RULE FOURTEEN

The sound swells out. The hour of danger to the soul courageous draweth near. The waters have not hurt the white creator and naught could drown nor drench him. Danger from fire and flame menaces now, and dimly yet the rising smoke is seen. Let him again, after the cycle of peace, call on the Solar Angel.

The Centres and Prana

[565] The nearer we approach in our thought to the physical plane, the more difficulty is experienced by the magician, whether he be the solar Angel occupied with the magical work of manifestation, or an expert worker under the plan. This is due to two causes:

1. The automatic response of dense physical matter to substance, remembering always that substance is force.

2. The dangers incident to working with the fires or with the pranas of the Universe. This latter danger is that with which Rule XIV concerns itself.

There are many ways in which this Rule can be interpreted. We can study the work of the solar Angel as he approaches the dense physical plane to take incarnation and thus arrives at that critical point in his creative work wherein the threefold sheath is at the stage where it must, inevitably and unavoidably, make a contact with the matter aspect. It is the stage during which, expressing this truth in occult terms, it is literally called upon to “clothe itself and disappear into the light of day.” The spiritual man is now veiled by a mental or by a fire sheath. He is clothed “in a watery mist”, which is an ancient way of referring to the great illusion. This term conveys not only the concept of the possession of an astral or watery body, but also presents to the mind the effect which that body must have upon the hidden solar Angel. The latter looks out through the fire and through [566] the mist and sees distortion and reflection. He sees that which must mislead.

Besides the sheath of fire and the sheath of mist he has clothed upon himself an outer web of closely interlocking streams of force. These constitute his etheric or vital body, which is in the nature of a web or mesh of energy nadis, which, in their tens of thousands, are woven together and form in certain localities in this energy body various focal points of force, of which the most important are the seven centers. There are, however, many such focal points.

When this clothing has been assumed by the solar Angel, a final stage is reached, and solar fire and fire by friction must be brought into contact with three “most ancient fires”. These are the fires of the dense physical objective matter or of those material energy units which we normally cover by the words “gaseous, liquid and dense”, a meaningless phrase and only of use to us, through its teaching of differentiation. These three ancient fires are an aspect of fire by friction.

At this point is the hour of danger for the soul courageous. It is the hour wherein the soul must bring into at-one-ment the etheric body and the gaseous envelope which is the highest aspect of the dense physical sheath, the instrument of tangible organic manifestation.

We can also study this Rule from the point of view of the initiate who is occupied with the wielding of forces and who, through the power of his thought, may have created a thought-form. This thought-form he has clothed with an astral or desire sheath, deliberately vitalized with his energy, and now seeks to give it objective existence and send it forth to accomplish his purpose and his intent. The crucial moment in all creative work is ever to be found at this stage. It is the stage wherein the vibrant subjective form has to attract to itself that material which will give it organization upon the physical [567] plane. This fact has to be remembered, no matter what the magician is seeking to render objective. It refers equally to an organization, to a group or to a society; it may refer to the materialization of money or to the clothing or exteriorization of an idea. The moment of danger to the magician comes at this final stage. A point of fine discrimination is reached and the magician has to proceed now with caution. Many good plans fail to materialize and the reason lies right here. A plan is, after all, an idea let loose in time and space to seek a form and do its work. Many come to naught because their creator, or the creative mind from which they emanate, understands not this critical period. A right adjustment of forces has here to be arranged, so that neither too much energy is used in the work, nor too little. When too much energy is released through the medium of the vital body, then a fire blazes forth when the gaseous energy of the dense physical plane is brought in contact with vital etheric energy. Thus the embryo form is destroyed. Where there is not sufficient energy, or adequate persistent attention, and when the thought of the magician wavers, then the idea comes to naught, then the infant is still-born, and nothing comes into objective manifestation. This has a literal correspondence on the physical plane. Many infants are still-born for this very reason that the solar Angel wavers in his intent and is not sufficiently interested. Many fine ideas equally fail to materialize or have no persistent living existence “in the light of day,” because there was not sufficient energy to generate that spark of living flame which must ever burn at the center of all forms. The danger, therefore, is twofold:

1. That of destruction by fire, owing to the expenditure of too much energy and the expression of too violent a purpose. [568]

2. That of death, through lack of vitality and because the “directed attention” of the magician is not of adequate strength and duration to bring the form into being. The occult law holds good that energy follows thought.

We could study this Rule from the standpoint of the aspirant, as he learns to work with energy and with the forces of nature, as he learns the significance and the purpose of the vital body, and gains power in the control of the vital fires or the pranas of his own little system. It seems to me that for our particular purpose, this line of approach would be of the most use. These Instructions are intended for those who are definitely interested in the way of liberation from form, and who are seeking to prepare themselves to work in cooperation with the Great White Lodge. They are learning the first steps in the magical work and for them, therefore, an understanding of the fires and of the energies with which they must work, is of prime importance. We will, therefore, confine our attention to this phase of the great work and consider neither the work of the soul as it takes incarnation and manifests objectively through a form, nor with the work of the initiates, as they act as creative magicians under group impulse and through an intelligent understanding of the evolutionary plan. These Instructions are intended to be practical and to convey the teaching needed to those students who can read between the lines and who are developing the capacity to see the esoteric meaning behind the outer blinds and exoteric forms.

We are now going to consider the pranas, and I would here quote some paragraphs from The Light of the Soul which give a description of these pranas. We find in Book II, Sutra 39 that there are five aspects of prana, [569] functioning through and, therefore, constituting the total etheric or vital body.

“Prana is fivefold in its manifestations, thus corresponding to the five states of mind, the fifth principle, and to the five modifications of the thinking principle. Prana in the solar system works out as the five great states of energy which we call planes, the medium of consciousness....The five differentiations of prana in the human body are:

“1. Prana, extending from the nose to the heart and having special relation to the mouth and speech, the heart and lungs.

“2. Samana extends from the heart to the solar plexus; it concerns food and the nourishing of the body through the medium of food and drink and has special relation to the stomach.

“3. Apana controls from the solar plexus to the soles of the feet; it concerns the organs of elimination, of rejection and of birth, thus having special relation to the organs of generation and of elimination.

“4. Udana is found between the nose and the top of the head; it has a special relation to the brain, the nose and the eyes, and when properly controlled produces the coordination of the vital airs and their correct handling.

“5. Vyana is the term applied to the sum total of pranic energy as it is distributed evenly throughout the entire body. Its instruments are the thousands of nadis or nerves found in the body, and it has a peculiar definite connection with the blood channels, the veins and arteries.” (Pp. 329-330.)

“The etheric body is the force or vital body and it permeates every part of the dense vehicle. It is the background, the true substance of the physical body. According to the nature of the force animating the etheric body, according to the activity of that force in the etheric body, according to the aliveness or the sluggishness of the most important parts of the etheric body (the centers up the spine) so will be the corresponding activity of the physical body. Similarly and symbolically, according to the wholeness of the breathing apparatus, and according to the ability of that apparatus to oxygenate and render pure the blood, so will be the health or wholeness of the dense physical body.” (pp. 218-219.)

[570] We find it also stated that the forces which make up the vital body or the various pranas of which it is constructed emanate:

“a. From the planetary aura. In this case it is planetary prana, and so concerns primarily the spleen and the health of the physical body.

“b. From the astral world via the astral body. This will be purely kamic or desire force and will affect primarily the centers below the diaphragm.

“c. From the universal mind or manasic force. This will largely be thought force and will go to the throat center.

“d. From the ego itself, stimulating primarily the head and heart centers.” (P. 220.)

We read also that “most people receive force only from the physical and astral planes, but disciples receive force also from the mental and egoic levels.” Finally we read:

“It may help the student if he realizes that the right control of prana involves the recognition that energy is the sum total of existence and of manifestation, and that the three lower bodies are energy bodies, each forming a vehicle for the higher type of energy and being themselves transmitters of energy. The energies of the lower man are energies of the third aspect, the Holy Ghost or Brahma aspect. The energy of the spiritual man is that of the second aspect, the Christ force, or buddhi. The object of evolution in the human family is to bring this Christ force, the principle of buddhi, into full manifestation upon the physical plane and this through the utilization of the lower triple sheath.” (P. 227.)

This gives a general picture of the subject of our consideration and gives us the elementary facts upon which all our thoughts must be based. It becomes apparent, therefore, as we study the above that the aspirant has three things to do:

First, he has to learn the nature of the energies or [571] pranas which have brought his magical creation, the physical body, into manifestation and which keep it in such a condition that he can or cannot rapidly achieve the spiritual objective of his soul. This lesson involves:

a. Arriving at a knowledge of those forces which are peculiarly potent in his life and which seem to direct his activities. This will bring to him the knowledge as to which centers of his etheric body are awakened and which are dormant. This all aspirants have to grasp before they really can apply themselves to the real training for discipleship.

b. Grasping the relation between these forces of nature which he has appropriated for his own use and which constitute the sum total of his personal, mental, sentient and vital energies, and those same forces as they are found in the natural world and govern the manifestation of the Macrocosm.

c. Learning to work with these energies in an intelligent manner in order to bring about three happenings:

An harmonious cooperation with his own solar Angel, so that solar force may impose its rhythm upon the lunar forces.

An intelligent response to and affiliation with the group of World Servers who at any given time have undertaken the work of directing, by the power of their thought, the forces of nature and so leading the whole creative body forward along the line of divine intent.

The production on the physical plane of a personality adequate for its creative task and capable of those forms of activity, emanating [572] from the mind, which will enable him to further the work of the directing agencies.

Second, learn to live as a soul and, therefore, free from identification with the body nature. This brings out three things:

a. An ability to withdraw into the head consciousness and from that high place to direct the life of the personal self.

b. The power to pass through the various centers in the body those universal forces and energies which are needed for world work. This has to be done consciously and in full awareness of the source from which they come, of the mode of their activity and of the purpose for which they must be used. This involves also the understanding of which force is related to a center. This consequently involves the necessity to develop the centers, to bring them into a state of potency and to harmonize them into a unified rhythm.

c. The capacity, therefore, to work at will through the medium of any particular center. This is only possible when the soul can dwell as the Ruler on the “throne between the eyebrows” and when the Kundalini fire has been what is occultly called raised. This fire has to pass up through the spinal column and burn its way through the web which separates center from center on the “Golden Rod of Power.”

Third, learn to study the reactions upon others of whatever energy he, through his personality, may be expressing, or which, if he be an initiate and, therefore, a conscious worker with the Plan, it may be his privilege to utilize or transmit. Through a close study of [573] his personal “effect” upon his fellowmen, as he lives amongst them, and as he thinks, speaks and acts, he learns the nature of that type of force which may flow through him. He can arrive, therefore, at an understanding of its type, its quality, its strength, and its speed. These four words warrant consideration and elucidation.

A. The type of force as used by an aspirant will indicate to him its emanating source, and a study of it will begin to signify to him the Entity from which it has emanated. A knowledge of the type answers the question: Along what line of energy and upon what ray is this force to be found? A close watch upon this aspect of work will soon indicate to the aspirant:

1. upon what plane he himself may be working,

2. the nature of his ray, egoic ray and personality ray. Only the initiate of the third degree can ascertain his monadic ray,

3. the particular tattva which may be involved,

4. the center through which he may be transmitting the force.

It will be apparent, therefore, that a study of the types of energy is of practical usefulness and will tend to leave no part of the aspirant’s nature untouched. Think for a minute of the lessons which can be learned by the man who submits the energy used in verbal expression, for instance, to the scrutiny of the Inner Ruler and who—after talking or after joining in the give and take of daily life—asks himself the questions: What was the type of energy used by me in my speech today? What was the force that I expended in my contacts with my fellowmen? You ask me if I can illustrate this for you? Now let me attempt to do so and so make simple what is deemed so oft to be abstruse and difficult. Let the student inquire [574] of himself whether the position he held mentally and whether the words which he spoke on any particular occasion were prompted by a desire to impose his will upon his hearers. This imposition of his will could be either right or wrong. When right, it would mean that he was speaking under the impulse of his spiritual will, that his words would be in line with soul purpose and intent and would be governed by love and, therefore, would be constructive, helpful and healing. His attitude would be one of detachment and he would have no desire to take prisoner the mind of his brother. But if his words were prompted by self-will and by the desire to impose his ideas upon other people and so to shine in their presence, or to force them to agree with his conclusions, his method would then be destructive, dominating, aggressive, argumentative, forceful, rude or irritable, according to his personality trends and inclinations. This would indicate the right or the wrong use of first ray force.

Should the type of force he wields be that of the second ray, he can submit it to a similar analysis. He will then find it to be based on group love, service and compassion, or upon a selfish longing to be liked, on sentiment and on attachment. His words will indicate this to him if he will closely study them. Similarly, if he is using third ray force, in a personal manner, he will be devious in his propositions, subtle and elusive in his arguments, using manipulation in his relations with his fellowmen, or be an interfering busybody, actively engaged in running the world, in managing other people’s lives for them, or in grasping so firmly the reins of government in his own self-interest that he will sacrifice everything and everybody in the work of furthering his own busy ends. If he is, however, a true disciple and aspirant, he will work with the Plan and will wield third ray force to bring about the loving purposes of the spiritual Reality. He will be busy and active and his word will carry [575] truth, and will lead to the helping of others, for they will be detached and true.

The Use of the Hands

It is of value here when we are dealing with the wielding of force to give a little information anent the use of the hands in such work. One of the Masters has said, “It is but with armed hand and ready either to conquer or perish that the modern mystic can hope to achieve his object.” I intend to speak a few words about the hands, for there is more occult teaching hidden in these words than is apparent on the surface.

In one of the old books, available for the instruction of disciples these words are found:

“The armed hand is an empty hand and this protects its possessor from the accusations of his enemies. It is a hand freed from the taint of the four symbolic evils—gold, lust, the dagger, and the finger of enticement.”

These words are most significant, and it might be well to study briefly the type of hands and their quality which are distinctive of disciples. In all forms of esoteric teaching the hands play a great part and this for four reasons:

1. They are the symbol of acquisitiveness.

2. They are centres of force

3. They are wielders of the sword.

4. They are, when employed unselfishly

a. Instruments of healing.

b. Agencies whereby certain keys are turned.

Viewing them as symbols of acquisitiveness it must be remembered that in the average man they are employed to “grasp and to hold” and to acquire that which the man wants for himself and for the satisfaction of his selfish desire. In spiritual man, the hands are still symbols of acquisitiveness but he only grasps that which [576] is needed for the helping of the group and releases at once towards that end that which he has thus acquired. The initiate holds nothing for himself; the saviour of the race may utilise all that is laid up in the divine storehouse but not for himself, only for those he seeks to help.

As centres of force the hands play a most potent part, and one that is little understood. It is an occult fact that the hands of a disciple (once he has acquired that acquisitiveness which is based on unselfish group work) become transmitters of spiritual energy. The “laying on of hands” is no idle phrase nor confined solely to the operations of the episcopate of any faith. The occult laying on of hands can be studied in four aspects:

1. In healing . In this case the force which flows through the hands comes from a dual source and via two etheric centres, the spleen and the heart.

2. In the stimulation of any specific centre . The energy employed in this case comes from the base of the spine, and the throat, and must be accompanied by appropriate words.

3. In the work of linking a man up with his ego . The force used here must be received from three etheric centres, the solar plexus, the heart, and the centre between the eyebrows.

4. In group work . Here energy is utilised emanating from the ego, via the head centre, the throat centre and the base of the spine.

It will be apparent therefore that the Science of the Hands is a very real one and the disciple has to learn the nature of the forces in the different centres, how to transmit and unify them and then by an act of the will how to pass them outward through the chakras in the hands. The hands do their work either directly, or through the projection of a steady flow once the blended currents have been tapped, or indirectly, or by manipulation. Through [577] a knowledge of the law a disciple can not only utilise the current flowing through the centres of his own body, but can also combine them with the planetary or cosmic currents to be found in his environment. This is done unconsciously frequently by speakers who magnetically use the hands to any extent and the effects as seen by a clairvoyant are often amazing. When this work is done consciously a most potent factor is added to the equipment of any chela.

In this connection it must be borne in mind that the matter is a very abstruse one and that certain ray forces pass along the line of least resistance from left to right and others from right to left. Certain centres transmit their energies via the right hand and others via the left. Much knowledge is therefore required in order to work scientifically.

I have no time to take up in detail the meaning of the hands as they wield the sword, save to point out that the sword as a symbol stands for many things:

1. The sharp, two-edged sword is the discriminative faculty which reaches to the roots of the chela’s being and separates the real and true from the false and impermanent. It is wielded by the ego from the mental plane and is spoken of as the “Sword of cold blue steel.”

2. The sword of renunciation, or that double-bladed axe which the chela willingly applies to anything he considers as likely to hold him back from his goal. It is applied primarily to the things of the physical plane.

3. The sword of the Spirit is that weapon which in the hands of the disciple cuts down before the eyes of the group he is serving the obstacles which stand in the way of group progress. It is only wielded safely by those who have trained their arms to [578] wield the other swords and in the hands of an initiate is a most potent factor.

The Old Commentary to which reference has been oft times made says:

“The steel is needed for the transmission of the fire. When the force of the inner man is coupled with the energy transmitted through the chakras of the palms, it passeth down the shining blade and blendeth with the force of the One Who is the ALL. Thus is the Plan consumated.”

And thus it might be added is the energy of the unit augmented by the force of the greater Whole.

It is said in the occult books and likewise in The Secret Doctrine that all initiates must be healers; therefore, that all initiates use the palms of the hands in the work of healing. Only those therefore, who have wielded the sword dare lay the sword down and stand with empty hands, uplifted in blessing. Only the “armed hand” can safely be used in the work of salvation; only those who have “taken the kingdom of Heaven by force” and who are occultly known as the “Violent Ones” can take the heavenly supply and use it in the work of healing. This should be carefully borne in mind. The true healing force can only flow through those who in some degree either directly (by right of initiation or of advanced discipleship) or indirectly as being used on the inner side by some adept or advanced healer, are linked with the hierarchy. A man should know his status before he can rightly heal. This does not apply to those healers who are unconscious workers, being powerful transmitters of prana or solar vitality. Their name is legion and they do much good even though at times the energy they transmit serves to stimulate wrongly.

As regards the use of the hands in turning key s I will simply give a hint. Only those hands can turn the key in the door of initiation who have learnt the art of the [579] centres”, the significance of the hands in service, the wielding of the swords, and the four positions in which the hands are held in group service.

Study, therefore, the type of force which you usually wield; know along what line of ray energy it comes and so arrive at a truer knowledge of yourself and of your own inner capacities, and ascertain likewise what types of energy you may lack and how your equipment can be duly rounded out.

B. The quality of the force used is necessarily dependent upon the ray from which it may emanate. You ask me to differentiate between the words type and quality. I would say that the type of force indicates the life aspect, whilst the quality indicates the consciousness aspect, and that both of them are aspects of the entity or the being who is the embodiment of a ray. The type will manifest primarily through what we might call dynamic direction and through its power to produce an effect. This has, of course, to be coupled to right quality and skill in action. The quality will be indicated more by its power of attractive approach. It has in it more of the magnetic aspect than the type has. Students can arrive at the quality of the force they may be using by noticing what they attract to themselves, both in circumstances, in people, and in the reactions which people show to what the student may say or do. In the type there is a preponderance of the will aspect, in the quality the desire aspect is primarily to be found. It is profoundly true that according to a man’s desires so will be the forms of life which he will, like a magnet, attract to himself.

C. The strength of a particular force brings us back to the Rule we are studying, for it involves in itself the factor of true persistence, and we have earlier seen that the emergence into functioning life and activity of any form is dependent upon the persistent attention of its [580] creator. Energy can be used dynamically or steadily and the effects of these two modes of the application of energy differ. One is primarily used in destructive work, and this is the dynamic method. There are, for instance, certain dynamic words of power which, when employed by the Creative Destroyers, bring about the destruction of forms. With these, however, aspirants have naught to do. Their important work is to learn the meaning of persistence and of strength. It is literally a time-persistence, and strength is beyond all other things the power to endure, to hold out, to stand steady, and to go forward undeterred. Study, therefore, most carefully the types dynamic, the quality magnetic, and the strength persistent of the forces which constitute your equipment. When you can wield, either destructively or constructively, either selfishly or selflessly, or in line with the Plan Universal, or the plan selfish and personal then you will work consciously and will knowingly tread the right or the left hand path.

D. The speed of the force used is dependent upon these three previous factors. Speed in this sense has no essential relation to time, though it is hard to find another word to use in the place of speed. It relates to the world of effects as they emanate from the world of causes. It has, perhaps, essentially a relation to truth, for the truer an impulse is and the clearer the understanding of the subjective purpose, so will the right direction and the impact of the force, follow automatically. Perhaps speed would be more correctly translated by the words “correct direction”, for where there is correct direction, true orientation, exact understanding of purpose and recognition of the type of force required, then there is an instantaneous effect. When the soul has registered the desired quality and possesses the strength of the Timeless One and the persistence of the One Who is from the beginning, the process of force expression and the relation [581] between cause and effect is spontaneous and simultaneous, and not sequential. This can scarcely be understood by those who have not yet the consciousness of the eternal Now. But this spontaneous and simultaneous effect is the clue to the entire magical work and in these four words—type, quality, strength and speed—the story of the work of a White Magician is told. But more I dare not give and it is not permitted to me to speak more clearly. Few are yet fitted to be magicians and few (perhaps fortunately) have as yet all the seven centres awakened so that they can work freely on the seven planes and with the seven types of the seven ray energies.

I would point out that these four aspects of energy can be studied by the aspirant in his own nature. On the physical plane he is apparently the initiating cause and as he works with these energies they will call forth a response and a reaction from those who feel the impact of them and who demonstrate their effect. It is true, therefore, is it not, that we work and live in a world of forces? We need no distant field or special domain in which to live and learn and work, for we dwell in a world of force and energy; we are ourselves constituted of force or energy units; and we wield force, knowingly or unknowingly, throughout the twenty-four hours of the day. The field of our occult training is the field of the world and the world of our peculiar circumstances and environment.

The Treading of the Way

We have seen, as we have considered Rule XIV that, in the magical work, the critical point of objectivity has now been reached by the aspirant. He is endeavouring to become a magical creator and to accomplish two things:

1. Re-create his instrument or mechanism of contact, so that the solar Angel has a vehicle, adequate for [582] the expression of Reality. This involves, we noted, right type, quality, strength and speed.

2. Build those subsidiary forms of expression in the outer world through which the embodied Energy, flowing through the re-created sheaths, can serve the world.

In the first case, the aspirant is dealing with himself, working within his own circumference, and thus learning to know himself, to change himself and to rebuild his form aspect. In the other case, he is learning to be a server of the race, and to construct those forms of expression which will embody the new ideas, the emerging principles, and the new concepts which must govern and round out our racial progress.

Remember that no man is a disciple, in the Master’s sense of the word, who is not a pioneer. A registered response to spiritual truth, a realised pleasure in forward-looking ideals, and a pleased acquiescence in the truths of the New Age do not constitute discipleship. If it were so, the ranks of disciples would be rapidly filled and this is sadly not the case. It is the ability to arrive at an understanding of the next realisations which lie ahead of the human mind which marks the aspirant, who stands at the threshold of accepted discipleship; it is the power, wrought out in the crucible of strenuous inner experience, to see the immediate vision and to grasp those concepts in which the mind must necessarily clothe it, which give a man the right to be a recognised worker with the plan (recognised by the Great Ones, if not recognised by the world); it is the achievement of that spiritual orientation, held steadily—no matter what the outer disturbance in the physical plane life may be—that signifies to Those Who watch and seek for workers, that a man can be trusted to deal with some small aspect of Their undertaken work; it is the capacity to submerge [583] and to lose sight of the personal lower self in the task of world guidance, under soul impulse, which lifts a man out of the ranks of the aspiring mystics into those of the practical, though mystically minded, occultists.

This is an intensely practical work, on which we are engaged; it is likewise of such proportions that it will occupy all of a man’s attention and time, even his entire thought life, and will lead him to efficient expression in his personality task (imposed by karmic limitation and inherited tendency) and to a steadfast application of the creative and magical work. Discipleship is a synthesis of hard work, intellectual unfoldment, steady aspiration and spiritual orientation, plus the unusual qualities of positive harmlessness and the opened eye which sees at will into the world of reality.

Certain considerations should be brought to the notice of the disciple which—for the sake of clarity—we will tabulate. To become an adept it will be necessary for the disciple to:

1. Enquire the Way.

2. Obey the inward impulses of the soul.

3. Pay no attention to any worldly consideration.

4. Live a life which is an example to others.

These four requirements may sound at the first superficial reading as easy of accomplishment, but if carefully studied it will become apparent why an adept is a “rare efflorescence of a generation of enquirers.” Let us take up each of these four points:

1. Enquire the Way . We are told by one of the Masters that a whole generation of enquirers may only produce one adept. Why should this be so? For two reasons:

First, the true enquirer is one who avails himself of the wisdom of his generation, who is the best product of his own period and yet who remains unsatisfied and with the [584] inner longing for wisdom unappeased. To him there appears to be something of more importance than knowledge and something of greater moment than the accumulated experience of his own period and time. He recognises a step further on and seeks to take it in order to gain something to add to the quota already gained by his compeers. Nothing satisfies him until he finds the Way, and nothing appeases the desire at the centre of his being except that which is found in the house of his Father. He is what he is because he has tried all lesser ways and found them wanting, and has submitted to many guides only to find them “blind leaders of the blind”. Nothing is left to him but to become his own guide and find his own way home alone . In the loneliness which is the lot of every true disciple are born that self-knowledge and self-reliance which will fit him in his turn to be a Master. This loneliness is not due to any separative spirit but to the conditions of the Way itself. Aspirants must carefully bear this distinction in mind.

Secondly, the true enquirer is one whose courage is of that rare kind which enables its possessor to stand upright and to sound his own clear note in the very midst of the turmoil of the world. He is one who has the eye trained to see beyond the fogs and miasmas of the earth to that centre of peace which presides over all earth’s happenings, and that trained attentive ear which (having caught a whisper of the Voice of the Silence) is kept tuned to that high vibration and is thus deaf to all lesser alluring voices. This again brings loneliness and produces that aloofness which all less evolved souls feel when in the presence of those who are forging ahead.

A paradoxical situation is brought about from the fact that the disciple is told to enquire the Way and yet there is none to tell him. Those who know the Way may not speak, knowing that the Path is constructed by the aspirant as the spinner spins its web out of the centre [585] of his own being. Thus only those souls flower forth into adepts in any specific generation who have “trodden the winepress of the wrath of God alone” or who (in other words) have worked out their karma alone and who have intelligently taken up the task of treading the Path.

2. Obey the inward impulses of the soul . Well do the teachers of the race instruct the budding initiate to practise discrimination and train him in the arduous task of distinguishing between:

a. Instinct and intuition.

b. Higher and lower mind.

c. Desire and spiritual impulse.

d. Selfish aspiration and divine incentive.

e. The urge emanating from the lunar lords, and the unfoldment of the solar Lord.

It is no easy or flattering task to find oneself out and to discover that perhaps even the service we have rendered and our longing to study and work has had a basically selfish origin, and resting on a desire for liberation or a distaste for the humdrum duties of everyday. He who seeks to obey the impulses of the soul has to cultivate an accuracy of summation and a truthfulness with himself which is rare indeed these days. Let him say to himself “I must to my own Self be true” and in the private moments of his life and in the secrecy of his own meditation let him not gloss over one fault, nor excuse himself along a single line. Let him learn to diagnose his own words, deeds, and motives, and to call things by their true names. Only thus will he train himself in spiritual discrimination and learn to recognise truth in all things. Only thus will the reality be arrived at and the true self known.

3. Pay no consideration to the prudential considerations of worldly science and sagacity . If the aspirant has need to cultivate a capacity to walk alone, if he has to [586] develop the ability to be truthful in all things, he has likewise need to cultivate courage. It will be needful for him to run counter consistently to the world’s opinion, and to the very best expression of that opinion, and this with frequency. He has to learn to do the right thing as he sees and knows it, irrespective of the opinion of earth’s greatest and most quoted. He must depend upon himself and upon the conclusions he himself has come to in his moments of spiritual communion and illumination. It is here that so many aspirants fail. They do not do the very best they know; they fail to act in detail as their inner voice tells them; they leave undone certain things which they are prompted to do in their moments of meditation, and fail to speak the word which their spiritual mentor, the Self, urges them to speak. It is in the aggregate of these unaccomplished details that the big failures are seen.

There are no trifles in the life of the disciple and an unspoken word or unfulfilled action may prove the factor which is holding a man from initiation.

4. Live a life which is an example to others. Is it necessary for me to enlarge upon this? It seems as if it should not be and yet here again is where men fail. What after all is group service? Simply the life of example. He is the best exponent of the Ageless Wisdom who lives each day in the place where is the life of the disciple; he does not live it in the place where he thinks he should be. Perhaps after all the quality which produces the greatest number of failures among aspirants to adeptship is cowardice. Men fail to make good where they are because they find some reason which makes them think they should be elsewhere. Men run away, almost unrealising it, from difficulty, from inharmonious conditions, from places which involve problems, and from circumstances which call for action of a high sort and which are staged to draw out the best that is in a man, [587] provided he stays in them. They flee from themselves and from other people, instead of simply living the life.

The adept speaks no word which can hurt, harm or wound. Therefore he has had to learn the meaning of speech in the midst of life’s turmoil. He wastes no time in self pity or self justification for he knows the law has placed him where he is, and where he best can serve, and has learnt that difficulties are ever of a man’s own making and the result of his own mental attitude. If the incentive to justify himself occurs he recognises it as a temptation to be avoided. He realises that each word spoken, each deed undertaken and every look and thought has its effect for good or for evil upon the group.

Is it not apparent therefore why so few achieve and so many fail?

The Awakening of the Centres

Speaking more technically and therefore warranting the use of the word Instructions in connection with this treatise for aspirants and disciples, it must be carefully borne in mind that the main task of the aspirant is the handling of energies, both in himself and in the world of physical phenomena and externalisation. This consequently involves an understanding of the centres and of their awakening. But understanding must come first, and the awakening at a much later date in the sequence of time. This awakening will fall into two stages:

First, there is the stage wherein, by the practice of a disciplined life and by the purification of the thought life, the seven centres are automatically brought into a right condition of rhythm, vitality and vibratory activity. This stage involves no danger and there is no directed thought—in connection with the centres—permitted to the aspirant. By that I mean he is not allowed to concentrate his mind upon any one centre, nor may he seek to awaken or energise them. He must remain engrossed with the [588] problem of purifying the bodies in which the centres are found, which are primarily the astral, etheric and physical bodies, remembering ever that the endocrine system and the seven major glands, in particular, are the effectual externalisations of the seven major centres. In this stage, the aspirant is working all around the centres and is dealing with their environing matter and with the living substance which completely surrounds them. This is all that can be safely undertaken by the majority, and it is with this stage that the bulk of the aspirants in the world today are engaged and with which they must remain engaged for a long time to come.

Secondly, there is the stage wherein the centres, through the effective work of the earlier stage, become what is esoterically called “released within the prison house”; they can now become the subject (under proper direction by a teacher) of definite methods of awakening and of charging,—the methods differing according to the ray, personality and egoic, of the aspirant. Hence the difficulty of the subject and the impossibility of giving general and blanket rules.

It is interesting here to note, even though it has no bearing on the matter of personal training, that this method, first of a long period of purification and later of energising scientifically, is the one employed by the guiding hierarchy which stands behind world affairs. Steadily They have been working at the task of clarifying world matter, and bringing about world purification on a large scale. This is the first stage of the work and only became generally possible when man became a more truly thinking entity, during the past few centuries, on a wide level. This purification is going on now in all departments of human existence, for humanity now stands, or rather three-fifths of it stands, on the path of probation. Through welfare and uplift movements and the wide spread of sanitation, the work goes forward [589] on the physical plane; through political upheavals which reveal abuses; through economic discontent which is after all a striving to change that which is undesirable so as to give the human unit conditions of living which will lead to thought and from thought to soul control; through religious propaganda and the efforts of the many organisations and groups throughout the world which hold before the minds of men what I might symbolically call “the hope of Heaven” (using the word “Heaven” as a symbol of perfection and of purity), the work of this stage is going steadily forward. So successful has it been that now the filth and impurities which surround the world soul and which keep humanity from its true expression are known and recognised and there is consequently a steady drive towards betterment. All has been brought to the surface, and the result seems appalling and uncontrollable to those who only see the surface. But underneath, the deep river of purity and truth is flowing strong.

One evidence of the success of the world movement towards pure living and the destruction of that which hinders is that the work of the second stage is now in process of initiation. The hierarchy, for the first time in world history, can now work directly with the centres in the body of humanity. Thus we have now the formation of the new Group of World Workers, who, in their totality throughout the world, constitute the heart centre and the “centre between the eyebrows” of the etheric body of the human family. Through the one, spiritual life can begin to flow in and vitalise all the centres, and through the other, the vision can be seen and the inner worlds sensed and known.

I would here like to point out two other matters, and so clarify the entire situation. There is much confusion on the subject of the centres and much erroneous teaching [590] leading many astray and causing a great deal of misapprehension.

First, I would state that no work such as an effort to awaken the centres should ever be undertaken whilst the aspirant is aware of definite impurities in his life, or when the physical body is in poor condition or is diseased. Neither should it be undertaken when the pressure of external circumstances is such that there is no place or opportunity for quiet and uninterrupted work. It is essential that for the immediate and focussed work on the centres there should be the possibility of hours of seclusion and of freedom from interruption. This I cannot too strongly emphasise, and I do so in order to demonstrate to the eager student that at this period of our history there are few whose lives permit of this seclusion. This is however a most beneficent circumstance and not one to be deplored. Only one in a thousand aspirants is at the stage where he should begin to work with the energy in his centres and perhaps even this estimate is too optimistic. Better far that the aspirant serves and loves and works and disciplines himself, leaving his centres to develop and unfold more slowly and therefore more safely. Unfold they inevitably will and the slower and safer method is (in the vast majority of cases) the more rapid. Premature unfoldment involves much loss of time, and carries with it often the seeds of prolonged trouble.

Over-stimulation of the brain cells is necessarily one of the results of the merging, by an act of will, of the fires which circulate in the human body. Such stimulation can produce insanity and the breaking down of the cellular structure of the brain, and through the over-activity of the cell life can also induce that internal friction between them which will eventuate in brain tumors and abscesses. This cannot be too strongly reiterated.

The underlying objective in all laya yoga work (or [591] work with the centres) is based upon the fact that the energy of the cells which compose the body or the matter aspect (called in The Secret Doctrine , and in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, “fire by friction”) must be blended with the fire of consciousness. This latter is the energy, present in matter yet different from the fire of matter itself, which underlies the entire nervous system and because it so underlies it produces sensitivity and awareness. It is the cause of response to contact and confers the ability to register and record impression, as you well know. This fire is technically called “solar fire”, and when it blends with the fire of matter and with the “electric fire” of the highest divine aspect, then man’s being comes into its fullest manifestation and the great work is completed. But it is a most dangerous undertaking, when induced before the mechanism is ready to deal with it.

This triple blending can only be safely undertaken by the highly organised and rounded-out person, and by one who has achieved the capacity to focus his attention in the head and from that high point direct the entire process of fusion. It involves the ability to withdraw the consciousness literally into the etheric body and yet at the same time to preserve—in full awareness—a point of contact in the head, and from that point direct the automaton, the physical body. It presupposes, if successful, certain etheric conditions in the body. One of these is the process of burning through or destruction (partial or complete) of any obstructions found along the spinal cord which could prevent the free rising of the fire at the base of the spine, commonly called the kundalini fire, which lies quiescent, latent and potential in the lowest centre. This is “the sleeping serpent which must arise and uncoil”.

Each centre in the spine is separated from the one above it and the one below it by an interlaced protective [592] web which is composed of a curious blend of etheric and gaseous substance. This has to be burnt away and dissipated before there can be the free play of the fires of the body. A complete network of nadis and centres underlies and is the subtle counterpart of the nervous and endocrine systems. A little clear thinking therefore will demonstrate the need for excessive care, for there will obviously be a direct effect upon the external apparatus and this in its turn will definitely affect what the psychologists call “behaviour”. There are four of these interlaced circular “webs” lying between the five centres found on the rod of the spinal column, such as follows: 0/0/0/0/0, and three are to be found in the head. These three bisect the head, and form a series of crosses, as follows:

This is much like the cross upon the Union Jack, which has always had an esoteric significance for the student, and indicates a point in racial evolution. This cross in the head separates the ajna centre (the centre between the eyebrows) from the head centre, for it lies behind that centre in the forehead, and at the same time forms a protective shield between the ajna and throat centres.

These etheric webs are in reality disks, rotating or revolving at specific rates, which differ for the different centres, and according to the point in evolution of the system of centres concerned. Only when these webs are burnt away by the ascending and descending fires can the true centres really be seen. Many clairvoyants confuse the centres and their protective counterparts, for the latter have a radiance and light of their own.

As the life achieves an increasingly high vibration through purification and discipline, the fire of the soul, which is literally the fire of mind, causes the centres also to increase their vibration, and this increased activity sets up a contact with the protective “webs”, or disks of pranic energy found on either side of them. Thus, [593] through the interplay, they are gradually worn away, so that in the course of time they become perforated, if I might use such an inadequate term. Many aspirants feel convinced that they have raised the kundalini fire at the base of the spine and are consequently making rapid progress, whereas all that they have accomplished is to burn or “rub through” the web at some point or other up the spine. A sensation of burning or of pain in any part of the spine, when not due to physiological causes, is, in the majority of cases, due to the piercing of one or other of the webs, through the activity of the centres allied to them. This happens very frequently in the case of women in connection with the solar plexus centre, and with men in connection with the sacral centre. Both these centres—as a result of evolutionary development—are exceedingly active and highly organised, for they are the expression of the physical creative nature and of the emotional body. A sense therefore of burning and of pain in the back indicates usually undue activity in a centre, which produces destructive results upon the protective apparatus, and is no true indication of spiritual unfoldment and superiority. It may indicate the latter, but it should be remembered that, where there is true spiritual growth, pain and danger are in this connection practically eliminated.

There has been much loose talk about the raising of the kundalini fire and much misapprehension in the matter. Let me assure you that it is most difficult to raise, and can only be done by a definite act of the will and through the intense mental focussing and concentrated attention of the man, seated on the throne of consciousness in the head. The Masonic tradition has the teaching clearly held in its beautiful ritual of the raising of the great Master-Mason. Only when there is united effort of a fivefold kind, and only after repeated failure, does the [594] vivifying life course through the entire body and bring to life the true man.

The second point I would touch upon is that all this deeply esoteric work must only proceed under the direction of the skilled teacher. Platitudinously, the aspirant is told that “when the pupil is ready, the Master will appear”. He then settles comfortably back and waits, or focusses his attention upon an attempt to attract the attention of some Master, having apparently settled in his mind that he is ready or good enough. He naturally gives himself a spiritual prod at intervals, and attends spasmodically to the work of discipline and of purification. But steady and prolonged undeviating effort on the part of aspirants is rare indeed.

It is indeed true that at the right moment the Master will appear, but the right moment is contingent upon certain self-induced conditions. When the process of purification has become a life-long habit, when the aspirant can at will concentrate his consciousness in the head, when the light in the head shines forth and the centres are active, then the Master will take the man in hand. In the meantime he may have a vision of the Master, or he may see a thought-form of the Master, and may get much real good and inspiration from contact with the reflected reality, but it is not the Master and does not indicate the stage of accepted discipleship. Through the medium of the light of the soul, the soul can be known. Therefore seek the light of your own soul, and know that soul as your director. When soul contact is established, your own soul will, if I may so express it, introduce you to your Master. With all due reverence again may I add, that the Master waits not with eagerness to make your acquaintance. In the world of souls, your soul and His soul are allied, and know essential unity. But in the world of human affairs and in the process of the great work it should be remembered that when a Master [595] takes an aspirant into His group of disciples, that aspirant is, for a long time, a liability and oft a hindrance. Students over-estimate themselves quite often, even when repudiating such an idea; subjectively they have a real liking for themselves and are frequently puzzled as to why the Great Ones give them no sign, nor indicate Their watching care. They will not and They need not until such time as the aspirant has used to the full the knowledge which he has gained from lesser teachers, and from books and printed scriptures of the world. Students must attend to the immediate duty and prepare their mechanisms for service in the world, and should desist from wasting time and looking for a Master; they should achieve mastery where now they are defeated and in the life of service and of struggle they may then reach the point of such complete self-forgetfulness that the Master may find no hindrance in His approach to them.

It will be apparent therefore from the above that I cannot give specific instructions as to the awakening of the centres and the burning of the etheric web which will result in the release of energy. Such information is too dangerous and too intriguing to be put in the hands of the general public, who are driven by desire for some new thing, and lack right poise and the needed mental development. The time has come however when the fact that there is an energy body underlying the nervous system must be recognized by the world at large, and when the nature of the seven centres, their structure and location should be grasped technically, and when the laws of their unfoldment should be widely known. But more than this cannot yet be safely given. The intricate nature of this science of the centres is too great for general usefulness. The teaching to be given in any particular case and the methods to be applied are dependent upon too many factors for a general rule and instruction to be given. The ray and type, the sex and point in [596] evolution must be considered and also the balance of the centres. By this I mean the consideration as to their over-development in one case and under development in another and as to whether there is a preponderance of the force below or above the diaphragm, or whether the main energy is concentrated in that central clearing house, the solar plexus. The quality and the brilliance of the light in the head has to be studied, for it indicates the measure of soul control and the relative purity of the vehicles, and the various etheric “webs” have to be carefully dealt with, and also the rate of vibration of the web and the centre. A synchronisation has to be set up and this is most difficult to bring about. These are only a few of the points that the teacher has to note, and it is apparent therefore that only a teacher who has achieved synthetic vision and can see a man “whole,” or as he really is, can give those instructions which will reverse the ancient rhythm of the centres, destroy without pain and danger the protective sheaths, and raise the kundalini fire from the base of the spine to the exit in the head.

Such teachers are found by the pupil when he has carried forward his life work under the direction of his soul, when he has grasped the theory of the science of the centres, and has mastered and controlled the astral nature and its corresponding centre, the solar plexus. The emphasis laid upon the dominance of the Christ principle by Christianity has laid a sure foundation for the work to be done. This truth is curiously substantiated in a study of the number “eight” in connection with the centres which, we are told, is the number of the Christ. There are eight centres if the spleen is counted, all of them are multiples of eight with the exception of the centre at the base of the spine which has four petals, one half of eight. In our day and in the Anglo Saxon mode of writing, the number eight is the basic symbol [597] of all the centres, for the petals are really in form like a number of superimposed eights. The word petal is purely pictorial and a centre is formed on this pattern. First, a circle, O; then two circles, touching each other and making therefore an 8. Then, as the petals increase in number, it is simply a growth of these double circles, superimposed at differing angles one upon another until we arrive at the thousand-petalled lotus in the head.

These centres are, in the last analysis, twofold in function. They demonstrate the form building aspect of divinity and through their activity bring the outer form into manifestation; then towards the end of the evolutionary cycle—both in the macrocosm and the microcosm—they bring into expression the soul force and life and produce the incarnation of a fully revealed son of God, with all the powers and knowledge which divinity contains.