The Rays and the Initiations

by Alice A Bailey

  These distinctions and unifications are matters of form, [449] symbols in speech, and are used to express events and happenings in the world of energies and forces, in connection with which man is definitely implicated. It is to these unifications that we refer when the subject of initiation is under consideration.

  It will be useful if we repeat here a few statements made in an earlier book:

  Students should train themselves to distinguish between the sutratma and the antahkarana, between the life thread and the thread of consciousness. The one thread is the basis of immortality and the other the basis of continuity. Herein lies a fine distinction for the investigator. One thread (the sutratma) links and vivifies all forms into one functioning whole, and embodies in itself the will and the purpose of the expressing entity, be it man, God or a crystal. The other thread (the antahkarana) embodies the response of the consciousness within the form to a steadily expanding range of contacts within the environing whole. One is the direct stream of life, unbroken and immutable, which can be regarded symbolically as a direct stream of living energy flowing from the centre to the periphery, and from the source to the outer expression, or the phenomenal appearance. It is the life. It produces the individual process and the evolutionary unfoldment of all forms.

  It is, therefore, the path of life, which reaches from the Monad to the personality, via the soul. This is the thread soul and it is one and indivisible. It conveys the energy of life and finds its final anchor in the centre of the human heart and at some central focal point in all forms of divine expression. Naught is and naught remains but life. The consciousness thread (antahkarana) is the result of the union of life and substance or of the basic energies which constitute the first differentiation in time and space; this produces something different, which only emerges as a third divine manifestation after the union of the basic dualities has taken place.

  The life thread, the silver cord or the sutratma is, as far as man is concerned, dual in nature. The life thread [450] proper, which is one of the two threads which constitute the sutratma, is anchored in the heart, whilst the other thread, which embodies the principle of consciousness, is anchored in the head. This you already know, but this I feel the need to constantly reiterate. In the work of the evolutionary cycle, however, man has to repeat what God has already done. He must himself create, both in the world of consciousness and of life. Like a spider, man spins connecting threads, and thus bridges and makes contact with his environment, thereby gaining experience and sustenance. The spider symbol is often used in the ancient occult books and the scriptures of India in connection with this activity of the human being. These threads, which man creates, are triple in number, and with the two basic threads which have been created by the soul, constitute the five types of energy which make man a conscious human being.

  The triple threads created by man are anchored in the solar plexus, the head and the heart. When the astral body and the mind nature are beginning to function as a unit, and the soul also is consciously connected (do not forget that it is always unconsciously linked), an extension of this five-fold thread—the basic two and the human three—is carried to the throat centre, and when that occurs man can become a conscious creator on the physical plane. From these major lines of energy lesser lines can radiate at will. It is upon this knowledge that all future intelligent psychic unfoldment must be based.

  In the above paragraph and its implications you have a brief and inadequate statement as to the Science of the Antahkarana. I have endeavoured to express this in terms, symbolic if you will, which will convey a general idea to your minds. We can learn much through the use of the pictorial and visual imagination. This bridging must take place:

  1. From the physical to the vital or etheric body. This is really an extension of the life thread between the heart and the spleen.

  2. From the physical and the vital, regarding them as a [451] unity, to the astral or emotional vehicle. This thread emanates from, or is anchored in, the solar plexus, and is carried upwards, by means of the aspiration, till it anchors itself in the love petals of the egoic Lotus.

  3. From the physical and astral vehicles to the mental body. One terminus is anchored in the head, and the other in the knowledge petals of the egoic Lotus, being carried forward by an act of the will.

  Advanced humanity is in process of linking the three lower aspects, which we call the personality, with the soul itself, through meditation, discipline, service and directed attention. When this has been accomplished, a definite relation is established between the sacrifice or will petals of the egoic Lotus and the head and heart centres, thus producing a synthesis between consciousness, the soul and the life principle. The process of establishing this inter-linking and inter-relation, and the strengthening of the bridge thus constructed, goes on until the Third Initiation. The lines of force are then so inter-related that the soul and its mechanism of expression are a unity. A higher blending and fusing can then go on.

  I can perhaps indicate the nature of this process in the following manner: I have stated here and elsewhere that the soul anchors itself in the body at two points:

  1. There is a thread of energy, which we call the life or spirit aspect, anchored in the heart. It uses the blood stream, as is well known, as its distributing agency, and through the medium of the blood, life energy is carried to every part of the mechanism. This life energy carries the re-generating power and coordinating energy to all the physical organisms and keeps the body “whole.”

  2. There is a thread of energy, which we call the consciousness aspect or the faculty of soul knowledge, anchored in the centre of the head. It controls that response mechanism which we call the brain, and through its medium it directs activity and induces awareness throughout the body by means of the nervous system. [452]

  These two energy factors, which are recognised by the human being as knowledge and life, or as intelligence and living energy, are the two poles of his being. The task ahead of him now is to develop consciously the middle or balancing aspect, which is love or group relationship. (See Education in the New Age, pages 26-27, 32-33, 92.)

  The Nature of the Antahkarana

  One of the difficulties connected with this study of the antahkarana is the fact that hitherto the work done upon the antahkarana has been entirely unconscious. Therefore, the concept in men's minds relating to this form of creative work and this construction of the bridge meets at first with little response from the mind nature; also, in order to express these ideas, we have practically to create a new terminology, for there are no words suitable to define our meaning. Just as modern sciences have evolved a complete new terminology of their own during the past forty years, so this science must develop its own peculiar vocabulary. In the meantime, we must do the best we can with the words at our disposal.

  The second point I would make is to ask those who are studying along these lines to realise that in time they will arrive at understanding, but that at present all that they can do is to depend upon the unalterable tendency of the subconscious nature to penetrate to the surface of consciousness as a reflex activity in the establishing of continuity of consciousness. This reflex activity of the lower nature corresponds to the development of continuity between the superconscious and the consciousness which develops upon the Path of Discipleship. It is all a part—in three stages—of the integrating process, proving to the disciple that all of life is (in terms of consciousness) one of revelation. Ponder on this.

  Another of the difficulties in considering any of these esoteric sciences that deal with what has been called the “conscious unfoldment of the divine recognitions” (which is true awareness) is the ancient habit of humanity to materialise [453] all knowledge. Everything man learns is applied—as the centuries pass—to the world of natural phenomena and of natural process, and not to the recognition of the Self, the Knower, the Beholder, the Observer. When, therefore, man enters upon the Path, he has to educate himself in the process of using knowledge in refere
nce to the conscious self-aware Identity, or to the self-contained, self-initiating Individual. When he can do this, he is transmuting knowledge into wisdom.

  Previously I spoke of “knowledge-wisdom” which are words synonymous with “force-energy.” Knowledge used is force expressing itself; wisdom used is energy in action. In these words you have the expression of a great spiritual law, one which you would do well to consider carefully. Knowledge-force concerns the personality and the world of material values; wisdom-energy expresses itself through the consciousness thread and the creative thread, as they constitute in themselves a woven dual strand. They are (for the disciple) a fusion of the past (consciousness thread) and the present (the creative thread), and together they form what is usually called, upon the Path of Return, the Antahkarana. This is not entirely accurate. The wisdom-energy thread is the sutratma or life thread, for the sutratma (when blended with the consciousness thread) is again also called the antahkarana. Perhaps it might clarify the issue somewhat if I pointed out that though these threads eternally exist in time and space, they appear distinct and separate until a man is a probationary disciple, and therefore becoming conscious of himself and not only of the not-self. There is the life thread or sutratma and the consciousness thread—the one anchored in the heart and the other in the head. Throughout all the past centuries, the creative thread, in one or other of its three aspects, has been slowly woven by the man; of this fact in nature his creative activity during the past two hundred years is an indication, so that today the creative thread is a unity, generally speaking, as regards humanity as a whole and specifically of the individual disciple, and forms a strong closely woven thread upon the mental plane. [454]

  These three major threads which are in reality six, if the creative thread is differentiated into its component parts, form the antahkarana. They embody past and present experience and are so recognised by the aspirant. It is only upon the Path itself that the phrase “building the antahkarana” becomes accurate and appropriate. It is in this connection that confusion is apt to arise in the mind of the student. He forgets that it is a purely arbitrary distinction of the lower analysing mind to call this stream of energy the sutratma, and another stream of energy the consciousness thread and a third stream of energy the creative thread. They are essentially, all three of them together, the antahkarana in process of forming. It is equally arbitrary to call the bridge which the disciple builds from the lower mental plane—via the egoic, central vortex of force—the antahkarana. But for purposes of comprehending study and practical experience, we will define the antahkarana as the extension of the threefold thread (hitherto woven unconsciously, through life experimentation and the response of consciousness to environment) through the process of projecting consciously the triple blended energies of the personality as they are impulsed by the soul, across a gap in consciousness which has hitherto existed. Two events can then occur:

  1. The magnetic response of the Spiritual Triad (atma-buddhi-manas), which is the expression of the Monad, is evoked. A triple stream of spiritual energy is slowly projected towards the egoic lotus and towards the lower man.

  2. The personality then begins to bridge the gap which exists on its side between the manasic permanent atom and the mental unit, between the higher abstract mind and the lower mind.

  Technically, and upon the Path of Discipleship, this bridge between the personality in its three aspects and the monad and its three aspects is called the antahkarana.

  This antahkarana is the product of the united effort of soul and personality, working together consciously to produce [455] this bridge. When it is completed, there is a perfect rapport between the monad and its physical plane expression, the initiate in the outer world. The third initiation marks the consummation of the process, and there is then a straight line of relationship between the monad and the lower personal self. The fourth initiation marks the complete realisation of this relation by the initiate. It enables him to say: “I and my Father are one.” It is for this reason that the crucifixion, or the Great Renunciation, takes place. Forget not that it is the soul that is crucified. It is Christ Who “dies.” It is not the man; it is not Jesus. The causal body disappears. The man is monadically conscious. The soul-body no longer serves any useful purpose; it is no more needed. Nothing is left but the sutratma, qualified by consciousness—a consciousness which still preserves identity whilst merged in the whole. Another qualification is creativity; thus consciousness can be focussed at will on the physical plane in an outer body or form. This body is will-created by the Master.

  But in this task of unfoldment, of evolution and of development, the mind of man has to understand, analyse, formulate and distinguish; therefore the temporary differentiations are of profound and useful importance. We might therefore conclude that the task of the disciple is:

  1. To become conscious of the following situations (if I may use such a word):

  a. Process in combination with force.

  b. Status upon the path, or recognition of the available qualifying agencies, or energies.

  c. Fusion or integration of the consciousness thread with the creative thread and with the life thread.

  d. Creative activity. This is essential, for it is not only through the development of creative ability in the three worlds that the necessary focal point is created, but this also leads to the building of the antahkarana, its “creation.”

  2. To construct the antahkarana between the Spiritual Triad and the personality—with the cooperation of the [456] soul. These three points of divine energy might be symbolised thus:

  In this simple symbol you have a picture of the disciple's task upon the Path.

  Another diagram may serve to clarify:

  See Diagram

  In these you have the “nine of initiation” or the transmuting of nine forces into divine energies: [457]

  The Bridge between the three Aspects of the Mind

  There is one point which I would like to clarify if I can, for—on this point—there is much confusion in the minds of aspirants, and this is necessarily so.

  Let us for a moment, therefore, consider just where the aspirant stands when he starts consciously to build the antahkarana. Behind him lie a long series of existences, the experience of which has brought him to the point where he is able consciously to assess his condition and arrive at some understanding of his point in evolution. He can consequently undertake—in cooperation with his steadily awakening and focussing consciousness—to take the next step, which is that of accepted discipleship. In the present, he is oriented towards the soul; he, through meditation and the mystical experience, does have occasional contact with the soul, and this happens with increasing frequency; he is becoming somewhat creative upon the physical plane, both in his thinking and in his actions; at times, even if rarely, he has a genuine intuitive experience. This intuitive experience serves to anchor the “first tenuous thread spun by the Weaver in fohatic enterprise,” as the Old Commentary puts it. It is the first cable, projected from the Spiritual Triad in response to the emanation of the personality, and this is the result of the growing magnetic potency of both these aspects of the Monad in manifestation.

  It will be obvious to you that when the personality is becoming adequately magnetised from the spiritual angle, its note or sound will go forth and will evoke response from the soul on its own plane. Later the personality note and the soul note in unison will produce a definitely attractive effect upon the Spiritual Triad. This Spiritual Triad in its turn has been exerting an increasingly magnetic effect upon the personality. This begins at the time of the first conscious soul contact. The response of the Triad is transmitted necessarily, in this early stage, via the sutratma and produces inevitably the awakening of the head centre. That is why the heart doctrine begins to supersede the doctrine of the eye. [458] The heart doctrine governs occult development; the eye doctrine—which is the doctrine of the eye of vision—governs the mystical experience; the heart doctrine is based u
pon the universal nature of the soul, conditioned by the Monad, the One, and involves reality; the eye doctrine is based on the dual relation between soul and personality. It involves the spiritual relationships, but the attitude of dualism or of the recognition of the polar opposites is implicit in it. These are important points to remember as this new science becomes more widely known.

  The aspirant eventually arrives at the point where the three threads—of life, of consciousness and of creativity—are being focussed, recognised as energy streams, and utilised deliberately by the aspiring disciple upon the lower mental plane. There—esoterically speaking—”he takes his stand, and looking upward sees a promised land of beauty, love and future vision.”

  But there exists a gap in consciousness, though not in fact. The sutratmic strand of energy bridges the gap, and tenuously relates monad, soul and personality. But the consciousness thread extends only from soul to personality—from the involutionary sense. From the evolutionary angle (using a paradoxical phrase) there is only a very little conscious awareness existing between the soul and the personality, from the standpoint of the personality upon the evolutionary arc of the Path of Return. A man's whole effort is to become aware of the soul and to transmute his consciousness into that of the soul, whilst still preserving the consciousness of the personality. As the fusion of soul and personality is strengthened, the creative thread becomes increasingly active, and thus the three threads steadily fuse, blend, become dominant, and the aspirant is then ready to bridge the gap and unite the Spiritual Triad and the personality, through the medium of the soul. This involves a direct effort at divine creative work. The clue to understanding lies perhaps in the thought that hitherto the relation between soul and personality has been steadily carried forward, primarily by the soul, as it stimulated the personality [459] to effort, vision and expansion. Now—at this stage—the integrated, rapidly developing personality becomes consciously active, and (in unison with the soul) starts building the antahkarana—a fusion of the three threads and a projection of them into the “higher wider reaches” of the mental plane, until the abstract mind and the lower concrete mind are related by the triple cable.