EIGHT
MODERN SPIRITUAL PROBATION AND DISCIPLESHIP
According to the Hermetica:
But those human souls that do not have mind as a guide are affected in the same way as souls of animals without reason. When mind connives with them and gives way to longings, the rush of appetite drives such souls to the longings that lead to unreason; and, like animals without reason, they never cease their irrational anger and irrational longing . . . for anger and longings are irrational vices that exceed all limits.1
It follows quite logically that the one thing animals do not possess but which is well within the capacity of human beings, if properly applied, is conscious self-discipline. It is the latter that is then the foundation of the Spiritual Path. Without the individual being able to demonstrate the use of conscious self-discipline to some positive degree, there can be no access even to the initial gate of initiatory probation. In ancient times—as for example those of Pythagoras—spiritual probation involved a period during which the neophyte had to demonstrate absolute obedience (in word, deed, and thought) to his Master, or guru. This always involved the test of silence—of not speaking until and unless spoken to, as well as a demonstration of willingness to fit in with the rest of the group and share their burden of mundane duties. Further although slightly later probationary tests involved other sorts of psychological restraint of all the physical appetites.
In the ashram of Pythagoras—who gathered his ideas from his time in Egypt and Babylon (the latter at the same time as the “incarceration” of the Hebrews)—probation involved absolute silence for the first two years of membership. As mentioned earlier, during this time, the neophyte did not even have access to the Master and was forced to listen to any talks from behind a screen.2 Such discipline might appear to our modern minds as “over the top,” but when the real reason for it is understood, this does not appear to be so after all. The reason is that the Master of such a group—who has overcome all personal karma on his own account—is said to take on a very real psycho-spiritual responsibility for all its members, effectively taking on a proportion of their karma, in proportion to their occult “distance” from him.3 Because of the training program set by him, he creates a very real affinity within the ashram as a group because the group itself generates a characteristic consciousness of its own, with its own spectrum of knowledge and faculty. Because of this, he would allow progressively closer access to himself only after prolonged testing had shown that each neophyte could be trusted within the limits set for him. Any sign of real irresponsibility within those limits would be regarded as endangering the group as a whole and would thus result in the neophyte being forced to leave the ashram—usually on a permanent basis.
Every such ashram develops a certain psychomagnetic “atmosphere” and character of its own that, even though the junior members may not be consciously aware of it, helps to sustain and protect them psychologically, as well as physically. That, in fact, is a quite normal phenomenon in any group of human beings involved in a mutually sympathetic purpose or way of life, but—because of the spiritual potency of the Master himself and of his senior disciples—it carries with it a quite distinctively different quality and greater force in an ashram. If one draws the analogy of two teachers in a modern school—one being good at his job because of his effective and disciplined grasp of both his subject and child psychology and the other being poor at his job because of the lack of the latter—we can perhaps understand this rather better. The good teacher is respected and often revered for his or her capacity to convey knowledge in a useful and clearly caring but firm manner; the poor teacher shows little or no such care and firmness and is consequently “suffered” by the class but gains no respect from its members. Insofar as care on the Master’s part generates trust, just so far will the group manage to hold together, like a family. This is so in both the spiritual and the mundane sense. However, it is very rarely even considered by guru-worshippers.
REQUIREMENTS OF THE INDIVIDUAL
The true Adept realizes that those who come to him for spiritual teaching and leadership vary widely in their instinctive capacities to assimilate what he has to offer. That is to say, some have a natural psychological resilience and inner strength that others—for various reasons—do not, irrespective of how long they have been in such training. Some seem to learn faster than others, because of what has been achieved in previous lifetimes. Others perhaps have to take things more slowly because they are still working off old karma. To generalize about individuals in such circumstances is dangerous and rarely accurate because we are all at varying stages in our own evolutionary development. However, one thing is certain—that it is not just a question of being “good” or reasonably altruistic that brings one to the gate of initiation. One of the first principles of gaining access to the spiritual Path involves putting our good intentions into practice all the time, not just when we feel like it. Nor does it happen by just dwelling on them, or otherwise by being incited to action by hope of any reward or recognition for such service to others. In occultism, sustained purity of selfless motive is everything.
Perhaps the most important other achievement of the neophyte is the proven capacity to pay attention and listen to what he or she is being told on its own terms. This might sound rather trite, but it is of very real importance. Most people tend to listen with “only half an ear.” That is to say, their natural instinct is to interpret what they are hearing in line with their own existing prejudices or desires. They consequently fail to pay due attention to what they do not like to hear and thus do not act upon what is actually necessary for development of their own increased knowledge or faculty.
One of the most important aspects of teaching—particularly with neophytes—thus involves repetition in order to inculcate a firm understanding of the general principles of esoteric philosophy and occult law. Intelligent individuals come to realize that repetition of these same principles (from different angles) is of great value in broadening their perspective and deepening their insights. They consequently tend to enjoy being able to spot the principle before the teacher even enunciates the query or point at issue. The mind of the shallow individual, however, tends to shut off when hearing the same principle enunciated on different occasions.
The reason that (particularly vocal) repetition is so important in relation to general principles is that it is essentially magical in nature. That is to say, it builds up a broad and literal, subconscious psychic pathway between the outer brain consciousness of the individual and that of his or her own inner Self. This, because of its very breadth, permits a wider inner perspective to be developed, which can then be usefully used for all sorts of purposes, in both directions. Its very range generates the sense of interdisciplinary opportunity.
However, the repetitive teaching of “facts,” so-called, is of a quite different nature (being much narrower) and achieves little of any real value because it does not extend as far subjectively. It links the brain consciousness only to the lower mind, the organizationally retentive part of which has to do with the intellect and the powers of merely logical reasoning. Whereas the former training builds intelligence, the latter does not. That is why it is so often found that many highly intellectual people are not really very intelligent, whereas many naturally intelligent people are not at all intellectual.
Very few people seem to realize that intellect, reason, and intelligence are quite different and that just as reason controls intellect, so true intelligence controls reason. However, in the fully “rounded” individual, there should be a strong link between all three. That is because as reason and intellect together produce merely academic faculty, so intelligence and reason alone tend to generate merely spectacular mental abstractions, of no real value or use to anyone. The lower mind is important as part of the neophyte’s faculty because it acts as the traction engine to the will and purpose of the Spiritual Ego. The exoteric world has its own requirements and the Ego cannot motivate this lower world except indirectly, through that which acts as its direct agent.
One of the main reasons why so many academics and scientists usually fail to understand the principles of esoteric philosophy is that neither they (nor the majority of would-be esotericists) actually understand what has just been suggested. Much so-called “esoteric” thought is actually based on highly fragmentary or partial psycho-spiritual insights plus a mass of ancillary wishful or purely aspirational thinking. Consequently, it is difficult for them to convey their understanding in a manner that is considered reasoned or reasonable by most academics and scientists. The latter, in any case, usually tend to interpret most things in an entirely literalistic manner, consistent with extensive intellectual retention and organization of supposed facts, such that objectively assessed “laws” and “rules” take precedence over anything else. Small wonder that they usually fail to see eye-to-eye.
The further sign of the established spiritual probationer is surely that of his or her capacity to display a reliable consistency of behavior, basic common sense, a “broad-mindedness” to others and their views, plus a strong tendency toward unselfishly positive behavior in at least a general direction. When these characteristics become evident and the individual then demonstrates a firm psychological commitment of an idealistic nature, which proves the activation of his sense of altruism beyond any doubt, he is then ready to move on to the next stage of training, involving what is called “accepted discipleship.”
THE NATURE OF DISCIPLESHIP AND ITS REQUIREMENTS
The term discipleship possesses unfortunately strong connotations of unthinking devotion to the personality of a particular Master, or guru. This, however, is merely the unfortunate corruption of an inner reality in which the neophyte commits himself to his own inner Self, or Spiritual Ego. That is because ideals (no matter how crude) themselves confirm that such an inner contact has been made. The Master or guru is merely the external reflection or confirmation of what the neophyte has sensed or perceived in his own higher nature. Those who allow themselves to adopt the purely devotional approach to a guru—as one so often finds in India, where spiritual corruption is sadly endemic—completely miss this point and thus treat their teacher as a mere psychological prop. The approach to Adeptship is marked by an ever-increasing degree of pure Self-reliance. This is seldom understood by would-be esotericists, but it needs to be much more effectively acknowledged. As Bailey’s Tibetan Adept teacher remarks: “A disciple is one who, above all else, is pledged to serve humanity . . . and to change his centre of activity from himself (as the pivot around which everything revolves) to the group centre.”4 He is thus also “transferring his consciousness out of the personal into the impersonal.”5
However, the true disciple has to demonstrate that he or she has a mind of his or her own and is willing to use it, while still acknowledging the teacher as guide. That is because the spiritual “learning curve” is a long and tortuous one, with inevitably many mistakes being made along the way. However, we learn only from our mistakes. Successes actually teach us very little, but they rather tend to “turn our heads” in self-congratulation and pride of achievement. The moment that this happens, we lose our way in a very real sense, even if that self-congratulation is only momentary. It results in a definite loss of psycho-spiritual momentum and the individual thus finds that he has to rebuild what he has just lost. This is why the ascetic sense—that involving self-denial—is so important. As the Tibetan Adept teacher again remarks:
Be prepared for loneliness. It is the law. This must be endured and passed. . . . [Additionally] have patience. Endurance is one of the characteristics of the [Spiritual] Ego. The Ego persists, knowing itself immortal. The personality becomes discouraged, knowing that [its] time is short.6
SELF-DISCIPLINE AND THE CONDITIONING RAYS
It has to be said, however, that self-denial and pure asceticism, if taken to extremes, also work against the further development of true inner realization—again because of pride. Asceticism is a psychological faculty that, in the form of self-discipline, causes the outer faculties to be restrained to such a degree that the much subtler sounds and other “signatures” of the planes of spiritual existence can be more easily discerned. Once this can be achieved (with associated powers of subjective discrimination), continuity of higher consciousness—even when in the physical body—becomes possible. Then and only then can the higher energies be made use of through the transformative power of the initiate, who learns how—through intelligent introversion—to draw them down for particular usage, for example in true spiritual teaching and also in healing at the psychological level. This is just not possible for the neophyte because he has not yet attained the necessary degree of spiritual Self-alignment. He thus has no experience of how to either recognize or otherwise discriminate between the extremely subtle energies and forces of these higher levels of being.
One of the primary and most useful factors that individuals can bring to bear, however, is a recognition of their own Ray type. This is based upon the concept that just as there are seven colors in the spectrum, so in the emanation of spiritual light from the kosmic plane of Mind there are seven refracted Rays. These then give rise to “types” through predominant psychological characteristics. Much has already been written definitively on the subject, but for our immediate purposes here the seven Rays are characterized as follows:7
Once the individual is capable of assessing his objectively instinctive nature in relation to one or another of these Ray influences, thereby giving rise to his main personality characteristics, he subsequently discovers (although only very gradually) that his inner nature is in conflict with the outer one, the latter being progressively recognized as crude by comparison. That is because, although the inner nature is also influenced by the same Rays, the two natures are not synchronized. By then trying to discover more about his inner nature and also to apply its more refined characteristics—thereby gradually controlling the lower (elemental) nature—the internal psychological war increases until the higher eventually overcomes the lower. The individual has then, in turn, to master the higher (deva) nature. This is the essence of what esotericism calls “the Path.”
There are a great many people today holding themselves out as “spiritual teachers” of one sort or another, particularly in the field of healing, despite having an actually limited knowledge and experience of the higher worlds. Some arrogate all sorts of supposed powers to themselves in order to fascinate the gullible. Others at least have the modesty to suggest that they are merely dedicated “channels” for healing energies and thereby make themselves available (with greater or lesser achievement) for transmitting deva energies, which they thus invoke. However, many of these pay very little attention to the absolutely necessary psycho-spiritual preparation and they consequently either fail outright in their efforts, or otherwise merely succeed in attracting low-grade elemental entities. These, unbeknown to themselves, invade their personal atmosphere and delude them through self-glamorization.
There are many reasons why an increasing degree of personal asceticism is incumbent upon the neophyte and then, later, the initiate. The few already mentioned merely represent the “tip of the iceberg.” In a very real sense, psychological asceticism is the only method of psycho-spiritual self-protection, because increasing degrees of progress in this field generate corresponding increases in personal magnetism, which themselves attract the interest of increasingly subtle elemental powers. Hence the idea of the “razor-edged Path.”
EASTERN AND WESTERN APPROACHES
It needs to be remembered that, fascinating though the Orient may be for its colorful mass of psycho-spiritual teachings and teachers, the latter represent from one angle the “vision of the past.” There is absolutely no doubt that the principles enunciated in ancient teachings and Sanskrit texts continue to provide us with our “stairway to divinity.” However, too many people make the mistake of imagining that the still attendant religious ceremonies and rituals found in the Orient are the only true way of attainment and that the West has little to offer, other than corrupted religion. This is absolutely not so. The Western world in the mass is firmly in the process of moving on from the purely devotional approach to higher consciousness, to an approach that involves a more mental correspondence, which is precedent to the conscious use of the intuitive faculty. This to some extent—peculiarly enough—involves activities within the world of commerce and industry. To many, however, this latter idea might well sound absurd and even fatally materialistic in its approach. In fact, that is not so and, as the vast majority of those at the level of spiritual probation and discipleship are involved in the world of business to some extent, it is essential that the new perspective be rationally explained.
Although it is generally assumed that the primary characteristic of business (at least in the West) is the profit motive, this too is not so. The main underlying characteristics are in fact tolerance, cooperation, and mutual trust. Without these three, commerce, trade, or business cannot even begin to function. Profit is itself both financial and psychological, the latter being of far greater importance. Financial profit is merely a pecuniary excess that, kept within reasonable limits, results in its wider sharing within and outside the community. Psychological profit—again, if treated properly—results in the building of character and tolerance. Trade and commerce teach people concentration, logic, self-control, and the necessity for both foresight and rational consistency.
Within the last few years, however, we have seen both national and even global financial “crashes” as a result of lax control and naked greed. What has happened has involved many people trying to achieve their material aspirations and ambitions unnaturally quickly and thus finding themselves caught up in a potent spiral of overenthusiastic activity, which contained forces completely beyond their control. Had they exercised greater self-discipline (or been forced to do so) in the first place, this would undoubtedly not have happened. Enthusiasm would then have been tempered by natural caution; then their success, although smaller, would have been much firmer. As it is, gross failure on the part of the relatively few has resulted in financial and psychological damage being caused to the many.
In the field of spiritual initiation, the same principles apply, as they do in Nature as a whole. The plant that is allowed to grow too fast upward in the shade or in mere moonlight becomes spindly and unable to support itself. It needs the sunlight to bear down upon it, so forcing a slower, spiral growth pattern, which generates more structural strength. Darkness and moonlight here are symbolic of the shady “underworld” in which purely terrestrial acquisition of space takes place. The Sun, on the other hand, is symbolic of the downward radiating spiritual emanation that forces the growing plant into a cycle of progressive maturity. Every stage of growth and outer development has to be followed by a parallel period of subjective assessment and testing during which outer growth temporarily ceases. During this latter period, purely subjective growth and assimilation takes place.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF POWERS
The quite natural inclination on the part of spiritual neophytes is to rush into the process of “reaching for the stars” and, in doing so, absorbing everything of psychic fascination that comes their way. Part of the task of the Adept teacher or true guru is thus to slow this process down, by constantly testing, thus forcing the neophyte to develop powers of discrimination and thereby to learn to focus on priorities, while also harmonizing the influences of the inner and the outer world. The attainment of specifically occult powers in the earlier stages of the Path actually acts as a direct restraint or a potentially severe distraction to the development of spiritual sensitivity. It is therefore to be avoided if at all possible.
Such powers will actually develop quite naturally further along the Path and will then be found much more easily controllable. This also might strike some readers as strange, bearing in mind that so many Westerners head to India, or Egypt, or Central America, for example, specifically to learn of yogic powers from well-known gurus and shamans. But one must again point out that nearly all these places, in spiritual terms, have reached (many centuries ago) a very definite plateau of development. Their own further evolution has largely ceased and been replaced by the darkness of superstition and prejudice. In nearly all such instances, occidental seekers have blinded themselves by a limited expectation based upon ritualistic glamour, itself based on ignorance of the wider psycho-spiritual perspective. This has frequently taken place either as a personal rejection of materialistic Western ideals or a lazy unwillingness to apply self-disciplined principles within Western commercial culture. Both involve so-called “dropping out” (frequently involving the use of drugs) and both inevitably result in disillusionment.
It is widely accepted among those with any real experience that the Western mind-set is quite different from the Eastern one, resulting in all sorts of misunderstandings between the two. In very general terms, the Eastern is more maternal. It assimilates everything and finds a place for it somewhere. The Western is masculine in nature. It tends to focus much more selectively on what is considered necessary and throws out what it deems to be unnecessary. What is now happening (on a global scale) is that the latter is becoming more generally predominant—rightly so because of the position in the overall sidereal cycle which we currently approach. However, the idea of East and West is itself completely misleading. The psychological distinction is a worldwide phenomenon and it signals an approaching schism between the consciousnesses of the outgoing Atlanto-Aryan mind-set and that of the coming Race.*15 As the saying goes, “coming events ever cast their shadows before them.”
The true spiritual neophyte is no longer even remotely Atlantean in the orientation of his or her consciousness. Instead of being willing to sit in the shadow of a guru, many modern neophytes want to take a firm personal hand in their own inner development, while at the same time getting on with their outer life and its attendant responsibilities. But this presents as many problems (if not more) for the Adept or guru as it does for the neophyte. As a result, the technique of approach of the Adept teacher, so we are told, has itself had to change; but this has had to be accompanied by something of an external reorientation of the Western mind away from “tribal” nationalism toward internationalism or globalism.
THE INFLUENCE OF POLITICS AND JOURNALISM
Tit-for-tat politics are no longer acceptable. Instead, there is a growing public interest in wanting to share in the knowledge of what is going on at all levels and thus also wanting to know why decisions are being made and effected, even where not being directly involved. This again presents the teachers on the inner side with additional problems, although the change is welcomed because it arises from a very real evolutionary development on the part of humanity generally. However, like anything else in life, it has to be accompanied by complementary changes elsewhere and even this has to be followed by a necessary period of assimilation and adjustment.
A major adjustment of attitude also still needs to be grasped by our political leaders and those close to them, including (very importantly) the world of journalism. We (through journalism) tend to blame our political leaders for everything that goes wrong in the fields of social welfare and public finance particularly. However, that attitude rarely takes into account the fact that politicians are not only reacting to public opinion but also to what is being said about them and their decisions (or those of their civil servants) by journalists in newspaper and magazine articles in the first place. The latter quite frequently have very little to do with real public opinion per se, but rather more with editorial desire to stimulate readership demand on the back of emotive reaction to a particular (often rather partial) presentation of supposed facts. Consequently, politicians generally mistrust journalists, while also recognizing that they need them to get their ideas across to the broad public. It is an uneasy symbiotic relationship, the results of which have to be rather more carefully considered by the reading public before jumping to often unfounded conclusions.
For the spiritual aspirant and initiate, the world of journalism is a mire of potential disaster. At present, spiritual aspiration outside of mainstream religion tends to be regarded with suspicion by most journalists as of “fringe” nature. That is because of its frequent association with volatile “New Age” fads, many of which are blatantly absurd, or rather more associated with merely self-indulgent “lifestyle” ambitions. This state of affairs unfortunately has to be endured while more serious approaches to spiritual development (which are, by definition, far less visible) progress quietly in the background, without so much distraction. However, serious modern books and articles (sometimes even TV documentaries) on related subjects do keep appearing and it is part of the nature of self-development that persistent personal effort has to be made to go out and find what is worthwhile taking up and studying.
One of the things that the persistent aspirant soon finds is that while some books contain a great deal of useful material on esoteric philosophy, others have very little, sometimes only a single gem or two of worthwhile but often unexpected knowledge within a whole book. This too is something to which he or she must get used. The expectation of all necessary knowledge being found in a few books is naïve. Even were it so, the individual would still have to study far more widely in order to develop an inner sense of perspective for purposes of interpretation. The deepest truths are seldom if ever to be found presented in clear-cut terms. The most worthwhile gems are always well concealed and unexpected.
THE RESPONSE OF HUMANITY IN THE MASS
Let us now turn from the individual human experience to that of humanity as a whole, because, as already mentioned, whole kingdoms of Nature also take initiation, although the technique involved is necessarily far more drastic than it usually is for the individual. That is because the mass inertia of the consciousness of any one kingdom of Nature is so huge as to require an effort or electro-spiritual charge that inevitably lacks any sort of personal discrimination. Thus it is that the Tibetan Adept DK makes the point that, as a result of the prolonged crisis in mass human consciousness that took place during the first and second World Wars (1914–1945), “the [human] race as a whole now stands at the very entrance to the Path of Discipleship.”8 This crisis—although presented as the inevitable result of the conglomerate karma of the human race over untold millennia—necessarily generated an invocative soul appeal for liberation from conflict and general world peace. This, we are told, was so powerful that it evoked the attention of the great Lives at the divine planetary center of Shamballa (see appendix B) responsible for the overall governance of our planetary Life. That in turn, so it would appear, produced the release of spiritual energies capable of bringing it about.
This highlights the fact that any higher faculty derives purely from the most powerfully evoked sense of NEED. Thus it is that human beings generally bring karma upon themselves through the twin principles of intense greed and fear, magnified by the faculty of the lower mind. Humanity as a whole now behaves in a very different way than a mere century or so ago because of the sense of internationalism now evident in its common range of interests. Although nationalism seems to grow ever stronger in many cases, no longer is this the case on the part of the reasonably educated common man or woman, where his or her personal interests are concerned. Because of television, radio, films, and the internet, humankind’s range of interests has expanded enormously, resulting in such phenomena as generous financial contributions to charities and humanitarian aid becoming commonplace.
In addition, the general attitude toward the religions and beliefs of others is slowly but progressively becoming more open-minded and interested in understanding different points of view. Even sectarian religion is tending to produce a reaction against extremism and an ecumenical willingness to pursue the path of peace on all fronts. As Blavatsky had herself cryptically foretold over a century ago, humanity in the mass has now reached a point where final emancipation (i.e., distantly eventual Buddhahood) is becoming possible.9 Hence it is that “the race is now at the point of development which warrants a complete change in the approach to divinity as taught by the Hierarchy.”10 In other words, the mystic-religious approach to the development of spiritual consciousness in humankind, which has been adopted for tens of thousands of years, no longer suffices. A completely new approach is necessary, although one would imagine that, for the sake of continuity, some elements of the older system will continue to be used, until they are eventually phased out, or merely die out from attrition.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW WORLD RELIGION
The way in which the prospective new world religion has been outlined for us involves two main fronts, as further described later on in chapter 15. First of all, we are told, the Spiritual Hierarchy itself—after many thousands of years of self-isolation—will once again move out into the open. The aim behind this outward move is seemingly that resulting from humanity in the mass effectively becoming part of its overall “organism.” Hence, once this has taken place, there will exist not three spiritual relationships—involving humanity, the Hierarchy, and Shamballa—but only two. Shamballa (see appendix B), being the “House of the Father” (as Christ is reported to have referred to what orthodox religion believes in as “God”),11 will then be able to influence the future of humanity directly, instead of only indirectly.
Secondly, humanity will itself become the Spiritual Hierarchy to the lesser kingdoms of Nature, taking progressively full responsibility for their further evolution. The field of modern science might be regarded as the precursor to this. For example, the skills and knowledge of the ecologist and naturalist are concerned with the maintenance of balance in Nature as between the animal, plant, and mineral kingdoms on the one hand and humanity on the other. Mankind, in this way, is already taking on board the primary ethical principle by which the existing Hierarchy works—that of assistance-with-minimum-interference.
It is interesting to note that in 1946 Bailey’s Adept Teacher confirmed that
since 1925, the Hierarchy has directed its thoughts to men, but it has not vitalised, as it will eventually do, the religious movements or churches in all lands, or the educational work in all countries, or any of the activities which are concerned with the aiding of humanity through welfare movements.12
Yet, despite this, we now find that (since 1975) all of these movements are now in active service. International ecumenism and family welfare—particularly in the field of child education and poverty—are now at the heart of human concerns. Wherever natural disasters occur, we find an immediate willingness to dispatch practical and financial aid from one end of the planet to the other, irrespective of differing religious or political orientation. Could anyone living in the altogether self-concerned atmosphere of the early nineteenth century have possibly imagined such an internationally altruistic state of affairs?
UNEXPECTED DEVELOPMENTS
We are told that the great awakening of the human family that took place during the first half of the twentieth century (in response to work carried out by the Hierarchy during the preceding five hundred years) produced a major spiritual reorientation far in advance of what had actually been anticipated or planned.13 It seems that where humanity stands now had been thought possible only about 2,300 years hence, early on during the Age of Capricorn—itself regarded astrologically in ancient times as the “Gate of Entry” to the spiritual world. However, the very speed of humanity’s own change of subjective orientation has apparently generated inevitable problems for the existing Spiritual Hierarchy, logically necessitating its own radical replanning for the next two millennia.14
As a result of the increasingly obvious shift of attitudes in international public opinion over the last two decades or so, we can perhaps to some extent envisage some of the changes that must now almost inevitably take place. That same public opinion (although still selfishly orientated in the main) now increasingly, albeit falteringly, insists upon a general fairness and openness in the worlds of politics and social economics. That will itself eventually result in associated legislation to reinforce it. Overt extremism in any form is becoming increasingly less popular, despite the glamour generated by the various media industries. The idea that any one or two countries should rule the world through sheer military or economic force or threat is increasingly regarded as the view of a bygone age. Reciprocity is now increasingly the general accepted basis of political and economic discussion.
FUTURE INTENTIONS
One of the things that the Spiritual Hierarchy is evidently keen to see brought about is the eventual reunion of politics and religion15—a dangerously inflammable mix indeed. However, the world religion that they have in mind is quite different from the religious states that various so-called radical groups in several nations are currently trying to bring about—supposedly on behalf of Islam and just as misguidedly in Zionistic Israel. Consequently, it is small surprise to find that this ideal is being approached very slowly indeed, with much preparatory work in advance. The latter involves not only ecumenical discussion but also practical social adaptation through the absorption and integration of religiously orientated ethnic groups into Western society. This inevitably generates some social frictions, but that is an unavoidable stage of the blending process that must take place by not allowing “ghetto” mentalities to be produced.
The fact that increasingly larger masses of humanity now self-evidently stand at the very gate of discipleship and that this development shows no signs of slowing down is itself the precedent that evokes the requirement of the Spiritual Hierarchy to come out of its seclusion. For the Hierarchy to remain in seclusion in the face of humanity’s own achievement would fly in the face of general evolutionary development itself—and is thus impossible. However, the magnetic potency of the Hierarchy is such that too quick a reintegration with humanity would produce a catastrophic overstimulation of the general human psyche.
The fact that the members of the Hierarchy are merely “Elder Brothers” who (through self-effort) have passed beyond the limitations of the purely human personality has thus to be established firmly in the public mind in order to avoid those merely emotional or adulatory reactions that would inevitably regenerate a regressive culture. At present, this is still some way from achievement because of the ignorant polarization of opinion as to their very existence and raison d’être. This has to be made more public by people who have a reasonably clear understanding of what they are talking about. That in turn must arise through a clearer understanding of the esoteric philosophy concerning metaphysical planes of existence, plus awareness of the true nature of the spirit and soul, so that these become psychological issues for open general discussion and no longer merely religious or philosophical ones. This is already in the early stages of progress through humankind in general having developed a fascination with human psychology. In the main, this is still very superficial in its orientation to mere personality, but, given time, that will change.
The fact that “accepted discipleship” must and before long will become the common psychological orientation for the masses of humanity, and that members of the Spiritual Hierarchy will eventually (but only gradually) externalize in public, does not detract from the fact that humanity will continue to need spiritual leadership and spiritual inspiration. That in turn means that humanity must, in due course, develop its own new political systems of self-government, each with a (spiritually) hierarchical sense of structure. However, this brings us back to the issue of the reunion of politics with religion—a reunion in which the clash of party politics must give way to the following of inspired (because selfless) leadership by those whose intelligence, experience, and personal example alone define their right to be considered fit for government. That too is some way from taking place although we can already see the positive public reaction to the occasional political figure who exemplifies these ideals.
It follows quite logically that those who will in the future be properly representative and organizationally fit for the future leadership and government of human society will have to be spiritually (not just religiously or politically) orientated as well as being also administratively capable. That in turn means that they will have to have progressed somewhat further along the Path than the mass of humanity; it is to the characteristics and requirements of these initiated individuals that we shall pass in our next chapter. Before we do so, however, there is one very important thing that we shall need to bear in mind in considering any real initiatory experience. It is that each one is very definitely progressive. That is to say, it does not occur all at once but rather involves two quite distinct stages, separated by the crisis of initiation itself. In a very real sense, these two stages are actually more important than the initiation itself. The reasons for this are worth closer examination.
CRISES OF DECISION
The first such stage involves the individual’s Spiritual Ego generating such a particular and sustained focus of idealized intent in their subjective life that it brings about an inevitable crisis of decision. That same decision involves a positive recognition of what lies potentially ahead in the way of personal responsibility. This is consciously juxtaposed with an acknowledgment of the actual limitations of past experience. If the essential point of conflict is held adequately firmly and honestly in mind by the individual, then the initiation must itself automatically follow, even if not immediately. That is simply because it has to be incorporated into a readjusted subprogram of the Divine Plan. Anyone who believes that initiation immediately follows the achievement of a certain momentary attitude of mind is merely fooling themselves. The actual initiation and passing on of new spiritual knowledge only becomes possible after the individual’s consciousness has settled down to some extent following the crisis and the confirmed taking of his or her decision to move on.
The second such stage—following the decision to proceed and thus to experience at first hand the new knowledge granted—involves learning how to assimilate that new knowledge and turn it into a usefully coordinated faculty. Just how long that takes will depend on the individual. However, in the first three initiations it would inevitably take many lifetimes, simply because of personal reaction against the disciplines of the first phase and then because of generating fresh karma due to over-relaxation of the personal self and consequent self-indulgence of the subjective nature. As Blavatsky very cogently and helpfully tells us:
To act and act wisely when the time for action comes, to wait and wait patiently when it is time for repose, puts man in accord with the rising and falling tide of affairs so that with Nature and law at his back and truth and beneficence as his beacon light, he may accomplish wonders. Ignorance of this law results in periods of unreasoning enthusiasm on the one hand and depression and even despair on the other. Man thus becomes the victim of the tides when he should be their Master.16
MEDITATION AND SPIRITUAL TENSION
Before moving on to the preliminary initiations themselves, a brief word needs to be mentioned about the necessary discipline of meditation, because without this the individual will not progress far. That is because the spiritual Path involves a definite, subjective sense of reorientation and the generation of a directional instinct, which just cannot be achieved by merely following the exoteric path of humanistic cultural standards or religious morality, no matter how finely developed they might appear.
One of the curiously related problems that is becoming increasingly apparent in our own day and age is that of manic depression among highly intelligent and usually creative people who erroneously believe that their creativity depends upon living under constant psychological pressure to produce it. Because it has such little real understanding of the subjective nature of man, orthodox psychiatry cannot begin to understand this condition and mistakenly seeks to treat it using chemical drugs to slow down the euphoric condition that precedes and leads to the problem.
If practitioners realized that the real problem lies in the individual’s wildly over self-stimulated imagination (i.e., in his or her astral or psychic nature), resulting in inevitable downward mood swings to the opposite pole, they would instead treat the subjective nature, involving the partial use of meditational techniques. However, the treatment will not be easy because those suffering from the condition actually enjoy the over-stimulated state, which is actually and progressively leading them to insanity; they thus constantly reactivate it to their own unconscious detriment. Furthermore, their irrational belief in the use of chemical drugs to alleviate subjective symptoms can only make matters far worse.
In approaching the first three initiatory crises, regular meditation is highly important because it not only develops the inner faculty of perception; it also helps to develop a very necessarily balanced subjective momentum of which very few seem aware. For that reason it is essential that the individual learns to apply a conscious regulation of the amount of time spent watching television or using the computer. Both of these, if permitted free license, have a very definite weakening effect on the individual’s ability to use their visual imagination in a properly controlled manner—something that is crucial in our development of psycho-spiritual tension.
At this stage, the crises necessary for achieving that inner tension are brought about unconsciously (and with great discomfort) by the personal life because of its inherent lack of a correct sort of discipline. In approaching the higher initiations, however, it has to be achieved, so we are told, by an objectively focused self-direction in which personal idealism, as such, plays no part. That faculty of complete objectivity (generated by the achievement of a complete inner serenity) becomes critical because, due to the psycho-spiritual reorientation already achieved, the concern about acquiring a higher consciousness no longer exists. The individual is instead concerned with detecting an increasingly subtle quality of spiritual Purpose naturally allied to his inner nature—that is, that of his higher Ray type and group—and then maintaining that contact until he becomes fully at-one with it.
Imagination might help here to illuminate the combined point about spiritual tension and the ability to attain to increasingly higher degrees of it. Let us therefore imagine a series of graphic triangulations superimposed on the human body, the latter showing the progressively expansive soul organisms that Man’s intelligence works through as we saw earlier in fig. 1.6. The horizontal base lines through each of the three major chakras are then symbolic of the base of consciousness (upadhi in Sanskrit) through which the individual works while awake. Most human beings—although unconsciously based in the heart center—function mainly through the solar plexus and sacral centers. The triangle in their case points downward.
However, the individual on the Path who has attained to that degree of self-discipline that constitutes “accepted discipleship” holds firmly and with full self-awareness to the consciousness base within the heart and endeavors to function positively through it. The initiate of the first degree, while still consciously based in the heart center, has managed to lock firmly on to the functional capacity to work positively through the throat center. The triangle of his operative consciousness thus points upward to that chakra. The initiate of the second degree has correspondingly managed to do the same in relation to the brow center, while the initiate of the third degree has done so in relation to the crown center.
However, the next stage—that of the fourth initiation—involves a complete change of psycho-spiritual orientation. That is because the consciousness base then shifts dramatically upward from the heart center into the crown center itself. By achieving this, the individual (now a junior Adept) correspondingly becomes again an “accepted disciple”—but this time on a higher Path, which will be described in greater detail later on. His fully self-aware base of consciousness is now permanently detached from the physical, although he still functions (in downward triangular fashion) through the brow, throat, and heart chakras in his dealings with others when necessary. He also retains a coherently functional contact with (and control over) the center at the base of the spine, thereby maintaining the animation of the physical body organism. As we shall see, however, he no longer has any need of the Causal Soul organism, which, in any case, has ceased to exist by the time of the fourth initiation. His main area of concern now lies within the sphere of the Spiritual Soul nature (the buddhic state), and within this he experiences a progressively widening range of contacts of which even advanced humanity has no knowledge.
In the next two chapters we shall go into greater detail concerning the various stages of initiation mentioned here. However, from here on, the serious student-reader of this subject would do well to keep in mind the practical necessity of attaining to each stage described through the achievement of an increasingly positive spiritual focus, which naturally generates an associated inner psychic tension. That same spiritual focus is much more difficult to attain than most might imagine (and even more difficult to retain). So, quite logically, it has to be associated with fulfilling a particular subjective aim allied to an exoteric objective. Thus by virtue of personal concerns no longer being of interest, the individual is drawn to finding a particular spiritual (but mundanely orientated) task to which he can dedicate all his efforts on behalf of others, while still maintaining his own immediate personal duties in terms of family and business or career. These must not be forgotten.
In the functional achievement of all this, the consciousness base of the lesser initiate temporarily and unconsciously moves upward toward the crown center. Through it doing so, he automatically (although still unconsciously) finds himself drawn into the sphere of combined Hierarchical effort on behalf of our planetary Life as a whole, with very positive personal karma accruing from it. This is of immense practical importance and highlights the altogether rational basis of selfless service in the operational functioning of the Divine Plan. That same service must, however, be allied to the consistent practice of meditation, because it is the latter that maintains and enhances the spiritual “anchorage” that provides each individual with their own innate inner power. With that in mind, it needs to be understood that the essential nature of meditation is that of persistently trying to develop a consciously greater sensitivity to the particular “signature” of a higher and wider substate of being and consciousness. This is a never-ending process, but once each such recognition is achieved, the individual can call upon it increasingly at will until, eventually, he becomes at-one with it and it, in turn, becomes an instinctive part of his overall range of faculty. This is the true, underlying nature of all spiritual development.
By way of adding to this idea that the increasingly higher substates of consciousness play a highly important role in the individual’s psycho-spiritual evolution, because of their higher correlations, we are told that “when you have therefore built into your bodies—physical, emotional and mental—matter of the third sub-plane of each of those planes, then the Higher Self commences consciously and ever more continuously to function through the aligning Personality.”17 This makes more sense in light of the recognition that all true human Personalities are of fourth mental subplane matter while the vast majority of human causal bodies (the vehicle of the Higher Self) are to be found polarized in third mental subplane matter. Hence the suggestion that it is “only when third sub-plane matter of a certain percentage is contained in the vehicles, that the Personality as a conscious whole recognizes and obeys that Higher Self.”18
Correspondingly, however—because the Higher Self is the expression of the Monad—the Causal Body of the disciple or initiate on the lower stages of the Path (i.e., during the first three initiations) is to be found polarized in second subplane substance of the Mind state. In parallel with this (or rather, precedent to it) the individual must build into his physical and emotional vehicles matter of the highest two subplanes of those states. That is because these two substates are respectively concerned with purification and subjugation.19 As a result of this, there occurs an increasing subjective-to-objective alignment, which gradually enables the influence of the Higher Self to be more and more strongly registered in the physical brain consciousness.
DIETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The associated issue of diet is an important one, although it is not as immediately critical as many seem to think. There are literally tens of thousands of lesser initiates now in incarnation who are not aware of their spiritual status and who still include meat and alcohol in their diet. However, for anyone consciously wishing to pursue the spiritual Path, even in the informal modern Western style, the following facts need to be borne seriously in mind at all times. Alcohol in particular, to begin with—involving highly concentrated and fermented elemental essences of the plant kingdom—is extremely dangerous. That is because these essences (themselves of a very distinctive deva quality or order) give rise to immediately progressive destabilization of the natural psychic connections between the etheric double and both the physical body and the terrestrial soul, through their inherent overactivity. Over a prolonged period of time, because the individual can do nothing to counter the degenerative process, this leads to severance—and varying degrees of insanity. Alcohol, therefore, even in small quantities, should be avoided at all costs.
Meat carries with it the low grade psychic (i.e., astro-etheric) magnetisms of the animal entity in question and these then come into direct conflict with the individual’s own magnetism, within the nature of the etheric double. However, the cumulative psychic effect is not so disastrous as alcohol. That is because meat eating merely reduces the natural sensitivity of the etheric double and so also reduces the natural clarity of transmission between the Higher Self and the physical brain, so necessary for everyday usage, as well as in meditation. The low vibratory quality of animal meat will also, to some extent, affect the individual’s own astral nature, thereby causing yet further sensory disturbance, or even disorientation.
One should otherwise take into consideration that modern food processing involves the use or insertion of a wide variety of chemical processes, the magnetisms of which will also work their way through into the etheric double, thus diminishing its capabilities. It goes almost without saying that the actual usage of all chemically based drugs by the individual—for whatever reason—is progressively deleterious to the etheric double, no matter whether the individual is “on the Path” or not. The same is true of plant stimulants because they too disrupt our subtler etheric nature.
To understand why it should be that ingestion of such substances causes problems with the etheric double, it needs to be remembered that their chemical essences are all picked up by the bloodstream. As we saw at the outset, atoms, cells, and souls all involve the same principle in Nature, albeit at different levels of being. The blood cells—generated at the base of the spine center—are thus themselves the intermediary “vehicles” between the etheric double and the dense body organism, just as the soul is the psychic intermediary between the spiritual nature and the objective body. The terrestrial soul nature—working through its “root base” in the spine base chakra, defines the basic vibratory nature inherent in the cell. This is then modified within a given range by its journey around the human cardiovascular system, where it contacts a spectrum of higher influences generated by the other chakras. The associated memories are then registered in the heart chakra, which, as we also saw earlier on, is at the root core of the Causal Soul. It is thus from the latter that the essences of such experiences are registered (as highly subtle vibrations) and “transferred upward” to the Permanent Atoms within the aura of the Causal Soul itself. It is thus highly important that they are not externally influenced.
THE ISSUE OF FAITH
This is one of the most misunderstood yet, curiously, most important issues that the individual on the Path will face and its real nature needs to be properly recognized so that it can be adequately used or taken advantage of. In practical terms, there are three kinds of faith: (1) blind faith, (2) faith based on experience, and (3) reasoned faith. They work in the following general manner. Blind faith, first of all, is based on a mixture of unfounded belief and pure hope and it is entirely lacking in any value whatsoever. Very often (but not exclusively), it is found in mystic or religious environments, resulting from the individual having been induced (often as part of a group), over a sometimes prolonged period, to accept an idea supporting a merely partial perception or otherwise unsupportable orthodoxy. It is more often than not associated with a sense of the most forlorn hope, acting as a curtain behind which lurks nothing other than despair.
Faith founded on experience is at least reliable. It is essentially based on memory of the individual or group having already been involved in the same or similar type of past circumstance, from which a positive or reasonably positive result emerged. It thus possesses “something worth waiting for” or “something to be fought for” on the grounds of being a historically proven reality that merely needs to be recovered or regenerated. However, there is nothing “spiritual” about this sort of faith, irrespective of the circumstances, although many fondly imagine that it is. They thus believe that, if faithfully followed, it will lead to the reappearance of a wished-for state or set of circumstances that has an aura of “spirituality” about it, while also promising a materialistically happy and beneficial environment. These, however, are but idylls of delusion.
Faith founded on inner (that is, spiritual) reason, is a different matter altogether. This is based on an intuitive inner recognition (even if only faintly perceived) of certain abstract principles or influences leading unavoidably in a certain direction, if not to an obviously specific outcome. The individual “knows” with an accompanying sense of growing certainty or near certainty that this is the path that must be followed if a particular inner purpose is to be achieved.
It has to be added that the purpose in question may lead the individual onward through either successive positive achievement or successive anguish (or a mixture of both) before the associated end is finally attained. In either instance, however, it is attended by a sense of stepping forward into a sort of darkness, which, although based on ignorance, is actually liberating in nature. It is also always attended by a sense that once the first correct footsteps are taken in this direction, there is no turning back. The path ahead seems to move forward of its own accord and to be entirely impersonal in how it deals with us.
Having said that, however, there is one related subject that the individual on the Path has to consciously recognize. It involves the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Of these we are told: “Knowledge used is force expressing itself; wisdom used is energy in action.”20 We are further told that in relation to the psycho-spiritual development of man, there are two associated “threads” that link the individual to his Egoic source. These are what in Sanskrit are known as the sutratma (life thread) and the antahkarana (consciousness thread). Initially, these two are separate, hence the dualistic sense associated with human self-consciousness. However, as definite progress is made on the Path, the two come ever closer together until at the third initiation they fuse, thereby bringing about a direct (although not fully self-conscious) connection between the spiritual Monad and the objective consciousness of the lesser self.
That fully self-conscious linkage only takes place, so we are told, after the fourth initiation when the individual attains the first stage of Adeptship, or Arhatship. This united “thread” is thereafter used by the monadic SELF to project its consciousness anywhere it wills, even without the use of an associated “body.”21 Paradoxically, it is this same faculty that enables the Adept to create a body of appearance at will—the mayavirupa or “body of illusion”—for particular purposes. For example, Apollonius of Tyana was thereby able to appear in two geographically distant places at the same time.
We shall deal with several of these issues again in greater detail in later chapters as we concern ourselves with the specific stages of initiatory progress. Concerning these Blavatsky comments:
There are four grades of initiation mentioned in exoteric works [the fourth being that of Arhat]. . . . The Arhat, though he can see the Past, Present and Future, is not yet the highest initiate; for the Adept himself, the initiated candidate, becomes chela (pupil) to a higher initiate [i.e., a Chohan]. Three further grades have to be conquered by the Arhat who would reach the apex of the ladder of Arhatship.22
With that perspective firmly in mind, but very firmly remembering that spiritual initiation is merely a subjective evolutionary process open to all willing to make the effort (not something by which to feel psychologically superior to others), let us now take a look at the first stages of the initiatory Path. In doing so, we shall deal with its many and various progressive characteristics, again bearing in mind that many of these too are associated with those everyday human experiences with which, in greater or lesser degree, all intelligent human beings are familiar. Before we do so, however, it would be helpful to recognize that initiation itself (i.e., by the Adept Hierarchy) involves the opening up of the consciousness of the individual precedent to a transfer of progressively more subtle and more powerful energies into it. That such a process is potentially dangerous should be self-evident. That is precisely why the Adept Hierarchy approach it, in the case of all individuals (and now all groups), so very carefully and with much prior observation and testing, to ensure that the intended recipient is fully prepared and ready.