The Rays and the Initiations

by Alice A Bailey

  “Within the womb of time and circumscribed by space and limited by darkness—though sustained always by warmth—the life evolves. It develops faculty. It becomes in miniature that which it is. It takes on form and knows the divinity of separation. Such is its goal. Reflect. Knowledge will come.

  “Beyond the door is greater light and life. It knows itself for what it is. It suffices not unto itself and knows that it is That—part of the Whole, divinely one with others. Reflect. Union will come.

  “Before the rampart of the place of God Himself, a [117] Son Of God comes forth. He stands before the needle’s eye and seeks to pass the hindering wall. He is not circumscribed by time or space, but light and life are his. He realises beauty and he knows that That exists. Instead of time and space and all the rich inducements of the form, he knows himself as rich in love, in knowledge, wisdom, insight, and all the panoply of God (as he can grasp it), except one thing. Reflect. Purpose will reveal itself; the Whole will stand revealed and then the soul—loaded with riches and the fruits of labour long—will vanish as the mist and only God, the living One, be left.”

  There is still another set of phrases dealing with that through which the perfected Sons of God in Their high place must pass when Their work is done on Earth and a greater glory reveals itself ahead. But this I give not. I give only three symbols, which are:

  The womb . . . individualisation . . . separation.

  Leading to personality integration and self-realisation.

  Climaxing on the Path of Initiation . . . the birth of the Christ.

  Producing intelligent activity.

  Initiation.

  The two-leaved door . . . initiation . . . group consciousness.

  Leading to soul expression.

  Climaxing in the third initiation.

  Producing loving living.

  The third initiation.

  The eye of the needle . . higher evolution . . monadic consciousness.

  Leading to life expression.

  Climaxing in the fifth initiation.

  Producing purposeful life.

  Consummation.

  Such are the three points of entrance to the three planetary centres: Humanity, Hierarchy and Shamballa.

  This first demand is, curiously enough, the first expression of recognition—directly accorded—that the Great [118] Lives at Shamballa are now in direct relation with humanity. Hitherto that contact has not been direct, and They have not been in touch with current developments. Hitherto, all contacts and spiritual impulses from this highest centre have reached humanity via the Hierarchy, and vice versa. This demand concerns the negation, the obliteration, the absorption, the putting out or the synthesis of the lesser lights by the greater. All the words which I have employed are efforts to express the truth and all are entirely inadequate.

  The moment the initiate or the disciple sees, even dimly, the light of the Spiritual Triad which veils and hides the Central Spiritual Sun, he realises that all other lights—that of the atom of matter, that of the form and that of the soul itself—must inevitably fade out in the stupendous glory and brilliance which emanate from God Himself and which he senses as in process of revelation. He becomes absorbed—intellectually, intuitively, spiritually and finally factually—in that Light. Here I would remind you that just as the light of the soul revealed to the struggling aspirant a new vision, set for him new goals, enhanced all qualities present in his equipment, and revealed the past, the present and the future of the individual, so this still greater light reveals to the initiate a horizon so vast that it has hitherto escaped his capacity and is yet but possible to vision by an initiate of the third degree, endows him with an occult perception hitherto not realised as existing—a perception which permits him to penetrate increasingly and to cooperate understandingly in the purpose of the Lord of the World. It enables him later to develop the equipment—qualities and gifts of a divine nature—which will eventually enable him to take his place in the Council Chamber at Shamballa and work in full unanimity with the Lords of Karma.

  These qualities and gifts concern divine attributes and capacities for which we have as yet no words as they lie beyond the scope of human consciousness, being utterly unknown even to advanced human beings. They only begin to manifest as tendencies between the second and the third [119] initiations, in the same way as the instincts in a small child are, in reality, the germs of later intellectual attitudes and activities. It is needless, therefore, for me to enlarge upon them; unless you are an initiate of the third degree, my words would be meaningless to you and would convey naught. The clue lies for you in understanding the three words—Happiness, Joy, Bliss. Do you, as you speak of bliss, understand wherein it differs from happiness and joy? Bliss is associated with complete Being; it concerns the interior attitude of the Whole.

  As the individual disciple builds the rainbow bridge, the antahkarana, and as a group of disciples build the group antahkarana, they make possible the “Triadal perception” referred to above. When the disciple has flung one strand of living light (through the power of magnetic love) across the space separating the Triad and the personality, he discovers that he is a part of a group. This group recognition—faulty and unintelligently expressed at first—is the factor which enables him to pass, along the anchored thread, into the Ashram of a Master.

  From the angle of the old teaching, the Ashram of the Master and the focus of the Hierarchy were on the higher levels of the mental plane. Today, that is not so. They are on the plane of spiritual love, of the intuition and of buddhi. The Hierarchy is both retreating towards the higher centre of Shamballa, and at the same time advancing towards the lower centre, Humanity. Both these activities have been made possible by man himself; the growing intuitive perception of humanity, in its higher brackets, enables him to function upon the Path of Discipleship and on higher levels than ever before. This the Hierarchy recognises. The growing aspiration of the masses is also drawing the Masters closer to humanity than ever before. This is an instance of the ability of the initiate consciousness to function on initiate levels and also in the three worlds simultaneously. Of this the dual activity of the mind is a symbol, acting as it does as the common sense and so dealing with all matters in the three worlds, and as the spiritual [120] mind at the same time, dealing with all matters connected with the soul, with light and illumination.

  The second demand, that the sense of synthesis should be the goal of the training given to applicants in the New Age, is a direct evidence of the new Shamballa contact, because synthesis is an attribute of the divine will and the outstanding quality of Deity. It was inevitable that intelligence and love should be evolutionary objectives on the planet and the first two divine aspects to be developed, for they are qualities of the will; they make the manifestation of the divine will possible; they guarantee its intelligent application and its magnetic power to draw to itself all that is needed for the expression or the manifestation of the divine envisaged purpose, visualised synthetically, and motivated, implemented, engineered and made possible by the dynamic aspect of the same will.

  It is interesting to note that there is every evidence in the world today that the Shamballa energy is directly impinging upon the human consciousness and directly producing results. The destroyer aspect of the first Ray of Will or Power is producing worldwide destruction through the use of the first kingdom in nature, the mineral kingdom. That which is made of metals and chemicals is bringing catastrophe and destruction on earth, primarily in the human kingdom. At the same time the second attribute of the will, synthesis, is evoking an equally widespread response. This sense of synthesis has a mass effect earlier than it has an individual effect, and this is a thing of interest and importance to note at this time. Later, the dynamism inherent in the will, wielded by the New Group of World Servers and by the disciples and initiates of the world, will turn that instinctive mass response into factual experience and produce the “appearance” on earth of the new, developed “quality” which “l
ife” seeks in the New Age to demonstrate. In the first volume of this Treatise, I called attention to the three divine aspects: Life, Quality and Appearance. They are now in process of making their appearance in final form for this particular cycle.

  [121] Synthesis dictates the trend of all the evolutionary processes today; all is working towards larger unified blocs, towards amalgamations, international relationships, global planning, brotherhood, economic fusion, the free flow of commodities everywhere, interdependence, fellowship of faiths, movements based upon the welfare of humanity as a whole, and ideological concepts which deal with wholes and which militate against division, separation and isolation.

  Little as people realise it, these concepts are relatively new factors in the human consciousness, and the fact that they are the result of a new and direct relation between Those Who implement the will of God and humanity everywhere is the guarantee of the inevitability of their expression in the future. It is only in the immediate interim—a period of one hundred fifty years—that delay may seem the rule. Such, however, will not really be the case. The forms through which these new and impending ideas must take shape and manifest have yet to be created, and that takes time, for they are built by the power of thought and due process of educating the public consciousness until that consciousness becomes confirmed conviction and demonstrates as an immovable public opinion.

  This sense of synthesis is one of the things which the new esoteric schools will develop in their students and neophytes, for it will be the people trained interiorly in these schools who will be the builders of the new world and the trainers of future public opinion. The labels and the names whereby these schools may call themselves mean but little. Many will proclaim themselves as esoteric schools and will communicate nothing of a truly esoteric nature. They will but attract to themselves the gullible and the foolish. There are many such functioning in this manner today. Others may refrain from all outer indication of esoteric and occult training, and yet convey the needed teaching. They will seek to relate the One, the Monad, to the personality, and to evoke in their students a true sense of synthesis.

  It is the sense of synthesis, putting it very simply, which will be the goal of all the educational movements, once the [122] New Age idealism is firmly established. Physical coordination, personal integrity (which involves primarily the control and later the negation of the astral body), and personality integration will be the essential first steps. To this will succeed processes whereby the fusion of the personality with the soul, of the lower self with the higher Self, and of form with the divine Dweller in the form will follow next. Then the truly esoteric phase of the educational process will be attempted when the earlier steps or stages have been satisfactorily grasped and there is indication of some measure of real success. By that time the school of the Mysteries and the Halls of preparation for initiation will be generally recognised by the thinking people and believed in by the expectant masses.

  In those schools, those who are beginning to function as souls will be led on to take their next step. Their developed soul nature will be expressing itself through intelligent love and a sense of group fellowship; these two divine qualities will form a basis or foundation from which the next unfoldment can emerge and on which a more spiritual superstructure can be built. The Science of Meditation and the conscious building of the antahkarana will be the first two preliminary stages in the esoteric curriculum. Today, the true teaching of meditation and the construction of the bridge of light between the Triad and the personality are the most advanced teaching given anywhere.

  Humanity is, however, ready for exceedingly rapid development and this readiness will demonstrate increasingly in the postwar period, and for it the disciples of the world must make ready. Two factors will bring this about: the first is the tremendous stimulation which the war, its demands and its consequences have given to the human consciousness and, secondly, the coming in of very advanced souls ever since the year 1925. These souls will be ready to give the needed training and instruction when the right time comes, having brought it over with them when they came into incarnation, and knowing normally and naturally [123] what the modern esoteric student is struggling to grasp and understand.

  A study of what I have here outlined as basic requirements will show that the esoteric schools about which I wrote in Letters on Occult Meditation lie far ahead in the distant future. The work of the preparatory schools must come first, and their work will proceed until such time that the work of the Ashrams of the Masters is recognised as forming part of an outer hierarchical activity. This in due time will lead to the giving of the first initiation publicly, as a part of the great service ritual of the then prevalent universal religion. The race of men will then—in its most advanced brackets and groups in every country in the world—be normally clairvoyant, and will therefore see for themselves the light within the candidates; they will know then that the first initiation is justifiably undergone, and they will also see the same light in thousands who in previous incarnations have taken that initiation.

  One thing only will I add to the above and to the elucidation of the significance of Rule V. The clue to all this esoteric work demanded by Shamballa is to be found in the development of the Art of Visualisation. Through visualisation, three expressions of the human consciousness will become possible:

  1. The antahkarana can be built and the shining of the Triad be definitely seen. Such will be the new vision—an outcome of the development of the sense of vision.

  2. Groups, large wholes and major syntheses will also be visualised, and this will lead to a definite expansion of consciousness. Thus the sense of synthesis will be unfolded.

  3. All creative art will be fostered by this training, and the new art of the future in all departments of creativity will be rapidly developed as the training proceeds. The unfoldment of the sense of vision and of the sense of synthesis, through visualisation, will lead to a sense of livingness in form.

  RULE SIX

  [124] A superficial reading of Rule VI would give the impression that it is a simple statement as to the universality of Life, and also that it embodies an enunciation of the basic fact of hylozoism. The Rule runs as follows:

  Rule VI.

  Let the group know that life is one and naught can ever take or touch that life. Let the group know the vivid, flaming, drenching life that floods the fourth when the fifth is known. The fifth feeds on the fourth. Let then the group—merged in the fifth—be nourished by the sixth and seventh, and realise that all the lesser rules are rules in time and space and cannot hold the group. It onward moves in life.

  I find it extremely difficult to express the significance of this Rule in such a way that it will convey meaning to you, and this for two reasons: First, the idea of the One Life is so prevalent, and so customary and trite an unrealised truth, that it registers on ears with very little effect. Secondly, the whole story of life—which is purpose, divine will, and absolute determination—and the eternal planning of the Lord of the World is so hard of comprehension that we have as yet no words in the language of any nation which can express it.

  What I am now writing is a series of instructions for disciples in process of training for initiation. I did not say in training for the higher initiations, for these are given in a different manner and the teaching is imparted in the inner Ashram. Therefore, as you have not taken the third initiation, monadic comprehension lies far beyond you; and only this highest state of understanding suffices for the clear perception of the fundamental divine intent lying behind all world phenomena, all evolutionary development, all unfoldment within the capacity of the four kingdoms in nature, and all preparatory extensions and expansions of consciousness.

  All I can therefore do is to touch upon the inner significance [125] of the obvious and seek to express certain ideas which will strain your mental perception, evoke your intuition and institute that process of recognition and registration which leads eventually to the initiate-consciousness.r />
  This sixth Rule is the polar opposite of the rule as it was given to applicants. There, if you will refer to my exegesis upon that rule in Initiation, Human and Solar, you will find that the objective of that rule was physical purification with the emphasis upon the need for a vegetarian diet at a certain stage of the preparatory process. The reasons for such a discipline were two in number: purification and the necessity for the applicant (at that stage) to refrain from sharing in the benefits incident to the so-called “taking of life.” But, can one take life? I think not. Life IS. Naught in heaven or on earth can touch or affect it. This is a point oft forgotten. The rule as given to applicants consequently concerns their ability to accept and adhere to a self-imposed discipline. Through the means of that discipline, the control of the physical and astral natures are demonstrated by the applicant to himself, and the effect of the discipline is to reveal to him certain inevitable and basic weaknesses, such as control of the animal nature, the powerful imposition of desire, a sense of superiority, of pride and separativeness. His ability to sustain the discipline and his appreciation of himself for so doing, plus a sense of superiority to those who are not so disciplined, are all indicative of essential weaknesses. His fanaticism, latent or expressed, emerges in his consciousness with clarity, and—when he is sincere—he is conscious of having brought about a measure of physical purity; but at the same time, he is left with the awareness that he perhaps may be starting with the outer and the obvious when he should be beginning with the inner and with that which is not so easily contacted or expressed. This is a great and most important lesson.

  It is also an interesting illustration of the technique of the Masters, whereby They permit a fallacy to remain uncorrected (because it is originated by the disciple himself [126] and must be dissipated by him also) and the use of language which conveys a wrong impression. By so doing, the user of the language discovers eventually his erroneous approach to truth. Life cannot be taken in the spiritual sense. This error or mistake in the approach of truth enables men and women upon the Probationary Path to demonstrate the earnestness and sincerity of their aspiration by the discipline of substituting the produce “of the second,” and to refrain from sustaining life on the produce “of the third.” By sacrificing the life of the second kingdom in nature (to use the applicant’s own misstatements) and by nourishing the physical body thereby, the probationary disciple does succeed in ending the grip or potency of the physical nature, and that is always helpful. He as yet does not know that he is adhering to lesser “rules in time and space,” and that once he has demonstrated to himself that he can hold them and obey them, he is then freed from them and needs them no more. The disciple and the candidate for initiation knows that life is one, whether it takes form in the second kingdom or in the third or the fourth; he knows that the life in him is one with the life in the first kingdom, the mineral; he learns too that life is impregnable; that it cannot be taken or destroyed but “passes on” from form to form, from experience to experience, until the perfect will of God is expressed through life.