Compilation Endurance
(Vulcan and the 1st Ray)

(EPIII 274)  Virgo is related to Taurus through Vulcan which brings in what might be called the endurance aspect of the will-to-be which carries the incarnated Son of God through the experiences of the dark time wherein the personality becomes the Mother in the stage of gestation, through the period of infancy upon the physical plane and through the stage of adolescence until the initiate attains full maturity. This necessitates persistence, endurance and continuity of effort and is one of the characteristics imparted or stimulated by energies pouring from Vulcan. You can realise that these are first ray attributes and are the reverse side of those usually emphasised, namely, death or the activity of the Destroyer aspect. Taurus is an expression of the third unmanifested Hierarchy and of this Hierarchy we know nothing beyond the fact that it is concerned with the light which liberates from death. Therefore, you have:

Taurus—Illumination.

Vulcan—First ray or endurance.

Third Creative Hierarchy—Liberating Light.

Virgo—The Christ-life, latent and unexpressed (as is the 3rd Creative Hierarchy).

The Moon—The form nature, the substance of the flame which lights the way.

The quality of endurance and the first ray mental body

(EPII 291)  THE MENTAL BODY

This provides (in the case of the unevolved or the highly developed) the following possibilities:

Ray One

IN UNEVOLVED MAN

1. The will to live or to manifest upon the physical plane.

2. The impulse which works out, therefore, as the instinct to self-preservation.

3. The capacity to endure, no matter what the difficulties.

4. Individual isolation.  The man is always the "One who stands alone."

IN THE ADVANCED MAN

1. The will to liberation or to manifest consciously upon the plane of the soul.

2. The capacity to react to the plan, or to respond to the recognised will of God.

3.  The principle of immortality.

4. Perseverance or endurance upon the Way.

(EPII 249)  1. A willingness to bear the pain of revelation.

2. The power to hold on to the high point of consciousness

at which the revelation comes.

3. The focussing of the faculty of the imagination upon the revelation, or upon as much of it as the brain consciousness can bring through into the lighted area of external [Page 249] knowledge.  It is the imagination or the picture-making faculty which links the mind and brain together and thus produces the exteriorisation of the veiled splendour.

If the creative artist will ponder upon these three requirements—endurance, meditation, and imaginationhe will develop in himself the power to respond to this fourth rule of soul control, and will know the soul eventually as the secret of persistence, the revealer of the rewards of contemplation and the creator of all forms upon the physical plane.

(LOS 422)  26, 27, 28. The mind then tends towards discrimination and increasing illumination as to the true nature of the one Self.  Through force of habit, however, the mind will reflect other mental impressions and perceive objects of sensuous perception.  These reflections are of the nature of hindrances and the method of their overcoming is the same.

The right tendencies and rhythm having been set up, it becomes simply a question of steady perseverance, common sense and endurance.  Unless the utmost vigilance is exerted, the old habits of mind will very easily reassert themselves, and even until the final initiation the aspirant must "watch and pray." The rules which govern victory, the practices which bring success are the same for the advanced expert warrior and initiate as they are for the humblest neophyte.  In Book II. the methods whereby the hindrances and obstacles could be overcome and negated are most carefully given and from the moment of stepping upon the probationary path until that high moment when the [Page 423] last great initiation has been experienced, and the liberated man stands forth in the full light of day, these methods and modes of disciplined living must be adhered to unswervingly.  This involves patience, the capacity to go on after failure, to persevere when success seems far away.  This was well known to the great initiate, Paul, and was the cause of his injunction to the disciples he sought to help.  "Stand therefore ... and having done all, stand."  James gives us the same thought where he says "Behold we count them happy that endure."  It is the going on when the point of exhaustion has been reached, the taking of another step when the strength to do so seems gone, the holding steady when there seems nothing but defeat ahead, and the determination to endure whatever may be coming, when endurance has been taxed to the limit, which is the hallmark of disciples of every degree.  To them goes out the clarion call of Paul:

(The Soul and its Mechanism 44) This gland has been called "nature's darling treasure," being cradled in a niche, like a "skull within a skull." As most of the glands do, in some form or other, it has a close relation to sex, and is also related to such periodic phenomena as sleep and sex epochs. We are told that it is a gland of continued effort, of energy consumption, and is essential to life. It is believed to stimulate the brain cells and to have a "direct and important bearing upon the personality." We are also informed that insufficient pituitary development causes, or at least accompanies conspicuous moral and intellectual inferiority, and lack of self-control; but that with a good pituitary development there will also be pronounced mental activity and endurance. It seems to have a very close connection with our emotional and mental qualities.

(LOS 43)  If students would follow these tabulations with care much light would come.  The necessity for a strong energetic will becomes apparent if the path of Initiation is studied.  Only an iron will, and a steady, strong, unswerving endurance will carry the aspirant along this path and out into the clear light of day.

(HIS 76)  Have patience.  Endurance is one of the characteristics of the Ego.  The Ego persists, knowing itself immortal.  The personality becomes discouraged, knowing that time is short.

(LOS 26)  2. Tireless endeavour means literally constant practice, ceaseless repetition and the reiterated effort to impose the new rhythm upon the old, and to efface deep seated habits and modifications by the institution of soul impression.  The yogi or Master is the result of patient endurance; his achievement is the fruit of a steady effort which is based upon intelligent appreciation of the work to be done and the goal to be reached, and not upon spasmodic enthusiasm.

(EPIII 591)  I have earlier referred to three major expressions of the will aspect. There is will, as the conditioner of the life aspect. This refers not to events, happenings and occurrence, but to the nature of the life manifestations in any cycle, through any nation or race, where humanity is concerned. This refers also to the broad and general lines which at any time upon the planet are setting the pace for the evolution of forms and which basically concerns the force and endurance of the life as it manifests through and creates those external conditions which are qualified and expressed in terms of life, of quality and appearance. The word "life" in this triplicity of terms refers to life as [Page 592] humanity understands it. The word "life" to which I here refer is the life to which H.P.B. refers as that which synthesises spirit, soul and body. (See The Secret Doctrine, I. 81). It is in reality that fourth something which hovers behind all manifestation and behind all objects, all qualified expressions of divinity and which is hinted at in the Bhagavad Gita in the words: "Having pervaded this whole universe with a fragment of Myself, I remain."

(EH 691)  You can see here why I emphasised the fact that the initiate is the recipient of the essential quality or qualities which form has revealed and developed, and which the soul has absorbed.  At this particular crisis, the initiate within the Ashram or "on His way of glory to the Place where dwells the Lord" (Shamballa) summarises or contains within himself all the essential good which was stored in the soul prior to its destruction at the fourth initiation.  He epitomises in himself the knowledge and the wisdom of aeons of struggle and of patient endurance.  Nothing further is to be gained by adhering either to the soul or to the form.  He has taken all they had to give which throws light on the spiritual Law of Sacrifice. It is interesting to note how the soul becomes at this point simply the intermediary between the personality and the initiate of high degree.  But now there is nothing more to relate, to report or to transmit, and—as the Sound reverberates—the soul disappears, as testimony of response.  It is now but an empty shell, but its substance is of so high an order that it becomes an integral part of the buddhic level, and its function there is etheric  The principle of life is renounced and returns to the reservoir of universal life.

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

(RI 662)  In all the many books which I have given to the world I have taught much anent initiation; I have sought to bring a saner, more reasonable presentation of these great crises in the life of every disciple.  It is wise to note that an initiation is in reality a crisis, a climaxing event, and is only truly brought about when the disciple has learnt patience, endurance and sagacity in emerging from the many preceding and less important crises.  An initiation is a culminating episode, made possible because of the self-inspired discipline to which the disciple has forced himself to conform.

(WM 148)  6. Little by little, using the language of modern psychology, within the outer form, which is the response apparatus for the process of becoming aware of the phenomenal world, the disciple builds a new subtler response apparatus whereby the subjective worlds can be known.

When this stage is reached there ensues a steady turning away from vibratory contact with the outer worlds of form, and an atrophying of desire in that direction.  All seems arid and undesirable, and all fails to satisfy the ardent and aspiring soul.  The difficult process of re-orientation toward a new world, a new state of being and a new condition of awareness is set up, and because the inner subtle response apparatus is only in an embryonic [Page 148] condition there is a devastating sense of loss, a groping in the dark, and a period of spiritual wrestling and exploration that tests the endurance and steadfastness of purpose of the aspirant to the very limits.

(WM 186)  The result quite frequently at this time is that (perhaps unconsciously to the physical brain) a man will shoulder a great amount of experience, and undertake the working out of an abnormal amount of responsibility in one particular life, in order to free himself for service and chelaship in a later life.  He works then at the equipping of himself for the next life, and at the patient performance of duty in his home, his circle of friends, and his business.  He realises that from the egoic standpoint one life is but a short matter and soon gone and that by study, intelligent activity, loving service, and patient endurance, he is working out of those conditions which are preventing his prompt acceptance in a Master's group.

(WM 277) Hence there is no cause for depression or undue anxiety, but only ardent desire that the transition may be made in due time and order and be neither too rapid—hence destructive to all right ties and affiliations—nor too prolonged and so strain beyond endurance the sorely tried fabric of humanity.  All new manifestations in all kingdoms in all ages must come slowly, and therefore safely, to the birthing.

The stage of developing endurance in the personality prior to reversal in Libra

(WM 375)  He passes from one sense of unity to a sense of duality, and from thence again into a higher unity.  First, the self identifies itself With the form aspect to such an extent that all duality disappears in the illusion that the self is the form.  We have then the form constituting apparently all that there is.  This is followed by the stage wherein the indwelling self begins to be aware of Itself as well as of the form, and we talk then in terms of the higher and the lower self; we speak of the self and its sheaths, and of the self and the not-self.  This dualistic stage is that of the aspirant and of the disciple, up to the time of his training for the third initiation.  He begins with a knowledge that he is a spiritual entity confined in a form.  His consciousness for a long period of time remains predominantly that of the form.  Gradually this changes,—so gradually that the aspirant learns the lesson of endurance (even to the point of enduring the not-self!) until there comes a life of balance, wherein neither preponderates.  This produces in the man a state of apparent negativity and inertia which may last for one life or two, and he seems to accomplish little in either direction.  This is, for workers, a valuable hint in their dealings with people.  Then the point of balance changes, and the soul appears to dominate from the standpoint of influence, and the entire consciousness aspect begins to shift into the higher of the two aspects.  Duality however, still persists, for the man is sometimes identified with his soul and sometimes with his form nature; this is the stage wherein so many most earnest disciples are at this time to be found.  Little by little however he becomes "absorbed" in the soul, and thus comes en rapport with all aspects of the soul in all forms until the day dawns when he realises that there is nothing but soul and then the higher state of unity supervenes.

(DINA1 157)  I would conjure you to face the future with joy and optimism. Courage you always have but joy you lack. With you, as with F.C.D., much of the physical plane activity is hampered by etheric devitalisation, though the causes producing the existing condition differ. During the past years, I have many times conveyed to you a message the summation of which lies in the emphasis I lay on steadfastness in meditation. Etheric vitalisation lies in meditation where you are concerned and the bringing in of energy to your physical body through its instrumentality. Diet, fresh air and freedom from concern all aid the process but the main cure for you and the source of success in all your work lies in your persistence in meditation and your contemplative endurance.

(DINA1 384)  Like other disciples and like all true aspirants, you have had much to discipline you lately, and many opportunities have been offered to you wherein you may demonstrate endurance. The particular group test has touched you not. It did not and would not constitute for you a test, but your test has been the holding of the attitude of steadfast endeavour in the face of circumstance, and of demonstrating not only endurance but loving detachment and joy. What happens to the personality is, in the last analysis, of small moment. The attitude assumed towards all happenings and the methods employed in handling them is that which is of moment. Skill in action is always needed, my brother, and for you in this life it must ever be the demonstration of skill in emotional reaction, and not so much the expression of efficient dealing upon the physical plane. The achievement of physical efficiency is not for you a problem. The achievement of emotional detachment and consequent right use of subjective force is still a problem to you.

(DINA1 419)  Two planks of the raft on which the disciple eventually makes his escape can be called service and patience. By a close attention to the needs of his fellowmen and by means of that uncomplaining endurance which is the hallmark of the disciple, he brings to an end the time of difficulty and emerges thence freer, richer and more useful. There come times in the life of every true aspirant when he simply continues to persevere, no matter how disinclined he may feel and no matter how acute may be the inner turmoil.

(DINA1 456)  The past six months have been for you a period of change, of readjustment and difficulty. The testing of the intuition to which you and others were subjected has not constituted for you, the chief problem. Your intuition functioned and you saw clearly the group implications, as you did also in the matter of Dr. .... For you there has been the long test of endurance, and that is for you—as for many—a test of real importance and significance. The power to persist when physical liability and [page 456] disability call aloud for cessation of the effort, the ability to stand steady when the sense of futility seems to overwhelm, and the capacity to function as a soul detached from personal reactions—this is for you the desired achievement. So be it, brother. This you have demanded for yourself; but remember that the incentive, leading to success, must be achievement for the group. Freedom from personality problems does not interest you basically. Such problems provide not for you sufficient or adequate motive to warrant the strain and effort. But usefulness to the group and the providing of a channel whereby spiritual light and love may enter into the living organism of the group, that must be for you the requisite motive, and this must be borne in mind when the strain and effort is at its height.

(DINA1 462)  Your love and knowledge should begin to lead you more and more into the way of the divine psychologist; it is to the service of psychology that I direct your attention and to which you will find yourself pledged when next you take the Path of Rebirth and return to the battlefield of life. For you, today, the battle is one of endurance, of the control of the emotions, of the right understanding of the astral nature and a steady shift of your point of consciousness on to the next plane. I think, my brother, that you recognise this fact.

(DINA1 477) My brother, when I say that you need to love more, I speak not of the distorted love of the emotional nature but of that pure disinterested love which acts as a magnet to other souls because it is a soul quality, universally shared. This, you know you lack. That which clogs the channels and hinders its free and full flow is your sensitive self-assertiveness which sees everybody in relation to yourself and is not concerned with what you, as a person, may mean to them. Reflect on these words for they hold for you the key to progress. I am taking the time to write to you on this matter for it is of prime importance in your case. Your patient endurance of difficulties, your earnest and keen aspiration and your service to the work which I am doing is oft rendered null and void by your inner antagonisms and your outer separative attitude to those whom you do not like and who do not like you— consequently.

(DINA1 572)  All groups of disciples, seeking to work together under the guidance of a Master, have their own peculiar problems. The formative first years hold in them those testing difficulties which will try the mettle of the group, and put the endurance and the faith of the group members to a more than adequate trial. Many among your co-disciples present peculiar difficulties to me—a teacher on the second ray—because of the powerful development of the critical faculty in some of the members. (NOTE: During this world crisis the Tibetan has been caring for the disciples in the groups of several other Masters so as to release these Masters for different and more important work. A.A.B.)

(DINAII 30) I would therefore ask you to steel your souls to endurance, knowing that the Hierarchy Stands; I would ask you to love blindly and unchangingly in spite of all that may happen, knowing that Love Stands unmoved amid the wreckage of all around and eternally loves; I would ask you to put your hand into that of the Master and move forward with Him and in the strength of your group, irradiated by [Page 30] the life and light of the Hierarchy; I would ask you to be a strong hand in the dark to your fellowmen because you are affiliated with the Hierarchy and the love and strength of the Hierarchy can flow through you, if you so permit.

(DINAII 669)  The relation of the Christ to the entire Hierarchy is that of Supreme Master. His group of disciples includes all initiates over the third initiation. But through these initiates and certain of the Masters, and at their suggestion, He is slowly selecting a band of lesser disciples who can be trained for special work during the next two or three lives. Of these, you can be one. The first phase of the training given is to impose at least one life of most drastic discipline and difficult circumstances, not karmically ordained but of an educational and disciplinary nature. You have had two such lives and have consequently built up and established a persistent endurance and a trained response to events which is a guarantee to the watching Master that your stability is assured and immovable.

(DINAII 672)  I shall be in touch with you, my brother. This instruction [Page 672] is not long, but—coupled with that last given to you—it gives you a prospect of a possibility which should cheer you on your way. You can regard what I have told you as the reward of a life of patient endurance, of overcoming and of acceptance. It should also enable you to bring a fuller tide of loving understanding. You will thus enhance your usefulness.

(Intellect to Intuition 236)  "A clean life, an open mind, a pure heart, an eager intellect, an unveiled spiritual perception, a brotherliness for one's co-disciple, a readiness to give and receive advice and instruction,...a willing obedience to the behests of Truth,...a courageous endurance of personal injustice, a brave declaration of principles, a valiant defence of those who are unjustly attacked, and a constant eye to the ideal of human progression and perfection which the secret science depicts; these are the golden stairs up the steps of which the learner may climb to the Temple of Divine Wisdom."

H. P. BLAVATSKY

(GAWP 250)  Now comes the stage wherein he is in a position to find out the reality and the work of the seven centres which provide inlet and outlet for the moving forces and energies with which he is immediately concerned in this particular incarnation. He enters upon a prolonged period of observation, of experiment and experience and institutes a trial and error, [Page 250] a success and failure, campaign which will call for all the strength, courage and endurance of which he is capable.

(LOS INTRO) Christ himself has said that "Greater works than I do shall ye do," holding out to us the promise of the "kingdom, the power and the glory" provided our aspiration and endurance suffice to carry us along the thorny way of the Cross, and enable us to tread that path which "leads up hill all the way" to the summit of the Mount of Transfiguration.

(LOS 213)  This is the goal of the meditation process, and the results in their many distinctions are the subject of Book III. and are produced by conformity to the eight means of yoga dealt with in Book II.  Only devotion to Ishvara or true love of God, with its accompanying qualities of service, love of man, and patient endurance in well-doing, will carry a man along this arduous path of discipline, purification and hard work.

(LOS 255)  One thing that every aspirant to the mysteries should remember is that growth that is gradual, and relatively slow, is the method of every natural process and this soul unfoldment is, after all, but one of the great processes of nature.  All that the aspirant has to do is to provide the right conditions.  The growth then will take care of itself normally.  Steady perseverance, patient endurance, the achievement of a little every day, are of more value to the aspirant than the violent rushing forward and the enthusiastic endeavour of the emotional and temperamental person.  The undue forcing of one's development carries with it certain most definite and specific dangers.  These are avoided when the student realizes that the path is long and that an intelligent understanding of each stage of the path is of more value to him than the results achieved through the premature awakening of the psychic nature.  The injunction to grow as the flower grows, carries with it a tremendous occult truth.  There is an injunction in Ecc.  VII. 16, which carries this thought, "Be not righteous over much,  .  .  .  why shouldest thou die?"

 (CF 757) These methods of overshadowing will be largely the ones used by the Great Lord and His Masters at the end of the century, and for this reason They are sending into incarnation, in every country, disciples who have the opportunity offered them to respond to the need of humanity.  Hence the need of training men and women to recognise the higher psychism, and the true inspiration and mediumship, and to do this scientifically.  In fifty years time, the need for true psychics and conscious mediums (such as H. P. B., for instance) will be very great [Page 758] if the Master's plans are to be carried to fruition, and the movement must be set on foot in preparation for the coming of Him for Whom all nations wait.  In this work many have their share, provided they demonstrate the necessary endurance.

(CF 812)  This revelation will come when medical men accept this [Page 812] teaching as a working hypothesis, and then begin to note, for instance, the powers of endurance shown by the great souls of the earth, and their capacity to work at high pressure, and to remain practically immune from disease until (at the close of a long life of usefulness) the Ego deliberately chooses to "die-out" of physical existence.  It will come when the medical profession concentrates upon preventative action, substituting sunshine, a vegetarian diet, and the application of the laws of magnetic vibration and vitality for the present regimen of drugs and surgical operations.  Then will come the time when finer and better human beings will manifest on earth….

(EPI 81)  4. Why battle thus with all that is around?  Seek you not peace?  Why stand between the forces of the night and day?  Why thus unmoved and calm, untired and unafraid?

            Quality..... endurance and fearlessness.

(EPI 202)  THE SECOND RAY OF LOVE-WISDOM

Special Virtues:

Calm, strength, patience and endurance, love of truth, faithfulness, intuition, clear intelligence, and serene temper.

(EPII 38)  Ray Six

"The Blessed One caught the vision of the Way, and followed the Way without discretion.  Fury characterised his efforts.  The way led down into the world of dual life.  Between the pairs of opposites, he took his stand, and as he swung pendent between them, fleeting glimpses of the goal shone forth.  He swung in mid-heaven.  He sought to swing into that radiant place of light, where stood the door upon the higher Way. But ever he swung between the pairs of opposites.

He spoke at last within himself:  'I cannot seem to find the Way.  I try this way, and tread with force that way, and always with the keenest wish.  I try all ways.  What shall I do to find The Way?

A cry went forth.  It seemed to come from deep within his heart:  'Tread thou, O Pilgrim on the Way of sensuous life, the middle, lighted way.  It passes straight between the dual worlds.  Find thou that narrow, middle way.  It leads you to your goal.  Seek that perceptive steadiness which leads to proved endurance.  Adherence to the chosen Way, and ignoring of the pairs of opposites, will bring this Blessed One upon the lighted way into the joy of proved success.'"

(EPII 239)  It would be well to point out here that beyond the stage of illumination, as it can be achieved by man, lies that which we might call the unfoldment of divine Insight.  We have, therefore, the following unfoldments and possible developments, each of which constitutes an expansion in consciousness, and each of which admits man more closely and more definitely into the heart and mind of God.

Instinct |    

Intellect            |   

Intuition            >    All of them leading up to lnsight.

Illumination       |

In these words, sequentially presented, there is perhaps made clearer to us the fact of God's own vision.  More is not possible until each of those words signifies something practical in our own inner experience.

This quality of the inner vision with which the Hierarchy are seeking to work and to develop in the souls of men (it [Page 240] would be of use to ponder on this last phrase, as it presents an aspect of hierarchical endeavor not hitherto considered in occult books) is an expression of the Principle of Continuance, which finds its distorted reflection in the word so often used by disciples:—Endurance.  This principle of continuance constitutes the capacity of God to persist and "to remain."  It is an attribute of the cosmic Ray of Love as are all the principles which we are now considering in connection with these soul rules or factors—these trends of divinity and these tendencies of the divine life.  Let us not forget that all the seven rays are subrays of the cosmic Ray of Love.  We shall, therefore, see why these principles are determining soul activities, and can only come into play when the kingdom of God, or of souls, begins to materialise on earth.

(EPII 714)  1. The reduction of the pressure upon humanity by the means of a steady stabilising of world thought.  Today it is the fears of man—expressed in thought, and therefore frequently backed by action—which lead them into the impasse of war and into any form of destructive activity.  The pressure is created by man's desire for betterment as well as by the spiritual downpouring of the soul.  It is this dual activity of the higher and of the lower which produces the crisis.  When these two meet there is, of course, no conflict; but there is, however, a sense of strain, a pressure which seems past endurance, and an impasse from which there appears no exit.  This may be a difficult truth to grasp, but the present world crisis is largely brought about by the bringing together of these two types of energy.  It is with this problem that the Masters are today grappling.  A human aspiration and a condition of struggle towards improvement brings about a period in which the spiritual urge on the part of masses of men shows itself in three ways: