve something from himself/herself and not merely replicate present conditions. We are told that the Masters’ work and hierarchical planning and purpose depend upon this visualization process.

3. Again, Master DK enjoins His disciples (including, let us presume, ourselves) to “begin with deliberation and slowly to work in this manner and to use the above information constructively and creatively”.

4. He suggests that by working in this manner we may play some role in meeting the increasingly great need of the times. He also is suggesting that unless we rightly utilize the power of visualization we shall not be engaging in “the utmost of work” nor be guided by the utmost of purpose.

5. It takes no unusual act of imagination to understand the importance of what has been given in the last several paragraphs.

The goal of initiation is held out by the Masters to all Their disciples and They stand ready to give the needed instruction. I would remind you at this early stage that only that which you know for yourself and experience consciously within yourself is of importance and constitutes the truth for you. That which may be told you by others, even by me, serves no vital purpose, except to enhance or corroborate an already known truth, or to create illusions or responsibility until it is either rejected or experienced by you in your own consciousness. Do you understand what I mean?

1. The detailed discussion on visualization leads naturally into a consideration of the process of initiation. During this process the Master uses visualization to help awaken His disciples to certain states of consciousness, as indicated several paragraphs above.

2. The art of visualization is naturally a part of the process of preparing for initiation. Visualization will assist with the correct vivification of the chakric system as a part of preparation.

3. Although the Masters “stand ready to give the needed instruction” anent initiation, they cannot do so unless there is the proper invocation. It is against the Law of Economy to pour forth that which is not invoked, as it would be wasted on those who do not yet want it. Fortunately, humanity on a large scale, has become invocative and hence the great hierarchical push beginning in the late 19^th century.

4. DK reminds us of the importance of the experiential approach to occultism. That which we can know for ourselves and experience consciously is important to us and constitutes for us truth; imparted information (even from a Master) is not of equal value. It may serve to corroborate that which we already know or, if misunderstood, may create illusions. If merely understood and not applied, it will create responsibility, for those who know about correct action must take correct action.

5. Knowledge is responsibility. When knowledge is imparted to consciousness, an imbalance is created requiring action. Imparted knowledge demands an attempt at application, during which process it is proven to be either true or false. Certainly, knowledge cannot simply ‘sit in consciousness’ with no ill effect. That which is stored, is stored to be applied (even though the application may be subtle, as in the teaching process). Knowledge unapplied burdens and dulls the consciousness.

6. Master DK realizes that He has poured forth a great abundance of potential knowledge in His many books. There is a tendency among second ray students to simply garner knowledge until the ‘storehouse’ becomes overfull. He is warning against the ill effects of what can be understood as the ‘hoarding of knowledge’.

Initiation might be defined at this point as the moment of crisis wherein the consciousness hovers on the very border-line [Page 92] of revelation. The demands of the soul and the suggestions of the Master might be regarded as in conflict with the demands of time and space, focussed in the personality or the lower man. You will have, therefore, in this situation a tremendous pull between the pairs of opposites; the field of tension or the focus of the effort is to be found in the disciple "standing at the midway point." Will he respond and react consciously to the higher pull and pass on to new and higher areas of spiritual experience? Or will he fall back into the glamour of time and space and into the thraldom of the personal life? Will he stand in a static quiescent condition in which neither the higher trend nor the lower pull will affect him? One or other of these three conditions must distinguish him and must succeed upon an earlier and vacillating experience wherein the disciple vibrates between the higher and the lower decisions. It is at this process, the Master presides. He is able to do nothing because it is the disciple's own problem. He can only endeavour to enhance the desire of the soul by the power of His directed thought. The personality can also do nothing, for at this point both the physical body and the astral vehicle are simply automatons, waiting responsively for the decision of the disciple, functioning in his mental body. Only the disciple can act upon the mental level of consciousness at this point of endeavour. Once he does so, the die is cast. He either moves forward towards the door of light where the Master takes his hand and the Angel of the Presence becomes potent and active in a way which I may not describe to you, or he drops back temporarily into the life condition of the lower man; glamour and maya settle down anew upon him and the Dweller on the Threshold inserts himself between the disciple and the light from the open door and renews activity. The disciple either awakens suddenly to a wider grasp of reality and a deeper understanding of the Plan and his part in it, or the "veils of earth" close over his head; the vision fades and he reverts into the life of an ordinary human being, probably for the period of the incarnation wherein the opportunity was offered to him.

1. Master DK offers a temporary definition of initiation: “the moment of crisis wherein the consciousness hovers on the very border-line of revelation”.

2. The words “crisis” and “hovers” are revelatory. In a crisis, there are no foregone conclusions; results may tend in a positive or negative direction.

3. The term “hovers” suggests a degree of impermanence and instability. There may be progress into the next ‘area of revelation’ or there may be a falling back.

4. We note that initiation is defined as a “moment of crisis”. There is an interval of time in which tensions (caused by the interplay of higher and lower) are acute. That moment is a moment of decision which leads on to broadened consciousness (a more solar realm) or back to the familiar ‘prison’ (a more lunar realm—as the Moon represents the “prison of the soul”).

5. On the ‘higher side’ we have the demands of the soul and the suggestions of the Master in alliance. On the ‘lower side’, the demands of time and space focussed in the personality or the lower man. The term, “demands” is interesting. From the personality come certain ‘pressing urges’—for the satisfaction of appetites, for the acquisition of that which is desired, for the accumulation of that which can be known, and for the persistence of the sense of individual, separative identity (the demand of that composite elemental we call the personality).

6. It is implied that the world of the Master and of the soul is outside the normal time/space world. These higher demands do not pertain to ‘matters of form’; rather, they are what might be called ‘qualitative demands’.

7. Master DK is describing the tensions immediately prior to the initiation process. He speaks of a “tremendous pull” and, as He is not given to exaggeration, we realize that the lead-up to the process of initiation is testing in the extreme.

8. Within the disciple is a “field of tension or focus”, and the contending ‘counterpulls’ are vividly and wrenchingly experienced.

9. The disciple stands “at the midway point”, meaning that he/she has a decision to make, for the counterpulls may be so equally balanced that no conclusion can be accurately predicted.

10. From a certain perspective we might consider the ajna center (with its suggestion of the Libran Scales) to be the “midway point”, with the crown center representing the Master and the soul and the throat center (associated with the third ray, Saturn and Earth) representing the demands of the time and space and the personality.

11. DK presents three possible responses. The disciple (in the throes of opposing magnetisms) may move forward into freedom, fall back into the glamor of time and space, or remain in a static and quiescent condition, neither advancing or retreating. The three signs Scorpio (advance to triumph), Virgo (falling back into reigning matter) and Libra (quiescent indecision) are symbolically involved.

12. A fourth type of condition is also mentioned—one of vacillation between the higher and lower alternatives. This condition is said to precede the three possibilities above mentioned

13. We are told that the Master “presides” during this difficult period of decision, but that, basically, He can do little since the correct decision is the disciple’s choice.

14. We are, however, given an important hint regarding how the Master works: He endeavors to “enhance the desire of the soul by the power of His directed thought”. Is He focussing on the soul on its own plane or on the incarnated human soul? Certainly, He is not focussing on the Solar Angel (Who, already a “returning Nirvani”, needs no enhancement of correct desire). Most probably, the Master works upon the “soul in incarnation” which is another name for the disciple himself.

15. We note that the Master does not compel by means of will. Rather, He works with magnetic energy related to aspirational desire, sending thoughts promotive of the Will-to-Freedom and expanded consciousness.

16. We are told that the personality, too, can do nothing. A special meaning of personality is here indicated, and it is one of which we should take note. The personality is considered the irrational aspect of man—his astral and physical vehicles. They are, compared to the mental vehicle, automatons (though the lower part of the mind, left unguided, can also be considered automatic in its functioning).

17. Three different types of consciousness are involved: personality consciousness (which is irrational and mostly unconscious); soul consciousness which hovers above the process; and the consciousness of the disciple focussed in the mental body. The disciple is the soul in incarnation.

18. The decision of “which way to go” belongs to the disciple. His is a Libran process and he weighs the incentives offered by the soul and personality in opposition. If Libra is strong in the natal horoscope, he may weigh the options for quite a while.

19. The action taken by the disciple is decisive. Once action is taken there is no return to the stage of deliberation.

20. If the motion is spiritually ‘forward’ he moves “towards the door of light where the Master takes his hand and the Angel of the Presence becomes potent and active in a way which I may not describe to you”.

21. The Master taking his hand is symbolic of a new relationship with the Master and His Ashram. There is, as a result, a much stronger and more direct relationship with the higher spiritual sources.

22. There seems to be a mystery here implied, for the Solar Angel does something unexpected in a potent and active manner. Perhaps a further degree of soul infusion is experienced. Soul-infusion is not a vague generality but is probably accompanied by ‘changes of position’ (and, in general, of relationship and orientation) of the Solar Angel with respect to the disciple-initiate to be infused. Implied are the dynamics of a very occult and technical matter: how the Solar Angel grips the personality and brings it into acquiescence. Thus the Tibetan’s reticence to discuss the exact nature of the Solar Angel’s potent new activity.

23. The other less desirable alternative is as follows: “he drops back temporarily into the life condition of the lower man; glamour and maya settle down anew upon him and the Dweller on the Threshold inserts himself between the disciple and the light from the open door and renews activity”.

24. The disciple had been hovering on the borderland of revelation, but if unsuccessful, old forms and patterns dim the light of the beckoning door. The Dweller on the Threshold (temporarily and occultly ‘out of the way’ while the decision is being made), again becomes obtrusive. The failed candidate to initiation once again ‘sees’ his ‘old self’ as himself, and the light-filled energies, formerly so inviting, are obscured.

25. Probably, this re-confinement occurs once or twice to every disciple, stimulating in him, at last, a sufficient incentive (fed by spiritual desperation) to break through.

26. We note that “glamour and maya settle down anew” upon the disciple. In the words, “settle down”, there is a suggested a downward trend and a lowering of vibration. The familiar takes the place of the possible, and defeat is registered internally (and perhaps unconsciously) rather than consciously and definitely.

27. In Master DK’s language about success and failure something of the dynamics of the initiation process may be revealed. We note that the successful disciple-initiate “awakens suddenly” suggesting the power of Uranus and possibly the Rod of Initiation called the “Flaming Diamond” and wielded by the Lord of the World in the position of Uranian Hierophant.

28. One who becomes initiate finds himself possessed by “a wider grasp of reality and a deeper understanding of the Plan and his part in it”. These are sufficient incentives for any true server of the race.

29. If unsuccessful the “ ‘veils of earth’ close over his head; the vision fades and he reverts into the life of an ordinary human being, probably for the period of the incarnation wherein the opportunity was offered to him”.

30. This is not a very appealing picture. The phrase “over his head” is an occult hint and tells us something about head center radiation which failed to ‘break through’ into a higher dimension or vibratory access. Something which was supposed to ‘ascend’ did not meet that which was ‘descending’ to meet it. Probably, a clairvoyant could see the “veils of earth” closing over and closing in.

31. The vision which fades may also have something to do with the “veils of earth” closing over the head. The “veils of earth” is a phrase which names a particular type of (relatively lower) vibration which could have been penetrated and set aside had the energy-propelling the possibility of initiation been sufficiently strong.

32. There is something depressing in the phrase “reverts into the life of an ordinary human being”. An initiate is not an ordinary human being with very limited possibilities. Retrogression is never an appealing thought to the advancing aspirant to initiation. We must be very alert to ensure that we do not, unwittingly, miss presented opportunities.

33. The consequences of failing are rather oppressive. Opportunity

for initiation is probably deferred for the duration of at least an incarnation. Opportunity

was offered once and not taken; even if the aspiration to meet such an opportunity successfully is rekindled, it probably is not offered again in the same incarnation. At least this seems to be the general trend. Let us be warned.

Should he, however, go forward through that door, then (according to the initiation which becomes possible) will be the revelation and its attendant consequences. The revelation will not be the revelation of possibilities. It is a factual experience, resulting in the evocation of new powers and capacities and the recognition of new modes and fields of service. These powers are conditioned by past developments and the presence of these capacities, plus a freedom of movement "within the bounds of the Hierarchy" which lie far beyond anything which he may have dreamed, become his. New hierarchical contacts are now possible to him; new responsibility is laid upon his shoulders and new "fields of potency" become available for his use in world service.

1. Apparently what is said is true for any of the possible initiations.

is always presented by the soul and under the recommendation of the Master, but first the “application” of the candidate must be submitted (as we have discussed in the Commentary on Rule I for Applicants.

3. A successful passing through the “door of light” is attended by revelation. The Master suggests what revelation is and it not. It is not a presentation of theoretical possibilities. “It is a factual experience, resulting in the evocation of new powers and capacities and the recognition of new modes and fields of service”.

4. True revelation is a lifting of a veil, the removal of a ‘filter’ will allows into consciousness the apprehension of that which has ever been. Of course, a revelation will not and cannot lift all veils and remove all filters. That would be impossible. To put it with extreme mildness, it would be “too much, too fast” and would destroy the candidate utterly. The revelation is, we may say, appropriate to the level of the initiation undergone—no more, no less.

5. With new realization come new powers and capacities. The candidate-now-initiate sees new ways to serve and finds himself possessed of new powers and capacities to do so. Thus he enters into a period of relatively unrestricted service (when the scope of that service is compared to what he could do before revelation occurred). He has entered into a new ‘vibratory domain’ hitherto sealed to him. The result is exhilarating and productive of new modes of creative response to the Divine Plan.

6. The Master paints an inspiring picture. While the candidate-now-initiate does not escape his own conditioning, his new state is relatively unfettered and results in a new “freedom of movement” “within the bounds of the Hierarchy”. One practical result will be a far easier access to high and inspiring energies which he may now share judiciously.

7. The idea is again presented that that which is now encountered is of greater magnitude that anything he may have dreamed. Of his new possibilities he had no real conception. That which he may have dreamed or imagined about the state of being initiated was but a pale anticipation of powers and capacities with which he is now presented and which have become his own. At every level of initiatory possibility it becomes true: “eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard…”

8. What all this tells us is that the would-be initiate is ever faced with the unknown, and when the unknown becomes the known, surprise is ever an initial result.

9. We should not overlook the fact that with new capacities come new responsibilities. No increase in spiritual power is ever conferred without the attendant obligation to use such power in service. So we see that expansion and freedom of movement are conferred, accompanied by a demand for right application. “I look above, I help below”. (DINA I 561)

You have often heard that the Guru, or Teacher, in the East would teach His disciple by the giving of a hint. If you have read and studied the ancient writings of India

(and who today has not read at least some of them?) you will have noted that these hints fall into two categories:

1. Hints anent personal character in relation to reality and preparation for initiation.

2. Hints anent the Oneness of Deity and man's relation to an ascertained and gained unity.

1. DK discusses the important matter of “hints” used so frequently in the methods of spiritual instruction originating in the East.

2. Discussing the writings of ancient India

, He speaks of two kinds of hints: those pertaining to personal character and those anent the “Oneness of Deity” and man’s relation to the Oneness.

3. We can see that hints, therefore, customarily bear on the microcosm and macrocosm.

4. The two occult curricula we are studying in the 28 Rules Group are thus suggested, for the first Fourteen Rules deal with the microcosm and with the individual requirements demanded of the candidate as he/she prepares for initiation. The second set of Fourteen Rules is, by comparison, macrocosmic and deals with possible group relations to the spiritual triad and monad. The best writings of India

are famous for this second variety of hints, of which the Upanishads are an unforgettable example.

To these were later added teachings concerning the creative process when God made the worlds, and much concerning energy and the development of the centres (laya-yoga, as it is technically called). These four lines of teaching are practically all that is given and all the training offered was of an exoteric nature. You can see for yourselves that it was preparatory in nature and that the training for initiation was so deeply hidden in the emphasis laid upon the relation of Guru and disciple that it did not find expression in words and was not, therefore, revealed in any way. The few possible symbolic hints and meanings have been investigated and the erudite esotericist has already drained these sources of information dry.

1. DK speaks of a third category of hints which have much to do with the “creative process” which is essentially a magical process.

2. As well, teaching and hints anent the development of the chakras emerged as yet another category..

3. Thus, the four categories are hints concerning:

4. Even though, as we can see, such teaching would necessarily touch on deep matters, the Tibetan calls it “exoteric”.

5. The implication is that true teaching on initiation was missing from these presentations, “hidden in the emphasis laid upon the relation of the Guru and disciple”.

6. We are dealing with four preparatory modes of teaching and hinting leading to a fifth stage concerning initiation itself. It is fitting that the fifth stage concern initiation which is so much associated with the number five.

7. The secrets of initiation are necessarily very-well guarded and are not released for exoteric consideration until it is truly timely to do so. We are living in such a time and the “secrets of the Kingdom

are being shouted from the roof-tops”.

8. DK is suggesting that there is, indeed, a need for new teaching on initiation, as the few symbolic hints which were offered have been drained dry by erudite esoteric investigators. Always the Hierarchy is ready to give more once that which has been given has be rightly assimilated and used. This tells us something about the phase of the Period of the Forerunner through which we are living. Very much has been given and it remains largely unassimilated. Thus our responsibility.

What I am seeking to do is to carry the teaching another stage outward and make exoteric what the Master taught His disciple in the ancient days when the fundamental truths anent the universal consciousness had been somewhat grasped by the disciple and the particular had been also successfully worked out in its rightful place and manner by the disciple. The old rule ever remains an unalterable rule that all true esoteric teaching begins with the universal and ends with the particular; this you must ever and always bear in mind. It is my difficult task to put into modern language and into symbolic forms these hitherto unwritten rules. Much that has been given out since the time that H.P.B. struggled and worked has been truth, including information anent initiation. Much has been fanciful and grievously distorted.

1. We find, therefore, that Master DK is intending to disclose some of that which was conferred by the Master to His disciple in ancient days. Apparently He is giving us some of that which was orally conferred.

2. We see that in order for Him to do this, certain fundamental truths about the universal and the particular (in relation to the universal) must be grasped by His disciples. Further, the “particular” (pertaining, we may justifiably think, to the disciple-as-microcosm) must be worked out and applied. The Master cannot relay more and more to disciples who do not understand and have not applied certain fundamental truths to their own nature.

3. DK reminds us of an old, unalterable rule: the study of occultism begins with the universal and ends with a study of the particular and the application of universal principles to particular instances.

4. This deductive rather than inductive mode of procedure is wise. It demands an intuitive access to wisdom and ensures that spirit/soul eventually become fully ‘invested’ in matter. It promotes a ‘grasp of the whole’ rather than the more fragmentary approach resultant upon following the inductive method.

5. Of course, induction has its place when the fundamental principles of wisdom are not intuitively apprehended. Induction is a way of ‘rising into truth’, of arriving at principles through the piecing together of evidence. It is a corrective to incorrect premises and is promoted by the presence of the fifth ray.

6. But the true occultist is intuitively certain of his premises. They are not just theories, and thus the application of these premises (or universal principles) to specific instances will inevitably be promotive of ‘that which should be’.

When a neophyte first of all applies to the Master for the training needed prior to initiation, what would you say was the Master's problem? I am assuming that the Master knows His disciple well, is convinced of his sincerity and of the appropriateness of his appeal. I am also assuming that you realise that the so-called "appeal" is the quality of the life lived, the service rendered and the presence of an illumined mind—illumined through some definite measure of soul contact.

1. So much esoteric literature is written from the perspective of the disciple’s problem. Master DK here reverses the perspective and this reversal will be illuminating.

2. DK is not speaking of the question of the disciple’s sincerity or the appropriateness of the appeal for training. These are assumed.

3. The Master reiterates for us the nature of a true “appeal” or “application”—it is the “quality of the life lived, the service rendered and the presence of an illumined mind”. Application is a certain ‘quality of vibration’ which characterizes the applicant’s life, and evidence that that vibration is being bestowed to elevate areas of the divine life where a lower vibration is to be found. This is service expressed in terms of vibration. Service is all that which “elevates vibration”. This is different from thoughtless promotion of “overstimulation”. Well-intended disciples who would be effective in service must know the difference.

4. The Master cannot respond to an application if there is not the necessary measure of soul contact. In fact, without such contact, the “appeal” cannot be considered a valid “application”.

The Master's problem is to teach him the stabilisation of the relation between soul and body so that, at will, contact can be established between them; the astral body provides no hindrance that amounts to anything, and through that soul contact a facile relation to the Hierarchy, its purposes and resources can be made. Secondly, the nature of energy and its wise utilisation through the medium of an integrated personality is indicated.

1. We see that the Master’s “problem” is to teach His disciple certain things. That teaching must result in:

2. Have you sensed these developments occurring in your own nature and do you think the Master may be contributing to the appearance of these necessary achievements?

3. The Master’s second “problem” is to teach the disciple what energy really is and how to use it rightly. This requires an “integrated personality”. It is not possible to become a candidate for initiation unless the personality is in process of integration. Every initiation demands a certain degree of integration. By the time the third degree may be taken, the personality, for all practical purposes is thoroughly integrated, though intensifications of that integration (accompanied by increasing soul infusion) will continue until the fourth degree.

It is essential that one thing be grasped by all of you, prior to undertaking work with me. It is that in a group of disciples such as this, the large majority have already taken the first initiation and are being prepared for one of the later initiations. There is nothing surprising in this statement or any particular cause for elation or for pleasure. An immense number of the world aspirants evidence—through their aliveness to the spiritual issues, through the intensity of their aspiration and through their struggles to be good, self-sacrificing and wise—that the life of the indwelling Christ is most definitely moving in them and is present in their hearts. The initiation of "spiritual fixation upon the physical plane" (as the birth at Bethlehem

, the first initiation, is sometimes called) has already been undergone by thousands, and they are sincerely and definitely moving forward upon the Way. I would remind you here that many, many lives can elapse between the first initiation and the second—long, long interludes of silent and almost unapparent [Page 95] growth. You are in no way unique or far ahead of the senior world aspirants. In that lies cause for encouragement and humility. It is naturally not my intention to state who is being prepared for any particular initiation. That is a matter for each of you to discover for himself. It is a matter of interior orientation and not a matter of outside information.

1. Master DK offers important information on the initiatory status of the members of His groups. The “large majority” of them have undergone the first initiation. By this it is apparent that He means the “Initiation of Birth” and not the Transfiguration.

2. It becomes apparent that it is possible to be in a Master’s outer group and still not have taken the first initiation (though most in a Master’s group will have done so).

3. To be an “accepted disciple” it is usually a requirement that the first initiation has been taken. Not all disciples in these early groups-of-nine were “accepted disciples”, but later (as the New Seed Group was formed by DK) all disciples under that particular mode of training were considered by Him as “accepted disciples”. In one case, probably that of LTS-K, there is evidence to indicate that he was not an initiate of the first degree even though He was accepted. DK tells us that the main reason for His acceptance was for his own protection and, as well, the outgrowth of the Master’s gratitude for work which he had done in relation to the publishing of AAB’s books. The Masters, we are told, are not ungrateful.

4. We always find the Master protecting His chelas from any tendency towards “self-congratulation”. To be an initiate of the first degree is a mark of achievement, but, in today’s world, not an unusual achievement.

5. Then, there follows a description which can be useful in helping to identify those who have taken the first initiation. First degree initiates are—

6. If we look around, we will find many of our acquaintances and co-workers characterized by such qualities.

7. In The Rays and the Initiations, the following is said of those who have undergone the first initiation: “…all those who truly love their fellowmen, who are interested in the esoteric teaching, and who seek to discipline themselves in order to attain greater beauty of life, are initiate and have undergone the first initiation.

8. First degree initiates are those in whom “the life of the indwelling Christ is most definitely moving…and is present in their hearts”.

9. A very interesting name for the first initiation is given: “spiritual fixation upon the physical plane”. We can see how the seventh ray (the ray which most characterizes the processes of the first initiation) would be involved in this “fixation”. Vulcan (also prominent at the first degree and a planet with very physical and material associations) is also implicated, as is the “Law of Fixation” on the fifth ray, for the fifth energy (of the Solar Angels) becomes involved with the human personality at the first degree in a new way.

10. At the time of this writing (in the 1930’s) thousands had taken the first initiation. By now, many, many thousands more have no doubt done so. The numbers will soon be in the millions, if this is not already the case.

11. Another important description of those who have taken the first degree is given: “they are sincerely and definitely moving forward upon the Way”. As we study these words we see the importance of the sixth ray in the life of the aspirant to the second initiation.

12. DK reminds us of the many lives that may elapse between the first and second degrees. In fact, He uses the phrase, “many, many lives”. Just how many may this mean? Thirty? Twenty? Ten or less? Probably there is no set number and much depends upon the intensity of the aspirant’s effort and the correctness of the choices made.

13. Master DK is emphasizing the length of the period between the first and second degrees by phrases like “many, many” and “long, long”. This is His way of inducing a sense of proportion in the consciousness of the eager aspirant. We are not to look for spectacular growth in the interim between these initiations, for growth may be “silent and almost unapparent”.

14. DK assures His chelas that they are in no way unique or “far ahead of the senior world aspirants”, though apparently they are somewhat ahead. A prideful and separative reaction in the minds of chelas is always a danger and leads to later retardation.

15. Master DK ever takes a balanced point of view. His mode of imparting information about the spiritual status of His chelas both encourages and induces humility. These chelas are somewhat advanced, but not especially advanced. In fact, the Master is helping His chelas know exactly where they stand.

16. However, He does not tell which chela is being prepared for which initiation; to do so would be counterproductive (given the usual psychological state of the average chela), and further, would rob the chela of an important ‘intuitive opportunity’. Chelas must discover for themselves where they stand on the Path, and in the attempt to discover their standing they will necessarily learn much, not only about themselves but about others.

17. The following about discovering one’s standing is an important occult hint: “It is a matter of interior orientation and not a matter of outside information”. Which ‘Sun of revelation’ is a chela facing? What, really, are the spiritual tasks with which he/she is engaged? One learns to estimate properly by estimating, to evaluate properly by evaluating.

18. If we could see with real clarity the next task before us, we might know the initiation for which we are being prepared (if not for this life cycle then for a subsequent one in the not-too-distant future).

One point anent the taking of the first three major initiations, I would like to refer to at this point. It is that they have always to be taken when in a physical body and upon the physical plane, thus demonstrating initiate consciousness through both mind and brain. This is a point not oft emphasised and sometimes contradicted.

1. DK offers important information about the first three initiations—information that, presumably, may not apply to the fourth and fifth: the first three initiations are to be taken in a physical body so that the initiate consciousness may be demonstrated “through both mind and brain”. From this perspective, the initiation process is part of the “Externalization of the Hierarchy” and is involved in bringing “Heaven to Earth”.

2. DK says that this piece of important information is “sometimes contradicted” (presumably by other writers) but in one or two instances, the Master, Himself, suggests that initiation may be taken on other planes.

“As you know, it is not my intention to give you any more personal instructions; you no longer need them during the rest of this life, because if you carry out those already given [Page 70] there will be nothing to hinder your taking the initiation which is for you the next step forward. Do you realise the import of what I am saying? This initiation which confronts you can be taken either during the remaining years which are left to you; this, in the majority of cases is not probable, though a small minority—a very small minority—may achieve the goal. Or initiation may be taken in the interim period between incarnations, or else immediately upon return to physical plane life. This latter is the most probable for those who are not taking initiations higher than the third; and, at present, for that initiation I am not preparing disciples. It is usually regarded as essential that disciples who are taking the second or third initiations should register them in their brain consciousness. As I have often told you, the initiate consciousness is not the factor which requires to be thus recorded; it is seldom so. Recognition of it comes when the candidate is participating in the "esoteric installation" of a candidate into the ranks of the Great White Lodge. What the disciple undergoing initiation (and I choose the word "undergoing" with deliberation) must and eventually does record are the crises which brought about his fitness to take initiation, as it is erroneously called in theosophical circles. These, correctly handled and surmounted, will result in his being an initiate—a very different interpretation to the current theosophical one. As I often told you, a man is an initiate, prior to any initiation ceremony. The ceremony concerns hierarchical recognition of the disciple and does not concern the candidate's fitness. I find it needful to reiterate this fact. (DINA II 70)

3. It is important that we do not think of initiation as an ‘otherworldly’ event. It is a very practical matter and involves the redemption of that form of matter which is residual from an earlier solar system, hence the need for its physical demonstration.

I would like also to point out with all the clarity and power at my disposal, the very deep necessity for humility and its constantly recurring expression. I refer not to an inferiority complex but to that adjusted sense of right proportion which equips its possessor with a balanced point of view as to himself, his responsibilities and his life work. This, when present, will enable him to view himself dispassionately and his presented opportunities with equal dispassion. Undoubtedly all disciples, you among them, have speculated upon your status and standing upon the Path and upon the status of your co-disciples. That is, after all, both natural and human. Some of you are too humble in the personal sense and not in the sense of true humility. By that I mean that you are so afraid of pride and bombast and an over-estimation of your capacities that you are untrue to the realities and belittle the power of your souls. R.S.U. is a case in point and needs to walk humbly in the spiritual life which involves a correct recognition of place and opportunity and not this constant emphasis upon her inability to measure up. She owes it to my group of disciples and to me to see herself as she truly is—a disciple in preparation for a certain initiation and with much wisdom at her disposal. W.D.S. suffers from an inferiority complex which drives him to an exterior enforcement of his personality upon others and expresses itself in a subtle, spiritual jealousy of those who impress themselves upon his consciousness as his spiritual superiors. He needs to accept himself as he is, to be glad that there are those who guarantee to him the possibility of future [Page 96] unfoldment, because they have already achieved more than he has, and then to forget about himself as he accepts discipleship and finds himself so busy in true service that he has no time for ceaseless comparisons with others.

1. The Master is making an emphatic point when He calls for humility. We have often seen how easily the little ego appropriates imagined initiatory possibilities for its own aggrandizement.

2. The Master would not speak of using “all the clarity and power at my disposal” and of the deep necessity for humility were there only a small danger of going astray in these matters.

3. But DK is not calling for the adoption of an attitude of false humility or an “inferiority complex” (into which some of His chelas had already fallen). The term “adjusted sense of right proportion” is again used as a definition for humility and should be pondered by each of us. It is the “balanced point of view” the Master seeks for us, so that we may properly evaluate ourselves, our responsibilities and our life’s work. Are we humble in the sense here suggested? Perhaps one must have seen much of life and many instances of both foolishness and correct evaluation to arrive at a state of mind which can be called “humble” in the true sense.

4. We are to look upon our selves with dispassion and consider our spiritual status with equal dispassion. If we love the truth more than our own little ego we will be able to do this. If we become convinced of the uselessness of inflation or minimization, the dispassionate attitude will not be foreign to us.

5. DK tells is that it is natural for us to speculate about our spiritual status, but, at the same time, suggests the manner in which it is safe and sane to do so.

6. DK becomes specific as He considers the tendencies of certain disciples—both of whom have an inferiority complex. In one case the inferiority complex leads to constant self-belittlement. In the other case (WDS—a ray one personality) the opposite reaction is produced, and the disciple forces his personality upon others, as if to minimize his sense of inferiority by overpowering them. We find DK very astute (as a Master must be) in the detection of subtle conditions in His chelas’ psyches.

7. Further comments to WDS are very revealing. He should be grateful to more advanced disciples for guaranteeing the existence of spiritual achievements which are not yet his. This is an interesting perspective, is it not? Through the use of this perspective subtle jealousy can be transformed into gratitude.

8. DK also gives WDS a hint about “accepted discipleship” telling him that he should “forget about himself as he accepts discipleship” [ital. MDR]. We do not know if, at this point, WDS was already an accepted disciple. Since he became, for a time, a member of the New Seed Group, he was, de facto, an accepted disciple, but perhaps, at the time of this writing, he was receiving a hint which, if followed, could lead him into the stage of accepted discipleship, technically considered.

9. DK’s comments both elevate and chasten RSU, for she, like some others, is so afraid of pride, bombast and over-estimation that she resorts to the other extreme—a constant assertion of incapability to measure up. This is the wrong kind of humility (entirely too personal) and does not contribute to the ‘truth content’ of her group’s self-perception. A group must understand itself as it is; this will be facilitated when the disciples within such a group, each of them, see themselves as they truly are. Otherwise there is glamor and distortion.

10. DK is perhaps hinting at the initiation for which RSU is being prepared when He says that she has “much wisdom at her disposal”. Later in her career she was transferred back into the Ashram of her Master, KH. This, too, may be a hint as to her initiatory status.

11. It is curious that AAB, a high disciple who probably had taken the third initiation at some point in her career, for much of her discipleship life also suffered from self-minimization (though probably not from an inferiority complex, per se). AAB probably wanted to be loved and appreciated, thus avoiding the sense of isolation, and, hence, did not act readily from the level of her true spiritual status. DK asked her to do so.

12. A strong hint is give to all jealous disciples (even those who are subtly jealous of the status of others). They are to become so busy in service that they have no time for ceaseless (and unwholesome) comparisons with others. Labor refines.

True humility is based on fact, on vision and on time pressures. Here I give you a hint and would ask you to think deeply on these three foundations of a major personality attitude which must be held and demonstrated before each initiation. I would remind you that there must always be humility in the presence of true vision.

1. Another hint is given: “true humility is based on fact, on vision and on time pressures”.

2. True humility must be demonstrated before each initiation. Otherwise it is not safe for the Hierophant to approach: He would only stimulate a distortion causing a warping in the nature.

3. Why these particular “three foundations” as a necessary personality attitude preceding the possibility of initiation?

4. The truly humble person faces facts and loves truth. He sees through the disadvantages of any form of egoistic self-delusion. This is the first ray aspect of the three foundations.

5. The second ray aspect is “vision”. When there is true vision, the disciple sees with accuracy an aspect of the Plan and the part which he/she may play. With true vision (the vision of things as they are and as they are ‘becoming’) it is impossible to inflate or minimize one’s role. There is a beauty in what is seen that militates against the tendency to exaggerate or minimize one’s role within the visioned Plan and thus introduce distortion (in all its ugliness).

6. As for “time pressures”, they represent the third aspect. DK has already told us how time pressures relate to humility. One becomes too busy in service to waste time with fruitless comparisons to others. The earnest worker demonstrates humility through real work. He puts the work before his own self-image and thereby grows. One recognizes one’s nature, one’s attainment, and one’s place and then “gets to work”. This is the only way to grow and improve.

7. If humility is “an adjusted sense of right proportion”, then a true vision will reveal oneself in a proper and proportionate relation to all things. If the vision is untrue, pride or self-depreciation may enter. Let us, therefore, see to the validity of our vision.

This experiment which I am undertaking has its dangers. The disciples in a Master's Ashram upon the inner planes know somewhat the status of their co-disciples, but they do not always carry this knowledge through into the brain consciousness. This is very largely a protective factor because they could not be trusted to handle the knowledge correctly upon the physical plane. They might be super-critical of a fellow disciple who was, temporarily, not living up to his initiation objective; they might be subtly jealous or unduly self-depreciative; they might treat the disciple who is ahead of them upon the Path of Initiation as someone superior and set apart and thereby complicate his problem and his effort; they might lose a sense of proportion as to initiation itself, as to its processes and its states, and this through too close an approach to, or a misunderstanding of, another struggling initiate-disciple. The pitfalls are many and I tell you to beware. Attend to your own life and your own business. Speculate not as to the status of the other disciples in my group who are your close cooperators and co-sharers in my experiment. Cultivate the humility which is based on understanding and vision and so serve the world, your fellow disciples and serve me also—as the major point of your contact with the Hierarchy.

1. The Master speaks of the subtle dangers associated with His experiment.

2. We learn that disciples (in the Ashram upon the inner planes) know somewhat their spiritual status but do not necessarily carry this knowledge into their brain consciousness. This ‘forgetfulness’ is protective, as they could not necessarily be trusted to handle the information properly on the physical plane. We can understand that disciples (not yet free from ego-concern) might exaggerate (or minimize) their importance and thus produce separation and cleavage (which would hamper the growth of right group relations).

3. DK goes into the dangers: super-criticism, subtle jealousy, undue self-depreciation, devotion, separativeness, loss of proportion. The possible problems concerning an incorrect approach to one’s initiatory status and the status of others are many, and DK warns His disciples to beware. There are many disciples who correctly infer their own status and that of others, and so must guard against the kinds of dangers here enumerated.

4. The whole problem is based upon ‘ego-concern’ (which is another way of saying that their eyes are focussed on the little self). An attitude of true love and an illumined understanding of the greater whole will be corrective of these tendencies. We are not only ourselves, but everyone else too. This is a mystery until experienced.

5. DK offers straight and even rather stern advice: we are to mind our own business and refrain from speculating about the spiritual status of others. I have not seen this warning much obeyed.

6. If we remember our fellow disciples as “close cooperators and co-sharers” we will be less inclined to filter our understanding of them through our own ‘ego-concern’.

7. We are to cultivate a humility which is based upon understanding and vision. One cannot force humility upon oneself and others with the unthinking injunction “be humble”! Humility grows as the perspective widens. The best way to promote humility is to help others (and oneself) broaden and deepen consciousness.

8. An order of service seems to be suggested, and to it we should attend; we are to serve the world, then our fellow disciples, and then the Master who may be our major point of contact with Hierarchy.

9. When an attitude of love-in-service is established, there seems to be little room for the problems which arise through a wrong approach to the issue of spiritual status.

I have often pointed out that a disciple is known by his influence upon his environment, and an initiate by the wide scope of his world service. How does it happen then that a few of you (not all) are not distinguished by such service and are of relatively small importance in world affairs? Several things could explain this. First of all, a disciple may be called to work off certain karmic relationships, to fulfil certain obligations of very ancient origin and thus "clear the decks" for more complete and uninterrupted service to humanity at a later date. This occurs quite frequently between the first and second initiations. Sometimes a disciple may be doing effective service upon the inner planes and on a large scale and yet there may be no evidence of this upon the physical plane, except in the beauty of a life lived. Others may be learning certain techniques of psychological relationships and of energy distribution and may have dedicated some particular life to the acquiring of these esoteric sciences. One life is but a short moment in the long cycle of the soul. The true disciple will never fall back on the reasons given above as alibis for lack of effort. I would remind you that world influence alone does not always imply discipleship. There are many groups—well known and magnetic—which have at their centre some dominant personality who is not necessarily a disciple.

1. The Tibetan distinguishes between the spheres of influence of disciples and initiates. The disciple has an impact upon his environment and an initiate a much wider impact which can be described as “world service”.

2. DK seeks to help His chelas evaluate themselves according to these standards.

3. Obviously, all DK’s chelas are disciples and so He seeks to help explain why some of them may be so little involved in service and have but small importance in world affairs.

4. Some disciples (especially between the first and second degrees) may be “clearing the decks”, working off old karma, so that future service to humanity may be “more complete and uninterrupted”.

5. Others may be serving widely and effectively on the inner planes, but their life upon the outer plane shows no signs of this service—except (and this is an arresting thought) “in the beauty of a life lived”.

6. Still others may be mastering certain esoteric techniques relating to the building of psychological relationships and the development of the capacity for energy distribution.

7. DK is probably surveying His disciples and seeking to shed light upon their particular situations.

8. The Master enjoins upon us a sense of proportion: one life is but a short moment in the soul’s history.

9. In offering this information about how one may be a disciple and yet of little apparent moment in world affairs or even in the local environment, DK is offering important explanations but no incentives for falling back, for excuses or alibis. He seems to be suggesting that the disciple should, at least, gradually widen and deepen his/her area of service even if subject to one or more of the three conditions described.

10. DK reminds his disciples that prominence does not always imply discipleship. Through the advanced stage reached by our telecommunications network, we notice many prominent people and groups who are not characterized by the quality of discipleship. In present times, our standard for detecting disciples must become increasingly sophisticated. Fame, popularity and prominence can hardly service as all-sufficient indicators. One must always use the touchstone of quality. What is the quality of the work done? Whether the work is especially noticeable or unnoticeable, let us always ask, what is the quality of that work and of the individual or groups performing it? The quality may be high, low or indifferent, but it determinant of the value of the work performed. We have learned that quality is essentially service, for quality cannot help but radiate into the environment and there do good.

In connection with this group of my disciples and with this experiment which I am undertaking, you need to arrive at a point in group experience wherein you are not so intensely preoccupied with your own development, status and service; you all need to learn to decentralise yourselves so that the work to be done becomes the factor of main importance. When this is the case, then the intense self-interest with some aspect of the personality expression, some weakness of character, some dear objective, or some physical condition will cease. You will find the cultivation of a "divine indifference" (as I have told you several times) of great assistance in forgetting the little self; this frequently looms so large (from habit) that it shuts out the higher self; it comes between the disciple and the Master and prevents contact with his co-disciples, thus negating effective service.

1. DK offers immediate advice to His chelas. They need to deepen their sense of the group. If they do so, they will no longer find themselves so preoccupied with their own individual development, their status and their service. These preoccupations signal a consciousness still self-focussed and subject to ‘ego-concern’.

2. A disciple works. This differentiates him from an aspirant, who does not necessarily work. Always, the work comes first. When one is preoccupied with work and service on behalf of the Plan and humanity, there is little time for succumbing to the various hazards related to ‘ego-concern’. Decentralization is required; it is an Aquarian attitude which reduces the power of the lower phases of Leonian influence. One takes one’s eyes off the little self.

3. DK lists certain personality preoccupations which can be offset through decentralization:

4. We can see that discipleship very much involves the setting aside of the non-essential in favor of the essential. We can apply this ‘touchstone of essentiality’ to the many thoughts, words and acts of our life. To do so will bring us rapidly into state of disciplic effectiveness.

5. The basic disadvantage of concern with the “little self” is discussed. That little self looms so large that it comes between the disciple and all advantageous spiritual contacts—with the higher self, with the Master and with one’s co-disciples.

6. Interestingly, it is said that this “little self” looms large because of habit. For millions of years we have been preoccupied with that which, only apparently, is the self. It is a case of mistaken identity, as is all egoistic preoccupation.

7. The antidote to this preoccupation with the non-essential little self, is divine indifference, based upon the emphasis of spiritual essentials. At a sufficient point of tension, divine indifference is established.

There is one more point which I would like to take up with you so that there may be complete understanding. There come periods in the life of the disciple when there appears to be no contact with the Master and as if all relationship had been, at least, temporarily severed. Where accepted disciples are concerned, I would like to emphasise that any such severance is not possible. Occultly, it cannot happen and the Master's love for the disciple makes it again impossible. There is only one condition which can result in severance and that is deliberate and conscious effort by the disciple, carried over a very long period of time, to bring it about. A Master does not lightly admit a disciple to His group and once having done so, the situation is irrevocable from the standpoint of the Master. Any delay in progress and any final severance comes entirely from the pupil. There may be a temporary suspension of communication and this may last throughout one life; that, however, is not long from the angle of the soul; it is but a flash of small moment and significance in the long career of the soul. It looms as large and important in the personality life but may signify only the grasping of opportunity in the eternal now of the soul.

1. DK taking up a number of important points with His disciples. In doing so He is answering questions which may have arisen in their minds.

2. Some of His disciples may have been distressed by the apparent lack of direct contact with the Master. To them this may have seemed a kind of “severance”. DK assures His disciples of the impossibility of such a state. The Master’s great love for His disciple would militate against this. It must be difficult for us to fathom the Master’s love for those He has admitted to His group or Ashram. Perhaps if we think of the love we bear a beloved child and multiply it many-fold, we can gain some small idea of the Master’s love for His disciples.

3. We are soberly reminded that the Master is not the one to sever connection with a disciple; the severance is the result of a disciple’s prolonged and deliberate effort to bring it about. We see that the love extended from ‘above’ is far greater than that upreaching from ‘below’.

4. We are also reminded that admittance into a Master’s group is no casual affair. The master considers His relation to His admitted disciple irrevocable once admittance has occurred. It is an indissoluble bond the loyalty upon which we should ponder.

5. Responsibility is laid squarely on our shoulders for any delay in development we may experience. We do not have to wait for the Master; He is always ready to respond if rightly invoked. Delays are of our own making.

6. Temporary suspensions of communication from a Master to His chela may arise, and these may last for even a lifetime. DK counsels us to think of such a period as short when compared to the long history of the soul’s evolution. From the angle of the soul, such a period is but “a flash of small moment and significance”.

7. Then follows a rather enigmatical statement: “It looms as large and important in the personality life but may signify only the grasping of opportunity in the eternal now of the soul”. We may ask, who is it that is grasping opportunity—the soul on its own plane or the temporarily ‘ex-communicated’ disciple? Perhaps the temporary lack of communication from the Master to disciple may be an opportunity in disguise, an opportunity for the disciple to utilize His own resources and to acquire, apparently unaided, even greater resources. We must never forget that the soul/Solar Angel is the “first Master”, and that disciples must learn to be soul-reliant before they can safely be placed en rapport with a human Master.

I have, therefore, been near you and watched at intervals the tide of life roll over you; I have noted your progress and your delay. I have watched you succeed and I have seen you fail. This I do through noting the pulsation of your light—not in watching the detail of your daily living. That is not warranted in this time of crisis, and owing to the evolutionary development of disciples will never again be warranted. You are still within my group aura, within my Ashram. Your position there is determined by yourself and not by me. There exists at times something which resembles a pulsation in the relation between teacher and pupil—a withdrawing and a coming forward where the probationary disciple is concerned and a standing with steadfastness and expectancy on the part of the teacher. When the fluctuations of contact are ended and the pupil is stabilised and becomes a "steadily approaching point of energy," then he becomes an accepted disciple. Some in my group of disciples are stabilising; some are retreating; some few are approaching and I watch with interest the waxing and the waning of their light.

1. Master DK seems to be preparing certain of these disciples for the suspension of communication between Him and them which occurred in late 1939. Perhaps the plan to suspend communication (and reorganize the manner of His future communication with certain selected disciples) was already in His mind.

2. The image of the supervising Master is put forward; the Master has supervised (albeit at a distance) the lives of His chelas-to-be perhaps for a number of lives.

3. The mode of detecting a disciple’s success or failure is given; it is through the “pulsation of [his/her] light”. It is decentralizing to realize that the Master has not time to observe the detail of His chela’s life. Moreover, the level of development of today’s disciples will mean that such close observation will never again be warranted. Although this lack of close personal observation is now generally the case, and will be in the future, Master DK has demonstrated, by things He has said, that He has been aware of some details in His chela’s lives; the intimacy of His care for them was, however, unusual.

4. Disciples in a Master’s group (and therefore within his “group aura”) determine their own position within the Master’s Ashram. The Master does not ‘promote’ them in the usual sense. They move into greater ashramic intimacy through the elevation of their own vibration.

5. Master DK describes the approach to and withdrawal from the Master which is typical of the probationary disciple. The Master stands steadfast. It is not He that approaches and withdraws. The fluctuations within the probationary disciple’s form and consciousness account for the evident inconsistency.

6. A truly accepting and thus accepted disciple becomes, however, a “steadily approaching point of energy”. Perhaps deliberately, DK did not say ‘point of force’. We can see how astral polarization functioning under the Law of Attraction and Repulsion will generate inconsistency of approach. Increasing mental polarization steadies the approach, for the steadying will works through the mind.

7. DK describes an interesting Geminian experience (and indeed, He must have much of Gemini in His horoscope). Some disciples are stabilizing after fluctuation; some are retreating and a few are approaching (note, only a few). There is little the Master can do about this ‘dance’ but look on with support and encouragement.

8. If you measure yourself, in which phase do you find yourself and why? Is your light waxing or waning? How do you know?

The mobilisation of every disciple is demanded at this time and when I say "this time" I refer to the present time and the next fifty years. This mobilisation involves the focussing of the disciple's energies, his time and his resources on behalf of humanity; it requires a new dedication to service, a consecration of the thought-life (do you realise what that would mean, my brothers?) and a forgetfulness of self which would rule out all moods and feelings, all personality desires, resentments, grievances and all pettiness in your relations with your fellowmen. On the physical plane, it would mean the conditioning of all active, outer living so that the whole of life becomes one focussed active service. I would ask you to study the above phrasing, using it as a light of revelation so that you may know wherein you are lacking and what you have to do.

1. Some rather demanding requirements are now set forth. During the “next fifty years” (this would mean, until the 1980’s) the mobilization of every disciple is required. I would say that because of the aftermath of the Second World War and the obvious danger to man of proliferating nuclear weapons in a badly divided world, the mobilization of every disciple is still demanded, and perhaps moreso.

2. What will mobilization mean?

3. DK is asking us to review the requirements for mobilization so that we can see whether we are completely mobilized. It is obvious that for the mobilized disciple, very little if anything is left for the strictly ‘personal’ life. All energies are consecrated to soul-living.

4. The demands for mobilization are exacting, are they not?

I have given you in the past a very great deal of instruction, help and encouragement. That you still have and it would profit you much if you spent some time in recalling it. But today make a new beginning—not for your own sake, but for the helping of a needy world. Forget yourselves.

1. DK reflects on all that He has given.

2. Sometimes so much is given that one even forgets the extent of the gifts conferred. The attempt to recall these gifts is of value. This attempt gathers them all into the ‘space of consciousness’ where they can be appreciated, and from whence further extraction of value may occur.

3. The Master’s words turn direct: “But today make a new beginning—not for your own sake, but for the helping of a needy world. Forget yourselves.”

4. These words are being addressed to relatively experienced disciples, for the most part, and so, they are being addressed to us. On every occasion we may take these words to heart, no matter how many beginnings have been made. Master Morya has said that, “for Us there are only beginnings”.

5. Always one must become inspired anew; always new fervor must be rekindled. We must never allow ourselves to simmer down to the point where our fire is in danger of extinction. Fire is life.

The pressure of the work upon me has been very heavy lately. Much work has rested upon my shoulders, incident to the world situation. This has involved much effort on the part of the Hierarchy to prevent a complete collapse of the structure of human civilisation, as it exists at this time. The sound foundations of part of the structure must be saved; all else may have to go.

1. DK speaks of His own work. The Second World War has begun—certainly on the inner planes. We can only imagine a Master’s vast responsibilities, and our imagining would be a very poor approximation to the reality.

2. Such work, at that time, must have been onerous in the extreme. DK speaks of the possibility of the “complete collapse of the structure of human civilisation, as it exists at this time”. He is saying this probably in the fateful year, 1939.

3. The Spiritual Hierarchy realized that conditions were far more desperate than humanity could suspect. The threat of destruction was everywhere, and Hierarchy sought to salvage at least a part of the foundation so that human civilization could be rebuilt.

4. We do not know what Their perspective revealed, but the revelation must have been dire.

Many things contribute to the inertia that today seems to afflict many of the disciples of the world who should be active in service and helpfulness. This applies also to you. The pressure of war conditions and concern over your own personal affairs, attitudes and reactions have crowded much that I might say and have said out of your minds. One of the first lessons which those in training for initiation have to master is that difficult dual attitude which permits right personality activity and real interest in personality affairs and yet at the same time permits nothing personal to interfere with the subjective spiritual life, with service and with the training, given in preparation for initiation. As time goes on, I shall try to bridge between the old techniques and the newer modes of training by using a part of the ancient techniques—now becoming somewhat obsolete—and the giving of those hints which will lead you to understand the nature, purpose and methods of educating accepted disciples in the processes of initiation.

1. We have noticed in the year immediately prior to the disbanding of the groups-of-nine a number of the disciples were afflicted with inertia and seemed to be losing ground.

2. It is clear that the fear factor was looming large in the minds of most disciples (as it was for humanity in general). The astral body has a way of ‘preempting the stage’, thus crowding out the testimony of the higher nature—including the Master as part of that higher nature.

3. The necessity for the dual life of the disciple is again asserted. Personality affairs must be rightly attended to and yet nothing of a personal nature must be allowed to “interfere with the subjective spiritual life, with service and with the training, given in preparation for initiation”. This would require the attitude of dispassion, for without it, fear will unduly magnetize the attention.

4. The Tibetan continues His emphasis upon training for initiation, promising an approach which will bridge the older and newer techniques.

5. He is hinting at the future reorganization of the group into a group of (eventually) twenty-four accepted disciples who were to be educated for initiation. Not all of those in the groups-of-nine were invited into the new, reorganized Seed Group, nor did they (initially) even know of its existence. In this New Seed Group definite training for group initiation was undertaken, even though the training was relatively rudimentary. The material given to that group and pertaining to initiation and group initiation was of an advanced nature as the study of the Fourteen Rules for Disciples and Initiates and the many lessons gathered in DINA II will reveal.

Above all, I would say: Seek to recover the fervour of your earlier, spiritual aspiration and self-discipline. If you have never lost it (though many disciples have) seek to force that energy of inspiration to work out in an effective display of [Page 100] definite action upon the physical plane. How, you ask, my brothers? By increasing the radiance of your light in the world through love and meditation, so that others may turn to you as to a beacon light in the dark night of life which seems in this century to have descended upon humanity; seek to love more than you have ever believed was possible, so that others—frozen and chilled by life circumstance and the present horror of human existence—may turn to you for warmth and comforting. What I and all who are affiliated with the Hierarchy seek to do at this time of desperate crisis is to find those who are dependable points of living energy and through them pour out the love, the strength and the light which the world needs and must have if this storm is to be weathered. I ask you to render this service to me and to humanity. I ask nothing spectacular; it will, however, require a strenuous effort of your souls if you are to respond adequately; I ask nothing impossible; I would remind you that the apathy of the physical body and brain, the inertia of the feeling nature and the sense of futility of the mind when confronted with large issues will seem to hinder you.

1. The paragraphs which follow are in the nature of an exhortation. DK wishes to see a return to former fervor and discipline, for many of His disciples have experienced a deintensification of the fires of aspiration. Aspiration is indispensable, whether for the disciple or the initiate.

2. Some have not lost their fire, and if not, DK enjoins them to apply their continuing inspiration in definite acts upon the physical plane. Fire may be ‘upward tending’ but disciples must prove it to be ‘downwardly effective’.

3. Love and meditation are the means of increasing a disciple’s light in the world so that he may become a beacon to a humanity upon which darkness has descended.

4. The Master turns almost ‘passionate’ is asking His disciples to show more love. He is calling for the assertion of the “will-to-love”. In fact, He is simply demanding that they love—more than they ever believed possible.

5. Warmth and comforting are sorely needed by those in distress. They can only be produced by the radiation of solar fire—at a time when fire-by-friction had set the lower three worlds ablaze.

6. DK says something remarkable; He is asking His disciples to become “dependable points of living energy” through which the Masters may pour light, love and power to a needy world. He is asking them to become, in effect, channels for hierarchical energy and force. He is saying that humanity will not weather this great storm if such channels for hierarchical energy/force cannot be found. One sees here a tremendous call to responsible action—both objective and subjective.

7. It is clear that that Master, having spoken of what mobilization requires, is seeking to mobilize His disciples during an hour of great and dire need.

8. The Master calls not just for personality effort but for the strenuous exertion of the soul. His disciples must act as souls. The three aspects of the personality, he warns, will seem to interfere. The apathy of the physical body and brain, the inertia of the feeling nature and the sense of futility generated by the lower mind will all stand opposed the attempt to mobilize all resources under the soul and on behalf of humanity. It is good to know one’s enemy, even if that enemy is oneself!

9. Although the Master asks for nothing “spectacular” or “impossible”, what He does call for will be spiritually strenuous.

10. It is my impression that we should respond to these words as if they applied to us in our present world situation. There are analogies between present times and the 1930’s. We are building towards a subjective ‘war’ which is already being fought out within the subtle bodies. There is a kind of fanaticism sweeping through various populations in the world which must be contained, transmuted and transformed. This dangerous fanatical streak, affecting a number of nations and religions will be contained, transmuted and transformed if disciples will seize their opportunity and mobilize themselves just as Master DK has advised.

11. During the 1930’s most people in Western nations did not realize the full scope of the dire calamity which loomed ahead. The same may be the case presently, and the calamity could be far, far worse. Thus, this call for mobilization is not a thing of the past and of merely historical interest; it is call which we, disciples in the early twenty-first century, cannot fail to heed.

Again I point the Way to you and again I wait. Will you intensify your inner life and achieve the power which will enable you to live simultaneously as an efficient human being and a living, loving soul? It is the establishing of the continuity of this dual process which is your main need at this time; it will lead to fusion, personality coordination and a greatly increased efficiency. Many disciples are not young and the settled habit of thought and of the feeling life is not easy to disrupt. They must, however, be disrupted and you must feel no resentment. The rhythms of the personality are stabilised and constitute your line of least resistance. You must cut athwart these, thus forming the cross of life and existence will then take on added difficulty. The results will be new rhythms of beauty.

1. The Master cannot do for us. He can surround us with love and inspiration and provide us with illumination, but He cannot do for us what we must do for ourselves.

2. The Master has already done much for us (and for all His disciples). Now, He waits.

3. The intensification of the inner life is the main requirement, and if rightly done will make the dual life of the soul possible. The “efficient human being” is the intelligent personality and it represents the third aspect of divinity. The “living loving soul” is the spirit-inspired soul, representing the second aspect as it is inspired by the first.

4. Disciples may be able to live the dual life successfully from time to time, but not with “continuity”. This they must do. If we are to be dependable, the continuity factor must be mastered.

5. Rightly done, both the radiation of love and personality coordination will increase. We shall see a desirable fusion of the two and the three.

6. It becomes clear that DK is not pampering His chela’s sense of comfort. We know that the “love of comfort” is one of the physical heads of the ninefold Hydra.

7. DK is really calling for the beneficent disruption of the personality life—and this without the customary resentment which can be expected from most people when their personality life is disturbed (let alone, disrupted!).

8. The term “line of least resistance” is especially connected to the third aspect of divinity which (when associated with the personality) often seeks expediency rather than principle.

9. DK tells us how we may form the “cross of life”—by cutting athwart our personality rhythms with new rhythms of beauty. Pain will increase but the gain will be immense.

10. How many will rise to such a challenge, and cut across the habits of a lifetime?

To those who are standing in the blaze of pain (and their numbers are Legion), of agony, anxiety and distress—seeing it on every hand and attempting to stand steady in the midst of it all—I say: That which appears is not always that which truly is; that which rends and disrupts the personality life is frequently the agent of release, if rightly apprehended; that which will emerge when the Forces of Light have penetrated the world darkness will demonstrate the nature of the undying human spirit. To all of you I say: My love surrounds you and the aura of the Ashram of which I am the centre stands like a great defending wall around you and around all who are battling for the right. See that you battle. You can then, if you will, sense this loving protection. Each day, if you will, you can put yourself en rapport with your Master. We are not blind or uncaring. We know, however, that there are worse evils than death and pain. We know that this is the hour of humanity's greatest opportunity and that if men can pass triumphantly through this and (by the strength of their own souls) surmount this very present evil, then the evolution of humanity will be hastened beyond all that was believed possible. It will constitute a release, self-achieved and self-initiated. This means as much in the life of mankind as it means in the life of the individual disciple. That chance and that opportunity must not be taken from man; the gained spiritual and eternal values are of far greater importance than his temporary agony.

1. The Master is now writing to many who may not be His disciples. He seems to be speaking to all of distressed humanity, and especially to those who can stand.

2. DK is exhorting us to understand the difference between the distress, anxiety and agony which appear on the surface of life, and the deeper issues which are at stake as well as the wondrous possibilities which are emerging.

3. Death, He says, may be release from limitation and will reveal the “nature of the undying human spirit”.

4. The Master assures His disciples of the love of the Ashram; that love protects them “like a great defending wall”.

5. The Master calls for His disciples to “battle”.

6. He also says they may put themselves in rapport with their Master. Here He means not only Himself, but Master M, KH, and R—Who are the actual Masters of a number of those He has under training.

7. The Master shares the perspective of Hierarchy. He calls the dire conditions of the moment “humanity’s greatest opportunity”, and promises the hastening of human evolution to a degree beyond all believed possible, if humanity surmounts the evil. Indeed, humanity did surmount the evil and may be in the process of greatly accelerated evolution.

8. The Second World War thus presented opportunity for release from many imprisoning chains of the “old world”. Humanity’s victory in that war would be “self achieved and self-initiated”. Every disciple, microcosmically, must achieve victory by himself/herself, and that victory must be self-initiated. We can see WWII as a tremendous moment of responsibility for the human race.

9. Then, the perspective of Hierarchy (so different from the human perspective) emerges in the following words: “That chance and that opportunity must not be taken from man; the gained spiritual and eternal values are of far greater importance than his temporary agony”.

10. The war lasted, let us say, five or six years. From a greater perspective, the war began in 1914 and lasted until 1945. To Hierarchy the suffering of humanity during that period was a “temporary agony” leading to “gained spiritual and eternal values”—the values of soul and spirit.

11. Saturn, in one way ‘Lord of Pain’ is also the ‘One Who presents opportunity’. Opportunity

is not the pleasant thing which most people imagine. For a disciple, opportunity may be, indeed, a ‘dire and drastic presentation’ calling for the mobilization of all his/her latent personal, individual and spiritual resources. Thus the unmistakable opportunity for great growth.

12. How do we look at opportunity? Is it, for us, purely a Jupiterian matter, or have we understood how Saturn and Pluto in Their first ray aspects can present immense opportunities?

Little as you may realise it as you think of Us in Our so-called safe retreats, the capacity of identification with all that is involved in world pain today and the sensitivity of Those connected with the Hierarchy to the unhappy condition of humanity makes Their task of standing-by one of supreme spiritual agony. They understand the depths of the reaction of humanity; they comprehend and understand, for They are one with all men. This involves a far greater comprehension than you can grasp and one which can only be adequately expressed in the word "identification." They need the staunch support of all Their disciples, the steadfast love, the loyal attitude, the unquestioning response to human need which will enable Them to carry more easily the heavy burden which human karma has laid upon Them and which They carry voluntarily.

1. DK speaks of the agony and suffering of the Masters—apparently “safe” in Their retreats, but identified with humanity to such an extent that Their “standing by” is an act of “supreme spiritual agony”. Let us ponder on this.

2. The Masters are not removed and remote, but are deeply identified with humanity; in fact, They are “one with all men”. Let us ponder on this.

3. Again the Masters’ perspective is brought forward. The Masters need the staunch support of all Their disciples, the steadfast love, the loyal attitude, the unquestioning response to human need—so great is the burden which human karma has laid upon Them (though They carry this karma voluntarily). DK’s occasional revelation of the Master’s situation and His need of His disciples’ help must surely have been evocative of that help. What does it evoke in us?

4. So often we assume an attitude of ‘spiritual dependency’ upon the Master; we want to be carried, loved, supported, strengthened, inspired. We do not think of the burdens upon Them; DK has reminded us, has He not, of the tremendous burdens which the Christ will assume as He reappears. The word “horror” has been used in this connection, describing how the Christ must view the enormity of His impending task.

“Because of the smallness of our little planet, and because of the prevalence of the radio, of television and the rapidity of communication, His part will be watched by all and the prospect must surely, for Him, hold certain horror, must present its tests and major adjustments, plus painful and unavoidable experience. He does not come as the omnipotent God of man's ignorant creation, but as the Christ, the Founder of the Kingdom of God on Earth, to complete the work He started, and again to demonstrate divinity in far more difficult circumstances” (ROC 55).

5. To what degree do we care? To what degree are we ready to lighten the burden of our superiors? Much will depend upon our answer.

Will you give this? Will you aid Our work in every possible way, both as personalities, dedicated to service, and as souls who walk the lighted Way? The need of humanity for love and light, the need of the Hierarchy for channels and for those who will work under direction upon the earth can call forth all that you have to give and can evoke your soul (the only true reward that the disciple seeks) in power and love. This will happen to you, if you will forget the little self.