Three things engage the Solar Angel before the sheath created passes downward; the condition of the waters, the safety of the one who thus creates, and steady contemplation. Thus are the heart, the throat, and eye, allied for triple service.
[157] We have been dealing with the processes of creation as they concern:
1. The Creator of a solar system or a planetary scheme.
2. The Ego, as it creates its body of manifestation. It should here be remembered that the entire human family has been brought into manifestation by a paralleling group of egos.
3. Man, as he creates those thought-forms by which he expresses himself, through which he works, and by which he is surrounded. It should also here be borne in mind that this definite creative work is only possible to those who function on mental levels—the thinkers of the world and the disciples of the Masters.
In every case, as we have seen, the objective form has been the result of meditation on the part of the creating agency, of response from the material acted upon by the force generated in meditation, thus producing the building of the form, and its utilization through sound. This is succeeded by the stage wherein the form is seen objectively and becomes a vibrant living entity. Thus is “the Word made Flesh,” and thus do all forms—universes, men, and ensouled thoughts—come into being.
This fifth rule touches upon three factors which engage the attention of the creating agent before the physical form emerges into view on the exterior plane. These three are: [158]
1. The condition of the waters.
2. The safety of the one who thus creates.
3. Steady contemplation.
We will deal briefly with these three and then we will consider the three factors which the disciple needs to relate if he ever aims to become an active and potent co-operator with the Hierarchy. These are the Eye, the Heart, the Throat. The interpretation and significance of these rules can be carried forward along several lines. For our purposes, the one followed will be that relating to the disciple and his work, and will deal with his training in the magical work of the ego, as that ego occupies and employs a physical form. These teachings are intended to be practical; they will emphasize the training and discipline of the disciple, and, scattered throughout, will be found those hints and esoteric suggestions which, when followed, will lead the aspirant on to experiment and to experience of truth. Those who are not true aspirants will fail to recognize the hints and thus will be preserved from danger and premature experience.
Let us therefore take up the three factors which engage our attention, and let us consider them from the standpoint of the human being who is creating thought-forms, and not primarily from the standpoint of a solar Creator or of an ego, preparing to take incarnation through the medium of form. Two collateral thoughts are here of value. One is that the process of creating thought-forms is part of the work done by every aspirant in the daily meditation process. If the student would remember that every time he sits down to his morning meditation he is learning to build and vitalize thought-forms, his work might assume greater interest. The tendency of most aspirants is to be occupied with their deficiencies in the work of meditation and their inability to control their minds, whereas both those aspects of their endeavour [159] would be aided if they were to be occupied by the profoundly engrossing work of thought-form building.
A secondary and less important thought is that as egos, preparing to take human bodies, are deeply engaged in meditation work, it is highly improbable that they can be reached by the ordinary medium in the ordinary seance. At the most, only those who have passed over quite recently can be thus contacted, and they are, in most cases, in a condition of deep abstraction of a different kind. There is no time or purpose in enlarging upon this theme here but it is of interest to those investigating these matters.
1. The Condition of the Waters
The creating agency, man, has through the incentives of a co-ordinating purpose, intent meditation, and creative activity built the thought-form which he is ensouling with his own vitality and directing with his will. The time has come for that thought-form to be sent upon its mission and to carry out the purpose of its being. As we saw in the earlier rule, the form is “driven” from its creator by the power of the expulsive breath. This is a symbolic statement but, at the same time, an experimental fact in the magical work. In the disciple’s work, there is often failure owing to his inability to understand both the esoteric and the literal significance of this expulsive breath as he carries forward his meditation work. This expulsive breath is the result of a preceding period of rhythmic breathing, paralleled by concentrated meditation work, then a definite focussing of the attention and the breath, as the purpose of the created form is mentally defined, and finally, the vitalizing of the thought-form, by its creator, and its consequent energizing into independent life and activity.
The first hindrance to the potency of the work comes through the failure of the disciple to carry on these activities [160] simultaneously. The second cause of failure lies in his neglecting to consider the condition of the waters or the state of the emotional substance into which this mental form must go and so gather to itself the matter of the astral plane which will enable it to become a functioning entity on that plane. If it cannot do this, it becomes simply and eventually a dead form on the plane of mind, for it will lack that motivating power of desire which is necessary to carry it forward to completion on the physical plane.
It is interesting to remember this: If a thought-form is sent forth into the emotional world to gather to itself a body of desire (the impelling force which produces all objectivity) and is immersed in a “condition of the waters” which can best be described as purely selfish, all that occurs is as follows: It is lost, by being drawn into the astral body of the disciple, which is the focal point for all astral energy employed by the disciple. It is swept into a vortex of which the individual astral body is the centre and loses its separate existence. The simile of the whirlpool is of value here. The thinker is like a man throwing a toy boat from the shore into a stream of water. If he throws it into a whirlpool, it is sucked in time into the central vortex and so disappears. Many forms, thus constructed by an aspirant in his meditation work are lost and fail in their objective because of the chaotic and whirling state of the aspirant’s emotional body. Thus good intentions come to naught; thus good purpose and planned work for the Master fail to materialize because, as the thought-form passes downward on to the plane of desire and emotion, it contacts only the seething waters of fear, of suspicion, of hatred, of vicious or purely physical desire. These being more potent than the little form, drown it, and it passes out of sight and out of existence, and the man becomes conscious of another abortive effort.
[161] Or again, the “condition of the waters” is not that of a self-engendered whirlpool, but is more allied to that of a pool, stirred into a frothy and boiling surge, through the activities of others. There are many disciples who have achieved a fair measure of self-control and of personal disinterestedness. They are not the victims of personality desire and aims, and are comparatively free from the whirlpool of selfish tendencies. But their astral bodies are again and again swept into a state of agitation by the group for, and in which, they work. They are elated or depressed, satisfied or dissatisfied by the results they achieve or fail to achieve; this achievement or lack of achievement and the steadiness or disloyalties of their fellow servers produce agitation and emotional upset, and on this powerful reaction their thought-forms, constructed so diligently and prayerfully, come to naught. Their “skill in action” is lost, because they are tied to the desired result and so their labour produces nothing.
There are many other “conditions of the waters” which each aspirant can for himself supply. There is one more however upon which I would like to touch. The emotional body of the disciple which must feed and nurture the baby thought-form (with its mental nucleus) is necessarily part of the planetary emotional form and hence vibrates in unison with that form. This should also be carefully considered, for the emotional body is thrown into a state of activity by the general astral condition and must be handled wisely from this angle.
At this time there are three qualities predominating in the planetary form—fear, expectancy and a climaxing desire (in the human family) for material possession. Note the word “climaxing”. The summation of human desire for material happiness has been reached, and the peak of that desire has been passed; thus mankind has achieved and surmounted much. But the rhythm of the ages is strong.
[162] These three qualities have to be grasped and discounted by the aspirant as he seeks to serve from mental levels. In the place of fear he must substitute that peace which is the prerogative of those who live always in the Light of the Eternal; in the place of questioning expectancy he must substitute that placid, yet active, assurance of the ultimate objective which comes from a vision of the Plan and his contact with other disciples and later with the Master. Desire for material possession must be superseded by aspiration for those possessions which are the joy of the soul—wisdom, love and power to serve. Peace, assurance and right aspiration! These three words, when understood and experienced in the life of every day, will bring about that right “condition of the waters” which will ensure the survival of every thought-form, rightly engendered in meditation by the man, functioning as a soul.
2. The Safety of the One Who Thus Creates
It might be said here with emphasis, even if it is a recognized truism, that people are frequently slain (in the occult and therefore in the more important sense) by their own thought-forms. Thought creation, through concentration and meditation, is a potently dangerous matter. This must never be forgotten. There are forms of thought, unencumbered by much desire matter, which, failing to pass downward, poison the man on mental levels. This they do in two ways:
1. By growing so potent on the mental plane that the man falls a victim to the thing he has created. This is the “idée fixe” of the psychiatrist; the obsession which drives to lunacy; the one-pointed line of thought which eventually terrorises its creator.
2. By multiplying so fast that the mental aura of the man becomes like unto a thick and dense cloud, through [163] which the light of the soul must fail to penetrate, and through which the love of human beings, the lovely and beautiful and comforting activities of nature and of life in the three worlds equally fail to pierce. The man is smothered, is suffocated by his own thought-forms, and succumbs to the miasma which he himself has engendered.
Or again, there are lines of thought which draw forth from the emotional body a reaction of a poisonous nature. A certain line of thought is followed by a human being in relation to his brethren. It breeds hatred, jealousy and envy, and works through into manifestation in such a manner that it produces those physical plane activities which cause the death of their creator. This may be literal as in the case of murder, which is in many cases the result of crystallised intent, or it may result in disease. Pure thought, right motive and loving desire are the true correctives of disease, and where the desire for these (which does animate many) is raised to constructive thinking there will be the gradual elimination of disease. As yet, though many desire, few think. Let it never be forgotten that the Great Ones do not look for those who only desire and aspire. They look for those who blend with their desire the determination to learn to use their mental bodies and become creators, and who will work constructively towards these ends.
Thus it will be seen why, in all systems of true occult training, the emphasis is laid on right thinking, loving desire, and pure, clean living. Only thus can the creative work be carried forward with safety, and only thus can the thought-form pass downward into objectivity, and be a constructive agent on the plane of human existence.
3. Steady Contemplation
You will note here that the word ‘meditation’ is not used. The thought is a different one. The meditation [164] process, involving the use of thought and the mental building of the form so that it can be completed and rounded out and in line with the thought-form of the disciple’s group of co-disciples, and therefore with the Plan, has been completed to the best of the man’s ability. Now he must, with steadiness, contemplate that which he has created, and with equal steadiness inspire it with needed life, so that it can fulfill its function.
He ceases to reason, to think, to formulate, and to build in mental matter. He simply pours his life into the form and sends it forth to carry out his will. Just as long as he can contemplate and hold steady, so will his creation fulfill his intention and act as his agent.
Just so long as he can focus his attention on the ideal for which he created his thought-form and can link the form and the ideal together in one steady vision, just so long will it serve his purpose and express his ideal. Herein lies the secret of all successful co-operation with the Plan.
We will now study for a while the words “heart, throat, and eye,” for they have a peculiar significance. These three form the apparatus to be employed by all disciples during the world cycle which is so rapidly coming.
That there is not as yet a very large body of disciples in incarnation at this time, and that the apparatus with many who are functioning on the level of discipleship is but in embryo, is profoundly true. It should be remembered however, that the world cycle has only just been inaugurated and will cover a vast period of time. There are only about four hundred accepted disciples in the world at this time—that is, men and women who really know they are disciples and know what their work is and are doing it. There are nevertheless many hundreds (out of the present generation of young people) who stand on the verge of acceptance, and thousands are upon the probationary path.
[165] In all truly esoteric groups, there should be forming a group in which an intellectual understanding of this mechanism of heart, throat, and eye, will be found. It should be constituted of those who are submitting themselves to a discipline and a training which will make its use a demonstrated fact in nature to them. I would call attention to those words, and request their careful study.
A mechanism in the natural body comes into use in two ways: First, its use is involuntary, and there is no comprehension of how, or why, or when, the apparatus is used. An animal employs a mechanism, analogous in many respects to that employed by man. He sees, and hears and functions organically along similar lines to the human, but lacks the mental understanding and the linking of cause and effect which are characteristic of the higher kingdom in nature.
A similar state of affairs exists in the early stages of the path of discipleship, and the final stages of the probationary path. The disciple becomes aware of capacities and powers which are not as yet intelligently under his control. He experiences flashes of insight, and of knowledge which seem unaccountable and of no immediate value. He contacts vibrations and the phenomena of other realms but remains unaware of the process whereby he has done so, and is incompetent either to renew or recall the experience. Within his etheric body, he senses active forces. Sometimes he can localise them, and in any case he admits theoretically that there is awakening into conscious activity, a sevenfold structure, which is symbolic in form, and potent when employed. He cannot as yet control it and he is quite incapable of calling it into intelligent co-operation with his purposes and ideas, no matter how hard he tries. All that he can do is to register such phenomena and keep a record of these experiences, bearing always in mind that in the early stages of his unfoldment only the coarsest and most material [166] of the vibrations will be registered on his brain consciousness. He simply has to wait and to bring his mind to bear upon the purifying of his vehicles and the elimination of all that he recognises as liable to distort his vision. This period may be long or short according as the aspirant is entering into the subjective consciousness for the first time or is taking up the thread of an older or partially achieved undertaking.
I would like here, to make perfectly clear to all true and earnest aspirants that, in the training to be given during the next few decades, the unfoldment of astral vision and hearing will be entirely ruled out, or (if it exists) will eventually have to be overcome. The true disciple has endeavoured to centre himself on the mental plane with the object in view of transferring his consciousness higher still, into the wider and inclusive awareness of the soul.
His aim is to include the higher, and there is no need for him, at this stage, to regain that astral facility which was the possession, as you well know, of the little evolved races of the earth, and of many of the higher animals. Later on, when adeptship has been reached, he can function on the astral plane should he so choose, but it should be remembered, that the Master works with the soul aspect of humanity (and of all forms) and does not work with their astral bodies. This has been oft forgotten by teachers both in the East and in the West.
In working with souls the true technique of evolution is carried forward, for it is the soul within the forms in every kingdom in nature which is responsible for the developing work of, and within, the form. May I say therefore to students that their main objective is to become aware of the soul, to cultivate soul consciousness, and to learn to live and work as souls. Until such time as their use of their apparatus becomes voluntary they would be well advised to train their minds, study the [167] laws governing manifestation, and learn to include all that which we now cover by the word ‘higher’—a misnomer, but it must suffice.
Second, when the use of the subjective instrument becomes voluntary and a man knows how it should be employed, when he is using it, and can discontinue its use or resume it at will, then his whole status changes and his usefulness increases. Through the use of the mind, humanity has become aware of the purposes and employment of the physical apparatus. Now through the use of a still higher faculty, which is a characteristic of the soul, he enters into voluntary and intelligent control of his instrument and learns to understand the purposes for which it exists. This higher faculty is the intuition .
May I add with emphasis that only as the man becomes intuitive does he become of use in a Master’s group and I commend to all aspirants that they most carefully study the meaning and significance of the intuition. When it is beginning to function, then the disciple can pass from the stage of probation to that of acceptance in a Master’s group.
You might ask here how this can be known or ascertained by the probationer.
A great deal of training is given to a probationer without his really recognising it consciously. Fault tendencies are indicated to him as he seeks with sincerity to train himself for service, and the analysis of motive when truthfully undertaken, serves amazingly to lift the would-be disciple out of the astral or emotional world into that of the mind. It is in the mental world that the Masters are first contacted, and there They must be sought.
But the time has come when the Light in the head is not only present but can be somewhat used. The karma of the aspirant is such that it becomes possible for him, through strenuously applied effort, to handle his life in [168] such a way that he can not only fulfill his karma and carry out his obligations, but has sufficient determination to enable him to handle the problems and obligations of discipleship also. His service to others is carried out with the right motive, and is beginning to count and make its power felt, and he is losing sight of his own interests in those of others. When this occurs certain esoteric happenings take place.
The Master confers with some of His senior disciples as to the advisability of admitting the aspirant within the group aura, and of blending his vibration with that of the group. Then, if decision is arrived at, for the space of two years a senior disciple acts as the intermediary betwixt the Master and the newly accepted aspirant. He works with the new disciple, stepping down (if I so might express it) the vibration of the Master so as to accustom the disciple’s bodies to the higher increased rate. He impresses the disciple’s mind, via his Ego, with the group plans and ideals, and he watches his reaction to life’s occurrences and opportunities. He practically assumes, pro tem, the duties and position of Master.
All this time the aspirant remains in ignorance of what has happened and is unaware of his subjective contacts. He, however, recognizes in himself three things:
Increased mental activity. This at first will give him much trouble, and he will feel as if he were losing in mind control instead of gaining it, but this is only a temporary condition and gradually he will assume command.
Increased responsiveness to ideas and increased capacity to vision the plan of the Hierarchy. This will make him, in the early stages, fanatical to a degree. He will be continually swept off his feet with new ideals, new isms, new modes of living, new dreams for race betterment. He will take up one cult after another as they seem to make possible the coming millennium. But after [169] a time he regains his poise, and purpose assumes control of his life. He works at his own job, and carries forward his contribution to the activity of the whole, to the best of his ability.
Increased psychic sensitiveness. This is both an indication of growth and at the same time a test. He is apt to be taken in by the allurements of the psychic powers; he will be tempted to side-track his efforts from specialised service to the race into the exploitation of the psychic powers, and their use for self assertion. The aspirant has to grow in all parts of his nature, but until he can function as the soul, the psyche, consciously and with the use of cooperative intelligence, the lower powers must be quiescent. They can only be safely used by advanced disciples and initiates. They are weapons and instruments of service to be then used in the three worlds by those who are still tied by the Law of Rebirth to those worlds. Those who have passed through the great Liberation and have “occultly crossed the bridge” have no need to employ the powers inherent in the lower sheaths. They can use the infallible knowledge of the intuition, and the illumination of the principle of Light.
There is much misapprehension in people’s minds as to how a Master lets an accepted disciple become aware that he is accepted. An impression is abroad that he is told so and that an interview is accorded wherein the Master accepts him and starts him to work. Such is not the case. The occult law holds good in discipleship as in initiation, and the man goes forward blindly. He hopes, but he does not know; he expects that it may be so, but no tangible assurance is given; from a study of himself and of the requirements he arrives at the conclusion that perhaps he has reached the status of accepted disciple. He therefore acts on that assumption and with care he watches his acts, guards his words, and controls his thoughts so that no overt act, unnecessary word or unkind [170] thought will break the rhythm which he believes has been set up. He proceeds with his work but intensifies his meditation; he searches his motives; he seeks to equip his mental body; he sets before himself the ideal of service and seeks ever to serve; and then (when he is so engrossed in the work on hand that he has forgotten himself), suddenly one day he sees the One Who has for so long seen him.
This may come in two ways: in full waking consciousness or by the registering of the interview on the physical brain as it has been participated in during the hours of sleep.
But accompanying this recognition of the event by the disciples will come certain other recognitions.
1. The event is recognised as fact past all controversy. No doubt remains in the disciple’s mind.
2. There is recognised an inhibition on the disciple’s part to mention the happening to any one. Months or years may slip away before the disciple will mention it, and then only to those who are also recognised as disciples or to some fellow worker, also under the same group influence, whose right it is to know and whose right is sanctioned by the Master of the group.
3. Certain factors, governing the Master’s relation to the disciple, are gradually recognised and begin increasingly to govern the disciple’s life.
a. He recognises that his points of contact with his Master are governed by group emergency and need, and deal with his group service. It gradually dawns on him that his Master is only interested in him insofar as his ego can be used in service, through the personality on the physical plane. He begins to realise that his Master works with his soul and that it is his ego, therefore, which is en rapport with the Master and not the personal self. His problem, therefore, becomes increasingly clear and this is the problem of all disciples. It is to keep the [171] channel of communication open between the soul and the brain, via the mind, so that when the Master seeks to communicate, He can do so at once and easily. Sometimes a Master has to wait weeks before He can get His disciple’s ear, for the channel upward is closed and the soul is not en rapport with the brain. This is especially true of the early stages of discipleship.
b. He finds that it is he who shuts the door in the majority of cases through lower psychism, physical disability, and lack of mind control, and he therefore discovers that he has to work constantly and ceaselessly with his lower self.
c. He finds that one of the first things he has to do is to learn to discriminate between:
His own soul’s vibration.
The vibration of the group of disciples with whom he is associated.
The vibration of the Master.
All three are different and it is easy to confuse them, especially at first. It is a safe rule for aspirants to assume when they contact a high vibration and stimulus, that it is their own soul contacting them, the Master in the heart, and not run off with the idea (so flattering to their pride and personality) that the Master is endeavouring to reach them.
d. He finds also that it is not the habit of the Masters to flatter or to make promises to their disciples. They are too busy and too wise, nor do They trouble Themselves to tell Their disciples that they are destined for high office, or that they are Their intermediaries and that the Hierarchy is depending upon them. Ambition, love of power, and the self-sufficiency which characterises many mental types test out the struggling aspirant, and he gets from his personality all that he needs in that line. These qualities delude him and lead him astray, forcing [172] him onto a pedestal from which eventually he must descend. The Masters say nothing to feed pride in Their disciples, nor do They speak words to them which could foster in Their chelas the spirit of separateness.
e. The disciple soon finds also that the Masters are not easily accessible. They are busy men, ill able to spare even a few moments in which to communicate with the disciple, and only in emergencies, in the case of a beginner on the Path of Discipleship, do the Masters expend the necessary energy with which to get en rapport. With old and tried disciples, the contacts are more frequent, being more easily achieved and bearing more rapid results. It should be remembered, however, that the newer the disciple the more he demands attention and considers he should have it. The old and more experienced servers seek to fulfil their obligations and carry forward their work with as little contact with the Masters as possible. They seek to save the Master’s time and frequently consider an interview with the Master as demonstrating failure on their part, and producing, therefore, regret that they have had to take the Master’s precious time, and force Him to use His energy in order to safeguard the work from error and the disciple perhaps from harm. The aim of every high disciple is to carry out his work and be en rapport with the spiritual force centre which is his group, and thus in steady touch with the Master, without interviews and phenomenal contacts. Many only expect to contact their Master once a year, usually at the time of the full moon in May.
f. He finds also that the relationship between Master and disciple is governed by law and that there are definite stages of contact and grades in the desired rapport. These can be enumerated, but cannot be enlarged upon.
1. The stage wherein a disciple is contacted by the Master through another chela on the physical plane. This is the stage of “Little Chelaship”.
[173] 2. The stage wherein a higher disciple directs the chela from the egoic level. This is the stage called a “Chela in the Light”.
3. The stage wherein, according to necessity, the Master contacts the chela through:
a. A vivid dream experience.
b. A symbolic teaching.
c. A using of a thought form of the Master.
d. A contact in meditation.
e. A definite, remembered interview in the Master’s Ashram.
This is definitely the stage of Accepted Disciple.
4. The stage wherein, having shown his wisdom in work, and his appreciation of the Master’s problem, the disciple is taught how (in emergencies) to attract the Master’s attention and thus draw on His strength and knowledge and advice. This is an instantaneous happening, and practically takes none of the Master’s time. This stage has the peculiar name of “a chela on the Thread, or Sutratma.”
5. The stage wherein he is permitted to know the method whereby he may set up a vibration and a call which will entitle him to an interview with the Master. This is only permitted to those trusted chelas who can be depended upon not to use the knowledge for anything except the need of the work; no personality reason or distress would prompt them to use it. At this stage the disciple is called “one within the aura.”
6. The stage wherein the disciple can get his Master’s ear at any time. He is in close touch always. This is the stage wherein a chela is being definitely prepared for an immediate initiation or, having taken initiation, is being given specialised work to do in collaboration with his ——. At this stage he is described as “one within his Master’s heart.”
[174] There is a later stage of a still closer identification, where there is a blending of the Lights, but there is no adequate paraphrase of the terms used to cover the name. The six stages above mentioned have been paraphrased for occidental understanding and must in no way be considered as translations of the ancient terms.
Such are some of the teachings concerning disciples and their recognitions and it is valuable for aspirants to ponder them. It should be realised that though good character, high ethics, sound morality and spiritual aspiration are basic and unalterable requirements, yet more is needed if the right to enter the Master’s Ashram is to be granted.
To be admitted to the privilege of being an outpost of His consciousness requires an unselfishness and a self-surrender for which few are prepared; to be drawn within His aura so that the disciple’s aura forms an integral part of the group aura presupposes a purity which few can cultivate; to have the ear of the Master and to earn the right to contact Him at will necessitates a sensitiveness and a fine discrimination which few would care to purchase at the price. Yet a door stands wide open to all who care to come, and no earnest, sincere soul, who meets the requirements, ever receives a rebuff.
There is no question at this time that those who are in any way advanced in evolution are having that evolution hastened as never before in the history of the world. The crisis is so grave and the need of the world so great, that those who can contact the inner side of life, who can even in a small way sense the vibrations of the senior disciples and the Elder Brothers of the race, and who can bring down the ideals, as known on the higher planes, are being very carefully, forcefully, yet strenuously trained. It is necessary that they should be enabled to act accurately and adequately as transmitters and interpreters.
I would like to point out certain factors and methods [175] which should be borne in mind in connection with inspirational writing and mediumship, and which have a bearing on the writing of such books as The Secret Doctrine, the Scriptures of the world and those transmitted volumes which potently affect the thought of the race. The interpretation of the process arises from many causes; the status of the writers can be overestimated or not sufficiently appreciated; the terms used by the transmitter being dependent upon his educational status may also be incorrect or give rise to misinterpretation. It is necessary, therefore, that some understanding of the process should be found.
Some transmitters work entirely on astral levels and their work is necessarily part of the great illusion. They are unconscious mediums and are unable to check the source from whence the teachings come; if they claim to know that source, they are frequently in error. Some receive teaching from discarnate entities of no higher evolution, and frequently of lower, than themselves. Some are simply abstracting the content of their own subconsciousnesses, and hence we have the beautiful platitudes, couched in Christian phraseology, and tinctured by the mystical writings of the past, which litter the desks of disciples, working consciously on the physical plane.
Some work only on mental levels, learning, through telepathy, that which the Elder Brothers of the race and their own souls have to impart. They tap the sources of knowledge stored in the egoic consciousness. They become aware of the knowledge stored up in the brains of disciples on the same ray as themselves. Some of them, being outposts of the Master’s consciousness, become also cognizant of His thought. Some use several of the methods, either consciously or unconsciously. When they work consciously, it is then possible for them to correlate the teaching given and, under the Law of Correspondences [176] and through the use of symbols (which they see through mental clairvoyance), to ascertain the accuracy of their teaching. Those who work unconsciously (I refer not to astral psychics), can use only trust and discrimination until they are further evolved. They must accept nothing that contradicts facts imparted through the Lodge’s great Messengers, and they must be ready to superimpose upon the modicum of knowledge which they possess a further structure of greater extent.
Each generation now should produce its seers. I like the word spelt “see-ers”, for to see is to know. The fault of all of you is that you see not; you perceive an angle, a point of vision, a partial aspect of the great fabric of truth, but all that lies hidden behind is occult to your three dimensional vision. It is necessary for those who want to act as true transmitters and intermediaries between the Knowers of the race and the “little ones” that they keep their eyes on the horizon and seek thus to extend their vision; that they hold steadily the inner realization that they already have and seek to increase its scope; that they hold on to the truth that all things are headed towards the revelation, and that the form matters not. They must seek pre-eminently to be dependable instruments, unswayed by passing storms. They must endeavor to remain free from depression, no matter what occurs; liberated from discouragement; with a keen sense of proportion; a right judgment in all things; a regulated life; a disciplined physical body and a whole-hearted devotion to humanity. Where these qualities are present, the Masters can begin to use Their destined workers; where they are absent, other instruments must be found.
Some people learn at night and regularly bring over into their physical brain consciousness the facts they need to know and the teachings they should transmit. Many methods are tried, suited to the nature of the aspirant [177] or chela. Some have brains that act telepathically as transmitters. I deal with safer and rarer methods which utilize the mental vehicle as the intermediary between the soul and the brain, or between the teacher and the disciple. Methods of communication on the astral level, such as the ouija board, the planchette pencil, automatic writing, the direct voice and statements made by the temporarily obsessed medium are not utilized as a rule by chelas, though the direct voice has had its use at times. The higher mental methods are more advanced and surer—even if rarer.
The true transmitters from the higher egoic levels to the physical plane proceed in one or other of the following ways:
1. They write from personal knowledge, and therefore employ their concrete minds at the task of stating this knowledge in terms that will reveal the truth to those that have the eyes to see, and yet will conceal that which is dangerous from the curious and the blind. This is a hard task to accomplish, for the concrete mind expresses the abstract most inadequately and, in the task of embodying the truth in words, much of the true significance is lost.
2. They write because they are inspired. Because of their physical equipment, their purity of life, their singleness of purpose, their devotion to humanity and the very karma of service itself, they have developed the capacity to touch the higher sources from which pure truth, or symbolic truth, flows. They can tap thought currents that have been set in motion by that great band of Contemplators, called Nirmanakayas, or those definite, specialized thought currents originated by one of the great staff of teachers. Their brains, being receptive transmitters, enable them to express these contacted thoughts on paper—the accuracy of the transmission being dependent upon the receptivity of the instrument (that is, [178] the mind and the brain) of the transmitter. In these cases, the form of words and the sentences are largely left to the writer. Therefore, the appropriateness of the terms used and the correctness of the phraseology will depend upon his mental equipment, his educational advantages, the extent of his vocabulary and his inherent capacity to understand the nature and quality of the imparted thought and ideas.
3. They write because of the development of the inner hearing. Their work is largely stenographic, yet is also partially dependent upon their standard of development and their education. A certain definite unfoldment of the centres, coupled with karmic availability, constitutes the basis of choice by the teacher on the subtler planes who seeks to impart a definite instruction and a specialized line of thought. The responsibility as to accuracy is therefore divided between the one who imparts the teaching and the transmitting agent. The physical plane agent must be carefully chosen and the accuracy of the imparted information, as expressed on the physical plane, will depend upon his willingness to be used, his positive mental polarization, and his freedom from astralism. To this must be added the fact that the better educated a man may be, the wider his range of knowledge and scope of world interests, the easier it will be for the teacher on the inner side to render, through his agency, the knowledge to be imparted. Frequently the dictated data may be entirely foreign to the receiver. He must have a certain amount, therefore, of education, and be himself a profound seeker of truth before he will be chosen to be the recipient of teachings that are intended for the general public or for esoteric use. Above everything else, he must have learnt through meditation to focus himself on the mental plane. Similarity of vibration and of interests hold the clue to the choice of a transmitter. [179] Note that I say; similarity of vibration and of interests and not equality of vibration and of interests.
This form of work might be divided into three methods: There is first the higher clairaudience that speaks directly from mind to mind. This is not exactly telepathy but a form of direct hearing. The teacher will speak to the disciple as person to person. A conversation is therefore carried on entirely on mental levels with the higher faculties as the focusing point. The use of the head centres is involved and they must both be vivified before this method can be employed. In the astral body the centres corresponding to the physical have to be awakened before astral psychism is possible. The work that I refer to here involves a corresponding vivification in the mental body counterparts.
Secondly, we have telepathic communication. This is the registry in the physical brain consciousness of information imparted:
a. Direct from Master to pupil; from disciple to disciple; from student to student.
b. From Master or disciple to the ego and thence to the personality, via the atomic sub-planes. You will note therefore that only those in whose bodies atomic sub-plane matter is found can work this way. Safety and accuracy lie in this equipment.
c. From ego to ego via the causal body and transmitted direct according to the preceding method or stored up to work through gradually and at need.
Thirdly, we have inspiration. This involves another aspect of development. Inspiration is analogous to mediumship, but is entirely egoic. It utilizes the mind as the medium of transmission to the brain of that which the soul knows. Mediumship usually describes the process when confined entirely to the astral levels. On the egoic plane this involves inspiration. Ponder on this explanation for it explains much. Mediumship is dangerous. [180] Why is this so? Because the mental body is not involved and so the soul is not in control. The medium is an unconscious instrument, he is not himself the controlling factor; he is controlled. Frequently also the discarnate entities who employ this method of communication, utilizing the brain or voice apparatus of the medium, are not highly evolved, and are quite incapable of employing mental plane methods.
Some people combine the method of inspiration and of receiving instruction along various lines and, when this is the case, great accuracy of transmission is found. Occasionally again, as in the case of H. P. B. you have deep knowledge, ability to be inspired and mental clairaudience combined. When this is the case you have a rare and useful instrument for the aiding of humanity.
Inspiration originates on the higher levels; it presupposes a very high point in evolution, for it involves the egoic consciousness and necessitates the use of atomic matter, thus opening up a wide range of communicators. It spells safety. It should be remembered that the soul is always good; it may lack knowledge in the three worlds and in this way be deficient; but it harbors no evil. Inspiration is always safe, whereas mediumship is always to be avoided. Inspiration may involve telepathy, for the person inspiring may do three things:
a. He may use the brain of the appointed channel, throwing thoughts into it.
b. He may occupy his disciple’s body, the latter standing aside, consciously, in his subtler bodies, but surrendering his physical body.
c. A third method is one of a temporary fusing, if I might so call it,—an intermingling when the user and the used alternate or supplement, as needed, to do the appointed work. I cannot explain more clearly.
4. They write what they see. This method is not of such a high order. You will note that in the first case [181] you have wisdom or availability on buddhic or intuitional levels; in the second case you have transmission from the causal body, from the higher mental levels; in the third case you have sufficient development to enable the aspirant to receive dictation. In the fourth case, you have the ability to read in the astral light but frequently no ability to differentiate between that which is past, that which is, and that which will be. Therefore you have illusion and inaccuracy. This is a method, however, sometimes used but—unless directly used under stimulation applied by a Master—it is liable to be most misleading, as is its corollary, astral clairaudience. It is the method of mental clairvoyance, and requires a trained interpreting mind, which is rare indeed to find.
In all these cases that I have cited error may creep in owing to physical limitation and the handicap of words, but in the case of those who write from personal knowledge the errors in expression will be of no real moment; whilst in the second and third cases the errors will be dependent upon the point in evolution of the transmitting agent. If, however, he couples intelligence, devotion and service, with his capacity to receive and hear, he will soon correct the errors himself and his understanding will grow.
Later two new methods will be employed which will facilitate the transmission of truth from the inner side to the outer plane. Precipitated writing will be given to those who can be trusted, but the time is not yet for its general use. It will be necessary to wait until the work of the esoteric schools has reached a more definite phase of development. Conditions as yet are not appropriate, but humanity is urged to be ready and open-minded and prepared for this development. Later will come the power to materialize thought-forms. People will come into incarnation who will have the ability temporarily to create and vitalize these thought-forms, and [182] so enable the general public to see them. The time, however, is not yet. There is too much fear, and not enough experience of truth in the world. More knowledge must be acquired as to the nature of thought and of matter, and this must be followed experimentally by those with acute trained minds, a high rate of vibration, and bodies built of the finest matter. The attainment of this will involve discipline, pain, self-abnegation and abstinence. See you to it.
The group of Teachers with whom the average aspirants and probationary disciples may be in touch on the mental plane are but men of like passions but with a longer experience upon the path and a wiser control of themselves. They do not work with aspirants because They personally like or care for them, but because the need is great and They seek those whom They can train. The attitude of mind that They look for is that of teachableness and the ability to record and refrain from questioning until more is known. Then the aspirant is urged to question everything. May I remind you of the words of one Teacher who said, “Know us for sane and balanced men who teach as we taught on earth, not flattering our pupils but disciplining them. We lead them on, not forcing them forward by feeding their ambitions by promises of power, but giving them information and leading them to use it in their work, knowing that right use of knowledge leads to experience and achievement of the goal.”
How often does one find a student more occupied with the Master and what He will do than he is with his own side of the question! And yet the fitting of himself for service and the equipping of himself for useful cooperation is, or should be, his main preoccupation.
Inquiry about the Master is more interesting than inquiry about the needed qualifications for discipleship. Interest for the data available in relation to the Adepts is more potent than the steadfast investigation into limitations [183] and disabilities which should engross the aspirant’s attention. Curiosity as to the habits and methods of specific Masters and Their ways of handling Their disciples is more prone to be displayed than patient application to right habits and ways of work in the life of the would-be disciple. All these matters are side issues and only handicap and limit, and one of the first things we advise one who would enter into communication with the Masters is to take his eyes off those things which concern him not, focus his attention on the needed steps and stages which should demonstrate in his life, and eliminate those wasted moments, moods and thought periods which so often occupy the major part of his thought life.
When a Master seeks to find those fitted to be instructed and taught by Him, He looks for three things first of all. Unless these are present, no amount of devotion or aspiration, and no purity of life and mode of living suffices. It is essential that all aspirants should grasp these three factors and so save themselves much distress of mind and wasted motion.
1. The Master looks for the light in the head.
2. He investigates the karma of the aspirant.
3. He notes his service in the world.
Unless there is indication that the man is what is termed esoterically “a lighted lamp” it is useless for the Master to waste His time. The light in the head, when present, is indicative of:
a. The functioning to a greater or less extent of the pineal gland, which is (as is well known) the seat of the soul and the organ of spiritual perception. It is in this gland that the first physiological changes take place incident upon soul contact and this contact is brought about through definite work along meditation lines, mind control, and the inflow of spiritual force.
[184] b. The aligning of the man on the physical plane with his ego, soul or higher self, on the mental plane and the subordination of the physical plane life and nature to the impress and control of the soul. This is covered sufficiently in the first two or three chapters of Letters on Occult Meditation and these should be studied by aspirants.
c. The downflow of force via the sutratma, magnetic cord, or thread from the soul to the brain via the mind body. The whole secret of spiritual vision, correct perception and right contact lies in the proper appreciation of the above statement, and therefore the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are ever the text-book of disciples, initiates and adepts, for therein are found those rules and methods which bring the mind under control, stabilize the astral body and so develop and strengthen the thread soul that it can and does become a veritable channel of communication between the man and his ego. The light of illumination streams down into the brain cavity and throws into objectivity three fields of knowledge. This is often forgotten and hence the undue distress and premature interpretations of the partially illuminated disciple or probationer.
The light first throws into relief and brings into the foreground of consciousness those thought-forms and entities which depict the lower life, and which (in their aggregate) form the Dweller on the Threshold.
Thus the first thing of which the aspirant becomes aware is that which he knows to be undesirable and the revelation of his own unworthiness and limitations, and the undesirable constituents of his own aura burst on his vision. The darkness which is in him is intensified by the light which glimmers faintly from the centre of his being and frequently he despairs of himself and descends into the depths of depression. All mystics bear witness to this and it is a period which must be [185] lived through until the pure light of day drives all shadows and darkness away and little by little the life is brightened and lightened until the sun in the head is shining in all its glory.
d. Finally, the light in the head is indicative of the finding of the Path and there remains then for the man to study and understand the technique whereby the light is centralized, intensified, entered and eventually becomes that magnetic line (like unto a spider’s thread) which can be followed back until the source of the lower manifestation is reached and the soul consciousness is entered. The above language is symbolic and yet vitally accurate but is expressed thus in order to convey information to those who know, and protect those who as yet know not.
“The path of the just is as a shining Light” and yet at the same time a man has to become that path itself. He enters the light and becomes the light and functions then as a lamp set in a dark place, carrying illumination to others and lighting the way before them.
The next point that a Master has to consider before admitting a man into His group is whether or no such a step is karmically possible or whether there exist in a man’s record those conditions which negate his admission in this life.
There are three main factors to be considered separately and in their relation to each other.
First, are there such karmic obligations in a man’s present life as would render it impossible for him to function as a disciple? In this connection it must be carefully borne in mind that a man can become a disciple and merit the attention of a Master only when his life counts for something in the world of men, when he is an influence in his sphere, and when he is moulding and acting upon the minds and hearts of other men.
Until that is the case it is waste of a Master’s time to [186] personally deal with him, for he can be adequately helped in other ways and has, for instance, much knowledge from books and teachers which is as yet theory and not practice, and much experience to pass through under the guidance of his own ego, the Master in his heart. When a man is a disciple he is one because he can be used for working out the plan of the Hierarchy, and can be influenced to materialize those endeavours which are planned to enable humanity to make the needed forward steps. This involves (in his physical plane life) time, and thought, right circumstance, and other considerations and it is quite possible for a man to have reached the stage from the character standpoint, where he merits the recognition of a Master, and yet have obligations and duties to work through which would handicap him for active service in some particular life. This the Master has to consider and this a man’s own ego also considers.
The result quite frequently at this time is that (perhaps unconsciously to the physical brain) a man will shoulder a great amount of experience, and undertake the working out of an abnormal amount of responsibility in one particular life, in order to free himself for service and chelaship in a later life. He works then at the equipping of himself for the next life, and at the patient performance of duty in his home, his circle of friends, and his business. He realises that from the egoic standpoint one life is but a short matter and soon gone and that by study, intelligent activity, loving service, and patient endurance, he is working out of those conditions which are preventing his prompt acceptance in a Master’s group.
A Master also studies the condition of an aspirant’s physical body and of the subtler bodies to see whether in them are to be found states of consciousness which would hinder usefulness and act as obstacles. These conditions are likewise karmic and must be adjusted before his admission among other chelas becomes possible. A sick [187] physical body, an astral body prone to moods, emotions and psychic delusions, and a mental body uncontrolled or ill-equipped are all dangerous to the student unless straightened out and perfected. A chela is subjected constantly to the play of force coming to him from three main sources:
1. His own ego,
2. His Master,
3. The group of co-disciples,
and unless he is strong, purified and controlled, these forces will serve but to stimulate undesirable conditions, to foster that which should be eliminated and to bring to the surface all the hidden weaknesses. That this has to be done inevitably is so, but much must be done along this line before admission into a group of disciples; otherwise much of the Master’s valuable time will perforce be given to the elimination and nullifying of the effects of the chela’s violent reactions on other chelas in the same group. It is better to wait and work gradually and intelligently oneself than force one’s way unprepared into lines of forces before one can handle either them or their consequences.
Another factor that an adept has to consider is whether there are in incarnation those chelas with whom a man has to work and who are karmically linked to him by ancient ties and old familiarity in similar work.
Sometimes it may be deemed wiser for a man to wait a little while before being permitted to step off the physical path until a life comes in which his own co-workers, keyed to his vibration, and accustomed to work with him, are also in physical bodies, for a Master’s group is entered in service to be rendered and specific work to be done, and not because a man is to receive a cultural training which will make him an adept some day. Chelas train themselves and when ready for any work a Master uses [188] them. They develop themselves and work out their own salvation and as step by step is taken their particular Master lays more and more responsibility upon them. He will train them in service technique, and in vibratory response to the Plan, but they learn to control themselves and to fit themselves for service.
There are other karmic factors to be considered by a Master but these are the three paramount ones and of the most importance for aspirants to consider now. They are specified so that no true and earnest worker need be depressed and discouraged if he has no conscious link with the Master and is unaware of any affiliation with an esoteric group of chelas. It may not be because he is not fit. It may simply be because his ego has chosen this life to clear the decks for later action, to eliminate hindrances in one or other, or all of the three lower bodies, or to wait for that time when his admission may count the most.
The third factor, that of service, for which the Master looks is one upon which the aspirant has the least to say and may very probably misinterpret. Spiritual ambition, the desire to function as the centre of a group, the longing to hear oneself speaking, teaching, lecturing, or writing are often wrongly interpreted by the aspirant as service. The Master looks not at a worker’s worldly force or status, not at the numbers of people who are gathered around his personality but at the motives which prompt his activity and at the effect of his influence upon his fellowmen. True service is the spontaneous outflow of a loving heart and an intelligent mind; it is the result of being in the right place and staying there; it is produced by the inevitable inflow of spiritual force and not by strenuous physical plane activity; it is the effect of a man’s being what he truly is, a divine Son of God, and not by the studied effect of his words or deeds. A true server gathers around him those whom it is his duty to serve [189] and aid by the force of his life and his spiritualised personality, and not by his claims or loud speaking. In self-forgetfulness he serves; in self-abnegation he walks the earth, and he gives no thought to the magnitude or the reverse of his accomplishment and has no pre-conceived ideas as to his own value or usefulness. He lives, serves, works and influences, asking nothing for the separated self.
When a Master sees this manifestation in a man’s life, as the result of the awakening of the inner light and the adjustment of his karmic obligations, then He sounds out a note and waits to see if the man recognises his own group note. On this recognition, he is admitted into his own group of co-workers, and can stand in the presence of his Master.
Later, when the knowledge here conveyed is assimilated, the aspirant will come to an understanding of the true meaning of the heart, the throat, and the eye—which it is the object of the Guides of the race to stimulate into functioning activity at this time. We will therefore consider now:
1. The heart centre, the throat centre, and the centre between the eyes.
2. Their awakening and co-ordination.
3. To what uses they will be put in the coming world cycle.
This subject is of vital importance to the modern aspirant, for the mechanism of the heart, the throat, and the eye—constituting part of the inner structure which he must learn to use—has to be mastered and consciously employed by him before any true creative work is possible. When I use the words ‘creative work’ I am speaking esoterically and am not referring to the valuable work [190] done by the artists of the world in their many lines of expression. Their efforts, to the seer, are indicative of an inner stirring, of an inner co-ordination and a motivated activity which will lead to true esoteric endeavour and to creative work on the subtler planes.
I am assuming in the student an elementary knowledge of the vital body and of its force centres and I am assuming that these seven centres or lotuses have, theoretically, a place in his imagination. I use the word imagination with purposeful intent, for until there is knowledge and clear vision, imaginative assumption is a potent factor in bringing about the activity of the centres.
Let us, for the sake of clarity, list these lotuses with their petal numbers, and their location. Their colours are immaterial at present from the standpoint of the student, for much that has been given out is erroneous or in the nature of a blind, and in any case, the esoteric colours are widely different from the exoteric.
1. The base of the spine..............4 petals.
2. The sacral centre.....................6 petals.
3. The solar plexus centre...........10 petals.
Diaphragm.
4. Heart centre.............................12 petals.
5. Throat centre...........................16 petals.
6. Centre between the eyebrows..2 petals.
7. Head centre..............................1000 petals.
Next, let the student remember two important facts, which may be regarded as elementary and preliminary but which nevertheless have to be worked out into conscious realisation and become part of the purposed intent of the aspirant’s training. It is easy to generalise. It is difficult to realise. It is simple to grasp the informative intellectual data regarding the centres of force; it is most difficult to bring about the rearrangement of the forces flowing through these vortices, and to learn to function consciously through the higher centres, subordinating the [191] lower ones. This has to be done also without laying the emphasis upon the form aspect as is the case in many practices used to vitalise the centres. The two facts of importance are:
1. The three centres below the diaphragm,
a. Base of spine,
b. Sacral centre,
c. Solar plexus centre,
which are, at present, the most potent in average humanity and the most ‘alive’, require to be re-organised, re-oriented, and to be brought from a state of positivity into that of negativity.
Equally, the four centres above the diaphragm,
a. The heart centre,
b. The throat centre,
c. The centre between the eyebrows,
d. The head centre,
must be awakened and brought fr om a state of negativity into that of positivity.
This has to be brought about in two ways. First, by the transference of the positive energy of the lower centres into that of the higher, and secondly by the awakening of the head centre by the demonstration of the activity of the will. The first effect is produced by character building, and by the purification of the bodies, as used by the soul in the three worlds. The second is the result of meditation and the development of organised purpose, imposed by the will upon the daily life. Character building, clean living, controlled emotional reactions, and right thinking are the platitudes of all religious systems and have lost weight from our very familiarity with them. It is not easy to remember that as we live purely and rightly, we are verily and indeed working with forces, subjecting energies to our needs, subordinating [192] elemental lives to the requirements of spiritual being, and bringing into activity a mechanism and a vital structure which has hitherto been only latent and quiescent. Nevertheless, it remains a fact that when the energies, latent at the base of the spine, are carried to the head and are brought (via the solar plexus, that clearing house of energy, and the medulla oblongata) to the centre between the eyebrows, then the personality, the matter aspect, reaches its apotheosis and the Virgin Mary—in the individual sense, which is a finite parallel of an infinite Reality—is “carried up into Heaven” there to sit by the side of her son, the Christ, the soul.
When the energies of the sacral centre, focussed hitherto on the work of physical creation and generation and therefore the source of physical sex life and interest, are sublimated, re-oriented and carried up to the throat centre, then the aspirant becomes a conscious creative force in the higher worlds; he enters within the veil, and begins to create the pattern of things which will bring about eventually the new heavens and the new earth.
When the energies of the solar plexus—expressions hitherto of the potent desire nature, feeding the emotional life of the personality—are equally transmuted and re-oriented, then they are carried to the heart centre and there is brought about as a result a realisation of group consciousness, of group love, and group purpose which makes the aspirant a server of humanity and a fit associate of the Elder Brethren of the race.
When these three transfers have been consummated then an activity transpires in the head centre, the ultimate governing factor, and by an act of the will of the indwelling ruling soul, certain happenings take place which we can consider later in our studies.
2. The second fact to bear in mind is that as these changes and re-orientations take place, the disciple begins to awaken psychologically to new states of consciousness, [193] to new states of existence, and to new states of being. It will be apparent therefore how necessary it is to go slowly in these matters, so that the mental apprehension and ability to reason logically and sanely may parallel the growth of the intuition and of spiritual perception. Many schools are simply forcing schools, prematurely developing the higher faculties and leading the aspirant (if I might express it in mystical language) directly out of the realm of feeling and of desire into that of the intuition, but leaving the intellectual faculties and the mental apparatus totally undeveloped and latent. When this is the case then—again speaking mystically—an hiatus or a gap occurs, in part of the equipment which the soul must perforce use in the three worlds of its endeavour. The interpreting, organising, understanding mind is unable to play its part. Where there is lack of understanding and of mental ability, there is danger of misapprehension, of credulity and of wrong interpretation of the phenomena of other states of being. A sense of values will be lacking, and the aspirant will over-estimate the non-essentials and fail to grasp the value of the spiritual realities.
Energy may pour into the force centres in these cases, but because there is no directing intelligence it will run riot and we then have those sad cases which strew the path of occult endeavour and have brought the work of the Lodge into disrepute—cases of over-emphasized personalities, of superstitious devotees, of credulous followers of leaders, of fanatical unbalanced idealists, and of those warped minds which arrogate to themselves powers which are not theirs. Men and women become swayed by astralism and wander in the vale of illusion regarding themselves as different from other men, placing themselves upon a pedestal far above average humanity. They fall consciously into the sin of separateness. Add to the above category, the cases of sex perversion, [194] brought about by over-stimulation of the sacral centre, the cases of neuroticism and over-sensitivity and emotionalism, brought about by the premature vitalisation of the solar plexus centre, and lastly the cases of insanity, brought about by over-stimulation of the brain cells through unwise meditation work, and it will become increasingly clear why it is deemed necessary to proceed slowly and to develop the mental processes as well as the spiritual nature.
The average student starts with the knowledge that he has centres, and with a desire for purity of character. He is assured by those who know that, as he strives, meditates, studies and serves, certain changes will take place within him, and that there will arise from the depths of his being, an awakening which will be dynamic. He is told that there will follow a breathing forth, a stirring and a vitalising which will bring his subjective spiritual life into prominence. This subjective life expresses itself as spiritual energy, through the medium of the energy or vital body and the energy thus expressed will change his life focus and interests, and produce a magnetic and dynamic effect which will attract and lift humanity. This energy is sevenfold in nature and utilises seven focal points in the etheric body as its agents.
It is not possible for the aspirant to work with and utilise all these seven types of energy intelligently in the early stages of the Path of Discipleship. The emphasis, for training purposes, is laid upon only three of them. These are:
1. That of Will, strength or power, through the medium of the head centre. This is the energy of the spiritual man, and comes directly from the Monad, via the soul. Up to the third initiation however, all that the disciple needs to grasp is that the will aspect of the soul should control the personality, via the mental [195] body to the head centre. When this is the case the thousand-petalled lotus begins to function. The line of this stream of force is:
Monad.
Atma. Spiritual will.
The inner circle of petals in the egoic lotus, the will petals.
The mental body.
The head centre in the etheric body.
The nervous system and brain.
2. That of Love-Wisdom , through the medium of the heart centre. This centre, when awakened, leads to that expansion of consciousness which initiates a man into his group life. He loses the sense of separateness, and finally emerges into the full light of realisation—a realisation of unity with his own indwelling God, with all humanity, with all souls in all forms of nature, and so with the Oversoul. This force stream comes likewise from the Monad, via the soul, and its line is as follows:
Monad.
Buddhi. Spiritual love. The intuition.
The second circle of petals in the egoic lotus, the love petals.
The astral body.
The heart centre.
The blood stream.
In the little evolved man, this force stream simply passes through the heart centre direct to the solar plexus and expends its two aspects of vital life and of soul quality, one energising the blood stream and the other awakening the solar plexus centre. This then becomes the dominant factor in the energy life of the man, and the force through which his desire nature expresses itself, until such time as the aspirant brings [196] about the needed transmutation and re-orientation of his emotional desire nature. Then the heart awakens into activity and the life of the solar plexus centre becomes subordinated to that of the heart. This is brought about by the development of group interests, by the cultivation of inclusiveness and the steady loss of interest in the personality, and in things separative and selfish.
3. That of active intelligence, or the energy which animates the form aspect, and which creates forms in line with the subjective purposes of the presiding intelligence—God or man, human or divine. This also proceeds from the third aspect of the Monad, and the line of its contact is:
Monad.
Manas. Spiritual intelligence. The higher mind.
The third or outer circle of petals in the egoic lotus, the knowledge petals.
The etheric body as a whole, as it pervades the dense physical body.
The throat centre.
The cells of the body.
In the little evolved man, as in the case of the second aspect and its unfoldment, the energy simply passes through the throat centre and goes directly to the sacral centre, and thus brings into activity the generative processes and creative faculties, utilised in the reproductive work and sex life of the race.
This is a broad and general outline of the three main streams of force or divine energy and their direction.
The relationship of the head centre to the base of the spine, where lies the sleeping fire, will not be considered here, nor will the function of the solar plexus centre as a clearing-house for the lower energies be touched upon. I [197] am anxious for the students simply to grasp the general idea and the skeleton of the teaching.
Every human being in the course of time works his way back on the Path of Return to one of the three major rays. All have eventually to express intelligent creative faculty, to be animated by divine love, and to bring into functioning activity the Will, as it works out divine purpose and plan.
The first centre which the aspirant seeks consciously to energise and on which he concentrates during the early stages of his novitiate, is the heart centre. He has to learn to be group conscious, to be sensitive to group ideals, and to be inclusive in his plans and concepts; he has to learn to love collectively and purely, and not be actuated by personality attraction, and the motive of reward. Until there is this awakening in the heart, he cannot be trusted to wield the creative powers of the throat centre, for they would be subordinated to self-aggrandisement and ambitions of various kinds.
Here it should be noted that none of these unfoldments can ever be approached from the standpoint of complete static passivity or from the angle of an entirely new undertaking. We are in process of evolution. Certain aspects of our force centres are already awakened, and functioning in relation to the form aspect, but are not yet expressing soul qualities. We have behind us a long and fruitful past. We are none of us purely selfish or separative. Human society is now cohesive and inter-dependent. Humanity, as a whole, has already done much in bringing the heart centre into partial activity, and in awakening some of the more important aspects of the throat centre.
The problem with many aspirants today is that of the solar plexus, for it is wide open, actively functioning and almost fully awakened. The work of transmutation is however going on simultaneously, leading—as one might [198] naturally suppose—to a good deal of difficulty and to chaotic conditions. The heart centre is also beginning to vibrate, but is not yet awakened; the throat centre is frequently prematurely awakened, through the transfer of energy from the sacral centre. This is due to several causes—sometimes to spiritual purpose and intent, but more frequently to a negation of the normal sex life, owing to economic conditions, or to a lack of physical vitality, which predisposes to celibacy. This lack of vital force is in its turn due to many factors, but primarily to a long heredity, producing a degeneracy of the physical body, or to enforced celibacy in past lives; this enforced celibacy was very often the result of monasticism and the living of the mystical life. When this creative awakening finds expression through any of the arts—literature, painting, music,—or in group organization and executive work there is no harm wrought, for the energy finds a normal creative outlet. These points should he remembered by the aspirant. He is facing a most complex problem. He enters blindly into a situation which is the result of a long evolutionary process and to which he has not the key. Especially in the early stages and prior to the first initiation is this the case, for he has no knowledge of the history of the past, nor any prevision as to the future. He has simply to take his equipment and his opportunity and do the best he can, guided by the age-old rules of Raja Yoga, and the light of his own soul.
As the heart centre is awakened and the throat centre swings into creative work, a definite relation is set up and there is an interplay of energy between the two. This activity in its turn brings about a response from that aspect of the thousand petalled lotus (a synthetic lotus) through which the energy always animating the heart and throat centres normally passes. This responsive [199] activity and inter-action brings about two results, and these should be most carefully noted.
First, the light in the head makes its appearance. A sparking (if I might so express it) is set up between the higher positive over-shadowing energy as it is centralised within the form of the thousand-petalled lotus, and the steadily heightening vibration of the heart and throat centres or lotuses. These two lower centres in their turn are responding to the energies being lifted and raised from the centres below the diaphragm.
Secondly, the centre between the eyebrows also begins to make its presence felt, and this significant two-petalled lotus begins to vibrate. It symbolises the work of at-one-ing the soul and the body, the subjective and the objective. In some occult books it is called the lotus with the ninety-six petals, but this is only a differentiation dealing with the energies focussed in the two petals. It will be noted that the sum total of the force petals in the centres (excluding the two head centres) amount in all to forty-eight petals. These energies in their two aspects of physical vital energy and soul qualities make up the ninety-six aspects or vibrations of the two petals of the Ajna or eyebrow centre. It must be remembered also that the word ‘petal’ only symbolises an expression of force and its apparent effect in matter.
The five centres with their forty-eight petals are synthesised therefore into the two-petalled lotus, and then we have forty-eight plus two equals fifty, the number of the perfected personality, for five is the number of man and ten is that of perfection. Symbolically also, if the sum total of the forty-eight petals of the five centres is added to the ninety-six petals of the centre between the eyebrows, the number one hundred and forty-four appears. This number signifies the completed work of the twelve creative Hierarchies, twelve times twelve, and thus the bringing together of the subjective soul and the [200] objective body in perfect union and at-one-ment. This is the consummation. To these figures, one hundred and forty-four add that of the number one thousand (the number of the petals in the lotus of the head centre) and you have the number of the saved in the Book of Revelations, the one hundred and forty-four thousand who can stand before God, for the three ciphers which are found indicate the personality. When man has completed within himself the great work, when the number one hundred and forty-four thousand is seen as symbolising his point of attainment, then he can stand before God—standing now not only before the Angel of the Presence, but before the very Presence Itself.
The question now arises: How can this awakening and co-ordination be brought about? What steps must be taken in order to produce this vitalisation and the eventual synthetic activity of the three centres? Faced with these questions, the true teacher finds a difficulty. It is not easy to make clear the esoteric and paralleling activities which are the result of character building. So oft the aspirant is anxious to be told some new thing and when he is told some old truth—so old and so familiar that it fails to call forth a registering response—he feels that the teacher has failed him and so succumbs to a sense of futility and depression. However, this must be met and the questions must be answered. I will state therefore the necessary requirements as succinctly as possible, giving them in their sequential order and according to their importance from the standpoint of the average aspirant. Let us then enumerate them in tabulated form, and then we will deal briefly with each point afterwards.
1. Character building, the first and essential requisite.
2. Right motive. [201]
3. Service.
4. Meditation.
5. A technical study of the science of the centres.
6. Breathing exercises.
7. Learning the technique of the Will.
8. The development of the power to employ time.
9. The arousing of the Kundalini fire.
This last and ninth point will not be considered at this stage of our training. The reason is obvious. Most aspirants are at the stage of the third and fourth points and are just beginning to work at the fifth and sixth. Let us touch briefly upon each of these necessary steps, and let me enjoin upon you the need there is to realise in some measure the responsibility entailed by knowledge. Do you appreciate the fact that if you were making full use of each piece of information given in the course of the training, and making it a fact in your experience, and were living out in your daily life the teaching so steadily imparted, you would be standing ere now before the Portal of Initiation? Do you realise that truth has to be wrought out in the texture of daily living before new truth can be safely imparted?
1. Character building. These nine points are to be studied from their force aspect, and not from their ethical or spiritual import. It is the “world of force into which the initiate enters,” and it is the training he receives as an aspirant that makes such a step possible. Each of us enters life with a certain equipment—the product of past lives of endeavour and of experience. That equipment has in it certain deficiencies or lacks, and is seldom of a balanced nature. One man is too mental. Another is too psychic. A third is primarily physical, and still another is too mystical. One man is sensitive, irritable, and impressionable. Another is the reverse of all these qualities. One person is centred in [202] his animal nature, or is strictly material in his outlook on life, whilst another is visionary and free from the sins of the flesh. The diversities among men are innumerable, but in each life there is a predominant trend towards which all the energies of his nature turn. Perhaps he is swayed strongly by his physical forces and lives consequently the life of an animal. Or he is swayed by astral energy and lives a potently emotional and psychic life. Perhaps—like so many—he is swayed by three types of energy, physical, emotional and an occasional flow of soul energy. The point to be remembered is that the bodies in which we, as souls, are functioning, constitute primarily energy bodies. They are composed of energy units, atoms in a state of constant flux and movement and find their place in an environment of a similar nature. Acting as the positive nucleus in these energy bodies, and at present, in the majority of cases relatively static, is the soul. It exerts as yet little pressure upon its sheaths and identifies itself with them, thus temporarily negating its own intrinsic life.
The day comes, however, when the soul awakens to the need of dominating the situation and of asserting its own authority. Then the man (spasmodically at the beginning) takes stock of the situation. He has to discover first which type of energy preponderates and is the motivating force in his daily experience. Having discovered this, he begins to re-organize, to re-orient and to re-build his bodies. The whole of this teaching can be summed up in two words: Vice and Virtue.
Vice is the energy of the sheaths, individual or synthesised in the personality, as it controls the life activities and subordinates the soul to the sheaths and to the impulses and tendencies of the lower self.
Virtue is the calling in of new energies and of a new vibratory rhythm so that the soul becomes the positive controlling factor and the soul forces supersede those of [203] the bodies. This process is that of character building. Let me illustrate! A man is the victim of an irritable and nervous disposition. We say to him that he needs to be calm and peaceful and to cultivate detachment and so gain control of himself. We teach him that in place of a cross disposition there should be sweetness and calm. This sounds a platitude and most uninteresting. Yet what is really being stated is that in place of the restless self-centered emotional nature and the activity of the solar plexus centre (carrying the powerful forces of the astral plane) there should be imposed the steady detached and harmonising rhythm of the soul, the higher self. This work of imposing the higher vibration on the lower is character building, the first pre-requisite upon the Path of Probation. On reading this the earnest student can begin to sum up his energy assets; he can tabulate the forces which he feels control his life, and thus arrive at a reasonable and truthful understanding of the forces which require to be subordinated and those which require to be strengthened. Then in the light of true knowledge, let him go forward upon the path of his destiny.
2. Right Motive . The Master of the Wisdom, we are told, is the “rare efflorescence of a generation of enquirers.” The question which the seeker now asks and which he only has the right to answer is: What is the motive governing my aspiration and my endeavour? Why do I seek to build upon a true foundation? Why do I so diligently invoke my soul?
The development of right motive is a progressive effort, and constantly one shifts the focus of one’s incentive when one discovers himself, as the Light shines ever more steadily upon one’s way, and constantly a newer and higher motive emerges. Again, let me illustrate: An aspirant in the early stages is practically always a devotee. To measure up to the standard set by a loved friend and teacher, he struggles and strives and gains [204] ground. Later, this object of his devotion and ardent effort is superseded by devotion to one of the Great Ones, the Elder Brothers of the race. He bends all his powers and the forces of his nature to Their service. This incentive is, in its turn, surely and steadily superseded by a vital love for humanity, and love of one individual (be he ever so perfect) is lost sight of in love for the whole brotherhood of men. Unceasingly, as the soul takes more and more control of its instrument and the soul nature steadily manifests, this too is superseded by love of the ideal, of the Plan, and of the purposes underlying the universe itself. The man comes to know himself as naught but a channel through which spiritual agencies can work, and realises himself as a corporate part of the One Life. Then he sees even humanity as relative and fractional, and becomes immersed in the great Will.
3. Service . A study of right motive leads naturally to right service, and often parallels in its objective form, the motivating consciousness. From service to an individual as an expression of love, to the family, or to the nation, there grows service to a member of the Hierarchy, to a Master’s group and thence service to humanity. Eventually there is developed a consciousness of and service of the Plan, and a consecration to the underlying purpose of the great Existence Who has brought all into being for the fulfilment of some specific objective.
4. Meditation. Upon this matter we will not enlarge as it has formed the basis of much of the teaching in my other books and many of you are working steadily upon the work of meditation. I have placed it fourth upon the list, for meditation is dangerous and unprofitable to the man who enters upon it without the basis of a good character and of clean living. Meditation then becomes only a medium for the bringing in of energies which but serve to stimulate the undesirable aspects of his life, just [205] as the fertilising of a garden full of weeds will produce a stupendous crop of them, and so crush out the weak and tiny flowers. Meditation is dangerous where there is wrong motive, such as desire for personal growth and for spiritual powers, for it produces, under these conditions only a strengthening of the shadows in the vale of illusion and brings to full growth the serpent of pride, lurking in the valley of selfish desire. Meditation is dangerous when the desire to serve is lacking. Service is another word for the utilisation of soul force for the good of the group. Where this impulse is lacking, energy may pour into the bodies, but—lacking use and finding no outlet—will tend to over-stimulate the centres, and produce conditions disastrous to the neophyte. Assimilation and elimination are laws of the soul life as well as of the physical life, and when this simple law is disregarded serious consequences will follow as inevitably as in the physical body.
5. Study of the centres. This we are now beginning. It is a study as yet in its infancy in the West, and little applied in the East. Our approach will be somewhat new, for though we will accustom ourselves to the names, locations and relationships of the centres we shall do no meditation work upon them. Eventually we shall arrive at an appreciation of their vibration, of their tone and colours and of the astrological significances. We shall not work with the centres down the spinal column, nor aim at their conscious utilisation as does the clairvoyant and clairaudient person. All the work done by students must be done entirely in the head and from the head. There is the seat of the Will, or Spirit aspect, working through the soul. There also is the synthetic expression of the personality, and in the understanding of the relation of the two head centres and their mutual interplay will come gradually the domination of the personality by the soul. This will lead to the consequent and subsequent [206] guided activity of the five other centres. The work in these five centres will eventually be as automatic as the present functioning of the heart and the lungs in the physical body.
The presiding Intelligence, the Self, “seated on the throne between the eyebrows” and guided by the Light in the head will be awake to the interests of the soul and as alert as is the ‘I’ consciousness of the average self-centered man. By the rhythm of his divine life and by his conscious cooperation with the Plan, and functioning through the use of the Will, must the disciple in incarnation act as the agent of his soul in the three worlds.
6. Breathing Exercises . Little by little as progress is made will the needed instruction be imparted. Let me point out however that no breathing exercises can be safely used where there is no attempt to impose rhythm upon the life of every day. The two activities must go hand in hand.
The effect of breathing exercises is varied:
a. There is an oxygenating effect. The blood stream is purified and pressure is relieved. A symbolism underlies this:—for as the blood is oxygenated so is the life of the man in the three worlds permeated by spiritual energy.
b. There is the imposition of a peculiar rhythm, brought about by the particular spacing and time limit of the breaths—inhalation, retention, and exhalation—and this will vary according to the counts.
c. There is a subtle effect of prana (which is the subjective element underlying the air breathed in and out) which affects most potently the body of prana, the vital or etheric body. Students should remember that subtle effects are more powerful than the physical effects. They produce results [207] in two directions; on the physical body and on the etheric body. The entire vital body assumes a particular rhythm according to the breathing exercises. This kept up for a long period of time will have a shattering or a cohesive effect upon the physical body, and devitalise or vitalise the etheric body correspondingly.
d. There is the effect upon the centres, which is most effectual and which follows the trend of the aspirant’s thought. If, for instance, a man thinks upon the solar plexus, that centre will inevitably be vitalised and his emotional nature be strengthened. Hence the need for students to hold their meditation steady in the head and so awaken the head centre.
Let no one doubt the effect of breathing exercises upon the vital body. As surely as eating and drinking build or destroy the physical body, and aid or hinder its right functioning, so do breathing exercises produce potent effects, if rightly used over a long enough period of time.
And what shall I say about the last three requirements? Nothing much, for the time is not yet ripe for their correct understanding. Step by step must the aspirant proceed and his theory must not persistently run ahead of his experience. Perhaps I can give the clue to each of these three through the formulation of a simple rule for daily living. This will be grasped by those for whom it is intended and will not work harm to the unevolved. This rule, when followed will bring about, gently and subjectively, the necessary conditions for the manifestation of the requirement.
Learn to use the will through the development of steady purpose and the organising of the daily life, so that that purpose may reach fulfilment.
Learn to do something else with time besides organise [208] it and use it. Learn to do several things simultaneously, and utilise therefore all the three bodies synchronously. Let me illustrate:—When you are practicing your daily breathing exercise keep your count with accuracy, listen attentively for the sound that “soundeth in the silence” of the interlude. At the same time think of yourself as the soul, the imposer of rhythm, and the voice that speaks. This is something which can be acquired by practice by each of you.
Discover the serpent of illusion by the help of the serpent of wisdom and then will the sleeping serpent mount upwards to the place of meeting.