Telepathy and the Etheric Vehicle

by Alice A Bailey

  TELEPATHY AND THE ETHERIC VEHICLE

  by

  ALICE A. BAILEY

  Index Edition

  Published by the Lucis Publishing Companies

  The first and only publisher of the complete works

  of Alice A. Bailey

  www.lucistrust.org/books

  COPYRIGHT © 1950 BY LUCIS TRUST

  COPYRIGHT © RENEWED 1978 BY LUCIS TRUST

  First Printing, 1950

  Sixth Printing, 1971 (First Paperback Edition)

  Fourteenth Printing, 2014

  ISBN No. 085330-116-6

  Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 50-11465

  E Book 1st edition 2013. This edition 2018. ISBN No. 978-085330-416-6

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  The publication of this book is financed by the Tibetan Book Fund which is established for the perpetuation of the teachings of the Tibetan and Alice A. Bailey.

  This Fund is controlled by the Lucis Trust, a tax-exempt, religious, educational corporation.

  The Lucis Publishing Companies are non-profit organisations owned by the Lucis Trust. No royalties are paid on this book.

  This book has been translated into Danish, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian Serbo-Croation, Spanish and Swedish. Translation into other languages is proceeding.

  LUCIS PUBLISHING COMPANY

  866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 482, New York, NY 10017

  LUCIS PRESS LIMITED

  Suite 54, 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EF

  BOOKS BY ALICE A. BAILEY

  Initiation, Human and Solar

  Letters on Occult Meditation

  The Consciousness of the Atom

  A Treatise on Cosmic Fire

  The Light of the Soul

  The Soul and its Mechanism

  From Intellect to Intuition

  A Treatise on White Magic

  From Bethlehem to Calvary

  Discipleship in the New Age–Vol. I

  Discipleship in the New Age–Vol. II

  Problems of Humanity

  The Reappearance of the Christ

  The Destiny of the Nations

  Glamour: A World Problem

  Telepathy and the Etheric Vehicle

  The Unfinished Autobiography

  Education in the New Age

  The Externalisation of the Hierarchy

  A Treatise on the Seven Rays:

  Vol. I–Esoteric Psychology

  Vol. II–Esoteric Psychology

  Vol. III–Esoteric Astrology

  Vol. IV–Esoteric Healing

  Vol. V–The Rays and the Initiations

  Contents

  Cover

  EXTRACT FROM A STATEMENT BY THE TIBETAN

  THE GREAT INVOCATION

  SECTION ONE—TEACHING ON TELEPATHY

  I. THE FIELD OF TELEPATHIC INTERPLAY

  II. TELEPATHIC WORK

  III. THREE TYPES OF TELEPATHY

  Two Other Groups of Telepathic Possibilities

  IV. THREE TYPES OF ENERGY INVOLVED

  V. THE GROWTH OF TELEPATHIC RAPPORT

  VI. GROUP TELEPATHIC WORK

  VII. THE SCIENCE OF IMPRESSION

  Sources of Impression to the Three Planetary Centres

  VIII. THE SUPREME SCIENCE OF CONTACT

  Its Goal in the Evolutionary Life Process

  IX. EXPANDING AREAS OF CONSCIOUS INTERACTION

  X. SEQUENTIAL REVELATION OF RELATIONSHIPS

  Linking Groups Within the Planetary Life

  Mind the Focus of Planetary Development

  XI. RESULTS OF CONTACT AND RECEPTIVITY

  Planetary Sequence of Impression

  XII. RELATION OF THE HUMAN TO THE HIERARCHICAL CENTRE

  Sources of Impression for the Disciple

  His Contribution to the Divine Plan

  XIII. TELEPATHIC SENSITIVITY A NORMAL UNFOLDMENT

  Paralleling Spiritual Development

  Registration, Recording and Interpretation

  XIV. HIGHER ASPECTS OF RELATIONSHIP

  The Impressing Agents of the Divine Will

  XV. INTER-PLANETARY AND EXTRA-PLANETARY RELATIONSHIPS

  Humanity’s Key Role

  Seven Statements Depicting the Pattern of the Present Planetary Work

  The Centres and the Ray Energies

  Separateness: the Great Illusion

  SECTION TWO — TEACHING ON THE ETHERIC VEHICLE

  I. THE NATURE OF THE ETHERIC BODY

  II. THE BASIS OF NON-SEPARATENESS

  III. PLANETARY AND HUMAN CENTRES

  The Changing Pattern of the Planetary Etheric Body

  IV. THE CENTRES AND THE PERSONALITY

  Relationship Between the Higher and the Lower Centres

  V. THE NATURE OF SPACE

  VI. THE PLANETARY LIFE — A CENTRE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM

  Central Triangle of Energies

  The Sequence of Inter-Related Triangles

  Man’s Integral Relationship and Creative Function Within the Whole

  THE ARCANE SCHOOL

  INDEX

  EXTRACT FROM A STATEMENT BY THE TIBETAN

  Suffice it to say, that I am a Tibetan disciple of a certain degree, and this tells you but little, for all are disciples from the humblest aspirant up to, and beyond, the Christ Himself. I live in a physical body like other men, on the borders of Tibet, and at times (from the exoteric standpoint) preside over a large group of Tibetan lamas, when my other duties permit. It is this fact that has caused it to be reported that I am an abbot of this particular lamasery. Those associated with me in the work of the Hierarchy (and all true disciples are associated in this work) know me by still another name and office. A.A.B. knows who I am and recognises me by two of my names.

  I am a brother of yours, who has travelled a little longer upon the Path than has the average student, and has therefore incurred greater responsibilities. I am one who has wrestled and fought his way into a greater measure of light than has the aspirant who will read this article, and I must therefore act as a transmitter of the light, no matter what the cost. I am not an old man, as age counts among the teachers, yet I am not young or inexperienced. My work is to teach and spread the knowledge of the Ageless Wisdom wherever I can find a response, and I have been doing this for many years. I seek also to help the Master M. and the Master K.H. whenever opportunity offers, for I have been long connected with Them and with Their work. In all the above, I have told you much; yet at the same time I have told you nothing which would lead you to offer me that blind obedience and the foolish devotion which the emotional aspirant offers to the Guru and Master Whom he is as yet unable to contact. Nor will he make that desired contact until he has transmuted emotional devotion into unselfish service to humanity—not to the Master.

  The books that I have written are sent out with no claim for their acceptance. They may, or may not, be correct, true and useful. It is for you to ascertain their truth by right practice and by the exercise of the intuition. Neither I nor A.A.B. is the least interested in having them acclaimed as inspired writings, or in having anyone speak of them (with bated breath) as being the work of one of the Masters. If they present truth in such a way that it follows sequentially upon that already offered in the world teachings, if the information given raises the aspiration and the will-to-serve from the plane of the emotions to that of the mind (the plane whereon the Masters can be found) then they will have served their purpose. If the
teaching conveyed calls forth a response from the illumined mind of the worker in the world, and brings a flashing forth of his intuition, then let that teaching be accepted. But not otherwise. If the statements meet with eventual corroboration, or are deemed true under the test of the Law of Correspondences, then that is well and good. But should this not be so, let not the student accept what is said.

  August 1934

  THE GREAT INVOCATION

  From the point of Light within the Mind of God

  Let light stream forth into the minds of men.

  Let Light descend on Earth.

  From the point of Love within the Heart of God

  Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.

  May Christ return to Earth.

  From the centre where the Will of God is known

  Let purpose guide the little wills of men—

  The purpose which the Masters know and serve.

  From the centre which we call the race of men

  Let the Plan of Love and Light work out.

  And may it seal the door where evil dwells.

  Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.

  “The above Invocation or Prayer does not belong to any person or group but to all Humanity. The beauty and the strength of this Invocation lies in its simplicity, and in its expression of certain central truths which all men, innately and normally, accept—the truth of the existence of a basic Intelligence to Whom we vaguely give the name of God; the truth that behind all outer seeming, the motivating power of the universe is Love; the truth that a great Individuality came to earth, called by Christians, the Christ, and embodied that love so that we could understand; the truth that both love and intelligence are effects of what is called the Will of God; and finally the self-evident truth that only through humanity itself can the Divine Plan work out.”

  Alice A Bailey

  SECTION ONE—TEACHING ON TELEPATHY

  I. THE FIELD OF TELEPATHIC INTERPLAY

  [1] One of the characteristics, distinguishing the group of world servers and knowers, is that the outer organisation which holds them integrated is practically non-existent. They are held together by the inner structure of thought and by a telepathic medium of inter-relation. The Great Ones, Whom we all seek to serve, are thus linked, and can—at the slightest need and with the least expenditure of force—get en rapport with each other. They are all tuned to a particular vibration.

  In the new groups are collected together people who are very diverse in their nature, who are found upon differing rays, who are of different nationalities, and who are each of them the product of widely varying environments and heredity. Besides these obvious factors which immediately attract attention, there is also to be found an equal diversity in the life experience of the souls concerned. The complexity of the problem is also tremendously increased when one remembers the long road which each has travelled and the many factors (emerging out of a dim and distant past) which have contributed to make each person what he now is. When, therefore, one dwells on the barriers and difficulties supervening upon such diverse conditions, the question arises at once: What provides the common meeting ground, and what makes it possible to have an interplay between the minds involved? The answer to this question is of paramount importance and necessitates a clear understanding.

  [2] When the Biblical words are used: “In Him we live and move and have our being,” we have the statement of a fundamental law in nature and the enunciated basis of the fact which we cover by the rather meaningless word: Omnipresence. Omnipresence has its basis in the substance of the universe, and in what the scientists call the ether; this word “ether” is a generic term covering the ocean of energies which are all inter-related and which constitute that one synthetic energy body of our planet.

  In approaching, therefore, the subject of telepathy, it must be carefully borne in mind that the etheric body of every form in nature is an integral part of the substantial form of God Himself—not the dense physical form, but what the esotericists regard as the form-making substance. We use the word God to signify the expression of the One Life which animates every form on the outer objective plane. The etheric or energy body, therefore, of every human being is an integral part of the etheric body of the planet itself and consequently of the solar system. Through this medium, every human being is basically related to every other expression of the Divine Life, minute or great. The function of the etheric body is to receive energy impulses and to be swept into activity by these impulses, or streams of force, emanating from some originating source or other. The etheric body is in reality naught but energy. It is composed of myriads of threads of force or tiny streams of energy, held in relation to the emotional and mental bodies and to the soul by their co-ordinating effect. These streams of energy, in their turn, have an effect on the physical body and swing it into activity of some kind or another, according to the nature and power of whatever type of energy may be dominating the etheric body at any particular time.

  [3] Through the etheric body, therefore, circulates energy emanating from some mind. With humanity in the mass, response is made unconsciously to the rulings of the Universal Mind; this is complicated in our time and age by a growing responsiveness to the mass ideas—called sometimes public opinion—of the rapidly evolving human mentality. Within the human family are also found those who respond to that inner group of Thinkers Who, working in mental matter, control from the subjective side of life the emergence of the great plan and the manifestation of divine purpose.

  This group of Thinkers falls into seven main divisions and is presided over by three great Lives or super-conscious Entities. These three are the Manu, the Christ, and the Mahachohan. These three work primarily through the method of influencing the minds of the adepts and the initiates. These latter in their turn influence the disciples of the world, and these disciples, each in his own place and on his own responsibility, work out their concept of the plan and seek to give expression to it as far as possible. It is, therefore, as you can surmise, a process of stepping down rates of vibration until they are sufficiently heavy to affect physical plane matter and thus make possible the building of organised effects on the physical plane. These disciples have hitherto worked very much alone except when karmic relationships have revealed them to each other, and telepathic intercommunication has been fundamentally confined to the Hierarchy of adepts and initiates, both in and out of incarnation, and to Their individual work with Their disciples.

  It is, however, now deemed possible to establish a resembling condition and a telepathic relation between disciples on the physical plane. No matter where they may find themselves, this group of mystics and knowers will [4] eventually find it feasible to communicate with one another and frequently do even now. A basic mystical idea or some new revelation of truth is suddenly recognised by many and finds expression simultaneously through the medium of many minds. No one person can claim individual right to the enunciated principle or truth. Several minds have registered it. It is usually stated, however, in a wide generalisation, that these people have tapped the inner thought currents or have responded to the play of the Universal Mind. Literally and technically this is not so. The Universal Mind is tapped by some member of the planetary Hierarchy according to His mental bias and equipment, and the immediate needs sensed by the working adepts. He then presents the new idea, new discovery, or the new revelation to the group of adepts (telepathically, of course, my brother) and, when it has been discussed by them, He later presents it to His group of disciples. Among them He will find one who responds more readily and intelligently than the others and this one, through his clear thinking and the power of his formulated thoughtforms, can then influence other minds. These others grasp the concept as theirs; they seize upon it and work it out into manifestation. Each regards it as his special privilege so to do and, because of this specialising faculty and his automatically engendered responsibility, he throws back of it all the energy which is his, and works and f
ights for his thoughtforms.

  An illustration of this is to be found in the history of the League of Nations. Before He took up special work, the Master Serapis sought to bring through some constructive idea for the helping of humanity. He conceived of a world unity in the realm of politics which would work out as an intelligent banding of the nations for the preservation of international peace. He presented it to the adepts in conclave and it was felt that something could be done. [5] The Master Jesus undertook to present it to His group of disciples as He was working in the occident. One of these disciples on the inner planes, seized upon the suggestion and passed it on (or rather stepped it down) until it registered in the brain of Colonel House. He, not recording the source (of which he was totally unaware), passed it on in turn to that sixth ray aspirant, called Woodrow Wilson. Then, fed by the wealth of analogous ideas in the minds of many, it was presented to the world. It should be borne in mind that the function of a disciple is to focus a stream of energy of some special kind upon the physical plane where it can become an attractive centre of force and draw to itself similar types of ideas and thought currents which are not strong enough to live by themselves or to make a sufficiently strong impact upon the human consciousness.