Compilation Fifth Initiation (the “Revelation”)

 

(DINAII 419)  This hint is working out today in the consciousness of humanity as a whole; the reason for this is that the perfected [Page 419] Personality of Sanat Kumara—focussed at present in His creative throat centre, Humanity—is reverberating to the orchestral effect of the formula which embodies this hint from the cosmic angle. To this I need not further refer, for you could not understand. Nor do I to any great extent, brother of mine, being but an initiate of the fifth degree.

 

(CF 511)   The goal set before humanity is that of becoming Masters of the Wisdom, or conscious units in the Body of the Dragon of Wisdom or of Love. This a man achieves when he can function consciously in the Buddhic vehicle.

 

(CF 836)  The goal for the devas (below the rank of solar Pitris) is individualisation, and their objective is to become men in some future cycle.  The goal for a man is initiation, or to become a conscious Dhyan Chohan, and in some distant cycle (next Solar System) to do for the humanity of that age what the solar Pitris have done for him, and make their self-conscious expression a possibility.  The goal for a solar Pitri is, as said earlier, to become a logoic Ray.

 

(EPII 346)  About this later stage, little can be profitably said.  Teaching which would be intelligible to an initiate of the third degree would be profitless and unintelligible even to the highly integrated and intelligent disciple, especially as such teaching is given necessarily through the use of most abstract and complicated symbols, requiring careful analysis and interpretation.  None of this higher teaching is given through the medium of words, either spoken or written.

 

(OM 263)  A Master of the Wisdom is He Who has entrusted to Him, by virtue of work accomplished, certain Words of Power…..These Words  are imparted orally, and through clairvoyant faculty but must be found by the Initiate Himself, by the use of atma and as He attains atmic consciousness.... When atmic consciousness is developing by means of the intuition, the [Page 264] Initiate can contact the stores of knowledge inherent in the Monad, and thus learn the Words of Power.  This ability comes only after the application of the Rod of Initiation as wielded by the Lord of the World.  Therefore by the higher stages of occult meditation does a Master of the Wisdom increase still further His knowledge.

 

 

(EPII 341)  Eventually, the monadic ray takes control, absorbing into itself the rays of the personality and of the soul (at the third and fifth initiations) and thus duality is finally and definitely overcome and "only the One Who Is remains."

 

(EOH 529)  …initiates above the third degree are rapidly taking  the fourth and fifth initiations and becomg Masters (taking both initiations in one life)…

 

(IHS 174)   At the fifth initiation the secret makes clear to him "The mathematical formula which sums up all the cycles of manifestation."

 

(CF 7)  Knowledge of the cycles involves knowledge of number, sound and colour.

 

  Full knowledge of the mystery of the cycles is the possession only of the perfected adept.

 

(EA 141)    Aquarius is pre-eminently a sign of constant movement, of changing activity and recurrent mutations....It is therefore, a sign in which the significance of cycles is mastered and understood by the initiate. (Sun or rising sign in the chart, perhaps even moon too-ZR)

 

(EA 388) 1. The secret of Aries is the secret of beginnings, of cycles and of emerging opportunity. At the third initiation, the initiate begins to understand the life of the spirit

 

(EA 465)  These three Crosses make together twelve arms and it is the energy flowing through the twelve arms and their place in the soul horoscope which will assume the major importance. This I will enlarge upon when we take up the theme of the three Crosses. The twelve houses concern the personality. The four arms of the three Crosses concern the soul and it is these twelve and their appearance in the horoscope or their failure to appear which will govern the horoscope of the soul. All the four influences of the three [Page 465] Crosses will be found present in the chart of a Master. Therefore an indication of which constellations are primarily related to the unfoldment of consciousness and to the evolution of spiritual understanding is of significant use here.

 

(IHS)  Those who pass away from the earth after the fifth initiation, or those who do not become Masters in physical incarnation, take their subsequent initiations elsewhere in the system

 

(CF 1144)   Periodicity of manifestation is the cyclic appearance of certain forms of specified energy, and this is true whether a man is speaking of a solar system, of a Ray, of the appearance of a planet in space, or of the phenomenon of human birth.  Certain factors extraneous to any energy unit under consideration, will inevitably affect its appearance, and act as deflecting or directing agents.  The Law of Cycles has ever been regarded as one of the most difficult for a man to master, and it has been truly said that when a man has mastered its technicalities, and can understand its methods of time computation, he has attained initiation (the 5th initiation).  Its intricacies are so numerous and so bound up with the still greater law, that of cause and effect, that practically the whole range of possible knowledge is thereby surmounted.  To comprehend this law involves ability to:

 

a. Deal with the higher mathematical formulas of the solar system.

b. Compute the relationship between a unit of any degree and the greater whole upon whose vibration that unit is swept into periodic display.

c. Read the akashic records of a planetary system.

d. Judge of karmic effects in time and space.

e. Differentiate between the four streams of karmic effects as they concern the four kingdoms of nature.

f. Distinguish between the three main streams of energy [Page 1145] —the units of inertia, mobility and rhythm—and note the key of each unit, and its place in the great group of transitional points.  These latter units are those who are on the crest of one of the three waves, and ready, therefore, to be transferred into a wave of a higher vibratory capacity.

g. Enter the Hall of Records and there read a peculiar group of documents dealing with planetary manifestation in a fourfold manner.  It concerns the planetary Logos, and deals with the transference of energy from the moon chain.  It concerns the transmission of energy to another planetary scheme, and concerns the interaction between the human Hierarchy (the fourth Kingdom) and the great informing Life of the animal kingdom.

 

When a man can do all these things and has earned the right to know that which produces the phenomenon of manifestation, he has earned the right to enter into the councils of the planetary Hierarchy, and himself to direct streams of energy upon, through and out of the planet.

 

 

(RI 316) At the fourth initiation the destroying aspect of the will can begin to make its presence felt.

 

(RI 388)  "The first ray is the only one with no subsidiary fully functioning Ashram, and this because the will aspect is as yet very little understood and few initiates can meet the requirements of the first ray initiation.  This is no reflection on humanity. It is a question of divine timing and expediency, and Shamballa is not yet prepared for an influx of first ray initiates."

 

(HIS 34)  the next great cycle or round (5th round)….but as this is several million years away from us…

 

(CF 498)  as far as the evolution of manas in this round is concerned its  highest efflorescence may be looked for during the next five hundred years.

 

(DINAII 336) It is this test which I have been applying in my work with all of you in this special group; the related state persists also on the inner plane after death, and in the consciousness of those (at present non-affiliated) who are still part of the group chosen for the experiment, on my part, of group preparation for initiation. Other Masters are doing the same as I am doing. We hope during the next five hundred years to present several such groups to the One Initiator.

 

(RI 648)  It must not be inferred from the above that humanity as a whole, will be taking the fifth initiation, for such is not the case. Many advanced souls (perhaps amounting to many thousands) may and will take this initiation…

 

(CF 220)  The tiny atom of the physical plane, a plane itself, a planet, and a solar system all evolve under these rules, and all are governed by the Law of Economy in one of its four aspects.

It might be added in closing, that this law is one that initiates have to master before They can achieve liberation.  They have to learn to manipulate matter, and to work with energy or force in matter under this law; they have to utilise matter and energy in order to achieve the liberation of Spirit, and to bring to fruition the purposes of the Logos in the evolutionary process.

 

On path of earth service becomes a council member

(EOH 532)   This Path, as you know, keeps the Masters attached to service in the three worlds for a period much longer than the average. It involves tremendous sacrifice….

so the Master, when He chooses this Path, forms a constituent part of the Council Chamber of the Lord of the World and at the same time works consciously in the three worlds, via the Hierarchy (of which He remains also a part), and with the human and subhuman kingdoms in nature.

 

(RI 177)  At the fifth initiation no [Page 177] symbol or light substance separates or protects him, but he stands before the Initiator face to face, and the freedom of the City of God is his.  He is not yet a Member of the Great Council, but he has the right of entrance into Shamballa, and from that point he passes on to a more intimate relation, if that is his chosen destiny.  He may not even finally become a Member of the Great Council; that is reserved for relatively few and for Those Who can take even still higher initiations within the ring-pass-not of our planet—a task of profound difficulty.  There are other and interesting alternatives, as I have elsewhere told you.  The initiate may pass out of this planetary life altogether along one or other of the various Paths

 

(EA 141)  "Planetary influences are unusually potent in Aquarius during this world cycle because it is, in a peculiar way, a culminating sign for the majority of people who proceed from Aries to Pisces upon the Fixed Cross. A rare few consummate the experience of life upon the three Crosses in the sign Pisces, and so become world saviours. They know then and only then, the highest aspect of the first ray as it expresses itself through the activity of Death.  The bulk, however of the world initiates climax their experience in Aquarius (at the 5th) and become liberated world servers."

 

 (EA 53)  Man—speaking symbolically—is the "five-pointed star and, at the fiery points, the forces of the man pour out and upon each fiery point appears a centre of reception." This is of course pictorially expressed, but the meaning is clear. However, as man nears the Path of Discipleship the influence of the sacred planets becomes increasingly effective, until after the final and fifth initiation the non-sacred planets have no effect, though the initiate wields their energies potently as they pour into and through his vehicles of reception, of response and of expression, for all three activities and purposes must be noted.

 

(EA 74)   At the fifth and final initiation, Uranus and Jupiter appear and produce a "beneficent organisation" of the totality of energies found in the initiate's equipment. When this reorganisation is complete, the initiate can then "escape from off the wheel and then can truly live."

 

All this time the energy of the sun (veiling a sacred planet, hitherto unknown) is steadily and persistently reaching the man via the solar angel.

 

(EA 90)  Finally the time will come when he will be sensitive to the whole range of vibrations; charts will then be set up which will be called "charts of the crosses" and not simply indications of planetary influences in the twelve houses. I question whether there is any living astrologer capable of doing this as yet. These are the kind of charts by which the Masters gauge Their disciples and they are most interesting; I touched upon them somewhat earlier in this treatise. These "charts of the crosses" are the ones that are prepared prior to the third initiation, at which time the man begins his "approach" to the Cardinal Cross of the heavens. I would here remind you, e'en though it is a piece of useless information, that the fifth major initiation of our planet is the first cosmic initiation, just as the third initiation is the first systemic. The two first initiations are planetary in their implications. The above statement has deep and esoteric astrological significance.

 

(OM 262) A Master of the Wisdom is One Who has chosen to stay upon our planet to help His fellowmen.... All who attain the fifth Initiation are Masters of the Wisdom, but all stay not and work as servers of the race.  They pass to other work of  greater or equal importance.

 

(OM 222) 1. That he seeks to find the esoteric colours and their right application to the planes and centres, to the bodies through which he manifests, and to the bodies through which the Logos manifests (the seven sacred planets); to the rounds and to the races, and to the cycles of his own individual life.  When he can do this he holds in his hands the key to all knowledge.

 

(EOH 522)  The higher the state of initiation, the harder it will be for the initiate concerned. It is, for instance, less of an effort for me to contact you than it would be for some of the Chohans, such as the Masters M. and K.H. I am nearer to you, because I am still utilising the same physical body in which I took the fifth initiation, nearly ninety years ago. Chohans have taken a still higher initiation and are focal points of powerful Ashrams;

 

(HIS 57)  The Master Djwhal Khul, or the Master D. K. as He is frequently called, is another adept on the second Ray of Love-Wisdom.  He is the latest of the adepts taking initiation, having taken the fifth initiation in 1875, and is therefore occupying the same body in which He took the initiation, most of the other Masters having taken the fifth initiation whilst occupying earlier vehicles.  His body is not a young one, and He is a Tibetan.  He is very devoted to the Master K.  H. and occupies a little house not far distant from the larger one of the Master, and from His willingness to serve and to do anything that has to be done, He has been called "the Messenger of the Masters."  He is profoundly learned, and knows more about the rays and planetary Hierarchies of the solar system than anyone else in the ranks of the Masters.

 

(HIS 90)  After the fourth initiation not much remains to be done.  The domination of the sixth sub-plane goes forward with rapidity, and the matter of the higher sub-planes of the buddhic is co-ordinated.  The initiate is admitted into closer fellowship in the Lodge, and his contact with the devas is more complete.  He is rapidly exhausting the resources of the Hall of Wisdom, and is mastering the most intricate plans and charts.  He becomes adept in the significance of colour and sound, can wield the law in the three worlds, and can contact his Monad with more freedom than the majority of the human race can contact their Egos.  He is in charge, also, of large work, teaching many pupils, aiding in many schemes, and is gathering under him those who are to assist him in future times.  This refers only to those who stay to help humanity on this globe; we will deal later with some of the lines of work that stretch before the Adept if He passes away from earth service.

 

After the fifth initiation the man is perfected as far as this scheme goes, though he may, if he will, take two further initiations.

 

To achieve the sixth initiation the Adept has to take a very intensive course in planetary occultism.  A Master wields the law in the three worlds, whilst a Chohan of the sixth initiation wields the law in the chain on all levels; a Chohan of the seventh initiation wields the law in the solar system.

 

(EPI 155)  The 7+12=19, and if you add to these 19 expressions of the Life the 3 major aspects of Deity, which we call the life of God the Father, the love of God the Son, and the active intelligence of God the Holy Ghost, you arrive at the mystic number 22 which is called (in esotericism) the number of the adept.  This simply means that the adept is one who comprehends the nature of the 19 forces as they express themselves through the medium of the triple divine manifestation, as it in its turn relates itself to human consciousness.  It does not mean that the adept has mastered and can wield these 19 types of energy.  They are consciously wielded only by the three synthetic Builders or Creators, Who are:

 

(HIS 91)  at the third initiation the application of the Rod by the One Initiator makes available in a vastly more extensive manner the force of the higher self or Ego, and brings into play on the physical plane the entire energy stored up during numerous incarnations [Page 92] in the causal vehicle.  At the fourth initiation the energy of his egoic group becomes his to use for the good of planetary evolution, and at the fifth initiation the force or energy of the planet (esoterically understood, and not merely the force or energy of the material globe) is at his disposal.

 

(HIS 99)  These seven Heavenly Men, in Whose bodies each human Monad and each deva finds his place, form the seven centres in the body of the Logos.  He, in His turn, forms the Heart centre (for God is Love) of a still greater Entity.  The consummation of all for this solar system will be when the Logos takes His fifth initiation.  When all the sons of men attain the fifth initiation, He achieves.  This is a great mystery and incomprehensible to us.

 

(HIS 105)  He works through His representative on the physical plane, Sanat Kumara, Who is the focal point for His life and energy.  He holds the world within His aura.  This great Existence is only contacted directly by the adept who has taken the [Page 105] fifth initiation, and is proceeding to take the other two, the sixth and seventh.  Once a year, at the Wesak Festival, the Lord Buddha, sanctioned by the Lord of the World, carries to the assembled humanity a dual stream of force, that emanating from the Silent Watcher, supplemented by the more focalised energy of the Lord of the World.  This dual energy He pours out in blessing over the people gathered at the ceremony in the Himalayas…

 

(HIS 108)  3. For the higher three initiations at which Sanat Kumara wields the Rod.

 

At all initiations the Lord of the World is present, but at the first two He holds a position similar to that held by the Silent Watcher, when Sanat Kumara administers the oath at the third, fourth and fifth initiations.  His power streams forth and the flashing forth of the star before the initiate is the signal of His approval, but the initiate does not see Him face to face until the third initiation.

 

The function of the three Kumaras, or the three Buddhas of Activity at initiation is interesting.  They are three aspects of the one aspect, and the pupils of Sanat Kumara.  Though Their functions are many and varied, and concern primarily the forces and energies of nature, and the direction [Page 108] of the building agencies, They have a vital connection with the applicant for initiation, inasmuch as They each embody the force or energy of one or other of the three higher subplanes of the mental plane.  Therefore at the third initiation one of these Kumaras transmits to the causal body of the initiate that energy which destroys third subplane matter, and thus brings about part of the destruction of the vehicle; at the fourth initiation another Buddha transmits second plane force, and at the fifth, first subplane force is similarly passed into the remaining atoms of the causal vehicle, producing the final liberation.  The work done by the second Kumara, with second subplane force, is in this solar system the most important in connection with the egoic body, and produces its complete dissipation, whereas the final application causes the atoms themselves (which formed that body) to disperse.

 

(HIS 111)  In the case of the first two initiations, two Masters stand, one on each side of the applicant, within the triangle; at the third, fourth and fifth initiations, the Mahachohan and the Bodhisattva perform the function of sponsor; at the sixth and seventh initiations two great Beings, Who must remain nameless, stand within the esoteric triangle.  The work of the sponsors is to pass through Their bodies the force or electrical energy emanating from the Rod of Initiation.  This force, through radiation, circles around the triangle and is supplemented by the force of the three guardians; it next passes through the centres of the sponsors, being transmitted by an act of will to the initiate.

 

(CF 220)  It might be added in closing, that this law (Law of Economy) is one that initiates have to master before They can achieve liberation.  They have to learn to manipulate matter, and to work with energy or force in matter under this law; they have to utilise matter and energy in order to achieve the liberation of Spirit, and to bring to fruition the purposes of the Logos in the evolutionary process.

 

(HIS 118)  At this fourth initiation he contacts the love aspect of the Monad, and at the fifth the will aspect, and thus completes his contacts, responds to all necessary vibrations, and is master on the five planes of human evolution.

 

Further, it is at the third, the fourth, and the fifth initiations that he becomes aware also of that "Presence" which enfolds even that spiritual Entity, his own Monad.  [Page 118] He sees his Monad as one with the Planetary Logos.  Through the channel of his own Monad he sees the self-same aspects (which that Monad embodies) on a wider scale, and the Planetary Logos, Who ensouls all the Monads on His ray, is thus revealed.  This truth is well-nigh impossible to express in words, and concerns the relation of the electrical point of fire, which is the Monad, to the five-pointed star, which reveals the Presence of the Planetary Logos to the initiate.  This is practically incomprehensible to the average man for whom this book is written.

 

(HIS 123) At the fifth Initiation the vision brings to him a still more extended outlook and a third planetary scheme is seen, forming with the other two schemes one of those triangles of force which are necessitated in the working out of solar evolution.  Just as all manifestation proceeds through duality and triplicity back to eventual synthesis so these schemes, which are but centres of force in the body of a solar Logos, work first as separated units living their own integral life, then as dualities, through the interplay of force through any two schemes, thus aiding, stimulating and complementing each other, and finally as a solar triangle, circulating force from point to point and centre to centre until the energy is merged and synthesised and the three work together in unity.

 

When the adept of the fifth initiation can work in line with the plans of the three Logoi involved, co-operating with Them with ever greater ability, as time elapses, he becomes ready for the sixth Initiation, which admits him to still higher conclaves.  He becomes a participant in solar and not merely planetary purposes.

 

(HIS 126)   Planetary, used by a Planetary Logos for initiatory purposes, and for the third, fourth, and fifth major initiations, with the two higher.  At the planetary initiation the Rod of Power, wielded by the solar Logos, is charged with pure electrical force from Sirius, and was received by our Logos during the secondary period of creation, from the hands of that great Entity Who is the presiding Lord of the Lords of Karma.  (Saturn)

 

(HIS 161)  At the fourth initiation the Word for the higher mental plane is imparted.

 

At the fifth initiation the Word for the buddhic plane is given.

 

At the sixth initiation the Word for the atmic plane.

 

(HIS 163) 6TH and 7th not compulsory

 

(HIS 168)    In the Hall of Wisdom he comes to the knowledge of the first aspect of energy, the dynamic use of will in sacrifice, and to him is then committed the key to the threefold mystery of energy.  This energy in its threefold aspect he became aware of, in the other two Halls.  At the third initiation, and at the fourth and fifth, the three keys to the three mysteries are given to him.

 

The key to the mystery sensed in the first Hall, the mystery of Brahma,(3rd) is handed to him, and he can then unlock the hidden energies of atomic substance.  [Page 168] The key to the mystery of sex, or of the pairs of opposites, is thrust into his hand, and he can then unlock the hidden forces of the will aspect.  The dynamo of the solar system  is shown to him,—if it might be so expressed—and the intricacies of the mechanism revealed.

 

(DON 137)  3. The third initiation which marks the consummation of the 1st, just as the 4th initiation marks the consummation of the second, and the fifth of the third.

 

(IHS 174)  At the fifth initiation the great secret which concerns the fire or spirit aspect is revealed to the wondering and amazed Master, and He realises in a sense incomprehensible to man the fact that all is fire and fire is all.  This secret may be said to reveal to the Initiate that which makes clear to Him:—

 

a. The secret name of the Planetary Logos, thus revealing one syllable of the name of the Solar Logos.

b. The work and method of the destroyer aspect of divinity.

c. The processes whereby obscuration and pralaya are induced.

d. The mathematical formula which sums up all the cycles of manifestation.

e. The triple nature of fire, and the effect of the great fire upon the lesser.

 

As this Shiva, or first, aspect is the one which will arrive at perfection, or, rather, come within the reach of comprehension within the next solar system, it profits not to continue considering this secret.  The following tabulation may make the whole matter clearer to the mind of the student:—

 

[Page 175]

Secret of Initiation Logos Concerned                Source of Energy                         Planes

 

Fohat      Third      Brahma Creator                     Physical Sun                                 Seven, Six, Five

 

Polarity  Fourth    Vishnu Preserver                  Subjective Sun                             Four, Three

 

Fire   Fifth  Shiva Destroyer   Central Spiritual Sun    Two

 

As the student will observe, the source of the particular energy concerned is one aspect of the sun.

 

(HIS 182)  the last two are taken upon the ray of the monad, and have a definite effect upon the path for service that will be chosen later by the adept.  This statement must be linked up with that earlier made, which stated that the fifth initiation made a man [Page 182] a member of the Greater Lodge, or Brotherhood, on Sirius, being literally the first of the Sirian initiations.  The fourth initiation is the synthesis of the Initiations of the Threshold in the Sirian Lodge.  Finally, according to the ray on which initiation is taken, so very largely depends the subsequent path of service.

 

(HIS 185)  As might be expected, very little has appeared in our literature as to the seven Paths which stretch before the man who has reached the fifth initiation. 

 

(OM 2)  Later comes co-ordination perfected with the Higher Self, the channel of communication reaching in line direct,—via an unimpeded funnel, if so I might express it,—to the physical brain consciousness.  Heretofore it has only been direct at rare intervals.  The four lesser brain centres are functioning at high vibration in the man of a highly co-ordinated personality; when the Ego is nearing alignment with the lower bodies, the pineal gland and the pituitary body are in process of development; and when they are functioning with correlation (which eventuates by the time the third Initiation is taken), then the third, or alta major centre, intensifies its hitherto gentle vibration.  When the fifth Initiation is taken, the interplay between the three centres is perfected, and the alignment of the bodies is geometrically rectified; you have then the perfected fivefold superman.

 

(OM 28) During the fifth period the Flame gradually breaks through the periphery of the causal body, and the "path of the just shineth ever more and more unto the perfect day."  It is in the fourth period that meditation commences,—the mystic meditation that leads, in the fifth period, to that occult meditation that brings about results, being under the law and hence following the line of the ray.  It is by meditation that the man—as a Personality—feels out the vibration of the Ego, and seeks to reach up to the Ego and bring the egoic consciousness ever more and more down, so as to include consciously the physical plane.  It is by meditation or by retreating within that the man learns the significance of Fire, and applies that fire to all the bodies, till naught is left save the fire itself.  It is by meditation, or the reaching from the concrete to the abstract, that the causal consciousness is entered, and man—during this final period—becomes the Higher self and not the Personality.

 

The polarisation shifts during the fifth period (the period of the Path of Initiation) entirely from the Personality to the Ego, until, at the close of that period, liberation is complete, and the man is set free.  Even the [Page 29] causal body is known as a limitation and the emancipation is completed.  The polarisation then shifts higher into the Triad—the shifting beginning at the third Initiation.  The physical permanent atom goes and the polarisation becomes higher mental; the emotional permanent atom goes and the polarisation becomes intuitional; the mental unit goes and the polarisation becomes spiritual.  The man then becomes a Master of the Wisdom and is of the symbolic age of forty-two, the point of perfected maturity

 

(WM 113)  The ego takes control with interest only when the man has almost entirely eliminated matter of the seventh, sixth, and fifth sub-planes from his vehicles.  When he has built in a certain proportion of matter of the fourth sub-plane the ego extends his control; when there is a certain proportion of the third sub-plane, then the man is on the Path; when second sub-plane matter predominates then he takes initiation, and when he has matter only of atomic substance, he becomes a Master.  Therefore, the sub-plane a man is on is of importance, and the recognition of his polarization elucidates life.

 

(OM 174)  The devas are on the evolutionary path, on the upward way.  They are, as you know, the Builders of the system, working in graded and serried ranks.  Devas are to be found of the same rank as the Planetary Logoi, and the Rulers of the five planes of human evolution hold rank equal to that of a Master of the seventh Initiation.  Others are equal in development (along their own line) to a Master of the fifth Initiation, and they work consciously and willingly with the Masters of the Occult Hierarchy.  They can be found on all the lesser grades down to the little building devas who work practically unconsciously in their groups, building the many forms necessitated by the evolving life.

 

(OM 259)  Who are the Masters?

 

It might be of value to us in our consideration of the subject of access to the Masters via meditation if we started with a few fundamental statements, dealing with the Masters and Their place in evolution.  We will therefore take up our first point.  We shall thus bring before the readers of these letters some idea as to Their status, Their comprehensive development, and Their methods of work.  Needless to say, much that will follow will carry nothing new in import.  The things that concern us most closely and the things that are to us the most familiar are oft the most frequently overlooked, and the most nebulous to our reasoning faculty.

 

A Master of the Wisdom is One Who has undergone the fifth initiation.  That really means that His consciousness has undergone such an expansion that it now includes the fifth or spiritual kingdom.  He has worked His way through the four lower kingdoms:—the mineral, the vegetable, the animal and the human—and has, through meditation and service, expanded His centre of consciousness till it now includes the plane of spirit.

 

A Master of the Wisdom is One Who has effected the transfer of polarisation from the three atoms of the personal life—as included in the causal body—into the three atoms of the spiritual Triad.  He is consciously  spirit-intuition-abstract mind, or atma-buddhi-manas, and this is not potentially but in full effective power, realised through experience.  This has been brought about, as earlier said, through the process of meditation.

 

A Master of the Wisdom is One Who has found not only the chord of the Ego, but the full chord of the Monad, and can ring the changes therefore at will upon all the notes from the lowest to that of the monadic.  This means occultly that He has now developed the creative faculty, and can sound the note for each plane and build thereon.  This power—first to discover the notes of the monadic chord and secondly to use those notes in constructive building—is first realised through meditation occultly performed, balanced by service lovingly administered.

 

A Master of the Wisdom is He Who can wield the law in the three worlds and can dominate all that evolves on those planes.  By learning the laws of mind through the practice of meditation, He expands the laws of mind till they embrace the laws of the Universal Mind as demonstrated in lower manifestation.  The Laws of Mind are mastered in meditation.  They are applied in the life of service which is the logical outcome of true knowledge.

 

A Master of the Wisdom is He Who has passed out of the Hall of Learning into the Hall of Wisdom.  He has there graduated through its five grades and has transmuted lower mind into mind pure and unalloyed, has transmuted desire into intuition, and has irradiated His consciousness with the light of pure Spirit.  The discipline of meditation is the only way in which this can be accomplished.

 

A Master of the Wisdom is He Who, through knowledge acquired by means of the five senses, has learnt [Page 261] that synthesis exists and has merged those five senses into the synthetic two, that mark the point of attainment in the solar system.  Through meditation the geometrical sense of proportion is adjusted, the sense of values is clearly recognised, and through that adjustment and recognition, illusion is dispelled and reality is known.  The practice of meditation and the inner concentration there brought about awakens the consciousness to the value and true use of form.  Thereby reality is contacted and the three worlds can no more ensnare.

 

A Master of the Wisdom is He Who knows the meaning of consciousness, of life, and of spirit.  He can pass—by the line of least resistance—straight to the "bosom of His Father in Heaven".  The approach to the line of least resistance, the direct path, is found through the practice of meditation.

 

A Master of the Wisdom is He Who has resolved Himself from the five into the three, and from the three into the two.  He has become the five-pointed star, and when that moment is reached He sees that star flash out above the One Initiator, and recognises it in those of equal place to His.  He has sanctified (in the occult sense) the Quaternary, has used it as the foundation stone upon which to erect the Temple of Solomon.  He has grown beyond that Temple itself and has come to recognise it as limitation.  He has withdrawn Himself from its confining walls and has entered within the Triad.  He has done this always by the occult method, that is, consciously and with full knowledge of each step taken.  He learns the meaning of each confining form; then, He has assumed control and wielded the law upon the plane consistent with the form.  He has then outgrown the form and has discarded it for other and higher forms.  Thus He has progressed always by means of the sacrifice and death of the form.  Always [Page 262] it is recognised as imprisoning; always it must be sacrificed and must die so that the life within may speed ever on and up.  The path of resurrection presupposes crucifixion and death, and then leads to the Mount whence Ascension may be made.  In meditation the value of the life, and the confines of the form, can be appreciated and known, and by knowledge and service can the life be set free from all that limits and trammels.

 

(OM 262) A Master of the Wisdom is One Who has chosen to stay upon our planet to help His fellowmen.... All who attain the fifth Initiation are Masters of the Wisdom, but all stay not and work as servers of the race.  They pass to other work of  greater or equal importance.  To the general public the significance of the term lies in the thought that They choose to stay and limit Themselves for the sake of men who are pressing forward on the wave of evolution.  Through meditation has the Great One reached His goal and (which is a thing not so oft comprehended) through meditation, or the manipulation of thought matter, and by work on the mental bodies of the race, is the work carried on that aids the evolutionary process.

 

A Master of the Wisdom is He Who has taken the first initiation that links Him up with the greater Brotherhood on Sirius.  As afore I have told you, He is an Initiate of the First Degree in the greater Lodge.  He has attained an expansion of consciousness that has admitted Him into touch with the solar system in many of its departments.  Now He has ahead of Him a vast reach of expansions that will eventually take Him beyond systemic consciousness into something far greater and wider.  He has to begin to learn the rudiments of that cosmic meditation that will admit Him into a Consciousness past our conceivable surmise.

 

A Master of the Wisdom is He Who can consciously function as part of the Heavenly Man to Whose Body He may belong.  He understands the laws governing groups and group souls.  He governs a group soul consciously Himself (a group on the path of return and formed of the lives of many sons of men) and He knows His place in the body systemic.  He realises the centre in the Body of the Heavenly Man by means of which He and His group are kept in sympathetic vibration, and conducts His relationship with other groups in the same Body under certain definite laws.  The value of meditation as a preparation for this activity will be realised by all thoughtful students, for meditation is the one means whereby the sense of separateness is transcended, and unity with one's kind occultly comprehended.

 

A Master of the Wisdom is He Who has entrusted to Him, by virtue of work accomplished, certain Words of Power.  By means of these Words He wields the law over other evolutions than the human, and through them He co-operates with the activity aspect of the Logos.  Thus He blends His consciousness with that of the third Logos.  Through these Words He assists with the building work, and the cohesive manipulating endeavor of the second Logos, and comprehends the inner working of the law of gravitation for attraction and repulsion) that governs all the functions of the second aspect logoic.  Through these Words He co-operates with the work of the first Logos, and learns, as He takes the sixth and seventh Initiations (which is not always done) the meaning of Will as applied in the system.  These Words  are imparted orally, and through clairvoyant faculty but must be found by the Initiate Himself, by the use of atma and as He attains atmic consciousness.... When atmic consciousness is developing by means of the intuition, the [Page 264] Initiate can contact the stores of knowledge inherent in the Monad, and thus learn the Words of Power.  This ability comes only after the application of the Rod of Initiation as wielded by the Lord of the World.  Therefore by the higher stages of occult meditation does a Master of the Wisdom increase still further His knowledge.  Not static is His consciousness, but daily embracing more.  Daily does He apply Himself to further expansion.

 

A Master of the Wisdom is One Who has earned the right through similarity of vibration to work with the Heads of the Hierarchy of this planet, and in conjunction with analogous Heads on two other planets connected with our chain.  When He has taken other initiations He can contact and work in conjunction with all the seven Planetary Logoi, and not just the three in control of allied chains.  The whole system can be embraced by Him, and His consciousness has expanded to include the entire objective solar system.

 

(OM 271)  That is the secret:  the finding of one's place,—not so much one's place upon the ladder of evolution (for that is approximately known), but in service.  This is of more importance than is realised, for it covers the period which, at the end, will definitely demonstrate which path a man will follow after the fifth initiation.

 

(OM 273)  After the fifth initiation he will enclose within his aura these groups and those on egoic levels who are his own.  This in no way prevents his being one with his Master and group, but the method of interblending is one of the secrets of initiation.

 

(LOS XI)  Now, in the Aryan race, the subjugation of the mental body and the control of the mind is brought about through the practice of Raja Yoga, and the fifth initiation, that of adept, is the goal for evolving humanity.

 

(LOS 121) It was the "kingly" or crowning science of the last rootrace, the Atlantean, just as the science of Raja Yoga is the great science of our Aryan civilization.  Bhakti Yoga made its exponent an arhat or led him to the fourth initiation.  Raja Yoga makes him an adept and leads him to the portal of the fifth initiation.  Both lead to liberation, for the arhat is released from the cycle of rebirth but Raja Yoga liberates him to complete service and freedom to work as a White Magician.  Bhakti Yoga is the yoga of the heart, of the astral body.

 

(TEV 90)  He, by that time, possesses what has been called "the freedom of the Ashram" and "the keys to the Kingdom of God"; he can then be trusted with some of the directive potency of the Ashram itself. His thinking will then affect and reach others. This developing effectiveness grows with rapidity when the fourth type of impression is familiar to the disciple: [Page 90] that coming from the Spiritual Triad, and therefore from the Monad and Shamballa. There are consequently (to this final stage of impression) three lesser though definite states, each marking an expansion in the realm of service and each related to the last three initiations of the total possible nine initiations which confront developing humanity. The sixth initiation, in which only Masters can participate, marks a transition from the first three stages of impressibility required by the disciples as preludes to the fifth initiation—or in reality to the third, fourth and fifth—and are related to the three stages of Triadal communication, each of which is related to the seventh, the eighth and the ninth initiations.

 

(CF 47)  When the latent fire of the personality or lower self blends with the fire of mind, that of the higher self, and finally merges with the Divine Flame, then the man takes the fifth Initiation in this solar system, and has completed one of his greater cycles.13  When the three blaze forth as one fire, liberation from matter, or from material form is achieved.  Matter has been correctly adjusted to spirit, and finally the indwelling life slips forth out of its sheath which forms now only a channel for liberation.

 

(CF 121)  When man has attained the consciousness of the buddhic plane, he has raised his consciousness to that of the Heavenly Man in whose body he is a cell.  This is achieved at the fourth Initiation, the liberating initiation.  At the fifth Initiation he ascends with the Heavenly Man on to the fifth plane (from the human standpoint), the atmic, and at the sixth he has dominated the second cosmic ether and has monadic consciousness and continuity of function.  At the seventh Initiation he dominates the entire sphere of matter contained in the lowest cosmic plane, escapes from all etheric contact, and functions on the cosmic astral plane.

 

(CF 170)   Spiritual man to the fifth Initiation

a. The heart.

b. The seven head centres.

c. The two many-petalled lotuses.

 

(CF 272)  Man is repeating His endeavor up to the fifth Initiation which will bring him to a stage of consciousness achieved by a Heavenly Man in a much earlier mahamanvantara.  In connection with the initiations this should be carefully borne in mind.

 

(CF 290)  b. To attain the consciousness of the particular centre in the body of one of the planetary Logoi—which centre embodies their group activity.  This carries them to the fifth Initiation, and covers the period wherein consciousness is awakened on the five planes of evolution.

 

c. To attain to the consciousness of the centre in the Body of the Logos of which any particular planetary [Page 290] Logos is the sumtotal.  This carries them to the seventh Initiation and covers the period of the awakening of consciousness on the seven planes of the solar system.

 

(CF 421)  When the initiate can say "I am That I am," then he has merged himself with his divine essence, and is freed from form.  The first occult assertion marks his emancipation from the three lower kingdoms, and his conscious [Page 421] functioning in the three worlds.  This occurred at individualisation through the instrumentality of manas.  The second occult assertion marks the gradual emancipation of man from the lower three kingdoms, and his complete freeing from lower form domination at the fifth initiation.  At the final assertion…..he can discriminate between the three—Spirit, Soul, and Matter—and with this realisation he is entirely liberated from manifestation for this greater cycle. 

 

(CF 525)  In due course of time, it will be found that the self-induced efforts whereby a man consciously prepares his centres for the application of the Rod of Initiation at the first Initiation, will be the subject of books, and of lectures, and form part of the ordinary thought of the masses.  This again will eventuate in a cleavage between the two groups in the middle of the fifth round.

 

(CF 422)  After the fifth round and the passing into temporary obscuration of two fifths of the human family, the remaining units (three fifths) will achieve an approximate standing as follows:

 

One fifth will mantrically sound the words "I am That I am. "(7th initiation)

 

Two fifths will achieve the fifth Initiation and will know themselves as "I am That."  They will also be cultivating response to the higher note.

 

One fifth and a half will attain the third Initiation, and will know themselves as "I am That" in full consciousness.

 

(CF 1261)  This Path is one of the great distributing paths of the system, and is trodden by the adept who has a clear understanding of the laws of vibration.  It leads to the next cosmic plane with great facility and is therefore called "the outer door of entry."  As we know, the seven Rays which manifest throughout our solar system, are but the seven subrays of one great ray, that of Love-Wisdom.  This ray Path is the one upon which the majority of the "Masters of the Wisdom" pass.  In the same way many of the "Lords of Compassion" pass on to Path IV.  Five-eighths of the former pass on to this path just as four-fifths of the adepts of suffering pass on to Path IV.  In considering these numbers it must be borne in mind that the figures are of very great magnitude.  One-fifth of the Compassionate Lords is a vast number, whilst three-eighths is a stupendous number of monads.  We must remember in this connection also that we are only dealing with the adepts of the fifth Initiation, and are not taking into consideration initiates of lower degrees nor disciples of many grades.  It is useless for average man to ponder upon these figures.  They are too difficult to compute and involve calculations most abstruse and intricate.  This can be demonstrated by pointing out that from these figures must be subtracted that two-fifths which (in the next round) pass before the Judgment Throne and are rejected.  Out of the remaining three-fifths only a percentage which may not be revealed reach final adeptship, though all pass upon the Path.  The five-eighths above referred to and the four-fifths have reference only to the two great groups of asekha initiates.

 

(CF 433) At the fifth Initiation similarly the force of the third Logos may be felt, and at the sixth that of the second Logos, while at the seventh the dynamic fire of the first Logos circulates through the body of the Chohan.

 

(CF 146)  This subject of the first Logos, manifesting only in connection with the other two in the system, is a profound mystery, which is not fully understood by even those who have taken the sixth Initiation.

 

(CF 847)   From the stand point of the OAWNMBS, to Whom our Solar System is but a centre (which centre being one of the three truths revealed at the seventh Initiation)

 

(CF 510 )  Third.  He achieves the unity of his Ray by the fifth Initiation, and is then consciously a part of the body of the Heavenly Man.

 

(CF 688)  Considering the same subject from below upwards it is the animal in the third kingdom which individualises.  Viewing it from above downwards it is the fifth kingdom, the spiritual, which ensouls the third and produces the fourth, or self-conscious human kingdom.  These figures [Page 688] should be studied for they hold the mystery hid, and though the true occult meaning will not be revealed until the third major Initiation, nor fully comprehended until the fifth, yet light may stream in on a difficult point.  Equally so in the next solar system, individualisation (if such an inadequate term may be applied to a state of consciousness inconceivable even to an initiate of the third Initiation) will not be possible until the second or sixth stage of Pleroma.  Consciousness will blaze forth then on the Monadic plane, and it will be the plane of individualisation.  All states of consciousness below that high level will be to the Logos what the consciousness of the three worlds is to Him now.  Just as the physical body of man is not a principle, so all planes at this time below the fourth cosmic ether are not considered by the Logos to be a principle.

 

(CF 740)  This period of conscious activity in etheric substance (of which the planetary body is formed) persists according to the karma of the planetary Lord, for the unit is now consciously associated with planetary karma, and is a participant in the working out of the will and purpose of the Lord of His Ray.  On the higher planes of the system, this stage persists for the length of the life of a scheme; to which a period of pralaya succeeds that has its beginning towards the end of the seventh round in any scheme or of the fifth if the Law of Persistence of a scheme is working out through cycles of five.  I am [Page 740] here generalising and speaking in broad terms; the karma of the units differ and a man—according to the path he chooses after the fifth initiation—stays and works within his own scheme, but changes may occur through the following factors:

 

a. Planetary karma.

b. The will of the Lord of his Ray.

c. Orders emanating from the solar Logos which are conveyed to him after liberation via the planetary Logos and through the medium of the chohan of his Ray.

He is then "abstracted" under a mysterious planetary law which only works on cosmic etheric levels, and is transferred to his destination.  If we interpret all the above in terms of energy and of radioactivity and thus avoid the dangers of materialistic interpretation, the meaning will become clearer.

 

(CF 753)  At initiation, man becomes aware consciously of the Presence of the planetary Logos through self-induced contact with his own divine Spirit.  At the fifth Initiation he becomes aware of the full extent of this planetary group influence, and [Page 753] of his part in the great whole.  At the sixth and seventh Initiations the influence of the planetary Prototype is sensed, reaching him via the planetary Logos working through the Initiator.

 

(CF 1034)  The Law of Periodicity is the effect produced by the amalgamation of these two types (forward & spiral cyclic) of force with a third   (rotary).  The two types of force or energy are the activity of the first Aspect, the logoic will or purpose (forward), and the energy of the second aspect (spiral cyclic).  This purpose is hidden in foreknowledge of the Logos and is completely hidden even from the Adept of the fifth Initiation.  The Adept has achieved a comprehension of the purpose of the Son, and for Him there remains the problem to recognise the purpose of the Father.  The one is the impulse behind the forward movement of all life, and the other the impulse behind its cyclic activity, and this is called spiral-cyclic.  When this blended dual force is brought in touch with the rotary activity of matter itself, we have the triple activity of the Ego, for instance, which is rotary-spiral-cyclic,

 

I am That I am-Shiva-Forward motion-7th initiation

I am That-Vishnu-Spiral-Cyclic-5th initiation

I am-Brahma-rotary-1st or 3rd initiation

 

(CF 1035)  The spiral-cyclic force demonstrates in seven ways

 

(CF 1092)   The reflection is that with which we are familiar; the appearance, or that which veils the reality, is contacted and known when we see with the eye of the soul, the Eye of Shiva, and the true colour14 is contacted after the fifth kingdom has been passed through, and group consciousness is merging in that of the divine.  Students will, therefore, note that the monadic cosmic wheel can be [Page 1092] visioned in terms of "true colour," and is seen by the illumined seer as the combined blending of the primary colours of the three solar systems.

 

The monadic systemic wheel, which concerns this solar system alone, is distinguished by being the totality of the seven colours of the seven Heavenly Men, and from the vision of the adept of the fifth Initiation is the sumtotal of the primary colours of the egoic groups of the differing planetary schemes.

 

The monadic planetary wheel, which concerns the particular group of Monads incarnating in a particular scheme, is seen by the seer as the blending of egoic groups, but with the difference that the colour is a dual one, and the colouring of the personality ray of the incarnating Ego is also seen.

 

(CF 1128)  These three groups of forces in man, when synthesised, produce eventually that perfect co-ordination and adaptation to all conditions, forms and circumstances which eventuate in the escape of the liberated vital spark.  This is technically accomplished when the "bud" opens, and it becomes possible for the Hierophant at initiation to liberate the energy of the Monad, and to direct that energy (through the agency of the Rod) so that eventually it circulates free and untrammelled through every part of the lower threefold manifestation.  As it circulates, it destroys by burning, for it arouses the kundalini aspect perfectly by the time the fifth Initiation is taken.  The destroyer aspect becomes dominated, and the form is "burnt upon the altar."

 

(CF 1241)  It becomes the goal of his endeavour as he sets foot upon one of the seven Paths which face him after the fifth Initiation.  If a Master of the Wisdom and the one who has unified both the manas (intellect) and wisdom (buddhi) knows not what shall be revealed to him as he treads the cosmic Path which is his choice…

 

(CF 1244) These seven Paths are not concerned with nature or the balancing of the pairs of opposites.  They are concerned only with unity, with that which utilises the pairs of opposites as factors in the production of LIGHT.  They deal [Page 1244] with that unknown quantity which is responsible for the pairs of opposites…At the third Initiation some glimmering light upon this Abstraction is sensed by the initiate, and by the time the fifth Initiation is reached enough is apprehended by him to enable him to set forth with ardour on the search for its secret.

 

(CF 1246)  When the adept enters through the "luminous door" he has before him four very peculiar and esoteric IDENTIFICATIONS.  This entrance takes place after he has passed the fifth Initiation and has demonstrated his fitness so to do through a long period of service in connection with our planetary evolution.  These identifications eventually bring about within the jewel, which is essentially the true spiritual unit, a momentous happening, and are undergone within the monadic consciousness after the transcendence of the atmic sheath.

 

(CF 1247)  The adept who chooses this cosmic stream of energy upon which to make certain cosmic approaches and upon which to make a series of cosmic unfoldments is one who has worked primarily upon the second ray path prior to the fifth Initiation, and who frequently has also been upon the fourth ray path.  Adepts who have been upon the fourth ray path and who pass from thence upon the second ray do not as a rule choose this cosmic line of endeavour.

 

(EPI 37)  Thus from a consciousness of himself, man arrives at an awareness of the interrelation between the seven basic energies or rays; and from that he proceeds to a realisation of the triple deity, until at the final initiation (the fifth) he finds himself consciously at-one with the unified divine intent lying behind all appearances and all qualities.  It might be added that initiations, higher than the fifth, reveal a purpose wider and deeper than that which is working out within our solar system.

 

(EPI 347)  There is a close interplay in this major cycle, as far as mankind is concerned, between the two ray Lords of Harmony and of Knowledge.  It is again in this numerical relation of four and five that the number nine emerges, which is the number of initiation.  An adept of the fifth initiation is one who has achieved complete harmony through right knowledge.  This takes place at the fourth initiation and is demonstrated or proven at the fifth.

 

(EPII 27)  The soul is then in no way conditioned by form.  Just as man can express himself in what is called three-dimensional living, so, by the time he takes the third initiation, he can function actively and consciously in four dimensions, and in the final stages of the Path of Initiation he becomes active fifth-dimensionally.

 

(EA 166)  The third and fifth rays are peculiarly active upon the Path of Discipleship, just as the sixth and fourth are dominant upon the Path of Evolution and the first and seventh upon the Path of Initiation. The second ray controls and dominates all the other rays, as you well know.

 

Initiation                1 and 7   Vulcan. Uranus.    Taurus. Libra. Pisces.

                                                       Pluto.

(EA 467) Their peculiar nature, objective in evolution and basic purpose is only revealed to initiates above the fifth initiation. They are concerned with the problem of desire (which is to humanity a problem but not in its higher octaves) and with its transmutation into spiritual will and divine purpose. They are the originators of conflict, are closely connected with the fourth Ray of Harmony through Conflict and are, therefore, in a peculiar relation to the fourth Creative Hierarchy, the human, and to our Earth in this fourth round.

 

(EH 713)   This discovery of atomic liberation has been brought about by the activity of the first ray in relation to the incoming seventh ray and has its analogous situation in the liberation of the Master at the fifth initiation (when the door of the tomb bursts wide open) and in the act of dying, when the imprisoned soul finds release.  In the light of future scientific happenings, these ancient techniques will become much clearer,

 

(RI 117)  The eye of the needle..higher evolution..monadic consciousness.

Leading to life expression.

Climaxing in the fifth initiation.

Producing purposeful life.

Consummation.

 

(RI 153)  This entails a comprehension of the mechanism within himself—the seven centres within the vital body—through which the contacted energy must flow under soul direction, and it also means the perfecting of the response apparatus and the newly constructed spiritual mechanism which exoterically enables him to contact the outside world, and esoterically enables him to contact the world of souls.  It implies a steady process of interior perfecting until nothing further remains to be done within that individual framework.  The bulk of this work has been covered by the time the fourth initiation has been taken, and has been completely covered when the fifth initiation is undergone.

 

(RI 169)  Ashrams of the Masters are to be found on every level of consciousness in the threefold world of the Spiritual Triad.  Some Masters pre-eminently occupy themselves with the mind aspect within all forms, and therefore their Ashrams are conditioned by the manasic consciousness; they are [Page 169] the Ashrams of those initiates who have taken the fourth initiation but who are not yet Masters.  They are largely adepts upon the third and fifth rays, and work with the manas or mind as it is developing in all forms.  They do foundational work of great importance, but are little understood and their lives are consequently lives of great sacrifice and the term of their service in this particular connection is relatively short.  Certain aspects of their developed consciousness have to be kept in abeyance and must remain temporarily unexpressed in order to permit them to work with substance and specifically with the consciousness of the atoms which constitute the forms in all the subhuman kingdoms of nature.  They do very little work with humanity, except with certain advanced members of humanity who are on the scientific line, drawing to their Ashrams only those who are on the third and fifth rays and who can continue with the work, being trained along peculiar and special lines.

 

(EA 600)  RAY V.—The energy of Concrete Science or Knowledge. To understand this expression of the divine will, the student should bear in mind the occult aphorism that "matter is spirit at its lowest point of manifestation and spirit is matter at its highest." Basically this is the will which produces concretion and yet at the same time constitutes the point at which spirit and matter are balanced and co-equal. That is the reason why human perfection is carried forward consciously upon the mental plane, the fifth plane; this is brought about by the fifth ray and upon this plane liberation takes place at the time of the fifth initiation. This is the will which is inherent in substance and which actuates all atoms of which all forms are made. It is closely related to the first solar system even whilst liberating members of the human family who will constitute the nucleus around which the third solar system is constructed. The energy of this ray is intelligence; it is the seed of consciousness but not of consciousness as we understand it; it is the inherent [Page 600] life of matter and the will to work intelligently; it is that living something for which we have no name which was the product of the first solar system. It is one of the major assets of God, the Father and also of the human Monad. This is the Will to Action.

 

(DINAII 103) I would like to arrest any tendency to consider one Ashram as superior to another. The forty-nine Ashrams which constitute the Hierarchy in this planetary period are some of them fully active; some are in process of formation, and some are, as yet, in a totally embryonic condition, awaiting the "focussing ability" of some initiate who is today preparing for the fifth initiation. Essentially and potentially all the Ashrams are equal, and their quality is not competitive; all of them differ as to their planned activity—an activity which is all part of a carefully formulated hierarchical activity. This you need most carefully to remember. The devotion of a disciple to some particular Master is of no importance to that Master or to His ashramic group. It is not devotion or predilection or any personality choice which governs the formation of a Master's group. It is ancient relationships, the ability to demonstrate certain aspects of life to demanding humanity and a definite ray expression of quality which determine the hierarchical placement of aspirants in an Ashram.

 

(DINAII 135)   Lately the Master R. has taken the position of Mahachohan, and that achievement has carried the entering force down into the ranks of those Masters Who have taken the fifth initiation thus enabling Them to step down this Shamballa force to Their individual Ashrams. This happening has produced a tremendous stimulation with all the attendant opportunities, manifestations, and dangers. Masters such as myself have had to learn to handle this great potency, and at the same time to make as much of it as we can (safely and wisely) available to our senior disciples.

 

(DINAII 131)  The strength, availability and usefulness of an Ashram is that of the sum total of all that its members can contribute, plus that which Those above the third degree of initiation can "import" from still higher sources or the Masters of the Ashrams can make available at need. Students are apt to think that an Ashram has only one initiate of the fifth degree (that of Master) within it. Such is seldom the case. There are usually three "cooperating Masters" in every Ashram, with one at the apex of the triangle; He acts as the Master of the Ashram and is responsible for the preparation of disciples for initiation; frequently there are also "associated Masters," particularly during cycles of rapid initiation, as is the case [Page 331] today. There are also Masters Who are preparing for the sixth initiation.

 

(DINAII 104)  ….a Master of an Ashram may, for instance, attract to Him other Masters of equal rank as His Own. I have five Masters working with me in my Ashram.

 

The most important capacity of a Master of an Ashram is that He has earned the right to communicate directly with the Council at Shamballa and thus to ascertain at first hand the immediate evolutionary task which the Hierarchy is undertaking.

 

(DINAII 336) It is this test which I have been applying in my work with all of you in this special group; the related state persists also on the inner plane after death, and in the consciousness of those (at present non-affiliated) who are still part of the group chosen for the experiment, on my part, of group preparation for initiation. Other Masters are doing the same as I am doing. We hope during the next five hundred years to present several such groups to the One Initiator.

 

(DINAII 383)   A group should be (and is) composed of individuals at varying points of development; some may be preparing for the second initiation; others may be in training for the third initiation, and a few may be ready for the fourth or the fifth initiation. The nature of the initiation to be undergone is known only to the disciple and his Master; it is of no interest to the group itself; the diversity of the initiations for which preparation is being made tends to enrich the group content; the more ray types which are found functioning in the group, the more valuable will be its service. It is the bringing together of groups in preparation for initiation which has led to the present basic change in the methods of the Hierarchy. A would-be-initiate does not, at first, work solely under the care of the Master of a particular Ashram. Certain of the Masters (usually Masters like myself who have only lately passed through the fifth initiation) have been chosen to train and instruct aspirants on all the rays until after the third Initiation of Transfiguration.

 

(DINAII 386)  At the later initiations, and after the fifth Initiation of Revelation, he sees with a new clarity some of the karmic liabilities which have led the planetary Logos to create this planet of suffering, sorrow, pain and struggle; he realises then (and with joy) that this little planet is essentially unique in its purpose and its techniques, and that on it and within it (if you could but penetrate below the surface) [Page 386] a great redemptive experiment is going forward; its prime implementing factors and its scientific agents are the "sons of mind who choose to be the sons of men and yet for all eternity remain the Sons of God." These "sons of mind" were chosen, in that far distant time when the fourth kingdom in nature came into being, to carry forward the science of redemption.

 

(DINAII 419)   To this I need not further refer, for you could not understand. Nor do I to any great extent, brother of mine, being but an initiate of the fifth degree.

 

(DINAII 468)   The carrying of all this mobilised energy to the heart centre at the fifth initiation for group purposes, and the achieving of this in full waking consciousness.

 

In the final race the process will be repeated on a still higher spiral, and all that concerns the higher centre will be unfolded and occultly consummated, again through the medium of two stages:

 

1. Wherein the massed energies of the solar plexus (the [Page 469] great clearing house) and the heart and throat will be carried—at the third initiation—to the ajna centre, and the complete racial "transfiguration" will take place.

2. The process will then be carried forward and at the fourth initiation the energies will be centralised in the head centre.

 

(DINAII 556)  Why, therefore, did I direct you towards the will aspect when both Ashrams are on the second ray and you are predominantly a second ray disciple? Because the subsidiary Ashrams deal with the ray qualities in action and in service, whilst the major or senior Ashrams concern in all cases the will in action through the ray qualities. This is possible because the major Ashrams are presided over by those who have achieved the sixth initiation; Ashrams such as mine are under the guidance of a Master or Initiate of the fifth degree.

 

(EOH 530)  The interior work of hierarchical alignment is in the charge of the Chohans of the Major Ashrams, whilst the task of superintending the interior adjustments incident to new alignments and the admission of new personnel is being watched over and directed by the forty-nine Masters who are in charge of minor Ashrams—either Ashrams with what is regarded as a full complement of workers, or Ashrams in process of attaining that full complement, or embryonic Ashrams of which there are already quite a few.

 

One of the results of this hierarchical alignment and adjustment will be the establishment, for the first time, of a fluid interplay and movement between the three planetary centres. Chohans are today passing out of the Hierarchy into the Council Chamber of the Lord of the World, or on to one or other of the Seven Paths; senior Masters in charge of Ashrams are taking higher grades of initiation and taking the rank of Chohans; initiates above the third degree are rapidly taking the fourth and fifth initiations and becoming Masters (taking both initiations in one life), and their places are being taken by lesser initiates…

 

(EOH 532)  As this subject concerns one of the seven goals towards which the Masters aim after They have attained the fifth initiation, it will be obvious to you that there is little that I can say about it. One of the seven Paths for which the Way of the Higher Evolution prepares the senior initiates is the Path of Earth Service. This Path, as you know, keeps the Masters attached to service in the three worlds for a period much longer than the average. It involves tremendous sacrifice. [Page 532] Just as the disciple has to live a dual life, with one part of his reflective nature and awareness centred in the life of the Hierarchy and the other part of his mental responsiveness equally centred on life in the three worlds, and this simultaneously, so the Master, when He chooses this Path, forms a constituent part of the Council Chamber of the Lord of the World and at the same time works consciously in the three worlds, via the Hierarchy (of which He remains also a part), and with the human and subhuman kingdoms in nature.

 

(GAWP 104)  5. In the fifth initiation—and here words fail to express the truth—he sees the Dweller on the Threshold, [Page 104] the Angel, and the Presence merged into a divine synthesis.

 

(GAWP 255) The oriental, unless he has attained the fourth or fifth initiation, has no true understanding of the [Page 255] occidental or of his mechanism and equipment which, as the result of a civilisation and a mode of living, differs widely from that of the oriental.

 

(GAWP 266)  The task of Sanat Kumara in relation to the Masters is to prepare Them to tread the Way of the Higher Evolution. When this becomes possible, the shift of the spiritual "attention" (I use this inadequate word for lack of a better one) is away from the soul and the Angel of the Presence to the mysterious Presence itself; this has hitherto only been sensed and dimly visioned. The Master—freed from the three and five worlds of human and so-called superhuman evolution—has now the full gifts of omnipresence and omniscience. He is aware of the underlying unity, brought about by the factual nature of the One Life and Being Who pervades all manifestation; He has also mastered all possible techniques and modes and methods of activity, of control and of fusion. But having developed those capacities, He now becomes faintly aware of that which conditions the One Being, and senses energies and contacts which are extra-planetary and of which He has hitherto been totally unaware. Knowledge comes to Him after the fifth initiation.

 

Before Him lies the attainment of a still higher range of perceptions and, in order to garner the reward of those possible contacts, He has to master techniques and methods of development which will make Him omnipotent and, therefore, expressive of the highest of the three divine aspects. This development will put into His grasp potencies and experiences which can only be manipulated and understood through the scientific activity of the WILL and this must be implemented from a point of tension, focussed in whatever is meant by the word "Monad." Do you know what that means, my brother? I am sure that you do not. Only the Masters of the Wisdom have any appreciation of these final unfoldments and then only in the sense of the Will-full aspiration

 

(HIS 10)   He is entering upon the fifth or final stage in our present fivefold evolution.  Having groped his way through the Hall of Ignorance during many ages, and having gone to school in the Hall of Learning, he is now entering into the university, or the Hall of Wisdom.  When he has passed through that school he will graduate with his degree as a Master of Compassion.

 

(IHS 17)    Since buddhi is the unifying principle (or the welder of all), at the fifth initiation the [Page 17] adept lets the lower vehicles go, and stands in his buddhic sheath.  He creates thence his body of manifestation.

 

Each initiation gives more control on the rays, if one may so express it, although this does not adequately convey the idea.  Words so often mislead.  At the fifth initiation, when the adept stands Master in the three worlds, He controls more or less (according to His line of development) the five rays that are specially manifesting at the time He takes the initiation.  At the sixth initiation, if He takes the higher degree, He gains power on another ray, and at the seventh initiation He wields power on all the rays.  The sixth initiation marks the point of attainment of the Christ, and brings the synthetic ray of the system under His control.  We need to remember that initiation gives the initiate power on the rays, and not power over the rays, for this marks a very definite difference.  Every initiate has, of course, for his primary or spiritual ray one of the three major rays, and the ray of his Monad is the one on which he at length gains power.  The love ray, or the synthetic ray of the system, is the final one achieved.

 

(IHS)  Those who pass away from the earth after the fifth initiation, or those who do not become Masters in physical incarnation, take their subsequent initiations elsewhere in the system.  All are in the Logoic Consciousness.  One great fact to be borne in mind is, that the initiations of the planet or of the solar system are but the preparatory initiations of admission into the greater Lodge on Sirius.  We have the symbolism held for us fairly well in Masonry, and in combining the Masonic method with what we are told of the steps on the Path of Holiness we get an approximate picture.  Let us enlarge somewhat:—

 

The first four initiations of the solar system correspond to the four "initiations of the Threshold," prior to [Page 18] the first cosmic initiation.  The fifth initiation corresponds to the first cosmic initiation, that of "entered apprentice" in Masonry; and makes a Master an "entered apprentice" of the Lodge on Sirius.  The sixth initiation is analogous to the second degree in Masonry, whilst the seventh initiation makes the Adept a Master Mason of the Brotherhood on Sirius.

 

A Master, therefore, is one who has taken the seventh planetary initiation, the fifth solar initiation, and the first Sirian or cosmic initiation.

 

(IHS 19)  Man becomes a conscious Ego, with the consciousness of the higher Self, at the third initiation, through the instrumentality of the Masters and of the Christ, and through Their sacrifice in taking physical incarnation for the helping of the world.

 

Man unites with the Monad at the fifth initiation, through the instrumentality of the Lord of the World, the Solitary Watcher, the Great Sacrifice.

 

(HIS 53)  Under the first great group of which the Manu is the Head, can be found two Masters, the Master Jupiter, and the Master Morya.  Both of them have taken more than the fifth initiation, and the Master Jupiter, Who is also the Regent of India, is looked up to by all the Lodge of Masters as the oldest among Them.

 

(HIS 57)  in the Gospel story He is known for two great sacrifices, that in which He handed over His body for the use of the Christ, and for the great renunciation which is the characteristic of the fourth initiation.  As Appollonius of Tyana, He took the [Page 57] fifth initiation and became a Master of the Wisdom.  From that time on He has stayed and worked with the Christian Church,

 

 

(RI 178)  The symbol of the world of mediation is the revolving Cross, whilst the symbol of the world of purpose is a twofold one:  the five-pointed star and then the radiant heart of the Sun.  Remember that when we talk and think in symbols, we are placing something between ourselves and reality—something protective, interpretive and significant, but something nevertheless veiling and hiding.  After the fifth initiation all veils are rent and naught stands between the initiate and Essential Being.

 

(RI 284)  In this line of approach through identification, the Master builds that of which the spiritual correspondence is [Page 284] the manasic antahkarana.  The antahkarana which is now emerging is a projection from the Ashram of a Master; there are, therefore, seven ways into the Way of the Higher Evolution.  These seven ways correspond to the seven Ashrams upon the seven Rays; they are related also to the seven initiations, to the seven principles of man, and to all the other many septenates.  It is the force of Will, generated by the Master, during the process of

 

1. Attaining the fifth initiation

2. Working in the three worlds of creative salvaging

3. Achieving ashramic purpose and consequent group activity

4. Manifesting ray energy

5. Demonstrating a faculty which is known only to initiates who have passed beyond the third initiation.

 

This provides the focussed intention which enables the Master to attain what is called transformation, and later, to project the dynamic impulse of His spiritual will in such a manner that He succeeds in piercing the planetary ring-pass-not; He is then given the freedom of the world, and not just the freedom of the worlds.

 

(RI 310)  This higher form of destruction does not manifest under the activity or the non-activity of the Law of Attraction, as does the death which the soul brings about.  It is definitely under the Law of Synthesis, a law of the monadic sphere of life, and one therefore most difficult for you to comprehend; it emanates from a point outside the five worlds of human and superhuman evolution, just as the destruction of form in the three worlds emanates from the soul functioning outside the three worlds of the lower, concrete mind, the astral world and the physical plane.  This statement again may aid you in understanding.

 

If this is so, it will be apparent to you that only initiates who have taken the fifth initiation and higher initiations can wield effectively this particular form of death—for monadic potency only becomes available after the third initiation, and its first successful use is the destruction of the causal body of the initiate.  It is the reward of Transfiguration.

 

In connection with the use by the initiate of what we might call pure will, it should be remembered that this pure will works into manifestation through one or other of the three aspects of the Spiritual Triad.  This activity is determined by the major ray upon which the initiate finds himself, from the angle of his monadic ray.  Every spiritual man is upon one or another of the three major rays, for the minor four rays of attribute are all eventually absorbed into the third Ray of Active Intelligence.

 

(RI 312)  This destruction wrought by the initiate is preparatory to his responsiveness to the fifth word which he receives at the fifth initiation and to which we give the inadequate name:  Resurrect.

 

(RI 317)  Even I, a Master, and therefore an initiate of a relatively high degree, am only faintly sensing them, and that because I am learning to obey the fifth word which we will briefly, very briefly, now consider.    Resurrect…

 

(RI 351)  The three fires of which all things are made are electrical in nature and—speaking symbolically—it is only when "fire by friction" is dominated by "solar fire" that the first four initiations can be taken, culminating in the fifth initiation in which these two fires are subordinated to "electric fire" emanating from the monad and giving a new revelation.

 

(RI 361)  After the Master has taken the fifth initiation, He has—as you know—covered and mastered the ordinary field of evolution for humanity; that means the three worlds of ordinary human experience and the two worlds of superhuman effort, making the five fields of the spiritual activity of man.  Love and intelligence are now perfectly developed in Him, though their expression and emphasis may vary according to His rays; He is aware of the fact of the Will or of the first divine aspect, with its two qualities (veiling a third) of destruction and of purpose; He is becoming active on the second plane of our planetary life, the monadic plane, and that great centre of life, Shamballa, is having a [Page 361] definite vibratory effect upon Him; also (and this will be incomprehensible to you) He is becoming sensitive to a range of energies and influences which can now be registered by Him, owing to His increasing monadic polarisation and His contact with Shamballa.

 

(RI 387)  When the Master Jesus took the Crucifixion Initiation, another crisis arose of equally great import, if not greater.  The crisis was brought about because simultaneously with the crucifixion of the Master, the Head of the Hierarchy, the Christ, took two initiations in one:  the Resurrection Initiation and that of the Ascension.  These are the fifth and sixth initiations, according to the Christian terminology. [Page 387] This was possible because the first ray Ashram was now active, making entry into the Council Chamber at Shamballa possible.  When the Christ achieved this, He was deemed worthy of embodying in Himself a new principle in evolution and of revealing to the world the nature of the second ray aspect—the divine principle of love (as humanity calls it) or of pure reason (as the Hierarchy calls it).

 

(RI 391)  5. The fifth initiation is usually called that of the Resurrection by the orthodox Christian, but this is not its real name; it is in reality the Initiation of Revelation, because the Initiate gains His first vision of the Door through which He must pass on to the seven Paths.  He glimpses it and that is all, but between that initiation and the next in which He must perforce make His decision, He comes to understand the nature of the energy which each Path expresses and which will eventually evoke from Him a decisive activity.

 

(RI 391) By passing through the second great Door of Initiation, the Initiate begins to learn the significance and the attractive potency of the Central Spiritual Sun, to which all the Paths eventually lead.

 

7. The fifth and sixth initiations are to the Master what the first and second are to the disciple—simply initiations of the threshold and not true initiations from the cosmic angle.  The first true initiation upon the Higher Way is called the Initiation of Resurrection; this has no reference to the fifth initiation.

 

8. The decision made by the Master enables Him to take the required training to enter His chosen Path, and this training is taken entirely upon cosmic etheric levels—the four highest subplanes of the cosmic physical plane—the buddhic, atmic, monadic and logoic planes.

 

(RI 410)   The decision to throw open initiations higher than the fifth to the ready Master, and to familiarise the world of aspirants with their existence.  Little has ever been given beyond the fifth initiation.  Many initiates are becoming Masters, and many disciples are achieving the first initiation, and this fact confronts the three Great Lords Who rule the Hierarchy with a definite problem.

 

b. To make the sixth initiation and not the fifth initiation the Initiation of Decision.  Here I must state the existence of a hierarchical problem:  the use of the will aspect in the unfoldment of the initiate.  It must be remembered that this first ray aspect is:

 

(RI 415)    The entire work of the Great White Lodge is controlled from Sirius; the Ashrams are subjected to its cyclic inflow; the higher initiations are taken under its stimulation, for the principle of buddhi, of pure love (i.e., love-wisdom) must be active in the heart of every initiate prior to the initiation of the great decision; it is therefore only initiates of the fifth, sixth and higher initiations who can work consciously with the potent buddhic "livingness" which permeates all Ashrams, though unrecognised by the average disciple.

 

(RI 424)  Among the changes necessitated by the abnormally rapid development of mankind, with its consequent stepping up of the qualities of disciples, is the fact that no longer does the Master—faced at the sixth initiation with a stupendous decision to make—enter upon the indicated Path entirely blindly, as heretofore.  He is now given a revelation of the true united goal of the seven Paths and likewise a vision of their varying intermediate, individual goals.  Hence the name of the fifth initiation is that of the "Initiation of Revelation."  He can thus make His decision with opened eyes and unblinded by the glory.

 

(RI 413)  The Master of the fifth initiation, even if now He does not at that time make His decision, faces intelligently and with some understanding of the choices to be made, the sixth initiation and its decisions.  He begins to take also the particular training, and to this the teaching in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire now applies.  He is shewn the newer opportunity, the modes of decision, and the limitations which are no longer legitimate.  I would like to point out here that these changes are a cause of deep joy to the Hierarchy and to the Great Lives in the Council Chamber at Shamballa…

 

(RI 511)   The expansion of this fused and blended consciousness [Page 511] into that of the Spiritual Triad, completely consummated at the fifth initiation.

 The expansion of consciousness toward which the Masters are working, which is consummated at the seventh initiation.

 

(RI 532)  The higher initiations cannot be thus presented but will be enacted on the mental plane, through the medium of symbols and not through the details of ceremonious happenings.  This symbolic representation will hold good for the third, the fourth and the fifth initiations.  After these five great expansions have taken place, the initiations will no longer be registered as factual ceremonials on earth or as symbolic visualisations on the mental plane.  It is hard to find a word or a phrase which can express what occurs; the nearest I can approach to the truth is the "existence of illumination through revelation."

 

(RI 536)  The first three initiations are definitely and in a most mysterious way concerned with the creative work, and with the spiritual expression in a human being of the third aspect of divinity, that of intelligent activity.  The fourth, fifth and sixth initiations are as definitely related to the second aspect of love-wisdom as it expresses itself through created forms;

 

the highest we call the will-to-good and leave it undefined because it is in no way possible, even for initiates of the fifth initiation, truly to comprehend what is the nature and purpose of the will-to-good which conditions divine activity.

 

(RI 567)  These five initiations are under the energy impulses of Rays 7, 6, 5, 4, plus the dynamic influence of Ray 1 at the time of the fifth initiation.  You will note, therefore, that these initiations which confront average humanity are all of them conditioned by a minor ray, yet finally bring in the energy of the highest Ray of Aspect, that of Will or Power.  This dynamic electric energy has to act in a new and different sense if the four higher initiations are to become living objectives in the initiate's consciousness.  It is for this reason that the fifth initiation is called the Initiation of Revelation.  Some understanding of the first or will aspect is "conceded"  at this initiation, and for the first time the nature of divine Purpose is revealed to the initiate; hitherto he has been preoccupied with the nature of the Plan, which is after all an effect of the Purpose.

 

(RI 642)  Ray 1.  Will or Power, active in connection with the 5th Initiation.

Ray 2.  Love-Wisdom, active in connection with the 7th Initiation.

Ray 3.  Active Intelligence, active in connection with the 6th Initiation.

 

(RI 643)  2. It can be used also to reveal to the Master that which lies ahead for Him, and those further reaches of awareness to which He knows He must eventually attain.

 

The lower aspects of this light are in reality generated by the soul, whilst the higher are those which emanate from the Monad.  When an initiate takes the fifth initiation (with which we are now going to deal) he has to demonstrate his facility in using the "light available" by initiating some new project in line with the hierarchical Plan and in tune with his own ray impulses.  This project must have both an exoteric side and esoteric.  (To illustrate further:  The exoteric side of the work which I—as a newly made Master—had purposed to do can be seen in the activities which I have been enabled to accomplish in the outer world through the books which A.A.B. has taken down for me and by the establishing of the Service Activities, associated with the Arcane School.  The esoteric side is of course known to me, but an analysis of it would be of no service to you, as you are not yet of the required initiate-consciousness.)

 

You can see, however, how the above information can throw light upon our immediate theme:

 

Initiation V.  Revelation.  Ray I.

The Energy of the Will-to-Good.  Power.

 

This initiation has always been called in the Christian church by the name of the Resurrection, whereas it is the seventh initiation which is the true resurrection.  The correct name for the fifth initiation is the Initiation of Revelation; this signifies the power to wield light as [Page 644] the carrier of life to all in the three worlds, and to know likewise the next step to be taken upon the Way of the Higher Evolution.  This Way is revealed to the initiate in a new light and with an entirely different significance when the fifth initiation is taken.  It is the true time of emergence from the tomb of darkness and constitutes an entrance into a light of an entirely different nature to any hitherto experienced.

 

Development and revelation or (if you so prefer it) a developing revelation, form essentially the entire theme and objective of all activity upon our planet.  This gives us a clue to the goal of the planetary Logos.  All life, from the first descent of the soul into incarnation, is only a series of revelations, all of which lead up to the revelation accorded at the fifth initiation.  The relation between the fifth and the seventh initiations is exceedingly deep and mysterious.  It is the revelation accorded in the fifth initiation which makes the seventh initiation possible.  The Master, as He emerges at the fifth initiation into the light of day, realises in that light:

 

1. The true and hitherto unknown significance of the three worlds which he has viewed almost entirely from the angle of meaning.  Now its significance is apparent, and the revelation is so tremendous that "he withdraws into the world of light and joins his brothers.  He gathers all his forces and seeks new light upon the Plan.  That light shines forth and with the force of its revealing power, new loyalties arise, new goals are seen, and that which shall be and the thing which is, both become lost in the radiant light of revelation."

 

2. That the first vibration or influencing energy of the cosmic ray of prevailing energy in its highest aspect is the Ray of Love-Wisdom, and this is now contacted; this is made possible by the Master's response to the first Ray of Power or of the Will-to-Good, experienced in its second aspect at the fifth initiation.  Forget not that all rays have three aspects, and that all three can be contacted by the human consciousness of the spiritual man, thus [Page 645] placing at his disposal the energies of the seven rays and of the twenty-one forces.  It is this synthesis which is revealed at the fifth initiation and—as I said above—the combination of these forces produces the Ascension; this is an exceeding great mystery and one which cannot as yet be grasped by you.  From the height of the Mount of Ascension light is thrown upon the hierarchical Plan in such a manner that the purpose in the mind of the planetary Logos is (for the first time) truly grasped.

 

3. From that height also, the mystery of the human soul is revealed and a great triangular pattern will be seen, relating the human spirit to the world of forms, to the united Hierarchy and to the Council Chamber of the Lord.  Upon this I may not here enlarge, for we must not diverge too far from our study.  One thing only can be said:  from that high place, atma-buddhi-manas (will, love and intelligent action) can be seen in united activity and the theory of an existing Plan and the belief in the three divine aspects, or in the Trinity of Energies, is factually demonstrated.

 

The first Ray of Will or Power is distinguished by the highest known divine quality (there are others still higher).  In the word, GOODWILL, the secret purpose of the planetary Logos is hidden.  It is being slowly brought to the attention of humanity by means of the three phrases:  God is Love.  Goodwill.  The Will-to-Good.  These three phrases, in reality concern the three aspects of the first ray.

 

When a Master takes the fifth initiation He already knows the significance of the first two aspects, and must become consciously aware of the highest aspect:  the Will-to-Good.  He has developed in Himself "the love necessary to salvation, His own and that of those He loves, His fellow-men;" all His actions and His thinking are qualified by goodwill, in its esoteric sense, and the significance of the Will-to-Good lies ahead of Him and will be later revealed.

 

As this first ray is not in incarnation at this time, and therefore souls who can fully express it are absent, the entire theme anent this type of energy, and its influence [Page 646] and quality when related to the energies and the forces, is most difficult to express.  Each great ray, as it comes into incarnation, transforms the speech of the cycle, enriches the existent vocabulary, and brings new knowledge to humanity; the many civilisations—past and present—are the result of this.

 

I would ask you to consider the relation of the fifth initiation, the fifth Ray of Science and the first Ray of Will, for there lies the key to the revelation accorded to the initiate-Master.

 

As you can see, we are venturing into realms far beyond your comprehension; but the effort to grasp the unattainable and to exercise the mind along the line of abstract thought is ever of value.

 

It must be remembered therefore (and I reiterate) that the revelation accorded to the disciple-initiate is along the line of the first Ray of Will or Power, and that is a ray which is as yet a long way from full manifestation.  From one angle, it is of course always in manifestation for it is the ray which holds the planet and all that is upon it in one coherent manifesting whole; the reason for this coherent synthesis is the evolutionary effort to work out divine purpose.  The first ray ever implements that purpose.  From another angle, it is cyclic in its manifestation; here I mean from the angle of recognised manifestation—and such is the case at this time.

 

The Effect of Ray I on Humanity Today

 

Owing to extra-planetary stimulation, to the immediate planetary crisis and to the present invocative cry of humanity, energy from Shamballa has been permitted to play upon the "centre which is called the race of men" and has produced two potent results:  first, the world war was precipitated and, secondly, the fission of the atom, resulting in the atomic bomb, was brought about.  Both these events were made possible by the pouring-in of the energy and power of the third aspect of the first Ray of Power or Will.  This is the lowest aspect, and definite [Page 647] material effects were produced.  The destroyer aspect was therefore the first aspect to take effect.  It split the thought-form of materialistic living (which was governing and controlling humanity everywhere) upon the mental plane and, at the same time, it produced a great agent of destruction upon the physical plane.

 

Thus was the new era ushered in; thus was the stage set for a better future.  This was the intent and the purpose of Those Who compose the Council Chamber of the Lord.  It rests with humanity itself to take advantage of the proffered opportunity which this destructive manifestation made possible.

 

Shamballa having acted in this manner, it is nevertheless the Hierarchy which will bring into expression a measure of the second aspect of the first Ray of Will or Power, and it is for this that the Hierarchy is preparing; it is for this event that the Christ is fitting Himself to be the distributing Agent and the directing Factor, with the concentrated assistance of the united Hierarchy; it is this that will begin to manifest when He appears.  You have here the true reason for His proclaimed Coming or Reappearance.  The distinction between material living and spiritual living will be clearly demonstrated.  This is made possible by the cleavage of the ancient materialistic thoughtform on mental levels; the reorientation of human thinking, as this fact is grasped, will have its first results upon emotional levels through the focussed expression of human goodwill; this is the lowest aspect of the second Ray of Love-Wisdom, implemented and strengthened by the second aspect of the first Ray of Will.

 

On the physical plane, the great scientific discovery, called colloquially the "splitting of the atom," will be turned eventually to the production of those conditions which will enable mankind to follow the good, the beautiful and the true.  This men will then be able to do, freed from the dread presence of purely materialistic thinking.  This is no idle vision or vague dream.  Many scientists today (and particularly those who love their fellowmen) [Page 648] are not only visioning the non-destructive aspect of atomic energy but are already engaged in harnessing—for the good of humanity—some of its  products and its radioactive properties.

 

Curiously enough, it is the wise, controlled use of the results of this scientific adventure in connection with the atomic bomb which will eventually bring about a specific revelation of the nature of certain forces in relation to light; this event will transform world thinking and lead to a new type of transmutative process, as far as man is concerned.

 

It must not be inferred from the above that humanity, as a whole, will be taking the fifth initiation, for such is not the case.  Many advanced souls (perhaps amounting to many thousands) may and will take this initiation, but the masses of men everywhere, constituting the sum total of the world disciple will eventually take either the first or the second initiation.  The effect however of hierarchical happenings, in conjunction with Shamballa, will lead finally to the great stimulation of the fifth Principle of manas, the intelligence principle in man.  A revelation which is not perceived, which remains unrelated and unexpressed, is of no true service to mankind, except from a purely subjective standpoint; nevertheless, through the proposed stimulation, through the efforts of those who have taken or who will take the fifth initiation, and through the new direction of first ray energy from Shamballa, the mental plane will receive such an inflow of energy that the thinking principle, the reasoning factor within humanity, will reach new heights.  Thus will the "light stream forth into the minds of men," and the first stanza of the Invocation prove that it can and does receive an answer to its invocative appeal.

 

It would be good to let your spiritual imagination look forward into the future, and then vision—if you can—what is the true significance of the tremendous activity of the Hierarchy.  One of the signs of the coming of this new light and energy inflow is a definitely curious one; it is [Page 649] to be found in the instability of the human mental mechanism and the human thinking processes at this time.  This is due to their premature response to the new incoming potency.  It is a mass reaction, and therefore the statistical returns are somewhat misleading.  It is the unready who thus react, and this entails no possible reflection upon those thus distressed (and they are to be found today in all classes and nations).  The Law of Rebirth will take care of this reaction, and in the next incarnation these same people will enter a physical body with a better equipment.  In reality, it is this energy from Shamballa in its third and destructive aspect which is acting upon certain members of the human family and unfortunately evoking a ready response.  I tell you this for your encouragement; destruction always evokes questioning in minds attuned to human welfare and in those thinkers who are apprehensive of the suffering to which their fellowmen are subjected.

 

One of the most difficult things for the average thinking man to understand and to interpret is the destructive processes of what he (for lack of a better name) calls "the will of God."  This is one of the results (and only one) of a purely materialistic civilisation which has laid all its emphasis upon the form side of experience and thus regards physical  well-being and physical comfort, plus material possessions, as the true goal of all human effort.  It is upon this widespread attitude and reaction that the new incoming light will concentrate itself; as the light reveals reality, the world of phenomena and the world of spiritual values will enter into a better, directed relation.

 

From all the above, you will note that some of the effects upon humanity as a whole and the skeleton structure of the new and beautiful future will take place as a result of the new incoming first ray activity.  No details can yet be given, but enough has been written down anent the basic, predisposing cause to enable you who read to ponder upon the possible effect, spiritually speaking.  What is coming is a civilisation of a different yet still material nature, but animated by a growing registration by the masses [Page 650] everywhere of an emerging spiritual objective which will transform all life and give new value and purpose to that which is material.

 

Next we must consider what will be the effect of this first ray energy upon the individual disciple as he prepares for and undergoes the fifth initiation, and keys himself up for the promised revelation, thus laying himself open to an entirely new inflow of force.  This he must do consciously.  It is conscious absorption of energy and its conscious assimilation, plus its conscious use which distinguishes the initiate from the rest of mankind; there are of course many degrees of this 

desired consciousness.  What the initiate will receive as a result of first ray energy will be an inflow of the second aspect of this ray—a blazing forth of the light which will focus clearly for him, and in a flash of time, the significance of that which is slowly being revealed on Earth; he sees this vision in toto for the first time.  At the fourth initiation, he responds to the third aspect of this ray, the aspect of destruction; this divested him of everything, and finally and eternally destroyed all that which held him in the three worlds of human endeavour.  Thus was harmony produced through conflict, and the success of the individual initiate is the guarantee of the final success of the world disciple.

 

When it comes to a consideration of the effect of this ray at the time of the fifth initiation, you must bear in mind that the disciple has passed, in a previous incarnation, through the Initiation of Renunciation, and has established within himself a condition of complete harmony as a result of conflict—a conflict which has been raging for millennia of years and whose goal has ever been revelation.  Just as a camera has to be correctly focussed in order to register correctly that which is visioned, so this harmony, once finally achieved, can be regarded as a form of focussed orientation.  Throughout the many lives the disciple has lived, there have been many such moments, but they were brief and passing, serving only to stir the aspiration into activity.  With the disciple of the fourth initiation, submitting [Page 651] himself to the fifth initiation, the orientation and the focus attained remains a permanent condition.  This prefaces an entirely new cycle of spiritual  experience—the experience of the higher evolution—leading to that great moment when the revelation of the seven Paths is accorded to him at the following or sixth Initiation of Decision.

 

Where the ordinary everyday man is concerned, the propelling aspiration (if I may use such an unusual phrase) is of a material nature and concerns his successful progress in the world of everyday physical plane life.  It might be wise to consider ambition as the lower expression of aspiration; this ambition covers all the many phases of the Path of Evolution, from the ambition of the raw savage in primeval times to gain food and shelter for himself and family to the ambition of the modern business man to reach the height of financial gain or power.  Having achieved that goal, it frequently happens that, on the way to the higher octave of ambition (aspiration), there may come a cycle of lives where the ambition is directed to the creative arts.  Next comes gradually the transmutation of all these ambitions into a steadily growing and consciously spiritual aspiration.  The man treads then the Probationary Path and eventually the Path of Discipleship, and as his spiritual ambition grows and is paralleled by an equally steady growth in mental realisation, he passes from initiation to initiation, until there comes the culminating fifth initiation.

 

All his past realisations—both his material and also his spiritual realisation—have been renounced.  He stands entirely free from every aspect of desire.  The spiritual will has been substituted for desire.  Then, reinforced by the inflow of the first ray Shamballic energy, and offering no obstructions or hindrances from within himself, as a personality, he is in a position to receive the stimulation which will enable him "to see that which is to be revealed and to accept revelation," transmuting it into that definite realisation which will enable him to live by means of its light.  You have, therefore, certain words which are concerned [Page 652] with the method whereby the vision is accorded and revelation given:

 

1. Ambition, implemented by determination.

2. Aspiration, implemented by devotion or one-pointed attention.

3. Revelation, implemented by the will in its two lower aspects.

4. Realisation, implemented by the will in its highest aspect.

 

That, briefly, is the evolutionary story of the "initiate in good standing" and it is basically the story of the will to self-betterment, the will to human service, goodwill, and finally, the will-to-good.  You can see, therefore, how the great first aspect of divinity, through its three aspects, is the hidden, basic, motivating potency of life and of evolution, from the very dawn of the evolutionary cycle.

 

The initiate in good standing looks into the heart of things; he has forced his way to the very "Heart of the Sun" (using those words in a "planetary" and not in a "solar" sense) and—from that vantage point—he becomes aware of the "Central Spiritual Sun" and the Way of the Higher Evolution which leads inevitably to that assured centre of the Most High.  The three worlds of material living and the inner world of meaning which the soul has revealed to him are now left behind; he is suddenly confronted with the world of significances, with the true world of causes and of origination, and by the realm of the universal.  He discovers that all he had thought anent the Law of Cause and Effect was so limited that—in the light of this Higher Evolution—it has practically become meaningless, except as the A B C whereby he can teach the children of men.  He realises, through the revelation accorded, more clearly than has hitherto been possible, the Purpose of the planetary Logos.  From the time of the third initiation, this purpose has been gradually revealing itself; he sees it expressing itself through Sanat Kumara, Who is the Personality expression of the planetary Logos.  During the coming interval and cycle of preparation for the sixth [Page 653] initiation, that purpose will burst upon him in blazing and synthetic glory.

 

The way to the Central Spiritual Sun is therefore revealed to him, and he knows that he faces a period of intense preparation (not training, as that word is usually understood) for a length of time determined by world need, the nature of his service and certain undefinable ray conditions.

 

He has to fulfill the magnetic condition which will enable him to form his own Ashram; he has to unfold a new phase of selective spiritual discrimination.  The word discrimination is, however, misleading, because the form of it which he can now express carries no quality of rejection or of separation.  It is a right knowledge and understanding of those karmically linked to him, a right use of an impelling attractive force which will, occultly speaking, attract the attention of those who should enter his Ashram, plus an esoteric process of blending himself and his Ashram into the full body of the Hierarchy.  New Ashrams within the Hierarchy present much the same type of difficulty and problems as the entrance of a new disciple into an Ashram.

 

It might be said that that which holds the Hierarchy together, and that which produces a coherent Ashram, is the revelation, received in the light which that revelation produced and which leads to realisation.  Ashramic responsibility, constant service within the planetary Life and the subjection of Himself and of His Ashram to cyclic stimulation from Shamballa, plus certain mysterious processes which have naught to do with form or consciousness, but with the "sensitivity of the universe," occupy the interim between the fifth and the sixth initiations.

 

(RI 657)  This naturally means in relation to our planetary Logos.  It must never be forgotten that it is the progress forward upon His chosen cosmic Path which makes the entire evolutionary process possible.  Just as a Master Who has taken the fifth initiation has to project His own specific undertaking, through the medium of His Ashram, thus [Page 657] proving His response to the will aspect of the planetary Logos and making Himself responsible for a phase of the planetary Plan, so a planetary Logos has likewise—under the Law of Synthesis—to carry forward a specific project in line with the will of the Solar Logos.  This our planetary Logos, Sanat Kumara, is in process of doing, providing a definite culture wherein the germ of the solar will can be fostered in one of its aspects.  Then—in conjunction with a similar project going on in two other planets, thus fostering two other aspects—the nucleus of the third solar system will be brought eventually into expression.

 

(RI 689)  Initiation III.  The fifth Ray of Science.  This inflowing energy produces its major effects upon the mind, or upon manas, the fifth principle; it enables the initiate to use the mind as its major instrument in the work to be done, prior to passing through the fourth and fifth initiations.

 

Initiation V.  The first Ray of Will or Power.  At this initiation the disciple appreciates for the first time the significance of the will and uses it to relate the head centre and the centre at the base of the spine, thus completing the integration started at the third initiation.

 

(RI 700)  On the buddhic or intuitional plane (the fourth level of the cosmic physical plane) the mind nature—even that of the higher mind or the level of abstract thoughtloses its control over the initiate and is henceforth only useful in service.  The intuition, the pure reason, complete knowledge illumined by the loving purpose of the divine Mind—to mention some of the names of this fourth level of awareness or of spiritual sensitivity—takes its place and the initiate lives henceforth in the light of correct or straight knowledge, expressing itself as wisdom in all affairs—hence the titles of Master of the Wisdom or Lord of Compassion given to Those Who have taken the fourth and the fifth initiations; these follow very closely upon each other.  From the buddhic level of awareness, the Master works; on it, He lives His life, undertakes His service and furthers the Plan in the three worlds and for the four kingdoms in nature.  Let this not be forgotten.  Also, let it be remembered that this achievement of focus and this attained freedom are [Page 701] not the result of a symbolic ceremony, but are the result of lives of suffering, of minor renunciations and of conscious experience.  This conscious experience, leading to the fourth initiation, is a definitely planned undertaking, arrived at as true vision is gradually conferred, the divine Plan is sensed and receives cooperation, and intelligent aspiration takes the place of vague longings and sporadic efforts "to be good," as it is normally expressed by aspirants.

 

It will be clear to you, therefore, why this fourth initiation is ruled or governed by the fourth Ray of Harmony through Conflict.  The harmonising of the lower centres with the higher, the harmonising or establishing of right relations between the three worlds of human evolution and the buddhic plane, the rapport gradually being brought about by each succeeding initiation, between humanity and the Hierarchy, plus the service of establishing right human relations among men—these are some of the results which you even now grasp theoretically; these you will also grasp practically and substantially one day in your own experience.  It is with this ray energy that the initiate works as he makes the Great Renunciation and is transferred thereby to the Cardinal Cross of the Heavens.  This is the energy which enables him to live in the Eternal Now and to renounce the bindings of time.  Through the entire experience he fights against that which is material; under the law of our planet (and, if you only knew, under the law of our solar system) nothing is achieved except by struggle and conflict—struggle and conflict associated on our planet with pain and suffering but which, after this fourth initiation, is devoid of suffering.  A hint as to the purpose for which our little planet exists and its unique position in the scheme of things can here be noted.

 

As I mentioned earlier, the initiate now works from "above downwards."  This is only a symbolic mode of speech.  Like his great Master, the Christ, when he seeks to serve humanity he "descends into hell" which is the hell of materialism and of physical plane life, and there labours for the furtherance of the Plan.  We read in the Christian [Page 702] teaching that "Christ descended into hell and taught the spirits which are in prison" for three days.  This means that He worked with humanity in the three worlds (for time and the process of events are regarded by philosophers as synonymous in meaning) for a brief period of time, but was called (on account of His unique task of embodying for the first time in world history the love principle of divinity) to be the Head of the Hierarchy.

 

The same concept of working in the three worlds of physical plane existence (in the cosmic sense) is embodied for us in the phrase found in the New Testament that "the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom."  This is the Veil which, symbolically speaking, divides or shuts off humanity from participation in the kingdom of God.  This was rent by the Christ—an unique service which He rendered both to humanity and to the spiritual Hierarchy; He made it easier for a much quicker communication to be set up between those two great centres of divine life.

 

I would ask you to ponder this Initiation of Renunciation, remembering ever in your daily life that this process of renunciation, entailing the crucifixion of the lower self, is only made possible by the practice of detachment every day.

 

The word "detachment" is only the Eastern term for our word "renunciation."  That is the practical use of such information which I have here given to you.  I would ask you also (curious as it may seem) to get used to crucifixion, if you care to use that word; to permit yourself to get accustomed to suffering with detachment, knowing that the soul suffers not at all, and that there is no pain or agony for the Master Who has attained liberation.  The Masters have each and all renounced that which is material; They have been lifted out of the three worlds by Their Own effort; They have detached Themselves from all hindrances; They have left hell behind and the term "spirits that are in prison" no longer applies to Them.  This They have done for no selfish purpose.  In the early days of the Probationary Path, selfish aspiration is foremost in the consciousness [Page 703] of the aspirant; however, as he treads the path, and likewise the Path of Discipleship, he leaves all such motives behind (a minor renunciation) and his one aim, in seeking liberation and freedom from the three worlds, is to aid and help humanity.  This dedication to service is the mark of the Hierarchy.

 

You can see, therefore, how the Buddha prepared the way for the Initiation of Renunciation or of Crucifixion by His teaching and His emphasis upon detachment.  Think on these things and study the great continuity of effort and cooperation which distinguishes the Members of the spiritual Hierarchy.  My prayer and wish is that your goal may be clear to your vision and that the "strength of your heart" may be adequate to the undertaking.

 

(RI 703)  Initiation V.  The Revelation

 

As we undertake the consideration of the next initiation, you will find that three factors will emerge in a new light in your consciousness.  That they are factors related to past experiences, and yet which have reference to experiences which lie far ahead of you upon the Path, will also be inferred from what I say; these will not necessarily meet with your real understanding.  These factors are:

 

The factor of Blindness, leading to revelation.

The factor of the Will, producing synthesis.

The factor of the Purpose, externalising itself through the Plan.

 

These are all implicit in this new initiatory experience, but they should be approached by you with as much use of the intuition as you can employ; your effort will have to be that you endeavour to think as if you had taken the higher initiations.  You have to bear in mind that each initiation enables the initiate to "see ahead" a little further, for revelation is always a constant factor in human experience.  The whole of life is revelation; the evolutionary process is, in relation to consciousness, a process of leading the blind out of darkened areas of consciousness into greater light, and therefore into a vaster vision.

 

[Page 704]

As you know, this particular initiation has been called the "Resurrection" by the Christian world, emphasising that aspect in the experience of the initiate which leads to revelation; i.e., his "rising out of the ocean of matter into the clear light of day."  The thought of revelation can be seen also in the Christian teaching anent the "Ascension"—an initiation which has no factual existence and should not be called an initiation.  You have, therefore, the following sequence, connected with the fourth and fifth initiations:

 

1. Renunciation, producing crucifixion and leading to

2. Ascension, or a complete "rising out of," or "mounting higher," leading to

3. Revelation, giving vision, the reward of the two above stages.

 

Christian theologians have made three distinct episodes out of these two initiations, but this has in no way mattered (as the initiate in the West soon learns); he now knows that the whole series of initiations, with their causes, their effects and their resultant intentions are only a sequence of processes, leading from the one to the other.  A corresponding sequence can  be seen in the unfoldment of the consciousness of the human being from infancy to full maturity; each unfoldment is part of a series of revelations, as his vision of life and his capacity to experience develops.  This is true of all men from the most primitive to the advanced initiate, the difference consisting in that which each brings to the experience as the result of past effort, his point in consciousness and the quality of the vehicles through which that consciousness is developing.  With the initiate-disciple this is also the case; he enters consciously into each experience; they are integral parts of his intention.

 

Having renounced the three worlds, and having returned—back from a contact of great importance and interest—to those three worlds and with all that is familiar in them, the initiate suddenly realises that he has indeed been liberated, that he is indeed free, that he has been raised out of darkness and is now free in a new world of experiences.  [Page 705] He knows that he has climbed to the mountain-top or has "ascended" to the buddhic plane, from which plane he must permanently work and not just occasionally, as has been the method hitherto.

 

(RI 705) He can work through a physical body (with its subtler sheaths) or not, as he sees fit.  He realises that he, as an individual, no longer needs a physical body or an astral consciousness, and that the mind is only a service instrument.  The body in which he now functions is a body of light which has its own type of substance.  The Master, however, can build a body through which He can approach His incoming disciples and those who have not taken the higher initiations; He will  normally build this body in semblance of the human form, doing so instantaneously and by an act of the will, when required.  The majority of the Masters who are definitely working with humanity either preserve the old body in which They took the fifth initiation or else They build the "mayavirupa" or body of maya, of physical substance.  This body will appear in the original form in which They took initiation.  This I personally did in reference to the first case; i.e., preserving the body in which I took initiation.  This the Master K.H. did in creating a body which was made in the form in which He took the fifth initiation.

 

It may interest you to know that the Christ has not yet decided what type of physical vehicle He will employ should He take physical form and work definitely upon the physical plane.  He waits to see what nation or group of nations do the most work, and the most convincing work, in preparation for His reappearance.  He will not, however, take a Jewish body as He did before, for the Jews have forfeited that privilege.  The Messiah for Whom they wait will be one of Christ's senior disciples, but it will not be, as originally intended, the Christ.  Symbolically, the Jews represent (from the point of view of the Hierarchy) that from which all Masters of the Wisdom and Lords of Compassion emerge:  materialism, cruelty and a spiritual conservatism, so that today they live in Old Testament times and are [Page 706] under the domination of the separative, selfish, lower concrete mind.

 

But their opportunity will come again, and they may change all this when the fires of suffering at last succeed in purifying them and burning away their ancient crystallisation, thus liberating them to the extent that they can recognise their Messiah, Who will not, however, be the world Messiah.  The Jews need humility more than any other nation.  By humility they may learn something of value as well as a needed sense of proportion.  They are dear to the heart of the Christ for—in the performance of His greatest work—He chose a Jewish body, but their materialism and their repudiation of spiritual opportunity has negated His use of their racial type again.  It would provide too great a handicap.  The probability is that the Master Jesus will assume (under instruction from the Christ) the part of the Messiah.

 

The Master, standing symbolically upon the Mount of Ascension, is equipped with a full realisation of the past, with a sound appreciation of what He has to offer to the service of humanity, and with a sense of expectancy.  During the preceding cycle of lives of initiatory service to humanity, He has several times heard "the Voice of the Father."  This is a symbolical phrase, indicating contact with that aspect of himself which was responsible for the appearance of his soul and for its long long cycle of incarnation:  the Monad, the Spirit, the One, the Life, the Father.  Each time that that Voice spoke, it gave him recognition.  It is in reality the voice of the Initiator in Whom we live and move and have our being.  All of the Master's previous visions have led Him to this high point of expectancy; He knows now where His field of service lies—within the Hierarchy, working on behalf of all living beings.  He knows also that He Himself has still to make  progress, to move forward, and that there faces Him a great Initiation of Decision (the sixth) for which He must prepare.  He knows that this entails for Him right choice, but also that right choice depends upon right understanding, right perception, right willingness and [Page 707] right vision or revelation.  So He stands again upon the mountain-top, awaiting again the Presence.  He realises that something more is needed if He is to serve rightly and, simultaneously, make spiritual progress Himself.

 

It is not possible for me here to indicate the nature of the revelation which is accorded to the initiate of the fifth initiation.  It is too closely related to Shamballa, and I have not myself done more this life than take the fifth initiation and climb the Mount of Ascension.  The revelation for me is not completed and—in any case—my lips are sealed.  I can, however, take up two points with you which may clarify your vision.  I would remind you again that what I am here writing in this last volume of A Treatise on the Seven Rays is written for disciples and initiates.  Disciples will see some of the significances behind the symbol and will make interpretations according to the point they have attained upon the Path.  You need to remember that the world of men today is full of those who have taken one or other of the initiations and that there are great disciples, from all the rays, working on the physical plane as senior workers for humanity under the Hierarchy; there will be many more during the next one hundred years.  (Written in 1949.)  Some of these do not know their particular hierarchical status in their physical brains, having deliberately relinquished this knowledge in order to do certain work.  That which I here write is intended—during the next forty years—to find its way into their hands with the deliberate intent of bringing to the surface of their brain consciousness who and what they are in truth.  This is a part of the programme planned by the Hierarchy, prior to the externalisation of the Ashrams.  The Masters feel that these senior disciples and initiates (being on the spot) should soon begin to work with more authority.  This does not mean that they will assert their spiritual identity and claim initiate status.  This they could not do on account of their point on the ladder of spiritual evolution.  But—knowing who they are from the angle of the Hierarchy and what is expected of them—they will strengthen their work, bring [Page 708] in more energy, and point the way with greater clarity.  Their wisdom will be recognised as well as their compassion, but they themselves will recede into the background; they may even appear to be less active outwardly, and so be misjudged, but their spiritual influence will be growing; they care not what others think about them.  They recognise also the mistaken views of all the modern religions anent the Christ; some may even be persecuted in their homes or by those they seek to help.  None of this will matter to them.  Their way is clear and their term of service is known to them.

 

The two points with which I shall now deal are as follows:

 

1. The part which energy plays in inducing revelation.

2. The place the Will plays in the revelatory sequence:  Revelation.  Interpretation.  Intention.  Will.

 

These must be looked at from the angle of discipleship and are not to be considered on their face value or in the ordinary manner.  They must be approached from the angle of the world of meaning and, if possible, from the world of significances; otherwise, the teaching will be so exoteric that its occult nature will not appear.

 

The Part which Energy plays in inducing Revelation

 

You will get a hint as to what I have to say if you will refer back to an earlier statement (page 534).  There you will find the inference that three energies are necessary for the initiate to employ if he seeks revelation; no matter what the revelation may be or the status of the disciple or the initiation he faces, these same three energies will be brought into play.  They are:

 

a. The energy generated by the disciple. 

b. The energy coming from the Spiritual Triad. 

c. The energy of the Ashram with which he is affiliated.

 

These are the three essential energies and without their synthesis in the disciple's mind or in one of the three [Page 709] higher centres, there can be no true revelation of the higher order or related to the processes of initiation.

 

In connection with the energy generated by the disciple, it will be obvious that this will include the energy of the soul ray, until the fifth initiation when it will be superseded by the energy of the Monad.  This will reach him, first of all, as the energy of the Spiritual Triad, and later that (in its turn) will be superseded by the direct energy of the Monad itself; the initiate will then know practically (and not just theoretically) what Christ meant when He said, "I and my Father are one."

 

In the earlier stages on the Path of Discipleship, the disciple works with that measure of the energy of his soul ray to which he can be receptive, plus as much of the energy of the personality ray as is responsive to that soul energy.  In doing this a great measure of discrimination can be developed, and it is one of the first places where the value of the injunction, "Know thyself" can be seen.  The nature of the soul ray at this time determines the nature of the revelation; the nature of the personality and its ray is, at the same time, either helpful or a hindrance.

 

To the energies which he has generated within himself the disciple learns to add that of the group which he has attempted to serve with love and understanding.  All disciples of any standing gather around them the few or the many that they have found themselves able to aid; the purity of the energy generated by this group depends upon their selflessness, their freedom from authority or the control of the disciple, and the quality of their spiritual aspiration.  As the disciple or the Master has helped them to generate this energy, and as all will necessarily synchronise with his, it becomes available as a pure stream of force, flowing through him at all times.  This he can learn to focus and incorporate with his own energy (also focussed) in order to prepare himself for further vision, provided always that his motive is likewise selfless.

 

The second group of energies are those coming to the disciple from the Spiritual Triad.  These are relatively new [Page 710] to him and embody divine qualities of which he has hitherto known nothing; even theoretically he knows little, and his attitude towards them has hitherto been largely speculative.  Since he first put his foot upon the Path, he has been trying to build the antahkarana.  Even that has meant for him an act of faith, and he proceeds in the early stages with the work of building, yet scarcely knowing what he does.  He follows blindly the ancient rules and attempts to accept as factual that which has not been proven to him to be a fact but which is testified to by countless thousands down the ages.  The whole process is in the nature of a culminating triumph of that innate sense of Deity which has driven man forward from the most primitive experiences and physical adventures to this great adventure of constructing a pathway for himself from the dense material world into the spiritual.  These higher spiritual energies have hitherto been recognised by him through their effects; now he has to learn to handle them, first of all, by letting them pour into and through him, via the  antahkarana, and then to direct them towards the immediate objective of the divine plan.

 

Hitherto he has worked primarily with the thread of consciousness; this is anchored in the head, and through that consciousness his personality and his soul are linked together until he has become a soul-infused personality; he has then attained unity with his higher self.  Through the building of the antahkarana another thread is added to the soul-infused personality, and the true spiritual individual is linked with and comes under the direction of the Spiritual Triad.  At the fourth initiation the soul body, the causal body (so called) disappears, and the thread of consciousness is occultly snapped; neither the soul body nor the thread are any longer required; they become now only the symbols of a non-existent duality.  The soul is no longer the repository of the consciousness aspect as hitherto.  All that the soul has stored up of knowledge, science, wisdom and experience (garnered in the life cycle of many aeons of incarnation) are now the sole possession of the individual [Page 711] spiritual man.  He transfers them into the higher correspondence of the sensory perceptive apparatus, the instinctual nature, on the three planes of the three worlds.

 

Nevertheless he still possesses awareness of all past events and knows now why he is what he is; much of the information anent the past he discards; it has served its purpose, leaving him with the residue of experienced wisdom.  His life takes on a new colouring, totally unrelated to the three worlds of his past experience.  He, the sum total of that past, faces new spiritual adventures, and has now to tread the Path which leads him away from normal human evolution on to the Way of the Higher Evolution.  This new experience he is well equipped to face.

 

Three major energies begin to make an impact upon his lower mind.  They are:

 

1. The impulsive energy of ideas, coming to him from the abstract mind and travelling along the antahkarana; these make contact with his now illumined lower mind which, at this point, transforms them into ideals so that the divine ideas—implementing the divine purpose—may become the heritage of the race of men.  The better trained and the more controlled the mind, the easier it will be to handle this type of energy.  It is by means of this impulsive energy that the Hierarchy (upon the buddhic plane) leads humanity onwards.

 

2. The energy of the intuition, which is the word we use to describe a direct contact with the Mind of God at some relatively high level of experience.  The effect of this energy upon the soul-infused personality is to give to the mind (already receptive to the energy of ideas) some faint glimmering and brief revelation of the purpose of the ideas which underlie all hierarchical activity on behalf of humanity.  The intuition is entirely concerned with group activity; it is never interested in or directed to the revelation of anything concerned with the personality life.  The growth of what we might call the buddhic vehicle (though that is a misnomer) prepares the man for the ninth or the final initiation, which enables the initiate—in a manner incomprehensible [Page 712] to us—to "intuit" (in a blazing light) the true nature of the cosmic astral plane.  Forget not, the buddhic plane is closely allied with the cosmic astral plane, and that all intuitions when regulated require the use of the creative imagination in their working out or in their presentation to the thoughts of men.  Speaking generally, the Masters intuit those phases of the divine intention which are immediate; these constitute the "overshadowing cloud of knowable things."  These They transform into the Plan; then Their disciples—with their intuitional capacity developing slowly but steadily—begin themselves to intuit these ideas, to present them as ideals to the masses, and thus precipitate the needed aspects of the Plan on to the physical plane.

 

3. The dynamic energy of the will follows next, and (as the disciple perfects the antahkarana) it sweeps through the medium of contact into the mind of the soul-infused personality, and from thence it finds its way to the brain.  I am of course referring here to the disciple in training and not to the Masters Themselves Who work at the centre of these energies; the Hierarchy is a great reception point for these three aspects of the Spiritual Triad—the spiritual will, the intuition or pure reason, and the abstract mind.

 

It is in the Ashrams of the Masters that the disciple comes into direct relation with these dynamic, revealing and impulsive  energies.  These three energies focus through and are directed by the three Heads of the Hierarchy: the Manu, the Christ, and the Mahachohan.  The Manu is receptive to, and the agent of, the energy of the divine will for humanity; the Christ is the agent for the distribution of the energy which brings intuitive revelation; the Mahachohan is responsible for the inflow of ideas into the consciousness of the disciple, the aspirant and the intelligentsia.  I would beg you to remember that the main effort of the spiritual Hierarchy is on behalf of humanity, because the fourth Kingdom in Nature is the Macrocosm of the three-fold Microcosm of the three lower kingdoms in nature.

 

This whole subject is too vast to be entered into here, [Page 713] but I have given you much along these lines in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire.  Much more than I can possibly give you is revealed to the initiate at the time of the fifth initiation.  The clues, the thoughts, the abstract concepts, the fleeting ideas of which all disciples are aware are at this initiation resolved into certainty, and the Master can now take His place as a distributor of Triadal energy.  The major problem confronting Him is not the distribution of ideas or the use of the intuition in grasping the stage of the divine Purpose at any particular time; it consists in the development of the spiritual will, in its comprehension and its use in world service.  Just as the disciple has to learn to use the mind in two ways:

 

As a common sense, a resolver of information so that a life pattern and a life service, planned and directed, may

eventuate, and a perception of relationships.

 

As a searchlight, bringing into the light those ideas and intuitions which are needed,

 

so the Master has to learn the uses of the will.  A natural sequence can be seen closely related to the idea of revelation.

 

On the mountain-top of Ascension, following the experience of "teaching the spirits which are in prison," the Master receives a revelation; this is His right and due and something for which the long previous cycle of initiation has prepared Him.  The revelation must be followed by realisation and recognition:

 

1. He realises that the right interpretation of the revelation is the first essential.

2. He then comes to the understanding that the next step is for Him to formulate His intention, based upon the revelation and directed towards His world service. 

3. Having received the revelation, interpreted it and determined within Himself what He intends to do, He next realises that the factor of the will must now be employed if He and those He seeks to help are to profit by the revelation.

 

This opens up the whole subject of the Will, its nature and relationships and this we must study for a while: the sequence of Revelation.  Interpretation.  Intention.  Will.

 

The Place that the Will plays in inducing Revelation

 

There are three words connected with this initiation which are of real importance to its correct understanding.  They are:  Emergence.  Will.  Purpose.  With the emergence aspect we have already dealt under the term "raising up" or the "transition" from the darkness of matter to the light of the Spirit.  But of the Will, its uses and its function, as yet we know little.  Knowledge as to the nature of the will in any true sense only comes after the third initiation.  From that time on the initiate demonstrates increasingly and steadily the first divine aspect, that of the Will and the right use of Power.  This first aspect of divinity is necessarily closely associated with the first Ray of Power or Will.  I shall, however, only consider the ray angle incidentally, for I want to elucidate for you the nature of the will in some clear measure, though complete understanding is not possible.

 

The Lord of the World is, we are told, the sole repository of the will and the purpose of His overshadowing, cosmic soul.  These two words—will and purpose—are not identical in meaning.  Sanat Kumara and His Council at Shamballa are the only Beings upon our planet Who know just what is the nature of the divine purpose.  It is Their function and obligation to work that purpose out into manifestation, and this They do by the use of the will.  The will ever implements the purpose.  The repository of the will aspect of man's innate divinity is to be found at the base of the spine; this can only function correctly and be the agent of the divine will after the third initiation.  The head centre is the one which is the custodian of the purpose; the centre at the base of the spine indicates the will as it implements the purpose.  The purpose is slowly, very slowly, revealed to the initiate during the final five [Page 715] initiations and this only becomes possible after the Initiation of Renunciation.  At that time the initiate says, in unison with the great head of the Hierarchy, the Christ:  "Father, not my will but Thine be done."  Then comes the initiation of emergence out of matter and, from that point on, the initiate begins to glimpse the purpose of the planetary Logos; hitherto he has only seen the plan, and to the service of the plan he has been dedicated.  Hitherto also, he has only sought to be an exponent of the love of God; now he must express, with increasing fullness, the will of God.

 

 

Earlier in these pages (Page 410) we are told that the problem which confronts the Hierarchy as it seeks to prepare disciples for the successive initiations is the right use of the will, both Their Own use of the will in relation to the initiate, and the initiate's use of the will as he works for the Plan as that Plan implements Purpose.  To produce this, a direct, understanding and powerful expression of this first aspect is demanded.  There are several reasons why the will presents a problem.  Let us list a few of them and thereby get understanding.

 

1. This energy of the will is the most potent energy in the whole scheme of planetary existence.  It is called the "Shamballa Force," and it is that which holds all things together in life.  It is, in reality, life itself.  This life force or divine will (implementing divine intention) is that by means of which Sanat Kumara arrives at His goal.  On a tiny scale, it is the use of one of the lowest aspects of the will (human self-will) which enables a man to carry out his plans and attain his fixed purpose—if he has one.  Where the will is lacking, the plan dies out and the purpose is not achieved.  Even in relation to self-will, it is veritably the "life of the project."  The moment Sanat Kumara has attained His planetary purpose, He will withdraw this potent energy, and (in this withdrawing) destruction will set in.  This Shamballa force is steadily held in leash for fear of too great an impact upon the unprepared kingdoms in nature.  This has reference to its impact also upon humanity.

 

[Page 716]

You have been told that this force has—during this century—made its first direct impact upon humanity; heretofore, it reached mankind in the three worlds after being stepped down and modified by transit through the great planetary centre to which we give the name of the Hierarchy.  This direct impact will again take place in 1975, and also in the year 2000, but the risks will then not be so great as in the first impact, owing to the spiritual growth of mankind.  Each time this energy strikes into the human consciousness some fuller aspect of the divine plan appears.  It is the energy which brings about synthesis, which holds all things within the circle of the divine love.  Since its impact during the past few years, human thinking has been more concerned with the production of unity and the attainment of synthesis in all human relations than ever before, and one result of this energy has been the forming of the United Nations.

 

2. It will be apparent to you, therefore, that this energy is the agent for the revelation of the divine purpose.  It may surprise you that this is regarded as presenting a problem to the Hierarchy, but if this power—impersonal and potent—should fall into the hands of the Black Lodge, the results would be disastrous indeed.  Most of the members of this centre of cosmic evil are upon the first ray itself, and some of the divine purpose is known to a few of them, for—in their due place and in the initiatory regime—they too are initiates of high degree, but dedicated to selfishness and separativeness.  Their particular form of selfishness is far worse than anything which you can imagine, because they are completely detached and divorced from all contact with the energy to which we give the name of love.  They have cut themselves off from the spiritual Hierarchy, through Whom the love of the planetary Logos reaches the forms in the three worlds and all that is contained therein.  These evil but powerful beings know well the uses of the will, but only in its destructive aspect.

 

We have spoken much of the purpose of the planetary Logos.  When I use the word "purpose" I am indicating the [Page 717] answer to the question:  Why did the planetary Logos create this world and start the evolutionary, creative process?  Only one answer has as yet been permitted to be given.  Sanat Kumara has created this planet and all that moves and lives therein in order to bring about a planetary synthesis and an integrated system whereby a tremendous solar revelation can be seen.  Having said that, we have not really penetrated any distance into the meaning of the divine purpose; we have only indicated the method whereby it is being attained, but the true objective remains still an obscure mystery—guarded rigidly in the Council Chamber of Sanat Kumara.  It is this mystery and this divine planetary "secret" which is the goal of all the work being done by the Black Lodge.  They are not yet sure of the purpose, and all their efforts are directed to the discovery of the nature of the mystery.  Hence the hierarchical problem.

 

3. It is this energy of the will, rightly focussed, that enables the senior Members of the Hierarchy to implement that purpose.  Only initiates of a certain standing can receive this energy, focus it within the Hierarchy, and then direct its potency to certain ends known only to Them.  Speaking symbolically, the Hierarchy has within it, under the custody of its most advanced Members, what might be called a "reservoir of divine intention."  It is the higher correspondence of that to which Patanjali refers under the words, "the raincloud of knowable things" which hovers over the head of all disciples who can see somewhat in the Light.  Just as advanced humanity can precipitate the rain of knowledge from this cloud of  knowable things (the divine ideas, working out as intuitions in all the many areas of human thinking), so the lesser initiates and disciples within the Hierarchy can begin to precipitate into their consciousness some of this "divine intention."  It is this reservoir of power which embodies some of the Purpose and implements the Plan.  One of the problems of the Hierarchy is, therefore, right timing in the revelation of divine intention and in the direction of the thinking and the planning done in Their Ashrams by the recipients:  initiates and disciples. [Page 718] Again we come back to the same necessity for right interpretation of the revelation or of the vision.

 

4. The problem is also one that each Master has to face in connection with His Own spiritual development, for this energy is the needed dynamic or potency which enables Him to tread the Way of the Higher Evolution.  On the way to liberation and in treading the Path of Discipleship and the Path of Initiation, the human being has to use the dynamic or the potency of the Love of God; on the Way of the Higher Evolution, it must be the dynamic and the potency of Will.

 

I would ask you all, therefore, to ponder on the distinction which exists between:

 

1. Self-will......................2.  Determination

3. Fixity of purpose.........4.  The will

5. The spiritual will..........6.  The divine will

 

I shall not attempt to discuss these words with you.  They each indicate a certain aspect of the will; you will learn more on this point by doing your own thinking and defining.

 

All that I can hope and pray is that your individual will can be merged into the divine will, that revelation will be increasingly yours, and that you will with increased steadfastness tread the Path from darkness to light and from death to immortality.

The above concludes the section on the 5th initiation (RI 703-717)

 

(RI 732)  At the fifth initiation it is revealed to the initiate that life in form is indeed death, and he then knows this truth in a manner which my few short words cannot convey.  Form dies for him and he knows a new expansion of life and undergoes (if I may so express it) a new understanding of living.  The seventh initiation is divorced from all considerations of form, and the initiate becomes a concentrated point of living light; he knows in a manner indescribable that life is all that IS, and that it is this life and its real fullness which makes him a part of THAT which lies outside of our planetary Life; he may now share in that extra-planetary Existence in which our planetary Logos lives and moves and has His being.  This is the "life more abundantly" of which Christ spoke and which only an initiate of the seventh degree can understand or convey.

 

After the fifth initiation, the initiate has slowly been sensing the nature of this greater Life, the Life of "The [Page 733] Unknown God," as it has been called, which enfolds all livingness and all forms upon and within our planet and yet remains—greater than our planetary Life, more all-encompassing than is our planetary Logos, and Whose greatness, beauty, goodness and knowledge are to our planetary Logos what His life is to the lowest form of life in the third or animal kingdom.  It is only by such inadequate comparisons that one can arrive at some faint comprehension of that great WHOLE in which our planet and our planetary Logos are but a part.  It is this revelation which is accorded to the initiate at this seventh Initiation of Resurrection.  He takes this initiation upon what (for lack of a better phrase) we call the "logoic plane," or on the level of consciousness of the Lord of the World.

 

 

 Some Siddhis, Powers  and Special abilities of  Masters (very incomplete)

 

(EPII 593)  The goal of meditation is to bring about the free play of all the incoming forces so that there is no impediment offered at any point to the incoming energy of the soul; so that no obstruction and congestion is permitted and no lack of power—physical, psychic, mental and spiritual—is to be found in any part of the body.  This will mean not only good health and the full and free use of all the faculties (higher and lower) but direct contact with the soul.  It will produce that constant renewing of the body which is characteristic of the life expression of the initiate and the Master, as well as of the disciple, only in a lesser degree.  It will produce rhythmic expression of the divine life in form.  To the clairvoyant view of the adept as He looks at the aspirant or disciple, it causes:

 

1. The rhythm of manifestation.  This is the cause of the appearance and the disappearance of the form.  The adept, by looking at the body, can tell just how long it has been in incarnation and how long it will still continue to "appear".  The state of the pranic channels reveals this accurately, particularly those found below the diaphragm.  The centre at the base of the spine, where is found the seat of the will-to-live (governing the seed of the life principle in the heart) reveals this.

 

2. The rhythm of psychic life.  This is, in reality, the revelation of where the man stands in relation to consciousness and its contacts.  The adept, when seeking information upon this point, looks first of all at the solar plexus centre and then at the heart and head, for in these three centres and in their relative "light and radiant brightness", the whole story of the individual stands revealed.  [Page 594] The head centre, looked at for the average or below average man, is the centre between the eyebrows.  In the case of the aspirant, mystic and disciple, it is the highest head centre.

 

As evolution proceeds and the life forces flow ever more freely along the "nadis" and through the centres—major, minor, and minute—the rapidity of the distribution and of the flow, and the consequent radiance of the body steadily increases.  The separating walls within the enclosing sheath of the tiny channels of force eventually dissolve (under the impact of soul force) and so disappear and thus the "nadis" of the advanced disciple take a new form indicating that he is now essentially and consequently dual and is therefore an integrated personality.  He is soul and personality.  Soul force can now flow unimpeded through the central channel of the "nadi" and all the other forces can flow unimpeded around it.  It is whilst this process is going on and the forces within the "nadis" are being blended and thus forming one energy that most of the diseases of the mystics make their appearance, particularly those connected with the heart.

 

Simultaneously with this appearance of duality in the "nadis", the disciple finds himself able to use the two channels—ida and pingala—which are found up the spinal column, one on each side of the central channel.  There can now be the free flow of force up and down these two "pathways of the forces" and thus out into the "nadis", utilising the area around any of the major centres as distributing areas and thus galvanising, at will, any part of the mechanism into activity, or the whole mechanism into coordinated action.  The disciple has now reached the point in his development where the etheric web, which separates all the centres up the spine from each other, has been burned away by the fires of life.  The [Page 595] "sushumna" or central channel can be slowly utilised.  This parallels the period wherein there is the free flow of soul force through the central channel in the "nadis".  Eventually this central channel comes into full activity.  All this can be seen by the clairvoyant eye of the Master.

 

The Master does not need a physical body

(RI 705) He can work through a physical body (with its subtler sheaths) or not, as he sees fit.  He realises that he, as an individual, no longer needs a physical body or an astral consciousness, and that the mind is only a service instrument.  The body in which he now functions is a body of light which has its own type of substance.  The Master, however, can build a body through which He can approach His incoming disciples and those who have not taken the higher initiations; He will  normally build this body in semblance of the human form, doing so instantaneously and by an act of the will, when required.  The majority of the Masters who are definitely working with humanity either preserve the old body in which They took the fifth initiation or else They build the "mayavirupa" or body of maya, of physical substance.  This body will appear in the original form in which They took initiation.  This I personally did in reference to the first case; i.e., preserving the body in which I took initiation.  This the Master K.H. did in creating a body which was made in the form in which He took the fifth initiation.

 

(DINA2 P10)  All detailed, outer forms are expressions of some subjective significance which is the cause of their appearance [Page 10] and which can be discovered by those who can function in the world of meaning. These "foci of significance" carry a note, a vibration and a symbolic aspect which conveys to the trained mind of the esotericist far more than does the outer form of words convey meaning to the trained mind of the exoteric reader. One glance in the direction of the disciple with the thought in mind of ascertaining the value of his contribution in words, serves to bring into my line of vision the symbol which is the product of his written thought. This symbol may be and probably is distorted—a symbol without true balance; it will find its place upon some level of consciousness—astral, mental or spiritual—and its vibratory note will depend upon its "occult location." Forget not that the world of meaning and the world of outer forms express in essentiality the world in which multiplicity is reduced to simplicity, though this does not connote synthesis.

 

(DINAII 131)  The strength, availability and usefulness of an Ashram is that of the sum total of all that its members can contribute, plus that which Those above the third degree of initiation can "import" from still higher sources or the Masters of the Ashrams can make available at need. Students are apt to think that an Ashram has only one initiate of the fifth degree (that of Master) within it. Such is seldom the case. There are usually three "cooperating Masters" in every Ashram, with one at the apex of the triangle; He acts as the Master of the Ashram and is responsible for the preparation of disciples for initiation; frequently there are also "associated Masters," particularly during cycles of rapid initiation, as is the case [Page 331] today. There are also Masters Who are preparing for the sixth initiation.

 

(DINAII 104)  ….a Master of an Ashram may, for instance, attract to Him other Masters of equal rank as His Own. I have five Masters working with me in my Ashram.

 

The most important capacity of a Master of an Ashram is that He has earned the right to communicate directly with the Council at Shamballa and thus to ascertain at first hand the immediate evolutionary task which the Hierarchy is undertaking.