You may need to enable javascript and javascript pop-ups to view the notes and images on this page. Flash Player 9 is required.
The page is best viewed at high resolution. (It was designed at 1920x1200.) Tested in Firefox and IE 8.
Dynamic Symbols
by Duane Carpenter
Page 2
New Presentations of the Ancient Wisdom
Figure 1a: Shattered! Click to see larger image.
"When the egoic ray is the attributive Ray of Harmony, the fourth ray, the method will be along the line of the inner realisation of beauty and harmony; it causes the shattering of the causal body by the knowledge of Sound and Colour and the shattering effect of Sound. It is the process that leads to the realisation of the notes and tones of the solar system, the note and tone of individuals, and the endeavor to harmonise the egoic note with that of others. When the egoic note is sounded in harmony with other egos, the result is the shattering of the causal body, dissociation from the lower and the attainment of perfection. Its exponents develop along the line of music, rhythm and painting. They withdraw within in order to comprehend the life side of the form. The outer manifestation of that life side in the world is through that which we call art. The great painters and the superlative musicians are in many cases reaching their goal that way." (LOM:17)
The Tibetan Master Djwhal Khul has pointedout in numerous of his works that the Hierarchy will make changes in the method of presentation of the ancient wisdom teachings when human nature has outgrown the older presentations of truth. We have also been told that after 1975 we will see a whole new presentation of the ancient wisdom teachings via the radio and that they will be revelatory in nature. Why 1975? One reason is the obvious impact that Shamballa had at that time. Also, when Alice A. Bailey wrote this the radio was the most all-pervasive form of media. Radio was also the simplest and most affordable medium for the dissemination of information to large groups of people. Since 1975, the last 35 years have brought an exponential leap in the ability to disseminate the ancient wisdom teachings in new and creative ways through many channels and avenues.
"It will be obvious to you therefore that, owing to the changed polarization of the disciples of the world, the entire quality, processes and modes of activity of the Hierarchy have undergone and are undergoing change. The nature or quality of the disciples being admitted into hierarchical participation necessarily condition the rhythm and the keynote of the Hierarchy at any given time. At the same time, nothing hitherto developed or gained is ever lost, and the quality of devotion is still potently present; enrichment proceeds and, if I may use such an inadequate phrase, the perception of all within the Hierarchy is tremendously enhanced; areas of the divine perception, clothing divine purpose, are steadily being revealed." (DNA2:351)
"In my last instruction to you I dealt with some aspects of the new approach to discipleship and to initiation; it is essential that the old concepts - profoundly useful in their days - should be forgotten and the newer methods and techniques should be substituted. This is now necessary on account of the surprising unfoldment of the human consciousness during the past twenty-five years. The steps taken at the Conclave in Shamballa in 1925 (based on tentative conclusion at the previous centennial Conclave) and the pressures exerted by the Hierarchy have proved most successful, and out of the chaos of the world war (precipitated by humanity itself) there is developing a structure of truth and a paralleling responsiveness of the human mechanism which guarantees the perpetuation and the rapid unfoldment of the next stage of the teaching of the Ageless Wisdom." (DNA2:315)
"The Masters do not convey teaching through the medium of hints which could be safely given in a more open form. They have no intention at any time to be mysterious or to hold back teaching from the enquirer. Their method is, in reality, threefold:
1. The presentation of those truths which obviously grow out of a recognition of truths already presented. There is here usually a close adherence to the esoteric teaching of the time, and this method is essentially a linking presentation.
2. Occasionally (usually once in a century after their Conclave at the close of the first quarter) there is the imparting of a more advanced body of teaching. This teaching will only be recognized by a few of the foremost disciples in the world; it will, however, prove to be the ordinary form of occult teaching during the next developing cycle. It is this type of work which I have been endeavoring to do with the aid of A.A.B.
3. There is also the teaching which is definitely given within the Ashram, and which is not, at the time when the other two forms are prevalent, reduced to writing; it will find its way out into expression as need arises and as opportunity is offered to the disciples who are its custodians. Its presentation is dependent upon the unfoldment — rapid or slow — of the lesser disciples of the world.
All these three methods are in use at this present time." (DNA2:318)
"There exists at this time an inter-relation between three of the constellations upon which I would like somewhat to enlarge, because their potency and the climax of their inter-relation is being reached at this time. From 1975 on, that potency will greatly lessen until it fades out. The period of this interplay of three major energies and their focussed potent effect upon our planet began in 1875, achieved momentum in 1925, will reach its highest expression (for good or evil) in 1945 and will then decline slowly until 1975. These three constellations are: Leo, Capricorn and Pisces. These are curiously and most mysteriously related to the fourth kingdom in nature and therefore to the evolution and the destiny of the human family. Add to these the emerging energy of Aquarius, and you have four energies which are playing upon the vehicles of men and producing peculiar effects — both destructive and constructive." (EA:537)
"You have been told that this force has — during this century& mdash; made its first direct impact upon humanity; heretofore, it reached mankind in the three worlds after being stepped down and modified by transit through the great planetary centre to which we give the name of the Hierarchy. This direct impact will again take place in 1975, and also in the year 2000, but the risks will then not be so great as in the first impact, owing to the spiritual growth of mankind. Each time this energy strikes into the human consciousness some fuller aspect of the divine plan appears. It is the energy which brings about synthesis, which holds all things within the circle of the divine love. Since its impact during the past few years, human thinking has been more concerned with the production of unity and the attainment of synthesis in all human relations than ever before, and one result of this energy has been the forming of the United Nations." (R&I:716)
"As far as the other kingdoms in nature are concerned, the purification is applied by the Hierarchy, through the medium of human beings, and this can be seen in process at this time. This present activity, carried on now largely unconsciously, will be redoubled and carried forward consciously by trained initiates and disciples, working through and with aspirants. It is this that is now being studied in the various hierarchical ashrams, and when applied — after 1975 — will bring about great and important changes in world living." (ExH:694)
"We come now to a detailed analysis of Rule XIII. In the foregoing pages I gave you certain broad principles and outlined a new aspect of the work which I had undertaken to do for humanity — under instruction from the Hierarchy. The teaching I gave there is very abstruse; little of it can as yet be of real service to the majority of aspirants but a wide and general idea can take form and provide the immovable background for later teaching. I would have you remember that the teaching which I have given out has been intermediate in nature, just as that given by H.P.B., under my instruction, was preparatory. The teaching planned by the Hierarchy to precede and condition the New Age, the Aquarian Age, falls into three categories:
Preparatory, given 1875-1890...written down by H.P.B.
Intermediate, given 1919-1949...written down by A.A.B.
Revelatory, emerging after 1975...to be given on a worldwide scale via the radio.
In the next century and early in the century an initiate will appear and will carry on this teaching. It will be under the same 'impression,' for my task is not yet completed and this series of bridging treatises between the material knowledge of man and the science of the initiates has still another phase to run. The remainder of this century, as I told you elsewhere (Destiny of the Nations, page 106), must be dedicated to rebuilding the shrine of man's living, to reconstructing the form of humanity's life, to reconstituting the new civilisation upon the foundations of the old, and to the reorganising of the structures of world thought, world politics, plus the redistribution of the world's resources in conformity to divine purpose. Then and only then will it be possible to carry the revelation further." (R&I:255)
"The Dissemination of Information of a Preparatory Nature Those who do the work of reaching humanity with the needed information fall into two main groups: 1. Disciples and convinced aspirants who are today working in the field of occultism. 2. Those disciples and initiates who will emerge from the three Ashrams and whose work is largely to act as the vanguard of the Hierarchy and precede it into outer manifestation. This will begin in the year 1975, if the disciples now active will do their work adequately." (ExH:587)
The rise of mass communications, digital technology, fiber optics, satellite communication, and the internet, as well as the dynamics of modern audio-visual techniques, lend themselves to a whole new range of opportunities to present the ancient wisdom teachings inconceivable even as recently as 15 years ago. In the near future, the internet will offer training in group initiation to a much broader group of people who are ready and eager to participate in these new but ancient truths.
Definitions of Initiation From the Books by Alice A. Bailey
. . .various mental modelings and metaphoric backgrounds in the thoughtforms of initiation. . .
Initiation is a process. . .
"a process of developing inclusiveness." (EA:503)
"a process of light recognition and of light utilisation in order to enter into ever clearer light." (R&I:538)
"a process of excessively hard work, during which process the initiate becomes what he is." (R&I:685)
"a process wherein the initiate is taught how to work with energy." (DNA2:434)
"a process of energy transmission from a higher centre of energy to a lower." (R&I:735)
"essentially a process of revelation." (DNA2:257)
"a determining process in life" (EA:189)
"a process whereby the spiritual man within the personality becomes aware of himself as the soul, with soul powers, soul relationships, and soul purpose." (R&I:341)
(a process of becoming soul conscious, for) "the soul on its own plane is an initiate of all degrees." (R&I:259)
"the process whereby a soul, having exhausted the resources of the form life, and having thus achieved mastery and expression, returns again to its source. This the soul does through the medium of five stages, steps, or initiations." (EP2:209)
(a process which) "has a stabilizing effect. It renders durable the results achieved by the disciple." (LOM:340)
"a process of strenuously attained freedoms." (R&I:685)
"a process of graded triumphs." (DNA1:493)
"a process of synchronisation." (R&I:351)
"a process of divine-human integration." (EP2:310)
"a process of continuing integration into centres of force, i.e., into a Master's group, into the Hierarchy as a whole an consciously, and as disciples attain adeptship into Shamballa." (DNA1:685)
"a process whereby successive integrations attended by consequent expansions of consciousness become possible." (R&I:563)
"the processes of initiation which make the self-conscious person the group-conscious individual." (EA:286)
Initiation is a moment, an event. . .
"an event of the first importance." (EP2:12)
"a group event." (R&I:341)
"a crisis, a climaxing event, and is only truly brought about when the disciple has learnt patience, endurance and sagacity in emerging from the many preceding and less important crises." (R&I:662)
"a culminating moment of achievement, and success is a graded series of experiments with energy." (R&I:337)
"has come to be narrowed down to the moment the evolving unit definitely apprehends that. . .he has reached a point wherein a certain range of knowledge of a subjective nature, from the physical plane point of view, is his." (IHS:12-13)
"the moment of crisis wherein the consciousness hovers on the very border-line of revelation." (DNA2:91-92)
Initiation is an expansion of consciousness. . .
"enables the disciple to perceive an area of divine consciousness hitherto unknown but which, when the disciple has familiarised himself with it and with its unique phenomena, vibratory quality and interrelations, becomes for him a normal field of experience and activity." (R&I:539)
"a graded and realised series of expansions of consciousness, a steadily increasing awareness of divinity." (BC:27)
"an expansion of consciousness leading to a growing recognition of inner realities." (ExH:136)
"the process of undergoing an expansion of consciousness." (IHS:12)
"Through these centers, the needed experience is gained, the life process is intensified, the range of experience through contact with an ever-widening environment becomes possible, leading to successive expansions of consciousness which are called initiations in the later stages, when consciously undergone and definitely self-initiated." (EP2:322-23)
"a stabilised expansion of consciousness connotes initiation." (DNA1:740)
"a growing capacity to see and hear on all the planes." (IHS:13)
"Initiation marks a stage in the intensification of 'solar fire.' It has relation to the achievement of Vishnu, and marks a point in the evolution of consciousness, through self-consciousness to group consciousness, or universal consciousness." (CF:731)
"Initiation and the mystery of numbers primarily concern consciousness, and not fundamentally 'ability to function on a plane,' not the energy of matter. . ." (CF:697)
"a condition of consciousness wherein the fully prepared disciple utilises the available energies (at the time of initiation)to bring about changes within consciousness of a momentous and revelatory nature." (R&I:557)
Initiation is a recognition. . .
"essentially an expanding series of inclusive recognitions." (R&I:341)
"the recognition of the goals which are implemented from Shamballa." (R&I:207)
"a recognition." (BC:101)
(embodies three recognitions:) "a. A recognition of the end of the cycle of happenings, i.e., retrospection. b. The recognition of the appearance of an eventual yet imminent cycle, i.e., prevision. c. An acceptance of initiation or a recognition of its occurrence, i.e., the present attitude." (DNA2:340)
"the realisation, the recognition in the brain consciousness of various spheres and states of divine awareness, with a consequent life demonstration of this fact." (R&I:259)
"a process of light recognition and of light utilisation in order to enter into ever clearer light." (R&I:538)
Initiation is revelation. . .
"reveals the hidden mystery that lies at the heart of the solar system." (IHS:14)
(reveals) "worlds of being hitherto unsuspected and unrecognized, with which he must learn to cooperate, and it integrates him [the initiate] more definitely into the 'lighted area' of our planetary life." (DNA2:666)
"Initiation is in truth the name given to the revelation or new vision which ever draws the disciple onward into greater light; it is not something conferred upon him or given to him." (R&I:538)
"the revelation or new vision which ever draws the disciple onward into greater light." (R&I:538)
"a sudden realization or moment of apprehension." (IHS:13)
Initiation is understanding, apprehension, comprehension. . .
". . .is never taken unless the intuition is becoming active." (DNA2:267)
(never taken until the disciple) "has begun consciously to build the antahkarana." (R&I:442)
"an understanding of the Way, for understanding is a revealing energy which permits you to achieve." (R&I:557)
"the demonstration of intuitive understanding put to practical expression." (EA:391)
"Each initiation is the evidence in the disciple's life that he has succeeded in grasping some great divine idea." (DNA2:344)
"Primarily it involves the capacity to see, hear, and comprehend, and to synthesize and correlate knowledge." (IHS:14)
Initiation is an entrance. . .
"initiation admits a man into some area or level of the divine consciousness - into a plane or rather a state of being hitherto regarded as sealed and closed." (R&I:662)
"entry into the mind of the creating Logos." (R&I:557)
"It is first of all the entering into a new and wider dimensional world by the expansion of a man's consciousness so that he can include and encompass that which he now excludes, and from which he normally separates himself in his thinking and acts. It is, secondly, the entering into man of those energies which are distinctive of the soul and of the soul alone, - the forces of intelligent love and of spiritual will." (EP2:12)
"an entering into man of the dynamic energies of the soul forces of intelligent love and spiritual will." (EP2:12)
(a simultaneous and synthetic process)"of entering into and of being entered into." (EP2:12)
"an increased consciousness of God's plans for the world, and an increased ability to enter into those plans and to further them." (IHS:13)
"essentially a penetration into areas of the divine consciousness which are not within the normal field of consciousness of a human being." (DNA2:431)
"a dynamic 'entering into'. . .by an act of the focussed will. . .a new state of consciousness. This leads inevitably to a new realisation of being." (EA:613)
"Each of these seven initiations permits entry into the state of divine consciousness on each of the seven planes of divine experience and expression." (EA:476)
Initiation enlightens. . .
"a great experiment with energy." (R&I:549)
"a progressive sequence of directed energy impacts, characterized by points of crisis and of tension and governed in a sense not hitherto realised by the Law of Cause and Effect." (R&I:656)
"dims the light already acquired and used, and then immerses the initiate in a higher light." (R&I:539)
"It is a process of light recognition and of light utilisation in order to enter into ever clearer light. Progress from a dimly lighted area in the divine manifestation into one of supernal glory is the story of the Path of Evolution." (R&I:538)
"enhances the magnetic-attractive force of the initiate and is eliminative in effect." (R&I:735)
(makes available) "forces and energies of which he (the initiate) has had no previous knowledge and which he must learn to use as an initiate of a certain degree upon the Lighted Way." (DNA2:666)
"puts the initiate in a position to control certain related energies and enables him to become increasingly a trained manipulator of those energies." (R&I:557)
"charges the initiate with electrical force, and this charging and recharging is related to what H. P. B. calls the 'mystery of electricity'." (R&I:735)
"veils a secret . . .concerned with a peculiar type of energy which can be induced at a moment of supreme tension." (DNA2:327)
"a culminating moment of achievement, and success is a graded series of experiments with energy." (R&I:337)
"a constant fusion of the lights, progressively entered, thus enabling the initiate to see further, deeper and more inclusively." (R&I:540)
"Initiation is a moment of increased stimulation (a transmission of voltage from higher planes, a contact with higher manasic energy)
"The first three initiations are related to the great impacts or approaches called the touch of appropriation, the touch of acquiescence, and the touch of enlightenment." (EP2:269)
"a blaze of illumination thrown upon the river of existence, and it is in the nature of a whole experience." (BC:105)
Initiation is identification. . .
"a process of developing inclusiveness." (EA:503)
"entails the realisation of an increasing unity with all that lives and the essential oneness of the self with all selves." (IHS:13)
"increases group recognition." (R&I:341)
"signifies the emergence of the dominating Christ life. It means the higher synthesis and the control of the Christ consciousness which is group consciousness." (EA:265-266)
"a series of graded steps or awakenings which enable the human being to become eventually a member, or a point of light, in the Kingdom of God." (DNA2:381)
"permits a progressive entry into the mind of the creating Logos." (R&I:557)
(revelation which brings) "insight into the Mind of God." (DNA2:254)
"The goal of all the initiatory process is to admit mankind into realisation of and identification with the will or purpose of Deity." (R&I:79)
"the processes of initiation which make the self-conscious person the group-conscious individual." (EA:286)
"At initiation, man becomes aware consciously of the Presence of the planetary Logos through self-induced contact with his own divine Spirit." (CF:752)
"The thought of soul-infusion must be held in mind - a soul-indwelling which culminates at the third initiation, and of monadic control which increasingly possesses the soul-infused personality. This higher possessiveness steadily increases from the time of the third initiation until the seventh initiation; after the seventh initiation a condition can be seen which is extra-planetary in nature and of which little can be known. This brings in - for the first time - a registration or recognition of cosmic consciousness." (R&I:663)
Initiation is a point of tension. . .
"a growth in experience and the attainment thereby of a point of tension. Holding that point of tension, the initiate sees that which lies ahead." (R&I:557)
"a dramatic and a major point of tension" (R&I: 541)
"points of tension we call initiations." (R&I:541)
"The transition from one point of polarisation to another." (IHS:13)
Initiation is a crisis. . .
"Life is initiation. . . The crises in the life of the soul work out along certain lines as major initiations." (DNA1:156)
"Capricorn.. . .The Crisis of Initiation. This exists in five stages and signifies the emergence of the dominating Christ life." (EA:265)
"It is wise to note that an initiation is in reality a crisis, a climaxing event, and is only truly brought about when the disciple has learnt patience, endurance and sagacity in emerging from the many preceding and less important crises." (R&I:662)
Initiation is a consummation, a culmination. . .
"Initiation may be regarded as indicative of successive planetary consummations." (DNA2:381)
"a culminating moment of achievement, and success is a graded series of experiments with energy." (R&I:337)
"The result of all experience in any sign of the zodiac should definitely work out as an expansion of consciousness and, no matter what form this experience may take, it consummates in an initiation of some kind or other." (EA:189)
"An initiation is a culminating episode, made possible because of the self-inspired discipline to which the disciple has forced himself to conform." (R&I:662)
Initiation is integration. . .
"a process of divine-human integration." (EP2:310)
"a process of continuing integration into centres of force, i.e., into a Master's group, into the Hierarchy as a whole an consciously, and as disciples attain adeptship into Shamballa." (DNA1:685)
"a process whereby successive integrations attended by consequent expansions of consciousness become possible." (R&I:563)
Initiation is synthesis. . .
"initiation is but another name for synthesis and fusion." (EA:241)
"simplification." (DNA1:509)
"The tendency, innate and ineradicable, to blend and synthesise . . . is the basic cause of all initiation individual, racial, planetary and systematic." (EP2:220-1)
Initiation is synchronization. . .
"Synchronisation is the key to initiation." (DNA1:741)
Initiation is transference. . .
"the essential and inevitable process of transferring the primary triplicity of manifestation into the basic duality of spirit-matter." (DNA2:258)
"the transmutation of the trinity of manifestation into the duality of purpose." (DNA2:258)
"the activity of spiritual transference." (R&I:324)
Initiation is dissolution, death, abstraction. . .
An "approach to unity through the destruction of the lower, and of all that forms a barrier." (IHS:18)
"the 'dissolution of the intermediary.'" (DNA2:258)
"The great processes of initiation . . .are not only processes of expanding the consciousness but are rooted in the death or the abstraction process, leading to resurrection and ascension." (R&I:164)
"Ponder, therefore, upon this doctrine of abstraction. It covers all life processes, and will convey to you the eternally lovely secret of Death, which is entrance into life." (R&I:167)
Initiation marks. . .
"marks a permanent attainment and the beginning of a new cycle." (LOM:340)
"marks a point of attainment. It does not bring about attainment." (IHS:15)
"marks the passing of the pupil in the Hall of Wisdom into a higher class." (IHS:13)
"marks the attainment of a certain proportion of atomic matter in the bodies." (LOM:339; also IHS:16)
"marks the clearer shining forth of the inner fire." (IHS:13)
"marks a stage in the intensification of 'solar fire.'" (CF:731)
"marks a point in the evolution of consciousness, through self-consciousness to group consciousness, or universal consciousness." (CF:731)
Initiation is a method, a system. . .
"a system or a scientific process whereby the septenate of energies which compose the sum total of all the existences within our planetary Life are realised and consciously used for the working out of the divine Plan." (R&I:557)
"a method whereby the circulation of energies is furthered by the opening or the awakening of certain planetary and human centres to the impact of their ray quality, potency and divine intention." (R&I:557)
"a method whereby vibratory response is brought about." (CF:554-55)
". . .to open the door into the fifth kingdom by the method of forced initiation." (CF:715)
Initiation is liberation. . .
"a graded series of liberations, resulting in the attainment of increased freedom from that which lies behind in his (the initiate's) experience." (R&I:685)
"The Path of Initiation has at times been called the Path of Liberation." (R&I:684)
"a moving out from under ancient controls, into the control of more spiritual and increasingly higher values." (ExH:136)
Initiation connotes. . .
"connotes essentially the fusion of the negative and the positive aspects." (R&I:541)
"ever connotes activity, intelligent understanding, focussed attitude, deliberated movement, conditioning new rapports and the attainment of a new and greater ring-pass-not in consciousness." (DNA2:419)
"hard work, constant effort and strenuous mental and spiritual living." (R&I:692)
Initiation is abnormal, an experiment. . .
"to open the door into the fifth kingdom by the method of forced initiation." (CF:715)
"The fact of the abnormality of the process of initiation must here be emphasised." (CF:829)
"Initiation is in the nature of a great experiment which our planetary Logos is making during this round. In earlier and perhaps in later rounds the whole process will follow natural law." (CF:829)
Initiation is. . .
"in reality only incidental and preparatory to the Path of the Higher Evolution." (R&I:207)
"characterized by three stages initiation, realisation, and identification." (R&I:469)
characterized by "three stages of conscious activity penetration, polarisation, and precipitation." (DNA2:431)
"a technical matter differing from discipleship." (LOM:272)
"a self-initiated necessity." (EP2:177)
Initiation results. . .
"results in a horizon that continuously enlarges until it includes the sphere of creation." (IHS:13)
"affects both the consciousness and the form each in a different manner." (DNA2:420)
"develops awareness of the Presence." (EP2:16)
(carried to its consummation) "produces the liberated Master of Wisdom, free from the limitations of the individual." (EP2:16)
"at-one-ment is the result of initiation." (IHS:18)
"alignment of the inner subtler vortices with the comparatively exoteric etheric centres." (CF:207)
"by a graded series of steps is the initiate brought face to face with Truth and Existence." (IHS:118)
On the path of initiation. . .
"the three fires of the matter aspect, of the soul, and of the spirit (fire by friction, solar fire, and electric fire) merge and blend." (EP2:307)
"the four centers above the diaphragm become dominantly active," and "the center at the base of spine comes into awakened activity." (EP2:307)
"the highest kind of energy which a man can express in this solar system that of the monad, begins to control." (EP2:308)
"the whole training process is turned towards the evolution of the will and this is possible because behind the development of love lies the revelation of the will." (EA:613)
"1. Path of Evolution and Probation. a. Unfoldment of intellect and of sensory perception. b. Response to the center called Humanity. c. The mind takes control. Personality functions. 2. Path of Discipleship. a. Unfoldment of the love nature. b. Achievement of illumination. c. Response to the center called the Hierarchy. d. Buddhi or the intuition is in control. The soul functions. 3. Path of Initiation. a. Unfoldment of the will. b. Achievement of synthesis. c. Response to the center called Shamballa. d. Dynamic Purpose in control. The will-to-good. The Monad functions." (EA:614)
Initiation entails action in manas. . .
"The major initiations, or the initiations of manas, are those taken on the mental plane and in the causal body." (IHS:179)
". . .it is the positive force of the Manasadevas that produces initiation." (CF:713)
"the effort in the abstract mind to pass an examination." (IHS:13)
An initiate is. . .
"fully conscious upon the inner side of life." (DNA2:282)
"responsive to planetary, systemic and certain cosmic influences and becomes - if I might so express it - a lens through which "the many lights which are energy itself" can stream and thus be focused upon our planet."(ES:269)
"one who, in his twofold nature (soul and personality), moves forward." (R&I:72)
"not the result of the evolutionary process. He is the cause of the evolutionary process, and by means of it he perfects his vehicles of expression until he becomes initiate in the three worlds of consciousness and the three worlds of identification." (R&I:61)
"essentially one whose sense of awareness is occupied with subjective contacts and impacts and is not predominantly preoccupied with the world of outer sense perceptions." (EP2:247)
no longer ruled by the Mother of Forms" (EA:322)
"one who has taken the first steps into the spiritual kingdom, and has had the first series of spiritual revelations, each one of which is a key to a still greater revelation." (CA:118)
"Every initiate is technically a transmitter of force" (CF:715)
"I would here remind you that, though initiation is taken in Capricorn, the man is an initiate before he is initiated. This is the true secret of initiation." (ES:229)
Figure 1: Agnishvattas Click to see larger image.
Initiation is a subjective process of integration, yet it ever has its material counterpart that takes place within the student's three lower bodies. The occultist knows the outer world of form is just an extension of this inner subjective life. Both the material and spiritual realms will one day be seen to be of equal importance, and both are needed to affect and change the whole person. It is a reciprocal process in which the forces of abstraction and energy-matter interact creating endless variations of life-forms.
There is an esoteric side to all hierarchical impression that has a direct relationship to electricity, magnetism, and electromagnetic waves impinging on substance. It is a seventh ray Uranian response to the primary descent of fohat, which is a first ray force. The electrification of the planet and the spread of mass communications through electronic means may be part of the great externalization process in ways that are difficult to understand in the short term. This unfoldment may be an initiatory response of our planetary Logos to even higher energy impacts that come from cosmic sources.
The Revelation of new teachings that the Tibetan speaks of will not simply be communicated by additional technical information that is imparted through the written word. It will include an upgrade and etherialization of the very mediums through which these new Aquarian impulses are seeking to ground themselves on the physical plane. The recognition of the deva evolution, which we know is such an intimate part of the externalization process, is facilitated through an interaction with light and sound. Much of this advanced work for the disciple is carried forward on the high mental plane.
For average humanity lost in a miasma of maya, glamour, and illusion, there may be a need to transform the actual physical environment in new and creative ways in order to better recognize and receive these new and higher impulses. The radio and the subsequent arrival of television were an exponential leap in the power of communication from the written word, just as digital technology and the high speed wireless communication are an exponential leap beyond radio and television.
The Transformation of Communication: Unified Communications, Virtualization, Cloud Computing, etc.
"Unified communications (UC) is the integration of real-time communication services such as instant messaging (chat), presence information, IP telephony, video conferencing, call control and speech recognition with non real-time communication services such as unified messaging (integrated voicemail, e-mail, SMS and fax). UC is not a single product, but a set of products that provides a consistent unified user interface and user experience across multiple devices and media types." (definition of unified communications at Wikipedia)
Marshall McLuhan, dubbed the high priest of the media in the 1960s and 1970s, made a startling statement that has found little understanding and recognition even 40 years later. And what was his startling statement? "The medium is the message." (This was elaborated in his 1964 book, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man). To paraphrase McLuhan, it may not be as important in the long-term what we were watching on our television screens or movie theater screens, as is the extraordinary fact that we were placing ourselves under direct influence or exposure to an electronic light board that was pouring out powerful vibrating beams of color and light. These flickering and rhythmic bands of flashing light and sound go directly into the viewer's conscious and subconscious mind, and thereby alter the viewer's perceptions of reality in radically new ways of which we know nothing.
Figure 2: Group Initiation Rule 6 Click to see larger image.
The occultist understands that the universe is composed of different qualities and types of vibration and electronic pulsation, and that when these vibrations impact you the effect can be either positive or negative. The moment the average person gets out of bed in the morning, he is literally deluged and bombarded by a sea of electronic influences. McLuhan for good reasons saw this power to be mainly a negative thing, since most of its use was in advertising and persuasion in commercial ventures, the sole criteria being the profit motive.
Studies in neuroscience have recently confirmed McLuhan's earlier suspicions and discovered that brainwave patterns and activity can be radically altered or conditioned by modern methods of communication and media exposure. It is this hypnotic entrainment (brainwave synchronization) and exposure to rhythmic flashing light and sound (often used in symbols, logos, slogans and short mantric phrases or sayings) that fuels much of the consumer-driven economy. It is an economy based to a large degree on artificially created desires as opposed to real human needs. The brainwave patterns and etheric body of an individual or any large group of people may be more radically influenced by the flickering and flashing lights that communicate mass advertisements than by the product or service the ad is intended to sell. What entertains or amuses us often unconsciously entrains us, and we become what we are exposed to continuously over long periods of time.
Students of the ancient wisdom teachings will understand the opportunity these new electronic tools create and will use many of the same techniques positively and with the viewer or participant's consent. (See also the discussion of rotary motion in Appendix II.) The modern occultist understands that brain wave fluctuations are directly conditioned by the etheric body of any person from monadic and soul levels downward. Yet our outer environments in which our personalities live also alter, change, and condition those original impulses once they have arrived here onto the physical plane. Raja yoga has instructed students for thousands of years to control their outer as well as inner environments or run the risk of being controlled by undesirable influences.
What the mystics and idealists in the world must come to understand is that this process of vibratory integration is reciprocal and also happens from below upward. Both sides of the material-spiritual spectrum are required to build in the new energies and forms that will usher in the true Age of Aquarius.
We know that the first and seventh rays work in conjunction with each other, the seventh ray forming the basis for the grounding of first ray force. It is the understanding of this first ray force that the Tibetan has clearly stated to be the most important aspect of the teaching he provided on the new discipleship training. If this is true, it is only logical to assume that these powerful subjective forces will demand new and more refined forms to ground themselves and work through.
If there is to be an ever-expanding progression of new and more sophisticated forms to receive and ground these new spiritual impulses, from what direction should we look for these changes to come? Unfortunately most new-agers see this purification process to be carried out primarily within their physical bodies and personality vehicles. One's eating habits, aspirations, and mental atmosphere may be a good place to start in this purification process, but it is the entire planet that is demanding purification. This may be the hidden and esoteric side of the new eco-green revolution that is now building momentum within the world.
Are we trying to save the planet because its destruction and demise will have a direct relationship to our survival, or are we attempting to salvage or assist a planetary life in whom we are but mere cells and whose survival will have reciprocal and far-reaching consequences on all that lives within its body and sphere of influence? Gurdjieff coined an interesting phrase in his spiritual work which applies here when he said that we as individuals and integrated groups must learn not only to save ourselves from the illusion and ignorance that exists everywhere around us, but also to go even further and take on the burden of our common Father-Logos.
Part of lifting that burden may lie in trying to slow down and reverse the planet's ecological decline to pre-industrial levels. Another part that may be even more significant is to find a clear place of receptivity and grounding of the high purpose of the Logos right down here onto the physical plane in new and unexpected ways — a grounding of spiritual force that can be felt in the very etheric, genetic and cellular structure of the physical body and not simply in the higher vehicles. The directives from the innermost courts of Shamballa have gone out to humanity that the highest and the lowest must now meet and fuse.
Figure 3: God is a Consuming Fire Click to see larger image.
This electrification or lifting up we know is consummated between the third and sixth initiations when the initiate breaks down all hindrances or intermediaries to the one Monadic Life. Here we see the great third aspect of creation that impulsed from the highest levels of spiritual will lifts the perceptions of the initiate upwards towards cosmic levels. (AAB: CF: Kundalini and the Spine.)
It is only the full force and fury of the kundalini fire that has the dynamic power to rend all the veils from the top to the bottom and bring new life and liberation to the very foundation of the earth's material substance — first within the initiate's physical-etheric body and later within the etheric body and genetic and cellular structure of the very earth itself.
One of the great mysteries or secrets that can only be revealed after the third initiation is how the highest spiritual forces and the lowest material forces symbolized by ray one and ray seven respectively, can combine and fuse to create one straight and uninterrupted path through all intermediaries and lesser types of energy and force. It is only in the ascent of the kundalini fire that the third aspect of the Logos perfectly fuses and blends with the great Mother of Creation from below and the great Father of the High Heavens from above. The 7 become the 3 and the 3 become numerologically speaking the 2 and then the 1.
True, without error, certain and most true; that which is above is as that which is below and that which is below is as that which is above, for performing the miracles of the one Thing; and as all things were from one by the mediation of one so all things arose from this one thing by adaptation.
The Father of it is the sun, the mother of it is the moon; the wind carries it in its belly and the Mother of it is the earth. This is the Father of all perfection, and consummation of the whole world. The power of it is integral if it be turned into earth.
Thou shalt separate the earth from the fire and subtle from the gross, gently with much sagacity; it ascends from earth to Heaven, and again descends to earth; and receives the strength of the superiors and the inferiors - so thou hast the glory of the whole world; therefore let all obscurity fly before thee. This is the strong fortitude of all fortitudes, overcoming every subtle and penetrating every solid thing. So the world was created.
To the high initiate ray 1 and ray 7 are simply the same force; during manifestation they are seen as opposing poles, but in reality they are the summation of one all pervading power. At this time historically the highest aspect of the 7th ray and the 3rd ray is hidden and forms a protective barrier to prevent premature disclosure, but in the next system it will be an intimate part of the third evolution of "spirit".
Figure 4: The Secret of Fire Click to see larger image.
Although our present second ray solar system is on the evolutionary arc upwards, the lesser builders still perform important tasks. One of these tasks is to create the chalice or crucible within which these higher forces can be born and cyclically grow. All plants in the material world require an elaborate root system to bring forth fruit and flowers. It is equally true on higher levels of existence.
The mystery and purpose of the third aspect of the Logos and its sacred fusion with the highest levels of spiritual identification and will, via rays 1 and 7, are carefully veiled except to those who have opened their hearts and can direct its terrific voltage for redemptive purposes.
Buddhi or the principal of Love works astrologically through Mercury, a 4th ray planet, stimulating the heart center which in time eventually creates an alignment and resonance with the base of the spine center. It is only the advanced stimulation of the heart that can have a reciprocal effect on the base of the spine center causing the great serpent fire to ascend along the etheric spine and be released out at the top of the head or thousand-petaled lotus center. This can only be achieved we know when the disciple has done the preliminary work of personality integration and soul-fusion.
This is also the rationale and esoteric explanation made by HPB in The Secret Doctrine that buddhi activates the great kundalini or serpent fire in all advanced initiates. There is a direct 4th ray channel and link from the heart to the base of the spine center.
In the study of the rays and which ones work through which centers within the human organism or etheric body we must come to understand that all of the seven rays work through all of the seven centers at one time or other. This is an important consideration, for as we shall see what are considered as solid principles or laws by the lower mind are simply descriptions of energy and force in motion, and that these circulating forces may not be as easy to classify as distinctly separate entities.
The Tibetan describes this great lifting up and fusion of spirit and matter in this way:
"The secret of the Fire lies hid in the second letter of the Sacred Word. The mystery of life is concealed within the heart. When the lower point vibrates, when the Sacred Triangle glows, when the point, the middle centre, and the apex likewise burn, then the two triangles — the greater and the lesser — merge with one flame which burneth up the whole." "Fohat rusheth through space. He searcheth for his complement. The breath of the unmoving one, and the fire of the One Who seeth the whole from the beginning rush to meet each other, and the unmoving becomes the sphere of activity." (CF:172-173)
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - Alice Bailey By giving an animated version of this idea of the upper and lower triads it can help the student have a more accurate picture of this magical process and how there are clear lines of contact between the upper and lower principals in man. Before this fusion of the lower and higher triads the student is faced with two powerful currents or energies described in the next quote by DK going in opposite directions.“Through the activity of the attractive life of his soul, he realizes the attraction of matter and of form, and is forced to recognize the urge and pull of both of them. He learns to feel himself as "pendant 'twixt the two great forces", and, once the dualities are grasped, it dawns on him slowly and surely that the deciding factor in the struggle is his divine will, in contradistinction to his selfish will. Thus the dual forces play their part until they are seen as two great streams of divine energy, pulling in opposite directions, and he becomes then aware of the two paths, mentioned in our rule. One path leads back into the dreary land of rebirth, and the other leads through the golden gate to the city of free souls. One is therefore involutionary and involves him in deepest matter; the other leads him out of the body nature, and makes him eventually aware of his spiritual body, through which he can function in the kingdom of the soul.” (TWM 229-30)
In a more detailed and expanded image showing the individual ray structure of a disciple with the upper and lower triad represented by triangles, and the soul body or angel fading out beginning at the 3rd initiation might look like this. (Graphic image Here)
Figure 4a: MONAD Click to see larger image.
By giving an animated version of this idea of the upper and lower triads it can help the student have a more accurate picture of this magical process and how there are clear lines of contact between the upper and lower principals in man. Before this fusion of the lower and higher triads the student is faced with two powerful currents or energies described in the next quote by DK going in opposite directions.“Through the activity of the attractive life of his soul, he realizes the attraction of matter and of form, and is forced to recognize the urge and pull of both of them. He learns to feel himself as "pendant 'twixt the two great forces", and, once the dualities are grasped, it dawns on him slowly and surely that the deciding factor in the struggle is his divine will, in contradistinction to his selfish will. Thus the dual forces play their part until they are seen as two great streams of divine energy, pulling in opposite directions, and he becomes then aware of the two paths, mentioned in our rule. One path leads back into the dreary land of rebirth, and the other leads through the golden gate to the city of free souls. One is therefore involutionary and involves him in deepest matter; the other leads him out of the body nature, and makes him eventually aware of his spiritual body, through which he can function in the kingdom of the soul.” (TWM 229-30)
Speaking on the formulas for group initiation in Discipleship in the New Age, volumes 1 and 2 — which we are told is a second ray presentation — the Tibetan reiterates the same identical theme on the limitations of the lower mind and the need to awaken the intuition through new and invocative symbols:
"The new teachings on initiation and self-transformation are impossible to convey only in words or through the old outworn presentations that appeal primarily to the emotions and lower mind of the students". (DNA2:283)
DK speaking about the importance of spiritual hints reiterates the same theme on the limitations of mere words in this passage:
"The hint upon which he is working will tend always towards the simplification of knowledge, of motive, and consequently of activity.
It will be distinguished by syntheseis.
It will be recognized as calling for the exercise of the intuition or of the pure reason;this is what Pantanjali describes as "straight knowledge," uncomplicated and, at the same time, profoundly inclusive.
It will be more easily interpreted by symbols than by words or formulated sentences."
(DNA2:416)
Figure 5 Seven Rays - A Band of Seven Colors Click to see larger image.
Black and white tabulations and simple charts which were useful in the past must eventually give way to include more holistic and dynamic symbols that are so ethereal in composition that they will invoke an immediate sense of recognition by those who study and meditate on their inner meaning. Hierarchical and soul symbols that vibrate on the high mental plane and above are not static but are in a constant state of motion. Many new age groups who have little knowledge of the deeper aspects of the esoteric and occult path have attempted to bring more color, animation and vibrancy into these new emerging spiritual fields.
The question I ask the reader is why have not the symbols that the Tibetan and H.P. Blavatsky given throughout their momentous works been put into more graphic and animated form? If the greatest occult truth that can be enunciated by the disciple is that "All is energy", and energy we know is in a constant state of motion, why do we not have more accurate representatives of these inner subjective processes in graphic form?
The electrification and electronification of the planet as well as the spread of mass communications may be a more important part of the spiritualization of matter than is commonly understood. It will in the long term allow for certain important cosmic alignments to be received directly by humanity in future cycles. The internet and many types of media communication, for all of their obvious flaws and limitations, disseminate more than words, concepts, information, and ideas. Mass communication, could we but see the big picture, is a direct expression of the planetary Logos' etheric body of light which is growing more vibrant and luminous with each new cycle.
This electrification of lighted substance is demanding recognition within the world of men in ways that are not easy to comprehend in the short cycle. The average person may be so hypnotized by the vast array of electronic communication gadgets that they purchase daily that they may not understand the esoteric fact that these electronic devises are slowly transforming all areas of life in radically new ways.
Figure 6 Seven Rays - Circle of Sevenfold Light Click to see larger image.
Is it possible that the dissemination of interior light outward may actually be coming from what appear as very mundane and unobvious places? We speak of the potential of a unified planet with one heart and one mind, but what are the tools and mediums that will help assist in that vast and complex integrative process? Is it possible that to have a true global mind we must first have a paralleling integrated and streamlined method of communication? Information and education are the bases of all occult progress on the path of initiation in the early stages, and it is only when these preparatory connections are made that more advanced telepathic and mental work can progress.
The earth when viewed etherically will be seen to be in the process of weaving living threads of light. These pulsating threads grow brighter and more luminance performing two primary tasks. One, insulating the planet from undesirable influence that periodically overflow from cosmic evil, and two, building in the body of light and sound that will allow the earth and all of humanity — as a part of its extended matrix — to make its next exponential leap forward on the path of evolution.
All advanced triangle work has its prototype on cosmic levels, but it will always find a place of grounding within our planetary sphere. What is required historically is to initiate those same redemptive procedures that the Logos undertakes right here within the rank and file of humanity as certain disciplines and practices. The power of massed invocation by humanity at certain stated times are one of the basic prerequisites for a new world spiritual order and a new world religion.
Figure 7: Night on Planet Earth Click to see larger image.
This is also the rationale of why humanity needs to control the juggernaut of electronic stimulation he is subjected to at this time historically into positive and spiritual avenues. Those who control the media and the information that is exchanged there control to a large extent the world. But until there are more advanced disciples at the forefront of mass communication forums we will have the endless distortions, lies and glamours that prevent the average person from reaching their full spiritual potential. A person who is free from desire cannot be controlled by a group of economic profiteers whose sole criteria for manipulating the media is the profit motive. Freedom is the keynote of the New Aquarian forces that are attempting to ground themselves within the world at this time and only those free from undesirable influences can be at the forefront of this important work.
With the advent of modern media techniques and technologies, alignment, meditation, and invocation can now for the first time historically take on radically new directions. The Mysteries will eventually demand some uniformity of approach to deity, and this is one of the ways in which it will achieve these results. The "new world religion" described by AAB will not be based on a composite of exoteric religions as they now exist, but will be based on the scientific formulas and laws that are taken from the fusion of ancient yoga and modern quantum physics.
Is it possible that light and revelation in a seventh ray form may paradoxically be right in front of us, or under our proverbial noses to quote a common cliché, but we are struggling to see a grand plan that is so far in the future we miss its obvious roots growing right beneath our feet?
It is only over long cycles of time that we can see that the seemingly innocuous changes that happen to us on a daily basis and in our immediate environment can have wide and far reaching consequences when projected downstream or over an extended period of time. What is taking place along exoteric lines is simultaneously taking place on mental and intuitive levels. Just as average human beings will be swept up into the future by radical changes in the social, economic, political, and cultural environments in which they live, so too will disciples who are nearing the portal of initiation demand new and more advanced teaching techniques and tools. Spiritual practices and techniques used in the past and proven successful were foundational and will soon be infused by a whole new series of techniques and teaching venues that reflect this progress. Under the influence of emerging divinity man evolves, and with this progress comes a correspondence of new ideas and a new spiritual language.
Let us find those symbols and those new "arresting words" that can help us move forward and comprehend that inner divinity that has remained for eons so illusive and indefinable for the mass of men. We have been told the next major expression of teachings from the Trans-Himalayan Lodge will come in 2025. Since it is clear it will not be mere information alone that will characterizes these new teachings but light itself that is to be received and assimilated in new and creative ways, what then should we look for in the interim period knowing that past and future cycles must always overlap and blend without clear lines of demarcation? It is the author's hope that what is presented here can characterize in some small way some insights into understanding these ancient truths in new and dynamic ways.
Symbols on Mental Levels
The idea of the release of interior light right down onto the physical plane through new electronic means can also be applied on mental levels through the use of symbols that we choose to meditate on or view.
Figure 9 From The Rays and the Initiations Click to see larger image.
In Theosophy we have been given a series of tabulations and charts that however helpful historically at the time they were given were only meant to convey a general idea of a process of energy building or movement that is far more holistic and organic in nature. It is for this reason these earlier charts, symbols and tabulations by law must be revised through the use of new advanced media techniques and disseminated to a wider audience via the internet and the high speed information highway.
Highways often need bridges and all esotericism requires that we build from what is known to what is unknown. In the final analyses the antahkarana or rainbow bridge in its two phases is built from strands of living light woven from out of the disciple's own bodies. All esoteric art, language and symbols must come to reflect that great truth.
The written word we know creates a necessary base and gives the lower mind some place from which to collect and amass the necessary details and information to understand any given subject. Unless this information is not eventually synthesized onto the higher mental planes into larger and more organic wholes it will be difficult for the student to move forward in the recognition of the Spiritual Intuition and the Divine Will.
Figure 10: FOHAT - Penrose Twister Click to see larger image.
The Tibetan gives a number of symbols that the student should understand and meditate on that we shall explore. It is the author's opinion that this list will include for the 21st century some dynamic additions. Symbols such as White holes, black holes, anti matter, dark matter, the dual vortex, worm holes, the möbius, lemonscape, Penrose's twister and the hyper-sphere to name a few of the more important. In the modern discovery of string theories in Physics concepts of time, space and motion have been given completely new meaning. The ancient esoteric theories of Holism are now being rediscovered by contemporary science on a daily bases and will form a whole new branch of science when allied and paralleled with yogic teachings. (This concept is so astonishing in its implications for modern day spiritual training that it will be dealt with separately in another commentary.)
One of these new visual symbols, the vortex is given in a rudimentary form in The Rays and the Initiations where the different levels of initiation and expansion that lie before the disciple are shown as cones rather than as the usual horizontal bars stacked one upon the other. (Figure 9)
This commentary and its accompanied graphic images can be said to expand on that image and show its relevance to a new and dynamic language of energy and force. This volume was published in 1960 and was one of the last books given out by DK via AAB. As we shall demonstrate the cone or vortex is a more realistic and synthetic replica of a ray or plane according to DK and how the whole cosmos with its many attributes esoterically is seen or experienced to the inner subjective eye.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, a great manual for initiate training, affirms that three areas of study and research should be initiated by the disciple to understand the identification with the will aspect of deity.
1. Collect what has been purposely scattered through all his works into a comprehensible whole. 2. Master the charts with the eye, and 3. Study the Stanzas of Dyzan.
The Mastery of charts with the eye is clearly one. The study of the Stanzas of Dyzan must also be expanded and bridged from mere words which relate more to the world of causes to graphic images and symbols which relate to the world of meaning.
We are putting Figure 11 on a separate page (under construction)
The Old Commentary which forms the bases of all raja yoga and is foundational to understanding the new Agni Yoga of Fire is full of rich symbolic images that have yet to be rendered into visual form.Because Fire is a keynote of these new teachings on Agni Yoga as well as the Will of Deity. Fire should be visualized in its many forms as alive, vibrant and in dynamic motion.Symbolic renderings on the form side must be so invocative and ethereal that they will invoke a faster comprehension and response from the viewer and can convey what is taking place on more expanded levels with greater facility.
A symbol gains its power and strength by becoming a doorway or bridge in which what is hidden can become revealed and what is happening on more than one level be comprehended simultaneously. Symbols that convey the idea of energy and force in motion as they build and destroy, circulate and flow will be the keynote of the new Aquarian symbols that are attempting to descend historically onto the planet and its mental atmosphere.
DK has this to say about the importance of symbols.
"It will now be apparent why so much stress is laid upon the study of symbols, and why students are urged to ponder and meditate upon the cosmic and systemic signs. It prepares them for the grasp and inner retention of the symbols and formulas which embody the knowledge whereby they can eventually work. These formulas are based upon nine symbols which are now recognized:
The cross in its varying forms.
The lotus.
The triangle.
The cube.
The sphere and the point.
Eight animal forms, the goat, the bull, the elephant, the man, the dragon, the bear, the lion, and the dog.
The line.
Certain signs of the Zodiac, hence the need for the study of astrology.
The cup, or the Holy Grail.
All these symbols allied, interwoven, or taken in part, are combined to express one or other of the seven Secrets. The initiate has to recognize them by sight as well as to hear them, and by an effort of the will to imprint them irrevocably upon his memory. This he is aided to do in three ways: — First, by a long prior training in observation; this can be begun here and now by all aspirants, and as they learn to imprint details accurately upon their memory they are laying the foundation for that acute instantaneous apprehension of that which is shown them by the Hierophant; secondly, by having cultivated within themselves the power to visualize again that which has once been seen. It will be apparent here why the emphasis has been laid by all wise teachers of meditation upon the faculty of the careful building of mental pictures." (IHS:165-66)
The idea of hearing and seeing a symbol esoterically can only be understood by recognizing that symbols are devic forces that are created or set in motion by the indwelling will of some entity more powerful than themselves.
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire gives one of the most powerful symbols with its presentation of Babbitt's 'ultimate atom' or Anu. (See also Appendix II) This symbol which is essentially a composite of a number of lesser symbols gives a fourth dimensional rendering if the student can visualize it in motion. If an image or symbol can be clearly seen by the eyes of the student by some type of graphic rendering it makes it easier to reproduce inwardly on mental levels.
Figure 13: Anu Polarities From Occult Chemistry by Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater Click to see larger image.
During the initiatory experience what is visualized must always precede the actual experience. It is the picture making faculty of the imagination that helps to build and create the bridge from what is known to what is unknown.This symbol is clearly a multi-directional and multi-dimensional structure that when seen in motion is suddenly freed from the harsh concretizations of the lower mind that have limited other more historical and well know symbols. This image is a replica in miniature of the inner workings of deity and his magnificent body of shifting and moving forces as seen in the next animation.
(ANU) Press Play to Watch Video
Figure 14 Designer Unknown Contact us if you know.
Every esoteric sphere found on the inner planes rotates, and has an inlet vortex, and an outlet vortex and demonstrates how any new energy or force starting at the top and ending at the bottom can circulate through the entire organism. Seen as an animation we can begin to understand how the 7 rays or planes, although separate entities, can nevertheless embed or nest seamlessly together without violating the essential integrity of any of the other six. The shared animation seen above this texts should be visualized as one of seven all operating simultaneously, each one having 3 primary rays and 4 subsidiary ray bands. When all 7 are taken with their seven rays together, we have 7 x 7 or 49 in all. Each different vortex should be visualized as superimposed with greater luminosity and vibrancy one upon the other, yet all are connected seamlessly into one greater composite organism. The rays and planes should be visualized as operating spherically, and are more in the nature of a multidimensional holographic image, as opposed to something tangible that we can force into a lineal chart or tabulation.
"In this final rule for disciples and initiates, a great summation is embodied. I would here point out again (as I have so frequently in the past) that the obvious meaning — no matter how elevated — is not that with which we shall deal. It is the significance behind the meaning which is ever the concern of the initiate mind. Students would do well to remember the following sequence of words, embodying ideas: Symbol, Meaning, Significance, Light, regarding light as the emanating creative energy — the organiser of the symbol, the revealer of the meaning, the potency of the significance."
"We have studied the rules and have penetrated deeply into the world of significances. Most of you have not, however, passed beyond the stage of groping in the world of meaning. The reason for this is that you have not yet taken the third initiation. I would ask you also to bear in mind that the world of symbols is that of the personal life, of the phenomenal world as that phrase covers the three worlds of human evolution; the world of meaning is the world in which the soul lives and moves with intention and understanding; the world of significance is the world of the Spiritual Triad, which only confers its freedom fully after the third initiation. (R&I:285-86)
"The idea of meaning, cause and being underlies the symbology or the significance of the formula with which we are concerned in this instruction. I have pointed out to you before the difficulty of putting these ancient symbols or symbolic writings into such form that they can convey meaning through language. This difficulty is well-nigh insurmountable in connection with this third formula. The reason for this is that this formula has been preserved as sounds or (if I may use so ambiguous a phrase) as trumpeted words. It has not been committed to inscription as have the two previous symbolic formulas which you have already received. All that I can do is to give you a meaning (as far as I myself can understand and you can grasp) of these great sounds or chords, massed together and interspersed with certain very ancient phrases. You know yourselves how difficult it is to express the significance of the sound OM. This is a still more difficult task; little human thinking has been applied as yet to this Formula but much has been given to the Sacred Word. Until some thought has been applied to what I shall now attempt to give you, it is no easy matter to find the words to express the underlying idea — the idea you can contact at your present point of development. . . .
"To the initiate who uses this formula, creating the necessary sounds and enunciating the ancient words in due place (and these I may not give you), the following six thoughts are emphasised in his consciousness; these six thoughts will give you the intent of the formula as clearly as is possible. It is not possible to convey to you the true beauty of the concepts, but if you will have in mind the thought of meaning as light on life, of cause as the breath of experience, and of Being as the initiator of all that is, then some vision may come, some dream arise in your consciousness, and some power of accomplishment pour in."(DNA2:283-84)
T o understand the antahkarana or rainbow bridge and its relationship to the seven rays in a more expanded way one should learn to visual a torus or a dual vortex that seamlessly connected moves both up and down simultaneously and is in constant circulating motion. The magic of spiritual growth is not linear, from here to there, but spherical, like a balloon that as it inflates expands exponentially on all sides equally yet passing down the longitude and latitude of this spherical life can be seen rotating energies rising and falling as they circulate.
Speaking in Discipleship in the New Age, Vol. 2, about the important differences the disciple should understand about the "world of meaning", "the world of causes", and "the world of being" DK makes states:
"The initiate works from his place upon that inner side. During the early stages of the initiatory process he works in the world of meaning. After the third initiation he works consciously in the world of causes, until such time as he is advanced enough to work in the world of being. The aspirant is endeavouring to grasp the purpose of the world of meaning and to apply the knowledge gained to his daily life with understanding. The disciple is endeavouring to comprehend the significance of the world of causes and to relate cause and effect in a practical manner. The initiate of higher degree utilises the potencies of these three worlds of meaning, cause and being to implement the purpose of Sanat Kumara."
"These differences are not hard and fast, with clear lines of demarcation; life is fluid and moving and the points of attainment are myriad in number and progressing forward all the time, but the general picture will serve to carry your thoughts away from the "trappings of initiation," from the coloring and the unimportant, so-called facts (actual and imagined) which have been so much emphasized by the occult groups and leaders and which have been held out as inducements to would-be disciples. I would have this group which I am training forget the details about initiation as presented so oft by the mystery monger and the emotional person, and concentrate upon the far more factual realities of meaning, cause and being. The old and outworn presentations were the product of the concrete mind, and are therefore crystallizing in their effects and distorting in their results; The new approach which I seek to indicate makes its appeal to the abstract mind and to the soul, whose values are sound, and eventually to the intuition; it is not so colorful an appeal as far as the personality is concerned, but it will produce more creative results and lead the neophyte along a safer road, with fewer disappointments and failures." (DNA2:282-83)
The following quotes, commentary, and accompanied colored images attempt to bring new and creative insight to some of the basics of occult study and research — the idea of the spiritual Hierarchy, the soul, the rays and planes.In spite of what might appear to be a very abstract presentation, those who make an effort to open themselves to the higher mind and intuition will find there are some very practical and utilitarian uses for this work.
Figure 17 Every Human on One of the Seven Rays Click to see larger image.
To work in any of the many specialized departments of esotericism, such as esoteric healing, esoteric astrology, esoteric psychology, and the teaching of meditation, will require some larger and more holistic maps of these hidden landscapes of energy and force than have previously been given. It is imperative that students of the ageless wisdom study how energy and force build and destroy within their own little microcosms. It is in this way, through the law of correspondence and analogy, we may be put in touch with and comprehend what is taking place on higher and more ethereal levels.
In many ways this work that I am presenting here can be considered a clarification as well as an extension of what HPB and AAB gave. When the disciple directly enters the world of energy and force, the discrepancies and differences of language fall away. What is left is the comprehension of how simple the inner subjective life may be, complex in its outer theories, principles, and laws, but strikingly simple and elegant in its free flowing beauty and design. This is not to infer that the disciple during the initiatory experience is not entering into a progressively wider and more powerful arena of forces, but that these forces push towards synthesis and not diversity. The influence of the 4th ray will be apparent to the student of ray psychology in this presentation, yet these truths are equally important to all the rays.
There are many paradoxes of the occult path that can only be surmounted or reconciled by transcending the lower mind once it has done its preliminary work and entered into an inner landscape of shifting and circulating forces — an inner mosaic and tapestry of God's body that waits patiently for each student to explore and comprehend within himself.
