Compilation Harmlessness

is peculiarly interesting at this time from the angle of humanity because she comes under the influence of both rays. Her egoic ray is the seventh and her personality ray is the sixth. Hence the tremendous conflict which is going on between the fanatical sixth ray cruelty of her sixth ray regime and the spiritual harmlessness which is the basic principle of the national ideology. Hence also the materiality of several important sections of her populace and the essential brotherliness which is imposed by the idealism and the mystical aspiration of the Russian genius, expressed through its people as a whole. Hence also the correctness of their spiritual motto which is as yet unrealised by them but which is working itself out noticeably to those of [Page 61] us who can see upon the inner side of life. That motto is: "I link two ways." Their task, which will develop as they come to truer understanding, is the linking of the East and of the West, and also of the worlds of desire and of spiritual aspiration, of the fanaticism which produces cruelty and the understanding which produces love, of a developed materialism and a perfected holiness, of the selfishness of a materialistic regime and the unselfishness of a mystically and spiritually minded people, and all this in a most pronounced and peculiar manner. Behind the closed borders of that mysterious and magnificent country, a great and spiritual conflict is proceeding and the rare mystical spirit and the truly religious orientation of the people is the eternal guarantee that a true and living religion and culture will finally emerge.

Out of Russia

—a symbol of the world Arjuna in a very special sense—will emerge that new and magical religion about which I have so often told you. It will be the product of the great and imminent Approach which will take place between humanity and the Hierarchy. From these two centres of spiritual force, in which the light which ever shineth in and from the East will irradiate the West, the whole world will be flooded with the radiance of the Sun of Righteousness. I am not here referring (in connection with Russia) to the imposition of any political ideology, but to the appearance of a great and spiritual religion which will justify the crucifixion of a great nation and which will demonstrate itself and be focussed in a great and spiritual Light which will be held aloft by a vital Russian exponent of true religion — that man for whom many Russians have been looking and who will be the justification of a most ancient prophecy.

(DINAI 65) Another question might here arise: Are there any specific and brief rules which should be obeyed? The following might be given, but I would remind you that it is what you are that counts in this work more powerfully than anything else. The controlling factor is harmlessness in thought and word; the practice of this, with proper observation, will greatly help all of you. Next comes a refusal to think unkindly or with criticism; [Page 66] this is essential in connection with those whose minds you seek to impress. Silence, complete and unbroken as to what you are doing, is also a vital factor; the utterance of words in connection with this most subtle and confidential work (or even discussion of the work with a fellow disciple) can shatter the delicate thoughtform which you are attempting to build. It can render the work of weeks abortive. A balanced attitude in relation to those in power throughout the world must also be cultivated; they need above all else the inspiration which can be brought to them from the Hierarchy.

(DINAII 540) He can no more help creating in some form or another than he can help living. After all, my brother—returning to the original comments in this instruction—karma is ever the source of physical plane creation, happenings and events; it is the instrument of the soul in producing a personality……….

Love more, my brother. You only deeply love two or three people; let that limited love be the seed which will produce the flowering forth of a loving spirit. Disciples need to remember that love brings all earthly karma to an end. Love induces that radiation which invokes and evokes not only the heart of God but the heart of humanity also. Love is the cause of all creation and the sustaining factor in all living.

(DINAI 168) Your second ray astral body greatly facilitates your work, giving you understanding and harmlessness; your emotions thus do not interfere with your judgment and your decisions. (a clue here that those whose emotions do interfere with judgement and decisions will not be able to embody fully the quality of harmlessness) But the combination of a fourth ray mental body and a second ray emotional vehicle requires careful watching so as to preserve the first ray balance as you grow older and tendencies crystallise into habits. The only way to do this is to deepen and establish the soul contact which (although of the first ray) is, as you will remember, the first subray of the second ray.

(DINAI 190) Your main difficulty and the main hindrance to your usefulness lies in the over-activity of your mind; this does not make you especially critical of other people but it does keep you yourself in a constant state of questioning and of bewilderment about the fundamentals by which humanity lives. A questioning of the unanswerable is a waste of time, my brother. The attempt to define the undefinable and to measure the mind of immensity is futile. Work, therefore, at the production of that inner mechanism of contact which exists as yet only in embryo within your personal ring-pass-not. Remember that only through right meditation, useful thinking, and the practice of harmlessness can this mechanism be duly developed. When developed, the futility of your questioning will be seen, for you will know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Think with simplicity.

Criticism induces more states of glamour than any other factor-harmlessness is the key to ending all glamour

(DINAI 512) 2. A spirit of criticism. This induces more states of glamour than any other one factor; and here, who shall say he is immune? When harmlessness and kindness in thought and word are practised and automatically become a part of a disciple's daily life expression, then glamour will end. My brother, this one factor lets in more glamour into a disciple's life and into your life than you can realise. Consequently, you frequently fail to see people as they really are, for you see them through the illusion induced by criticism of them. That which is voiced in words becomes a thoughtform, attached to its invoking agent and then the person is never seen except through the veil of this glamour. Consequently again, the weaknesses which are looked for are found and the real self is hidden from your eyes. You can check the accuracy of the above statement in a couple of days by a careful noting of the theme of all your conversations in the circle of your daily life. Are you discussing reality or a temporary failure in a divine expression? Is your reaction to people in general kindly or critical? Are you prone to see the good and ignore the weaknesses and errors? Is there an immediate interest evoked in you by the relation of some wrong action or mistake, or do you lock up your knowledge of peoples' faults in the secret of your heart, loving your brother more because of his frailty and refusing to pass comment or to criticise him even to yourself? I commend these questions to you and to all in my group of disciples. Right here for you—as for so many—lies the usual point of entry for glamour and until this opening is sealed, you will not be free from personal glamour.

(DINAI 514) I tell you also assuredly that—for you—the cultivation of harmlessness is the guarantee of a constructive outcome to your crisis this coming spring. In my last instruction I urged you to eliminate self-pity and this would then produce a harmless handling of the personality. The elimination of criticism will render you harmless where others are concerned and the refusal to be suspicious will dispel your particular glamour, which amounts almost to hallucination. So you see, my brother, that I am only re-emphasising my earlier teaching to you. Of its value, I know you are assured and in voicing the expression of your need, I am only voicing your own deepest wish.

(DINAI 683) In this creative work to which I have referred above and to which all disciples can contribute, the work and the task of the Masters is to project into the world those thoughts and those formulated divine ideas, those concepts and significances which embody—at any one time—the immediate Plan for humanity. A Master, therefore, searches for those minds which are sensitive to this Plan. He is not primarily occupied in looking for people who are good—so-called. Self-forgetfulness and straight kindness means ever harmlessness and that connotes the utmost good. He seeks for those types of people who can respond in unison to that aspect of the Plan for which the Master is responsible and for those who can be taught to subordinate their personalities to its requirements. They have no selfish purposes and desire nothing but only to aid the Master and those senior disciples who may be working under His supervision at some aspect of the Plan. This involves, as I have pointed out, their training in adaptation, in the recognition of true values, in fluidity of ideas, and selfless work for their fellowmen.

(DINAI 692) When these recognitions are properly understood, there will then be eventual recognition, by the Hierarchy, of a group of disciples who can be used as a channel through which spiritual energy, light and love can be poured into a needy and agonising world. The group will then be endowed with power to serve but it will not be power given to it by the Master. It will be a potency which it has engendered itself. This power which disciples wield comes as a response to a life rightly lived and love fully given. There is a great law which can be embodied in the words "to those who give all, all is given." This is true of the individual disciple and of a Master's group. Most aspirants to discipleship today do not know or realise this law; they do not give freely and fully either to the work of the Hierarchy or to those who need. Until they do, they limit their effectiveness and shut the door on supply, not only for themselves but for the group with which they are affiliated in service. Herein lies responsibility. The clue to supply is personality harmlessness and the dedication of all individual resources to the service of the Great Ones, without restraint and spontaneously. When you, as a disciple, try to live harmlessly—in thought and word and deed—and when nothing is held back materially, emotionally or from the angle of time, when physical strength is so given and the gift of all resources is accompanied with happiness, then the disciple will have all that is needed to carry on his work and the same is true of all working groups of servers. Such is the law. Perfection is not yet possible, it is needless for me to say, but greater effort on your part to give and serve is possible.

Oppose while preserving a steady attitude of love

(DINAI 772) ………..To this group comes the difficult task of standing firmly on the physical plane against that which is destructive and hateful (in the true sense of the word), doing all that can be done to bring the destructive agencies to an end and to final powerlessness and, at the same time, preserving an inner attitude of complete harmlessness and loving understanding. For, my brothers, there are principles and ideals in the world at this time worth struggling for, but whilst the struggle is on it is necessary consciously to preserve and create that field of living, loving energy which will eventually bridge the gap between the two opposing factions and groups and so enable later contact to be made. Some of you are not thinking with sufficient clarity about the issues involved, being unduly engrossed with the outer signs of the struggle and so losing the long range picture. The dual life of active world participation in opposing that which is seeking to hold back and to destroy humanity and its highest ideals and—at the same time—to preserve a steady attitude of love, is not an easy one, particularly for some of you……….

(DINAII 456) We are only interested in the good which any individual may be demonstrating; only the good reaches us, except in the case of an entire group where the group interplay, the group action and the group effect does affect the Ashram. The quality of the vibration which is felt when contacting you is of the nature of harmlessness and of goodwill to all men.

(DINAII 598) You ask if there is aught that you can do. There is above everything else, the handling of the energy which is now streaming forth—the energy of Love in its dynamic or electric form. It is the Will aspect of Love which the Christ will of necessity use this time when He comes; when He earlier came He employed the teaching aspect of the second ray and not the Will aspect. First ray disciples are peculiarly susceptible to the Will aspect of Love, and for these reactions you must watch and endeavour always to lay your emphasis not upon the Will—of this latter quality you have (for this incarnation) an adequate and full supply. Let your fellow workers catch from you the radiance of Love. That, my brother, will release the financial supply so sorely needed; it will be the harmlessness which you and your fellow servers [Page 599] can demonstrate which will prove the needed agent. Proceed as usual, my tried and trusted brother.

Harmlessness is the main virtue which will enable the esoteric student to tread with safety

(EOH 20) Students need to remember that devotion to the Path or to the Master is not enough. The Great Ones are looking for intelligent cooperators and workers more than They are looking for devotion to Their Personalities, and a student who is walking independently in the light of his own soul is regarded by Them as a more dependable instrument than a devoted fanatic. The light of his soul will reveal to the earnest aspirant the unity underlying all groups, and enable him to eliminate the poison of intolerance which taints and hinders so many; it will cause him to recognise the spiritual fundamentals which guide the steps of humanity; it will force [Page 20] him to overlook the intolerance and the fanaticism and separativeness which characterise the small mind and the beginner upon the Path, and help him so to love them that they will begin to see more truly and enlarge their horizon; it will enable him to estimate truly the esoteric value of service and teach him above all to practise that harmlessness which is the outstanding quality of every son of God. A harmlessness that speaks no word that can damage another person, that thinks no thought which could poison or produce misunderstanding, and which does no action which could hurt the least of his brethren—this is the main virtue which will enable the esoteric student to tread with safety the difficult path of development. Where the emphasis is laid upon service to one's fellowmen and the trend of the life force is outward to the world, then there is freedom from danger and the aspirant can safely meditate and aspire and work. His motive is pure, and he is seeking to decentralise his personality and shift the focus of his attention away from himself to the group. Thus the life of the soul can pour through him, and express itself as love to all beings. He knows himself to be a part of a whole and the life of that whole can flow through him consciously, leading him to a realisation of brotherhood and of his oneness in relation to all manifested lives.

(EOH 146) What I am here telling you refers not only to the use of the Great Invocation but also to the daily and constant use of the Sacred Word by occult students and aspirants in their daily meditation. They could change their lives, reorient their life purpose and focus, and achieve spiritual unfoldment and expansion if they could use the OM as it should be used. The Great Invocation, rightly used by the many hundred thousand people who have already attempted to use it, could reorient the consciousness of humanity, stabilise men in spiritual being, disrupt and rebuild the planetary thoughtform which men have created in the past and which has had (and is having) such disastrous and cataclysmic results, and open the door into the New Age, thus ushering in the new and better civilisation. This could be done so rapidly, that the needed changes would come about almost overnight; the present reign of horror would end and the race of men could settle down to a life of group goodwill, individual harmlessness and right human relations.

(FITI 223) In the ancient teachings of the East, the control of the breath was only permitted after the first three "means to union," as they are called, had been somewhat wrought out in the life. These "means" are: First, the five commandments. These are, harmlessness, truth to all beings, abstention from theft, from incontinence, and from avarice. Second, the five rules, which are internal and external purification, contentment, fiery aspiration, spiritual reading, and devotion. Third, right poise. When a person is harmless in thought and word and deed, [Page 223] when he is unselfish and knows the meaning of poise — emotional as well as physical posture — then indeed he may practice breathing exercises, under proper instruction, and practice them with security. Even then he will only succeed in unifying the vital energies of the body, and in becoming a conscious psychic, but this may have its place and purpose, if he classes himself as a research experimenter.

(LOS 117) 30. Harmlessness, truth to all beings, abstention from theft, from incontinence and from avarice, constitute yama or the five commandments.

(LOS 117) 35. In the presence of him who has perfected harmlessness, all enmity ceases.

(LOS 184) MEANS I. THE COMMANDMENTS

30. Harmlessness, truth to all beings, abstention from theft, from incontinence and from avarice, constitute yama or the five commandments.

These five commandments are simple and clear and yet, if practised, would make a man perfect in his relationships to other men, to supermen and to the subhuman realms. The very first command to be harmless is in reality a summation of the others. These commandments are curiously complete and cover the triple nature; in studying all these means we shall note their relation to one or other part of the lower threefold manifestation of the ego.

Harmlessness. This covers a man's physical acts as they relate to all forms of divine manifestation [Page 185] and concerns specifically his force nature or the energy which he expresses through his physical plane activities. He hurts no one, and injures nobody.

(LOS 193) 34. Thoughts contrary to yoga are harmfulness, falsehood, theft, incontinence, and avarice, whether committed personally, caused to be committed or approved of, whether arising from avarice, anger or delusion (ignorance); whether slight in the doing, middling or great. These result always in excessive pain and ignorance. For this reason, the contrary thoughts must be cultivated.

It will be noted that the five Commandments deal specifically with those "thoughts contrary to yoga" or union, and that the keeping of the Commandments will bring about:

a. Harmlessness instead of harmfulness,

b. Truth instead of falsehood,

c. Abstention from theft instead of stealing,

d. Self-control instead of incontinence,

e. Contentment instead of avarice or covetousness.

No excuse is left to the aspirant, and the truth is borne in on him that transgression of the Commandments is equally productive of results whether the violation is trifling or very great. A "contrary thought" must produce its effect and the effect is dual; pain, and ignorance or delusion. There are three words which the occult student associates ever with the three worlds:

1. Maya or illusion, having reference to the world of forms in which the true self finds itself when in incarnation, and with which it ignorantly identifies itself for long aeons;

2. Delusion, the process of wrong identification, in which the self deludes itself, and says "I am the form;"

3. Ignorance or avidya, the result of this wrong identification and at the same time the cause of it.

The self is clothed in form; it is deluded in the world of illusion. Every time, however, that "thoughts contrary to yoga" are knowingly entertained, the self submerges itself still more in the illusory world and adds to the veil of ignorance. Every time that the "weight of the imagination" is thrown on the side of the real nature of the self and turned away from the world of the not-self, the illusion is lessened, the delusion becomes weakened, and ignorance is gradually superseded by knowledge.

35. In the presence of him who has perfected harmlessness, all enmity ceases.

This sutra demonstrates to us the working out of a great law. In Book IV. Sutra 17, Patanjali tells us that the perception of a characteristic, of a quality and of an objective form is dependent upon the fact that in the perceiver similar characteristics, qualities and objective capacity are to be found. This similarity is the basis of perception. The same truth is hinted at in the first [Page 195] Epistle of St. John where the words are found "We shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is." Only that can be contacted which is already present or partially present in the perceiver's consciousness. If enmity and hatred are therefore to be found by the perceiver, it is because in him the seeds of enmity and hatred are present. When they are absent naught but unity and harmony exists. This is the first stage of universal love, the practical

endeavour on the part of the aspirant to be at one with all beings. He begins with himself and sees to it that the seeds of harmfulness in his own nature are eradicated. He deals, therefore, with the cause which produces enmity towards him and others. The natural result is that he is at peace and others are at peace with him. In his presence even wild beasts are rendered impotent and this by the condition of the mind-state of the aspirant or yogin.

(EPI 188) I challenge you also to make sacrifices; to give yourself and your time and your money and your interest to carry these ideas to those around you in your own environment and to the group in which you find yourself, thus awakening your associates. I call you to a united effort to inculcate anew the ideas of brotherhood and of unity. I ask you to recognise your fellow workers in all the groups and to strengthen their [Page 188] hands. I ask you to seal your lips to words of hatred and of criticism, and to talk in terms of brotherhood and of group relationships. I beg of you to see to it that every day is for you a new day, in which you face new opportunity. Lose sight of your own affairs, your petty sorrows, worries and suspicions, in the urgency of the task to be done, and spread the cult of unity, of love and of harmlessness.

(EPI 302) But the new law must, and will, be enunciated. This law can be summed up in the words: Let a man so live that his life is harmless. Then no evil to the group can grow out of his thoughts, his actions or his words. This is not negative harmlessness, but of a difficult and positive activity. If the above practical paraphrase of the words of Christ were universally promulgated and practically applied, we should have [Page 302] order growing out of chaos, group love superseding personal selfishness, religious unity taking the place of fanatical intolerance, and regulated appetites instead of licence.

The two laws I have proclaimed, and the two postulates I have above enunciated, sound like platitudes. But platitudes are the universal and recognised truths, and a truth is a scientific pronouncement. The moulding of the life by these two recognitions (the Law of Rebirth and the Law of Love) would save humanity and rebuild our civilisation. They are probably too simple to evoke an interested recognition. But the power lying behind them is the power of divinity itself, and their recognition is simply a question of time, for evolution will force the recognition at some distant date. The forming of an earlier recognition lies in the hands of the disciples and thinkers of the present age.

(EP1 303) Action which fails to measure up to the group requirements will then automatically be discarded. In the deciding of problems, the [Page 303] individual and the unit will slowly learn to subordinate the personal good and the personal pleasure to group conditions and group requirements. You can see, therefore, how the problem of sex will also yield to solution. An understanding of the Law of Rebirth, a good-will towards all men, working out as harmlessness, and a desire for group goodwill will gradually become determining factors in the racial consciousness, and our civilisation will adjust itself in time to these new conditions.

(EPI 359) The sixth ray influence served to attract men's minds towards an ideal, such as that of individual sacrifice or service, and the mystical vision was the high water mark of the period; the numerous guiding mystics of the Occident and the Orient have appeared. The seventh ray influence will in time produce the magician, but in this age the magician will be predominantly in the class of white magic (not as in Atlantean days, when the predominance was on the side of selfish [Page 359] or black magic). The white magician works with the forces of nature and swings them back into control of advanced humanity. This can already be seen working out through the activity of the scientists which the latter end of the last century and this twentieth century have produced. That much of their magical work has been turned into selfish channels by the tendency of this materialistic age, and that many of their wise and true discoveries in the realm of energy are today adapted to ends which serve man's hatred or love of self, is equally true. But this in no way militates against the wonder of their achievements. When the motive is transmuted from pure scientific interest to love of the divine revelation, and when service to the race is the determining force, then we shall see the true white magic. Hence therefore the need to turn the mystic into the occultist, and to train the modern aspirant in right motive, mind control and brotherly love, all of which must and will express themselves through harmlessness. The most potent force in the world today is harmlessness. I speak not of non-resistance, but of that positive attitude of mind which thinks no evil. He who thinks no evil and harms naught is a citizen of God's world.

(EPII 129) The need for an increasing subtlety of discrimination is constant, and all dedicated students are urged to take stock of themselves at this time. They face a new cycle of service and must avail themselves of a new day of opportunity. There is a great need to stand in spiritual being; where there is this poised standing, there will be no need for others to incite one to service. Let the "Forces of Light" flow through, and the ranks of the world servers will be rapidly filled. Let the "Spirit of Peace" use the lower nature as an instrument, and there will be peace and harmony within the personal field of service. Let the "Spirit of Good Will" dominate our minds and there will be no room for the spirit of criticism and the spreading of destructive discussion. It is for this reason and in order to develop a group of servers who can work along true and spiritual lines, that there must be increasing emphasis upon the need for Harmlessness. Harmlessness prepares the way for the inflow of life; harmlessness dissipates the obstructions to the free outpouring of love; harmlessness is the key to the release of the lower nature from the grip of the world illusion and from the power of phenomenal existence.

The practice of harmlessness clears the clogged channels and purifies the centres (the opposite of meat and fish eating)

(EH 40) It can be seen, therefore, why I have so emphatically impressed the need of harmlessness upon all of you, for it is the scientific method, par excellence and esoterically speaking, of cleaning house and of purifying the centres. Its practice clears the clogged channels and permits the entrance of the higher energies.

Harmlessness is the major agent for the offsetting of karma

(EH 295) These energies pour through the seven centres of the planetary body and are—as far as we are concerned—the seven ray energies. In relation to the will-to-harm which can and does demonstrate as disease in all the four kingdoms in nature, you have the reason why I instituted, among the esoteric students for whom I have made myself responsible, the development of harmlessness. It is the major agent for the offsetting of karma. I will here give you Law IX. and thus complete a group of laws which, when followed, will be found essential to the curing of disease and the maintenance of health.

Perfection calls imperfection to the surface. Good drives evil always from the form of man in time and space. The method used by the Perfect One and that employed by Good is harmlessness. This is not negative but perfect poise, a completed point of view and divine understanding.

You will have noticed that what I have said in this connection removes the whole subject of disease into a distant world of origins—a world into which man is as yet unable to penetrate. It is for this reason that I have devoted so much time to the consideration of the causes of disease; more than half of what I have to say is to be [Page 296] found in this first part of our discussion. We have nearly concluded this, and face what many will regard as the more useful and practical part of the teaching anent this subject. It has never been my intention to deal with the pathology of disease or the symptoms of the many forms of ill health which ravage mankind. I seek mainly to lay the stress upon the subjective reasons for the majority of ills which attack the human frame. My purpose is, however, sound. The overemphasis which people put upon disease is bewildering to the soul, for it places the transient, constantly changing form-nature in a position

of undue prominence, whereas—from the angle of the soul—the vicissitudes of the body are only of importance just in so far as they contribute to the enrichment of soul experience.

Four lines of activity for offsetting of karma

The factor that is of importance is the causes, initiated by man from life to life; these work out in the appearance of disease, in the emergence of some disastrous consequence in circumstance and in event, and in the general conditioning of some particular incarnation. It is with these causes that man must learn to deal, to recognise them, and to trace the conditioning energy to the appropriate effect, dealing primarily then with the task of negating the cause by the opposition of a trained will. Karma is not an inevitable, inescapable and dire happening. It can be offset; but this offsetting, particularly where disease is concerned, will include four lines of activity:

1. Determining the nature of the cause and the area in consciousness where it originated.

2. Developing those qualities which are the polar opposite of the effective cause.

3. Practising harmlessness so as to arrest the expression of the cause and to prevent any further implementing of the unfortunate condition.

4. Taking the necessary physical steps which will produce the conditions which the soul desires. These steps will include:

a. A mental acquiescence and an acceptance of the fact of the effect—in the case which we are considering in relation to karma—disease.

b. Wise action along the lines of orthodox medical procedure.

c. The assistance of a healing group or a healer for aid in inner spiritual healing.

d. Clear vision as to the outcome. This may lead to preparation for a more useful physical plane life or preparation for the great transition called death.

(EH 386) 2. An effort upon the part of both healer and patient to express complete harmlessness. The value of this will repay careful thought. This has basically a reference to the relation of both parties to their associates.

(EH 527) 13. Power to practice at all times complete harmlessness. "The method used by the Perfect One...is harmlessness." This, we are told, involves a positive expression of poise, an inclusive point of view, and divine understanding. How many healers combine these three qualities and also work through love?

Perfection calls imperfection to the surface. Good drives evil from the form of man in time and space. The method used by the Perfect One and that employed by Good is harmlessness. This is not negativity but perfect poise, a completed point of view and divine understanding.

Perfection calls imperfection to the surface. Good drives evil from the form of man in time and space. The method used by the Perfect One and that employed by Good, is "perfect harmlessness". This is not negativity, but Perfect Poise, a completed point of view, and divine understanding.

This law is profoundly simple and means exactly what it says. It can be interpreted in two ways:

1. It concerns the spiritual development of man through the medium of form, and the mode or law whereby the latent hold of matter—impregnated by selfishness and by all that is recognised as evil—is removed, and man stands free.

2. It can also be interpreted in terms of healer and patient. Oft the effect of the activity and knowledge of the true healer is to bring to the surface (in an acute form) the evil (disease) within the form. The result of this can either be the elimination of the disease and the securing of health, or the form will succumb to the increase of the difficulty and the probability is that the patient will die. It is therefore fortunate that the average healer is so futile that such a dire possibility is not present!

The method employed under the Law of Perfection is called "perfect harmlessness," and that was ever the method used [Page 661] by the Christ, the Perfect One. It is not the harmlessness enjoined so often by me as I speak to aspirants, but a harmlessness imposed by the spiritual man and by his natural destiny. It is an ignoring of the effect or the result upon the form nature. Frequently I have told you that the Hierarchy works only with the spiritual nature or with the soul of humanity, and that—to the Master—the form is regarded as relatively of no importance. Release from the threefold form is ever regarded by the spiritual man as the greatest possible good, provided it comes to him under law, as the result of his spiritual destiny and of karmic decision: it must not come as an arbitrary act, or as an escape from life and its consequences upon the physical plane, or as self-imposed. Of this strange working of the Law of Perfection (strange to man's limited point of view), the war (1914-1945) was a striking instance. Millions died; more millions suffered cruelly in their form nature, and many more millions underwent (and are still undergoing) the mental agony of insecurity, suspense and poverty. Nevertheless, two major results of a spiritual nature, working under the Law of Perfection, resulted:

1. Souls were released from a backward and decaying civilisation—for such is your vaunted civilisation from the angle of the Hierarchy—and will return in better bodies to a civilisation and a culture more in conformity with the needs of the spiritual man. The main reason why there has been such a complete destruction of the old forms (physical, emotional and mental) is that they constituted a complete imprisonment of the soul and negated all true growth for the masses of men.

2. From the rich to the poor, from the intelligent to the ignorant, one thing is now clearly grasped and will increasingly colour human thinking: happiness and [Page 662] success are not dependent upon the possession of things or upon material good……

(EH 663) Imperfection has been drawn to the surface; the evils to be eliminated are known to everybody, and this has all taken place under the influence of the Law of Perfection. I am dealing here with the general situation rather than with the individual relation between the healer and a patient. I do so for the simple reason that only an initiate of experience and of understanding can keep this law or obey this rule, and of such there are only a very few on earth today. The sickness of humanity as a race, and as a result of aeons of wrong living, of selfish purpose and of greed, has produced a mass of physical ills; today millions of children are born either openly diseased or with the seed of disease in them. When the evil which has made its presence felt, and when the imperfections which have been drawn to the surface have been cured or driven back to their own place, then—and only then—will physical disease come to an end or yield easily to treatment.

(EH 670) What shall I say concerning harmlessness? It is not easy for me to show or prove to you the effectiveness of the higher aspect, spiral or phase of harmlessness as employed by the Hierarchy, under the direction of the Perfect One, the Christ. The harmlessness with which I have earlier dealt has relation to the imperfections with which humanity is wrestling, and is difficult for you to apply in and under all circumstances, as well you know. The harmlessness to which I refer in connection with you is not negative, or sweet or kindly activity, as so many believe; it is a state of mind and one which in no way negates firm or even drastic action; it concerns motive and involves the determination that the motive behind all activity is goodwill. That motive might lead to positive and sometimes disagreeable action or speech, but as harmlessness and goodwill condition the mental approach, nothing can eventuate but good.

On a higher turn of the spiral, the Hierarchy also employs harmlessness, but it is related to the will-to-good and involves the use of dynamic, electric energy under intuitive direction; this type of energy is never brought into activity by man; it is energy which he cannot yet handle. This type of harmlessness is based on complete self-sacrifice, wherein the will-to-sacrifice, the will-to-good and the will-to-power (three phases of the will aspect, as expressed through the Spiritual Triad) are all fused into one dynamic energy of a deeply spiritual nature. This energy is the epitome of complete or perfect harmlessness, where humanity and the subsidiary kingdoms in nature are concerned, but it is expulsive in its effect and dynamic in its annihilating impact, where the Forces of Evil are concerned.

A close but esoteric study of the three temptations of the Christ will reveal three major occasions when the Perfect One, expressing this higher harmlessness, forced the exponent of evil to retreat. This triple episode is symbolically related, but is factual in nature. Little thought has ever been given to what would have been the worldwide effect down the centuries if the Christ had not reacted as He did; speculation is of little use, but it might be stated that the entire course of history and of the evolutionary progress of humanity would have been altered, and in a dire and awful manner. But the dynamic harmlessness, the expression of the will-to-good and the demonstration of the will-to-power (forcing evil to leave Him) marked a most important crisis in the life of the Christ. The Gospel story (with its resume of the five initiations) concerns the progress and triumph of the Master Jesus; the story of the three temptations indicated the taking of a still higher initiation, the sixth, by the Christ; this conferred on Him complete mastery over evil, and not mastery over imperfection; it was because He was the "Perfect One" that He could take this initiation.

I have given you much for mature consideration and thrown some light upon an initiation of which little, naturally, can be known. I would call your attention also to the three fundamental requirements for a successful approach to this initiation: perfect poise, a completed point of view and divine understanding. You would find it of interest to see how these three qualities work out in relation to the [Page 672] three temptations; in so doing much light would be thrown on the life, nature and character of the Christ.

Under the Law of Perfection we are given the key to the civilisation and cycle of evolution which He inaugurated—the ideal of which is not lost, though the application of the teaching He gave has been neglected by the churches and by mankind. You will note also that one temptation takes place on the summit of a high mountain; from that elevation both time and space are totally negated, for the vision of Christ ranged from the past, through the present and on into the future. This state of awareness (I cannot call it consciousness, and awareness is almost as inaccurate a word) is only possible after the fifth initiation, reaching a high point of expression at the sixth initiation.

I would like to consider with you the nature of the three requirements presented as essential for a certain initiation, because they provide the link between Law IX and Rule Six. The rule is so clear and concise that it needs but little explanation, emphasising, as it does, energy which must be used and that which must not. It says:

Harmlessness is like a universal solvent

(WM 101) May I speak a word here so as to make this consummation a practical goal in your life? Harmful magnetic conditions, as the result of man's wrong handling of force are the causes of evil in the world around us, including the three sub-human kingdoms. How can we, as individuals, change this? By the development in ourselves of Harmlessness. Therefore, study yourself from this angle. Study your daily conduct and words and thoughts so as to make them utterly harmless. Set yourself to think those thoughts about yourself and others which will be constructive and positive, and hence harmless in their effects. Study your emotional effect on others so that by no mood, no depression, and no emotional reaction can you harm a fellow-man. Remember in this connection, violent spiritual aspiration and enthusiasm, misplaced or misdirected, may quite easily harm a fellow-man, so look not only at your wrong tendencies but at the use of your virtues.

If harmlessness is the keynote of your life, you will do more to produce right harmonious conditions in your personality than any amount of discipline along other lines. The drastic purgation brought about by the attempt to be harmless will go far to eliminate wrong [Page 102] states of consciousness. See to it therefore, and bring this idea in your evening review.

Harmlessness is the destroyer of all limitation

(WM 102) Therefore, I say to you at this time, I—an older and perhaps more experienced disciple and worker in the great vineyard of the Lord—practice harmlessness with zest and understanding, for it is (if truly carried out) the destroyer of all limitation. Harmfulness is based on selfishness, and on an ego-centric attitude. It is the demonstration of forces concentrated for self-enforcement, self-aggrandisement, and self-gratification. Harmlessness is the expression of the life of the man who realizes himself to be everywhere, who lives consciously as a soul, whose nature is love, whose method is inclusiveness, and to whom all forms are alike in that they veil and hide the light, and are but externalizations of [Page 103] the one Infinite Being. This realization, let me remind you, will demonstrate in a true comprehension of a brother's need, divorced from sentiment and expediency. It will lead to that silence of the tongue which grows out of non-reference to the separate self. It will produce that instantaneous response to true need which characterizes the Great Ones who (passing beneath the outer appearance) see the inner cause which produces the conditions noted in the outer life, and so, from that point of wisdom, true help and guidance can be given. Harmlessness brings about in the life caution in judgment, reticence in speech, ability to refrain from impulsive action, and the demonstration of a non-critical spirit. So, free passage can be given to the forces of true love, and to those spiritual energies which seem to vitalize the

personality, leading consequently to right action.

Let harmlessness, therefore, be the keynote of your life. An evening review should be carried forward entirely along this line; divide the review work in three parts and consider:

1. Harmlessness in thought. This will primarily result in the control of speech.

2. Harmlessness in emotional reaction. This will result in being a channel for the love aspect of the soul.

3. Harmlessness in act. This will produce poise, skill in action and the release of the creative will.

These three approaches to the subject should be studied from their effects upon one's own self and development, and from their effect upon those whom one contacts and upon one's environing associates.

(WM 261) These are basic pre-requisites and should receive the attention of workers and students in all groups.

It would be of value if each student would link up every day at five o'clock by an act of the will with this rapidly integrating group of servers, mystics and brothers. To this end it might be wise to commit to memory the following brief dedication to be said silently at that hour with the attention focussed in the head:

"May the Power of the one Life pour through the group of all true servers.

"May the Love of the One Soul characterize the lives of all who seek to aid the Great Ones.

"May I fulfil my part in the One work through self-forgetfulness, harmlessness and right speech."

Then carry the thought forward from the rapidly forming group of world-servers to the Great Ones who stand back of our world evolution.

(WM 317) The practical question now arises: How is one to overcome the wrong vibration?

First:—It is necessary that one recognises what wrong vibration is, and that one is able to register reaction. A vibration, an impulse, an emotion, a desire originate in a lower aspect of the form side. They differ from an emanation coming from the soul. The two impacts upon the sentient body must be recognised as different. The question has to be asked: Is this reaction a response to personality life or is it a response to the soul consciousness? Does this impulse which seeks to sweep my sentient body into activity come from the divine Life within me or is it coming from the form aspect in any of its manifestations? Does it cause my astral body to become active in such a way that those who are en rapport with me are hurt thereby or helped? Are they hindered or aided?

A close study of one's emotional reactions brings one to the consideration of that basic characteristic which cannot be over-emphasized in view of the world's present condition. Harmlessness. I tell you that the achieving of harmlessness in the positive sense (not in the negative) means the attainment of that step which leads definitely to the Portal of Initiation.

When first mentioned, it sounds of small moment, and to bring the whole subject of initiation into such small account that it becomes unimportant. But let him who so thinks practice that positive harmlessness which works out in right thought (because based on intelligent love), right speech (because governed by self-control), and right action (because founded on an understanding of the Law), and he will find that the attempt will call forth all the resources of his being and take much time to achieve. It is not the harmlessness that comes from weakness and sentimental loving disposition, which dislikes trouble because it upsets the settled harmony of life and leads to consequent [Page 318] discomfort. It is not the harmlessness of the little evolved negative impotent man or woman, who has not the power to hurt because possessing so little equipment wherewith damage can be done.

It is the harmlessness that springs from true understanding and control of the personality by the soul, that leads inevitably to spiritual expression in every-day life. It emanates from a capacity to enter into the consciousness and to penetrate into the realisation of one's brother, and when this has been accomplished—all is forgiven and all is lost sight of in the desire to aid and to help.

Response to wrong vibration will not be basically prevented by the methods of either "building a shell", or by "insulation" through the power of mantrams and visualisation. These two methods are temporary expedients by which those who as yet have somewhat to learn seek to protect themselves. The building of a shell leads to separativeness, as you well know, and necessitates the eventual overcoming of the habit of shell-building, and a shattering and consuming of the shells already built. This latter can be more easily done than the overcoming of the habit. Automatically the building process goes on until finally the aspirant has built so many ramparts around himself that he can neither get out nor can any contacts be made with him. The process of insulation, which is a more advanced practice and calls for more magical knowledge, consists of the emanating of certain energies of the vital body in a particular direction, which serve to keep other energies at a distance through what is called impact. Through this impact upon approaching energies, they are reversed and sent in another direction. But those energies must go somewhere, and should they damage another person, is not the one who reversed their direction through a desire to protect himself responsible?

The practice of harmlessness is the best and easiest [Page 319] way for the aspirant to work. There is then nothing in him which is inimical to any life in any form, and he therefore attracts to himself only that which is beneficent. He uses the beneficent forces thus attracted for the helping of other beings. This has to be the first step, and the discipline it entails and the constant supervision of all the activities on the three planes of human evolution and of all reactions bring the emotional body under the dominance of the illumined mind. They also bring about the understanding of one's fellow men.

There is secondly, a later stage wherein the disciple learns to absorb and transmute the wrong vibrations and the energies which are destructive. He has no shells nor barriers. He does not insulate himself nor isolate himself from his brothers. Through harmlessness he has learnt to neutralise all evil emanations. Now he acts with a positiveness of a new kind. Definitely and with full awareness of what he is doing, he gathers into himself all the evil emanations (destructive energies, and wrong forces) and he breaks them up into their component parts and returns them whence they came, neutralised, impotent and harmless, yet intact in nature. You say that this is a hard teaching and conveys but little to the average aspirant? Such is ever the way in esoteric teaching, but those who know will understand and for them I speak.

Another method is still more advanced and is utilised by the initiate. Through a knowledge of the law and of certain Words of Power he can command the energies to reverse themselves and to return to their originating centre. But with this method we have nothing to do. There must as yet be much practice in harmlessness and a close watch kept upon its application in the daily life.

The right direction of astral energy can be summed up in its three aspects from the ancient Book of Rules, given to chelas of the entering degrees. All true esoteric [Page 320] schools begin with the control of the astral body and, the chela had to memorise and practice these three rules after he had made some real growth in the manifestation of harmlessness.

Rule I. Enter thy brother's heart and see his woe. Then speak. Let the words spoken convey to him the potent force he needs to loose his chains. Yet loose them not thyself. Thine is the work to speak with understanding. The force received by him will aid him in his work.

Rule II. Enter thy brother's mind and read his thoughts, but only when thy thoughts are pure. Then think. Let the thoughts thus created enter thy brother's mind and blend with his. Yet keep detached thyself, for none have the right to sway a brother's mind. The only right there is, will make him say: "He loves. He standeth by. He knows. He thinks with me and I am strong to do the right." Learn thus to speak. Learn thus to think.

Rule III. Blend with thy brother's soul and know him as he is. Only upon the plane of soul can this be done. Elsewhere the blending feeds the fuel of his lower life. Then focus on the plan. Thus will he see the part that he and you and all men play. Thus will he enter into life and know the work accomplished.

A note, appended to these three rules says:

"These three energies—of speech, of thought, and of purpose—when wielded with understanding by the chela and blended with the awakening forces of his brother whom he seeks to aid, are the three energies with which all adepts work."

(WM 430) You ask again: How shall one qualify? The rules are simple, and are three in number. First, learn to practice harmlessness; then desire nothing for the separated self, and thirdly look for the sign of divinity in all. Three simple rules, but very hard to accomplish.

(WM 490) How shall a man guard himself from these dangers? How shall he rightly build? How shall he preserve that balance which will enable him to see truth, judge rightly, and so preserve his mental contact with his soul and with the souls of his fellow men?

First and foremost, by the constant practice of Harmlessness. This involves harmlessness in speech and also in thought and consequently in action. It is a positive harmlessness, involving constant activity and watchfulness; it is not a negative and fluidic tolerance.

(WM 583) This is an intensely practical work, on which we are engaged; it is likewise of such proportions that it will occupy all of a man's attention and time, even his entire thought life, and will lead him to efficient expression in his personality task (imposed by karmic limitation and inherited tendency) and to a steadfast application of the creative and magical work. Discipleship is a synthesis of hard work, intellectual unfoldment, steady aspiration and spiritual orientation, plus the unusual qualities of positive harmlessness and the opened eye which sees at will into the world of reality.