Mimimim

Commentary on Rule VII for Disciples and Initiates

Part I of V

Focus for the Second Month of Study on Rule(s) VII

A.     From the second month up until the fifth month, we will focus upon the Rule VII for Disciples and Initiates

1.     During the second month we will focus upon the first section of Rule VII for Disciples and Initiates (from February 25^th to March 25^th 2005).

We might choose as theme for our meditation

a.    Either Rule VII for Disciples and Initiates:

“Rule VII for Disciples and Initiates: Let the group life emit the Word of invocation and thus evoke response within those distant Ashrams where move the Chohans of the race of men. They are no longer men as are the Masters, but, having passed beyond that lesser stage, have linked Themselves with the Great Council in the highest Secret Place. Let the group sound a dual chord, reverberating in the halls where move the Masters but finding pause and prolongation within those radiant halls where move the ‘Lights which carry out the Will of God’.” (RI, p. 136)

b.    Or sub-themes, to which DK refers in His commentary to the Rule, such as (RI, p. 132 to p. 136 middle):

i.           Rule VII for D+I is “concerned with the life of Shamballa and with the purposes of the Great Council”. (cf. RI, p. 132)

ii.          “The fact of the Hierarchy is to many thinkers an established fact; the hypothesis that there may be a Hierarchy is a widespread recognition. Information concerning its grades, its modes of working and its objectives are now common property; much has been accepted and much proved by those who believe this teaching.” (cf. RI, p. 133)

iii.         The Teaching on the Hierarchy “has now seeped down into the consciousness of the masses and is there producing curiosity, relief and hope, speculation and cynical laughter, conscious spiritual effort or sustained ridicule—according to the type of mind, the sensitivity to truth or the crass credulity of the recipient. But the knowledge, belief and hope in the existence of a planetary Hierarchy has today leavened the entire mass of human thinking in a far wider and deeper manner than perhaps the most optimistic suspect; herein lies the hope of the world, and here is to be found also a fertile field for spiritual work during the coming decades.” (cf. RI, p. 133)

iv.        “The rules whereby the Hierarchy may be reached are already well known to the aspirants of the world; they must become equally well known to the average person.” (cf. RI, p. 133)

v.         “The objectives of the hierarchical work must be emphasised and the nature of the divine Plan unfolded so that purpose and goal may be presented to humanity; the synthesis of the chain of hierarchical Existences—from the smallest atom of matter up to and including the Lord of Life Himself—must be unfolded; the essential and spiritual interdependence of all and the interrelation of every unit of divine life must be proved. This will eventually lead to that established unity of effort which will express itself in the merging of the fourth and the fifth kingdoms in nature, and to the establishment of that brotherhood which will constitute the germ or the seed of the coming manifestation of the Hierarchy as the Heart of God (directly related to the Heart of the Sun) in physical expression.” (cf. RI, p. 133-134)

vi.        “The entire field of the world—meaning by that phrase all the kingdoms in nature in united inner and outer relationship—will be the medium of recognised spiritual experience and also the field of expression of certain divine qualities and aspects which have hitherto been in quiescent abeyance.” (cf. RI, p. 134)

vii.       “A great upheaval in all the kingdoms in nature has characterised this day and generation; a stupendous destruction of all forms of divine life and in every kingdom has been the outstanding note of this upheaval. Our modern civilisation has received a death blow from which it will never recover, but which will be recognised some day as the "blow of release" and as the signal for that which is better, new and more suitable for the evolving spirit, to make its appearance.” (cf. RI, p. 134)

viii.      “The coherent life of all the planetary forms has been temporarily rendered incoherent. As an ancient prophecy has put it: ‘No true united Sound goes out from form to form, from life to life. Only a cry of pain, a demand for restitution and an invocation for relief from agony, despair and fruitless effort goes out from here to There.’” (cf. RI, p. 135)

ix.        “All this upheaval of the "soil" of the world—spiritual, psychological and physical—all this disruption of the forms and of the familiar contours of our planetary life had to take place before there could come the emergence of the Hierarchy into the public consciousness; all this had to do its work upon the souls of men before the New Age could come in, bringing with it the Restoration of the Mysteries, and the rehabilitation of the peoples of the earth.” (cf. RI, p. 135)

x.         “The disruption, disintegration and the completely chaotic conditions existing for the past five hundred years within all the kingdoms of nature have at last worked their way out into paralleling physical conditions. This is good and desirable; it marks the prelude to a better building of a better world, the construction of more adequate forms of life and of more correct human attitudes, plus a sounder orientation to reality.” (cf. RI, p. 135)

xi.        “The best is yet to be.” (cf. RI, p. 135)

xii.       “Everything is being rapidly brought to the surface—the good and the bad, the desirable and the undesirable, the past and the future (for the two are one); the plough of God has nearly accomplished its work; the sword of the spirit has severed an evil past from the radiant future, and both are seen as contributory in the Eye of God; our material civilisation will be seen as giving place rapidly to a more spiritual culture; our church organisations, with their limiting and confusing theologies, will soon give place to the Hierarchy, with its emerging teaching—clear, factual, intuitive and non-dogmatic.” (cf. RI, p. 135)

xiii.      “The Hierarchy has been invoked and its Members are ready for a great ‘act of evocation,’ of response to the invoking sound of humanity and of a definite (though relatively temporary) ‘act of orientation.’ This will force the Hierarchy, of its own freewill, to turn towards a new and more intimate type of relation with humanity.” (cf. RI, p. 135-136)

xiv.      The “period of orientation will end when a powerful, earthly Hierarchy will factually, externally and in reality hold sway on earth, working in all the kingdoms of nature and thus bringing about (in truth) the expression of the divine Plan.” (cf. RI, p. 136)

xv.       The “plan is implemented through the medium of the senior Members of the Hierarchy, Who invoke the ‘Lights which carry out the Will of God’; They are Themselves invoked by the Light-Bearers, the Masters; They again, in Their turn, are invoked by the aspirants and disciples of the world. Thus is the chain of Hierarchy only a life line, along which travel the love and life of God, from Him to us and from us to Him.” (cf. RI, p. 136)

xvi.      “This dual thought of the relationship between humanity and the Hierarchy, and between the Hierarchy and the highest Centre, Shamballa, is completely covered in Rule VII in its two forms—for applicants, and for disciples and initiates.” (cf. RI, p. 136)

[Underlining and Bolding—MDR]

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The Rule which is our theme for consideration at this time is one of deep significance and esoteric interest; it is concerned with the life of Shamballa and with the purposes of the Great Council.

1.            When we think of the “Great Council” we must realize that it is focussed within the innermost sanctum of Shamballa of which the essential members are Sanat Kumara and the Three Buddhas of Activity. The three Esoteric Kumaras may also be considered members, though the mode of their participation is not given exoterically.

2.            The Buddhas of Activity are considered exoteric Kumaras. At various times changes of position occur between the esoteric and exoteric Kumaras.

3.            It is obvious that of the deliberations of this “Great Council” we can know practically nothing (at our present stage of evolution) except what is told to us by some great soul spiritually closer to that Council.

This rule is also one of rare beauty and extraordinary implications, and it offers me the opportunity to enlarge upon a subject little known or understood by any esotericist in the average esoteric group.

4.            In this section we see the Tibetan advancing the teaching presently available. If we think carefully about the esoteric teaching available before His writings, we will recognize the infrequency with which Shamballa was mentioned and the almost total lack of any specific information with respect to it.

The [Page 133] reason for this is that it is only as the new cycle draws closer—as it is drawing today—that the new and fuller teaching, the greatly extended horizon and the tremendously enhanced perception of the spiritual observer and worker become possible and apparent.

5.            We are living in times during which the horizon of human consciousness is expanding greatly and rapidly. There are certain stresses and strains with such rapid expansion.

6.            The “new cycle” drawing closer is clearly (at least) the Age of Aquarius with its anticipated beginning in 2117 (the year of another transit of Venus across the face of the Sun).

7.            There are, doubtlessly, other great cycles of which we know nothing, converging at this time.

Much, very much, has been given out during the past one hundred years anent the Masters, and (as we are considering the subject of initiation and of preparation for that great transitional experience) it is necessary to understand somewhat the nature of Those with Whom the disciple has to associate, and the kind of world and of consciousness in which They live and move and have Their being.

8.            If we stop to assess the extent of the teaching offered by the Tibetan through AAB and partially through HPB, we may stand amazed at what has been offered. Hierarchy is surely doing what it can to prepare the minds and hearts of humanity for the great planetary developments which lie immediately ahead.

9.            Initiation is called a “transitional experience”. Humanity which is preparing to undergo the first initiation is, therefore, obviously passing through a tremendous transition. Those who are stagnant in their perceptions will not notice this, and those who possess a deliberately chosen retrogressive consciousness will resent it and fight against it, but those who seek to cooperate with the development of truly Aquarian understanding and with the movement of humanity towards the fifth kingdom of nature will rejoice in this transition and its inevitable difficulties. How else to progress?

10.         Increasingly, disciples of the world will be more closely associated with the Masters of the Wisdom. The Externalization of the Hierarchy will guarantee this.

11.         Eventually, groups of disciples will come into closer energy-contact with the high beings who move with the precincts of Shamballa. A direct association will be a far distant eventuality, but at length it will come. At the present time disciples in their groups must at least become more receptive to the streams of energy emanating from such beings. After all, groups which are “merged in the fifth” are to be “nourished by the sixth and seventh”.

The fact of the Hierarchy is to many thinkers an established fact; the hypothesis that there may be a Hierarchy is a widespread recognition. Information concerning its grades, its modes of working and its objectives are now common property; much has been accepted and much proved by those who believe this teaching.

12.         We may not realize it, but the spread of knowledge concerning the factual existence of the Spiritual Hierarchy of our planet and its modes of working are a tremendous advantage to humanity. The sense of plan and purpose is thereby greatly stimulated, and humanity is saved from the license arising from a destructive hedonism and, even, nihilism.

13.         We note an important statement: not only has much been “accepted” anent the existence and nature of the Spiritual Hierarchy, but much has been proved.

14.         Importantly, belief must follow proof or verification. Humanity must achieve a truer understanding of an orientation to the Hierarchy if it to verify for itself the existence of that Hierarchy. The correct orientation is other than “show me and then I will believe”. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.”

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Before proceeding to a discussion of Rule VII, however, I would like to spend a moment studying some of the effects of this steadily growing fund of knowledge.

15.         As students of occultism it is our duty to absorb the Tibetan’s thought, ponder it, and add to the “fund of knowledge”. To the extent possible, this “knowledge” must be applied.

16.         We can see how much the mind of humanity must be prepared concerning the nature of the Hierarchy before it would be possible for that Hierarchy to externalize in a constructive manner.

It has become the possession of the many and not only of the rare and discreet esotericist and occult student;

17.         We note the requirement that the true student of esotericism is not only rare but, importantly, “discreet”. Until this present era, the “Secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven” have not been shouted from the rooftops, and even today, in an period of extensive dissemination of the inner teaching, only the slightest part of it has been made exoteric.

18.         Discretion is a virtue related to the responsible use of energies and forces.

this teaching has now seeped down into the consciousness of the masses and is there producing curiosity, relief and hope, speculation and cynical laughter, conscious spiritual effort or sustained ridicule—according to the type of mind, the sensitivity to truth or the crass credulity of the recipient.

19.         The Hierarchy relies upon a method of slow recognition and assimilation, here called seeping. The process is gradual and occurs almost unconsciously. It may take fifty years for a new idea to become incorporated into the public consciousness. The results of the gradual infusion of new ideas are more clearly seen in retrospect.

20.         DK is entirely realistic about public reaction to knowledge concerning the Spiritual Hierarchy. The ‘soil’ in which Hierarchy must plant the seed of wisdom is not uniformly receptive.

21.         As disciples we wish to be neither cynical and rejecting nor crassly credulous. There is a middle road of discerning receptivity and patient experimentation.

But the knowledge, belief and hope in the existence of a planetary Hierarchy has today leavened the entire mass of human thinking in a far wider and deeper manner than perhaps the most optimistic suspect;

22.         The real effect has been noted by Hierarchy. We are not in a position to see it. Hierarchy measures the progress of human consciousness as a whole.

23.         The word “leavened” is interesting, as it suggests a rising or elevation. Man used to live on “unleavened bread” which we can interpret as knowledge devoid of the elevating vision of the second aspect of divinity. Such knowledge is spiritually ‘flat’.

herein lies the hope of the world, and here is to be found also a fertile field for spiritual work during the coming decades. For this all disciples must prepare.

24.         In this field we, as disciples, have been working. That “fertile field” must continuously be seeded during the coming two decades (before 2025). At that time, the great Centennial Conclave will occur, and new plans for the regeneration of the humanity and the planet will be laid and implemented by Shamballa and its Ashram (the Spiritual Hierarchy).

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The rules whereby the Hierarchy may be reached are already well known to the aspirants of the world; they must become equally well known to the average person; the objectives of the hierarchical work must be emphasised and [Page 134] the nature of the divine Plan unfolded so that purpose and goal may be presented to humanity;

25.         The Hierarchy’s wishes for the dissemination of knowledge concerning its purpose, nature and practices could not be more clearly presented.

26.         In case we have wondered whether one should discuss the Spiritual Hierarchy with the “average” individual, this section gives the affirmative in no uncertain terms.

27.         Not only are average individuals to become familiar with the Spiritual Hierarchy, but its purpose, nature and modes of work are to become “well known” to them.

28.         This, in effect, means that humanity is to come into a measure of understanding of the Divine Plan. Fortunately, much progress along this line has occurred—quietly.

the synthesis of the chain of hierarchical Existences—from the smallest atom of matter up to and including the Lord of Life Himself—must be unfolded;

29.         We note that all forms of life are called “hierarchical Existences”. Humanity is to become aware of the synthesis of life, of “Hylozoism”. The name given to this synthesis is not important as long as its factuality is somewhat apprehended.

30.         When “Hylozoism” is an established working hypothesis in the minds of a significant number of human beings, all kingdoms of nature (including the members of the human kingdom) will be treated with greater love and respect.

the essential and spiritual interdependence of all and the interrelation of every unit of divine life must be proved.

31.         At the moment this interdependence is asserted by those who understand it. We can hardly say that it has, as yet, been “proved”. The oneness and wholeness of humanity, all kingdoms of nature and the planet are, however, increasingly evident to all thinking people. In our modern world, we call this growing understanding of unity the “ecological consciousness”.

This will eventually lead to that established unity of effort which will express itself in the merging of the fourth and the fifth kingdoms in nature, and to the establishment of that brotherhood which will constitute the germ or the seed of the coming manifestation of the Hierarchy as the Heart of God (directly related to the Heart of the Sun) in physical expression. This is necessarily an ambiguous phrase; but is as close an expression, in words, of hierarchical purpose as I find it possible to make.

32.         Today humanity is characterized largely by divided effort, non-cooperation, and open antagonism. This must and will give way to a planetary event which is here called “the merging of the fourth and fifth kingdoms in nature”.

33.         When humanity becomes soul-infused, the conflicts and antagonisms which now divide it will subside. Soul expression, on no matter what ray, conduces to unity.

34.         The influence of the “Heart of the Sun” will slowly begin to manifest through humanity as the fourth and fifth kingdoms merge, and this will become an noticeable fact during the era of brotherhood which will characterize humanity during the third decanate of the Age of Aquarius (ruled by a planet of brotherhood—Venus). Eventually, the Spiritual Hierarchy (as a direct representative of the Heart of the Sun) will manifest fully on a planet which will have become “sacred”. By that time, much of what is now humanity will have merged in Hierarchy. This merging obviously lies in the distant future.

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The entire field of the world—meaning by that phrase all the kingdoms in nature in united inner and outer relationship—will be the medium of recognised spiritual experience and also the field of expression of certain divine qualities and aspects which have hitherto been in quiescent abeyance.

35.         The Tibetan is prophesying; He envisions a time of unity and synthesis—the spiritualization of our planet. The spirituality then expressed will be all-inclusive in a planetary sense, involving the “entire field of the world”. The sacredness of all kingdoms will be understood and new forms of divine expression will work through an achieved unity of kingdoms.

36.         It is inspiring to imagine the distant vista.

What these qualities are, what divine aspects are awaiting precipitation, and which divine purposes are latent in that field of waiting expectancy, I cannot yet reveal or even indicate. The times are not yet ripe.

37.         The world field is, and will increasingly become, a “field of waiting expectancy”.

38.         The purpose of the Tibetan’s prophesy is not to give us detailed information about distant eventuations, but to inform us that divine intention is always greater than we can possibly imagine.

39.         In short, we are not to become discouraged by present difficulties and apparently intractable situations. “The best is yet to be.”

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A great upheaval in all the kingdoms in nature has characterised this day and generation; a stupendous destruction of all forms of divine life and in every kingdom has been the outstanding note of this upheaval. Our modern civilisation has received a death blow from which it will never recover, but which will be recognised some day as the "blow of release" and as the signal for that which is better, new and more suitable for the evolving spirit, to make its appearance.

40.         The “upheaval” has many causes, some of them beyond the confines of our solar system. Within our solar system two planets which contribute to the upheaval are Vulcan and Pluto—planets which become active before the first initiation of the human individual and, by extension, before the first initiation of humanity as whole.

41.         We may also say that these planets function in relation to the process of the fourth initiation through which our Planetary Logos is said to be passing.

42.         Our civilization is “modern”, but (carrying as it does many vestiges of the Piscean civilization) it is not well-aligned to the Divine Plan.

43.         We see reactionary schools of thought (often religiously inspired) seeking to hold on to the past, but it is a losing battle.

44.         Much of the present and anticipated struggle during this transitional period between the waning Age of Pisces and the impending Age of Aquarius will focus on the willingness of humanity to release itself from the conditioning of past patterns of thought and behavior.

45.         A little thought on the concept will reveal that the “blow of release” is a peculiarly Vulcanian dynamic.

46.         New energies are in process of emergence; the “signal” for their advent has been given and registered.

Great and penetrating energies and their evoked forces have met in a conflict which has, figuratively speaking, elevated the mineral kingdom into the skies and which has brought down fire from heaven. I am talking to you factually and not just symbolically.

47.         An important relationship between energies and forces is here described. Energies (in the realm of soul and beyond) evoke forces (in the worlds of personality, form and matter).

48.         The figurative interpretation is relatively easy to understand as the result of modern aerial warfare and its weaponry.

49.         There are also occult interpretations, and they relate, again, to Vulcan—ruler of the mineral kingdom and, in part, of the fires of will. Vulcan relates both to the fires deeply recessed in matter and to the fires of the heavenly worlds. The “jewel in the lotus” is reasonably ruled by Vulcan.

50.         “Fire from heaven” may also be interpreted as the fire of Shamballa which inspired both those aligned with good and evil.

The bodies of men, women and children, as well as of animals, have been [Page 135] destroyed; the forms of the vegetable kingdom and the potencies of the mineral kingdom have been disintegrated, distributed and devastated. The coherent life of all the planetary forms has been temporarily rendered incoherent.

51.         In the Tibetan’s description, we can see the work of Shamballa—the destruction of forms anticipating the preparation of new and more suitable vessels for the spirit.

52.         That which is coherent must be rendered incoherent, if forms are to be reorganized and based more truly upon archetypal patterns.

53.         We remember that the three potencies which emanate from Shamballa are purification, destruction and organization. The Tibetan, it seems, is describing the second and third particularly.

54.         We are in that period which precedes the time when it shall be truly said, “Behold, I make all things new!”

As an ancient prophecy has put it: "No true united Sound goes out from form to form, from life to life. Only a cry of pain, a demand for restitution and an invocation for relief from agony, despair and fruitless effort goes out from here to There."

55.         One cannot help but be reminded that our Planetary Logos is passing through the fourth in a series of seven initiations—the Initiation of the Crucifixion.

56.         The planet Vulcan is involved with the fourth initiation of the individual human being and, it seems, of the Planetary Logos as well. Vulcan has much in its nature relating to the fourth ray, and thus to the fourth initiation.

57.         Great disharmony must ever precede re-harmonization. The three words associated with the fourth initiation are “Crucifixion. Sacrifice. Harmony” (R&I 340). The important implication is that crucifixion and sacrifice must precede the emergence of harmony.

58.         As well, one would think with reason that the Law of Disintegration—the third systemic law—would be involved in this process.

59.         A “united Sound” depends upon the potency of the second ray (the ray which rules the Akasha, from which vibratory level coherent sound originates). We might say that in the modern era, the potencies of the monad (a ‘resident’ of Shamballa) are disorganizing the sound resounding through form in preparation for a reorganization of form from which will emanate a sound closer to the archetypal sound.

60.         The life imprisoned in the form does not realize this, however, and experiences only the pain of incoherence and futility.

61.         We note the capitalized word, “There”, indicating humanity’s invocation of Hierarchy and, to a degree, Shamballa. Humanity is living ‘here’; Hierarchy and Shamballa are “There”—indicating the ‘vibratory distance’ which separates them.

62.         We are living in a time of ‘great invocation’. The “Great Invocation” has been given to us to strengthen humanity’s often inchoate and desperate invocation for relief.

63.         We note that the ancient writing is a “prophecy”. That which is coming to pass now has long been foretold. We are living through an agonizing phase required by the Divine Plan for our planet.

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All this upheaval of the "soil" of the world—spiritual, psychological and physical—all this disruption of the forms and of the familiar contours of our planetary life had to take place before there could come the emergence of the Hierarchy into the public consciousness; all this had to do its work upon the souls of men before the New Age could come in, bringing with it the Restoration of the Mysteries, and the rehabilitation of the peoples of the earth. The two go together.

64.         The “soil” of the world is the condition of all forms and of the matter which composes those forms. A plough turns the soil so that it may be seeded. Vulcan is the planet which rules ploughs. It is also the planet whose energies will be used to beat swords into ploughshares.

65.         The section immediately above seems to contain a rather hard saying—that all the misery recently experienced by humanity (and, as well, by many forms of life on Earth) was necessary if knowledge of the Spiritual Hierarchy was to emerge in public consciousness.

66.         The many miseries worked upon the souls of men, making them more responsive to the vibrations of the New Age.

67.         We many not be accustomed to thinking that unhappiness and misery must precede regeneration, however, this seems to be the case (at least on a global scale and on this planet so characterized by the number of pain—the number four).

68.         The New Age will bring the “Restoration of the Mysteries” and the “rehabilitation of the peoples of the earth”. The restoration and the rehabilitation go together, we are told. This must ever be kept in mind.

69.         The idea is simple and impressive: unless the Mysteries are restored on Earth the rehabilitation of the peoples cannot occur. There must also be the rehabilitation of a certain number of humanity if it will become possible for the Mysteries to be restored.

70.         In meditating upon and studying the 28 Rules, we are contributing, quietly, to the Restoration of the Mysteries.

This is one of the major points which I am seeking to make. The disruption, disintegration and the completely chaotic conditions existing for the past five hundred years within all the kingdoms of nature have at last worked their way out into paralleling physical conditions.

71.         The idea is revelatory. Disruption, disintegration and chaos have been building for the past five hundred years. The destruction and chaos of the war were the emerging expression of a dire, latent condition unrealized, perhaps, by most of humanity, but fully understood by Hierarchy.

72.         The principle is clear: internal conditions will eventually find expression—for good or for ill.

This is good and desirable; it marks the prelude to a better building of a better world, the construction of more adequate forms of life and of more correct human attitudes, plus a sounder orientation to reality. The best is yet to be.

73.         Despite the disastrous expression of these inner conditions, the ultimate result has been good. The destruction has been necessary. Human attitudes have been corrected through the grievous experience. A truer apprehension of reality has emerged.

74.         The Tibetan’s optimistic statement rings forth: “The best is yet to be.”

75.         Perhaps it is difficult for us (still very human individuals) to understand the spiritual value of destruction. Our prevailing bias towards the preservation of form runs counter to this understanding. We cling too tightly to that which is evident and fail to sense the emergence of that which is immanent and implicate. When, however, we become more accustomed to loss and apparent privation, the beauty of the intended expression will be more quickly realized and we will more readily sacrifice our attachment to the past and the forms there found.

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Everything is being rapidly brought to the surface—the good and the bad, the desirable and the undesirable, the past and the future (for the two are one);

76.         The planet Pluto (also active at the time of the first initiation) must be considered as well as Vulcan, for Pluto drags all hidden things to the surface where they may be faced and dealt with in the proper manner. (cf. EA 70)

77.         The statement is made that the “past and future…are one”. How shall we understand this? Surely the future grows from the past and is, in reality, inseparable from it. Was there ever a future without a past or a past without a future? Both are reflections and approximations of one and same archetypes or divine patterns.

78.         From another perspective, every past is a future from a certain point of vantage, and every future becomes a past.

79.         Is their content identical? It would be difficult to affirm this. What may be said is that every past, present and future is only so from a given angle of vision. If the angle of vision is utterly encompassing, it is seen that each of them can only occur in a divine present. The ultimate essence of every moment is identical even if the configuration of the ‘form of that moment’ alters.

80.         The angle of vision here indicated is that of the “All Seeing Eye”.

the plough of God has nearly accomplished its work;

81.         Vulcan originates the new and Vulcan is the planet of the plough and of the metal from which the plough is fashioned.

the sword of the spirit has severed an evil past from the radiant future, and both are seen as contributory in the Eye of God;

82.         This is the true meaning of “I come to bring not peace but the sword.” The sword is partially the “sword of discrimination”, and partially the sword which separates the future from the conditioning of the past. The evil patterns of the past can only be perpetuated for so long.

83.         Interestingly, both the radiant future and evil past are contributory to the goal—i.e., to the expression of the Divine Plan.

84.         It is the “Eye of God” which envisions the Divine Purpose and its enactment (over time) of the Divine Plan. It is the “Eye of God” which sees the future and the past as one. This is the “Eye” which is capable of seeing the “Eternal Now”.

our material civilisation will be seen as giving place rapidly to a more spiritual culture;

85.         “Culture” and “civilization” are contrasted, with culture suggested as the more refined state closer to the soul.

86.         A civilization is what it is; it is the prevailing condition in which all contributing forces are to be found. Culture requires a special cultivation and is the leaven of civilization.

our church organisations, with their limiting and confusing theologies, will soon give place to the Hierarchy, with its emerging teaching—clear, factual, intuitive and non-dogmatic.

87.         Theology is contrasted with the teaching of Hierarchy. Theology is largely fashioned by the un-illumined concrete mind (often, as fed by the abstract mind), and hence the confusion. The teaching of Hierarchy is intuitively based, and the true intuition is infallible.

88.         Thus, the teaching of Hierarchy is “clear, factual, intuitive and non-dogmatic”. One can easily see the influence of the fifth ray in the descriptors chosen. Indeed, Hierarchy is an expression of the fifth kingdom—the Kingdom of Souls.

89.         In the teaching of Hierarchy, the intuitive fourth ray can also be found as well as the experimentalism of Uranus, contrasted with the limitations of lower Saturn.

90.         Under the guidance of Hierarchy, people will begin to see for themselves. They will no longer have to believe blindly, using convoluted, semi-darkened reasoning to support their beliefs. That which they do not yet ‘see’, they will be encouraged to prove, and the mode of arriving at this proof will be given to them.

91.         We cannot escape the conclusion that theology is a semi-darkened expression of divinity (at best).

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The Hierarchy has been invoked and its Members are [Page 136] ready for a great "act of evocation," of response to the invoking sound of humanity and of a definite (though relatively temporary) "act of orientation."

92.         It is instructive to think of the “Externalization of the Hierarchy: as a great “act of evocation”—essentially, as a response to humanity’s call.

93.         Hierarchy is preparing for a closer relationship to humanity; it is turning towards humanity in a new way. This turning is an “act of orientation”.

This will force the Hierarchy, of its own freewill, to turn towards a new and more intimate type of relation with humanity. That period of orientation will end when a powerful, earthly Hierarchy will factually, externally and in reality hold sway on earth, working in all the kingdoms of nature and thus bringing about (in truth) the expression of the divine Plan.

94.         We note that Hierarchy is not compelled to reorient itself to humanity; the act is undertaken of its own freewill. Thus the Good Law promoting the freedom of the will is respected.

95.         However, it is interesting to see that the word “force” is used. Hierarchy is forced and yet acts of its own freewill. The contrast deserves pondering.

96.         Although Hierarchy’s “act of orientation” is called “relatively temporary”, we can judge that it will last throughout the Aquarian Age and almost certainly longer, for it will surely take that long for Hierarchy to manifest powerfully and “hold sway on earth”. Perhaps, in fact, this relatively temporary act of orientation will be measured in relation to the duration of rootraces rather than in relation to the duration of precessional ages.

97.         We note that for the Divine Plan to be expressed “in truth”, all kingdoms of nature will necessarily be involved.

98.         We are speaking here of nothing less than the regeneration of humanity and all kingdoms of nature—nothing to be achieved in a short period time.

99.         In short, we may expect that the externalized Hierarchy will not again withdraw as it was forced to do in Atlantean times.

This plan is implemented through the medium of the senior Members of the Hierarchy, Who invoke the "Lights which carry out the Will of God";

100.      The Members of Shamballa are called the “Lights which carry out the Will of God”. The Chohans are learning to become such “Lights”, but there are “Lights’ which are far more advanced than They.

101.      The “senior Members of the Hierarchy” here referenced are the Chohans

They are Themselves invoked by the Light-Bearers, the Masters;

102.      This is an unusual term for the “Masters”—the “Light Bearers”. The “Light-Bearers” invoke the Chohans and the Chohans invoke the “Lights”.

They again, in Their turn, are invoked by the aspirants and disciples of the world. Thus is the chain of Hierarchy only a life line, along which travel the love and life of God, from Him to us and from us to Him.

103.      We realize that invocation is a universal mode of approach, practiced not only by human beings in relation to the Masters of the Wisdom, but by the Masters in relation to the Chohans, and by the Chohans in relation to still more advanced participants in the planetary process (for instance, the members of the Council in Shamballa). This process of invocation continues as far as the eye can see, and is unconsciously/instinctively enacted in the lower kingdoms.

This dual thought of the relationship between humanity and the Hierarchy, and between the Hierarchy and the highest Centre, Shamballa, is completely covered in Rule VII in its two forms—for applicants, and for disciples and initiates.

104.      The essence of Rule(s) VII is here given. These two Rules clarify the lines of invocation which bind together a wide range of workers—from the lowliest aspirant to the Planetary Logos, Himself and beyond.

105.      By studying this Rule we may come to better understand a most important planetary triangle—Humanity, Hierarchy and Shamballa. It should not be forgotten that this is the seventh Rule and, thus, ruled by Libra, the symbol of which is the triangle.

106.      Interestingly, the seven sign, Libra, has much to do with Shamballa—the Center of Perfect Peace (planetarily considered).