The Rays and the Initiations

by Alice A Bailey

  It will be apparent to you, therefore, that it will take time for all the members of a group to achieve the destruction of individual desire, and that until some measure of this united liberating process is attained, the group cannot go forward together as a unit on the Way of Initiation.

  The next step is the destruction of the ties which link the personalities of the group members. These must be severed, and the relation between the group members must be on the basis of soul activity, joint pledge to the Master of the Ashram, and a united service given to humanity. There comes a point of freedom in the group relation which will demonstrate in some definitely planned and united activity, carried forward in the outer world but enriching the life of the Ashram. Until this stage is reached, the activity of the group corresponds to that of the probationary disciple and not to that of the pledged disciple. The spontaneously emerging group work, engendered by the group consciousness and fusing the entire group of disciples at a point of tension in service, is the first indication that the group is ready for further teaching, for an intensification of its group potency and for a closer relation to the Master. This has all been brought about by the group itself, independently of any injunction of the Master, and as a result of the united soul life of the group effectively making its presence felt. These two spiritually destructive processes—the destruction of desire and the severing of all personality ties—are the first two and essential results of true group work.

  The third quality which must be utterly rooted out and destroyed is that of all reaction towards recognition, whether that recognition is accorded by the world of men, by other disciples, or by the Master. The ability to work without any token of recognition, to see others claim the reward of action taken, and even to be unaware that the results of the good initiated by the individual disciple or [212] his group are claimed by others, are the hallmarks of the hierarchical worker. The Masters get no recognition for the work done by Their disciples, though They initiated the original impulse and have given both guidance and direction; the disciple carries out the Plan; he shoulders the responsibility; he pays the price, either good or bad, or the karmic results of instituted activity, and he is the one who gains the recognition of the crowd. But—until the disciple seeks no recognition, until he fails to think in terms of results and is unaware of the reaction of the world to his work as an individual disciple—he has yet far to go in order to gain the higher initiations. The entire problem becomes increasingly difficult when an entire ashramic group is concerned, for the recognition of the group service seems little to ask from the world which is served; nevertheless, such a demand and such an expectation delay the complete absorption of the group into the inner Ashram.

  These are not, however, impossible objectives, or I would not waste your time or mine in their delineation. The group can measure up to the occult necessity if unitedly they recognise the scope of the endeavour and unitedly strive for complete absorption in service—an absorption so deep that it excludes all other recognitions, particularly those of a personal nature. We come back, therefore (as is continually the case), to the fact that when a group can arrive at a suitable point of united tension, non-essential reactions disappear and undesirable qualities are automatically removed.

  These three types of work along the lines of destruction merit your careful consideration and—because they are along the line of the destroying aspect—it will be apparent to you that the method employed is that of the utilisation of the group Will. It will be equally apparent that the group Will can only make its appearance under the Law of Occult Continuity when, and if, the group is functioning intelligently and demonstrating love adequately.

  We now come to the third factor which group initiation involves. This is diversity in unity, consciously recognised [213] and utilised. A group is not composed of disciples all of whom are being prepared for the same initiation. This is oft a hard saying for group members to accept. The significance of my earlier statement, that a group is composed of men and women all of whom are at the same point in evolution, is a generalisation and simply means that all of them have reached the point where they are pledged and unalterably committed to the work of the Ashram, under some particular Master.

  The work, however, requires a diversity of quality and of potencies in order to be effective in manifestation upon the outer plane. It needs those who are in close contact with the Master, and are therefore initiates of a certain standing; it needs also those who have facility of relationship with the inner Ashram and are therefore senior disciples, though not necessarily high initiates; it needs also those not so advanced upon the Path of Discipleship because they have, or can establish, a close connection with ordinary humanity in the life of everyday. A group of disciples such as this is consequently a miniature hierarchy, and a hierarchy exists in its various degrees in order to permit of a wide range of effective relationships. Ponder on this statement. You can see now why there is necessity for the elimination of personality reactions, for only thus could the groups function as a coordinated unit with the various members recognising each other’s status and yet not moved to jealousy or belittlement thereby; the work is then carried forward on the basis of inspiration, coordination and practical application. The senior members of the group, and those with the most advanced status (whatever that may be), provide the incentive of the Plan as they receive it from the Master; the more experienced among the disciples then coordinate the Plan within the group, relating it to the Ashram and indicating its approach to the world of men; the neophytes—pledged and dedicated though yet without experience—carry out the Plan upon the physical plane. This entails, as you can see, smooth and effective coordination, a proper attention to the general picture, and an application of the detail of [214] work to the immediate necessity. It is a hard task for a group of intensely individualistic disciples (and all disciples are individual) to begin to take the first steps towards these attitudes and the relationships which distinguish the Hierarchy as a whole.

  Still another important factor in the group preparation for initiation is the cultivation of silence. How, we ask ourselves at times when the functioning of the Ashram is under discussion, can we train our disciples to realise that, essentially, silence is not refraining from speech. So many disciples seem to think that it is, and that they have to learn not to talk if they hope to take initiation. Some would do a great deal better if they talked more than they do—along right lines. The silence imposed in an Ashram is refraining from certain lines of thought, the elimination of reverie and the unwholesome use of the creative imagination. Speech is consequently controlled at its source, because speech is the result of certain inner sources of ideas, of thought and of imagination; it is the precipitation (at a certain point of saturation, if I might so express it) of inner reservoirs which overflow on to the physical plane. The retention of speech and the suppression of words, if they are the result of a realisation that what is to be said is wrong, or undesirable, or unwise, or wasteful, of energy will simply increase the inner banking up and will lead eventually to a still more violent display of words at a later date; it may also bring about serious and disastrous conditions within the astral body of the disciple. The silence of thought is to be cultivated and, my brothers, I do not mean silent thinking. I mean that certain lines of thought are refused admission; certain habits of thinking are eradicated and certain approaches to ideas are not developed. This is done by a process of substitution, and not by a violent process of suppression. The initiate learns to keep his thought apparatus in a certain effective condition. His thoughts do not intermingle the one with the other, but are contained (if I may thus pictorially word it) in separate compartments or carefully filed for reference and later use. There are certain [215] layers of thought (again speaking symbolically) which are held within the Ashram itself and are never permitted to enter the mind of the disciple or the initiate when not consciously working in the Ashram; others are related to the group and its work and are given free play
within the group ring-pass-not; still others are of a more mundane nature and govern the daily life and relationships of the disciple with personalities and with the affairs of civilised living and physical plane events. These are only indications of what I mean, but will suffice to show (if you duly meditate) a little of what is meant by the silence of the initiate. Within the permitted levels of contact, speech is free and unimpeded; outside those levels, no indication is given that the other spheres of thought activity, with their conditioning speech, even exist. Such is the silence of the initiated disciple.

  We have therefore considered briefly but suggestively four qualities which a group preparing for initiation needs to develop, to consider and unitedly to achieve. They are:

  1. The achieving of a non-sentimental group interrelation.

  2. Learning how to use the forces of destruction constructively.

  3. Attaining the power to work as a miniature Hierarchy, and as a group to exemplify unity in diversity.

  4. Cultivating the potency of occult silence.

  We now come, after these preliminary remarks, to a consideration of the next rule.

  Rule XI.

  Let the group together move the fire within the Jewel in the Lotus into the Triad and let them find the Word which will carry out that task. Let them destroy by their dynamic Will that which has been created at the midway point. When the point of tension is reached by the brothers at the fourth great cycle of attainment, then will this work be done.

  On first reading this rule it is obvious that it concerns the fourth initiation and the consequent destruction of the [216] causal body—the vehicle through the means of which the Monad has created first of all the personality, and then an instrument for the expression of the second divine aspect. We are therefore dealing with one of the major initiations. I would here call to your recollection the fact that (from the angle of the Hierarchy) this initiation is the second major initiation, and not the fourth, as it is regarded from the human angle; the third initiation is technically regarded as the first major initiation. The major initiations are really possible only after the transfiguration of the personality.

  What, therefore, brings about the destruction of the soul body? The destroying agent is the second aspect of the Will. The third or lowest aspect of the Will, working through the mind or the manasic principle, was the sustaining factor in the long cycle of personality development; it was the principle of intelligent synthesis, holding the life principle intact and individualised through the long series of successive incarnations. During that cycle the will demonstrated first as the lower man; then it focussed itself in the Son of Mind, the divine Agnishvatta, the soul, and became increasingly a factor of potency. Later, as the disciple builds the antahkarana and thus establishes a direct channel of communication between the Monad and the personality, the lower mind becomes fused with the abstract mind or higher mind (the manasic principle, sublimated and purified), and gradually the soul is—to use a peculiar but sensitively expressing word—by-passed. It has by now served its purpose. Love and light are in expression in the physical plane life. Neither the personality vehicle nor the soul body is required, as under the old conditions. Their place can now be taken by the Spiritual Triad and the Monad; the essential life of both the lower aspects (creative in nature and expressive of loving intent as to purpose) can now be withdrawn. Triplicity, from the angle of the three periodical vehicles—Monad, soul and personality—is resolved into duality, and the Monad (reflected in the Triad) can now work upon the lower planes through the medium of a definitely created personality or “point of tension” in the [217] three worlds. It is to this that the rule applies when studied in terms of the individual initiate, whilst the life in which the soul is “by-passed” and its ring-pass-not is destroyed, is of such profound difficulty that it is called the life of crucifixion or of renunciation.

  We are, however, concerned with the interpretation of the rule as it affects a group which is preparing for the joint initiation of its members. It is by adhering to the ancient dictum that “as it is with the Macrocosm so will it be with the microcosm,” and by the application, therefore, of the Law of Analogy, that we shall eventually arrive at understanding. I cannot hope to do more than indicate significances, but it will now be clear to you why I have dealt with the four qualities which a group must develop in unison prior to initiation. We shall find it useful to relate these qualities to the various phrases or injunctions in this Rule XI. We must consider each of them separately. Let us now look at the first sentence.

  1. Let the group together move the fire within the Jewel in the Lotus into the Triad.

  Let me first remind you that fire always connotes the first aspect and this, as you know, is the life aspect. To this let me add the well-known fact that “Our God is a consuming fire,” and call to your recollection that the first aspect is the destroyer aspect. You have immediately established a relation between the first two qualities with which we have been dealing and the work of the crucifixion as a symbolic expression of the fourth initiation. The achieving of a selfless and impersonal group interrelation was the first prerequisite, and the word “together” in this rule deals with the work of the group when—as a closely knit unit—it can move forward. This transference of the life or of the fire has to be the result of united action, taken by the group when full interior unity has been attained. It cannot take place prior to this, any more than an individual initiate can take this particular initiation until such time as complete fusion of the three bodies and the soul has been effectually [218] brought about and divine indifference has been achieved to all lower reactions of the component parts of the fused and interrelated instrument. So must it be with the group.

  The group life must express itself upon the physical plane and in group formation. It will possess a sensitive feeling apparatus, corresponding to the astral body, and the group mind will be well organised and functioning rhythmically. Thus the group “personality” will be active, but divinely active, by the time this particular stage is reached. The group soul will also be in full flower as an expression of the inner Ashram, and at the very heart of the group life, veiled and hidden by its outer personality expression and by its vibrant loving soul, will be a point of living fire or life which—in due time and under right conditions—must be transferred into the inner Ashram, found on triadal levels. This may or may not mean the destruction of the group causal body and the establishing of a direct line of relationship between the pure Ashram and a group of disciples. It will undoubtedly mean, during the stages preliminary to that desirable attainment, a definite change of focus and the gradual establishing of a point of tension upon slowly realised higher levels, carried on until the transference is completed.

  All the time that this is taking place, the fire at the heart of the group life is becoming more and more vital, and consequently more and more spiritually destructive. The second quality which we considered, the constructive planned use of the forces of destruction, can now be seen as active. It is these forces which are often responsible for the upheavals, the cleavages, the dispersions and the fatalities which are so frequently the characteristics of the group life in its early stages. The fire is then working under the stimulation of the Spiritual Triad, but is not consciously being manipulated by the group itself. The group becomes esoterically “a burning ground,” and much time would be saved and much unnecessary distress and pain and suffering would be eliminated if the group members would realise [219] what was happening to them and would simply stand steady until such time as the “purification so as by fire” has been completed and the life principle in the group heart can shine forth with both brilliance and radiance. It is this quality of patient endurance which is so sorely needed by the members of a group being prepared for initiation. Once, however, the purpose underlying all distressing events and disrupted personnel is grasped, rapid progress can be made—again by the simple practice of divine indifference. This divine indifference was the outstanding
quality of the Master upon the Cross at Calvary. The seven words from the Cross were concerned with others, with His mission, with world need, and with relationship with the Father or with the Monad. But disciples and aspirants are so intensely preoccupied with themselves, their effect upon others, their endurances and pain, or with criticism of their brothers or of themselves! The goal and the main objective is not adequately emphasised in their consciousness. The group personality is often functioning with potency, but the fusing love of the soul is absent and the shattering inflow of the life at the heart of the Jewel is not permitted full sway. It is blocked and intercepted by group conditions, and until there is at least some united will to take together what is needed in order to shift the life of the group to higher levels of awareness and into the Ashram on buddhic levels, the technique of transference will not be committed to the group by the Master. That is what is meant by the next sentence in the rule:

  2. Let them find the Word which will carry out that task.

  What is this technique of transference? It falls into three stages, each one of which has to be arrived at by the group in unison. The first is the stage of united tension or the attaining of such a focal point of planned and focussed intent that the group is undeviatingly oriented to the immediate task to be done and is functioning from the angle of purpose as one individual. This is perhaps the hardest stage, but it has to be mastered prior to the assistance of [220] the Master in the inner Ashram; He is to the group what the Monad is to the disciple, ever seeking to bring about the esoteric “renunciation” of the causal vehicle. This point of tension has to be held in high vibratory activity all through the process of transference. I would remind you that the outstanding characteristic of Jesus of Nazareth, throughout the period prior to the crucifixion, was one of complete silence; here is where the efficacy of the fourth quality mentioned by me appears. The group, at this stage, is so preoccupied with the task ahead and so conscious of the need for preserving a united and uniform tension, that “the silence of the secret place” settles on it and the work can then proceed apace. When this point has been attained, then the third quality manifests with power to work as a miniature hierarchy, and this becomes increasingly noticeable.