Introduction

As we start this new part of our study, we can proceed to consider man as he is upon the physical plane, in the majority of cases. Speaking with a broad generalization, we could say that human beings can be grouped into four classes:

1. A few who are under the influence of their souls, or who are rapidly becoming susceptible to this influence.
2. Personalities, of whom there are many today.
3. A vast number of people who are awakening to mental consciousness.
4. The great mass of humanity, who are the unawakened human beings and the bulk of the population of the world.

In every phase of human history, the quality of the civilization is the only thing that can in any way be conditioned by the Great White Lodge. The Members of the Lodge are only permitted to work with the emerging qualitative aspects of the divine nature. This is, in its turn, slowly conditioning the form life, and in this way the form aspect is steadily altered and adapted, as it progresses towards an increasing perfection. This conditioning process is carried [260] forward through the souls who are returning to incarnation, for just in so far as they are awakened or are in process of awakening, is it possible for the Hierarchy to prevail upon them or influence them to regard the time factor as a definitely important matter in considering the subject of incarnation.

The majority of the souls in the human family come into incarnation in obedience to the urge or the desire to experience, and the magnetic pull of the physical plane is the final determining factor. They are, as souls, oriented towards earth life. Increasingly, awakening souls, or those who are (occultly speaking) "coming to themselves", enter into physical life experience only dimly aware of another and higher "pull." They are, therefore, without as true an orientation to the physical plane as are the bulk of their fellow men. These awakening souls are the ones who can at times be influenced to retard or delay their entry into physical life in order to effect a conditioning of the processes of civilization. Or again, they can be prevailed upon to hasten their entrance into life so as to be available as agents for such a conditioning process. This process is not carried forward by them through any emphasized or intelligently appreciated activity, but it is naturally brought about by the simple effect of their living in the world and there pursuing their life objectives. They thus condition their surroundings by the beauty, the power, or the influence of their lives, and are themselves frequently quite unconscious of the effect that they are having. It will be apparent therefore, that the needed changes in our civilization can be brought about rapidly or slowly, according to the number of those who are living as souls in training.

About the beginning of the eighteenth century, after a [261] meeting of the Hierarchy at its great centennial gathering in 1725, an effort was determined upon which would bring a more definite influence to bear upon a group of souls awaiting incarnation, and thus induce them to hasten their entry into the life of the physical plane. This was done, and the civilization of modern times came into being, with both good and bad results. The era of culture which was the outstanding characteristic of the Victorian age, the great movements which awakened the human consciousness to a recognition of its essential freedom, the reaction against the dogmatism of the Church, the great and wonderful scientific developments of the immediate past, and the present sexual and proletarian revolutions now going on, are the result of the "impulsive" hastenings into incarnation of souls whose time had not truly come but whose conditioning influence was needed if certain difficulties (present since 1525) were to be averted. The bad effects above mentioned are indicative of the difficulties incident to premature development and to the undesirable unfoldments of what might be termed (injudiciously nevertheless) evil.

These incoming souls have, through their highly developed understanding and by means of their "self-willed power," frequently wrought havoc in various directions. However, if we could look on, as can Those on the inner side and if we were in a position to contrast the "light" of humanity as it is today with what it was two or three hundred years ago, we would recognize that enormous strides had been made. This is evidenced by the fact that the emergence of a band of "conditioning souls", under the name of the New Group of World Servers, has been possible since 1925. They can now come in because of the work already done by the group of souls who hastened their entrance into incarnation, under the impulse of the Hierarchy. The words "condition" or [262] "conditioning" are here used quite frequently because of the aptness of the phrase to indicate function. These souls, because of their point in evolution, because of their stage in unfoldment and because of their impressibility to the group idea and to the Plan, can come into incarnation and begin, more or less, to work out that Plan and evoke a response to it in the human consciousness. They are thus in a position to "prepare the way for the coming of the Lord." This latter is a symbolic phrase indicating a certain level of spiritual culture in humanity. They are sometimes dimly conscious of this stupendous task, but they are, in the majority of cases, quite unconscious of their "qualifying" destiny. As souls, under the guidance of the Hierarchy and prior to incarnation, they are conscious of the impulse to "go in and help the sorrowing planet and thus release the prisoners held in durance hard by low desire" (quoting from the Old Commentary), but once the garment of flesh has been assumed, that consciousness too dies out and in the physical brain they are not aware of that which their souls have purposed. Only the urge for specific activities remains. The work nevertheless proceeds.

A few souls come into incarnation of their own free will and accord; they work with clear knowledge and proceed to the task of the day. They are the key people in any age, and the determining factors, psychologically, in any historical period. It is they who set the pace and do the pioneering work. They focus in themselves both the hatred and the love of the world; they work as the Builders or as the Destroyers, and they return eventually to their own place, carrying with them the spoils of victory in the shape of the freedom which they have won for themselves or for others. They bear the scars, psychologically speaking, which have been given to them by opposing workers, and they bear also the assurance [263] that they have carried forward the task to which they have been assigned and which they have successfully undertaken.

This first category of people in incarnation has been greatly augmented during the past century and it is for this reason that we can look for the rapid development of the characteristics of the incoming Aquarian Age.

The second category of human beings, who, are here designated as personalities, is also becoming powerful. It merges with both the first group and the third.

We have in the world. today the following types of personalities:

1. Personalities who are rapidly shifting into the category of "conditioning souls."
2. Personalities who are integrated, coordinated men and women, but who are not yet under the influence of the soul. Their "self-will and self-love" is such a powerful factor in their lives that they exert a determining influence upon their environment. It would be well to note the esoteric difference between conditioning and determining. The first leaves the subject (be it a man or a race, or a civilization) free. It simply provides the influence and the conditions wherein the best in the race can flower forth to a state of perfection. The second does not leave the subject free, but "determines" through the exercise of power, selfishly applied and utilized for personality ends, the way, that a person, a race, or a civilization shall go.
3. Awakening personalities are also found. These merge with our third classification and are the cream or the best expression of the third group.

It is with these personalities in their three groups that we are primarily to deal in this division of our treatise. The [264] word, however, is very loosely used, and it might be of value to give here a list of definitions of the word "personality", both those in common usage and those used in the true spiritual significance. It is of value (is it not?) if students know the many ways in which this word is used, both correctly and erroneously. Let us here list them:

A personality is a separated human being. We could perhaps equally well say a separative human being. This is the poorest and most loosely used definition; it applies to common usage, and regards each human being as a person. This definition is consequently not true. Many people are simply animals with vague higher impulses, which remain simply impulses. There are those also who are primarily nothing more or less than mediums. This term is here used to apply to all those types of persons who go blindly and impotently upon their way, swayed by their lower and dense desire nature, of which the physical body is only the expression or medium. They are influenced by the mass consciousness, mass ideas, and mass reactions, and therefore find themselves quite incapable of being anything definitely self-initiated, but are standardized by mass complexes. They are, therefore, mediums with mass ideas; they are swept by urges which are imposed upon them by teachers and demagogues, and are receptive - without any thought or reasoning - to every school of thought (spiritual, occult, political, religious and philosophical). May I repeat that they are simply mediums; they are receptive to ideas which are not their own or self-achieved.

A personality is one who functions with coordination, owing to his endowment and the relative stability of his emotional nature, and his sound and rounded out glandular equipment. This is aided by his urge to power and the proper [265] environing conditions. The above situation can work out in any field of human endeavor, making a man either a good foreman in a factory or a dictator, according to his circumstances, his karma, and his opportunity. I am not here referring in any sense whatever to the desirable coordination of soul and body, which is a later development. I am simply postulating a good physical equipment, and a sound emotional control and mental development. It is possible to have a superlative inner development and yet have such a poor instrument on the physical plane that coordination is not possible. In such cases the subject seldom affects his environment in any permanent or powerful sense. He cannot bring through or radiate out his inner power because he is blocked at every point by his physical equipment. A man of much less inner development but with a responsive physical body and glands which are functioning well will frequently prove a more effective agent of influence in his environing circumstances.

A personality is a man with a sense of destiny. Such a man has sufficient will power to subject his lower nature to such a discipline that he can fulfil the destiny of which he is subconsciously aware. These people fall into two groups:

1. Those with no soul contact of any kind. Those people are urged forward to their destiny by a sense of power, by self-love, by exalted ambition, by a superiority complex, and by a determination to reach the top of their particular tree.
2. Those with a small measure of soul contact. These are people whose methods and motives are therefore a mixture of selfishness and of spiritual vision. Their problem is a difficult one, as their measure of soul contact does bring in an inflow of force which stimulates the lower nature, even whilst increasing [266] soul control. It is not, however, powerful enough to subordinate the lower nature entirely.

A personality is a completely integrated human being. In this case, we have a man whose physical, emotional and mental natures can be fused and can subsequently function as one, and thus produce a mechanism which is subordinated to the will of the personality. This can take place with or without a definite soul contact, and it is at this stage that there comes a predisposition to the right, or to the left hand path. The coordination proceeds as follows:

1. Coordination of the emotional or astral nature with the physical body. This took place in the racial sense in Atlantean times; it is going on today among the lower groupings in the human family. It should be the objective of the development of children from the ages of seven to fourteen.
2. Coordination of the physical, astral and mental natures into one blended whole. This is taking place racially in the Aryan race today and the process will be completed (for the bulk of humanity) when the sun enters the zodiacal sign, Sagittarius, just as now it is entering Aquarius. This coordination is going on rapidly among the advanced members of the human family and should be the objective of the training of all adolescents between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one.
3. Next, coordination is commenced between the soul and the personality, with the focus of the soul's attention upon the astral or desire nature. This is the immediate task of the world aspirants at this time, and will be the goal of the next race succeeding to that of the Aryan. [267]
4. Coordination between soul, mind and brain to the exclusion of the body of illusion, the astral body. This is the peculiar goal of the world disciples.
5. Coordination then has to be established between the soul, the purified personality and the Hierarchy. This is the goal of the initiates in the world at this time, and of all who are in preparation for the first, the second and the third initiations. This consummation is finally achieved at the Transfiguration initiation.
6. Coordination between the soul, the personality and the spirit. This takes place via the Hierarchy of Souls - a phrase which only initiates can properly interpret and understand. This process is carried on after the third initiation.

A man can be regarded as a personality in truth when the form aspect and the soul nature are at-one. When the soul influences the personality and pervades all the lower manifestation, then and only then, does the personality measure up to its true significance, which is to constitute the mask of the soul, that which is the outer appearance of inner spiritual forces. These forces are expressions of the soul, and the soul is the central identity or fundamental focus upon the mental plane of the life of God Himself. Essence, consciousness and appearance are the three aspects of divinity and of man; the personality, when fully developed, is the "appearance of God on earth." Life, quality, and form is another way of expressing this same triplicity.

These definitions have been made of a real simplicity and also exceedingly brief. Intricacy of definition does not necessarily ensure correctness, and the clear outlines of a truth are oft lost in a maze of words. [268]

B.I. The Appropriation of the Bodies

The final definition which is given here, leads up to our consideration of the subject of the rays. The personality is the fusion of three major forces and their subjection (finally and after the fusion) to the impact of soul energy. This impact is made in three different stages or in what are occultly termed "three impulsive movements" - using the word "impulsive" in its true connotation and not in the usual emotional and enthusiastic significance. These impulsive movements are:

a. The impact of the soul at the stage of human evolution which we call individualization. At that time, the form becomes aware for the first time of the touch of the soul. This is called in the language of esotericism the "Touch of Appropriation." The soul then appropriates its vehicle.
This stage is succeeded by a long period of adjustment and of gradual development and unfoldment. This takes place upon the way of experience, and during that period the soul tightens its hold upon its instrument, the lower form nature.

b. The impact of the soul is called forth by the dilemmas and through the emergencies of the later stages of the path of experience. During this stage, the urgency of the need, and the dilemmas brought about by the forces of opposition, lead the man to submit to a higher influence. He calls then in desperation upon the soul and upon the spiritual resources laid up in his divine nature and hitherto remaining unused. This impact is called the "Touch of Acquiescence," and marks the acceptance by the soul of the demand of the personality for help and [269] light. The soul acquiesces in the plea of the personality for guidance.
It is to be noted that we are here considering the attitude of the soul to the personality and not that of the personality to the soul, which is the attitude usually under consideration. We are dealing primarily in this treatise with the reactions and activities of the soul through its ray energy, and its response to the demand of the forces - focused, combined and integrated - of the personality.

c. The impact of the soul at the time of the various and sequential initiations to which the disciple is eventually subjected, as he transits out of the fourth into the fifth kingdom in nature. This stage is called the "Touch of Enlightenment," and through the bringing together of the forces of the purified personality and those of the "approaching" soul, a "light is engendered which fadeth not away."

In these three impacts,

1. The touch of appropriation on the physical plane,
2. The touch of acquiescence on the astral plane,
3. The touch of enlightenment upon the mental plane,

there is summarized clearly and concisely the attitude of the soul towards its rapidly preparing instrument.

The great Touch of Appropriation lies racially in the past. The Touch of Acquiescence takes place upon the battlefield of the emotional nature, and the Touch of Enlightenment is effected through the mind.

The first three initiations are expressions of these three stages or impacts, and it might also be stated that the Lemurian, the Atlantean and the Aryan races are also expressions of man's reactions to these three soul approaches. [270]

The third initiation sees the soul and the personality perfectly blended so that the light blazes forth and the great Approaches between soul and form are consummated.

Today, in this particular cycle and in this Aryan race, the Hierarchy (as an expression of the kingdom of souls) is recapitulating these three inevitable steps and making certain advances or approaches to the race. We can therefore divide humanity into three groups and relate humanity to the three major approaches.

1. The Approach of Appropriation will express the effect of the present stimulation upon the unevolved masses. Thousands and thousands of men and women are in process of awakening and during the next few years will come to soul consciousness, for the soul of each individual is intensifying its initial appropriation at the Lemurian crisis of individualization, and the ancient enterprise is again being re-enacted as a needed recapitulatory endeavor. All this today lies almost entirely in the realm of consciousness. The great appropriation was made millions of years ago. Today, in consciousness, there will come a great awakening to the significance of what was, at that time, largely a physical event, and masses of men will become aware - in their brain consciousness - of that early appropriation. This is being brought about by a fresh approach by the soul and an advance towards its reflection, the personality, and it produces in time a consequent recognition upon the part of man.

2. The Approach of Acquiescence will be equally well recognized by the intelligent and more highly evolved sons of men. They will awaken to the relationship which exists between their personalities and the soul, and between the forces of the lower nature and the energy of the soul. It is with this particular task that the New Group of World Servers is primarily occupied, - looking at their activities from the [271] standpoint of the Hierarchy. Their work is to facilitate the entrance of soul energy, which energy expresses itself in love and in good will. This in its turn results in peace - individual, racial and planetary - and the great group aspect of the approach will be brought about, and is today in process of being carried forward.

c. The Approach of Enlightenment carries the disciple through the gate of initiation, and is the effect of the same energy playing upon the personalities of the disciples of the world, and transforming their spirit of aspiration into the light of initiation.

The Mysteries of the world, the flesh and the devil (to use the symbolic formal terminology of Christianity) are to be transmuted with rapidity into those of the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God, the energy of the soul, and the revelation of divinity. The secret hid by the inverted lotus (the world) is to be revealed by the opened lotus of the kingdom of souls. The secret of the flesh, which is the prison of the soul, is revealed by the perfume of the unfolding lotus of the soul. The mystery of the devil will eventually be seen to be that of the light of God's countenance, which reveals that which is undesirable and must be changed and renounced, and which thus transforms life by the light that God's nature pours forth.

It would be of use to us all to study these three soul approaches - individual or hierarchical - and to ponder upon them and put ourselves in training, so that we may make the needed recognitions. Let us also ponder upon the following triplicities:

1. Mass Consciousness - Self-consciousness - Group-consciousness
   These lead, in due time, to
2. Appropriation - Acquiescence - Enlightenment
   through the racial stages of [272]
3. Lemurian experience - Atlantean experience - Aryan experience
   and the individual stages of
4. Experience - Discipleship - Initiation
   producing, in their turn,
5. Racial probation - Racial discipleship - Racial initiation
   and individually
6. The probationer - The Disciple - The Initiate
   which lead eventually to
7. The New Group of World Servers - The Hierarchy - The Kingdom of God.

A comparative study of these stages and phases will reveal how the relationship of the ego and the personality emerges, and that the distinctive feature between the two, as far as the aspirant is concerned, is the focus or the concentration of the life aspect. In the personality the focus of consciousness is Form. In the individuality, that focus is transferred to the Soul. It is all a question of where lies the center of attention. The "approaches" which take place between the soul and the personality are the processes of relationship in the periods of transition. In connection with the race, these are called the Great Approaches of the Hierarchy, and they represent the soul of humanity within the racial form. The New Group of World Servers is that body of men and women who have responded to one of these major approaches. As soon as they have done this, they become a bridging or a linking group between the Hierarchy and the race, thus facilitating the task of the planetary Hierarchy.

The revelation of these Approaches, during the time in which they are going on, is only now possible. At the first Great Approach in Lemurian days, when the race of men individualized, only the members of the approaching Hierarchy were in any way aware of the purpose. Those who were approached registered dimly a deepened urge to rise to better things. Aspiration was born - conscious aspiration, if [273] such a word can be employed in connection with the vague yearning of animal man. Today, such is the progress made through the effect of evolution that many people can and do consciously register the influence of the soul and the nearing approach of the Hierarchy. This ability to register the Approach, or the Touch of Enlightenment, is largely due to the successful work of the Christ when He came down to the earth some two thousand years ago. He accustomed us to the idea of divinity - an entirely new concept as far as man was concerned. He thus paved the way for the nearer approach, upon a large scale, of the Kingdom of Souls, through its agent, the Hierarchy and the hierarchical agency, The New Group of World Servers. This may convey something of an understanding of an aspect of Christ's work which is frequently overlooked.

Today, as the seventh ray comes into manifestation, we shall see the approaches between the two higher kingdoms of men and of souls greatly facilitated, as the magical work in the producing and bringing about of relationship begins to go forward as desired. It is the work of the Ray of Magical Order which will bring about sensitivity to one of the Major Approaches which is being now attempted. Only as history is made and we learn later the amazing nature of the epoch through which the race is passing, will humanity appreciate the significance of the work of the present Hierarchy, and the magnitude and the success of its achievement since 1925, as a result of the initial impulse instituted in 1875.

No more need be said on this point except to observe that the first indications of the work done during the Wesak Festival of 1936 and the response engendered among humanity would warrant the assumptions of success. Let us all stand poised and ready, unafraid and sure, thus preserving the gain of past effort and (in company with all true servers [274] throughout the world) ensuring to us a positive focal point for the transmission of spiritual energy.

It would be well, before we proceed with our consideration of the Ray of the Personality, to add a word more to the information given above anent the three great Approaches of the soul or the three Touches which are transforming or initiating agencies in the life of the personality. Students would do well to remember that there must ever be an analogy or a correspondence carried out in the life of the little self - a reflection of the activities of the greater Self. Just as the soul makes three approaches towards its instrument or reflection, a human being, so the integrated personality approaches also towards union with the soul by three similar or related touches. It might be of interest if we were to enlarge somewhat upon this matter.

The corresponding activity in the personality to the Approach of Appropriation comes as a result of the reorientation and the readjustment which takes place in the personality life when upon the probationary path. Then the individual aspirant - after much struggle and effort - suddenly "touches", for one brief moment, the level of the soul, and knows the meaning of the words "soul contact." That contact is no longer a desire, a vision or a theoretical belief or hope. It is experience and fact. The terms "soul contact" and "sensing the vibratory quality of the soul" are phrases oft used. It should prove useful to students if they could learn to appreciate the fact that when "in meditation deep" a certain sudden and recognized relationship is established, the personality has responded for the first time in such a manner that the "appropriation" by the soul of its instrument (called individualization) is duplicated by the appropriation by the personality of the inspiring and over-shadowing soul. This experience marks a significant moment in the life of the soul and the [275] personality, and the man is never again the same. He has participated in a soul activity. This great event, when looked at from this angle, should throw new light and a fresh spirit of enterprise into the meditation work of the aspirant. Just as the Soul through a planned activity, individualized itself in a human form, so the probationary aspirant, also as a result of a planned activity, takes the first step in individualizing himself in a spiritual form, and the shift of consciousness from a body nature into a body "not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" takes place. The little self repeats the activity of the great Self. An event upon the path of ascent explains the significance of what occurred on the way of descent.

We are told that a long time transpires between the first initiation (wherein the crisis of appropriation on the Path of Ascent, finds its culmination) and the second initiation. Here again there is a correspondence to earlier happenings, for much time has transpired since individualization, technically understood, has taken place. That individualization, the first great soul approach took place either in Lemurian days or in a still earlier crisis upon that dead planet, the moon. Today, just as the form of animal man had to reach a certain level of development, so the human form has to reach the level of personality integration before the re-enactment of the Approach of Appropriation can be consciously carried forward.

Next there comes a period in the life of the aspirant when he shifts off the probationary path and moves on to the path of discipleship. This is the result of an activity which is a reflection in his individual personality life of the Approach of Acquiescence. This takes place upon the battlefield of the astral plane. There the disciple acquiesces consciously in the inevitable process of transmutation which takes place before the personality can be a fit instrument for the soul. He stands [276] between the pairs of opposites, learning the secret of duality, and like Arjuna (fixed at the midway point) he seeks the way out, eventually acquiescing in the task ahead. This is the stage of submission to which every disciple subjects himself.

It is through acquiescence that the astral aspect of the personality is brought into line with the divine purpose of the indwelling soul. This is not, a negative, weak submission, or a sad, sweet acceptance, so-called, of the will of God, but it is a positive, dynamic assumption of a certain position or attitude upon the battlefield of life. This attitude recognizes rightly, as did Arjuna, the demands of both armies (the army of the Lord and the army of the Personality) and whilst acquiescing in the facts of the case, the disciple stands up and fights as best he may for the privilege of right understanding and right activity. Just as the soul in far off days acquiesced, and gave the touch of acquiescence in the obligation assumed when the approach of appropriation took place and the demands of the personality upon the soul became steadily more definite, so now the personality reverses the process, and recognizes the demands of the soul. This marks, as may well be seen, a very definite stage in the life of the aspirant, and is the cause of that unhappy sense of duality which produces distress and sorrow in the life of all disciples. It is at this point upon the Way that many very well-meaning disciples fall. Instead of standing in spiritual being and taking a firm position upon the middle way between the pairs of opposites, and thus intensifying the touch of appropriation and endeavoring to make the approach of acquiescence, they fall into the illusions of self-pity. These prevent the process of appropriation. A furious conflict then ensues in the endeavor to change the theme of their lives, and the disciples forget that that theme is the embodiment of the Word of their souls in any particular incarnation, and that no theme - calling as it does, [277] particular conditions into being - could provide the right and needed circumstances for full and complete development. They become so occupied with the theme that they forget the composer of that theme.

The dramatic rehearsal by the personality of the Approach or Touch of Enlightenment (as enacted by the soul) takes place upon the Path of Initiation. It has been portrayed for us by the Buddha when He took illumination and became the Enlightened One.

There is one peculiarly interesting point which can perhaps be made clear. God, or whatever word anyone may employ to express the Originator of all that exists, constantly re-enacts these dramatic approaches for His people. In so doing and as history proceeds, two great classes of Avatars must inevitably emerge, or have emerged. There are, first of all, Those Who embody in Themselves the great major soul approaches. There will be (and I would ask you to note the change of tense) Those Who will embody the human approaches, or the corresponding activities of the personality to the soul approaches. These are called in the language of esotericism "the Avatars of logoic descent upon the radiant path of..." and "the Avatars of divine descent upon the Claiming Way." I cannot translate these terms more clearly, nor can I find an adequate word for the phrase which qualifies the radiant path.

On the Way of Descending Approaches, the Buddha from the mental plane and also upon it, embodied in Himself the blazing enlightenment which is the result of a rare occurrence - a Cosmic Touch. He challenged the people to the Path of Light, of which knowledge and wisdom are two aspects. These, when brought into relationship with each other, produce the light. In a curious and esoteric manner, therefore, the Buddha embodied in Himself the force and [278] activity of the third ray, of the third aspect of divinity - the divine cosmic principle of Intelligence. By its fusion with the ray of our solar system (the ray of Love) He expressed perfectly the significance of light in matter, of the intelligence principle as found in form, and was the Avatar Who carried in Himself the fully ripened seeds of the past solar system. We should not forget that our present solar system is, as was stated in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, the second in a series of three systems.

Then came the next great Avatar, the Christ, Who, enfolding in Himself all that the Buddha had of light and wisdom (being fully enlightened in the occult and spiritual sense) on the Way of Descending Approach, embodied also the peace of inclusiveness, which comes from the Touch of Divine Acquiescence. He was the embodied force of submission, and He carried the divine approach to the astral plane, the plane of feeling.

Thus two great stations of energy and two major powerhouses of light have been established by these two Sons of God, and the descent of the divine life into manifestation has been greatly facilitated. The Way is now opened so that the ascent of the sons of men can become entirely possible. It is around these two ideas of divine descent and of human corresponding ascent that the coming new religion must be built.

Stations of power exist and have been founded through the work of the various World Saviors. These stations of power must be contacted by humanity as time transpires, through their individual re-enactment (on a tiny scale) of the cosmic approaches, or the touches of divinity, dramatically engineered by the cosmic Avatars, the Buddha and the Christ. It is because the Christ has approached closer to humanity by focusing divine energy upon the astral plane through His divine acquiescence that He is the First Initiator. [279]

From one point of view, these two centers of force constitute the Temples of Initiation through which all disciples have to pass. This passing is the theme of the coming new religion.

Mankind has entered into the Temples at the great cosmic Approach of Appropriation in Lemurian times. Certain of the more advanced sons of men were passed in Atlantean times and still more will be passed in the immediate future, whilst a fair number will also be raised to immortality, but from the angle of the race it is the initiation of passing which is ahead for a very large number, and not the initiation of being raised. I am not here speaking of the so-called five major initiations, but of certain group events which are predominantly cosmic in nature. The major initiations which are the goal of human endeavor are individual in nature, and constitute, as it were, a preparatory period of expansions of consciousness. There were, if I might so express it, seven steps or approaches on the part of the life of God in the subhuman kingdoms prior to the Approach of Appropriation when humanity individualized. There are, as we know, five initiations ahead of the world disciples and these are steps towards the Approach of Acquiescence which will become possible on our planet before long. There are - after these seven and five steps - three more to be taken before the cosmic Approach of Enlightenment can take place in a far distant future. So humanity enters into the outer Court of God's love, passes into the Holy Place and is raised in the Secret Place of the Most High.

Later, the Avatar will emerge Who will embody in Himself all that the Buddha had of enlightenment and all that Christ had of acquiescing love. He will, however, also embody the energy which produced the Approach of Appropriation, and when He comes forth, there will transpire a [280] great appropriation by humanity of its recognized divinity, and the establishing upon earth of a station of light and of power which will make possible the externalizing of the Mysteries of Initiation upon earth. This approach is the cause of much of the present turmoil, for the Avatar is on His way.

Much of the above can mean but little to those who are not yet upon the path of accepted discipleship. We are here dealing with some of the major mysteries. But a mystery only remains a mystery when ignorance and unbelief exist. There is no mystery where there is knowledge and faith. The coming of the Avatar Who will fuse in Himself three principles of divinity is an inevitable future happening, and when He shall appear "the light that always has been will be seen; the love that never ceases will be realized, and the radiance deep concealed will break forth into being." We shall then have a new world - one which will express the light, the love and the knowledge of God.

These three Temples of the Mysteries (of which two are already existing, and the third will later appear) are each of them related to one of the three divine aspects, and the energy of the three major rays pours through them. In the corresponding approaches upon the path of ascent by humanity, it is the energy of the four minor Rays of Attribute which produce the power to make the needed approach. Through the active work and the guidance of the "presiding guardians" of these temples, the fifth kingdom in nature will be brought into manifested being. Over the Temple upon the mental plane, the Buddha presides and there will consummate His unfinished work. Over the Temple upon the plane of sentient feeling and of loving aspiration, the Christ presides, for this is the Temple of the most difficult initiatory processes. The reason for this difficulty and for the importance of this Temple is due to the fact that our solar system is a system [281] of Love, of sentient response to the love of God, and of the development of that response through the innate faculty of feeling or sentiency. This calls for the cooperation of a Son of God who will embody two divine principles. Later will come an Avatar Who will achieve neither the full enlightenment of the Buddha nor the full expression of the divine love of the Christ, but Who will have a large measure of wisdom and of love, plus that "materializing power" which will enable Him to found a divine powerhouse upon the physical plane. His task, in many ways, is far more difficult than that of the two preceding Avatars, for He carries in Himself not only the energies of the two divine principles, already "duly anchored" upon the planet by His two great Brothers, but He has also within Himself much of a third divine principle, hitherto not used upon our planet. He carries the will of God into manifestation, and of that will we, as yet, know really nothing. So difficult is His task that the New Group of World Servers is being trained to assist Him. Thus an aspect of the first ray principle will be anchored by Him upon earth.

All that the student can grasp is that the Plan will be the dynamic impulse of this third and vital energy which will pervade the outer court of the Temple, constituting a Temple of Initiation upon the physical plane, thus externalizing the activities of the Hierarchy in certain possible respects. The first initiation will then take place upon earth. It will be then no longer a veiled secret. This is the initiation of the outer court, wherein the approach of the soul upon the Way of Descent into manifestation, and the subsequent appropriation of the proffered divine energy by the personality upon the Way of Ascent will take place.

The Holy Place is the place where the second initiation is enacted, and this will some day be given upon the astral plane [282] when the illusion there persisting has been somewhat dissipated. Over this second initiation, the Christ presides and, as was said above, it is for us the most difficult and most transforming of the initiations. The acquiescence of the soul to the demands of the personality for spiritual life, and the submission of the personality to the soul, find therein their consummation.

Finally will come the initiation of the Transfiguration, wherein the light breaks forth, the Touch of Enlightenment is given, and the soul and the personality stand forth as one. This process requires also the aid of the Buddha and the inspiration of the Christ, and it is "occultly guarded" by the Avatar of the physical plane.

In all the above information there is given a hint as to what will take place when human personalities are actively functioning and steadily awakening. The rapid coming of the Avatar Who will found the station of light and power upon the physical plane is dependent upon the rapid unfoldment and appearance of integrated personalities who love and think and seek to serve. There has here been given a new hint upon one of the more esoteric aspects of the work of the New Group of World Servers, and a hint at the same time as to the reason that this Treatise upon the Seven Rays has been written. An understanding of the rays and of the impelling forces in, through, and with which the personality has to work was essential if the work of this third Avatar from cosmic sources, was to be made possible.

We have thus endeavored to outline something of the problems of the personality from the angle of the larger issues. We have, as the occult law dictates, begun with the relation of the form to the soul, with the descent of life and the ascent of the sons of God, and we have carried the thought forward to the fact of the Hierarchy, working under the [283] same law, and its relation to the New Group of World Servers. Information on initiation has hitherto been primarily occupied with the relations of the individual man to the soul and to the Hierarchy. There are here presented some of the group implications. The New Group of World Servers is related to the Hierarchy as body to soul, and they in their turn as a group of souls are similarly related to the human family. Therefore we have:

1. Soul - Body.
2. The Fifth Kingdom - The Fourth Kingdom.
3. The Hierarchy - The New Group of World Servers.
4. The New Group of World Servers - Humanity.
5. A Soul - A Personality.

The one unit descends towards the ascending related unit, (speaking in terms of an approach from two directions). This takes place under divine impulsion and human aspiration, and both act equally under:

1. The Law of Karma.
2. The Law of Necessity.
3. The Law of Cycles.
4. The Law of Attraction.

Let us now return to the level of practical understanding. Although we turn aside to deal with these momentous matters at times, such discussions are not primarily intended for the present generation of readers but for those who are coming into incarnation and who will read with a more accurate understanding than is possible at this time to the average interested aspirant who studies these pages.

Three types of energy, as has been said, meet and blend in the personality, finding their expression through the medium of an outer tangible form which is itself colored, [284] motivated and conditioned by a fourth type of energy - the energy of basic matter. This basic matter is the product of the first solar system, and the energy of which it is composed does not, therefore, belong to our solar system at all, except through an act of appropriation, performed by our planetary Logos at the dawn of the creative activity of God. Seeking to impress, impel and motivate this group of four energies is the energy of the informing, indwelling soul. This fifth type of energy is itself dual in nature, being the transcendent archetype of both mind and emotion, or will and love. These six energies in their turn are animated or impelled by the life of God Himself, thus making the seven energies now in manifestation. This is, of course, well known, as the theory constitutes the very bones of the occult body of truth, and in this statement is formulated the essential structure upon which esotericism is built. I have stated it purely in terms of energy, and not of principles or bodies, so as to bring the Ageless Wisdom into line with modern truth and scientific conclusions.

We therefore have:

The Personality.

1. The energy of mind. The force of manas. The reflection of divine will and purpose. Motivation. The impulse to plan, under the Law of Synthesis.
2. The energy of sentiency. The capacity to respond. Emotional feeling, astral energy. The reflection of love. The force of desire. The impulse to aspire. The divine evolutionary urge. The tendency to attract, to be magnetic, under the Law of Attraction.
3. The energy of life. The capacity to integrate, to coordinate. The force of the vital or etheric body. The reflection of intelligent activity or divine movement. [285] The impulse to act, to be energetic, under the Law of Economy.
4. The energy of dense matter. Externalized activity. The automatic reactions of the outer sheath. The densest point of unity. The lowest aspect of synthesis.

The Soul.

5. The energy of buddhi. The force of divine, reasoning love. The intuition. This is part of the flower of attractive energy and focuses itself in the "love petals of the egoic lotus." Its reflection is found in the astral, emotional, sentient consciousness of the personality.
6. The energy of atma. The force of the divine will. The embodiment of divine purpose. This focuses itself in the "sacrifice petals of the egoic lotus." Its reflection is found in the mind nature of the personality.

The Spirit.

7. The energy of life itself.

These energies constitute the human being, a unit of energy. They make him essentially an active, intelligent, loving, living, human being. They are unfolded sequentially in time and space and, as a result of the great experiment of evolution, bring him eventually to the full flowering of his nature, and to a full expression of the seven types of energy which condition him.

The question arises as to when man can become aware in his own personal and separated consciousness (as registered in the waking brain) of the truth of the existence of this septenate of energies. I would reply as follows:

1. Unevolved man, and low grade human beings are aware [286] of the urges of the automatic physical nature and the impulses of the vital or etheric body.

2. Awakening human beings are coordinating and becoming aware of both these primitive urges and impulses, plus the sentient and emotional reactions of the emotional or astral body.

3. Intelligent humanity is, in due time, conditioned by the urges, impulses and sentiency of the three lower types of energy, plus the energy of the mind. When this has really been achieved, the man is then definitely an aspirant upon the probationary path.

4. Aspirants are now becoming aware of the fifth type of basic energy - that of the soul. This response to soul energy, and the blended activity of the soul energies (buddhi-atma) produce the unfolding of the outer layer of petals, the knowledge petals, which are formed of three types of force.

1. Manasic energy. The energy of the abstract levels of the mental plane, inherent in the soul.
2. Mental energy. This is the energy of the concrete levels of the mental plane, and is definitely a contribution of the human being himself.
3. The energy of the mind found in matter itself. This is inherent mind, and is inherited from an earlier solar system.
   These three aspects of mind energy are thus blended and are a synthesis of the intelligent force of deity. They embody as much of the mind of God as a human being can embrace in time and space, for they are
   1. The energy of intelligent life, coming from God the Father. [287]
   2. The energy of intelligent soul or consciousness, coming from God the Son.
   3. The energy of intelligent matter coming from God the Holy Spirit.

5. The disciples of the world are occupied with the integration of the personality with the soul, or with the synthesis of the first five aspects of energy as the lotus petals of love come into conscious recognition, and the intuition begins faintly to function. These petals of love, which are only symbolic forms of expressing energy, have a dual activity - they attract upward the planetary energies and bring downward the energies of the Spiritual Triad, the expression of the Monad.

6. Initiates are becoming conscious of the sixth type of energy, that of atma, the will aspect of Spirit. This causes them to work with the Plan and through the lotus petals of sacrifice to bring the service of the Plan into being. This is ever the aim of the initiate members of the Hierarchy. They understand, express and work with the Plan.

7. After the third initiation, the disciple begins to work with, and to understand the significance of Spirit and his consciousness shifts gradually out of the Soul into that of the Monad in the same way as the consciousness of the personality shifted out of the lower awareness into that of the soul.

This is the second panel, if one might so express it, of the picture here being drawn, of the divine life as it manifests through the consciousness of humanity. I am seeking to give it in such terms that comprehension may ensue. The first panel gave some of the universal implications. This was elaborated in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire. The second panel, [288] contained in this Treatise on the Seven Rays, gives a general view of the synthetic unfoldment of man. The third panel entered the realm of synthetic work and was embodied in A Treatise on White Magic.

It would be useful to bear in mind here what was earlier pointed out:

1. The mental body is governed by Rays 1, 4, 5.
2. The astral body is governed by Rays 2, 6.
3. The physical body is governed by Rays 3, 7.

This is often forgotten and people will have to readjust their ideas in this matter. It is by an understanding of these dominant types of force as they condition the various vehicles that the true nature of the problem of psychology will emerge and the right clue to the solution will appear. The above tabulation and statement is one of the most important ever made in this Treatise in connection with psychology.

Gradually it will be noted that certain ray meditations can be used to bring in the influence of the soul and these will be later discussed. Some simple yet powerful meditation formulas will be given, which can be used by the man who is an integrated personality, in order to bring one or another of his vehicles into alignment and consequent control.

It will be observed that the rays governing the mind include one which links the mind nature with the ray of the solar system, which is the cosmic ray of love. This one is the Ray of Harmony, the fourth ray, but it is also Harmony through Conflict. It is a most important ray, for it gives us the clue to the whole problem of pain and of suffering. Our attention should be directed to this ray and to the mind nature which is related to it. In an understanding of this relationship, we have indicated to us the way out, or the use of that type of force which will lead humanity out. Every [289] man who has reached the point of personality integration has eventually to call in this fourth type of energy when upon the Path, in order rightly to condition his mind and through the mind, his personality.

In considering the personality, therefore, and its conditioning rays we will study:

1. The appropriation of the bodies:
   1. Their building psychologically, or their coherent construction.
   2. Their development and eventual alignment.
   3. Their interrelation in the life of the personality.
2. The coordination of the personality:
   1. The techniques of integration, seven in number.
   2. The technique of fusion, leading to the emergence of the ray of the personality.
   3. The technique of duality, divinely understood, or the relation of the ray of the personality and the ray of the soul.
3. Some problems of psychology, arising from the point in evolution of the personality.
   1. The technique of appropriation. Physical and etheric integration.
   2. The technique of acquiescence. Astral or psychic healing.
   3. The technique of enlightenment. Mental education.

We have before us in this study much food for thought. The subjects touched upon are deep, difficult to understand, and hard to grasp. Careful reading, however, quiet reflection, and a practical application of the sensed truth and of the intuited idea will gradually bring enlightenment and lead to [290] acquiescence in the techniques of the soul, and the appropriation of the teaching.

B.I.1. Building and Construction of the Bodies

In theosophical literature, there is much talk anent the various elementals or lunar lords which compose, constitute and control the lower nature. These, in their triple totality, form the personality. They are of man's own creation, and form the basis of the problem which he, as a soul, has always to face until the final liberation is achieved. The mental elemental, the astral elemental and the physical elemental have a definite life of their own which is colored by the rays upon which these various bodies or elementals have their being, until the man has reached a relatively high point in evolution.

The elementals composing the mental body are spoken of in the Old Commentary in the following terms:

"The Lord of Will took being. His dim reflection followed in His steps. The little lord of force manasic appeared on earth.

The Lord Who sought for harmony took form. The little lord, who loved to fight for what he sought, followed with swiftness in His wake.

The Lord Who in this world of ours knew mind and thought, swept into incarnation. He was not, then He was. The little lord of mental stuff also took form. Man's troublous journey then began."

These old phrases bear out the statement earlier made that the mental body of every human being is composed of substance which is governed by the rays, one, four and five. Exceptions to this rule appear, sometimes, upon the Path of Discipleship, and are the result of the direct and intelligent action of the Soul, prior to incarnation. The soul builds a body of mental substance or attracts to it that particular type [291] of mental energy which will enable it to possess (whilst in incarnation) the type of vehicle which will make a chosen experience possible. This freedom of choice never occurs except in the case of the awakening disciple. The reason for this will be seen if it is realized that the energy of these three rays, when focused in a personality, provides exactly the right impulse to govern the lower life, both in the case of an undeveloped human being and of a man in the early stages of discipleship and aspiration. It might be well for us to elaborate this a little by means of certain tabulations:

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 recognized will of God.
3. The principle of immortality.
4. Perseverance or endurance upon the Way.

Ray Four

In unevolved Man

1. Aggressiveness and that needed push towards the sensed goal which distinguishes the evolving human being. This goal, in the early stages, will be of a material nature.
2. The fighting spirit or that spirit of conflict which finally [292] brings strength and poise, and which produces eventual integration with the first ray aspect of deity.
3. That coherent force which makes a man a magnetic center, whether as the major force in any group unity, such as a parent or a ruler, or a Master in relation to his group.
4. The power to create. In the lower types, this is connected with the impulse, or the instinct, to reproduce, leading consequently to the sex relation; or it may lead to construction of thought-forms or creative forms of some kind, even if it is only the hut of a savage.

In the advanced Man

1. The Arjuna spirit. This is the urge towards victory, the holding of a position between the pairs of opposites, and the eventual sensing of the middle way.
2. The urge to synthesis (again a first ray impulse) blended with a second ray tendency to love and to include.
3. The attractive quality of the soul as it expresses itself in the relation between the lower and higher selves. This eventuates in the "marriage in the Heavens."
4. The power to create forms, or the artistic impulse.

It will be noted in this connection how accurate was the earlier statement that the artist is found upon all the rays, and that the so-called Ray of Harmony or Beauty is not the only ray upon which the creative worker is found. The mental body of every human being, at some time or another, is found upon the fourth ray and usually when the man is nearing the probationary path. This means that the mental vehicle is governed by an elemental of fourth ray nature or quality and that, therefore, creative, artistic activity is the line of least resistance. We then have a man with an artistic tendency or we have a genius along some line of creative work. When, at the same time, the soul or the personality is also upon the fourth ray, then we will find a Leonardo da Vinci or a Shakespeare. [293]

Ray Five

In unevolved Man

1. The power to develop thought.
2. The spirit of materialistic enterprise, the divine urge, as it evidences itself in the early stages.
3. The tendency to enquire, to ask questions and to find out. This is the instinct to search and to progress, which is, in the last analysis, the urge to evolve.
4. The tendency to crystallize, to harden, or to have an "idée fixe." In this connection, it will usually be discovered that the man who succumbs to an "idée fixe" has not only a fifth ray mental body but either a sixth ray personality or a sixth ray emotional body.

In the advanced Man

1. The true thinker, or mental type - awake and alert.
2. The one who knows the Plan, the purpose and the will of God.
3. The one whose intelligence is being transmuted into wisdom.
4. The scientist, the educator, the writer.

I have given the above in connection with the rays of the mental body in order to enable us to grasp not only the complexity of the problem but also the inevitability of success through the play of the many energies upon and through any one single human mind. It is not necessary here to elaborate upon the energies which create and form the emotional body, or the physical body. The second and the sixth rays color the astral body of every human being, whilst the physical body is controlled by the third and the seventh rays.

It is interesting to remember that the etheric body is uniquely constituted; it is the instrument of life, predominantly, more so than the instrument of quality. It is the factor which produces and sustains the instrument of appearance, the physical body. It will be recalled that in Volume One of this Treatise, the human being was differentiated into the [294] three divine aspects: Life, Quality, and Appearance. Through the seven centers in the etheric body, the seven ray energies make their appearance and produce their effects, but at the very heart of each chakra or lotus, there is a vortex of force to be found which is composed of pure manasic energy, and, therefore, is purely energy of the first three rays. This energy is quiescent until an advanced stage of discipleship is reached. It only sweeps into its divine rhythm and activity when the three tiers of petals, found in the egoic lotus (the higher correspondence), are beginning to unfold, and the center of the egoic lotus is becoming vibrant. Though the etheric body of man is an expression of the seven ray qualities in varying degrees of force, the etheric body of a Master is an expression of monadic energy, and comes into full activity after the third initiation.

It will be obvious, therefore, that when the psychologist takes into consideration the various types of energy which go to the constitution of a human being and can distinguish (from study and investigation, plus an understanding of the rays) what the energies are which are conditioning a patient, then great strides will be made in handling people. The nature of the human equipment and its internal relationship, as well as the external effects, will be better comprehended. Speaking technically, the extreme psychological position (as it is expressed in the Behavioristic School, which is essentially sound where the dense material mechanism of man is concerned) will fall into its rightful place. Materialistic psychologists have been dealing with the substance energies and with the instinctual life of the organism. These constitute the sum total of the available energies, organized into the form of the automatic physical body, colored as its atoms are by the tendencies and qualities developed in a previous solar system. In our solar system, we are arriving at an understanding and a [295] development of the consciousness aspect of divinity, its quality and characteristic, just as instinctual intelligence or automatic activity was the contribution of the earlier manifestation of God, in which the third aspect was dominant.

The problem can be posited and its extent made clear by the following tabulation which gives the rays that may be supposed or imagined to govern or control a problematical or hypothetical man in a particular incarnation.

1. The Ray of the Monad (the life aspect) - Second Ray of Love-Wisdom.
2. The Ray of The Soul (the consciousness aspect) - First Ray of Will or Power.
3. The Ray of the Personality (the matter aspect) - Second Ray of Love-Wisdom.
   1. Ray of the mental body - Fifth Ray of Concrete Science.
   2. Ray of the astral body - Sixth Ray of Devotion.
   3. Ray of the physical body - Second Ray of Love-Wisdom.

Certain ideas should here be considered. They are here given in the form of statements, but we will not elaborate them, simply leaving them to the student for his pondering and careful thinking.

1. Only initiates are in a position to sense, determine, or discover the nature of their monadic ray or that of their disciples. The monadic ray is that life element in man with which They have definitely to deal as They seek to prepare him for initiation. It is the "unknown quantity" in a man's nature. It does not, however, greatly complicate his problem in the three worlds of ordinary human endeavor, as it remains relatively quiescent until after the third initiation, though it basically conditions the etheric body itself.
2. The three rays (termed, in The Secret Doctrine, "the [296] three periodical vehicles") are therefore the rays of the monad, the ego and the personality, and are essentially three streams of energy, forming one great life stream. These relate a human being to the three aspects or expressions of divinity in manifestation:
   1. The monadic ray is the energy which, when consciously employed, relates the initiate to the Father or Spirit aspect and gives Him "the freedom of the solar system".
   2. The egoic ray, when consciously utilized, relates the disciple to the second aspect of divinity and gives him the "freedom of the planetary sphere".
   3. The personality ray, again when consciously governed and employed, relates a man to the matter or substance aspect of divinity and gives him the "freedom of the three worlds" and of the subhuman kingdoms in nature.
3. Taking the hypothetical chart given above, students should notice how the rays of the personality relate them, within the sphere or periphery of their own manifestation, to the major rays of the monad, ego or personality. This is a correspondence (within the microcosmic manifestation) to the macrocosmic situation, touched upon in the previous paragraph. In the case cited (which is one of quite usual occurrence) we find that
   1. The fifth ray of the mental body relates the man to his egoic ray, thereby facilitating soul contact. Had it related him to his monadic ray a very different situation would have eventuated. - The line of 1.3.5.7. must ever be remembered.
   2. The sixth ray of the astral body relates the man to his [297] monadic ray, and it will finally constitute his astral-buddhic approach to life, and will be employed when he takes the fourth initiation. This ray relates him also to his personality and intensifies his natural problem. - The line of 2.4.6. must also be carefully borne in mind.
   3. The second ray quality of his physical body relates him both to the personality and finally to the monad. It is, therefore, for him a great problem, a great opportunity, and a great "linking" energy. It makes the life of the personality exceedingly dominant and attractive, and at the same time facilitates the future contact (whilst in a physical body) with the monad. His problem of soul consciousness will not, however, be so easily solved.

You will note also that the monad (2nd ray), the astral body (6th ray) and the physical body (2nd ray) are all along the same line of activity, or of divine energy, creating a most interesting psychological problem. The soul (1st ray) and the mental body (5th ray) are along another line entirely, and this combination presents great opportunity and much difficulty.

4. In the lower expression of the man whose psychological chart we are considering, the psychologist will find a person who is intensely sensitive, inclusive and self-willed. Because of the fact that the second ray personality and the physical body are related by similarity of ray, there will also be a clearly pronounced tendency to lay the emphasis upon material inclusiveness and tangible acquisition, and there will, therefore, be found (in this person) an exceedingly selfish and self-centered man. [298] He will not be particularly intelligent, as only his fifth ray mental body relates him definitely and directly to the mind aspect of Deity, whilst his first ray egoic force enables him to use all means to plan for himself, and to use the will aspect to acquire and to attract the material good he desires or thinks he needs. His predominant second ray equipment, however, will eventually bring the higher values into play.

In the higher expression of the same man and when the evolutionary cycle has done its work, we will have a sensitive, intuitive, inclusive disciple whose wisdom has flowered forth, and whose vehicles are outstandingly the channel for divine love.

Many such charts could be drawn up and studied, and many such hypothetical cases could present the basis for occult investigation, for diagram, and for the study of the Law of Correspondences. Students would find it of interest to study themselves in this way, and, in the light of the information given in this Treatise on the Seven Rays, they could formulate their own charts, study what they think may be their own rays and the consequent ray effect in their lives, and thus draw up most interesting charts of their own nature, qualities and characteristics.

It might be of interest to mention the fact that the moment a man becomes an accepted disciple, some such chart is prepared and placed in the hands of his Master. In fact, four such charts are available, for the rays of the personality vary from one cycle of expression to another and necessitate the keeping of the personality chart up to date. The four basic charts are:

1. The chart of a man's expression at the time of his [299] individualization. This is of course a very ancient chart. In it, the rays of the mental body and of the emotional body are most difficult to ascertain as there is so little mental expression or emotional experience. Only the ray of the soul and of the physical body are clearly defined. The other rays are regarded as only suggestive.
   This is the chart of the man who is asleep.
2. The chart of a man's expression when the personality reaches its highest independent point of development; - that is, before the soul has taken over conscious control and is functioning at all dominantly.
   This is the chart of the man who dreams.
3. The chart of a man's expression at that peculiar moment of determining crisis when the soul and personality are at war, when the battle for reorientation is at its highest and the aspirant knows it. He knows that upon the issue of that battle much depends. He is Arjuna upon the field of Kurukshetra.
   This is the chart of the man awakening.
4. The chart of a man's expression during the life wherein the orientation has been altered, the emphasis of the life forces changed, and the man becomes an accepted disciple.

These four charts, depicted or drawn in color according to ray, form the dossier of a disciple, for the Master only deals with general tendencies and never with detail. General trends and predispositions and emphasized characteristics concern Him, and the obvious life patterns.

I would call to your attention the increasing use by the psychologists and thinkers of the race of the word "pattern". It is a word which has a deep occult significance. One of the exercises given to the disciple upon the inner planes is [300] connected with these psychological charts or these life patterns. He is asked to study them with care, all four of them, and then to draw up the pattern which embodies for him the goal as far as he, at his present point of development, can sense it. When he takes the first initiation, then the Master adds another pattern or chart to the dossier of the disciple, and the latter can then study:

1. The chart of his condition at the time he became an accepted disciple.
2. The hypothetical chart which he himself drew up earlier in his training as an accepted disciple.
3. The chart of his general psychological condition at the time he took the first initiation.

By a careful analysis and comparison of the three charts, he can discover the accuracy or the inaccuracy of his own diagnosis, and thus develop a better sense of proportion as to his own mental perception of himself.

It would be interesting later, if students could be set some such task as drawing up an analysis of themselves which could be embodied in a chart, giving the rays that they believe govern their equipment, and stating the reasons for assigning these ray qualities.

When the psychologist of the future employs all the available sciences at his disposal and, at the same time, lays the emphasis upon those sciences which deal with the subjective man and not so predominantly with the objective man (though that should not be omitted) we shall then have a fundamental change in the handling of the human problem or equation. This is today a problem which is seriously confronting and distressing the psychologist, the psychiatrist, the neurologist, the social worker and the humanitarian. [301]

The psychologist will then employ:

1. The modern exoteric science of psychology, with its emphasis upon equipment, upon the glands and their effects, upon dreams and their occasional effect, upon instinctual behavior (which is largely a reaction of the physical body) and upon all the latest conclusions of the investigating material scientists the world over.
2. Esoteric psychology, such as is embodied in this Treatise on the Seven Rays. This indicates the types of energy and the forces which govern, control and determine the varying aspects of the average man's equipment, and condition his consciousness.
3. Astrology, with its indications (little realized as yet) of a man's place "in the sun", and in the general scheme of things. These relate him to the planetary whole and give much information anent the time factors which govern every individual, little as he may think it.

It will be recognized that the astrology with which we are here concerned and which I will later somewhat elaborate, does not deal with the expression of the personality. It is the planetary and racial astrology which Those who work on the inner side, know to be of deep significance. It is the astrology of discipleship and the relation of the stars to the activities of the soul which They regard of importance. It is the astrology of initiation with which They are most profoundly concerned. Though the time is not yet, we shall some day be able to cast the horoscope of the soul, and make more clear to the awakening human being the way that he should go. Of this more anon.

It will also be apparent that, as the relationships of the different aspects of a man's manifested life appear, his seven centers are related to the seven aspects or qualities which [302] embody a man's essential divinity. The following is therefore of interest:

1. The head center - Monad. Life. First aspect.
2. The heart center - Soul. Consciousness. Second aspect.
3. The ajna center - Personality. Substance. Third aspect.

These are the three major centers for the advanced man.

4. The throat center - Mind. The mental aspect and energy.
5. The solar plexus center - Emotion. The astral aspect and energy center.
6. The sacral center - Physical.
7. The center at base of the spine - Life itself. Monadic center.

The latter center is only awakened in its true and final sense at the third initiation. At that time the circle is completed. As was earlier stated, the etheric body is related to the monad and is the exteriorization of the life aspect. It is the etheric body, with all its seven centers, which is swept into activity when the basic center is awakened, and the kundalini fire is aroused. It might be of value to students to point out that frequently when a student is under the impression or belief that the kundalini fire has been aroused in him, all that has really happened is that the energy of the sacral center (i.e. the sex center) is being transmuted and raised to the throat, or that the energy of the solar plexus center is being raised to the heart. Aspirants do, however, love to play with the idea that they have succeeded in arousing the kundalini fire. Many advanced occultists have mistaken the raising of the sacral fire or of the solar plexus force to a position above the diaphragm for the "lifting of the kundalini" and have therefore regarded themselves or others as initiates. Their sincerity has been very real and their mistake an easy one to make. [303]

C. W. Leadbeater frequently made this mistake, yet of his sincerity and of his point of attainment there is no question.

The abstruseness and the difficulty of all of the above is very real and, living as the disciple does in the world of glamor and illusion, it is not easy for the average aspirant to sort out his ideas on these matters, or to see the extent of the subject with the perspective that is necessary. He has to start, first of all, by accepting the premise of the rays, and this he cannot prove, though he may do two things:

1. Correlate the idea of these ray energies with the modern teaching of exoteric science that there is nothing but energy as the underlying substance of all phenomenal appearance.
2. Regard the theory as one which, though as yet for him only an hypothesis, fits the facts as he knows them better than any other. He will then, one can safely predict, eventually change his hypothesis into a living fact, if he studies himself with care. One of the first things a disciple has to learn is that he is, indeed, the microcosm of the macrocosm, and that within himself has to be found the open door to the universe.

What is here presented is of sufficient difficulty and of adequate interest to merit careful consideration.

I wonder if the students have any idea how the ideals I seek to bring to their attention could illumine their lives if they took them into their "brooding consciousness" for the space even of a month. This aspect of consciousness is the correspondence in the soul body to the mother aspect, as it broods over, guards and eventually brings to the birth the Christ aspect. Lives are changed primarily by reflection; qualities are developed by directed conscious thought; [304] characteristics are unfolded by brooding consideration. To all this I call your attention.

I diverged briefly for a moment and took up the subject of the rays of the three bodies of the personality before completing the detail of the outline previously given on the ray of personality. This I did with deliberation, as I was anxious to have clearly established the difference which will be found existing between the rays governing the elemental of the three lower bodies and that of the personality. The life of these three elemental is founded primarily in the three lowest centers in the etheric body:

1. The sacral center - the mental elemental life
   Transferred later to the throat center.
2. The solar plexus center - the astral elemental life.
   Transferred later to the heart center.
3. The center at the base of the spine - the physical elemental life.
   Transferred later to the head center.

The life of the indwelling soul is focused in the three higher centers.

1. The head center - the mental consciousness.
2. The throat center - the creative consciousness.
3. The heart center - the feeling consciousness.

Two important stages in the life of the man take place during the evolutionary process:

First: The stage wherein there comes the first great fusion or "assertion of control" by the soul. At this time the ajna center comes alive. This stage precedes a man's passing on to the Probationary Path and is the stage which distinguishes the average man and woman at this time in the world.

Second: The stage wherein there comes a more definite [305] spiritual awakening. At this time the center at the base of the spine comes into rapport - through its circulating life - with all the centers in the etheric body. This step precedes what is called initiation and signalizes the arousing into activity of the central focus of power at the heart of each of the chakras or etheric lotuses. In all the previous stages, it has been the petals of the various lotuses, chakras or vortices of force which have come into increased motion. At this later stage, the "hub" of the wheel, the "point in the center" or the "heart of the lotus" comes into dynamic action and the whole inner force-body becomes related in all its parts and begins to function harmoniously.

This is of value to remember and upon this the teaching of esoteric psychology is based. We have therefore, three stages of activity spread over a long evolutionary cycle, and differing according to ray and to the karmic conditions engendered.

1. The stage of being alive. This is the earliest and simplest stage wherein the man functions as an elementary human being. During this period all the centers are necessarily active in a slow and rhythmic way. All have a light in them, but it is dim and feeble; all have the three petals (not more) functioning and this the clairvoyant can see. As time goes on all the petals in the centers below the diaphragm become active, but they are not dynamic in the essential sense, nor are they brilliant focal points of light.

2. The stage of the first fusion as related above. Then all the centers have their petals vibrant. They are, at the same time, conditioned by

1. The fact as to whether the drive of the life is above or below the diaphragm. [306]
2. The nature of the particular ray energy.
3. The stage already reached upon the evolutionary way.
4. The type of physical mechanism, which is itself conditioned by the karma of the person and the field of service chosen in any one life.
5. The quality of the aspiration and many other factors.

3. The stage of the second fusion, in which the initiate expresses himself through all the centers and in which both the group of petals and the central point of energy are fully and dynamically alive.

Christ symbolically expressed these three stages for us at the Birth experience, the Transfiguration enlightenment, and the Ascension liberation.

In summarizing, it might be said:

1. At the stage of individualization
   1. The centers throughout the body awaken and begin to function faintly.
   2. The centers below the diaphragm receive the major impact and effect of the incoming life.
   3. Three of the petals in all centers are "awake" and demonstrate activity, quality and light.
2. At the stage of intellection wherein a man is a self-conscious, self-directed being, and a definite personality,
   1. All the petals in all the centers are awake, but the central focal point of each center is quiescent. It glows with a faint light, but there is no true activity.
   2. The centers above the diaphragm, with the exception of the ajna and head centers, are receptive to impact and inflow of life. [307]

3. At the stage of discipleship, when the individuality and the personality are beginning to merge,
   1. The two head centers are becoming increasingly active.
   2. The petals are all vibrant, and the dynamic life of the soul is beginning to sweep the center of the lotus into activity.
   3. The light of the petals in the centers below the diaphragm is beginning to dim, but the center of the lotus is becoming more and more brilliant and living.

All the above process takes much time, and it includes the Path of Probation or Purification and the Path of Discipleship.

4. At the stage of initiation when complete at-one-ment is established.
   1. The four centers above the diaphragm become dominantly active.
   2. The center at the base of the spine comes into awakened activity and the three fires of the matter aspect, of the soul, and of the spirit (fire by friction, solar fire, and electric fire) merge and blend.
   3. All the centers in the body of the initiate can be intensified electrically at will and used simultaneously, or one at a time, according to the demand and the need which must be met by the initiate.

All the above takes place progressively upon the Path of Initiation. This same truth can also be expressed in terms of the rays:

At the stage of Individualization, the rays governing the physical and emotional bodies are dominant. The soul ray is scarcely felt and only flickers with a dim light at the heart of each lotus.

At the stage of Intellection, the ray of the mental body [3o8] comes into activity. This second process is itself divided into two stages:

1. That in which the lower concrete mind is developing.
2. That in which the man becomes an integrated, coordinated person.

At each of these latter two stages, the rays of the lower nature become increasingly powerful. Self-consciousness is developed, and then the personality becomes clearer and clearer, and the three elementals of the lower nature, the force of the so-called "three lunar Lords" (the triple energies of the integrated personality) come steadily under the control of the ray of the personality. At this stage, therefore, four rays are active in the man, four streams of energy make him what he is and the ray of the soul is beginning, though very faintly, to make its presence felt, producing the conflict which all thinkers recognize.

At the stage of Discipleship, the soul ray comes into increased conflict with the personality ray and the great battle of the pairs of opposites begins. The soul ray or energy slowly dominates the personality ray, as it in its turn has dominated the rays of the three lower bodies.

At the stage of Initiation, the domination continues and at the third initiation the highest kind of energy which a man can express in this solar system - that of the monad, begins to control.

At the stage of individualization, a man comes into being; he begins to exist. At the stage of intellection, the personality emerges with clarity and becomes naturally expressive. At the stage of discipleship, he becomes magnetic. At the stage of initiation, he becomes dynamic.

In reference to the pairs of opposites and their conflict, it might be of interest to note the following facts: [309]

Students would do well to bear in mind that there are several pairs of opposites with which they have sequentially to deal. This is a point oft forgotten. Emphasis is usually laid upon the pairs of opposites to be found upon the astral plane, whilst those to be found upon the physical plane and the mental levels are omitted from the recognition of the aspirant. Yet it is essential that these other pairs of opposites receive due recognition.

Etheric energy, focused in an individual etheric body, passes through two stages prior to the period of discipleship:

1. The stage wherein it assimilates the force latent in the dense physical form - the energy of atomic substance, thus producing a definite fusing and blending. This causes the animal nature to conform entirely to the inner impulses - emanating from the world of pranic influence, where the entirely undeveloped man is concerned, and from the lower astral world where the more developed or the average man is concerned. It is this truth which lies behind the statement frequently made that the dense physical body is an automaton.
2. The moment, however, that an inner orientation towards the world of higher values takes place, then the etheric or vital force is brought into conflict with the lowest aspect of man, the dense physical body, and the battle of the lower pair of opposites takes place.

It is interesting to note that it is during this stage that the emphasis is laid upon physical disciplines, upon such controlling factors as total abstinence, celibacy and vegetarianism, and upon physical hygienes and exercises. Through these, the control of the life by the form, the lowest expression of the third aspect of divinity, can be offset and the man set free for the true battle of the pairs of opposites. [310]

This second battle is the true kurukshetra and is fought out in the astral nature, between the pairs of opposites which are distinctive of our solar system, just as the physical pairs of opposites are distinctive of the past solar system. From one interesting angle, the battle of the opposites upon the lower spiral (in which the physical body in its dual aspect is concerned) can be seen taking place in the animal kingdom. In this process, human beings act as the agents of discipline (as the Hierarchy in its turn acts towards the human family) and the domestic animals, forced to conform to human control, are wrestling (even if unconsciously from our point of view) with the problem of the lower pairs of opposites. Their battle is fought out through the medium of the dense physical body and the etheric forces, and in this way a higher aspiration is brought into being. This produces in time the experience which we call individualization, wherein the seed of personality is sown. On the human battlefield, the kurukshetra, the higher aspect of the soul begins to operate and eventually to dominate, producing the process of divine-human integration which we call initiation. Students might find it of use to ponder upon this thought.

When an aspirant reaches that point in his evolution wherein the control of the physical nature is an urgent necessity, he recapitulates in his own life this earlier battle with the lower pairs of opposites, and begins to discipline his dense physical nature.

Making a sweeping generalization, it might be stated that, for the human family en masse, this dense-etheric conflict was fought out in the world war, which was the imposition of a tremendous test and discipline. We should ever remember that our tests and disciplines are self-imposed and grow out of our limitations and opportunities. The result of this test was the passing on to the Path of Probation of a very large [311] number of human beings, owing to the purging and the purification to which they had been subjected. This purificatory process in some measure prepared them for the prolonged conflict upon the astral plane which lies ahead of all aspirants, prior to achieving the goal of initiation. It is the "Arjuna" experience which lies definitely ahead of many today. This is an interesting point upon which to think and reflect; it holds much of mystery and of difficulty in the sequence of human unfoldment. The individual aspirant is prone to think only in terms of himself, and of his individual tests and trials, He must learn to think in terms of the mass activity, and the preparatory effect where humanity, as a whole is concerned. The world war was a climaxing point in the process of "devitalizing" the world maya, as far as humanity is concerned. Much force was released and exhausted, and much energy also was expended. Much was consequently clarified.

Many people are occupied today, in their individual lives, with exactly the same process and conflict. On a tiny scale, that which was worked out in the world war is being worked out in their lives. They are busy with the problems of maya. Hence today we find an increasing emphasis upon the physical cultures, disciplines, and upon the vogue for physical training, which finds its expression in the world of sport, in athletic exercises, military training and preparation for the Olympic Games. These latter are in themselves an initiation. In spite of all the wrong motives and the terrible and evil effects (speaking again with a wide generalization), the training of the body and organized physical direction (which is taking place today in connection with the youth of all nations) is preparing the way for millions to pass upon the Path of Purification. Is this a hard saying? Humanity is under right direction, e'en if, during a brief interlude, they misunderstand the process and apply wrong motives to right activities. [312]

There is a higher duality to which it is necessary that we refer. There is, for the disciples, the duality which becomes obvious when the Dweller on the Threshold and the Angel of the Presence face each other. This constitutes the final pair of opposites.

The Dweller on the Threshold is oft regarded as a disaster, as a horror to be avoided, and as a final and culminating evil. I would here remind you, nevertheless, that the Dweller is "one who stands before the gate of God", who dwells in the shadow of the portal of initiation, and who faces the Angel of the Presence open-eyed, as the ancient Scriptures call it. The Dweller can be defined as the sum total of the forces of the lower nature as expressed in the personality, prior to illumination, to inspiration and to initiation. The personality per se, is, at this stage, exceedingly potent, and the Dweller embodies all the psychic and mental forces which, down the ages, have been unfolded in a man and nurtured with care. It can be looked upon as the potency of the threefold material form, prior to its conscious cooperation and dedication to the life of the soul and to the service of the Hierarchy, of God, and of humanity.

The Dweller on the Threshold is all that a man is, apart from the higher spiritual self; it is the third aspect of divinity as expressed in and through the human mechanism. This third aspect must be eventually subordinated to the second aspect, the soul.

The two great contrasting forces, the Angel and the Dweller, are brought together - face to face - and the final conflict takes place. Again, you will note, that it is a meeting and battle between another and a higher pair of opposites. The aspirant, therefore, has three pairs of opposites with which to deal as he progresses towards light and liberation: [313]

The Pairs of Oppsites

1. Upon the physical plane - The dense and etheric forces.
   These are faced upon the Path of Purification.
2. Upon the astral plane - The well-known dualities.
   These are faced upon the Path of Discipleship.
3. Upon the mental plane - The Angel of the Presence and the Dweller on the Threshold.
   These are faced upon the Path of Initiation.

B.I.2. Development and Alignment of the Bodies

After these preliminary remarks, we can come now to a study of the previous tabulation in connection with the method whereby the soul appropriates the various bodies, how they are developed and interrelated, and finally how coordination and alignment is brought about. The last part of the tabulation was outlined in such a manner the many of the problems facing the psychologist at this time can be dealt with from an esoteric angle, and perhaps some light on these problems may then be forthcoming.

In the current occult literature, the careful student will come to the conclusion that the emphasis has been laid upon the process whereby the ego or soul draws to itself the form, utilizing for that purpose a mental unit and two permanent atoms, thus anchoring itself in three worlds of human experience. The matter, or rather the substance aspect has been the subject of immediate importance. Hence this subject was covered in my earlier books which are intended to aid in the bridging process between the older "techniques of understanding" and the esotericism which the new age will sponsor. We should, however, bear in mind two things:

1. That such terms as "mental unit", "permanent atom", etc., [314] are simply symbolic ways of expressing a difficult truth. The truth is that the soul is active on all the three lower planes, and that it is a type of energy, functioning in a field of force, thus producing an activity of some kind.
2. That the permanent atoms are not really atoms at all, but simply focal points of energy, which are of sufficient power to attract and hold coherently together the substance required by the soul with which to create a form of expression.

The soul itself is a major center of experience in the life of the monad; the lower bodies are centers of expression in the life of the soul. As the consciousness of the man shifts continuously into the higher bodies through which expression can become possible, the soul gradually becomes the paramount center of experience in consciousness and the lesser centers of experience (the lower bodies) assume less and less importance. The soul experiences less through them, but uses them increasingly in service.

This same thought must be carried into our concept of the soul as a center of consciousness. The soul uses the bodies in the earlier stages of evolution as centers of conscious experience, and upon them and upon the experience is the emphasis laid. But as time progresses, the man becomes more soul-conscious and the consciousness which he experiences (as a soul in the three bodies) is of decreasing importance, until finally the bodies become simply instruments of contact through which the soul comes into understanding relationship with the world of the physical plane, of the feeling, sentient levels, and with the world of thought.

In considering, therefore, the section with which we are now concerned, it is essential for right understanding and eventual psychological usefulness, that we remember [315] constantly that we shall be talking always in terms of consciousness and of soul energy, and are only dealing with sentient substance from the point of view of its usefulness in terms of time and space, or of manifestation. In thinking of the focal points of soul energy upon the mental, astral and physical planes, we will not think of the permanent atoms as material centers, or as germs of form, which is the prevailing idea. We will think of them simply as an expression - attractive or magnetic in quality as the case may be - of soul energy, playing upon energies which have in them the quality of responsiveness to the positive aspects of energy with which they are brought in contact. In elucidating this most difficult problem it might be said that the problems of psychology fall into two major groups:

1. A group of difficulties wherein the psychologist has to deal with those people whose vehicles of expression, as centers for the gaining of experience, are not adequately responsive to their environment for the creative, indwelling soul. When this is the case, the centers in the etheric body are diversely but only partially awakened, and the glandular system, therefore, is correspondingly mediocre and irregular.
2. Another group of difficulties concerns those human beings whose vehicles of expression, as centers of experience, are over-developed and over-stimulated without adequate conscious control by the soul. This development is, at this time, primarily focused in the astral body, leading to over-sensitivity of the solar plexus center or of the throat center, and occasioning consequent difficulty. Much of the thyroid instability of the present time is based upon this.

There is a third class of difficulties which concern those who [316] are on the Path of Discipleship, but these we will not consider here. In these latter cases there is an abnormal over-sensitivity in the vehicles, the rush of force through from the soul, via the centers, presents real difficulty, and responsiveness to the environment is over-developed in many cases.

These conditions are governed, as will be recognized, by the point in evolution, the ray type, the quality of past karma, and the present family, national and racial inherited characteristics. As we study, let us bear clearly in mind that it is the soul as a center of consciousness and the vehicles as centers of experience with which we are concerning ourselves. We should seek to eliminate from our minds the more material connotations which past teachings have emphasized. Annie Besant in her Study in Consciousness sought to avoid the error of materialism and to voice a real vision of the truth, but words themselves are limiting things and oft veil and hide the truth. Her book, therefore, is of definite value. Remember also that a man's consciousness is first of all, and usually, centered sequentially in the three bodies, and the centers of experience for him are primarily the field of his consciousness. He is identified for long with the field of experience and not with the real self. He has not yet identified himself with the conscious subject, or with the One Who is aware, but as time goes on, his center of identification shifts, and he becomes less interested in the field of experience and more aware of the soul as the conscious, thinking Individual.

The comprehension of each of us will depend upon where we each, as individuals, lay the emphasis, and where we are awake and alive, and of what we are conscious. When we have achieved the experience of the third initiation and are no longer identified with the vehicles of expression, then - on a higher turn of the spiral - another shift in the life expression and experience will take place. Then neither the center [317] of experience, the soul, nor the vehicles of expression, the lower threefold man, will be considered from the angle of consciousness at all. The Life aspect will supersede all others. Of what use is it for us to discuss this stage when for many of us, as yet, the lower expressions of divine manifestations are dominant (or should one say "rampant"?) and even the soul fails to assume vital control?

It was for this reason (when giving the earlier tabulation) that the words "building psychologically" were used, with the intent to direct the attention of the student to the soul or psyche as the building agency, but at the same time to negate or offset the material concept of body-building. Occultism is the science of energy manipulation, of the attractive or the repulsive aspect of force, and it is with this that we shall concern ourselves.

In this soul activity is to be found the source or the germ of all the experiences which - on the physical plane today - are recognized and considered by the psychologist. In this thought is to be found the fact that there is no difficulty in the vehicles of expression but finds its correspondence and higher truth in the center of experience which we call the soul.

Take, for instance, the emphasis which is laid by certain psychologists upon the idea that all that we have inherited of truth (the idea of God, the concept of a future heaven, the ancient and exploded (?) belief around which the thoughts of men have superstitiously centered) are only the outer expression or formulations of a hidden "wish life." This wish life is, we are told, based upon an inner and often hidden and unrealized sense of frustration, of disillusionment, of trouble; all the ideas which the race has prized down the ages and whereby most of its nobler souls have lived, are founded on illusion. With the formulation of these various "wish-fulfilments" [318] in the life of the individual, with the fact that they lead to many difficulties and strains and stresses which require careful adjustment, and with the belief that in these concepts is mixed much of a childish superstition, the Teachers upon the inner side would find Themselves in hearty agreement in many cases. But They make the following reservation. They state that the centers of expression through which the soul gains needed experience and becomes conscious in worlds of being, otherwise unknown, have come into manifestation as the result of the "wish" or the desire of the soul. It is the "wish-life" of the soul and not the frustrations of the personality which have brought about the situation with which man is today contending. Therefore, the emerging into the public consciousness (through the teaching of certain schools of psychologists) of knowledge anent this wish life and its increasing prevalence is definitely founded upon the fact that humanity is becoming soul-conscious and, therefore, slowly becoming aware of the wishes of the soul. But as man's basic identifications remain as yet in the centers of expression and not in the center of experience - the soul, there is an unavoidable, though temporary, distortion of the truth.

We can approach another psychological problem in the same manner. Much is being written today which is the result of the development of the science of psychoanalysis. This is the problem of what is commonly called a "split personality". This division in the continuity of consciousness (for that is what it basically is) takes many forms and sometimes produces more than simply a duality. The great expression of the continuity of desire is voiced for us by Paul, the initiate, in The Epistle to the Romans where he refers to the constant battle between the will-to-good and the will-to-evil, as it takes place within the periphery of consciousness of a human being. From certain angles this passage is prophetic, for the writer (perhaps [319] unknowingly) was looking forward to that period in the evolution of mankind when the "battle of the opposites" would be waged in its full strength, both individually and within all nations and races. Such a time is now upon us. As far as the individual is concerned, the psychologist is attempting to deal with the problem. As far as the race is concerned, the great social, philanthropic, political and religious movements are equally concerned with the same problem. This should be of interest to all for it indicates that the planetary kurukshetra is now being fought out and, therefore, that present affairs must be viewed from the angle of a basic psychology, which is expressive - in time and space - of that great center of soul expression which we call the human family. It indicates also the advanced point of attainment in consciousness upon the path of evolution. When the battle is successfully fought, and there is a realization in consciousness of the nature of the issue involved (and such an awareness is most rapidly developing), then we shall have a bridging of the gap and the fusing of the fundamental pairs of opposites (the soul and the form). This will bring in the new era of spiritual attainment or of soul contact.

The thought which should be dominant in our minds today, in order that we may rightly understand the correct use of this whole section is simply this: that the right appropriation of form by the soul is the result of an initial wish or desire. It is the result of a fundamental outgoing impulse on the part of the center of energy. This tendency outwards is expressed in many differing words or expressions in the literature of the world, such as:

1. The desire to manifest.
2. The creative impulse.
3. The evolutionary urge. [320]
4. The wish to incarnate.
5. The attraction of the pairs of opposites. This is positive energy having an attractive effect upon negative energy.
6. The outgoing tendency.
7. The fall of man.
8. The "sons of God came in unto the daughters of men". (The Bible)
9. The "corn of wheat falling into the ground".

Many such expressions can be found, having in them symbolic quality and which are not to be interpreted literally, or with a physical connotation. Each idea, however, involves a duality, and the concept that there is "that which is manifesting through the form of the manifest". This is "the soul and the form", and many other similar phrases are familiar to all of us.

I would urge you to preserve, as far as possible, the thought of the psychological implications, considering this whole section from the angle in sentiency, for in sentiency (as you well know) lies the entire psychological problem. It is always and in every case the problem of response to environment and opportunity, and in this idea lies much for the esoteric psychologist. In sensitive awareness lies the secret of progress for the psyche, and also the secret of the many states of consciousness which the sentient or feeling factor, the soul, experiences on the path of evolution as it expands

1. The sphere of its contacts,
2. The range of its influence,
3. The field of its conscious activity.

I have expressed these three in the order of their appearance.

We are apt to consider these appearances from the point of view of man upon the physical plane. It is necessary to [321] consider them from the point of view of the soul and the process of experiencing. This is an angle of vision which is only truly possible to the man who is beginning to function as a soul.

It is here that the ray nature of any specific soul is first of all brought into activity, for its coloring, tone, quality and its basic vibration determine psychologically the color, tone, quality and basic vibration of the mind-energy demonstrated. It conditions the sentient form attracted and the vital body which constitutes the attractive agency upon the physical plane, drawing to itself the type of negative energy or substance through which the quality, tone or vibration of the specific center of experience can be expressed, and the environment contacted. In the early stages of manifestation, it is the nature of the form or of the vehicle which dominates and is the outstanding characteristic. The nature of quality, of the underlying soul, is not apparent. Then the form or vehicle is sentient in two directions: outwards towards the environment, which leads (as evolution proceeds) to the perfecting of the vehicle, and inwards towards the higher progressive impulse, which leads to the definite expansion of consciousness. These higher impulses are progressive in their appearance. It might, in this connection be stated that:

1. The physical nature becomes responsive to
   1. Desire,
   2. Ambition,
   3. Aspiration.

The fusion of the sentient, astral body and the physical body then becomes complete.

2. This basic duality then becomes responsive to
   1. The lower concrete mind, [322]
   2. The separative impulses of the selfish mental body,
   3. The intellect, the synthesis of mind and instinct,
   4. The prompting of the soul.

This produces an integration of the three energies which constitute the threefold lower man.

3. This triplicity then becomes responsive to
   1. Itself, as an integrated personality. Then the rhythm set up by the fusion of the lower energies (the astral and the mental) becomes dominant.
   2. The Soul, as the fundamental center of experience. The personality gets a vision of its destiny, which is to be an instrument of a higher force.
   3. The intuition.
   4. The source of inspiration, the monad.

A few students may get the symbolic significance of the process, if they grasp the fact that, in the earlier stages upon the evolutionary path, the Monad is the source of the exhalation or of the expiration which brought the soul into being upon the physical plane: upon the Path of Return, with which we are concerned in the latter stage, the Monad is the source of inhalation or of the inspiration.

In the process of exhalation or of the breathing-out, a certain type of divine energy focused itself as a center of experience in that type of sentient substance which we call higher mental matter. This eventually formed that aspect of man which we call the soul. In its turn, the soul continued in this process of exhalation or breathing-out, initiated by the monad, or the One Life. The energy thus sent forth forms centers of experience in the three worlds through the process of "attractive appropriation" of qualified material or substance. Through these centers, the needed experience is gained, the life process [323] is intensified, the range of experience through contact with an ever-widening environment becomes possible, leading to successive expansions of consciousness which are called initiations in the later stages, when consciously undergone and definitely self-initiated. Thus the field of soul influence is steadily enlarged. Whilst this soul activity is proceeding, a paralleling activity in the material substance is going on, which steadily brings the negative aspect of matter or substance up to the positive requirements of the soul. The vehicles of expression, the mechanism of manifestation and the centers for experience improve as the consciousness widens and deepens.

From the standpoint of psychology, this means that the glandular equipment, the physical apparatus, and the response instrument become increasingly efficient, whilst an inner coordination and integration proceeds apace. The dilemma of the psychologist today is largely due to the fact that the law of rebirth is not yet recognized scientifically or among the intelligentsia. He is therefore faced with the problems of the inequalities in the physical equipment, everywhere prevalent. There is a widespread failure to recognize the underlying cause which is responsible for the "appearance", for the mechanism. There is, therefore, no scientific proof (as the word is understood at this time) of the , field of experience. There is - in time and space - no synthesis (esoterically understood) permitted, but simply the isolated appearance of a human being, making up hosts of human beings, variously equipped, greatly limited by that equipment, and faced also with an environment which seems antagonistic, lacking inner synthesis, coordination and integration, except in the case of the highly intelligent and deeply spiritual people, those who are definitely functioning souls. For these latter, the average psychologist has no adequate explanation. [324]

The integration of an individual into his environment is proceeding apace, and the psychological adjustment of man to his field of experience will steadily improve. Upon this, humanity can count, and to this, the history of man's development as a knowing being testifies. But the integration of the human being into time has not been accomplished and even this statement will be little understood. Man's origin and his goal remain largely unconsidered, and he is studied from the angle of this one short life, and from the point of view of his present equipment. Until he is integrated into time as well as into his environment and until the Law of Rebirth is admitted as the most likely hypothesis, there will be no real understanding of the process of evolution, of the relationships of individuals, and the nature of the unfoldment of the equipment. There will be no true wisdom. Knowledge comes, as the individual integrates into his environment. Wisdom comes as he becomes coordinated into the processes of time. The mechanism is related to the environment, and is the apparatus of contact and the means through which the experiencing soul arrives at a full awareness of the field of knowledge. This soul is the identity which is time-conscious in the true sense of the word, and which views the period of manifestation as a whole, gaining thus a sense of proportion, an understanding of values and an inner sense of synthesis.

Little by little the triple mechanism is developed and the center of experience expands in knowledge. Today this knowledge is of a very high order, and the world is full of personalities. Supplementing our earlier definitions, a personality might be simply defined as:

1. An equipment which is becoming adequate in three directions of contact. The experiencing soul can now begin to use the instrument effectively. [325]
2. An expression of the creative power of the soul which is ready to transmute knowledge into wisdom.
3. An incarnate soul, which is now ready to work consciously with the time factor, for, having learned how to work with the factor of environment, the soul can now begin to control circumstances and environment from the standpoint of time. This means, in the first instance, the right use of time and opportunity and then the establishing of continuity of consciousness.

It is not my intention to deal with the building of the various bodies. I seek here to generalize and to take up the theme from the point of attainment of modern humanity. Hints are given in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire which, if duly studied, will serve to elucidate the early problem of the soul's impulse to creation. We will, therefore, accept the fact of the initial creation of the forms, based upon the wish or desire to manifest, and proceed with our theme along the idea of experience, expression, and expansion, dealing with modern man and his problems from the standpoint of the psychological development of his problems.

B.I.3. Interrelations of the Personality Life

In dealing now with the esoteric aspect of the appropriation of the vehicles through which a manifesting Son of God can express himself, it is impossible to avoid the use of some form of symbolic rendering of words. So long, however, as the student remembers that they are symbolic, there is no real danger of a basic misunderstanding. The analytical, intelligent mind uses forms of speech in order to limit the concept intuited within terms which can be comprehended, and abstract ideas are thereby brought down to the level of the understanding. [326]

We have seen that our major consideration must be that of the soul as a center of consciousness and of the bodies as a center of experience, and with this postulate we lay the foundation for our future psychological investigations. We are not here dealing with the question of why this is so, or of how it may have come about. We accept the statement as basic and fundamental, and take our stand upon the premise that the nature of life in the world is experience-gaining, because we see this happening around us on every side and can note it occurring in our own lives.

We can divide people into three groups:

1. Those who are unconsciously gaining experience, but are at the same time so engrossed with the processes of the results of experiencing, that they remain unaware of the deeper objectives.
2. Those who are dimly awakening to the fact that adaptation to the ways of living to which they are subjected, and from which there seems no escape, means for them the learning of some lesson which
   1. Enriches their lives, usually in the practical and material sense.
   2. Intensifies their sensitive perception.
   3. Permits of the development of quality and the steady acquiring of characteristics, facilities and capacities.
3. Those who are awakened to the purpose of experience, and who are consequently bringing to every event an intelligent power to extract from the happenings to which they are subjected some gain to the life of the soul. They have learnt to regard the environment in which they find themselves as the place of purification and the field of their planned service. [327]

This is a rough and broad generalization, but it accounts for human experience and consequent attitudes in the three major groupings.

It is of interest to bear in mind that the process of the appropriation of the bodies, presents similar stages with respect to the evolution of the form and to the evolution of the indwelling life. In the history of the material aspect of manifestation, there have been (as the occult books teach) the following stages:

1. The stage of involution, or of appropriation, and of construction of the vehicles of expression upon the downward arc, where the emphasis is upon the building, growth and appropriation of the bodies, and not so much upon the indwelling, conscious Entity.
2. The stage of evolution, or of refinement and the development of quality, leading to liberation upon the upward arc.

It is the same in the psychological history of the human being. There too we find a somewhat similar process, divided into two stages, marking the involution and the evolution of consciousness.

Hitherto in the occult books (as I earlier pointed out) the emphasis has been upon the development of the form side of life, and upon the nature and quality of that form as it responds, upon different levels of the planetary life, to the impact of the environment in the early stages and to the impress of the soul at the later stages. In this Treatise with which we are now engaged, our primary aim is to point out the effect upon the soul of the experiences undergone in the bodies, and the process whereby the consciousness aspect of divinity is expanded, culminating as it does in what is technically called an initiation. Each of the two major divisions [328] of this process - involution and evolution - could be divided into six definite expansions of consciousness. Those upon the upward arc differ from those upon the downward arc in objective and motive and in scope, and are essentially sublimations of the lower aspects of the unfoldment of consciousness. These six stages might be called:

1. The stage of Appropriation.
2. The stage of Aspiration.
3. The stage of Approach.
4. The stage of Appearance.
5. The stage of Activity.
6. The stage of Ambition.

Each stage, when at its height of expression, involves a period of crisis. This crisis precedes the unfoldment of the next stage in the conscious awakening of man. We here are viewing Man as a conscious thinker, and not man as a member of the fourth kingdom in nature. Ponder upon this distinction, for it marks the points of emphasis and the focus of the identification.

In the first stage of appropriation, we have the soul or the conscious thinker (the divine son of God, or manasaputra) doing three things:

1. Consciously registering the desire to incarnate. This is the will to exist or the will-to-be upon the physical plane.
2. Consciously focusing attention on the processes involved in the decision to "make an appearance".
3. Consciously taking the necessary steps to appropriate the needed substance through which to appear and thereby satisfy the demand for existence.

With these processes, formulated as theories, we are familiar. The speculations and pronouncements of teachers [329] everywhere, and down the ages, have familiarized us with the many symbolic ways of dealing with these matters. Upon them there is no need to enlarge. The whole series of events involved in the decision are to be considered here only from the angle of consciousness and of a defined involutionary procedure.

The second stage of aspiration concerns the aspiration or the desire of the soul to appear, and brings the consciousness down on to what we call the astral plane. The inclination of the soul is towards that which is material. We must not forget this fact. We have been apt to regard aspiration as the consummation or the transmutation of desire. However, in the last analysis, it might be said that aspiration is the basis or root of all desire and that we have only used the word "desire" to signify aspiration which has a natural object in the consciousness of man, confining the word "aspiration" to that transmuted desire which makes the soul the fixed objective in the life of the man in incarnation. But all phases of desire are essentially forms of aspiration and, on the involutionary arc, aspiration shows itself as the desire of the soul to experience in consciousness those processes which will make it conscious and dynamic in the world of human affairs.

When this conscious realization is established and the soul has appropriated a form upon the mental plane through the will to exist, and one also upon the astral plane through aspiration, then the third stage of approach takes place upon etheric levels. The consciousness becomes focused there, preparatory to the intense crisis of "appearing", and there takes place what might be regarded as a ranging or a gathering of all the forces of the consciousness in order to force the issue and thus emerge into manifestation. This is a vital moment in consciousness; it is a period of vital preparation for a great spiritual event - the coming into incarnation of a son of God. [330] This involves the taking of a dense physical body which will act either as a complete prison for the soul or as a "form for revelation", as it has been called, in the cases of those advanced men whom we regard as the revealed sons of God.

The crisis of approach is one of the most important and one of the least understood of the various stages. Students should find it of interest to make a comparative study of the approaches which have previously been mentioned in connection with such episodes in human history as those occurring at the time of the Wesak Full Moon. There is a close underlying relationship between the approaches upon the path of involution and those upon the path of evolution, and also between those taken by an individual and those by a group.

Then, when the gathering of forces during the stage of approach is consummated, the fourth stage takes place, that of appearance, and the man emerges into the light of day and runs his little cycle upon the physical plane, developing increased sensitivity in consciousness, through the medium of experience gained through the processes of life in a physical body. After appearing in form, he becomes (with each new appearance) increasingly active and alive and awake, and the stage of activity grows in intensity until the consciousness of the man is swept by ambition.

The two final stages of activity and of ambition are those covered by the ordinary man and dealt with by the ordinary psychologist. This is itself of interest, because it shows how very little of the life of the real man, of the conscious thinking Being is touched by the orthodox, exoteric psychologist. The four stages of man's development which lie behind his active appearance upon the physical plane are not considered at all. The intensity of the process of approach which preceded that appearance is not dealt with, yet it is basically a determining factor. But this activity upon the physical plane [331] and the nature of his desire life (which is only translated into terms of ambition later on in his life experience) are the dominant factors to be considered. It is, of course, exceedingly difficult for there to be a true understanding of man until the theory of rebirth is admitted and man is accounted for in terms of a long preceding history. In this age of intensest separative thinking and attitudes, it is the individual life of the individual man, separate in time and space from all that has gone before, and from all that surrounds him in the present, which is considered as of importance and as constituting a man. Man, as an expression of a soul process, is not dealt with in any way.

Thus we have the stages succeeding each other from the initial appropriation upon the mental plane until the man, in consciousness, has worked his way down through the planes and back again to the mental plane, which brings him to the stage of the coordination of the personality, and the emergence into full expression of what we call the personality ray. Life after life takes place. Again and again, the soul incarnates and, in consciousness, passes through the stages outlined above. But gradually a higher sense of values supervenes; there comes a period when desire for material experience and for ambitious personality satisfactions begins to fade out; newer and better values and higher standards of thought and desire begin slowly to appear.

The consciousness aspect then passes through all the stages upon which we have touched but in reverse order, and this time upon the upward arc, corresponding to the evolutionary stage in the great cycle of natural processes, concerned with the form life. It expands slowly from the consciousness of ambition through activity and the succeeding unfoldments, to the stage of approach to the divine reality upon the mental plane and that of the final appropriation, wherein [332] the consciousness of man, becomes merged in that of the soul upon its own level, and finally appropriates in full awareness (if one can use so paradoxical a phrase) the One.

When the consciousness of the soul, incarnate in a human form, arrives at a realization of the futility of material ambition, it marks a high stage of personality integration and precedes a period of change or of a shift in activity. During this second stage upon the Path of Return, the shift of the consciousness is away from the physical body altogether, into the etheric or vital body, and from thence into the astral body. There duality is sensed and the battle of the pairs of opposites takes place. The disciple makes his appearance as Arjuna. Only after the battle and only when Arjuna has made his fateful decisions, is it possible for him to make his approach upon the mental plane to the soul. This he does by

1. Realizing himself as a soul and not as the form. This involves a process of what is called "divine reflection", which works out in two ways. The soul now begins definitely to reject the form, and the man, through whom the soul is experiencing and expressing itself, is himself rejected by the world in which he lives.
2. Discovering the group to which he belongs, blocking his way of approach until he discovers the way of approach by service.
3. Identifying himself with his group upon his own ray and so earning the right to make his approach, because he has learnt the lesson that "he travels not alone".

Then comes that peculiar stage of transcendent aspiration, wherein desire for individual experience is lost and only the longing to function as a conscious part of the greater Whole remains. Then and only then can the conscious soul appropriate the "body of light and of splendor, the expression of [333] the glory of the One" which, when once assumed, makes all future incarnations in the three worlds impossible, except as an act of the spiritual will. The significance of the above may be found difficult of comprehension for it is one of the mysteries of a higher initiation.

Therefore, it will be seen that we begin and we end with an expansion of consciousness. The first one led to the inclusion of the material world, and the second one includes or appropriates, consciously and intelligently, the spiritual world. We see the desire consciousness transmuted into aspiration for the spiritual realities and the focused, vital approach to the kingdom of God. We see the appearance on the physical plane of the imprisoned consciousness, limited and confined for purposes of defined, intelligent development, within an evolving form, and the final emergence upon the mental plane of the enriched, released consciousness into the full freedom of the Mind of God. We see the activity of the conscious mind of man slowly expanding and intensifying, until it becomes the activity of the illumined mind, reflecting the divine consciousness of the soul. We see the ambition of the conscious man transformed at first into the spiritual ambition of the pledged disciple and finally into the expression of the Will of God or of the Monad, in the initiate.

Thus the three aspects of divinity are released upon earth through the medium of an incarnated and fully developed consciousness, that of a Son of God. From the conscious appropriation of form back again to the conscious appropriation of divinity is the work carried forward and the plan of Deity worked out. Laying the ground, as we are now proposing to do, for the study of integration in connection with the human being, it will not be necessary for us to deal in detail with the many phases of the various stages we have been considering. Thousands of human beings, indeed perhaps millions, will [334] be found on our planet, at any one time, who will illustrate in their lives and activities some one point or other upon the downward or the upward arc. For the majority, the expert assistance of the modern trained educator and psychologist, the churchman or the physician, will suffice to give the needed aid, particularly when three happenings eventuate, which will inevitably be the case before so many decades have gone by:

1. These four types of experts - educators, psychologists, churchmen and physicians - will work in conjunction with each other, and each will place his skill and his peculiar point of view and interpretation of conditions at the disposal of his fellow workers.
2. The fact of the soul will be admitted as a reasonable hypothesis, and the fact that there may be an indwelling entity, seeking to control in some measure the mechanism, will also be accepted.
3. The Law of Rebirth will be regarded as a law in nature, and place will be given in the thoughts of these four groups of human helpers, for a man's past and his rapidly developing future.

In this Treatise, we are considering those more advanced people who constitute the intelligentsia of the world, who are beginning to use the mind, who are upon the probationary path, or who are nearing the Path of Discipleship. When this is the case (and it seldom occurs before, unless to the eye of the initiate) the personalities are so refined that the personality ray and the egoic ray permit of analysis and definition. Until there is sufficient pronounced development to allow of a true diagnosis, it is not possible to say definitely what is the ray of the personality. The defining of the egoic ray comes later still and can only be surmised at first from the nature of [335] the conflict of which the personality is aware, based as it will be on a growing sense of duality. It will also be capable of expert diagnosis from certain physical and psychical characteristics which indicate the quality of the higher nature of the person concerned, and also through a study of the type of a man's group affiliations as they begin to appear upon the physical plane. A man who - being, through personality predilection, a creative artist - suddenly takes a deep and profound interest in mathematics, might be inferred to be coming under the influence of a second ray soul; or a man, whose whole personality was definitely upon the sixth ray of fanatical idealism or devotion to an object of his idealism, and who had functioned during life as a religious devotee, and who then switched the center of his life interest into scientific investigation, might be, therefore, responding to a fifth ray soul impression.

We shall, therefore, study the process of coordination and the methods whereby two great integrations take place:

1. The integration of the personality, or the means whereby the consciousness of the person
   1. Shifts out of one body into another, so that a definite expansion of consciousness takes place.
   2. Begins to be active in all the three personality vehicles simultaneously.
2. The integration of the personality and the soul so that the soul can
   1. Function through any one body at will, or
   2. Function through all the three bodies which constitute the personality simultaneously.

This will lead us to confine ourselves to the study of the more advanced or pronounced types, which are primarily the [336] mystic, the aspirant, the notable people, and those who constitute the people with psychological problems of our present time and period.

Step by step, the various bodies have been developed, utilized, refined and organized; step by step the sensory apparatus of man has been sensitized and used, until the world today is full of men and women whose response apparatus, and whose instruments of contact are as far removed in effectiveness from those of primitive man as are the vehicles of the average modern man from those of the Christ and the Buddha, with Their immensely wide range of subjective and divine awareness. Step by step, the unfoldment of the nervous system has paralleled that of the inner psychical apparatus, and the glandular equipment has faithfully reflected that of the great centers of force, with their inter-connecting lines of energy. Step by step, the consciousness of man has shifted from:

1. That of the purely animal, with its emphasis upon the natural physical appetites, into that of the vital, personal being, responding to the impacts of an environment which he does not intelligently understand but in which he finds himself. This is the primitive and so-called savage state of consciousness and lies far behind us today, in a distant racial history. This primitive stage saw the birth of that religious direction to which we give the name of animism.
2. That of a vital, primitive being into that state of consciousness which is colored almost entirely by desire for material satisfaction. This in time transmutes itself into that of an emotional response to the environing conditions, leading thus to an intensified "wish-life", a development of the imaginative faculty. It ends finally in the production of the Mystic, with his aspiration, his sense of [337] duality, and his reaching out after God, plus an intense devotion to an ideal of some kind or another.
3. That of the vital, emotional, desire emphasis and state of longing into that of a mental consciousness, - intelligent, enquiring, intellectually sensitive, responsive to thought currents and reacting with increasing steadiness, vigor and sensitivity to the impact of ideas.
4. That of one or another of these states of consciousness, alternating in their emphasis, or predominantly active in some one or other of these lower aspects, to that of integrated personality, selfishly occupied with self-emphasis, self-interest, self-expression, and so demonstrating as a great or intrepid individual, demonstrating power and purpose in a world which he exploits for his own selfish ends.

When this stage is reached, the focus of the life is predominantly material, and the man is ambitious, effective, and powerful. Yet there slowly arises in him a divine discontent; the savor of his life experience and enterprises begins to prove unsatisfactory. Another shift in consciousness takes place, and he reaches out - at first unconsciously and later consciously - to the life and significance of a dimly sensed reality. The soul is beginning to make its presence felt, and to grip in a different sense than hitherto, and in a more active manner, its vehicles of expression and of service.

In this summary, we have sketched the broad general outlines of the process. It will be obvious that there will be gradations in the process and men will be found on earth at every stage of consciousness. One will be equipped with vehicles in which the emphasis is upon the sensory life. In some cases there will be found a consciousness which is shifting its emphasis out of one vehicle into another, and so [338] becoming awake and more inclusive in its range of contacts and in its awareness. Others again will be possessed of a consciousness which is organizing itself for full expression as a man, as an integrated personality and as a worker for material ends, bringing to bear upon those objectives all the force and power of an integrated functioning person. There will be those whose consciousness is gradually awakening to a new and higher sense of values, and is slowly at first and more rapidly as facility is acquired, shifting its focus of attention out of the world of material, selfish living into that of true spiritual realities.

Little by little, the consciousness of the third aspect of divinity is coordinated with that of the second, and the Christ consciousness is aroused into activity through the medium of experience in form. Man begins to add to the gained personality experience of the three worlds of human endeavor, the intuitive spiritual perception which is the heritage of those who are awake within the kingdom of God. Paralleling this development of the consciousness in man is the evolution of the instruments whereby that consciousness is brought en rapport with a rapidly expanding world of sensory perception, of intellectual concepts and of intuitive recognitions. With the development of this form aspect we will not concern ourselves, beyond pointing out that, as the consciousness shifts from one body to another and its range of contacts, therefore, steadily expands, the centers in man's etheric body (three below and four above the diaphragm) are awakened in three major stages, though through the medium of many smaller awakenings.

1. They begin to develop from that of the "closed bud to that of the opened lotus". This takes place during the period of ordinary evolution. [339]
2. The petals of the lotus become vibrant and alive. This is the stage of personality integration.
3. The heart of the lotus, "the jewel in the lotus" also becomes actively alive. This is the period of the final stages upon the Path.

This process of unfoldment is itself brought about by five crises of awakening, so that we have a threefold process and a fivefold movement.

1. The centers below the diaphragm are the controlling and dominant factor. The stage of dense materiality, of lower desire and of physical urge is in full expression. This was carried to its higher point of development in Lemurian times. The sacral center was the controlling factor.
2. The centers below the diaphragm become fully active, with the major emphasis in the solar plexus center. This center eventually becomes the great clearing house for all the lower forces and marks the period of the shift into a higher body, the astral body. This was characteristic of Atlantean racial development.
3. The awakening of the throat center and the shift of much of the lower energy into the throat activity. The ajna center also begins to become active, producing integrated and creative personalities. This stage is characteristic of the present Aryan race.
4. The awakening of the heart center and the shift of the solar plexus energy into that center, thus producing groups and the entrance of a new and fuller sense of spiritual energy. The shift of emphasis is then into those states of awareness which reveal the kingdom of God. The fifth kingdom in nature becomes creatively active [340] on earth. This will be characteristic of the consciousness of the next great race.
5. The awakening of the head center, with the consequent arousing of the kundalini fire at the base of the spine. This leads to the final integration of soul and body, and the appearance of a perfected humanity upon earth. This will express the nature of the final race.

Forget not that there are at all times those who are characteristically expressing one or another of all of these various stages and states of consciousness. There are but a few on earth today who are capable of expressing as low a state of relative development as the Lemurian consciousness. There are a few at the extreme end of the Way who are expressing divine perfection, and in between these two extremes are all possible grades of development and unfoldment.

Man is therefore (from the angle of force expression) a mass of conflicting energies and an active center of moving forces with a shift of emphasis constantly going on, and with the aggregation of the numerous streams of energy presenting a confusing kaleidoscope of active interrelations, interpenetration, internecine warfare, and interdependence until such time as the personality forces (symbolic of divine multiplicity) are subdued or "brought into line" by the dominant soul. That is what we really mean by the use of the word "alignment". This alignment results from:

1. The control of the personality by the soul.
2. The downpouring of soul energy, via the mental and the emotional bodies, into the brain, thus producing the subjugation of the lower nature, the awakening of the brain consciousness to soul awareness, and a new alignment of the bodies. [341]
3. The right arrangement, according to ray type, of the energies which are motivating and dynamically arousing the centers into activity. This leads eventually to a direct alignment of the centers upon the spine, so that soul energy can pass up and down through the centers from the directing center in the head. Whilst this process of soul control is being perfected (and the time consumed is, from the angle of the limiting personality consciousness, of vast duration), the ray types of the vehicles steadily emerge, the ray of the personality begins to control the life, and finally the soul ray begins to dominate the personality ray and subdue its activity.

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."

We can now deal with the coordination of the personality, with its three types of techniques previously mentioned, which are the techniques of integration, the techniques of fusion and the techniques of duality. We will then pass on to a consideration of some of the problems with which psychology has to deal, arising as they do, out of the shifting consciousness, the intensification of the energy reception by the centers, and the inflow of soul potency. This will bring us to a point in our Treatise in which the rays and the human being will have been somewhat considered, and where we can eventually and with profit deal with that point, the third pertaining to the Ray of Personality, which we are in process of completing. It concerns education, the psychological training of aspirants and disciples, and the trends to be found emerging in the new esoteric psychology. [342]

B.II. The Coordination of the Personality

We have considered, cursorily I realize, the fact that the ego appropriates to itself forms, through which expression can be made possible upon the various levels of divine manifestation. We observed that these forms, in due process of time, become embodiments of the will and purpose of their divine Indweller. This Indweller is the soul. As the evolutionary cycle runs its course, three developments take place:

1. The forms for expression are developed, little by little as a result of:
   1. Successive incarnations.
   2. The impulse and consequent activity of desire.
   3. The interpretation of experience, intensifying and becoming more correct and adequate as time passes.
2. The self within, or identified with, the form nature,
   1. Becomes slowly conscious and consequently intelligently active in the three worlds of human evolution.
   2. Shifts its focus of attention successively from one body to another, passing, in consciousness, into higher and higher states of awareness until the Path of Pursuit becomes the Path of Return, and desire for identification with form changes into aspiration for self-awareness. Later, comes identification with Self on its own level of consciousness.
   3. Reorients itself and thus occultly "leaves behind the hitherto desirable and aspires to that which has not hitherto been seen."
3. The aspirant passes through an intermediate stage in the [343] process of evolution wherein "divine attraction" supersedes the attraction of the three worlds. This stage falls into five parts:
   1. A period wherein duality and lack of control are realized.
   2. A period wherein an assertion of self-control takes place, through the following process:
      1. Decentralization.
      2. Comprehension of the task ahead.
      3. An investigation, by the divine Observer of the nature of form life.
      4. Divine expression, through the medium of the form, understandingly practiced.
   3. A period wherein alignment takes place, and (through understanding and practice) the form is gradually subordinated to the requirements of the Self, and begins to work in unison with that Self.
   4. A period wherein the forms, aligned at increasingly frequent intervals, are
      1. Integrated into a functioning, active personality;
      2. Swept by the power of their own dominant, integrated, personality life;
      3. Gradually controlled by the Self, and fused into an instrument for effective world service;
      4. Unified, in intent and purpose, with the soul.
   5. A period wherein the personality ray and the soul ray are blended into one united energy, and the personality ray becomes a quality of, and complementary to, that of the soul, making soul purpose in the three worlds possible. [344]

It is thus that we progress, and in this manner form and consciousness, appearance and quality, are brought together and divine unity is achieved, thus ending the duality hitherto sensed, which up till this time has handicapped the aspirant.

Two angles of this matter warrant our attention. One is that covering the processes of the past evolutionary cycle which, as it has transpired, has brought the aspirant to the point of a sensed duality, of consequent struggle, and of a hardly achieved reorientation towards reality. That period has been adequately covered, for all present purposes, by science, exoteric and esoteric. The other is the period of ultimate perfection which is finally achieved as a result of the struggle. One period lies far behind us, and intelligent humanity has travelled far towards the period of realization; the other period lies far ahead. We will confine our studies to the task of the aspirant as he reorients himself upon the probationary path, and becomes increasingly aware of the world of higher values, and of the existence of the kingdom of God. On this path he senses his duality in an almost distressing manner, and begins to aspire towards unity. This is the task today of the vast numbers of world aspirants. So widespread is the desire for this reorientation that it has produced the present world upheaval, and is the spiritual source of the specific cause of the ideological conflicts now going on in every country.

We will deal with the work of the disciples of the world as, having endeavored to bring about the desired reorientation, they learn the basic necessity of integrating the personality, and from that pass on to achieve contact or fusion with the Self, the ego or soul. It will be wise to keep these three stages carefully in mind, because all the many modern psychological problems are founded upon [345]

1. The process of reorientation with its consequences of personality upheaval and disorders.
2. The process of integration which is going on within the lower nature of intelligent humanity, leading inevitably to duality and conflict.
3. The fusion of the personality and the soul in consciousness, with its physiological and personality effects, producing the problems and psychological dilemmas of the highly developed aspirant and disciple. In this stage, the so-called "diseases of mystics" become pronounced.

We will also touch very briefly upon the efforts of the initiate as he works through and with the subdued mechanism of the personality in the service of the Plan. He in his turn - as a functioning soul and body, united, aligned and used - becomes gradually aware of a still higher synthesis. After the third initiation, he enters upon a renewed effort to produce a more inclusive fusion and integration, - this time with the monad or life aspect. 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.

B.II.1. Seven Techniques of Integration

Let us now proceed to a consideration of the seven techniques of integration, bearing in mind that we shall here be dealing with the integration of the threefold lower nature into an active, conscious personality, prior to its fusion into a unity with the soul. We must remember that we are here [346] dealing with the consciousness aspect of manifestation and its apprehension and appreciation of purpose and of truth. We are so apt always to think in terms of form and form activity, that it seems necessary again and again to reiterate the necessity for thinking in terms of consciousness and awareness, leading to an eventual realization. This purpose and truth, when grasped, brings into direct conflict the will of the personality (the separative individual, governed by the concrete, analytical mind) and the will of the soul, which is the will of the Hierarchy of Souls, or of the Kingdom of God. In the fourth kingdom, the human, the controlling factor is that of desire, ending in aspiration. In the fifth kingdom, the spiritual, the controlling factor is that of divine purpose or the will of God. Then we find this purpose, though free from what we call desire, is actuated by love, expressed through devotion and service, wrought out into full expression upon the physical plane.

As may be naturally surmised, there is a technique for each of the seven rays. It is the ray of the ego or soul, slumbering in the early stages within the form, which occultly applies these modes of integration. The soul is essentially the integrative factor, and this shows in the early and unconscious stages as the coherent power of the life principle to hold the forms together in incarnation. In the later and conscious stages, it shows its power by applying these methods of control and unification to the personality. They are not applied, nor can the man avail himself of them, until such time as he is an integrated personality. This has often been forgotten, and men have claimed the rights of discipleship and the powers of initiation before they have even become integrated persons. This has led to disaster, and the falling into disrepute of the whole problem of discipleship and initiation.

It is difficult to make easily comprehensible the nature and [347] purpose of these techniques. All that it is possible to do is to indicate the seven ray techniques as they are applied to the rapidly aligning bodies of the lower man. We will divide our theme, for the sake of clarity and for an understanding of the significance, into two parts. The first one is that in which the first ray aspect of the technique is applied to the form nature, producing destruction through crystallization.This brings about the "death of the form" in order that it may "again arise and live". The other is the second ray aspect of the technique, wherein the rebuilding, reabsorption, and recognition of the form takes place in the light which is thrown around, over and upon the personality. In that light, the man sees Light, and thus becomes eventually a light bearer.

What I have to say concerning each ray and its work with the individuals upon it in integrating the personalities, will be conveyed by means of a formula of integration. This will itself be divided into two parts, dealing with those processes in time and space which bring about the integration of the personality.

The words, covering the process in every case, are Alignment, Crisis, Light, Revelation, Integration. Under the heading of each ray we shall have therefore:

1. The formula of integration.
2. Its dual application of destruction and rebuilding, with a brief indication of the process and the result.
3. The final stage of the process wherein the man
   1. Brings the three bodies into alignment.
   2. Passes through a crisis of evocation, thus, as the Bhagavad Gita says, becoming "manifest through the magical power of the soul". [348]
   3. Enters into a phase of light, wherein the man sees clearly the next step to be taken.
   4. Receives the revelation of the Plan and of what he has to do in connection with it.
   5. Integrates the three bodies into one synthetic whole, and is therefore ready for the Technique of Fusion, which is suited to his ray type.

This will bring us to our second point which concerns the Technique of Fusion and the emergence into activity of the personality ray.

Just what do we mean by Integration? We are apt to bandy words about with unthinking lightness and inexactitude, but, dealing as we are with a development which is becoming increasingly prevalent in the human field, it might profit us for a moment to define it and seek to understand one or two of its major implications. It has to be regarded as an essential step, prior to passing (in full and waking consciousness) into the fifth, or spiritual kingdom. We regard the physical body as a functioning aggregate of physical organs, each with its own duties and purposes. These, when combined and acting in unison, we regard as constituting a living organism. The many parts form one whole, working under the direction of the intelligent, conscious Thinker, the soul, as far as man is concerned. At the same time, this conscious form is slowly arriving at a point where integration into the larger whole becomes desirable and is finally achieved - again in the waking consciousness. This process of conscious assimilation is carried forward progressively by the gradual integration of the part into the family unit, the nation, the social order, the current civilization, the world of nations, and finally into humanity itself. This integration is, therefore, both physical in nature, and an attitude of mind. The consciousness of the [349] man is gradually aroused so that it recognizes this relation of the part to the whole, with the implied interrelation of all parts within the whole.

The man who has awakened to full consciousness in the various aspects of his nature - emotional, mental and egoic - realizes himself first of all as a personality. He integrates his various bodies with their different states of consciousness into one active reality. He is then definitely a personality and has passed a major milestone on the Path of Return. This is the first great step. Inevitably, the evolutionary process must bring to pass this phenomenal occurrence in the case of every human being, but it can be produced (and is increasingly so produced today) by a planned mental application to the task, and an intelligent consideration of the relation of the part to the whole. It will be found that the purely selfish, material personality will eventually arrive at the condition wherein the man will be conscious of integrated activity and power, because he

1. Has developed and integrated his own separative "parts" into one whole.
2. Has studied and used his environment, or the whole of which his personality is but a part, in such a way that it contributes to his desire, his success, and his emergence into prominence. In doing this, he necessarily has had to make some living contribution to the whole, in order to evoke its integrating power. His motive, however, being purely selfish and material in objective, can only carry him a certain distance along the path of the higher integration.

The unselfish, spiritually oriented man also integrates the various aspects of himself into one functioning whole, but the focus of his activity is contribution, not acquisition, and, by [350] the working of the higher law, the Law of Service, he becomes integrated, not only as a human being within the radius of the prevalent civilization, but also into that wider and more inclusive world of conscious activity which we call the Kingdom of God.

The progress of humanity is from one realized integration to another; man's basic integrity is, however, in the realm of consciousness. This is a statement of importance. It might be remarked - speaking loosely and generally - that

1. In Lemurian times, humanity achieved the integration of the vital or etheric body with the physical body.
2. In Atlantean times, humanity added to the already achieved synthesis still another part, that of the astral nature, and psychic man came definitely into being. He was alive and at the same time sensitive and responsive to his environment in a wider and more specialized sense.
3. Today, in our Aryan race, humanity is occupied with the task of adding still another aspect, that of the mind. To the achieved facts of livingness and sensitivity, he is rapidly adding reason, mental perception and other qualities of mind and thought life.
4. Advanced humanity upon the Probationary Path is fusing these three divine aspects into one whole, which we call the personality. Many hundreds of thousands stand at this time upon that Path, and are acting, feeling and thinking simultaneously, making of these functions one activity. This personality synthesis comes upon the Path of Discipleship, under the direction of the indwelling entity, the spiritual man.

This integration constitutes alignment and - when a man has achieved this - he passes eventually through a process of reorientation. This reveals to him, as he slowly [351] changes his direction, the still greater Whole of humanity. Later, upon the Path of Initiation, there will dawn upon his vision, the Whole of which humanity itself is only an expression. This is the subjective world of reality, into which we begin definitely to enter as we become members of the Kingdom of God.

5. Upon the Probationary Path, though only during its later stages, he begins to serve humanity consciously through the medium of his integrated personality, and thus the consciousness of the larger and wider whole gradually supersedes his individual and separative consciousness. He knows himself to be but a part.
6. Upon the Path of Discipleship, the process of integration into the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Souls, proceeds until the third initiation is undergone.

All these various integrations work out into some definite form of activity. First, there is the service of the personality, selfish and separative, wherein man sacrifices much in the interests of his own desire. Then comes the stage of service of humanity, and, finally, the service of the Plan. However, the integration with which we shall primarily deal as we study the seven Techniques of Integration is that of the personality as it integrates into the whole of which it is a part, through service to the race and to the Plan. Bear in mind that these ray techniques are imposed by the soul upon the personality after it has been somewhat integrated into a functioning unity and is, therefore, becoming slightly responsive to the soul, the directing Intelligence.

Ray I

"The love of power must dominate. There must also be repudiation of those forms which wield no power.

The word goes forth from soul to form; 'Stand up. Press [352] outward into life. Achieve a goal. For you, there must be not a circle, but a line.

Prepare the form. Let the eyes look forward, not on either side. Let the ears be closed to all the outer voices, and the hands clenched, the body braced, and mind alert. Emotion is not used in furthering of the Plan. Love takes its place.'

The symbol of a moving point of light appears above the brow. The keynote of the life though uttered not, yet still is clearly heard: 'I move to power. I am the One. We are a Unity in power. And all is for the power and glory of the One.' "

Such is the pattern of the thought and the process of the life of the man upon the first ray who is seeking first of all to control his personality, and then to dominate his environment. His progress is that of "achieved control; that of being controlled, and then again controlling." At first, his motive is that of selfish, separative achievement, and then comes failure to be satisfied. A higher achievement then takes place as a result of the service of the Plan, until the time eventually comes when the first ray man can be trusted to be God's Destroying Angel - the Angel who brings life through the destruction of the form. Such integrated personalities are frequently ruthless at first, selfish, ambitious, self-centered, cruel, one-pointed, implacable, undeviating, aware of implications, of significances, and of the results of action but, at the same time, unalterable and undeviating, moving forward to their purposes. They destroy and tear down in order to rise to greater heights upon the ruin they have wrought. They do thus rise. They trample on other men and upon the destinies of the little person. They integrate their surroundings into an instrument for their will and move relentlessly forward upon their own occasions. This type of man will be found expressing these qualities in all walks of life and spheres of action, and is a destroying force in his home, business or in the nation.

All this is made possible because the first ray has at this [353] stage integrated the personality vehicles and has achieved their simultaneous control. The man functions as a whole.

This process and method of work brings him eventually to a point of crisis, - a crisis based upon the unalterable fact of his essentially divine nature or being, which cannot remain satisfied with the gaining of power in a personality sense and in a material world. Power selfishly used exhausts its user and evokes a display of power antagonistic to him; he is thereby destroyed, because he has destroyed. He is separated off from his fellow men because he has been isolated and separative in his nature. He walks alone because he has cried forth to the world: "I will brook no companion; I am the one alone."

This crisis of evocation brings him to an inner point of change which involves an alteration in his direction, a change of method, and a different attitude. These three changes are described in the Old Commentary (in which these techniques are to be found) in the following terms:

"The one who travels on a line returns upon his way. Back to the center of his life he goes, and there he waits. He reaches out his arms and cries: I cannot stand and walk alone. And standing thus, a cross is formed and on that cross he takes his place - with others."

The change of direction takes him back to the center of his being, the heart; a change of method takes place, for, instead of moving straight forward, he waits in patience and seeks to feel. A change of attitude can be noted, for he reaches out his arms to his fellow men - to the greater whole - and thus becomes inclusive.

Standing thus in quietness at the center, and searching within himself for responsiveness to his environment, he thus loses sight of self and the light breaks in. It is as if a curtain were raised. In that light, the first thing which is revealed to him is the devastating sight of that which he has destroyed. [354]

He is subjected to what has esoterically been called "the light which shocks." Slowly and laboriously, using every power of his aligned personality and, in his realized desperation, calling in the power of his soul, he proceeds one-pointedly to rebuild that which he has destroyed. In rebuilding, he lifts the entire structure on to a higher level than any he has hitherto touched. This is the task of the destroyers and of those who work with civilizations and who can be trusted to act as agents of destruction under the Plan.

It is interesting to note that when this stage is reached (the stage of rebuilding as the first ray man understands it), he will usually pass through four incarnations in which he is first of all "the man at the center," a focal point of immobile power. He is conscious of his power, gained whilst functioning as a selfish destroyer, but he is also conscious of frustration and futility. Next he passes through a life in which he begins to reorganize himself for a different type of activity, and it will be found that in these cases he will have a third or a seventh ray personality. In the third incarnation he definitely begins rebuilding and works, through a second ray personality until, in the fourth life, he can function safely through a first ray personality without losing his spiritual balance, if we might use such a phrase. Through this type of personality, his first ray soul can demonstrate, because the disciple has "recovered feeling, gained divine emotion, and filled his waiting heart with love." In such cases as this, the astral body is usually on the second ray, the mental body upon the fourth ray, and the physical body upon the sixth ray. This naturally tends to balance or offset the intensity of the first ray vibrations of the personality and soul. It is in the third life of reorientation that he gains the reward for the arresting of his selfish efforts, and aspects of the Plan are then revealed to him. [355]

Ray II

" 'Again I stand; a point within a circle and yet myself.' The love of love must dominate, not love of being loved. The power to draw unto oneself must dominate, but into the worlds of form that power must some day fail to penetrate. This is the first step towards a deeper search.

The word goes forth from soul to form: 'Release thyself from all that stands around, for it has naught for thee, so look to me. I am the One who builds, sustains and draws thee on and up. Look unto me with eyes of love, and seek the path which leads from the outer circle to the point.

I, at the point, sustain. I, at the point, attract. I, at the point, direct and choose and dominate. I, at the point, love all, drawing them to the center and moving forward with the travelling points towards that great Center where the One Point stands.' What mean you by that Word? "

In reference to this second ray, it is advisable to recollect that all the rays are but the subrays of the second Ray of Love-Wisdom. The One in the center, Who is the "point within the circle" of manifestation, has three major qualities: life or activity in form, love and the power of abstraction. It is these last two qualities of Deity with which we are concerned in these formulas and (in connection with the second ray) the dualities of attraction and abstraction emerge, both latent and both capable of perfected activity in their own field.

There comes ever the moment in the life of the aspirant when he begins to consider with wonder the significance of that familiar reaction of finding no satisfaction in the familiar things; the old life of desire for well known forms of existence and expression ceases to attract his interest. The pull or attractive power of the One at the center (Who is his true self) also fails. It is not yet a familiar "call." The aspirant is left, unsatisfied and with a deepening sense of futility and emptiness, "pendent upon the periphery" of the divine [356] "ring-pass-not" which he has himself established. It is at this point and in this situation that he must reflect upon and use this formula.

The question might here be interjected: What should now be the procedure and right use? Upon this it is not possible here to enlarge, beyond pointing out that all the meditation processes connected with the Raja-Yoga system are intended to bring the aspirant to a point of such intense inner focusing and alert mental detachment that he will be in a position to use these formulas with understanding, according to his ray type, and to use them with efficacy and power. His meditation has produced the needed alignment. There is therefore a direct way or line (speaking symbolically) between the thinking, meditative, reflective man upon the periphery of the soul's influence and the soul itself, the One Who is at the center. The crisis of evocation succeeds, once this line of contact, this antahkarana, has been established and recognized, and a crisis of intense activity ensues, wherein the man occultly "detaches himself from the furthest point upon the outer rim of life, and sweeps with purpose towards the central Point." Thus speaks the Old Commentary, which is so oft quoted in these pages.

It is not possible to do more than put these ideas into symbolic form, leaving these mysteries of the soul to be grasped by those whose soul's influence reaches to that periphery, and is there recognized for what it is. This crisis usually persists for a long time, a far longer one than is the case with the aspirant upon the first ray line of activity. However, when the second ray aspirant has understood and has availed himself of the opportunity and can see ahead the line between himself and the center, then the "light breaks in."

It is this period of crisis which presents the major problem to the advanced aspirants of today and evokes consequently [357] the concern of the psychiatrist and psychologist. Instead of treating the difficulty as a sign of progress and as indicating a relatively high point in the evolutionary scale and therefore a reason for a sense of encouragement, it is treated as a disease of the mind and of the personality. Instead of regarding the condition as one warranting explanation and understanding but no real concern, the attempt is made to arrest the difficulty by elimination and not by solution, and though the personality may be temporarily relieved, the work of the soul is for that particular life cycle arrested, and delay ensues. With this problem we will later deal.

Light reveals, and the stage of revelation now follows. This light upon the way produces vision and the vision shows itself as:

1. A vision, first of all, of defects. The light reveals the man to himself, as he is, or as the soul sees the personality.
2. A vision of the next step ahead, which, when taken, indicates the procedure next to be followed.
3. A vision of those who are travelling the same way.
4. A glimpse of the "Guardian Angel," who is the dim reflection of the Angel of the Presence, the Solar Angel, which walks with each human being from the moment of birth until death, embodying as much of the available light as the man - at any given moment upon the path of evolution - can use and express.
5. A fleeting glimpse (at high and rare moments) of the Angel of the Presence itself.
6. At certain times and when deemed necessary, a glimpse of the Master of a man's ray group. This falls usually into two categories of experience and causes:
   1. In the early stages and whilst under illusion and glamor, that which is contacted is a vision of the astral, [358] illusory form upon the planes of glamor and illusion. This is not, therefore, a glimpse of the Master Himself, but of His astral symbol, or of the form built by His devoted disciples and followers.
   2. The Master Himself is contacted. This can take place when the disciple has effected the needed integrations of the threefold lower nature.

It is at this moment of "integration as the result of revelation" that there comes the fusion of the personality ray with the egoic ray. This we will consider later, but at this point a fact should be mentioned which has not hitherto been emphasized or elucidated. This point is that the personality ray is always a subray of the egoic ray, in the same sense that the seven major rays of our solar system are the seven subrays of the Cosmic Ray of Love-Wisdom, or the seven planes of our system are the seven subplanes of the cosmic physical plane. We will suppose, for instance, that a man's egoic ray is the third ray of active intelligence or adaptability, and his personality ray is the second ray of love-wisdom. This personality ray is the second subray of the third ray of active intelligence. Then, in addition, there might be the following rays governing the three personality vehicles:

This is a valuable point for all who are real students to remember and to grasp. Ponder upon it, for it is self-explanatory and an understanding of it will make it possible to solve the problems of:

1. Alignment
2. The lines of least resistance.
3. The processes of substitution.
4. The alchemy of transmutation.
5. The fields of
   1. Service
   2. Avocation
   3. Vocation.

The lack of balance will also emerge if the chart is studied and man can then arrive at an understanding of what he has to do. A study of the two formulas of the first and second rays will make it clear why in humanity (and in the solar system also) these two major rays are always so closely associated, and why all esoteric schools throughout the world are predominantly expressions of these two rays. At a certain stage upon the Path all the rays governing the mental body shift their focus onto rays one and two, doing this via the third ray. This ray holds the same position to the other rays that the solar plexus center does to the other six centers, for it constitutes a great clearing house. The first ray penetrates, pierces and produces the line along which Light comes; the second ray is the "light-carrier," and supplements the work of the first ray. A study of the activities and the cooperative endeavors of the Master M. and the Master K.H. may serve to make this clearer. Their work is indispensable to each other, just as life and consciousness are mutually indispensable, and without them form is rendered valueless. [360]

Ray III

" 'Pulling the threads of Life, I stand, enmeshed within my self-created glamor. Surrounded am I by the fabric I have woven. I see naught else'.

'The love of truth must dominate, not love of my own thoughts, or love of my ideas or forms; love of the ordered process must control, not love of my own wild activity.'

The word goes forth from soul to form: 'Be still. Learn to stand silent, quiet and unafraid. I, at the center, Am. Look up along the line and not along the many lines which, in the space of aeons, you have woven. These hold thee prisoner. Be still. Rush not from point to point, nor be deluded by the outer forms and that which disappears. Behind the forms, the Weaver stands and silently he weaves.' "

It is this enforced quiet which brings about the true alignment. This is the quiet not of meditation but of living. The aspirant upon the third ray is apt to waste much energy in perpetuating the glamorous forms with which he persistently surrounds himself. How can he achieve his goal when he is ceaselessly running hither and thither - weaving, manipulating, planning and arranging? He manages to get nowhere. Ever he is occupied with the distant objective, with that which may materialize in some dim and distant future, and he fails ever to achieve the immediate objective. He is often the expression and example of waste energy. He weaves for the future, forgetting that his tiny bit of weaving is an intrinsic part of a great Whole and that time may enter in and frustrate - by change of circumstance - his carefully laid plans, and the dreams of earlier years. Therefore futility is the result.

To offset this, he must stand quiet at the center and (for a time at any rate) cease from weaving; he must no longer make opportunities for himself but - meeting the opportunities which come his way (a very different thing) - apply himself to the need to be met. This is a very different matter and [361] swings into activity a very different psychology. When he can do this and be willing to achieve divine idleness (from the angle of a glamored third ray attitude), he will discover that he has suddenly achieved alignment. This alignment naturally produces a crisis which is characterized by two qualities:

1. The quality of deep distress. This is a period of difficulty and of real concern because it dawns upon his consciousness how useless, relatively, are his weaving and his manipulations, and how much of a problem he presents to the other Weavers.
2. The quality which might be expressed as the determination to stand in spiritual being and to comprehend the significance of the ancient aphorism, given frequently to third ray aspirants:

"Cease from thy doing. Walk not on the Path until thou hast learnt the art of standing still.

Study the spider, brother, entangled not in its own web, as thou art today entangled in thine own."

This crisis evokes understanding, which is, as many will recognize, an aspect of light. The aspirant slowly begins to work with the Plan as it is, and not as he thinks it is. As he works, revelation comes, and he sees clearly what he has to do. Usually this entails first of all a disentangling and a release from his own ideas. This process takes much time, being commensurate with the time wasted in building up the agelong glamor. The third ray aspirant is always slower to learn than the second ray, just as the first ray aspirant learns more rapidly than the second ray. When, however, he has learnt to be quiet and still, he can achieve his goal with greater rapidity. The second ray aspirant has to achieve the quiet which is ever [362] present at the heart of a storm or the center of a whirlpool. The third ray aspirant has to achieve the quiet which is like to that of a quiet mill pond, which he much dislikes to do.

Having, however, learned to do it, integration then takes place. The man stands ready to play his part.

It is interesting to note that the first result of the use of these three formulas can each be summed up in one word, for the sake of clarity. These words embody the first and simplest steps upon the way of at-one-ment. They embody the simplest aspects of the necessary technique.

• Ray One - Inclusion.
• Ray Two - Centralization.
• Ray Three - Stillness.

The above will suffice for the techniques of integration of these three major rays. We will now take the formulas which will embody the techniques of integration for the four minor rays, and glimpse the possibilities which they may unfold. We will emphasize in connection with each of them the same five stages of the technique we are studying:

1. Alignment.
2. A crisis of evocation.
3. Light.
4. Revelation.
5. Integration.

At the same time, we will bear in mind that the alignment with which we have hitherto been occupying ourselves is that of a form of expression and that this is achieved through discipline, meditation, and service. These techniques of integration, however, refer to the establishing of a continuity of consciousness, within the aligned forms. Therefore we begin with alignment in these cases and do not end with it. [363]

Ray IV

" 'Midway I stand between the forces which oppose each other. Longing am I for harmony and peace, and for the beauty which results from unity. I see the two. I see naught else but forces ranged opposing, and I, the one, who stands within the circle at the center. Peace I demand. My mind is bent upon it. Oneness with all I seek, yet form divides. War upon every side I find, and separation. Alone I stand and am. I know too much.'

The love of unity must dominate, and love of peace and harmony. Yet not that love, based on a longing for relief, for peace to self, for unity because it carries with it that which is pleasantness.

The word goes forth from soul to form. 'Both sides are one. There is no war, no difference and no isolation. The warring forces seem to war from the point at which you stand. Move on a pace. See truly with the opened eye of inner vision and you will find, not two but one; not war but peace; not isolation but a heart which rests upon the center. Thus shall the beauty of the Lord shine forth. The hour is now.' "

It is well to remember that this fourth ray is pre-eminently the ray of the fourth Creative Hierarchy, the human kingdom, and therefore has a peculiar relation to the functions, relationships and the service of man, as an intermediate group, a bridging group, upon our planet. The function of this intermediate group is to embody a type of energy, which is that of at-one-ment. This is essentially a healing force which brings all forms to an ultimate perfection through the power of the indwelling life, with which it becomes perfectly at-oned. This is brought about by the soul or consciousness aspect, qualified by the ray in question. The relation of the human family to the divine scheme, as it exists, is that of bringing into close rapport the three higher kingdoms upon our planet and the three lower kingdoms of nature, thus acting as a clearing house for divine energy. The service humanity [364] is to render is that of producing unity, harmony, and beauty in nature, through blending into one functioning, related unity the soul in all forms. This is achieved individually at first, then it takes place in group formation, and finally it demonstrates through an entire kingdom in nature. When this takes place, the fourth Creative Hierarchy will be controlled predominantly by the fourth ray (by which I mean that the majority of its egos will have fourth ray personalities, thus facilitating the task of fusion), and the consciousness of its advanced units will function normally upon the fourth plane of buddhic energy or intuitional awareness.

It is this realization which will provide adequate incentive for alignment. This alignment or sense of oneness is not in any way a mystical realization, or that of the mystic who puts himself en rapport with divinity. The mystic still has a sense of duality. Nor is it the sense of identification which can characterize the occultist; with that there is still an awareness of individuality, though it is that of an individual who can merge at will with the whole. It is an almost undefinable consciousness of group fusion with a greater whole, and not so much individual fusion with the whole. Until this is experienced, it is well nigh impossible to comprehend, through the medium of words, its significance and meaning. It is the reflection, if I might so express it, of the Nirvanic consciousness; the reflection I would point out, but not that consciousness itself.

When this fourth ray alignment is produced and the disciple becomes aware of it, a crisis is evoked. The phrase "the disciple becomes aware of it," is significant, for it indicates that states of consciousness can exist and the disciple remain unaware of them. However, until they are brought down into the area of the brain and are recognized by the [365] disciple in waking, physical consciousness, they remain subjective and are not usable. They are of no practical benefit to the man upon the physical plane. The crisis thus precipitated leads to fresh illumination when it is properly handled. These crises are produced by the bringing together (oft the clashing together) of the higher forces of the personality and soul energy. They cannot therefore be produced at a low stage of evolutionary development, in which low grade energies are active and the personality is neither integrated nor of a high grade and character. (Is such a phrase as "low grade energies" permissible? When all are divine? It conveys the idea, and that is what is desired.) The forces which are involved in such a crisis are the forces of integration at work in a personality of a very high order, and they are themselves necessarily of a relatively high potency. It is the integrated personality force, brought into relation with soul energy, which ever produces the type of crisis which is here discussed. These constitute, consequently, a very difficult moment or moments in the life of the disciple.

This fourth ray crisis, evoked by a right understanding and a right use of the fourth ray formula, produces the following sequential results:

1. A sense of isolation. Putting this into more modern language, a complex is produced of the same nature as that which temporarily overcame Elijah. He was overwhelmed with a sense of his clarity of vision in relation to the problem with which he was faced, of his unique response to it, and also with a sense of aloneness which devastated him.
2. A sense of despairing futility. The forces arraigned against the disciple seem so great and his equipment so inadequate and feeble! [366]
3. A determination to stand in the midst and, if not victorious, at least to refuse to admit defeat, taking with determination the position which St. Paul expressed in the words: "Having done all, to stand."
4. A sudden recognition of the Warrior within, Who is invisible and omnipotent but Who can only now begin His real work when the personality is aligned, the crisis recognized, and the will-to-victory is present. We would do well to ponder on this.

When, therefore, this state of mind is achieved, and the disciple and inner Master, the soldier and the Warrior are known to be at-one, then there takes place what has been called in some of the ancient books "the breaking forth of the light of victory" - a victory which does not inflict defeat upon those who are at war, but which results in that triple victory of the two sides and of the One Who is at the center. All three move forward to perfection. This is typical of a fourth ray consummation, and if this thought is applied with due reflection to the problem of the fourth kingdom in nature, the fourth Creative Hierarchy, humanity itself, the beauty of the phrasing and the truth of the statement must inevitably appear.

With this blazing forth of light comes the revelation expressed for us so adequately in the closing words of the fourth ray formula. Man sees and grasps the final purpose for the race and the objective ahead of this fourth kingdom in the great sweep of the divine manifestation. It is valuable also to remember that this revelation comes to the race in three stages:

1. Individually, when the disciple "relinquishes the fight in order to stand, thereby discovering victory ahead, [367] achieving oneness with the enemy, the Warrior and the One."
2. In group formation. This approach to the revelation is today going on in the world, and is producing a moment of extreme crisis in connection with the work of the New Group of World Servers. Their moment of crisis lies immediately ahead.
3. In the human family as a whole. This revelation will come to the race at the end of the age and with it we need not for the moment, therefore, concern ourselves. It is essentially the revelation of the Plan as a whole, embodying the various aspects of the Plan as - from cycle to cycle - the race has grasped the smaller aspects and revelations and succeeded eventually in bringing them into concrete manifestation. It is a revelation of the purposes of Deity - past, present and future purposes - as grasped by those who have developed the divine aspects and are, consequently, in a position to understand.

This series of spiritual happenings or unfoldments of consciousness in the life of the individual and the group produces a definite integration upon the three levels of personality work (mental, emotional and physical). It also lays the ground for those processes of fusion which will blend the rays of the personality and of the soul. If you will carry this concept of integration (achieved upon the three levels of the three worlds of human endeavor) into the activities and relationships of groups, you will find much of interest and of informative value anent the work of the New Group of World Servers. This group is, if I might so express it, an effort at an externalization of the group personality of the disciples, connected with the Hierarchy. If we ponder on this, the function and relation will be apparent. [368]

Let us now add to the three words expressing the three ray formulas already given, the word for this ray: Steadfastness. Therefore we have:

• Ray One - Inclusion.
• Ray Two - Centralization.
• Ray Three - Stillness.
• Ray Four - Steadfastness.

As we brood on these words and on the remaining three which are indicated hereafter, we shall bring clearly into our consciousness the keynote for the disciples of the world at this time, who are in a position to discover that their personalities or their souls are on some one or other of these rays. The use of these words by those who are not pledged disciples in connection with their personality rays and personality expression might be definitely undesirable. The third ray personality, emphasizing stillness, for instance, might find himself descending into the sloughs of lethargy; the first ray personality, seeking to develop inclusiveness might go to extremes, deeming himself a center of inclusiveness. These are Words of Power, when used by a disciple, and must be employed in the light of the soul or may have a striking harmful effect.

Ray V

" 'Towards me I draw the garment of my God. I see and know His form. I take that garment, piece by piece. I know its shape and color, its form and type, its parts component and its purposes and use. I stand amazed, I see naught else. I penetrate the mysteries of form, but not the Mystery. I see the garment of my God. I see naught else.'

Love of the form is good but only as the form is known for what it is - the veiling vase of life. Love of the form must never hide the Life which has its place behind, the One who brought the form into the light of day, and preserves [369] it for His use, - The One Who lives, and loves and serves the form, the One Who Is.

The Word goes forth from soul to form: 'Behind that form, I am. Know Me. Cherish and know and understand the nature of the veils of life, but know as well the One Who lives. Know Me. Let not the forms of nature, their processes and powers prevent thy searching for the Mystery which brought the mysteries to thee. Know well the form, but leave it joyously and search for Me.

'Detach thy thought from form and find Me waiting underneath the veils, the many-sided shapes, the glamors and the thought-forms which hide my real Self. Be not deceived. Find Me. Know Me. Then use the forms which then will neither veil nor hide the Self, but will permit the nature of that Self to penetrate the veils of life, revealing all the radiance of God, His power and magnetism; revealing all there is of form, of life, of beauty and usefulness. The mind reveals the One. The mind can blend and fuse the form and life. Thou art the One. Thou art the form. Thou art the mind. Know this.' "

This fifth ray formula is of exceeding potency at this time and should be used often, but with care, by those upon this line of divine energy. It has most powerful integrating properties, but the person who employs it must be mindful to visualize and hold in his mind's eye the even, balanced, equilibrized distribution of the divine energy set in motion by the use of this fifth ray formula so that the three aspects of the spiritual entity concerned - the mind, the One Who uses it (the Self) and the form nature - may be equally stimulated. This statement means, for instance, that if all the emphasis of the soul energy available is poured into the lower nature, the natural man, it might result in the shattering of the form and the consequent uselessness of the man in service. If all of it, on the other hand, is poured into the receiving chalice of the astral nature, it might only serve to intensify the glamor and to produce fanaticism. [370]

1. The lower psychic man - physical and astral - must receive a balanced quota of force.
2. The mind must receive its share of illuminating energy.
3. A third part of that energy must be retained within the periphery of the soul nature to balance thus the other two.

This is a replica of the experience of the Monad when coming into manifestation, for the monad retains a measure of energy within itself, it sends energy forth which is anchored in that center of energy which we call a soul. Still more energy pours forth also, via the soul, for the production of a human being - an expression of the soul upon the physical plane, just as the soul is an expression of the monad upon the mental plane, and both are expressions also of that one monad.

The use of this formula, which produces eventually a definite relation between the soul and the various aspects of the form, brings about a needed alignment, and again (as in the other cases considered previously) produces also, and evokes, a crisis. This crisis must be regarded as producing two lesser crises in the consciousness of the personality:

1. That in which there comes the achieving of equilibrium and what might be called a "balanced point of view." This balanced vision causes much difficulty and leads to what might be called the "ending of the joy-life and of desire." This is not a pleasant experience to the disciple; it leads to much aridness in the life-experience and to a sense of loss; it often takes much wise handling, and frequently time elapses before the disciple emerges on the other side of the experience.
2. This balanced condition in which the not-Self and the Self, the life-aspect and the form-aspect, are seen as they [371] essentially are (through the aid and the use of the discriminating faculty of the mind), leads eventually to a crisis of choice, and to the major task of the disciple's life. This is the detaching of himself from the grip of form experience, and consciously, rapidly, definitely and with intention preparing himself for the great expansions of initiation.

When this dual crisis is over and that which it has evoked has been rightly handled, then the light streams forth, leading to the revelation of the relationships of form to soul. These two are then seen as one in a sense never before realized and are then regarded as possessing a relation quite different to the theoretical relationships posited in ordinary occult and religious work. It will be apparent, therefore, how a new relationship and a new type of integration then becomes possible and how the mind quality of the fifth ray (critical, analytical, separative and over-discriminating) can become, what in the middle ages it used to be called,' the "common sense."

When this takes place, form and life are indeed one unity and the disciple uses the form at will as the instrument of the soul for the working out of the plans of God. These plans are at-one with the intention of the Hierarchy. We now have five words for disciples upon the five rays to study:

• Ray One - Inclusion.
• Ray Two - Centralization.
• Ray Three - Stillness.
• Ray Four - Steadfastness.
• Ray Five - Detachment.

Ray VI

" 'I see a vision. It satisfies desire; it feeds and stimulates its growth. I lay my life upon the altar of desire - the seen, the sensed, that which appeals to me, the satisfaction of [372] my need - a need for that which is material, for that which feeds emotion, that satisfies the mind, that answers my demand for truth, for service, and my vision of the goal. It is the vision which I see, the dream I dream, the truth I hold, the active form which meets my need, that which I grasp and understand. My truth, my peace, my satisfied desire, my dream, my vision of reality, my limited ideal, my finite thought of God; - for these I struggle, fight and die.'

Love of the truth must always be. Desire and aspiration, reaching out for that which is material or soaring upward towards the vision of reality must ever find their satisfaction. For this men work, driving themselves and irking others. They love the truth as they interpret it; they love the vision and the dream, forgetting that the truth is limited by mind - narrow and set, one-pointed, not inclusive; forgetting that the vision touches but the outer fringe of mystery, and veils and hides reality.

The word goes out from soul to form: 'Run not so straight. The path that you are on leads to the outer circle of the life of God; the line goes forward to the outer rim. Stand at the center. Look on every side. Die not for outer forms. Forget not God, Who dwells behind the vision. Love more your fellow men.' "

It will be apparent, therefore, that the sixth ray disciple has first of all to achieve the arduous task of dissociating himself from his vision, from his adored truth, from his loved ideals, from his painted picture of himself as the devoted follower and disciple, following his Master unto death, if need be; forcing himself (from very love of form) and forcing all his fellowmen to dedicate themselves to that which he sees.

It must be recognized that he lacks the wide love of the second ray disciple which is a reflection of the love of God. He is all the time occupied with himself, with his work, his sacrifice, his task, his ideas, and his activities. He, the devotee, is lost in his devotion. He, the idealist, is driven by his idea. He, the follower, runs blindly after his Master, his chosen ideal and loses himself in the chaos of his uncontrolled [373] aspirations and the glamor of his own thoughts. Curiously enough, there is a close relation between the third and the sixth rays, just as there is between the first and the second rays, and the second and the fourth. The fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh rays have no such paralleling relations. 1 added to 1 equals 2, 2 added to 2 equals 4, 3 added to 3 equals 6. Between these pairs of rays there is a line of special energy flowing which warrants the attention of disciples who are becoming conscious of their relationships. This relation and interplay only becomes active at a relatively high stage of evolution.

The problem, therefore, of the sixth ray aspirant is to divorce himself from the thralldom of form (though not from form) and to stand quietly at the center, just as the third ray disciple has to learn to do. There he learns breadth of vision and a right sense of proportion. These two qualities he always lacks until the time comes when he can take his stand and there align himself with all visions, all forms of truth, all dreams of reality, and find behind them all - God and his fellow men. Then and only then can he be trusted to work with the Plan.

The alignment evoked by this "peaceful standing still" naturally produces a crisis and it is, as usual, a most difficult one for the aspirant to handle. It is a crisis which seems to leave him destitute of incentive, of motive, of sensation, of appreciation by others and of life purpose. The idea of "my truth, my master, my idea, my way" leaves him and as yet he has nothing to take its place. Being sixth ray, and therefore linked with the world of astral psychic life, the sixth plane, he is peculiarly sensitive to his own reactions and to the ideas of others where he and his truths are concerned. He feels a fool and considers that others are thinking him so. The crisis therefore is severe, for it has to produce a complete readjustment of the Self to the self. His fanaticism, his devotion, his [374] furious driving of himself and others, his wasted efforts, and his lack of understanding of the point of view of others have all gone, but as yet nothing has taken their place. He is swept by futility and his world rocks under him. Let him stand still at the center, fixing his eyes on the soul and ceasing activity for a brief period of time until the light breaks in.

It is interesting here to note that the Master Jesus, as He hung upon the Cross, experienced (on a much higher turn of the spiral than is possible to the disciple) the acme and the height of this crisis, though in His case - being attuned to God and to all God's children - there swept over Him the sum total of the dilemma of the world disciples and all the agony of the astral awareness of this dilemma, voicing itself in the agonizing words: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me."

But by facing futility and himself and by surrendering himself to the life at the center and there holding himself poised and still, yet alert, the light will break in and reveal to the disciple that which he needs to know. He learns to express that inclusive love which is his major requirement and to let go the narrow, one-pointed attitude which he has hitherto regarded as love. He welcomes then all visions, if they serve to lift and comfort his brothers; he welcomes all truths, if they are the agents of revelation to other minds; he welcomes all dreams if they can act as incentives to his fellow men. He shares in them all, yet retains his poised position at the center.

Thus we can see that the essential integration of this unit into his group can now take place.

The problem of the disciple upon this ray is greatly increased by the fact that the sixth ray has been the dominant ray for so many centuries and is only now passing out. Therefore the idealistic, fanatical thought-forms, built up by [375] the devotees upon this ray, are powerful and persistent. The world today is fanatically idealistic, and this is one of the causes of the present world situation. It is hard for the man who is the one-pointed devotee to free himself from the prevailing influence, for the energy thus generated feeds that which he seeks to leave behind. If he can, however, grasp the fact that devotion, expressing itself through a personality, engenders fanaticism and that fanaticism is separative, frequently cruel, often motivated by good ideals, but that it usually overlooks the immediate reality by rushing off after a self-engendered vision of truth, he will go far along the way to solving his problem. If he can then realize that devotion, expressing itself through the soul, is love and inclusiveness plus understanding, then he will learn eventually to free himself from the idealism of others and of himself and will identify himself with that of the Hierarchy, which is the loving working out of God's Plan. It is free from hatred, from intense emphasis upon an aspect or a part, and is not limited by the sense of time.

Ray VII

" 'I seek to bring the two together. The plan is in my hands. How shall I work? Where lay the emphasis? In the far distance stands the One Who Is. Here at my hand is form, activity, substance, and desire. Can I relate these and fashion thus a form for God? Where shall I send my thought, my power the word that I can speak?

'I, at the center, stand, the worker in the field of magic. I know some rules, some magical controls, some Words of Power, some forces which I can direct. What shall I do? Danger there is. The task that I have undertaken is not easy of accomplishment, yet I love power. I love to see the forms emerge, created by my mind, and do their work, fulfil the plan and disappear. I can create. The rituals of the Temple of the Lord are known to me. How shall I work?

'Love not the work. Let love of God's eternal Plan control [376] your life, your mind, your hand, your eye. Work towards the unity of plan and purpose which must find its lasting place on earth. Work with the Plan; focus upon your share in that great work.'

The word goes forth from soul to form: 'Stand in the center of the pentagram, drawn upon that high place in the East within the light which ever shines. From that illumined center work. Leave not the pentagram. Stand steady in the midst. Then draw a line from that which is without to that which is within and see the Plan take form.' "

It is not possible to be more explicit than this. This great and powerful ray is now coming into manifestation and it brings new energies to man of so potent a nature that the disciples of today must move and work with care. They are literally handling fire. It is the children who are now coming into incarnation who will eventually work more safely and more correctly with these new potencies. There is much, however, to be done in the meantime, and the disciples upon this seventh ray can ponder on this formula and seek their own interpretation of it, endeavoring first of all to stand in the East, within the protection of the pentagram. As he realizes the task to be carried out and the nature of the work to be done by the seventh ray worker, and appreciates the fact that it is the magical work of producing those forms on earth which will embody the spirit of God (and in our particular time, this necessitates the building of new forms), each seventh ray disciple will see himself as a relating agent, as the one who stands in the midst of the building processes, attending to his portion of the task. This, if really grasped and deeply considered will have the effect of producing alignment. The moment that this alignment is achieved, then let the disciple remember that it will mean a tremendous inflow of power, of energy from both the aligned points, from both directions, converging upon him, as he stands in the [377] midway place. Ponder deeply upon this truth, for it is this fact which always evokes a seventh ray crisis. It will be obvious what this crisis is. If the man concerned is materially minded, selfishly ambitious and unloving, the inpouring energy will stimulate the personality nature and he will immediately be warring furiously with all that we mean by the instinctual, psychic, intellectual nature. When all these three are stimulated, the disciple is often for a time swung off the center into a maelstrom of magical work of the lower kind - sex magic and many forms of black magic. He is glamored by the beauty of his motive, and deceived by the acquired potency of his personality.

If, however, he is warned of the danger and aware of the possibility, he will stand steady at the center within the mystical pentagram, and there suffer until the light in the East rises upon his darkness, discovering him still at the midway point. Then comes the revelation of the Plan, for this has ever to be the motivating power of the seventh ray disciple. He works on earth, upon the outer plane of manifestation, with the construction of those forms through which the divine will can express itself. In the field of religion, he works in collaboration with the second and sixth ray disciples. In the field of government he labors, building those forms which will enable the first ray activity to be expressed. In the field of business, he cooperates with third ray energies and the executives of the Plan. In the field of science, he aids and assists the fifth ray workers. He is the expression of the builder, and the creator, bringing into outer manifestation God's Plan. He begins, however, with himself, and seeks to bring into expression the plan of his soul in his own setting and worldly situation. Until he can do this, he is unable to stand in the East within the pentagram.

It is occultly said that "the pentagram is open and a place [378] of danger when the disciple knows not order within his own life, and when the ritual of the soul is not imposed and its rhythm not obeyed. The pentagram is closed when order is restored and the ritual of the Master is imposed." The writing goes on to say that "if the disciple enters through the open pentagram, he dies. If he passes over into the closed pentagram, he lives. If he transmutes the pentagram into a ring of fire, he serves the Plan."

B.II.2. The Techniques of Fusion and Duality

We come now to the consideration of a very practical matter where the world disciples are concerned, and one with which I intend to deal very simply. The point which we are to study is the Technique of Fusion, leading, as it inevitably does, to the emergence (into controlling prominence) of the Ray of the Personality. After a brief study of this we will refer briefly to the Technique of Duality. The brevity is necessary because only disciples of some experience and initiates will really comprehend the things whereof I speak. A study of the Technique of Duality would serve to elucidate the relationship which should exist between the two rays of manifesting energy, which constitute that phenomenal being we call man. Therefore, it will be apparent to you from the start, how necessary it will be to deal with these abstruse subjects in the simplest way. Our study of the Techniques of Integration was definitely abstruse and couched in language quite symbolic. We were there dealing with the relationship of five rays: Those of the personality, of the ego or soul, and of the rays of the three personality vehicles, prior to their integration into a functioning whole.

It might be of value here if I pointed out to you that the three words: Integration, Fusion and Duality when dealt [379] with, as they are, in connection with the final stages of the Path of Evolution, are significantly different. For one thing it might be said that

1. The Technique of Integration, a sevenfold technique, is applied upon the Path of Probation.
2. The Technique of Fusion is applied upon the Path of Discipleship.
3. The Technique of Duality is applied upon the Path of Initiation.

I am here using these three terms only in relation to what we call the Aryan Race, or to what might be more adequately called the Aryan consciousness, for that consciousness demonstrates in a two-fold manner as mental power and personality force. It is found at a certain stage in every human being and in every race; it must therefore be remembered that I am not using the word Aryan as synonymous with Nordic but as descriptive of the intellectual goal of humanity, of which our Occidental civilization is in the early stages, but which men of all time and all races have individually demonstrated. The Aryan state of consciousness is one into which all men eventually pass.

Integration here refers to the bringing into one field of resultant magnetic activity of five differing types of energy:

1. Physical and emotional sentient energy (2 energies therefore) are brought together and eventually form one expressive force.
2. Physical, emotional-sentient and mental energy (3) are also brought into relationship; one potent vortex of force is then set up which eventually becomes so systematized and integrated that we call its aggregated expression Personality, (4) and in time this aggregate [380] becomes a realized potency and thus completes the fourfold lower man.
3. These four types of energy are then brought into relationship with the ego or soul. This brings then into play another and higher type of energy expression, and thus the five energies integrate, blend and fuse.

These five energies, when rightly related to each other, produce one active force center, through which the Monad can work, using the word Monad to express the first differentiation of the One Life, if such a paradoxical phrase can be employed. Its use is only permissible from the standpoint of the personal self, still limited and imprisoned in the "I" consciousness.

The Technique of Fusion deals with the production of a close interplay of the five above enumerated aspects of energy which have been, in due time, integrated into a unity. It is really a fusion of the four forces and the one energy. This fusion produces:

1. A demonstration of personality activity when, in response to the Technique of Integration, there is
   1. Response and interplay between the threefold lower man.
   2. A gradual emergence of the dominant note of the lower man which will, in time, indicate the nature of the personality ray.
   3. The quality of the personality ray, in its higher aspects, emerges into living expression. Great beauty of character or great forcefulness will then appear.
2. Gradually, the qualities of the personality energy are transmuted into those of the ego or soul and the fusion of the two energies - soul and body - is then complete. [381]

This Technique of Fusion might be better understood by all of you if it were called the Technique of Transmutation, but it must be remembered that the transmutation referred to is not that of bad qualities into good or of bad characteristics into good ones (for this should take place quite definitely upon the Path of Probation) but the transmutation of the higher aspects of the personality ray into those of the soul. When this has been to a great extent carried forward satisfactorily, then the Technique of Duality comes into play - duality differing greatly from that to which we refer when we speak of the higher and lower selves. It is a duality which is utilized upon the Path of initiation by Those Who Know no sense of separativeness, and signifies one wherein the transmuted and purified personality qualities and characteristics are used by the initiate in the three worlds for service and the furthering of the Plan. The egoic energies are only brought into play when needed for group benefit and within the confines (again a paradoxical term and only of significance in consciousness from the standpoint of the lesser minds) of the Kingdom of God.

It will be seen, therefore, that we are dealing here with relatively advanced stages of human development. What I have now to say will veil, under extremely simplified phrases, truths which will be apparent to two groups of aspirants:

1. Accepted disciples, who will comprehend the significances of the Technique of Fusion.
2. Initiates, who will work with the Technique of Duality

It should be remembered also that we are here dealing with the primordial duality of spirit and matter and not with the secondary duality of soul and body. This point is of deep importance and will bear most careful consideration.

The man who will seek to use the Technique of Fusion is [382] the disciple who is conscious of personality power, owing to the fact that his mind is beginning to dominate his sentient emotional nature, much in the same way as his emotional sentient nature has, for ages, controlled his physical body. The use of the mind is becoming "second nature" to certain advanced types of men, and it is called into play, when they reach this stage, almost automatically. The result is that the integration of the three energies is proceeding fast. At the same time, the man is definitely oriented to soul contact and knowledge, and frequently the mind (when it is the controlling personality factor) is itself brought suddenly and dynamically under the control of the soul.

This accounts for the intense difficulty of the life of every disciple at this stage. Several processes are simultaneously going on:

1. The mind factor is steadily becoming more dominant, increasingly clarified and usable.
2. The three aspects of the lower nature are working in closer unity all the time, each growing at the same time in individual potency.
3. The personality ray is making its presence felt, and the expressed power of the man (within his environment) is equally increasing.
4. The soul ray is, at times, projecting itself and this produces in the early stages those difficult upsets and turmoils which are usually of a distressing kind.

It is at this stage therefore that the Technique of Fusion can profitably be used, preserving at the same time the realized integrity of the motive which, if correctly apprehended, should be

1. The motive of a realized objective of soul control in response to a living reaction to its sensed pull or call. [383]
2. The motive of service, in response to a sentient realization of humanity's need.
3. The motive of cooperation with the Plan, in response to an intelligent appreciation of its nature and existence.

Again you will note that we have swung back to our three major themes: Soul control, Service, and the Plan.

It might, therefore, seem that this particular technique will be a sevenfold one like the Technique of Integration, but in this you would be mistaken. It is a threefold technique based upon the fact that all souls are eventually divided (again a paradoxical phrase when dealing with souls, but what can be done when modern language proves inadequate to the demands of soul knowledge) into three major groups, or rather distinguished by three major qualities, those of the first, second and third rays. Life, the One Life, manifests through these three major qualities, which condition its sevenfold appearance, and which are essentially Will, Love and Intelligence.

This Technique of Fusion evokes these three qualities in relation to the soul, to service and to the Plan. At the same time, it brings illumination to the mind (thus revealing the soul and the kingdom of God); it brings increased imagination (creative and dynamic) to the emotional sentient nature, the astral body (thus revealing relationship and responsibility); it brings likewise inspiration to the physical life, to the physical body, via the brain (revealing actual capacity to cooperate intelligently with the Plan). Therefore, we shall have to consider a technique which will do three things:

1. Bring Illumination, through the evocation of the Will or first aspect of divinity.
2. Bring Imagination, through the evocation of Love, the [384] second aspect or of sentient response to the world soul in all forms.
3. Bring Inspiration, through the evocation of the Intelligence, the third aspect.

If we study this triplicity with care, we shall see that the process outlined brings the higher aspect of the personal self, the mind, to the lowest point of contact and into control of the physical body; we shall see that it brings the soul into conscious control of the astral, desire-sentient body, and that it also brings the will aspect (the highest aspect of divinity) into control of mind.

There are, therefore, two thoughts which we will have in our minds as we study this Technique of Fusion. First, that it is a threefold technique and is colored by and conditioned by the qualities of the first, second and third major rays. Secondly, that this technique of whichever of these three natures it may be, will be of such a kind that it will produce illumination through the evocation of the will. It is right here that esotericists will recognize the importance of the teaching in connection with the center at the base of the spine. It is awakened by an act of the will, which really means by the mind, functioning forcefully, under the influence of the spiritual man, through the medium of the brain.

It infers also that this technique will so stimulate the faculty of the imagination that an ever expanding or an all inclusive love will increasingly be expressed, and therefore that the heart center will be forcefully affected and awakened into full activity. It infers also that the spiritual plane life of the disciple, as it expresses itself in his environment will become inspired and creative through the full and conscious use of the intelligence. This, in its turn, brings about the rounded out activity of the throat center, and thus the [385] three major centers, which are aroused into activity upon the Path of Discipleship, are brought to full and measured and controlled activity. Upon the Path of Initiation, the awakening and full-conditioned functioning of the two head centers is completed. This is the result of the use of the Technique of Duality by the initiate. One head center, the thousand-petalled lotus, represents the spirit or life aspect; the other, the ajna center, represents matter or the form aspect. Thus the work carried forward upon the paths of evolution, of probation, and of discipleship is completed upon the path of initiation, and thus, when the rays are understood, you have the possibility of a new system of awakening the centers, or chakras. But this system concerns only the awakening of the central part of the center or lotus of force. The teaching given in the oriental and theosophical books refers primarily to the awakening and right relation of the centers when the aspirant is upon the probationary path. The teaching which I have here given has not before been so explicitly made public and has hitherto only been communicated orally. One half of the center, the outer half (therefore one half of the lotus petals) is brought into increased activity upon the probationary path; the other half begins its intensified vibratory activity upon the path of discipleship, but the intensification of the center of the lotus (though the One Life controls both soul and body) only takes place when the two later techniques of fusion and of duality are carried successfully forward.

Certain questions therefore arise:

1. What are the techniques, producing fusion upon the three major rays.
2. How do these techniques bring about
   1. Illumination of the mind. [386]
   2. Imaginative capacity of the sentient body.
   3. An inspired life.

Another point should here be made; Disciples upon the minor rays likewise employ one or other of these three major techniques. Fourth ray disciples employ the second ray technique, as do sixth ray disciples; disciples upon the fifth ray employ the first ray technique. It is interesting to note that (prior to the first initiation) the personalities of all aspirants to this great expansion of consciousness will be found upon the third ray, which is - like the solar plexus center - a great clearing house for energies, and a great transmuting station, if I may use this term.

The first ray technique must, therefore, do the following things and produce the following results:

1. The divine will must be evoked, of which the mind aspect is the reflection, and the brain (or the phenomenal appearance) the shadow. This brings into functional activity upon the physical plane what is called in theosophical books, Atma, or the first qualified differentiation of the monadic Life. The quality is often called the spiritual will.
2. The evocation of this will produces an illumination of the mind, differing from the illumination achieved through ordinary meditation and about which much has been written in the mystical books. This latter illumination is essentially the evocation of the intuition, which brings the illumination of direct knowledge to the mind. The one to which I here refer is, symbolically speaking, related to the state of consciousness of the Creator when He sent forth the phenomena-producing fiat: "Let there be Light."
3. This illumination, coming from the highest aspect which [387] man can conceive follows a direct line of approach, or pours down through a direct channel from
   1. The level of Atma, or that center of spiritual will which is dynamic and effective but seldom called into play, to the will petals of the egoic lotus, upon which I touched in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire. These petals are the reflection in the soul of this particular aspect of energy.
   2. From this layer of petals to the mind body.
   3. From the mind body to the brain.
   4. From the brain, in due and set time, to the center at the base of the spine, thus arousing the kundalini fire.

It will interest students to note how the first ray disciple, when employing this first ray technique of fusion, ends by producing second ray characteristics of which illumination, producing understanding love and sympathetic cooperation, is the predominant note. The second ray disciple, through rightly applied technique, produces curiously enough, third ray results, of which the use of the creative imagination is the outstanding characteristic. The third ray disciple through the development of the "power to inspire" adds to his innate qualities certain definitely first ray potencies. All are, however, subordinated to the second ray nature of the divine expression in this solar system.

The technique of Fusion, employed by the second ray disciple, will produce the following results:

1. Increased sentient response to the world soul and to the environment in which the disciple finds himself will increasingly be achieved.
2. This is largely done through the cultivation of the creative imagination. This is one of the great building attributes [388] of deity. It is brought about by the evocation of the love nature and, as earlier noted, brings in soul power in full tide. In the world of phenomenal appearance, the soul is the creating agent, the major building factor, the constructor of forms, and, through the Technique of Fusion, the power to imagine or to use imaginative thought power (in conjunction with the faculty to visualize, to wish, to dream into being) is definitely and scientifically developed.
3. This creative tension or one-pointed focus of imaginative dreaming swings the astral body into complete subordination to the soul. This fact is hinted at in The Bhagavad Gita where, upon the battle field of Kurukshetra, Arjuna suddenly sees the form of God wherein all forms constitute the One Form. The battle is then over. The soul is in complete control; no sense of separativeness is again possible.
4. The channel through which this synthesizing and creative energy pours down is as follows:
   1. From the Monad to the love petals of the egoic lotus.
   2. From these love petals to the astral vehicle, energizing all astral matter found in the equipment of the phenomenal man. "The spirit of God moves upon the face of the waters."
   3. From thence to the solar plexus center.
   4. From that center to the heart center. The needed duality connected with the astral body thus appears. We have here also a correspondence to the descent of the fire of the will to the base of the spine with its subsequent raising, along the spinal column, to the head.

The third ray disciple, employing the Technique of Fusion, finds that: [389]

1. It evokes a full functioning of the divine creative faculty. It will be apparent at this point how important is motive, for it determines the line of activity and differentiates man's activity into what is called (by esotericists) black and white magic. It is interesting also to note that it is the very rare man indeed who swings into the field of so-called black magic. This indicates, does it not, my brother, the extraordinarily triumphant work of the Great White Lodge.
2. The fiat which initiated this creative activity, as far as it relates to man, has been inadequately couched in the words: "Let the earth bring forth abundantly", thus inaugurating the age of creativity. This creative fecundity has steadily shifted during the past few thousand years into the creation of those effects of which ideas are the cause, producing within the creative range of man's mind:
   1. That which is useful and so contributing to man's present civilization.
   2. That which is beautiful, thus gradually developing the aesthetic consciousness, the sense of color, and the recognition of the use of symbolic forms in order to express quality and meaning.
3. As a result of the disciple's use of this technique, there is brought about an increased vital livingness, and a dynamic inflow of spiritual life into the physical plane experience. The disciple becomes "inspired" by the fire of love, and this evokes the "service of creation" as an expression of that love.
4. The power which inspires him and which makes him dynamic and creative in his environment comes likewise from the will aspect of the Monad, sweeping the higher [390] mind into activity upon the higher mental level which is that on which the creative ideas of God emerge in form to be recognized by the human consciousness.
5. The channel of approach or of downflow is as follows:
   1. From the will aspect of the monadic life to that level of consciousness and of energy which we call that of the higher mind.
   2. From the higher mind to the knowledge petals of the egoic lotus.
   3. From these vortexes of force to the lower or concrete mind - that in which the average intelligent man familiarly works - to the throat center and from thence immediately to the sacral center (the center of physical plane creation or reproduction). From there it is raised again to the throat center where the creative physical urge is transmuted into artistic or literary creation in some form or another, and later still into the power to create groups or organizations which will express some idea or some thought which emanates from the Mind of God, and which demands immediate precipitation upon earth.

The result of this inflow of supremely high energies is that the processes set in motion by the Technique of Integration are completed and the rays of the lower man are welded or fused into the Personality Ray. This itself is later blended with the egoic ray, enabling that spiritual Identity which we recognize as standing behind phenomenal man to work through both these rays, thus bringing about a correspondence to that grouping within the divine expression which we call the major and minor rays. The rays of the triple lower nature then form one single avenue through which the soul, and later the energy of spirit can contact the larger Whole [391] in manifestation upon the physical, astral and mental planes. When the Techniques of Integration and Fusion have done their intended work, this spiritual Identity can work in service to humanity and in cooperation with the Plan in the three worlds of human endeavor and in the five states of consciousness, human and superhuman. This brings the disciple to the period wherein the third initiation can be taken; then still higher forces can be brought into play and the Technique of Duality can be considered, mastered and used. It will be obvious to you that I cannot give you the rules of this technique, as they constitute part of the veiled secrets of initiation. Though duality is emphasized, it is a duality which produces simplification, merging and synthesis. Man is then viewed as a duality of spirit and matter and not as the well known triplicity of spirit, soul and body.

Now let us for a moment consider the Technique of Fusion. The keynotes of the three techniques are as follows:

• First Ray - Isolated Unity.
• Second Ray - Inclusive Reason.
• Third Ray - Presented Attributes.

The first thing the disciple who seeks to use these techniques undertakes is to arrive at an understanding (practical, experimental and subjective) of the appropriate phrase for his ray. Let me paraphrase or elucidate each of them, inadequately perforce owing to the lack of comprehension and the limited evolution of the average disciple, but in any case in order to bring suggestion to your minds.

Isolated Unity is that stage of consciousness which sees the whole as one and regards itself, not theoretically but as a realized fact, as identified with that whole. It is a whole which is "isolated" in the consciousness of the man, and not the man himself who regards himself as isolated. The word [392] "isolated" refers to that complete organized organism of which the man can feel and know himself to be a part. The word "unity" expresses his relationship to the whole. It will be apparent therefore that this whole is something progressively realized. For the bringing about of this progressed realization the great expansions of consciousness, called initiations, have been temporarily arranged as a hastening or forcing process. This progression of realized "isolations in unity" may begin with the disciple's group, environment or nation and, through right use of the understanding, will end by enabling him to isolate the whole divine scheme or living structure, and to identify himself with it in an active capable manner.

The result of meditation upon this theme will be:

1. A definite illumination of the mind, for it will then be at-one with the Universal Mind and all the ways of God and the plans of God will stand revealed to him.
2. The creative imagination will be powerfully evoked in response to this revelation, and modes and methods of cooperation will be sentiently developed and the disciple will become a creative cooperator and not just an obedient servant of the Plan.
3. His life will be then inspired by the desire to serve humanity and to cooperate with the Custodians of the Plan. This will bring in the full tide of soul life, producing temporarily a violent conflict between the personality ray and the soul ray, but also producing a steady subordination of the lower to the higher, of the minor to the major.

I cannot too strongly call to your attention that I am not here dealing with the normal service and the self-enforced cooperation of the aspirant - a cooperation based upon theory and a determination to prove theory and plan and service to [393] be evolutionary facts - but with that spontaneous illumination, creativity and inspiration which is the result of the use of the Technique of Fusion by the soul - by the soul, and not by the aspiring struggling disciple. Here lies the clue to meaning. We are dealing consequently with that stage of development wherein, in deep contemplation, the man is consciously merged with the soul and that soul, in meditation, decides, plans and works. He functions as the soul and has achieved a definite measure of success in living as a soul, consciously upon the physical plane.

This particular technique of meditation involves the use of the head center, demands the ability to focus the consciousness in the soul form, the spiritual body, and, at the same time, to preserve soul consciousness, mind consciousness and brain consciousness - no easy task for the neophyte and something which lies far ahead for the majority of students who read these words. This condition has been described as "the intensest reflection of the man, isolated in God Who is the negation of isolation and is nevertheless the Whole which is set apart from other Wholes." When this state of awareness has been achieved (and Patanjali hints at it in the last book of the Sutras) the disciple becomes invincible upon the physical plane, for he is completely unified and linked up with all aspects of himself in the greater Whole of which he is a part, is fusing all attributes and is at-one with the Whole, not simply subjectively and unconsciously (as are all human beings) but in full, waking, understanding awareness.

Inclusive Reason, which is the theme for the initiatory meditation of the second ray disciple, produces that inherent divine capacity which enables the detail of the sensed Whole to be grasped in meticulous entirety. This wide, yet detailed, scope or universal recognition is extremely difficult for me to explain or for you to understand. The second ray has been [394] called the Ray of Detailed Knowledge and where this term has been employed, the beginner has necessarily laid the emphasis upon the word "detail". It might rather be called the Ray of Detailed Unity or the Ray of the Divine Pattern, or of beauty in relationship. It involves on the part of the disciple a very high point of synthetic comprehension.

You will note how, in all these three keynotes for advanced meditation, there is the calling of the disciple's attention to those related arrangements which constitute the whole when brought into relation with each other. The word "isolated", the words "detail" and "presented" would seem to indicate separative recognition, but this is emphatically not so. They simply indicate and refer to the intricate internal life of the organized creation of God wherein the consciousness (released from all material pettiness and self-centeredness) sees not only the periphery of the Whole but the beauty and purpose of every aspect of the inner structure. Just as the average, yet unthinking human being knows that he is a person of intricate design, of multiple interior organisms which produce an aggregate of living forms, corelated and functioning as a unity, but of which he in fact knows nothing except their general nature, so the aspirant upon the probationary path may see the whole of which he is similarly a part. Just as the intelligent student of humanity and the highly educated thinker knows in greater detail and fuller comprehension the general equipment and more detailed purpose of the organized whole which we call a man, so the disciple, in the early stages of his career upon the path of discipleship, comes to see and grasp wider aspects of the inner relationships of the organized organism through which Deity is working out His Plans and Purposes. Just as the trained physician, who is also a trained psychologist (a rare thing to find) views the human body and its energies, so the disciple upon the later [395] stages of the Path also grasps the plans, purposes and materialized ideas of God. This is but a feeble effort in my attempt to show the vastness of the knowledge required When a man begins to use these three seed thoughts in meditation. The living structure as it expresses ideas, the intricate beauty of the inner relationships within the expressing Whole, the circulation of the energy which is working out the divine Idea, the points of force and focal points of energy which act as power and light stations within that Whole - all these stand revealed to the man who is permitted, as a soul, to meditate upon such a phrase as inclusive reason.

The reason here referred to is that pure intuitional infallible comprehension which grasps cause and effect simultaneously, and sees why and whence and to what end all things are moving. It is not possible for the aspirant to take these words into his meditation and profit greatly thereby, for he will be meditating as an aspiring mind, and not as a soul. No matter, therefore, how great his effort, it will be the material more than the consciousness aspect and pattern which will engross his attention. When he has reached the point where he can meditate both as a soul and as a mind, involving also the brain reaction, then he will understand the purpose of these words and will view both the symbol, the inner living structure and the emerging conscious ideas with a synthetic comprehension and a simultaneity of reception which it is impossible for me to put into words.

You might well ask me here of what profit is it then for me to write these things at all, and to say much that I have said in this Treatise. I would reply: There are a few today, and there will be an increasing number in the next two decades, who - grasping the beauty of the presented idea - will be urged by their souls to work towards these ends. By so doing, [396] they will succeed in raising the consciousness of the entire human family.

The results of using this meditation on the synthetic detail of the manifested Life will be

1. The realization of the true significance of Light and the revelation of the meaning of what has been called in esoteric books, "the heart of the Sun", which is the inner point of life in all manifested forms. Illumination of the mind will be seen to be direct and infallible and will usurp the place of the present theoretical knowledge and belief.
2. The creative imagination will be occupied with those measures which will "throw the light" into the dark and unrelieved places in the (as yet) incomplete creative process. The man then works consciously in the light, as a Light bearer. Perhaps my meaning will emerge more clearly to some of you when I point out to you that the disciple usually sees himself as a point of intensified light within the light of the world and then seeks to use that light (which is in him atomic, etheric and that acquired as a soul) for the furtherance of the Plan.
3. This necessarily produces an intensified service to "those in dark places". The disciple will seek to bring the light of knowledge to them first of all, and then the light of Life. Ponder deeply on this distinction.

Presented Attributes may appear to you a more simple phrase upon which to meditate and easier for the average aspirant to contemplate and understand. Perhaps this apparent simplicity may be due to your failure to comprehend the significance and meaning of the word "attribute".

This third ray meditation concerns itself essentially with inherent forces, and students would do well to recognize the [397] fact that there are inherent or innate qualities and attributes in the divine Whole which remain as yet unrevealed, and are as much unexpressed as are the divine tendencies in the majority of human beings. It is with these mysterious and slowly emerging energies that the man, ready for initiation, will have to deal, and of them he will become increasingly aware. He has to learn to occupy himself with the task of cooperating with those great Lives Who, working on formless levels, are busy with the development of an inner and as yet unrealized development within the Whole, and which can only be contacted and sensed by those on, or nearing, the Path of Initiation. There is a mystery within the mystery. The four minor rays, or rays of attribute, are concerned with the attributes which are definitely and slowly coming into expression and to fruition - knowledge, synthesis, beauty, science, idealism and order. But there are others, further back behind the scenes, held in latency for the proper period and time (if I may speak of these things in terms of modern usage), and these are the theme of this higher meditation. Only those who have freed themselves from the thralldom of the senses can truly thus meditate. The attributes of Deity might be divided into three main groups:

1. Expressing Attributes - those which are steadily emerging, - of which we are becoming conscious, and which will constitute the major qualities and attributes of the fourth kingdom in nature, when the evolutionary cycle has done its work.
2. Presented Attributes - those which (again using human phraseology) have presented themselves to the consciousness of the advanced disciple, which are as yet not capable of interpretation nor can they be comprehended by average human beings, but which are attributes of [398] the Kingdom of Souls, and which will distinguish that kingdom in its final stages. These latent attributes can be gradually comprehended and brought into activity by those who can function as souls.
3. Undefined Attributes are those of which the Christ, the planetary Logos and Those great Lives of Whose consciousness we can have no conception are becoming aware (note that phrase). For these attributes we have no words, and it is needless for us even to guess at their nature or to ponder upon their significance. They are as remote from our understanding as the aesthetic sense, group philanthropy and world states are from the consciousness of the aboriginal savage.

In connection with the problem of "presented attributes", it might be stated that those which characterize the soul and which cannot express themselves until the soul is consciously known and steadily achieving control, could be illustrated through attention to the word Love. Love is such a presented attribute, and it took a great Avatar, such as the Christ, to grasp for humanity and present to humanity its significance. It has taken two thousand years for this presented attribute to take even the form it has in the consciousness of the human family, and those of us who are students of world affairs well know how unknown real love is. Even today, in relation to the entire planetary population, there is only a very small group (a few million would be an optimistic speculation) who have even a beginner's grasp of what the love of God really is.

Love is the presented attribute which is at this time working into manifestation. Wisdom began to emerge in the time of the Buddha, and was the specified forerunner of love. Synthesis is another of the presented attributes and is only now making its appeal for recognition - an appeal which can only [399] evoke response from the higher types of men, even though centuries have elapsed since Plato endeavored to picture forth the completeness of the Whole and the intricacy of the ideas which have come forth as an expression of that Whole. Such great Revealers of emerging divine attributes as are Plato, the Buddha or Christ differ radically from other Avatars in that They are so constituted that They are focal points through which a new presented attribute can emerge as a thought form, and, therefore, impinge definitely upon the minds of the racial thinkers. These Avatars are possessed by the attribute; They intelligently comprehend it and are used to "anchor" the attribute in human consciousness. There then ensues a long period of adjustment, development and emergence before the presented attribute becomes the expressed attribute. The above few comments may serve to simplify your thought on these abstruse matters, and give you a better idea of the true scope of these advanced meditations.

The result of using this meditation on the presented attributes will be:

1. The attributes already expressing themselves somewhat will achieve an intensified livingness in the daily life-expression of the disciple, and consequently in the lives of all whom he may touch. They will form the stepping-stones across the river of life down which the new attributes may come, presenting themselves in the Persons of Those Who are destined to reveal them eventually to man. Just as, symbolically speaking, the meditation on Inclusive Reason opens the way to the "heart of the Sun", so this meditation brings in certain agencies and forces from the "central spiritual Sun", and these energies find their focal point through the medium of some [400] revealing Agent. Thus the problem of Avatars or of the Messengers from the Most High, the Embodied Principles, and the Revealers of Divine Attribute will gradually come to be understood in a new light, and grasped and understood as a possible goal for certain types of men.
2. This theme opens up a wide range wherein the creative imagination can roam, and provides a fertile source of specialized divine expression. The purer the agent, the better should be the functioning of the imagination, which is essentially the planned activity of the image-making faculty. By its means, subtle divine attributes and purposes can be presented in some form to the minds of men, and can thus in time achieve material expression. This involves the higher sensitivity, power to respond intuitional, intellectual ability to interpret that which is sensed, focused attention in order to "bring down" into manifestation the new potentiality and possibility of the divine nature, and an organized stability and purity of life. Ponder on this.
3. This use of the creative imagination will appear to you immediately as constituting, in itself, a definite field of service. Of this service, the highest of which you can know anything is that of the Group of Contemplatives, connected with the inner planetary Hierarchy, Who are called Nirmanakayas in the ancient books. They are entirely occupied with the task of sensing and with the endeavor to express the presented attributes which must some day be as familiar to men (theoretically, at least) as are the gradually expressing attributes of Love, Beauty or Synthesis today. On a much lower plane, those of you who are occupied with the effort to make soul quality expressed factors in your lives are beginning [401] to perform, on your level of consciousness, a task somewhat similar to that of the Divine Contemplatives. It is good training for the work you may have to do as you prepare for initiation. The small lesson mastered (and many of you are finding it a hard lesson) leads inevitably to wider opportunity in Service.

I have given enough information on which deeply to think and reflect. I have pointed out a goal which is impossible of achievement as yet, but one which leads eventually to that assured faith which is based upon direct knowledge and vision. I have briefly indicated the triple techniques of Integration, Fusion and Duality, and have shown you how, by means of them, the three rays of the Personality, the Ego and the Monad can be fused and blended until Deity, the essential divine Life, is revealed and from a materialized Triplicity only an eventual Unity can be seen. We will next take up some of the problems of Psychology, studying them from the angle of the soul.

B.III. Some Problems of Psychology

Introduction

What I have here to say should be of general interest. I intend to write with great simplicity, avoiding the technical terms of academic psychology, and putting the human psychological problem so plainly that real help may eventuate to many. These days are fraught with difficulty and it would sometimes appear that the necessary environmental adjustments are so hard and the equipment so inadequate to the demanded task that humanity is being asked to perform the impossible. It is as if the human frame had accumulated so much physical disability, so much emotional stress and had [402] inherited so much disease and over-sensitivity that men fall back defeated. It is as if the attitude of man to the past, to the present and to the future was of such a nature that there seems no reason for existence, that there is nothing toward which to look, and no help to be found in retrospection.

I am, therefore, widely generalizing. There are those to whom this generalization does not apply, but even they, if they are students of human affairs, of sociological conditions, and of human equipment, are prone to question and at times to despair. Life is so difficult these days; the tension to which men are subjected is so extreme; the future appears so threatening; and the masses of men are so ignorant, diseased and distressed. I am putting this gloomy picture before you at the start of our discussion in order to evade no issue, to paint no silly optimistic and glamorous situation, or to portray no easy way of escape which would only lead us deeper into the gloomy forest of human error and illusion.

Yet, could we but know it, present conditions indicate their own cause and cure. I trust that by the time we have studied the problem (cursorily, I realize, for that is all that is possible) I shall have been able to indicate a possible way out and to have offered such practical suggestions that light may appear in the dense darkness, the future hold much promise, and the present much of experiment, leading to improvement and understanding.

The major science today is Psychology. It is one that is yet in its infancy but it holds the fate of humanity in its grasp and it has the power (rightly developed and employed) to save the race. The reason for its greatness and usefulness lies in the fact that it lays the emphasis upon the relation of the unit to the whole, to the environment and contacts; it studies man's equipment and apparatus of such contact, and seeks to [403] produce right adaptation, correct integration and coordination and the release of the individual to a life of usefulness, fulfilment and service.

Some of the difficulties which have to be faced as one considers the conclusions of the many, many schools of Psychology are based upon the fact of their failure to relate the many points of view to each other. The same cleavage and even warfare is to be found within the confines of this science as are found in the individual man or in the religious field. There is to be found a lack of synthesis, a failure to correlate results, and a tendency to over-emphasize one aspect of the ascertained truth to the exclusion of others equally important. The outstanding weakness or weaknesses in an individual's equipment or presentation of life (and also those of the group or social order) are considered to the exclusion and even negation of other weaknesses not so obvious but equally crippling. Prejudice, dependent upon a biassed scholastic training, often frustrates the outlook so that the weakness in the psychologist's own equipment negates his efforts to aid the patient. The failure of education today to take into consideration the whole man, or to allow scope for the activity of an integrating center, a central point of consciousness, and a determining factor within the mechanism of the one who must be helped to adapt himself to his life condition - this above everything else is responsible for much of the trouble. The assertion of the purely materialistic and scientific attitude which recognizes only the definitely proven, or that which can be proved by the acceptance of an immediate hypothesis, has led to much loss of time. When again the creative imagination can be released in every department of human thought we shall see many new things brought to light that are at present only accepted by the religiously inclined [404] and by the pioneering minds. One of the first fields of investigation to be benefited by this release will be that of psychology.

Organized religion has, alas, much to answer for, because of its fanatical emphasis upon doctrinal pronouncements, and its penalization of those who fail to accept such dicta has served to stultify the human approach to God and to reality. Its over-emphasis upon the unattainable and its culture of the sense of sin down the centuries have led to many disastrous conditions, to interior conflicts which have distorted life, to morbidity, sadistic attitudes, self-righteousness and an ultimate despair which is the negation of truth.

When right education (which is the true science of adaptation) and right religion (which is the culture of the sense of divinity) and right scientific unfoldment (which is the correct appreciation of the form or forms through which the subjective life of divinity is revealing itself) can be brought into right relation to each other and thus supplement each other's conclusions and efforts, we shall then have men and women trained and developed in all parts of their natures. They will then be simultaneously citizens of the kingdom of souls, creative members of the great human family, and sound animals with the animal body so developed that it will provide the necessary instrument upon the outer plane of life for divine, human and animal revelation. This, the coming New Age, will see take place and for it men are today consciously or unconsciously preparing.

We will divide the problems of psychology into the following groupings:

1. The Problems of Cleavage, leading frequently to the many ways of escape, which constitute the bulk of the modern complexes. [405]
2. The Problems of Integration, which produce many of the difficulties of the more advanced people.
3. The Problems due to Inheritance, racial, family, etc., involving the problems of inherited diseases, with consequent crippling of the individual.

With this third group I shall deal very little. There is not much to be done save to leave to time and greater wisdom much of the solution, coupled with an effort to bring amelioration to the individual thus afflicted, to supply glandular deficiency, training in self-control if possible, and the bringing of the physical vehicle to as high a point of development as may be possible within limits. The time is coming when every infant will early be subjected to certain tests and become the recipient of skilled care so that the apparatus of contact may be as usable as possible, as adaptive as may be, and as sound as it can be rendered. But I would here remind you that no physical equipment can be brought beyond a certain point of development in any one life - a point determined by the stage reached under the evolutionary process, by racial factors, by the quality of the subtle or subjective nature, by past experience and by soul contact (distant, approaching or already made), and by the mental equipment.

For the right understanding of our subject, and of my method of handling it, I would like to lay down four fundamental propositions:

1. That in time and space, man is essentially dual, consisting of soul and body, of intelligent life and form, of a spiritual entity and the apparatus of contact - the body nature whereby that entity can become aware of worlds of phenomena and states of consciousness of a nature different to those on its own level of awareness.

2. That this body nature consists of the physical outer form, [406] the sum total of vitality or the etheric body (which science today is rapidly coming to recognize), the sensitive, emotional, desire body, and the mind. Through the physical body contact is made with the environing tangible world; through the vital body the impulses come which produce direction and activity upon the physical plane; through the sensory vehicle the astral or emotional nature originates the bulk of those desires and impulses which direct the undeveloped or average man, and which can be called desire-impulses or the wish-life of the individual; through the mind comes eventually intelligent understanding and a life directed by purpose and planning instead of desire.

3. That human unfoldment proceeds by a series of integrations, of processes of coordination or synthesis, involving as they do (particularly when the intelligence is beginning to control) a sense of cleavage and of duality. These integrations, as far as humanity is concerned, either lie far behind in the past, are proceeding at this time, or lie ahead in the future.

• Past Integrations.
  Between the animal body and the vital body.
  Between these two and the sensitive desire nature.
  Between these three and the lower concrete mind.
• Present Integrations.
  Between these four aspects thus producing a coordinated personality.
• Future Integration.
  Between the personality and the Soul.

There are other and higher integrations but with these we [407] need not here concern ourselves. They are reached through the processes of initiation and of service. The point to be remembered is that in racial history, many of these integrations have already taken place unconsciously as the result of life-stimulation, the evolutionary urge, the normal processes of living, experience through contact with the environment, and also of satisfaction leading to satiety of the desire nature. But there comes a time in racial unfoldment, as in the lives of individuals, when the blind process of evolutionary acquiescence becomes the living conscious effort, and it is right at this point that humanity stands today. Hence the realization of the human problem in terms of modern psychology; hence the widespread suffering of human units everywhere; hence the effort of modern education; and hence also the emergence in every country on a wide scale and in increasingly large numbers of three kinds of people:

• Those conscious of cleavage.
• Those achieving integration with much pain and difficulty.
• Personalities, or integrated and therefore dominant people.

4. That at the same time in every country, men and women are proceeding towards a still higher synthesis. and achieving it: - the synthesis of soul - and body. This produces a sense of destiny, individual and racial; a sense of purpose, and of plan. It produces also the unfoldment of the intuition (the sublimation of the intellect, as that was the sublimation of the instinctual nature) and the consequent recognition of the higher ideas and idealism, and of those basic truths which when disseminated among the thinking people of the world, will produce great mental and material changes, with their transitory accompaniments and upheaval, of chaos, experiment, destruction and rebuilding. [408]

Humanity provides a cultural field for all types, i. e. far those who are today expressions of past integrations, and those who are in process of becoming thinking human beings. The two earliest integrations, between the vital body and the physical form, and between these two and the desire nature, are no longer represented. They are universal and lie below the threshold of conscious activity and far behind in racial history. The only field in which they can be studied is in those processes of recapitulatory history of infancy wherein one can see the power to move and respond to the sensory apparatus, and the power to express desire, most clearly demonstrated. The same thing can also be noticed in infant and savage races. But the third stage of integration, that of gradual mental development, is proceeding apace and can be, and is being, most carefully studied. Today, modern education is occupied almost exclusively with this stage and when educators cease to train the brain cells or to deal with the evocation of memory, and when they cease to regard the brain and the mind as one, but learn to differentiate between the two, then great strides forward will be made. When the child receives training in mind control and when that mind is taught to direct the desire nature and the brain, producing direction of the physical vehicle from the mental level, then we shall see these three integrations carried forward with precision and with rapidity. Attention will then be given to the integration of the personality, so that all three aspects shall function as one unit. We have, therefore:

1. The child state, in which the three first integrations are brought about, and the objective of the educational procedure will be to effect this with the minimum of difficulty.
2. The human state, dealing with the integration of all the [409] aspects into one functioning self-conscious, self-directed personality.
3. The spiritual state, dealing with the integration of the personality and the soul, thus evoking the consciousness of the Whole. When this is accomplished, group consciousness is added to self-consciousness, and this is the second great step on the way to God consciousness.

The difficulty today is that we have on every hand people at all different stages in the integrative process; all of them in a "state of crisis" and all of them therefore providing the problems of modern psychology.

These problems may be divided more precisely into three major groupings:

1. The Problems of Cleavage. These in their turn are of two kinds:
   1. The problems of integration.
   2. Those arising out of a sense of duality.
      This sense of duality, as the result of realized cleavage, ranges all the way from the "split personality" difficulties of so many people to those of the mystic with his emphasis upon the lover and the loved, the seeker and the sought, upon God and His child.
2. The Problems of Integration, which produce many of the difficulties of the more advanced people.
3. The Problems of Stimulation. These arise as the result of an achieved synthesis and integration, producing consequently an inflow of unaccustomed energy. This inflow may express itself as a high voltage ambition, as a sense of power , as desire for personality influence or as true spiritual power and force. In every case, [410] however, comprehension of the resultant phenomena is required, and most careful handling.

Arising from these problems we find also

1. Mental Problems. Certain definite complexes occur when the integration of the mind with the three lower aspects has been brought about, and some clear thought about them will be useful.
2. The Diseases of Mystics. These are concerned with those attitudes of mind, those complexities of idea and those "spiritual enterprises" which affect the mystically inclined or those who are aware of the spiritual dualism of which St. Paul wrote in the Epistle to the Romans. He wrote as follows:

"For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
If then I do what I would not, I consent under the law that it is good.
Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh), dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

For the good that I would, I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. [411]

O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans VII, 14-24)

These difficulties will call for increasing attention as the race proceeds towards personality integration and from thence to soul contact.

It will be apparent to you, therefore, how wide is our subject and of what real importance. It will be obvious to you also that much of our nervous disease, our inhibitions, suppressions, submissions, or their reverse aspects, are tied up with this whole process of successive syntheses or fusions.

Two points should be touched upon here: First, that in any consideration of the human being - whether we regard him simply as a man or as a spiritual entity - we are in reality dealing with a most complex aggregate of differentiated energies, through which or among which the consciousness plays. This consciousness is, in the early stages, nothing more than a vague diffused awareness, undefined, unidentified and free from any definite focus of attention. Later, it becomes more awake and aware and the focus becomes centered in the realm of selfish desire, and its satisfaction and assuagement. To this condition we can give the general name of the "wish life" with its objective, personal happiness, leading eventually to consummated desire, but a consummated desire postponed till after death and to which we have given the name "heaven". Later (again as the mind nature integrates with the other more developed aspects), we have the emergence of a definitely self-conscious entity, and a strictly human being, characterized by intelligence, comes into active expression. The focus of attention is still the satisfaction of desire, but it is the desire to know, the will to understand through investigation, discrimination and analysis.

Finally comes the period of personality integration wherein [412] there is the will-to-power, with self-consciousness directed to the domination of the lower nature, and with the objective of the domination of the environment, of other human beings in small or large numbers, and of circumstance. When this has been grasped and understood, the focus of attention shifts into the realm of the higher energies, and the soul factor becomes increasingly active and prominent, dominating and disciplining the personality, interpreting its environment in new terms, and producing a synthesis, hitherto unrecognized, between the two kingdoms of nature - the human and the spiritual.

Throughout all these processes we see the bringing together of many types of energy, all of them distinguished by quality of some kind or another, which - when brought into relation with each other - produce first of all a period of chaos, of anarchy and of difficulty. Later ensues a period of synthesis, of organized activity and of a fuller expression of divinity. But there remains for a long time the need for recognition of energy and its right use.

The second point I seek to make is that these inner energies make their contact through the medium of the vital or etheric body, which is composed of energy streams; these work through seven focal points or centers of force in the etheric body. These centers of energy are found in close proximity to, or in relation to, the seven sets of major glands:

1. The pineal gland.
2. The pituitary body.
3. The thyroid and parathyroid glands.
4. The thymus gland.
5. The pancreas.
6. The adrenals.
7. The gonads. [413]

These centers are:

1. The head center.
2. The center between the eyebrows.
3. The throat center.
4. The heart center.
5. The solar plexus center.
6. The center at the base of the spine.
7. The sacral center.

These centers are closely concerned with the endocrine system, which they determine and condition according to the quality and source of the energy which flows through them. With this I have dealt at length in my other books, and so shall not here enlarge upon it beyond calling your attention to the relation between the centers of force in the etheric body, the processes of integration, which bring one center after another into activity, and the eventual control of the soul, after the final at-one-ment of the entire personality.

Only when modern psychologists add to the amazingly interesting knowledge they have of the lower man, an occidental interpretation of the oriental teaching about the centers of force through which the subjective aspects of man - lower, personal and divine - are to be expressed, will they solve the human problem and arrive at an understanding of the technique of unfoldment and of integration which will lead to intelligent comprehension, a wise solution of the difficulties, and a correct interpretation of the peculiarities with which they are so frequently confronted. When to this acceptance can be added a study of the seven major types, the science of psychology will be brought another step nearer its eventual usefulness as a major instrument in the technique of human perfecting. They will be greatly helped also by a study of astrology from the angle of energy contacts, of the [414] lines of least resistance, and as one of the determining influences and characteristics of the type under consideration. I refer not here to the casting of a horoscope with the objective of discovering the future or of determining action. This aspect of astrological interpretation will become less and less useful as men achieve the power to control and to govern their stars and so direct their own lives. I refer to the recognition of the astrological types, of their characteristics and qualities and tendencies.

Bearing in mind the analysis earlier made of the various aspects of the human being, which - during the evolutionary process - are gradually fused into one integrated person, let us remember that the fusion effected and the changes brought about are the result of the steady shift of the consciousness. It becomes increasingly inclusive. We are not dealing here with the form aspect as much as with the conscious realization of the dweller in the body. It is in this region that our problems lie, and it is with this developing consciousness that the psychologist has primarily to deal. From the angle of the omniscient soul, the consciousness is limited, disturbed, exclusive, self-centered, distorted, erratic and, in the early stages, deceived. It is only when the processes of development have been carried forward to a relatively high point and the awareness of duality is beginning to emerge, that the real problems and the major difficulties and dangers are encountered and the man becomes aware of his situation. Before that time, the difficulties are of a different nature and revolve largely around the physical equipment, are concerned with the slowness of the vital reactions and the low grade desires of the animal nature. The human being is, at that stage, largely an animal, and the conscious man is deeply hidden and imprisoned. It is the life principle and urge which dominate and the instinctual nature which controls. The solar plexus is the [415] seat of the consciousness and the head and brain are inactive.

It should also be remembered here (as I have oft pointed out) that the reality which we call the soul is basically an expression of three types of energy - life, love and intelligence. For the reception of these three energies, the triple lower nature has been prepared and the intelligence aspect reflects itself in the mind, the love nature in the emotional desire body, and the life principle in and through the etheric or vital body. As regards the physical body in its more dense expression (for the etheric body is the more subtle aspect or expression of the physical body), the soul anchors itself in two streams of energy at two points of contact: the life stream in the heart and the consciousness stream in the head. This consciousness aspect is itself dual, and that which we call self-consciousness is gradually unfolded and perfected until the ajna center, or the center between the eyebrows, is awakened. The latent group-consciousness, which brings realization of the greater Whole, is quiescent for the greater part of the evolutionary cycle, until the integrative process has proceeded to such a point that the personality is functioning. Then the head center begins to awaken and the man becomes conscious in the larger sense. Head and heart then link up, and the spiritual man appears in fuller expression.

This, I know, is familiar teaching to you but it is of value briefly to recapitulate and get the picture clear. Bearing these premises in mind, we will not deal with the earliest difficulties but will begin with those of modern man, and with those conditions with which we are all too sadly familiar.

B.III.1. Problems of Cleavage

Thinkers are today awakening to this particular type of difficulty and finding the cleavages in human nature so widespread and so deep seated in the very constitution of the race [416] itself that they are viewing the situation with much concern. These cleavages seem basic, and produce the divisions we find everywhere between race and race and between religion and religion, and can be traced back to the fundamental condition of manifestation which we call the relationship of positive and negative, of male and female and, esoterically speaking, of the sun and the moon. The mystery of sex itself is bound up with the re-establishment of the sense of unity and of balance, of oneness or of wholeness. In its higher human aspect, this sexual differentiation is only the symbol or lowest expression of the cleavage or separativeness of which the mystic is aware and which makes him seek at-one-ment or union with what he calls divinity. In between this physical cleavage and this spiritual recognition of divinity lie a large number of lesser cleavages of which man becomes aware.

Behind all of this is to be found a still more fundamental cleavage - that between the human kingdom and the kingdom of souls - a cleavage in consciousness more than in fact. The cleavage between the animal and the human kingdom has been largely resolved through the recognition of the physical identity of the animal nature and the uniformity in expression of the instinctual nature. Within the human family, the various cleavages of which man is so distressingly aware will be bridged and ended when the mind is trained to control and to dominate within the realm of the personality and is correctly used as an analytical, integrating factor instead of as a critical, discriminating, separative factor. The right use of the intellect is essential to the healing of the personality cleavages. The cleavage between personality and the soul is resolved by the right use of: [417]

1. The instinctual sense of divinity which leads to reorientation in the right direction. This leads to
2. The intelligent use of the mind so that it becomes consciously aware of the soul and of the laws which govern soul unfoldment.
3. The intuitive recognition of reality, which resolves the differentiated parts into a unit, producing illumination.
4. This illumination reveals the essential oneness which exists on the the inner side of life and negates the outer appearance of separativeness.

Thus it will be apparent to you that the cleavages are "healed" by a right and intelligent use of the quality aspect of the form nature:

1. Instinct distinguishes the automatic physical nature, the vital or life vehicle and the desire nature. It works through the solar plexus and the organs of reproduction.
2. Intelligence distinguishes the mind aspect or mental vehicle, and works through the clearing house of the brain, and through the ajna and throat centers.
3. Intuition distinguishes the soul nature and it works through the mind, the heart center and the head center. From these three major points the soul governs eventually the personality.

I commend these ideas to your careful consideration and assure you that rightly understood they will aid in the solution of the problems connected with the various cleavages in human nature.

There is no cleavage to be found today between the vital body and the physical body. There is only at times a partial cleavage and what one might call a "loose connection". The two streams of living energy - life and consciousness - are [418] usually anchored in the head and heart. In the case of certain forms of idiocy however, the consciousness stream is not anchored at all in the body, but only the life stream has made its contact in the heart. There is, therefore, no self-consciousness, no power of centralized control and no capacity to direct action or to provide in any way a life program or plan. There is only responsiveness to aspects of the instinctual nature.

Certain forms of epilepsy are due to what we might call "a loose connection", the consciousness stream or thread of energy is subject at times to withdrawal or abstraction, and this produces the familiar epileptoid symptoms and the distressing conditions seen in the usual fit. In a lesser degree, and producing no permanent, dangerous results, the same basic cause produces the so-called "petit mal" and certain types of fainting fits; these are caused by the brief and temporary withdrawal of the thread of consciousness energy. It should be remembered that when this withdrawal takes place and there is a separation of the consciousness from the vehicle of conscious contact, all that we understand by the term consciousness, such as self-consciousness, desire and intelligence, is abstracted and only life and the consciousness inherent in the physical body cells remain.

As a rule, however, the average man today is a closely knit and functioning unit. (This is true whether one is considering the unevolved masses or the materialistically minded citizens of the world.) He is firmly integrated physically, etherically and emotionally. His physical body, his vital body and his desire nature (for emotion is but expressed desire of some kind or another) are close by knit. At the same time there can be a weakness in the etheric integration, of such a nature that there is a low vitality, a lack of desire impulses, a failure to register adequate dynamic incentives, immaturity and [419] sometimes obsession or possession. Frequently what is called a lack of will and the labeling of a person as "weak-willed" or "weak-minded" has in reality nothing to do with the will, but is apt to be the result of this feeble integration and loose connection between the consciousness and the brain which renders the man negative to the desire impulses which should normally stream through into his brain, galvanizing his physical vehicle into some form of activity.

The will, which usually demonstrates itself through a program or ordered plan, originates in the mind and not on the desire levels of awareness, and this program is based on a sense of direction and a definite orientation of the will to a recognized objective, and it is not, in these cases, the cause of the difficulty. The trouble is simpler and lies nearer home. The handling of these difficulties and their right solution is of a definitely material nature, and the trouble is frequently overcome by increasing the vitality of the body, building up the etheric body, through sunshine, vitaminous foods and exercise, plus correct treatment and balancing of the endocrine system. Along these lines much work is being done today and the less serious forms of etheric cleavage are rapidly yielding to treatment. Lack of vitality, immaturity, depression based upon a weak vital connection and lack of interest in life (so prevalent at this time) will become less frequent.

I cannot here deal at length with the problems of obsession, due to the withdrawal of the self-conscious aspect of the dweller in the body. This process of abstraction leaves only a living shell, an empty house. Too much would have to be considered for a treatise such as this. It is not easy for the scientific psychological investigator to accept the premise of the substitution of the consciousness of another entity in [420] the place of the consciousness of the one who has been unable to hold the link within the brain with adequate positiveness. But, speaking as one who knows, such cases frequently occur, leading to many of the problems of so-called "split personality" which is in reality the ownership of a particular physical body by the two persons - one providing the life stream (anchored in the heart) and the other providing the stream of consciousness (anchored in the brain) and thus controlling the body, directing its activities and expressing itself through the organs of speech. Sometimes this possession alternates between the two individuals concerned. Sometimes more than two are concerned, and several persons upon the inner side of life use the same physical body. Then you have multiple personalities. This is however due to a definite weakness in the etheric connection of the original dweller; or again it may be due to that dweller's great dislike for physical incarnation; again it may be caused by some shock or disaster which suddenly severs the link of consciousness, and in this latter case there is no hope of restoration. Each case has to be diagnosed and dealt with on its individual merits and preferably by dealing directly with the real dweller when he is "at home in his own dwelling". Furthermore, the consciousness of this dweller is sometimes so strongly orientated in directions other than those of physical existence that a process of abstraction has taken place, with the focus of the conscious interest elsewhere. This is the undesirable side or expression of the same power of abstraction which enables the mystic to see his visions and to participate in heavenly happenings, and which enables the advanced adept to enter into the state of Samadhi. In the one case, the vehicle is left unguarded and the prey of any passing visitor; and in the other it is left duly guarded and positively attentive to the call and the note of its owner. [421]

It is not possible for me to do more than hint at these various explanations and so start investigators with open minds and the willingness to accept unusual hypotheses, along a trail which may lead them into the valley of understanding. The clue to success in eliminating these types of difficulty lies in prenatal care and study of hereditary taints; syphilis and the other venereal diseases are potent predisposing causes. The right culture of the body nature after birth and the development in the child of a positive sense of himself, thus making him positive in thought and training his sense of self-identity - all these are sound helps towards the elimination of this type of trouble. The tendency today to emphasize the vitamins in food and to give a balanced diet is all to the good.

The true sense of cleavage and really serious difficulty comes, however, when two things have occurred. These might be stated to be as follows:

1. The self-consciousness of the man has reached a point where his desires are so dominant and compelling that he becomes aware of their strength, and also simultaneously of his inability truly to satisfy them, coupled with the recognition that there is an aspect of himself which does not truly want to do so. The sense of frustration then descends upon him and he becomes painfully aware of what he wants and of what he would be if his desires were met and satisfied. He is then torn in two directions: his desire-mind keeps him dwelling in the realm of longing, of hope and of wish, whilst his brain and his physical nature bring to him the conviction that nothing he wants is possible and if possible, does he really want it? This is true of the man whose objective is the satisfaction of his material longings or of the man who is responding to the desire for intellectual or spiritual [422] satisfaction. In the one case the cleavage begins to appear in the lower aspects of his desire nature. In the other it appears in the higher aspects, but in both cases the lines of the cleavage are clear. The conflict has begun and two possibilities lie ahead:

1. Eventual acquiescence of a nature which ends the life in futility, deep depression and a sense of frustration which runs all the way from a submissive life of acceptance to those many ways of escape which push a man into the dream world, into the land of illusion, into a state of negativity and even over the border to death through self-destruction.
2. A furious conflict, based on a refusal to be molded by circumstance or environment. This drives a man on to success and to achievement of his desire or it breaks him on the wheel of life, either physically or mentally.

2. Cleavage comes also when the man fails to use his God-given intellect and so is unable to choose between the essentials and the non-essentials, between right direction and wrong goals, between the various satisfactions which appeal to the various aspects of his lower nature and eventually between the higher and the lower duality. He must learn to grasp the distinction between:

1. Submission to the inevitable and submission to the urge of his own desire.
2. Recognition of capacity and recognition of potentiality. Many conflicts would be solved through the summation, understanding and right use of recognized assets, thus eliminating impossible goals and the consequent inevitable frustration. When this part of the conflict [423] has been overcome, then potentiality can emerge in recognition and become power in expression.
3. Recognition of individual goals and group goals, between the ability to be social or anti-social. Much is being done along these lines but the emphasis is still upon the individual and not upon the group. When this is the case, we become responsible for anti-social groups.

I have mentioned only three of many possible recognitions but the resolution of the cleavage for which these are responsible will result in the liberation of a large majority of sufferers. It might perhaps be said that the release of many whose cleavage lies primarily in the realm of the desire nature, leading to the sense of frustration and a break in the life continuity of interest, can be cured by

1. Attention first of all to the physical equipment and to the glands, particularly to the thyroid gland, plus the regulation of the diet.
2. Attention to the physical coordination of the patient, for physical coordination is the outer expression of an inner process of integration and much can be done by training.
3. Interpretation of the life and the environment, given in terms of appreciation. Ponder on this.
4. Decentralization through
   1. The providing of right interests and the right kind of education and vocational training.
   2. Cultivation of the power to recognize and meet surrounding need, thus evoking the desire to serve and providing the sense of satisfaction which comes from accomplishment and appreciation. [424]
   3. The careful and slow transmutation of desire into aspiration.
5. Reorientation to higher goals and the development of the sense of right direction. This involves
   1. The cultivation of a wider vision.
   2. The formulation of an inner program, intelligently compiled, and suitable for the point in evolution but not so advanced as to be impossible.
   3. The avoidance of those steps and activities which are doomed to failure.
6. Later, when the above is somewhat grasped, there must be the search for, and the development of, any creative faculty, thus meeting the desire to be noticed and to contribute. Much artistic effort or literary and musical effort is based on the desire to be the center of attention and is not based on any true creative ability. It is the sense of "I, the dramatic actor". This rightly used and developed, is of real value and importance.
7. The elimination of the sense of sin, of disapprobation, with its concomitants, revolt, suspicion and an inferiority complex.

One point I feel the need definitely to re-emphasize and that is the necessity, when considering the human being and his expression and existence, to remember that we are really considering energy, and the relation or non-relation of forces. As long as this is carefully borne in mind, we shall not go astray as we deal with our subject. We are considering related units of energy, functioning in a field of energy; remembering this always, we shall (at least symbolically) be enabled to get a fairly clear idea of our theme. As long as we regard our problem as consisting of the interrelation of [425] many energies, their fusion and their balancing, plus the final synthesis of two major energies, their fusion and their balancing, we shall arrive at some measure of understanding and subsequent solution. The field of energy which we call the soul (the major energy with which man is concerned) absorbs, dominates or utilizes the lesser energy which we call the personality. This it is necessary for us to realize; and to remember, at the same time, that this personality is itself composed of four types of energy. According to our ray type, so will be our use of the words "absorbs, dominates and utilizes". I would here remind you, as I have oft done before, that words fail to express and language handicaps rather than aids the objective that I have in view. Human thought is now entering a field for which there exists, as yet, no true language-form, for we have no adequate terms, and in which word-symbols mean but little. Just as the discovery of the automobile, and the radio have necessitated the formulation of an entirely new set of terms, phrases, nouns and verbs, so in the years that are coming the discovery of the fact of the soul will necessitate a new language approach. It is true, is it not, that a man of the Victorian age, listening to the technical jargon of the present radio laboratory or the ordinary garage, would be completely in the dark? So the psychologist of today is in the dark very often and understands not what we are trying to convey, for the new language is not yet evolved and the old terms are inadequate. I am, therefore, unable to do more than employ the terms which seem to me to be the most suitable, knowing that I am failing to express the true significance of my ideas, and you are consequently gaining only an approximate understanding and conception of the concepts I am endeavoring to expound.

We have already somewhat considered the problem of the [426] cleavages to which man is subject, and we saw that the human evolutionary process was, in the last analysis, a series of at-one-ments; each step forward meant the bringing together of certain types of energy in order that their fusion might produce a more complete person. May I state here an interesting point? The problem itself is brought about by the fact that there Is an Observer. This Observer, at certain points in the normal development of the man, comes to the realization that there are cleavages. This Observer suffers because of their existence in his self-awareness. He realizes that he is the victim of the divisions in his nature. Yet - and this is of importance - the man upon the physical plane is unable either to understand them or, apparently, to heal them without aid from the soul, the Observer, the higher aspect of himself. For instance, a man suffering from dissociation between the emotional, sentient part of himself and the mental aspect is aware of need, of frustration and of intense suffering and difficulty, yet needs the understanding help of a trained psychologist or of his own soul before fusion can be made and he, as an individual, can "be made whole".

This same truth exists in connection with all the cleavages found in man, but three of these cleavages are of major importance:

1. The cleavage between the mind and the rest of the lower nature - physical, vital, astral or emotional.
2. The cleavage between the man and his environment which - when once healed and bridged - makes him a responsible human being and a good citizen who accepts his environment and gives to it of his best. Thus he grows in character and capacity, as a result of a definite interplay between the two - himself and his environment. [427]
3. The cleavage between the man (the personality) and the soul. This produces sequentially:
   1. A dominant selfish personality.
   2. A practical mystic, conscious of the need for fusion and for unity.

Parallels to these states of consciousness are found in the adolescent. They are found also in the man who is integrating into his life work, and also in the thinking aspirant. This is true, whether his thoughts, purposes and ambitions are selfishly polarized or spiritually inclined. The sense of cleavage, the need for orientation, the bridging process and the ultimate sense of achievement are identical in both cases.

In dealing with these situations certain general rules should govern the psychologist, and certain general premises should eventually be accepted by the man who constitutes the problem case. These same rules and premises can be considered and accepted by the man who, without the aid of a trained psychologist, manages to train himself and to bridge his realized cleavages. These basic premises are:

1. That any psychological difficulty is universal and not unique. It is the sense of uniqueness - with its separative tendency and its realized loneliness - which is often the all-engrossing factor. It makes the personality too important, and this should be definitely negated.
2. That the crisis faced indicates progress and opportunity, and that it does not indicate disaster and failure. It must be realized by the patient (can I use that term?) that the race has progressed to its present point in evolution by just such crises. So does the individual human unit progress. In the last analysis, psychological crises are indicative of progressive steps upon the Way, bringing with them the need for effort and at the same time a [428] sense of gain and of freedom, when surmounted, overcome and solved.
3. That the power to produce the needed integration and to end a cycle of sensed duality lies within the man himself because:
   1. His discomfort, lack of coordination, pain and distress are symptoms of aspiration, unrealized perhaps but none the less there. They are the reaction of the integrated aspects to that aspect which is seeking integration.
   2. The aspect to be integrated is essentially more powerful than the lower waiting aspects, for they are negative or receptive whilst that which should be realized and accepted is positive and dynamic. Hence the sensed discomfort.
4. That the capacity, innate in that imaginative creature, man, to act "as if", holds the solution to the problem. By the use of the creative imagination, the bridge between the lower aspect and higher can be built and constructed. "As a man thinketh, hopeth and willeth" so is he. This is a statement of an immutable fact.

When modern psychologists comprehend more fully the creative purpose of humanity, and seek to develop the creative imagination more constructively, and also to train the directional will, much will be accomplished. When these two factors (which are the signal evidence of divinity in man) are studied and scientifically developed and utilized, they will produce the self-releasing of all the problem cases which are found in our clinics at this time. Thus we shall, through experiment, arrive at a more rapid understanding of man. Psychology can count definitely upon the innate ability of the [429] human unit to understand the use of the creative imagination and the use of directed purpose, for it is found frequently even in children. The development of the sense of fantasy and the training of children to make choices (to the end that ordered purpose may emerge in their lives) will be two of the governing ideals of the new education. The sense of fantasy calls into play the imagination, perception of beauty, and the concept of the subjective worlds; the power of choice, with its implications of why and wherefore and to what end (if wisely taught from early days), will do much for the race, particularly if, at the time of adolescence, the general world picture and the world plan are brought to the attention of the developing intelligence. Therefore:

1. The sense of fantasy
2. The sense of choice
3. The sense of the whole - plus
4. The sense of ordered purpose

should govern our training of the children which are coming into incarnation. The sense of fantasy brings the creative imagination into play, thus providing the emotional nature with constructive outlets; this should be balanced and motivated by the recognition of the power of right choice and the significance of the higher values. These, in turn, can be developed selflessly by a due recognition of the environing whole in which the individual has to play his part, whilst the entire range of reactions are increasingly subordinated by the understanding of the ordered purpose which is working out in the world.

These are the basic premises which should emerge in the new techniques which psychology will use when it has reached the point of accepting (or at least experimenting with) the [430] above ideas. By their use, it will be found that the problem case itself can be brought into functioning right activity, for all the innate, and unused faculties of man will be swept into integrating activity. The process is always and inevitably the same:

1. Cleavage.
2. A recognition of duality, either subjectively or in the waking consciousness.
3. A period of wild unrest, of frustration and futility, leading sometimes to disaster, to forms of nervous or mental breakdown, and to generally chaotic and undesirable conditions.
4. An intelligently applied bridging process, gradually carried forward, once the point of cleavage is determined.
5. The achievement of periods of recognized fusion, integration or true normality. A process of analysis would here be useful. It will later be found that psychoanalysis will come into its real usefulness when it comes to the aid of a man in explaining his achievement rather than in unearthing the detail of his apparent disaster. There is no real disaster. There is only an unrecognized point of crisis, a moment of unrealized fulfilment. The disaster comes when this point of crisis is not utilized and understood, for it then serves to increase the cleavage instead of being recognized as a moment of opportunity.
6. The establishment of a definite rhythm composed of the creative imagination, of discriminating choice, of the value of the relation of the part to the whole, and of the acceptance of group purpose. This rhythm, when duly established in a life or in a series of lives, leads eventually to
7. Integration. [431]

I would like to stop here and point out that the foundation of the new psychology must inevitably be built upon the premise that this one life is not man's sole opportunity in which to achieve integration and eventual perfection. The great Law of Rebirth must be accepted and it will then be found to be, in itself, a major releasing agent in any moment of crisis or any psychological problem case. The recognition of further opportunity and a lengthened sense of time are both quieting and helpful to many types of mind; its interpretative value will be found illuminating as the patient grasps the fact that behind him lie points of crisis wherein it can be demonstrated by his present equipment that he achieved integration, thus guaranteeing to him victory in his present point of crisis and of difficult conflict. The light which this throws on relationships and environment will serve to stabilize his purpose and make him comprehend the inevitability of responsibility. When this great law is understood in its true implications and not interpreted in terms of its present-childish presentation, then man will shoulder the responsibility of living with a daily recognition of the past, an understanding of the purpose of the present, and with an eye to the future. This will also greatly lessen the growing tendency towards suicide which humanity is showing.

It will be apparent to you, therefore, that the time element can enter into the problem most helpfully and it is here that a real understanding of the Law of Rebirth, or of the Law of Opportunity (as I would prefer to call it) will be of definite usefulness. Above everything else, it will bring into the attitude of both psychologist and problem case, the idea of hope, the thought of fulfilment and of ultimate achievement.

It will also be essential that the psychologist of the future should arrive at a recognition and an admittance of the inner structure of the human being - of his emotional vehicle, his [432] mind body and their close interrelation through the medium of the vital or etheric body which serves ever as the linking web between the dense physical body and the other bodies. The soul and its triplicity of energies (life itself, expressing will or purpose, love and intelligence) work through the seven major centers, whilst the mind body and the astral body work through many other centers, though possessing also within themselves seven centers which are the transmitting counterparts of those found in the etheric body. The integrations which evolution eventually effects are carried out through the medium of all these centers. Through the heightening of vibration, through the swinging into activity of the centers, and through the subsequent and consequent development of the human response apparatus, new avenues of approach to reality, new qualities of awareness, new sensitivity to that which has hitherto been unrecognized, and new powers begin to open up.

Each man is, therefore, within himself, a hierarchy, a reflection of a great chain of being - the Being which the universe expresses. Psychology has to recognize eventually:

1. The fact of the soul, the integrating agent, the self.
2. The Law of Opportunity or Rebirth.
3. The nature of the inner structure of man and its relation to the outer tangible form.

It is interesting to note that practically all the teaching given anent rebirth or reincarnation has emphasized the material phenomenal side though there has always been a more or less casual reference to the spiritual and mental gains acquired in the school of life upon this planet, from incarnation to incarnation. The true nature of the unfolding awareness and the growth in the inner consciousness of the true man have been little noted; the gain of each life in added grasp of [433] the mechanism of contact, and the result of increased sensitivity to the environment (which are the only values with which the self concerns itself), are seldom, if ever, stressed. Details of living conditions, statements about possible material situations, descriptions of places, clothes, and of personality human relations are imaginatively displayed, and the "recovery of past incarnations" has usually been the so-called recovery of dramatic episodes which feed the innate sense of individuality of the reincarnating man, and usually feed his vanity as well. This curious presentation has been due to several things. First of all, to the fact that the world of illusion is the dominating factor as yet in the lives of the best of men; secondly, that the point in evolution has been such that the writer or speaker has not been able to view the life cycle from the angle of the soul, detached and undeluded, for had he done so, the material phenomenal descriptions would have been omitted and probably not even perceived, and only the values - spiritual and mental - and those matters which concern the group interior life would have been emphasized. The methods used to present this age-old doctrine of rebirth, and the false emphasis laid upon the form aspect to the exclusion of the soul values, have brought about a bad reaction to the whole subject in the minds of intelligent people and of the scientific investigator. Yet, in spite of this, real good has been accomplished, for the whole theory has been seeping steadily into the racial consciousness, becoming an integral part of it and, therefore, moving on to popular and finally scientific recognition.

In considering the inner structure of man and those factors which produce the outer appearance and quality and condition it, thus producing the resultant behavior and conduct, psychologists will have to study the following subjects, [434] beginning with the lowest aspect and expanding their ideas to include the highest possible. These might be grouped and listed as follows:

1. The outer response apparatus, acting under impulses received from the outer environment and the inner subjective realms. These come, according to the esoteric theories, via
   1. The brain, from whence certain aspects of the nervous system are directed and controlled, first by mental influence and then by conscious soul direction.
   2. The endocrine or glandular system, acting under impulses entering the physical body via the seven centers in the etheric body; of these centers, the glandular system is simply the externalization, or physical counterpart. The glands condition the man through the blood stream, being in their turn conditioned by the centers.
   3. The solar plexus, directing and controlling certain aspects of the nervous system, and which is in large part the instinctual or animal brain.
   4. The heart, the center of life.
2. The astral or etheric body. This is the major energizing factor and is an exact replica or counterpart of the outer form, being the true intermediary between the inner worlds and the outer man. The nadis (lines or threads of force) underlie every nerve in the human body and the centers which they form at certain points of inter-section or juncture are the background or motivating agency of every ganglion or plexus found in the human body. Certain of these centers, major and minor, are of unique evolutionary importance. These are as follows: [435]
   1. The head center is the seat of soul energy, or the center through which the conscious, spiritual man functions.
   2. The heart center is the seat of life, of the highest principle which expresses itself through man.
   3. The solar plexus center is the seat of the instinctual life, of the animal soul, and of the highly developed emotional nature.
   4. The center at the base of the spine is the major integrating center and comes into functioning activity when two major fusions have been effected: that of the fusions of the three bodies into one coordinated personality, and when soul and body are at-oned.
3. The emotional or sentient body, which is often called the astral body. From this vehicle emanate the desires, impulses, aspirations and those conflicts of duality which so oft afflict and hinder the disciple. It is the seat also of the creative, imaginative life of man. It also possesses centers of force which are counterparts of those to be found in the etheric body, but for the majority of people it is energized mainly from the world of illusion and from the astral plane. It is from this plane of illusory awareness, that the advanced man has to learn to withdraw himself.
4. The mind nature, which works through four centers and only four.
5. The soul itself, or the true spiritual man, the self in manifestation; working through or seeking to work through, its phenomenal appearance, the fourfold lower man.

If the above is carefully studied, it will become apparent that the cleavages which exist in man are cleavages in certain inherent or basic relations: [436]

1. Found within the man himself, in one or other of these various focal points of realization or awareness:
   1. Unrecognized by the man himself or by those around him. When this is the case, the man is unevolved and the cleavages or gaps in his consciousness do no real harm relatively, either to himself or to those in his environment. They simply indicate lack of development.
   2. When recognized, they produce distress and difficulty and the man becomes in need of sound psychological help. Correct information along the lines here laid down can be given in those cases where the intellectual type is involved; the psychologist is then dealing with people who should be able and willing to help themselves.
   3. When the man has effected the necessary bridging and unification, he then becomes a unified personality. Then the mystic can emerge. This means that he has achieved the point wherein the higher bridging between the integrated personality and the soul becomes possible. Finally, a Master of the Wisdom, Who is an exponent of the Christ consciousness, in its unifying, salvaging and constructive aspects, appears.
      The at-oning of the higher and the lower nature will produce results which will be determined in their field of expression by a man's ray. These ray conditions will result in a man's finding his right field of usefulness and right expression in the political, religious, or scientific fields, and in other modes of divine manifestation.
2. Found between a man and his environment. The effect of this may mean that he is an anti-social human being, or unpopular, full of fear of life, or expressing, in many [437] other forms, his inability to tune in on his surroundings. Lack of understanding, of right relationship, and inability correctly to blend the inner and the outer forms of the life structure, will be evidenced. The cause of the cleavage in this case is usually found somewhere within the astral body itself.
3. Found between a man and his life task, or the life activity to which fate ordains him and predisposition inclines him. The difficulty here lies in a definite break or failure of continuity between the mind nature, determining purpose, and the astral nature, governing impulse.
4. Found between a man and his over-shadowing (and slowly dominating) soul. This leads to much realized unhappiness, dire conflict, and the eventual and symbolic "death of the personality."

Here again I would like to pause and to point out that the concepts of death, of substitution, of the vicarious at-one-ment and of sacrifice, will - in the New Age - be superseded by the concepts of resurrection or of livingness, of spiritual unity, of transference and of service, so that a new note will enter into human life, bringing hope and joy and power and freedom.

B.III.2. Problems of Integration

One of the first things which happens when a man has succeeded (alone or with academic psychological aid) in healing or bridging certain cleavages is the recognition of an immediate sense of well-being and of demand for expression. This in its turn, brings its own problems among which are these:

A sense of power, which makes the man, temporarily at least, selfish, dominant, sure of himself and full of arrogance. He is aware of himself as facing a larger [438] world, a wider horizon, and greater opportunities. This larger sense can bring, therefore, serious troubles and difficulties. This type of person, under the influence of this extension of consciousness, is often beautifully motivated and actuated by the highest intentions, but only succeeds in producing inharmonic in his surroundings. These tendencies, when allowed to rule unchecked, can lead eventually to a serious state of ego-mania, for ego-mania is outstandingly a problem of integration. All these difficulties can be obviated and offset if the man can be brought to realize himself as an integral part of a much greater whole. His sense of values will then be adjusted and his sense of power rightly oriented.

A tendency to over-emphasis may also show itself, turning the man (as a result of integration and a sense of well-being or power and capacity) into a fanatic, at any rate for a time. Again with the best motives in the world, he seeks to drive everyone the way that he has come, failing to recognize the differences in background, ray type, point in evolution, and tradition and heredity. He becomes a source of distress to himself and to his friends. A little learning can be a dangerous thing, and the cure for many ills, particularly of a psychological nature, is the recognition of this. Progress can then be made on the Path of Wisdom.

The over-development of the sense of direction or of vocation, if you like to call it so, though the two are not identical, for the sense of direction is less definite than the recognition of vocation. In the schools of esoteric psychology, a phrase is sometimes used in connection with this sense of direction or inner guidance which runs as follows: "the bridging of the gaps induces a man continuously to run across the bridge." Certain [439] aspects of the man are now consciously recognized, and the higher of these constantly attracts him. When, for instance, the gap between the astral or emotional body and the mind has been bridged, and the man discovers the vast field of mental activity which has opened up before him, he may for a long time become materialistically intellectual and will tune out as far as he can all emotional reactions and psychic sensitivity, glamoring himself with the belief that they are, for him, non-existent. He will then work intensively on mental levels. This will prove only a passing matter from the point of vision of the soul (e'en if it last an entire incarnation or several incarnations); but it can cause definite psychological problems, and create in the man's perception of life, "blind spots." However, much trouble is cured by leaving people alone, provided the abnormality is not too excessive.

Once the fact of the soul is admitted, we shall see an increasing tendency to leave people to the directing purpose and guidance of their own souls, provided that they understand what is happening to them and can discriminate between:

1. The upward surging of the subconscious self into the lighted area of consciousness,
2. The play and force and recognitions of the immediately conscious self.
3. The downflow of the superconscious self, the soul, carrying inspiration, higher knowledges and intuitions.

These words - subconscious, conscious and superconscious - need definition, for the purpose of this treatise; they [440] are bandied about so freely and mean different things according to the school of psychological thought to which the student belongs.

I use the term subconscious to signify the entire instinctual life of the form nature, all the inherited tendencies and innate predispositions, all the acquired and accumulated characteristics (acquired in past incarnations and frequently lying dormant unless suddenly evoked by stress of circumstance) and all the unformulated wishes and urges which drive a man into activity, plus the suppressed and unrecognized desires, and the unexpressed ideas which are present, though unrealized. The subconscious nature is like a deep pool from which a man can draw almost anything from his past experience, if he so desire, and which can be stirred up until it becomes a boiling cauldron, causing much distress.

The conscious is limited to that which the man knows himself to be and have in the present - the category of qualities, characteristics, powers, tendencies and knowledges of all kinds which constitute a man's stock in trade and of which he is definitely aware or of which the psychologist is aware. These are displayed in his window for all to see, and they make him what he apparently is to the outer onlooking world.

By the superconscious, I mean those potencies and knowledges which are available but which are as yet uncontacted and unrecognized and, therefore, of no immediate use. These are the wisdom, love and abstract idealism which are inherent in the nature of the soul but which are not yet, and never have been a part of the equipment available for use. Eventually, all these powers will be recognized and used by the man. These potencies and realizations are called in The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by the interesting name of "the raincloud of knowable things." These "knowable things" will eventually [441] drop into the conscious aspect of a man's nature and become an integral part of his intellectual equipment. Finally, as evolution proceeds and the ages pass away, they will drop into the subconscious aspect of his nature, as his power to grasp the superconscious grows in capacity. I might make this point clearer to you if I pointed out that just as the instinctual nature is today found largely in the realm of the subconscious, so in due time, the intellectual part of man (of which he is at this time becoming increasingly aware) will be relegated to a similar position and will drop below the threshold of consciousness. The intuition will then take its place. For most people, the free use of the intuition is not possible, because it lies in the realm of the superconscious.

All these movements within the realm of consciousness, - from the subconscious to the immediately conscious and from thence to the superconscious - are essentially crises of integration, producing temporary situations which must be handled. I would like here to point out that when an individual becomes aware of the higher aspect of himself which is demanding integration and is conscious of its nature and of the part which it could play in his life expression, he frequently becomes afflicted with an inferiority complex. This is the reaction of the lower, integrated aspects to the higher one. He experiences a sense of futility; the comparison which he makes within himself of the possible achievement and the point already attained leaves him with a sense of failure and of impotence. The reason for this is that the vision is at first too big, and he feels that he cannot make the grade. Humanity today has made so much progress upon the path of evolution that two groups of men are thus powerfully affected:

1. The group which has recognized the need for bridging the cleavage between the emotional nature and the mind [442] and has thus, through their integration, reached the level of intelligence.
2. The group that has already bridged this cleavage and is now aware of a major task which is the bridging of the gap between the personality and the soul.

These groups include a very large number of people at this time; the sense of inferiority is very great and causes many types of difficulty. If, however, the cause is more intelligently approached and handled, it will be found that the growth of a truer perspective will be rapid.

Another real difficulty in the field of achieved integration is to be found in the case of those who have integrated the entire lower nature and have fused the energies of the personality. All the energies involved in this fusion have quality, and the combination and interplay of these qualities (each determined by some particular ray energy). constitute the character of the person. For a long while after integration has been reached there will frequently be much conflict, strictly within the realm of character and within the Man's immediate consciousness. First one energy and then another will assert itself and battle for the supremacy. It might be of value here if I posited a hypothetical case, giving you the governing ray energies and reminding you that their fusion is the objective. In the case in point the subject has fused the personality vehicles into one functioning whole and is definitely a personality, but the major fusion of soul and personality has not been made.

Major Energies

• Egoic energy - Ray 1.
  The energy of will or power.
• Personality energy - Ray 4.
  The energy of harmony through conflict. [443]

Minor Energies

• Mental energy - Ray 3.
  The energy of intelligence.
• Astral energy - Ray 6.
  The energy of devotion. Idealism.
• Physical energy - Ray 1.
  The energy of will or power.

Here we have a fivefold field of energy in which all factors are active except the energy of the ego or soul. They have been definitely fused. There is at the same time a growing awareness of the need for a still higher or more inclusive fusion and the establishing of a definite relation with the soul. The process has been as follows: First, the man was simply an animal, aware only of physical energy. Then he began to include within his field of awareness the emotional nature, with its desires, demands and sensitive reactions. Next, he discovered himself as a mind, and mental energy proceeded to complicate his problem. Finally, he arrived at the life expression we are hypothetically considering in which he has (and this is the point of real interest).

1. A first ray physical body, with a brain dominated and controlled by a third ray mind. This means capacity for intellectual achievement of a very varied kind.
2. An emotional nature which, being governed by sixth ray energy, can be rapidly swung into fanatical orientations and is easily idealistic.
3. The whole problem is further complicated by the rapidly emerging fourth ray energies of the personality. This means that the personality goal is the achievement of harmony, unity and skill in living, through an intensity of conflict, waged within [444] the fourfold field of energy which constitutes the lower self.

You will, therefore, have a man who is ambitious for power, but with right motive, because he is truly idealistic; who will fight intelligently to achieve it, but will fight fanatically to bring about these ends because his fourth ray personality and sixth ray astral body will force him to do so, and his first ray body and brain will enable him to put up a strong fight. At the same time, his first ray soul energy is seeking to dominate, and will eventually do so through the medium of third ray mental energy, influencing the first ray brain. The first result of soul influence will be an intensification of every thing in the personality. The trouble will be localized in the mental body or in the brain and can range all the way down from idée fixe and mental crystallization to insanity (if the stimulation becomes unduly powerful or the heredity is not good.) He can express arrogant success in his chosen field of work, which will make him a dominant and unpleasant person, or he can express the fluidity of the third ray mind which will make him a scheming manipulator or a fighter for immense schemes which can never really materialize. In this analysis I have not considered the tendencies evoked in past lives and lying hidden in the subconscious, or his heredity and environment. I have simply sought to show one thing: that the conflict of energies within a man can produce serious situations. But most of them can be corrected through right understanding.

It will be apparent to you, therefore, that one of the first studies to be made in this new approach to the psychological field will be to discover:

1. Which rays, major and minor, are conditioning and [445] determining the nature of the man, and evoking the quality of his daily life.
2. Which of these five energies is (at the time of the difficulty) the most dominant, and through which body or vehicle it is focused.
3. Which of these ray energies is struggling against the imposed dominance, mentioned above. These can be either:
   1. Varying aspects of the same energy within their own particular field.
   2. Higher energies which are endeavoring to control the lower energies and therefore indicating a cleavage in the man's nature.
   3. The energy of the fusion process itself, which unifies the lower energies into one functioning personality.
   4. The adjustment of the bridging process between the two major energies. This will result in the at-one-ment of soul and of the personality.

These constitute the larger areas of difficulty, and in each of these fields of conflicting energies there are lesser centers of conflict. These are frequently brought about by environing circumstances and events.

Given all these factors, and considering our hypothetical case as being that of a man with a highly intelligent nature and a good equipment for daily expression, how would the esoteric psychologist proceed? How would he deal with the man and what would he do? On what broad and general principles would he proceed? I can but briefly indicate some of them, reminding you that, in the case which we are considering, the subject is definitely cooperating with the psychologist and is interested in bringing about the right results. The answers to the following questions will be the goal of the psychologist's effort: [446]

1. What are your reasons for wanting to be "straightened out"? This phrase, though an ordinary colloquialism, has deep significance, for it indicates the recognition of the need of alignment.
2. What brought this need to your attention and evoked in you the desire for a specific process of interior adjustment?
3. Realizing the nature of the inner constitution of man, in which vehicle is there the need for the bridging process? Where is the point of cleavage, and, therefore, the point of present crisis? Is this difficulty a major or a minor crisis?
4. What are the five ray energies conditioning the subject?
5. How far does the man's life pattern, his life vocation and his innate coherent desires, coincide with the trend set by
   1. The soul ray type of energy,
   2. The personality ray type?
      With disciples much of the difficulty will be found to lie in this area of expression.
6. In what period of the present life expression did the cleavage make its appearance? Or has an achieved integration brought about the difficult situation? Is this problem
   1. One of cleavage, requiring a bridging process, and leading thus to a fusion of energies?
   2. One of integration, requiring right understanding of what has happened, and leading to right adjustment of the fused powers to environing conditions?
7. Is the man at the point where he should be
   1. Integrated as a personality and, as a result, becoming more strictly human. [447]
   2. Developed as a mystic and taught to recognize the higher aspect and its relation to the lower, with a view to their unification.
   3. Trained as an occultist and brought mentally to such a state of consciousness that the higher and the lower natures or aspects begin to function as one? This involves the blending of the forces of the personality and the energy of the soul, and fusing them into one divine expression of "the part within the whole."
8. What, in the last analysis, must be done to make "the lighted area" of the immediate consciousness of such a nature that the subconscious part of the man can be "lighted at will by the ray of the mind", and the mind itself can become a search light, penetrating into the superconsciousness and thus revealing the nature of the soul? It is in fact the problem of the expansions of consciousness. A wide field of psychological investigation lies ahead in connection with the use of the mind as constituting the "path of light between the subconscious nature and the superconscious nature, and yet focusing both as a brilliant point of light within the conscious nature."

To esotericists, this whole problem of the at-one-ment is closely connected with the building of the antahkarana. This name is given to the line of living energy which links the various human aspects and the soul, and it holds the clue to the occult truism that "before a man can tread the Path, he must become the path itself." When the cleavages are all bridged, the various points of crisis have been surmounted and passed, and the required fusions (which are simply stages in process) have taken place, then unification or at-one-ment occurs. New fields of energy then are entered, [448] recognized and mastered, and then again new areas of consciousness open up before the advancing pilgrim.

The great planetary achievement of Christ was expressed by St. Paul in the words that He made "in himself of twain one new man, so making peace." (Ephesians II. 15)

In the two words "peace" and "good will" you have two keywords which express the bridging of two cleavages: One in the psychic nature of man, particularly that between the mind and the emotional vehicle which means the attainment of peace, and the other between the personality and the soul. This latter is the resolution of a basic "split", and it is definitely brought about by the will-to-good. This bridges not only the major cleavage in individual man, but it is that which will bring about the great and imminent fusion between intelligent humanity and the great spiritual center which we call the spiritual Hierarchy of the planet.

It has been the almost unconscious recognition of these cleavages and of the need for their fusion which has made marriage, and the consummating act of marriage, the great mystical symbol of the greater inner fusions.

May I remind you also that these cleavages are cleavages in consciousness or awareness and not in fact? Is that too difficult a matter for us to grasp? Let us ponder upon it.

B.III.3. Problems of Stimulation

We now come to what is the most interesting part of our psychological study, for we will take up and consider the results of stimulation.

This theme is of outstanding interest at this time because of the mystical tendency and the spiritual urge which distinguishes humanity as a whole, and because of the definite results - some of them bad, many of them good - which the growing practice of meditation is bringing about in the world [449] of men. These results of mystical and spiritual aspiration and of applied occult or intellectual meditation (in contradistinction to the mystical approach) must be faced and understood or a great opportunity will be lost and certain undesirable developments will appear and need later to be offset.

It surprises you, does it not, when I speak of the mystical tendency of humanity? Yet never before has the aspiration of mankind been of so high and general an order. Never before have so many people forced themselves on to the Path of Discipleship. Never before have men set themselves to discover truth in such large numbers. Never before has the Approach to the Hierarchy been so definite and so real. This situation warrants certain reactions. Of what nature should these reactions be? How shall we meet and deal with the opportunity with which we are confronted? By the development of the following attitudes: By a determination to avail oneself of the tide which is forcing humanity to approach the world of spiritual realities in such a way that the results will be factual and proven; by a realization that what men seek in their millions is worth seeking and is of a reality, hitherto unknown; by a recognition that now is the day of opportunity for all disciples, initiates and workers, for the tide is on and men can be influenced for good at this time but perhaps not later. There are not always times of crisis, for they are the exception, not the rule.

This is, however, a time of unusual crisis. One point, nevertheless, seems impressed upon my mind, and I would like to emphasize it. In these times of crisis and consequent opportunity, it is essential that men should realize two things: first, that it is a time of stimulation, and also that it is a time of crisis for the Hierarchy as well as for men. This latter point is oft forgotten; the hierarchical crisis is of great importance, owing to its relative rarity. Human crises are frequent and - from [450] the time angle - of almost regular occurrence. But this is not the case where the Hierarchy is concerned. Also when a human crisis and a hierarchical crisis coincide and are simultaneous, there emerges an hour of dominant opportunity, and for the following reasons:

1. The attention of the Great Ones is entirely focused owing to planetary affairs, in one particular direction. A synthesis of planned effort appears.
2. These occasions are so rare that when they do occur, they indicate a solar, as well as a planetary, significance.
3. Certain forces and powers, exterior to the government of the solar system, have been called into play, owing to the planetary emergency. This emergency is of such importance (from the angle of consciousness) that the solar Logos has seen fit to invoke external agencies to aid. And, They are aiding.

If you couple to these facts the reoriented and focused attention of humanity upon what is called "modern idealism", you have a most interesting moment or event - for these two words are synonymous.

Men everywhere are aspiring towards freedom, towards mutual understanding, towards right group and personal conditions of living and of thinking, and towards right external and internal relationships. This is a fact generally recognized. Humanity is weary and tired of unwholesome ways of living, of the exploitation of the defenceless, of the growth of discontent, and of the centralization of power in wrong and selfish hands. They are anxious for peace, right relations, the proper distribution of time and the understanding and right use of money. Such indications are unusual and of a deeply spiritual nature.

What is the result of these developments in the world of [451] subjective spiritual government and in the world of human affairs?

First of all and predominantly, the evocation of a joint Approach: one being the longing and the desire of the Hierarchy for the solution of the human problem and the adjustment of human misery, and also for a right emergence of spiritual government (the government of correct values) and the other being the determination of man to bring about right conditions and proper environing situations wherein human beings can develop, and wherein the true values also may register and be recognized. It is at this point that the Hierarchy and humanity are at-one. That many human beings are too undeveloped to record these aspirations correctly is non-essential. They are unconsciously working towards the same ends as is the Hierarchy.

Where these two allied situations simultaneously exist, the result is necessarily a synchronous response, and this (equally necessarily) produces stimulation. The situation in relation to humanity as a whole is exactly the same as the situation in the life of an individual mystic. This must be carefully borne in mind, because the trend of human aspiration is mystical and not occult. Hence the world wide appositeness of what I am saying and its opportuneness.

I intend, however, to confine myself to the problems of the individual mystic and leave my readers to draw the necessary parallels.

It might be of value if, first of all, we defined the word stimulation, dealing with it from the occult standpoint and not just from the technical dictionary standpoint. Stimulation is the crux of our problem and we might as well face it and understand whereof we speak and what are the implications.

I have consistently emphasized the necessity for our recognition of the existence of energy. In occultism (or esotericism) [452] we use the word "energy" to connote the living activity of the spiritual realms, and of that spiritual entity, the soul. We use the word "force" to connote the activity of the form nature in the realms of the various kingdoms in nature. This is a point of dominant interest and of implied distinction.

Stimulation might, therefore, be defined as the effect which energy has upon force. It is the effect which soul has upon form, and which the higher expression of divinity has upon what we call the lower expression. Yet all is equally divine in time and space and in relation to the point in evolution and the whole. This energy has the following effects and I state these effects in various ways in order to produce clarification in the many differing types of minds:

1. An increased rate of rhythm and vibration.
2. A capacity to offset time and, therefore, to do more in one hour of so-called time than the average person can do in two or three hours of time.
3. An upheaval in the personality life which leads - if correctly met - to a clear sighted meeting of karmic obligations.
4. An intensification of all reactions. This includes all reactions emanating from the world of daily living (and, therefore, from the environment), from the world of aspirational life, from the mind and from the soul, the great Reality in the life of the incarnated individual (even if he does not know it).
5. A clarification of life objectives, and hence a dominant emphasis upon the importance of the personality and the personality life.
6. A developing process of destruction which involves issues with which it seems beyond the capacity of the personality to deal. [453]
7. Certain physiological and psychological problems which are based up the capacity, the inherent weaknesses and strengths and the qualifications of the instruments of reception.

It should be remembered here that all stimulation is based upon the reaction (or the power to receive and register) of the lower nature when brought into relation to the higher. It is not based upon the reaction of the higher to the lower. Upon this reception, there eventuates a speeding up of the atoms which compose the personality vehicles; there follows a galvanizing into activity of cells in the brain which have been hitherto dormant and also of the body areas around the seven centers, particularly in the organic and physiological correspondences to the centers, plus a grasp of possibilities and of opportunities. These results may work out either in the form of disastrous failure or in the form significant development.

To all this, the stimulation of the nervous system of the subject responds and hence the effects are pronouncedly physical. These effects may mean release through the proper expenditure of the inflowing energy and consequently no serious effects, even when there may exist undesirable conditions, or they may mean that the instrument is in such a condition that the energy pouring through will be disruptive and dangerous and all kinds of bad results may be incurred. These include:

B.III.3.a. Mental problems

It is with this theme that we shall now deal primarily. Mental stimulation is comparatively rare, if the total population of the planet is considered; nevertheless among the peoples of our Western civilization and among the cream of the [454] Eastern civilization it is frequently to be found. These particular problems can, for the sake of clarity, be divided into three groups or categories:

1. Those problems which arise out of intense mental activity, which produce undue mental focus and emphasis, one-pointed intellectual approach and crystallization.
2. Those problems which arise out of meditation processes, which have successfully brought about illumination. This, in its due turn, produces certain difficulties, such as
   1. Over activity o the mind, which grasps and sees too much.
   2. The revelation of glamor and illusion. This leads to bewilderment and the unfoldment of the lower psychism.
   3. Over sensitivity to the phenomena of the inner light, registered in the etheric body.
3. Those arising out of the higher psychic unfoldment, with consequent sensitivity to
   1. Guidance
   2. Cooperation with the Plan.
   3. Soul contact.

The last three groups of problems under sensitivity are most definite and real in the experience of disciples.

The first group of problems (those arising out of intense mental activity) are those of the pronounced intellectual and they range all the way from a narrow crystallized sectarianism to that psychological phenomenon called idée fixe. They are largely the problems of thought-form making, and by their means the man becomes the victim of that which he has himself constructed; he is the creature of a Frankenstein of [455] his own creation. This tendency can be seen working out in all schools of thought and of cultures and is primarily applicable to the leader type of man and to the man who is independent in his thought life and, therefore, capable of clear thinking and the free movement of the chitta or mind stuff. It is necessary, therefore, in the coming days to deal with this particular problem, for minds will be met with increasing frequency. As the race proceeds towards a mental polarization which will be as powerful as the present astral polarization from which it is emerging, it will be found increasingly necessary to educate the race in

1. The nature of mental substance.
2. The triple purpose of the mind:
   1. As a medium for expressing ideas, through the construction of the needed embodying thought forms.
   2. As a controlling factor in the life of the personality through the right use of the creative power of thought.
   3. As a reflector of the higher worlds of perceptive and intuitive awareness.

Creative thought is not the same as creative feeling and this distinction is often not grasped. All that can be created in the future will be based upon the expression of ideas. This will be brought about, first of all, through thought perception, then through thought concretion and finally through thought vitalization. It is only later that the created thought form will descend into the world of feeling and there assume the needed sensuous quality which will add color and beauty to the already constructed thought form.

It is at this point that danger eventuates for the student. The thought form of an idea has been potently constructed. It has taken to itself also color and beauty. It is, therefore, capable of holding a man both mentally and emotionally. If [456] he has no sense of balance, no sense of proportion and no sense of humor, the thought form can become so potent that he finds he is an avowed devotee, unable to retreat from his position. He can see nothing and believe nothing and work for nothing except that embodied idea which is so powerfully holding him a captive. Such people are the violent partisans in any group, in any church, order or government. They are frequently sadistic in temperament and are the adherents of cults and sciences; they are willing to sacrifice or to damage anyone who seems to them inimical to their fixed idea of what is right and true. The men who engineered the Spanish Inquisition and those who were responsible for the outrages in the times of the Covenanters are samples of the worst forms of this line of thought and development.

People tainted with this psychological trouble of blind adherence to ideas and of personality devotions are found in every organization, every church, religion, in political and scientific bodies and also in every esoteric and occult organization. They are psychologically unsound and the trouble from which they suffer is practically contagious. They are a menace, just as smallpox is a menace. This type of difficulty is not often regarded as constituting a psychological problem until the time comes when the man is so far afflicted that he becomes a group problem, or is regarded as peculiar or unbalanced. It is, nevertheless, definitely a psychological disorder of a most definite kind, requiring careful handling. It is also peculiarly difficult to handle, as the early stages are apparently wholesome and sound. To work with some group or with some teacher is often regarded as a definite means of psychological salvation, for it tends to extrovert the mystic and thus give proper release for the recognized inflowing energy. As long as it does this and nothing else, there is no [457] real danger, but the moment a man's vision of other and greater possibilities becomes dim or begins to fade out, the moment a body of doctrines or a school of thought or an exponent of any theory engrosses his complete attention to the exclusion of all other points of view or possibilities, that moment the seeds of psychological trouble can be duly noted and the man is in danger.

The moment also that the entire mental powers of which a man is capable are employed in only one direction, such as, for instance, the achievement of business success or of financial dominance, that moment the man becomes a psychological problem.

This is peculiarly one of the problems of integration, for it is due to the stimulation of the mind, as it endeavors to assume control of the personality. A sense of power supervenes. Success feeds the stimulation even if it is only the doubtful success of attracting the attention of some teacher who is idealized or adored, or the pursuit of some transaction in the money market which is successfully carried through.

The time is coming when the whole problem of personality will be much better understood and, when this happens, any undue emphasis upon profession, calling, ideology or thought will be regarded as an undesirable symptom, and an effort will then be made to produce two things: a rounded out unfoldment and a conscious fusion with the soul and with the group.

I have no intention of dealing with problems of insanity. These exist and are of constant occurrence, and we esoterically divide them into three divisions:

1. Those which are due entirely to

1. Disease of the brain matter.
2. The deterioration of the brain cells. [458]
3. Abnormal condition within the brain area, such as tumors, abscesses or growths.
4. Structural defects in the head.

2. Those which are due to the fact that the ego or soul is not present.
In these cases, there is to be found a situation wherein:

1. The true owner of the body is absent. In this case the life thread will be anchored in the heart but the consciousness thread will not be anchored in the head. It will be withdrawn, and, therefore, the soul remains unaware of the form. In these cases you have idiocy, or simply a very low-grade human animal.
2. Certain cases of possession or obsession will be found, wherein the life thread is attached to the original owner of the body but the consciousness thread is that of another person, or identity - discarnate and most anxious for physical plane expression. In the average case, where the true owner of the body is not present, the situation is of no real moment, and sometimes serves a useful purpose, for it enables the obsessing entity to continue in possession. I refer to those cases wherein there is a true withdrawal of the incarnating ego and, therefore, a perfectly empty house. These are the rare cases, and present an unresented occupancy, whereas in the average case of possession or obsession there is a dual personality problem and even of several personalities. Conflict then ensues and many distressing conditions result - distressing from the point of view of the true owner of the body. The cases to which I am here referring permit of no cure as there is no ego to call into [459] activity by strengthening the will or the physical condition of the human being when ejecting intruders. In many cases of possession cure is possible but in those to which I here refer, cure is not possible.

3. Those cases which are due to the fact that the astral body is of such a nature that it is uncontrollable and the man is the defeated victim of his own rampant desire of some kind or another and yet is such an intellectual potency that he can create a dominating thought form, embodying that desire. These "astral maniacs" are the most difficult and quite the saddest types to handle because mentally there is little that is wrong with them. The mind, however, cannot control and is definitely relegated to the background; it remains useless and inert whilst the man expresses (with violence or subtlety as the case may be) some basic desire. It may be the desire to kill, or desire to have abnormal sexual experience, or even the desire to be ever on the move and thus constantly active. These sound fairly simple and usual types but I am not here considering their normal expression but something which cannot be controlled and for which there is no remedy but the protection of the man from himself and his own actions.

These three forms of insanity, being incurable, will not-permit of psychological help. All that can be done is the amelioration of the condition, the providing of adequate care of the patient and the protection of society until death shall bring to an end this interlude in the life of the soul. It is interesting to remember that these conditions are related far more to the karma of the parents or of those who have charge of the case than to the patient himself. In many of these cases, there is [460] no person present within the form at all, but only an animated living body, informed by the animal soul but not by a human soul.

We are primarily engaged with those problems which arise in the mental nature of man and from his power to create in mental substance. There is one aspect of this difficulty to which I have not yet referred, and that is the potency of thought of such a case, and the dynamic stimulation of the mind which we are considering, to evoke response from the desire body and thus swing the entire lower nature into unison with the recognized mental urge and the dominant mental demand. This, when strong enough, may work out on the physical plane as powerful action and even violent action, and may lead a man into much trouble, into conflict with organized society, thus making him anti-social and at variance with the forces of law and order.

These people fall into three groups and it would be wise for students of psychology to study these types with care, for there is going to be an increasing number of them, because humanity is shifting its focus of attention more and more on to the mental plane:

1. Those who remain mentally introverted, and profoundly and deeply preoccupied with their self-created thought forms and with their created world of thought, centered around the one dynamic thought form they have built. These people work always towards a crisis and it is interesting to note that this crisis may be interpreted by the world
   1. As the revelation of a genius, such as emerges when some great scientist unfolds to us the conclusions of his focused attention and period of thought. [461]
   2. As the effort of a man to express himself along some creative line.
   3. As the violent and often dangerous expressions of frustration in which the man attempts to release the results of his inner brooding along the chosen line.
      These all vary in expression, because of the original equipment with which the man began his life of thought upon the mental plane. In the first case, you have genius; in the other (if paralleled by a rich emotional nature) you will have some creative imaginative production, and in the third case, you will have what will be regarded by the world as insanity, curable in time and not permanent in its effects, provided some form of creative imaginative emotional release is provided. This is often the struggle point of the 2nd, the 4th and the 6th ray personality.
2. Those who become amazingly self-conscious and aware of themselves as centers of thought. They are obsessed with their own wisdom, their power and their creative capacity. They pass rapidly into a state of complete isolation or separateness. This can lead to acute megalomania, to an intense preoccupation with and an admiring satisfaction with the self, the lower self, the personality. The emotional, feeling, desire nature is utterly under the control of the dynamic self-centered point of thought which is all of which the man is aware at this time. Consequently, the brain and all the physical plane activities are equally controlled and directed towards the planned aggrandizement of the man. This condition is found in varying degrees, according to the point in evolution and the ray type, and - in the early stages - it is curable. If it is persisted in, however, it makes the man eventually untouchable, for he becomes entrenched in a [462] rampart of his own thought forms concerning himself and his activities. When curable, the effort should be made to decentralize the subject by the evocation of another and higher interest, by the development of the social consciousness and - if possible - by contact with the soul. This condition is often the struggle point of the first, and fifth ray personalities.
3. Those who become strongly extroverted by the desire to impose the conclusions they have reached (through their one-pointed mental focus) upon their fellow men. This constitutes quite often the crux of the difficulty for the third and sixth ray people. These people will be found ranging in consciousness all the way from the well-meaning theologian and dogmatic doctrinaire, found in practically all schools of thought, to the fanatic who makes life a burden to all around him as he seeks to impose his views upon them, and the maniac who becomes so obsessed with his vision that, for the protection of society, he must be locked away.

It will be obvious to you, therefore, how promising the outlook can be if educators and psychologists (particularly those who specialize in the training of young people) would teach them the needed care in the balancing of values, in the vision of the whole, and in the nature of the contribution which the many aspects and attitudes make to the whole. This is of profound usefulness at the time of adolescence when so many difficult adjustments require to be made. It is too late to do this usually when a person is of adult years and has for a long period of time constructed his thought forms and brooded over them until he is so identified with them that he has really no independent existence. The shattering of such a thought form or of a group of thought forms which are holding any [463] man in bondage can result in such serious conditions that suicide, prolonged illness or a life rendered futile through frustration can eventuate.

Only two things can really help:

• First, the steady, loving presentation of a wider vision, which must be held before the man's eyes by some one who is so inclusive that understanding is the keynote of his life, or, secondly, by the action of a man's own soul. The first method takes much time and patience.
• The second method may be instantaneous in its effects, as in conversion, or it may be a gradual breaking down of the walls of thought by means of which a man has separated himself off from the rest of the world and from his fellowmen. The trumpets of the Lord, the soul, can sound forth and cause the walls of Jericho to fall. This task of evoking soul action of a dynamic character on behalf of an imprisoned personality, impregnably surrounded by a wall of mental matter, will constitute a part of the science of psychology which the future will see developed.

B.III.3.b. Problems arising from Meditation, and its Result: Illumination

I would like first of all to point out that when I use the word meditation in this place I am using it in only one of its connotations. The intense mental focusing, producing undue mental emphasis, wrong attitudes and anti-social living, is also a form of meditation, but it is meditation carried forward entirely within the periphery of the small area of a particular man's mind. This is a statement of fact and of importance. This restricts him and leaves out all contact with other areas of mental perception and induces an intense one-pointed mental stimulation of a particularly powerful kind, and which has no outlet except towards the brain, via the desire nature. The meditation to which we shall refer in this part of our study relates to a mental focusing and attitude which attempts to [464] relate itself to that which lies beyond the individual's mental world. It is part of an effort to put him in touch with a world of being and phenomena which lie beyond. I am phrasing this in this manner so as to convey the ideas of expansion, of inclusion, and of enlightenment. Such expansions and attitude should not render a man anti-social or incarcerate him in a prison of his own making. They should make him a citizen of the world; they should induce in him a desire to blend and fuse with his fellowmen; they should awaken him to the higher issues and realities; they should pour light into the dark places of his life and into that of humanity as a whole. The problems which arise as a result of illumination are practically the reverse of those just considered. Nevertheless, they in their turn constitute real problems and, because the intelligent people of the world are learning to meditate today on a large scale they must be faced. Many things are inducing this turning towards meditation. Sometimes it is the force of economic circumstances which forces a man to concentrate, and concentration is one of the first steps in the meditation process; sometimes it is brought about through the urge to creative work which leads a man in pursuit of some theme or subject for creative presentation. Whether men are interested only academically in the power of thought, or whether, through a touch of vision, they become students of true meditation (either mystical or occult) the fact remains that serious problems arise, dangerous conditions appear, and the lower nature evidences in every case the need for adaptation to the higher impulses or demands, or suffers consequences of a difficult nature if it fails to do so. The necessary adjustments must be made or psychological, psychopathic, and nervous difficulties will inevitably supervene.

Again, let me remind you that the reason for this is that the man sees and knows and realizes more than he is able to [465] do simply as a personality, functioning in the three worlds, and so oblivious in any true sense to the world of soul activity. He has "let in" energies which are stronger than the forces of which he is usually aware. They are intrinsically strong, though not yet apparently the stronger, owing to the well established habits and the ancient rhythms of the personality forces with which the soul energy is brought into conflict. This necessarily leads to strain and difficulty, and unless there is a proper understanding of this battle, dire results may be produced, and with these the trained psychologist must be prepared to deal.

With the type and nature of the concentration, with the theme of the meditation, I will not deal, for I am considering here only results and not the methods for producing them. Suffice it to say, that the man's efforts in meditation have opened a door through which he can pass at will (and eventually with facility) into a new world of phenomena, of directed activity, and of different ideals. He has unlatched a window through which light can pour in, revealing that which is, and always has been, existent within the consciousness of man, and throwing illumination into the dark places of his life; into other lives; and into the environment in which he moves. He has released within himself a world of sound and of impressions which are at first so new and so different that he does not know what to make of them. His situation becomes one requiring much care and balanced adjustment.

It will be obvious to you that if there is a good mental equipment and a sound educational training, that there will be a balancing sense of proportion, an interpretative capacity, patience to wait till right understanding can be developed, and a happy sense of humor. Where, however, these are not present, there will be (according to the type and the [466] sense of vision) bewilderment, a failure to comprehend what is happening, undue emphasis upon personality reactions and phenomena, pride in achievement, a tremendous sense of inferiority, too much speech, a running hither and thither for explanation, comfort, assurance, and a sense of comradeship, or perhaps a complete breakdown of the mental forces, or the disruption of the brain cells through the strain to which they have been subjected.

Exhilaration is also sometimes found as a result of the contact with a new world, and strong mental stimulation. Depression is as frequently a result, based upon a sensed incapacity to measure up to the realized opportunity. The man sees and knows too much. He can no longer be satisfied with the old measure of living, with the old satisfactions, and with the old idealism. He has touched and now longs for the larger measures, for the new and vibrant ideas, and for the broader vision. The way of life of the soul has gripped and attracts him. But his nature, his environment, his equipment and his opportunities appear somehow to frustrate him consistently, and he feels he cannot march forward into this new and wonderful world. He feels the need to temporize and to live in the same state of mind as heretofore, or so he thinks, and so he decides.

These expansions which he has undergone as the result of successful meditation need not be along the line of recognized religious effort, or produced by so-called occult revelation. They may come to him along the line of a man's chosen life activity, for there is no life activity, no vocational calling, no mental occupation and no condition which cannot provide the key to the unlocking of the door into the desired wider world, or serve to lead a man to the mountain top from which the wider horizon can be seen, and the larger vision grasped. A man must learn to recognize that his chosen [467] school of thought, his peculiar vocation, his particular calling in life and his personal trend are only part of a greater whole, and his problem is to integrate consciously his small life activity into the world activity.

It is this we call illumination for lack of a better word. All knowledge is a form of light, for it throws light into areas of awareness of which we have hitherto been unconscious. All wisdom is a form of light, for it reveals to us the world of meaning which lies behind the outer form. All understanding is an evocation of light, for it causes us to become aware of, or conscious of, the causes which are producing the outer forms which surround us (including our own) and which condition the world of meaning of which they are the expression. But when this fact is first seen, grasped, and when the initial revelation has come, when the place of the part in relation to the whole is sensed, and when the world which includes our little world is first contacted, there is always a moment of crisis and a period of danger. Then, as familiarity grows and our feet have wandered in and out of the door we have opened, and we have accustomed ourselves to the light which the unshuttered window has released into our little world of daily living, other psychological dangers eventuate. We are in danger of thinking that what we have seen is all there is to see, and thus - on a higher turn of the spiral and in a larger sense - we repeat the dangers (earlier considered) of undue emphasis, of wrong focus, of narrow minded belief, and idée fixe. We become obsessed with the idea of the soul; we forget its need of a vehicle of expression; we begin to live in an abstracted detached world of being and of feeling, and we fail to keep in contact with the factual life of physical plane expression. We thus repeat - again on a higher turn of the spiral - the condition we considered in which the soul or ego was not present, [468] reversing the condition so that there is no form life really present in the focused consciousness of the man. There is only the world of souls and a desire for creative activity. The handling of daily living on the physical plane drops below the threshold of consciousness, and the man becomes a vague, impractical, visionary mystic. These states of mind are dangerous, if they are permitted to exist.

There are, however, certain phases of this mental trouble which are induced by the illumination of the mind through meditation with which it might be profitable to deal. I can do so only cursorily, as the time is brief and I seek to indicate and not to elucidate in detail. I can only point out to you the general lines of difficulty and the methods whereby a specific difficulty or problem can be met or solved. In the handling of many of these cases, ordinary common sense is of value, and the effort to impress upon the patient that his troubles, though small in the beginning, can open the door to serious situations. There are three of these upon which I will touch.

The first of these is the over-activity of the mind in quite a number of cases; which - sometimes with suddenness and sometimes slowly - grasps and sees too much. It becomes aware of too much knowledge. This produces irregularities in the organization of the man's life, and interjects so much variation, so much fluidity and so much restlessness that he is forever in a seething turmoil. Throughout it all, he is conscious of himself as the one at the center, and interprets all the mental activity and contacts, all the fluidity, the constant analysis to which he is prone, and the ceaseless making of plans as indicative not only of mental ability but of real spiritual insight and wisdom. This produces difficult situations for all associated with him, and continues frequently over a long period of time. For as long as this condition lasts, there [469] is little that anyone can do. The constant "permutations of the chitta or mind stuff " and the perpetual "thought form making activity of the mental body" engrosses the man so constantly that nothing else registers in his consciousness. Vast plans, widespread schemes, correlations and correspondences, plus the attempt to impose them on others and to invoke their aid (with consequent criticism if this aid is withheld) for the carrying out of the mass of unrelated ideas occupy him. There is no real effort made to carry these plans and ideas through to completion, for they all remain tentative on the mental plane, in their original vague state. The effort to see more and grasp more and apprehend more of the detail and the interrelation engrosses all the attention, and there is no energy left to carry even one of them down on to the plane of desire, and thus take the first steps towards the physical materialization of the visioned plan. If this state of mind continues for too long a period, it produces mental strain, nervous breakdown and sometimes permanent difficulty. The cure, however, is simple.

Let the man thus afflicted realize the futility of his mental life as he is living it. Then, choosing one of the many possible methods of work and one of the many channels of service whereby the sensed plan can be developed, let him force himself to bring it through into physical manifestation, letting all other possibilities drop. In this way, he can begin again to regulate and control his mind and to take his place among those who are accomplishing something - no matter how small the contribution may be. He becomes then constructive.

I have illustrated this type of difficulty in terms of the aspirant who, in meditation, comes into touch with the influences of the Hierarchy, and thus is in a position to tap the stream of thought forms created by Them and by Their [470] disciples. But the same type of difficulty will be found among all those who (through discovery of the mental plane and the use of focused attention) penetrate into that larger world of ideas which are just ready to precipitate on to the concrete levels of mental substance. This accounts for the futility and the apparent and fruitlessness of many quite intelligent people. They are occupied with so many possibilities that they end by achieving nothing. One plan carried through, one line of thought developed to its concrete conclusion, one mental process unfolded and presented in consciousness will save the situation, and bring creative usefulness into otherwise negative and futile lives. I use the word "negative" in this place to indicate a negativity in the achievement of results. Such a man is, it is needless to say, exceedingly positive in the implications which he attaches to his so-called mental conceptions and ideas as to how it all should be worked out, and is a constant source of dismay to those around him. His friends or co-workers are the butt of his ceaseless criticism, because they do not work out the plan as he believes it should be worked out, or fail to appreciate the flood of ideas with which he is overwhelmed. It should be realized that the man is suffering from a sort of mental fever, with its accompaniments of hallucination, over-activity, and mental irritability. The cure, as I said above, lies in the patient's own hands. It involves earnest application to one chosen plan to prove its effectiveness, using common sense and ordinary good judgment. The light that can be contacted in meditation has revealed a level of mental phenomena and of thought forms with which the man is unaccustomed to deal. Its manifestation and implications and possibilities impress him as so vast that he argues they must be divine and, therefore, essential. Because he is still in the dramatic center of his own consciousness and still - even if unconsciously - full of [471] mental pride and spiritual ambition, he feels he has great things to do, and that everybody he knows must aid him in doing it, or else reckon themselves as failures.

The second is the revelation of the maya of the senses. This maya is a generic term covering three aspects of the phenomenal life, of the three worlds or the three major results of force activity. These serve to bewilder the man and make difficult the lot of the earnest aspirant. It might be of value if I here defined for you the three terms which are applied to these three phenomenal effects: Illusion, Glamor and Maya.

These three phrases have for long been bandied about among so-called occultists and esotericists. They stand for the same general concept or the differentiation of that concept. Speaking generally, the interpretations have been as follows and they are only partial interpretations, being almost in the nature of distortions of the real truth, owing to the limitations of the human consciousness.

Glamor has oft been regarded as a curious attempt of what are called the "black forces" to deceive and hoodwink well-meaning aspirants. Many fine people are almost flattered when they are "up against" some aspect of glamor, feeling that their demonstration of discipline has been so good that the black forces are interested sufficiently to attempt to hinder their fine work by submerging them in clouds of glamor. Nothing could be further from the truth. That idea is itself a part of the glamor of the present time, and has its root in human pride and satisfaction.

Maya is oft regarded as being of the same nature as the concept promulgated by the Christian Scientist that there is no such thing as matter. We are asked to regard the entire world phenomena as maya and to believe that its existence is simply an error of mortal mind, and a form of autosuggestion [472] or self-hypnotism. Through this induced belief, we force ourselves into a state of mind which recognizes that the tangible and the objective are only figments of man's imaginative mind. This, in its turn, is likewise a travesty of reality.

Illusion is regarded in rather the same way, only (as we define it) we lay the emphasis upon the finiteness of man's mind. The world of phenomena is not denied, but we regard the mind as misinterpreting it and as refusing to see it as it is in reality. We consider this misinterpretation as constituting the Great Illusion.

I would point out here that (generally speaking) these three expressions are three aspects of a universal condition that is the result of the activity - in time and space - of the human mind.

• The Problem of Illusion lies in the fact that it is a soul activity, and is the result of the mind aspect of all the souls in manifestation. It is the soul which is submerged in the illusion, and the soul that fails to see with clarity until such time as it has learnt to pour the light of the soul through into the mind and the brain.
• The Problem of Glamor is found when the mental illusion is intensified by desire. What the theosophist calls "Kama-manas" produces glamor. It is illusion on the astral plane.
• The Problem of Maya is really the same as above, plus the intense activity produced when both glamor and illusion are realized on etheric levels. It is that vital, unthinking, emotional mess (yes, that is the word I seek to use) in which the majority of human beings seem always to live. Therefore:

1. Illusion is primarily of a mental quality and is characteristic of the attitude of mind of those people who are more intellectual than emotional. They have outgrown glamor as usually understood. It is the misunderstanding [473] of ideas and thought forms of which they are guilty, and of misinterpretations.
2. Glamor is astral in character, and is far more potent at this time than illusion, owing to the enormous majority of people who function astrally always.
3. Maya is vital in character and is a quality of force. It is essentially the energy of the human being as it swings into activity through the subjective influence of mental illusion or astral glamor or of both in combination.

The vastness of the subject is overwhelming, and it takes time for the aspirant to learn the rules whereby he can find his way out of the worlds of glamor. I seek here only to deal with the theme as it produces effects in the life of the man who has evoked a measure of light within himself. This has served to reveal the three worlds of lower force to him. This revelation, in the early stages, oft deceives him and he becomes the victim of that which has been revealed. It might justly be remarked that all human beings are the victims of the Great Illusion and of its various correlations and aspects. In the cases which we are here considering, the difference lies in the fact that

1. The man is definitely and consciously aware of himself.
2. He knows also that he has released a measure of the higher light.
3. That which is revealed to him is interpreted by him in terms of spiritual phenomena instead of in terms of psychical phenomena. He regards it all as wonderful, revealing, true and desirable.

Because he has achieved integration and is able to function in the mind nature; because his orientation is good and right; because he is on the Path of Probation; and because he knows himself to be an aspirant and even a disciple, that which the [474] lights reveals upon the astral plane, for instance, is naturally of a very high order. It is, consequently, most deceptive in its effects. Vast cosmic schemes which have emerged from the minds of thinkers in the past and which have succeeded in reaching the astral plane; the ancient forms embodying the "wish life" and the imaginary conceptions of the race and which are of such potency that they have persisted in the desire life of many; the symbolic forms employed down the ages in the attempt to materialize certain realities; the tentative and experimental forms of great and good endeavors which have been or are at this time being worked out, plus the life activity of the astral plane itself, the dream world of the planet - all this tends to preoccupy him and to lead him into danger and error. It retards his progress on the way and sidetracks his energies and attention.

It should be remembered that this constitutes the line of least resistance for the man because of the potency of the astral body in this world period. The result of all this is that the powers and faculties of the mind become over developed and what are called the "lower siddhis" (the lower psychic powers) begin to assert control. The man is, in reality, reverting to states of awareness and to conditions of functioning which were normal and right in Atlantean times, but undesirable and unnecessary in our day. He is recovering - through stimulation - ancient habits of psychic awareness which should lie normally below the threshold of consciousness.

The light has revealed this world of phenomena to him; he deems it desirable and interprets its activities as a wonderful spiritual development within himself. This stimulation by the mind (itself stimulated in meditation) as it turns downward on to the astral plane, evokes the renewed and the reawakened active reaction from the lower powers. It is as [475] definitely a recovery and as definitely undesirable as are some of the Hatha-yoga practices in India which enable the yogin to recover the conscious control of his bodily functions. This conscious control was a distinguishing mark of the early Lemurian races but for ages the activity of the body-organs has lain, most desirably and safely, below the threshold of consciousness, and the body performs its functions automatically and unconsciously, except in the case of disease or maladjustment of some kind. It is not intended that the race (when the work of this present cycle is accomplished) should function consciously in forgotten areas of awareness, as did the Lemurian or the Atlantean races. It is intended that men should function as Caucasians, though no really satisfactory term has yet been coined to distinguish the race which is developing under the impact of our occidental civilization. I am referring to states of consciousness and realms of awareness which are the prerogative of all races and peoples at certain stages of development, and I only use the three, scientific, racial nomenclatures as symbols of these stages:

• The Lemurian consciousness - physical.
• The Atlantean consciousness - astral, emotional, sensuous.
• The Caucasian or Aryan - mental or intellectual.

This must never be forgotten.

The man who is suffering from the revelations of light in the three worlds (particularly in the astral world) is, therefore, really doing two things:

1. He is remaining in a relatively static condition, as far as his higher progress is concerned; he is looking on at the bewildering kaleidoscope of the astral plane with interest and attention. He may not be active on the plane himself or consciously identify himself with it, but, mentally and emotionally, it is satisfying temporarily his [476] interest, holding his attention and arousing his curiosity, even if he remains, at the same time, critical. He is, therefore, wasting time and surrounding himself continuously with new layers of thought forms - the result of his thought about what he is seeing or hearing. This is dangerous and should be brought to an end. Intelligent interest in the world of glamor and illusion is required of all wise aspirants and disciples so that they may release themselves from its thralldom, for otherwise it will never be understood and controlled. But a prolonged application to its life and complete engrossment in its phenomena is dangerous and imprisoning.
2. The interest evoked in these undesirable cases is such that the man
   1. Becomes completely glamored by it.
   2. Descends (speaking symbolically) to its level.
   3. Reacts sensitively to its phenomena, and often with pleasure and delight.
   4. Evokes the ancient faculties of clairvoyance and clairaudience
   5. Becomes a lower psychic and accepts all that the lower psychic powers reveal.

I would like to pause here and point out two things which should be borne in mind:

First: that many people are today living in the Atlantean state of awareness, in the Atlantean consciousness and for them the expression of these lower psychic powers is normal, though undesirable. For the man who is a mental type or who is overcoming gradually the psychic nature, these powers are abnormal (or should I say subnormal?) and most undesirable. In this discussion with which we are now engaged, I am not dealing with the man with the Atlantean consciousness but [477] with the modern aspirant. For him to develop the previous racial consciousness and to revert to the lower type of development (which should have been left far behind) is dangerous and retarding. It is a form of atavistic expression.

Secondly: that when a man is firmly polarized upon the mental plane, when he has achieved some measure of contact with the soul, and when his entire orientation is towards the world of spiritual realities and his life is one of discipline and service, then, at times, and when necessary, he can at will call into use these lower psychic powers in the service of the Plan and in order to do some special work upon the astral plane. But this is a case where the greater consciousness includes normally the lesser consciousness. This is however seldom done even by the adepts, for the powers of the soul - spiritual perception, telepathic sensitivity and psychometrical facility - are usually adequate to the demand and the need to be met. I interject these remarks, as there are some enlightened men who use these powers, but it is always along the line of some specific service to the Hierarchy and humanity, and not along any line connected with the individual.

When a man has wandered into the bypaths of the astral plane, and has left the secure place of mental poise and intellectual altitude (again I am speaking symbolically) when he has succumbed to glamor and illusion (usually being quite sincerely deceived and well-intentioned) and when he has unfolded in himself - through misapplied stimulation and experiment - old habits of contact, such as clairvoyance and clairaudience, what can he do, or what shall be done to him to bring about right conditions?

Many of these people find their way into the hands of psychologists and psychiatrists; many are to be found today in our sanitariums and asylums, placed there because they "saw things" or heard voices, or dreamed dreams, and because [478] they had unfitted themselves for normal living. They appear to be a danger, both to themselves and to others. They constitute a problem and a difficulty. The ancient habits must be dropped, but because of their antiquity they are very powerful, and to drop them is easier said than done. The practices whereby the lower psychic powers have been developed must be given up. If these faculties of response to an environing astral world appear to have been developed with no difficulty and to be natural to the man, they should nevertheless be discontinued and the avenues of approach to this lower world of phenomena should be closed. If human beings make so poor a success of living consciously on the physical plane and in handling the phenomena there contacted, and if the life of mental attention and mental living is still so difficult to the vast majority, why complicate the problem by trying to live in a world of phenomena which is admittedly the most powerful at this time?

The task of release from the thralldom of astral sensitivity is unique and stupendous. The details of the method whereby it can be done are too numerous for us to consider them here. But certain words hold the keynotes of release and three basic suggestions will aid the psychologist in dealing with these types of difficulty. The words which hold the secret are:

1. Instruction.
2. Focus of attention.
3. Occupation.

The nature of the human response apparatus in the three worlds should be carefully explained to the man who is in difficulty and the distinction between the Lemurian, the Atlantean and the Caucasian consciousness should be made clear to him, if possible. His pride of place upon the ladder of [479] evolution should be evoked at this point again, if possible, and it will prove a constructive evocation. The effort to focus his attention should be progressively and sympathetically attempted. According to his type so will the effort be directed to focusing his attention and directing his interest upon the physical plane or the mental plane, thus directing it away from the intermediate plane. Definite physical or mental occupation (again arranged according to type) should be arranged and the man forced to occupy himself in some chosen manner.

The three suggestions I would make to the psychologist or the mental healer are:

1. Study with care the nature of the rays which presumably constitute the man's nature and provide the forces and energies which make him what he is. I have worded this with care.
2. Determine which of the vehicles of contact is the most powerful, best organized and well developed. It will indicate through which forms the life expression in this particular incarnation is flowing.
3. Investigate the physical condition with care, and where it needs attention see that due care is given. At the same time, take note of the glandular equipment, studying it from the standpoint of its relation to the seven major centers in the body. In many cases, the glands indicate the condition of the centers. Thus an understanding of the force system of the patient will take place.

The Science of the Centers is yet in its infancy, as is the Science of the Rays and the Science of Astrology. But much is being learned and developed along these three lines and when the present barriers are down and true scientific investigation is instituted along these lines, a new era will begin for the human being. These three sciences will constitute the [480] three major departments of the Science of Psychology in the New Age, plus the contributions of modern psychology and the insight into the nature of man (particularly the physical nature) which it has so wonderfully developed.

B.III.3.c. Problems of Guidance, Dreams, and Depression

I am dealing with these problems because of their exceeding prevalence at this time, due to the activities of various religiously or psychologically motivated groups, to the trend of certain schools, dedicated to the spread of religion or of psychology, and to the present world situation which has plunged so many sensitive people into a state of lowered spiritual vitality, accompanied usually by lowered physical vitality. This condition is widespread and based on wrong economic conditions. I am dealing with these before we take up our fourth point, 'The Diseases and Problems of Mystics', as they form an intermediate group, including many intelligent and well-intentioned citizens.

The Problem of Guidance is a peculiarly difficult one to handle, for it is based on an innate instinctive recognition of the fact of God and of God's Plan. This inherent, instinctual, spiritual reaction is being exploited today by many well meaning reformers, who have, however, given no real attention to the subject, or to the phenomena of the outer response to a subjective urge. They are, in the majority of cases, blind leaders of the blind. We might define the problem of guidance as the problem of the method whereby a man, through processes of autosuggestion, throws himself into a state of negativity and (whilst in that state) becomes aware of inclinations, urges, voices, clearly impressed commands, revelations of courses of conduct which should be pursued or of careers which should be followed, plus a general indication [481] of lines of activity which "God" is proposing to the attentive, negative, receptive subject. In this state of almost sublimated awareness to the insistent demands of the subjective realms of being or of thought, the man is swept into a current of activity which may succeed in permanently orienting his life (often quite harmlessly and sometimes most desirably) or which may have only a temporary effect, once the urge of response has exhausted itself. But in any case, the source of the direction and the origin of the guidance is vaguely called "God", is regarded as divine, is spoken of as the voice of the "Christ within", or as spiritual direction. Many analogous terms are used, according to the school of thought to which the man may belong, or which has succeeded in attracting his attention.

We shall see this tendency towards subjective guidance of some kind or another developing increasingly as humanity becomes more subjectively oriented, more definitely aware of the realms of inner being, and more inclined towards the world of meaning. It is for this reason that I desire to make a relatively careful analysis of the possible sources of guidance so that at least men may know that the whole subject is vaster and more complicated than they had thought, and that it would be the part of wisdom to ascertain the origin of the guidance vouchsafed, and so know, with greater definiteness, the direction in which they were headed. Forget not that the blind, unreasoning subjecting of oneself to guidance (as at present practiced) renders a man eventually a negative impressionable automaton. Should this become universally prevalent and the present methods become established habits, the race would forfeit its most divine possession, i. e., free will. There is no immediate fear of this, however, if the intelligent men and women of the world think this problem out. Also there are too many egos of advanced nature coming into [482] incarnation at this time to permit the danger to grow out of all bounds, and there are too many disciples in the world today whose voices are ringing loudly and clearly along the lines of free choice, and the intelligent comprehension of God's plan.

it might be of profit if I indicated anew the various schools of thought who feature "guidance" or whose methods and doctrines tend to the development of an inner attentive ear, and yet who fail to teach the distinctiveness of the sources of guidance, or to differentiate between the various sounds, voices and so-called inspired indications which that attentive ear may be trained to register.

The emotionally inclined people in the Churches of all denominations and persuasions are ever prone to find a way of escape from the troubles and difficulties of life by living always with a sense of the guiding Presence of God, coupled to a blind acquiescence in what is generalized as the "will of God". The practice of the Presence of God is most definitely a desirable and needed step but people should understand what it means and steadily change the sense of duality into the sense of identification. The will of God can take the form of the imposition of life circumstance and conditions from which there is no possible escape; the subject of this imposition accepts it and does literally nothing to improve or truly better (and perhaps avoid) the circumstances. Their destiny and situation is interpreted by them as such that within the imposed ring-pass-not and lines of limitation they determine placidly, submissively to live. A spirit of submission and acquiescence is inevitably developed, and by calling the situation in which they find themselves an expression of God's will they are enabled to bear it all. In some of the more sublimated states of this acquiescence, the sensitively inclined person voices his submission, but fails to recognize that the voice is his own. He regards it as God's voice. For them, the way of [483] understanding, the recognition of the great Law of Cause and Effect (working out from life to life) and the interpretation of the problem in terms or a lesson to be mastered would spell release from negativity and blind, unintelligent acceptance. Life does not demand acquiescence and acceptance. It demands activity, the separation of the good and high values from the undesirable, the cultivation of that spirit of fight which will produce organization, understanding, and eventual emergence into a realm of useful spiritual activity.

People who participate in the activity of those schools of thought which are called by many names such as Mental Science schools, New Thought groups, Christian Science and other similar bodies are also prone to drift into a state of negativity, based on autosuggestion. The constant reiteration of the voiced, but unrealized, fact of divinity will eventually evoke a response from the form side of life which (even if it is not worded guidance) is, nevertheless, the recognition of a form of guidance and leaves no scope for free will. This is a reaction on a large scale, from the one dealt with above. Whereas in the one case there is found a blind acceptance of an undesirable lot because it is the will of God and that Will therefore must be good and right, in the second group there is an attempt to stir the subjective man into the acceptance of a definitely opposite condition. He is taught that there are no wrong conditions except as he himself creates them; that there is no pain and nothing undesirable; he is urged to recognize that he is divine and the heir of the ages and that the wrong conditions, limited circumstances and unhappy occurrences are the result of his own creative imagination. He is told they are really non-existent.

In the two schools of thought, the truth about destiny as it works out under the Law of Cause and Effect and the truth [484] about man's innate divinity are taught and emphasized, but, in both cases, the man himself is a negative subject, and the victim either of a cruel fate or of his divinity. I am wording this with deliberation because I am anxious for my readers to realize that destiny never intended man to be a helpless victim of circumstance or the self-hypnotized tool of an affirmed, but undeveloped, divinity. Man is intended to be the intelligent arbiter of his own destiny, and a conscious exponent of his own innate divinity, of the God within.

Again, schools of esotericists, theosophists and rosicrucians (particularly in their inner schools) have also their own forms of this illusion of guidance. It is of a different nature to the two dealt with above, but the results are nevertheless of much the same quality and reduce the student to a condition of being guided, often of being directed, by illusionary voices. Frequently the heads of the organization claim to be in direct communication with a Master or the entire Hierarchy of Masters, from Whom orders come. These orders are passed on to the rank and file of the membership of the organization and prompt unquestioning obedience is expected from them. Under the system of training, imparted under the name of esoteric development, the goal of a similar relationship to the Master or the Hierarchy is held out as an inducement to work or to meditation practice, and some day the aspirant is led to believe that he will hear his Master's voice, giving him guidance, telling him what to do and outlining to him his participation in various roles. Much of the psychological difficulties found in esoteric groups can be traced to this attitude and to the holding out to the neophyte of this glamorous hope. In view of this, I cannot too strongly reiterate the following facts:

1. That the goal of all teaching given in the real esoteric [485] schools is to put man consciously in touch with his own soul and not with the Master.
2. That the Master and the Hierarchy of Masters work only on the plane of the soul, as souls with souls.
3. That conscious response to hierarchical impression and to the hierarchical plan is dependent upon the sensitive reaction which can be developed and made permanent between a man's own soul and his brain, via his mind.
4. That the following points should be borne in mind:
   1. When a man is consciously aware of himself as a soul, he can then be in touch with other souls.
   2. When he is consciously a disciple, he is then in touch with, and can collaborate intelligently with, other disciples.
   3. When he is an initiate, other initiates become facts in his life and consciousness.
   4. When he is a Master, the freedom of the Kingdom of Heaven is his, and he works consciously as one of the senior members of the Hierarchy.

But - and this is of prime importance - all these differentiations relate to grades of work and not to grades of persons; they indicate soul expansions but not graded contacts with personalities. According to the realized soul development upon the physical plane will be the response to the world of souls of which the occult Hierarchy is the heart and mind.

The guidance to which the adherents of many esoteric schools so often respond is not that of the Hierarchy but that of the astral reflection of the Hierarchy; they respond therefore to an illusory, distorted, man-made presentation of a great spiritual fact. They could, if they so chose, respond to the reality. [486]

Apart from the ordinary occult and esoteric schools found in the world today, there are groups of people as well as solitary individuals who are practicing various forms of meditation and of yoga. This is true both of Eastern and Western aspirants. Some of these people are working with real knowledge, and, therefore, quite safely; others are profoundly ignorant not only of techniques and methods but also as to the results to be expected from their efforts. Results there must inevitably be, and the major result is to turn the consciousness inward, to develop the spirit of introspection, and to orient the man or woman to the inner subjective worlds and to the subtler planes of being - usually to the astral realm and seldom to the truly spiritual world of souls. The mind nature is seldom invoked and the processes pursued usually render the brain cells negative and quiescent whilst the mind remains inactive and often unawakened. The only area of consciousness which remains therefore visible is that of the astral. The world of physical and tangible values is shut out; the mental world is equally shut out. I would ask you to ponder on this statement.

The Oxford Group Movement has also laid much stress on the need for guidance, yet seems to have developed no real understanding of the subject or to have given any real attention to the inclusive investigation of the alternative possibilities to the voice of God. Mystics of all kinds, with a natural predisposition to the introspective, negative life are today hearing voices, receiving guidance and obeying impulses which they claim come from God. Groups everywhere are occupied with the task of orienting people to the spiritual life or with the task of ascertaining the Plan of God or of cooperating with it in some way or another. Some of these groups are working intelligently and are sometimes correct [487] in their surmises and endeavors, but the bulk of them are incorrect as they are largely astral in nature.

The result of all this is twofold. One is the development of a spirit of great hopefulness among the spiritual workers of the world as they note how rapidly humanity is turning towards the world of right meaning, of true spiritual values and of esoteric phenomena. They realize that in spite of errors and mistakes, the whole trend of the racial consciousness today is "inwards towards the Center of spiritual life and peace." The other result or recognition is that during this process of readjustment to the finer values, periods of real danger transpire and that unless there is some immediate understanding of the psychological conditions and possibilities and that unless the mentality of the race is evoked on the side of understanding and common sense, we shall have to pass through a cycle of profound, psychological, and racial disturbance before the end of this century. Two factors today are, for instance, having a deep psychological effect upon humanity:

1. The suspense, fear and apprehension in every country are most adversely affecting the mass of the people, stimulating them astrally and - at the same time - lowering their physical vitality.
2. The impact of the higher spiritual forces upon the more intelligently inclined and mystically motivated people is producing serious and widespread trouble, breaking down protective etheric barriers, and throwing the doors wide open on to the astral plane. Such are some of the dangers of spiritual stimulation.

Therefore, it is of real value to us to study the sources from which much of this so-called "guidance" can come. For the sake of clarity and impressiveness, I propose to list these sources very briefly and without any prolonged comment. [488] This will give the earnest and intelligent investigator the opportunity to realize that the whole theme is vaster and far more important than has been surmised and may lead to a more careful analysis of the "types of guidance" and an understanding of the possible directing agencies to which the poor and ignorant neophyte may fall a victim.

1. Guidance or instruction coming from the man or woman upon the physical plane to whom the guided person is, usually unconsciously, looking for help. This is largely a brain relationship, electrical in nature, established by conscious physical plane contacts, and is greatly helped by the fact that the neophyte knows pretty well, exactly what his instructor would say in any given circumstance.

2. The introverted attitude of the neophyte or mystic brings to the surface all his subconscious "wish life." This, as he is mystically inclined and probably aspires normally towards goodness and the life of the spirit, takes the form of certain adolescent tendencies towards religious activity and practices. These, however, he interprets in terms of definite extraneous guidance, and formulates them to himself in such a way that they become to him the Voice of God.

3. The recovery of old spiritual aspirations and tendencies, coming from a previous life or lives. These are deeply hidden in his nature but can be brought to the surface through group stimulation. He thus recovers spiritual attitudes and desires which, in this life, have not hitherto made their appearance. They appear to him as utterly new and phenomenal, and he regards them as divine injunctions coming from God. They have, however, always been present (though latent) in his own nature [489] and are the result of the age-old trend or tendency towards divinity which is inherent in every member of the human family. It is the prodigal son speaking to himself and saying: "I will arise and go" - a point which Christ makes beautifully and abundantly clear in the parable.

4. The "guidance" registered can also be simply a sensitivity to the voices and injunctions and well-meaning intentions of good people on the path of return to incarnation. The spiritual dilemma of the race today is causing the rapid return of many advanced souls to life on the physical plane. As they hover on the borderland of outer living, awaiting their time to be reborn, they are oft contacted subjectively and unconsciously by human beings in incarnation, particularly at night when the consciousness is out of the physical body. What they say and teach (frequently good, usually indifferent in quality and sometimes quite ignorant) is remembered in the waking hours of consciousness and interpreted by the neophyte as the voice of God, giving guidance.

5. The guidance can also be of an astral, emotional nature, and is the result of the contacts made by the aspirant (firm in his aspiration but weak in his mental polarization) upon the astral plane. These cover such a wide range of possibilities that it is not possible for me to enlarge upon them here. They are all colored by glamor, and many well-meaning leaders of groups and organizations get their inspiration from these sources. There is, in them, no true lasting divine guidance. They may be quite harmless, sweet, kindly and well-intentioned; they may feed the emotional nature, develop hysteria or aspiration; they may develop the ambitious tendencies of their victim and lead him down the [490] byways of illusion. But they are not the voice of God, or of any Member in the Hierarchy, nor are they divine in nature, any more than the voice of any ordinary teacher upon the physical plane is necessarily divine.

6. The guidance recorded may also be the result of the man tuning in telepathically upon the mind or the minds of others. This frequently happens with the more intelligent types and with those who are mentally focused. It is a form of direct, but unconscious, telepathy. The guidance, therefore, comes from other minds or from the focused group mind of some band of workers with which the man may have a realized or an unrealized affinity. The guidance thus given can be consciously or unconsciously imparted, and can be, in quality, good, bad, or indifferent.

7. The mental world as well as the astral world is full of thought forms and these can be contacted by man and be interpreted by him as conveying guidance. These thought forms can be used by the Guides of the race at times in order to help and guide humanity. They can also be used by undesirable entities and forces. They can, therefore, be most useful, but when interpreted by any man as embodying divine guidance and as constituting an infallible leading (thus demanding and evoking blind and unquestioning acceptance) they become a menace to the free activity of the soul and are of no true value.

8. Guidance can come, therefore, from all kinds and types of incarnate or discarnate men, ranging in character from very good to very bad. They can include the help proffered by real initiates and adepts through their working disciples and aspirants to the mental and astral activities of ordinary intelligent men and women, [491] including the emotionally and selfishly oriented person. It should be remembered that no true initiate or disciple ever seeks to control any person nor will he indicate to him in the form of a positive command, any action which he should take. But many people tune in on teaching being given by trained minds to disciples, or record telepathically the powerful thought forms, created by world thinkers or Members of the Hierarchy. Hence the many misinterpretations and the so-called recorded guidances. Men appropriate to themselves sometimes that which is intended for a group or a hint given by a Master to a disciple.

9. Guidance also comes from a man's own powerful, integrated personality and he will frequently fail to recognize it for what it is. The ambition, desire, or prideful purposings of a personality may work down from the mental body and be impressed upon the brain, and yet the man, in that brain consciousness, may regard them as coming from some extraneous outer source. Yet all the time, the physical man is responding to the injunctions and impulses of his own personality. This often happens to three types of people:

1. Those whose egos or personalities are upon the sixth ray.
2. Those who have laid themselves open to the glamors of the astral plane through over stimulation of the solar plexus.
3. Those who are susceptible, for some reason or another, to the receding Piscean energy.

10. Guidance can come, as you well know, from a man's own soul when through meditation, discipline and service, he has established contact, and there is consequently [492] a indirect channel of communication from soul to brain, via the mind. This, when clear and direct, is true divine guidance, coming from the inner divinity. It can, however, be distorted and misinterpreted if the mind is not developed, the character is not purified and the man is not free from undue personality control. The mind must make right application of the imparted truth or guidance. Where there is true and right apprehension of the inner divine voice, then - and only then - do you have infallible guidance, and the voice of the inner God can then speak with clarity to its instrument, man upon the physical plane.

11. Once this latter form of guidance has been established, stabilized, fostered, developed and understood, other forms of spiritual guidance then become possible. The reason for this is that they will pass through or be submitted to the standard of values which the factor of the soul itself constitutes. The awareness of the soul is a part of all awarenesses. The recognition of this soul awareness is a gradual and progressive happening where the man upon the physical plane is concerned. The brain cells must be gradually awakened and the correct interpretative response developed. As, for instance, a man becomes aware of the Plan of God, he may regard that Plan as being imparted to him by a Master or by some Member of the Hierarchy; he may regard the knowledge as coming to him through his own immediate contact with a thought form of the Plan. If he achieves and interprets this knowledge in a truly right way, he is perforce simply achieving recognition of that which his own soul inevitably knows, because his soul is an aspect of the Universal soul and an integral part of the planetary Hierarchy. [493]

There are other sources of guidance, of inspiration and of revelation but, for the psychological purposes of our present study, the above will suffice.

We will now touch upon the subject of dreams, which is assuming such importance in the minds of certain prominent psychologists and in certain schools of psychology. It is not my intention to criticize or attack their theories in any way. They have arrived at a most important and indicative fact - the fact of the interior, inner subjective life of humanity, which is based on ancient memories, on present teachings, and on contacts of various kinds. A true understanding of the dream-life of humanity would establish three facts:

1. The fact of reincarnation.
2. The fact of there being some activity during sleep or unconsciousness.
3. The fact of the soul, of that which persists and has continuity.

These three facts provide a definite line of approach to the problems which we are considering and they would, if analyzed, substantiate the position of the esotericists.

The origin of the word "dream" is in itself debatable and nothing really sure and proved is known. Yet what is inferred and suggested is of itself of real significance. In a great standard authority, Webster's Dictionary, two origins of the word are given. One traces the word back to a Sanskrit root, meaning "to harm or to hurt"; the other traces it back to an old Anglo-Saxon root, signifying "joy or bliss." Is there not a chance, that both derivations have in them a measure of truth, and that in their mutual tracing back to some most ancient origin and root we should discover a real meaning? In any case two thoughts emerge from an understanding study of these derivations. [494]

The first is that dreams were originally regarded as undesirable, probably because they revealed or indicated, in the majority of cases, the astral life of the dreamer. In Atlantean times, when man was basically astral in his consciousness, his outer physical consciousness was largely controlled by his dreams. In those days, the guidance of the daily life, of the religious life, and of the psychological life (such as it was) was founded on a lost science of dreams, and it is this lost science (little as he may like the idea) which the modern psychologist is rapidly recovering and seeking to interpret. Most of the people (though necessarily not all of them) who find themselves needing the care and instruction of the psychologist are Atlantean in consciousness, and it is this fact which has predisposed the psychologist unconsciously to lay the present emphasis upon dreams and their interpretation.

May I point out again that the true psychology will only appear and right techniques be used when psychologists ascertain (as a first and needed measure) the rays, the astrological implications and the type of consciousness (Aryan or Atlantean) of the patient.

However, as time elapsed, the dreams of the more intelligent minds became of an increasingly forward-looking, idealistic nature; these, as they came to the surface and were remembered and recorded, began to control the brain of man so that the Anglo-Saxon emphasis on joy and bliss eventually became descriptive of many so-called dreams. We have then the emergence of the utopias, the fantasies, the idealistic presentations of future beauty and joy which distinguishes the thought life of the advanced human being, and which find their expression in such presented (and as yet unfulfiled) hopes as Plato's Republic, Milton's Paradise Regained and the best Utopian, idealistic creative productions [495] of our Western poets and writers. Thus Occident and Orient together present a theory of dreams - of a lower astral or higher intuitional nature - which are a complete picture of the wish life of the race. These range all the way from the dirty ideas and the bestial filth, drawn forth at times from their patients by psychologists (thus revealing a wish life and an astral consciousness of a very low order), up to the idealistic schemes and the carefully thought-out paradises and cosmic orders of the higher types of aspirants. All, however, come into the realm of Dreams. This is true, whether such dreams are tied up with frustrated sex or unfulfiled idealism; they are all indicative of an urge, a powerful urge, either to selfish satisfaction or group betterment and group welfare.

These dreams can embody in themselves ancient astral illusions and glamors, potent and strong because of ancient origin and racial desire, or they can embody the sensitive response of advanced humanity to systems and regimes of existence which are hovering on the borderland of manifestation, awaiting future precipitation and expression.

This will indicate to you how vast is this subject, for it includes not only the past astral habits of the race, ready - when given certain pathological conditions or fostered by fretting frustrations - to assert themselves, but they also include the ability of the spiritually-minded aspirant in the world today to touch the intended plans for the race and thus see them as desirable possibilities.

Having thus indicated the scope of our theme, I would like to point out that I seek only, in the limited space at my disposal, to do two things:

1. Touch briefly upon the conditions which foster dreams.
2. Indicate the sources from which dreams can come and what produces them. [496]

I do not expect to have these theories accepted by the average psychologist, but there may be somewhere those minds which will be open enough to accept some of the suggestions and thus benefit themselves and certainly benefit their patients.

The major cause of a distressing dream life is, in every case, a frustration or an inability of the soul to impose its wishes and designs upon its instrument, the man. These frustrations fall into three categories:

1. Sex frustration. This type of frustration leads in many cases, especially in the average person, to an over-emphasis of the fact of sex, to an uncontrolled sex thought-life, to sexual jealousies (oft unrecognized) and to physical underdevelopment.
2. Frustrated ambition. This dams back the resources of the life, produces constant inner fret, leads to envy, hatred, bitterness, intense dislike of the successful, and causes abnormalities of many kinds.
3. Frustrated love. This would perhaps be included under sex frustration by the average psychologist, but it is not so viewed by the esotericist. There can be full sexual satisfaction or else complete freedom from its grip and yet the outgoing magnetic love nature of the subject may meet only with frustration and lack of response.

Where these three types of frustration exist, you will frequently have a vivid, unwholesome dream life, physical liabilities of many kinds and a steadily deepening unhappiness.

You will note that all these frustrations are, as might be expected, simply expressions of frustrated desire, and it is in this particular field (tied up as it is with the Atlantean [497] consciousness) that the work of the modern psychologist primarily and necessarily lies. In an effort to bring the patient to an understanding of his difficulty and in line with that which constitutes the way of least resistance, the psychologist endeavors to relieve the situation by teaching him to evoke and bring to the surface of his consciousness forgotten episodes and his dream life. Two important facts are sometimes forgotten and hence constitute a fruitful source of the frequent failure to bring relief.

First, the patient as he descends into the depths of his dream life, will bring to the surface not only those things which are undesirable in his unrecognized "wish-life" but also those which were present in previous lives. He is penetrating into a very ancient astral past. Not only is this the case, but also - through the open door of his own astral life - he can tap or tune in on the astral life of the race. He then succeeds in producing the emergence of racial evil which may have absolutely no personal relation to him at all. This is definitely a dangerous thing to do, for it may prove stronger than the man's present capacity to handle.

Secondly, in his desire to be freed from the things in himself which are producing trouble, in his desire to please the psychologist (which is encouraged by certain of them under the method of "transference") and in his desire to produce what he believes the psychologist wants him to produce, he will frequently draw upon his personal imagination, upon the collective imagination or, telepathically, tune in on the imagination of the one who is seeking to treat and help him. He, therefore, produces something which is basically untrue and misleading.

These two points warrant careful attention and the patient must be safeguarded from himself, from the environing racial thought life, and also from the psychologist whose aid he is seeking. A difficult thing to do, is it not? [498]

I would like, at this point, to make what I feel to be a needed and suggestive interpolation. There are three main ways in which the person who seeks psychological aid can be helped and this is true of all types and cases. There is, first of all, the method with which we have been dealing. This method delves into the patient's past; it seeks to unearth the basic determining conditions which lie hidden in the happenings of childhood or infancy. These discovered events, it is held, gave a wrong direction or twist to the desire nature or to the thought life; they initiated predisposing germ-complexes, and therefore constitute the source of all the trouble. This method (even if the psychologist does not realize it) can carry over into past lives, and thus open doors which it might be well to leave shut until they can be more safely opened.

The second method which is sometimes combined with the previous one is to fill the present moment with constructive creative occupation and so drive out the undesirable elements in the life through the dynamic expulsive power of new and paramount, engrossing interests. I would like to point out that this method could be more safely applied if the subjective dream life and the hidden difficulties were left untreated - temporarily at least. This method is (for the average ordinary person who is pure Atlantean in consciousness but is just beginning to develop mental activity) usually a sound and safe way to work, provided the psychologist can gain the understanding cooperation of the person concerned.

The third method, which has the sanction of the Hierarchy and which is the one its members employ in Their work, is to bring in consciously the power of the soul. This power then pours through the personality life, vehicles and consciousness, and thus cleanses and purifies all aspects of the [499] lower nature. It will be apparent to you, however, that this method is of use only to those who have reached the point in their unfoldment (and there are many such today) where the mind can be reached and trained, and where the soul can consequently impress the brain, via the mind.

If these three methods are studied, you can arrive at an understanding as to the three systems which psychologists could elaborate and develop in order to handle the three types of modern consciousness - the Lemurian, which is the lowest found upon our planet at this time; the Atlantean, which is the commonest found today, and the Aryan, which is developing and unfolding with great rapidity. At present, psychologists are using the lowest type of aid for all groups and states of consciousness. This does not seem wise, does it?

The question now arises as to the source of dreams. Again, as in those cases we considered in connection with the sources of guidance, I shall simply enumerate such origins and leave the student of psychology to make adequate application of the information, when faced with a dream problem. These sources are about ten in number and could be enumerated as follows:

1. Dreams based upon Brain Activity. In these cases, the subject is sleeping too lightly. He never really leaves his body and the thread of consciousness is not completely withdrawn as it is in deep sleep or in unconsciousness. He remains, therefore, closely identified with his body, and because of the partial withdrawal of the thread of consciousness, his condition is more like a dazed, benumbed self-recognition than real sleep. This condition may persist throughout the entire night or period of sleep, but it is usually found present only in the first two hours of sleep and for about one hour prior to returning to full waking consciousness. The problems, worries, pleasures, concerns, etc., etc. of the waking [500] hours are still agitating the brain cells, but the recognition and interpretation of these vague or agitated impressions is uncertain and of a confused nature. No importance whatever need be attached to this type of dream. They indicate physical nervousness and poor sleeping capacity but have no deep psychological significance or spiritual meaning. These dreams are the most common at this time, owing to the prevalence of the Atlantean consciousness and the stress under which people live today. It is easy to attach undue importance to the wild and stupid or jumbled vagaries of a restless brain, yet the sole trouble is that the man is not sleeping soundly enough.

The effort to make people dream and to train them to recover their dream life when they are naturally sound sleepers, and drop easily into deep and dreamless sleep is not good. The evocation of the dream life, as brought about through the methods of certain schools of psychology, should only be brought about forcibly (if one may use this word in that connection) through the determination of the will during the later stages upon the Path. To do so earlier produces frequently a kind of continuity of consciousness which adds the complexities of the astral plane to those of daily living upon the physical plane; few people are competent to handle the two and, when there is persistence in the endeavor to evoke the dream life, the brain cells get no rest and forms of sleeplessness are apt to supervene. Nature wills that all forms of life should "sleep" at times.

We now come to two forms of dreams which are related to the astral or emotional nature and which are of great frequency.

2. Dreams of Remembrance. These are dreams which are a recovery of the sights and sounds encountered in the hours of sleep upon the astral plane. It is on this plane that the [501] man is usually found when the thread of consciousness is separated from the body. In this case, the man is either participating in certain activities, or he is in the position of the onlooker who sees actual sights, performances, people, etc., etc., just as any person can see them as he walks down a street in any large city or as he looks out of a window in any environment. These sights and sounds will often be dependent upon the wish-life and the predilections of the subject, upon his likes and dislikes and his desires and recognized attractions. He will seek for and often find those he loves; he will sometimes search for and find those he seeks to damage, and find occasion to hurt those he hates; he will favor himself by participating in the fulfilment of what he desires, which is always imaginatively possible upon the astral plane. Such desires may range all the way from desire for sexual gratification to the longing of the spiritually-minded aspirant to see the Master, the Christ or the Buddha. Thought forms, created by the similar wishes of the multitude, will be found to meet his desire and - on returning to his body in the morning - he brings with him the recollection of that satisfaction in the form of a dream. These dreams, related to astral satisfactions, are all of them in the nature of glamor or illusion; they are self-evoked and self-related; they indicate however real experience, even if only astral in accomplishment and can be of value to the interested psychologist in so far as they indicate the character trends of the patient. One difficulty can, however, be found. These thought forms (to which the man has responded and in which he has found an imaginative satisfaction) embody the expression of the wish-life of the race and exist, therefore, upon the astral plane for all to see. Many people do see and contact them and can identify themselves with them upon returning to waking consciousness. In fact, however, they [502] have really done no more than register these thought forms in the same manner as one can register the contents of a shop window when passing by. A shocked horror can, for instance, induce a person to relate, quite innocently, a dream which is, in reality, no more than the registering of a sight or experience which was witnessed in the hours of sleep but with which the man has no real connection whatever. This experience he relates with dismay and disgust; most feelingly he tells the experience to the psychologist, and frequently receives an interpretation which reveals to him the depths of evil to which his unrealized desires apparently bear witness. His unexpressed longings are "brought to the surface" by the psychologist. He is told that these longings, when faced, will then leave him, and that the ghost of his mental and psychological disorder will then be laid. Unless the psychologist is of real enlightenment, the subject of his care is then saddled with an experience which was never his but which he simply witnessed. I give this as an example of great frequency and of much damaging value. Until psychologists recognize the actuality of the life of humanity when separated at night from the physical body, such errors will be of increasing occurrence. The implications are obvious.

3. Dreams which are Recollections of true Activity. These dreams are registrations of true activities. They are not simply witnessed, registered and related by the subject. As soon as a person has reached

1. A state of real integration of the astral body and the vital or etheric body, plus the physical body, then these three aspects function harmoniously.
2. A capacity to pursue ordered activity at night or in the hours of sleep. Then the man can impress the physical brain with a knowledge of those activities [503] and on returning to waking consciousness put it to actual use by the physical body.

The man's dreams will then be, in reality, nothing more nor less than the relation of the continuance of the day's activities, as they have been carried forward on the astral plane. They will be simply the record, registered on the physical brain, of his doings and emotions, his purposes and intentions, and his recognized experiences. They are as real and as true as any of those which have been recorded by the brain, during waking hours. They are, nevertheless, only partial records in the majority of cases, and mixed in nature, for the glamors, illusions and the perceptions of the doings of others (as recorded in the second category of dreams above) will still have some effect. This condition of mixed recording, of erroneous identifications, etc., leads to much difficulty. The psychologist has to make allowance for:

1. The age or soul experience of the patient. He has to determine whether the related dream is an illusory participation, a perceived or registered activity, or a real and true happening in the experience of the man during the hours of sleep.
2. The ability of the subject to bring through correctly the related experience. This ability is dependent upon the pre-establishing of continuity of consciousness, so that at the moment of return, the brain of the man concerned is easily impressed by the experience of the true man when out of the body.
3. The freedom of the patient from the desire to make an impression upon the psychologist, his innate truthfulness, his control of the imagination, and his power of verbal expression. [504]

Where advanced aspirants and disciples are concerned, we have a somewhat different situation. The demonstrated integration has involved the mind nature and is involving the soul likewise. The activity, registered, recorded and related, is that of a server upon the astral plane. The activities which interest a world server are, therefore, quite different in nature to those earlier experienced and related. They will be concerned with deeds which are related to other people, to the fulfilment of duties involving other people, to the teaching of groups rather than individuals, etc. These differences, when carefully studied, will be recognized by the psychologist of the future (who will necessarily be also an esotericists) as most revealing because they will indicate in an interesting manner, the spiritual status and hierarchical relationship of the patient.

4. Dreams which are of a Mental Nature. These have their origin upon the mental plane and presuppose a consciousness which is, at least, becoming more sensitive mentally. At any rate, they are not recorded in the waking brain consciousness until there is some measure of mind control. I might add at this point that one of the major difficulties with which a psychologist is confronted, as he attempts to interpret the dream life of his patient, is based not only on his inability esoterically to "place" his patient as to ray type, evolutionary status, astrological indications and inherent characteristics, but also he is confronted with the inability of the patient to relate his dream correctly. What is presented to the psychologist is a confused and imaginative description of brain reactions, astral phenomena, and (where there is a measure of intellectual poise) some mental phenomena also. But there is no capacity to differentiate. This confusion is due to lack of alignment, and of true mental relation between the mind and the brain. [505] It becomes, therefore, oft a case of the "blind leading the blind".

Dreams which are of mental origin are fundamentally of three kinds:

1. Those dreams which are based on contact with the world of thought forms. This comprises a vast realm of ancient thought forms, of modern thought forms, and those thought forms also which are nebulous and emerging. They are of purely human origin and are definitely a part of the Great Illusion. They constitute, in the bulk of cases, man's effort at the interpretation of life and its meaning down the ages. They merge with the soul of glamor which is astral in nature. It will be obvious to you that these thought forms comprise all possible themes. They do not embody the wish-life of the race, but are concerned with men's thoughts about the ideas and ideals which - down the ages - have controlled human life and which, therefore, form the basis of all history.
2. Those dreams which are geometrical in nature, and in which the subject becomes aware of those basic patterns, forms and symbols which are the blue prints of the archetypes determining the evolutionary process, and which produce eventually the materializing of God's Plan. They are also the great symbols of man's unfolding consciousness. For instance, the recognition of the point, the line, the triangle, the square, the Cross, the pentagon and similar symbols are simply the recognition of a connection with, and a founding upon, certain lines of force which have, to date, determined the [506] evolutionary process. There are seven such forms, evolved and recognized in every race and, for our present purposes, there are, therefore, twenty-one basic symbols which, in geometrical form, embody the concepts which determine the Lemurian, Atlantean and Aryan civilizations. It is interesting to realize that there are fourteen more to come. The symbols which are already evolved are deeply ingrained in the human consciousness, and lead, for instance, to the constant use of the cross in its many diverse forms. Two symbols are at this time taking form as the basis of the coming civilization. These are the lotus and the flaming torch. Hence the frequent appearance of these two in the life of meditation and the dream life of the world aspirants.
3. Those dreams which are symbolic presentations of teaching received in the hours of sleep by aspirants and disciples in the Hall of Learning on the highest level of the astral plane, and in the Hall of Wisdom on the mental plane. In the first Hall is the best that the race has already learnt through its Atlantean experience and in the world of glamor. Through these, wise choice can be developed. The Hall of Wisdom embodies the teaching which the two coming races will develop and unfold, and thus trains the disciple and the initiate.

I cannot do more than thus indicate the nature of these three basic mental experiences which find their way into the dream life of the man on the physical plane. These are given expression by him in the form of related dreams, creative work, and the expression of the ideals which are building the human consciousness. [507]

5. Dream which are Records of Work done. This activity the aspirant carries on at night and when absent from the body, and it is carried on

1. In the borderland between the astral plane and the physical plane.
2. In the so-called "summerland" wherein the entire wish-life of the race is centered and all racial desire takes form.
3. In the world of glamor which is part of the astral plane which embodies the ancient past, which fertilizes the desire life of the present, and which indicates the nature of the desire life of the immediate future.

These phases and spheres of activity are very real in nature. Aspirants who succeed in functioning with any measure of consciousness on the astral plane are all occupied, at some level or another, with some form of constructive activity or work. This activity, selfishly performed (for many aspirants are selfish) or unselfishly carried forward, constitutes much of the material of many of the so-called dreams, as related by the average intelligent citizen. They warrant no more attention or mysteriously applied interpretation or symbolic elucidation than do the current activities and events of daily life as carried on in waking consciousness upon the physical plane. They are of three kinds:

1. The activity of the patient himself when freed, in sleep, from the physical body.
2. His observation of the activities of others. These he is apt to appropriate unwillingly and quite erroneously to himself because of the egocentric tendency of the average human mind. [508]
3. Instruction which is given to him by those responsible for his unfoldment and training.

This category of dreams is becoming increasingly prevalent as the alignment of the astral body and the physical body is perfected and continuity of consciousness is slowly developed. The activity involves religious activity, sexual living in its many phases (for not all of them are physical, though all of them are related to the problem of the polar opposites and the essential duality of manifestation) political activity, creative and artistic activity and the many other forms of human expression. They are as varied and as diverse as those in which humanity indulges on the physical plane; they are the source of much confusion in the mind of the psychologist and need most careful consideration and analysis.

6. Telepathic Dreams. These dreams are simply the record upon the physical brain consciousness of real events which are telepathically communicated from one person to another. Some friend or relation undergoes some experience. He seeks to communicate it to his friend or - at the moment of crisis - he thinks powerfully of his friend. This registers on the friend's mind but is often only recovered in the hours of sleep and is brought through in the morning as a man's own personal experience. Many of the dreams related by people are records of the experiences of other people of which a man becomes aware and which he is appropriating to himself in all sincerity.

We come now to a group of dreams which are a part of the experience of those people who have made a definite soul contact and are in process of establishing a close link with the world of souls. The "things of the kingdom of God" are opening up before them and the phenomena, the happenings, the ideas, and the life and knowledge of the soul realm are [509] being registered with increasing accuracy in the mind. From the mind, they are being transferred to or imprinted upon the brain cells. We have therefore:

7. Dreams which are Dramatizations by the Soul. This type of dream is a symbolic performance by the soul for the purpose of giving instruction, warning or command to its instrument, man, on the physical plane. These dramatic or symbolic dreams are becoming increasingly numerous in the case of aspirants and disciples, particularly in the early stages of soul contact. They can express themselves in the hours of sleep and also during the meditation period or process. Only the man himself, from his knowledge of himself, can rightly interpret this class of dreams. It will be apparent to you also that the ray type of the soul and of the personality will largely determine the type of symbolism or the nature of the dramatization employed. This must be determined, therefore, by the psychologist before interpretation can be intelligently given and prove useful.

8. Dreams concerned with Group Work. In this type of dream, the soul trains or fits its vehicle, the lower man, for group activity. This type of dream is also the higher correspondence of the dreams dealt with under our fifth heading. The group work involved is not this time carried on in the three worlds of human expression but in the world of soul life and soul experience. Soul knowledges and purposes are involved; work in a Master's group may be registered and regarded as a dream in spite of its reality and basically phenomenal occurrence. The realities of the kingdom of God may for a time seep through into the brain consciousness in the form of dreams. Much of the experiences recorded in the mystical writings during the past few centuries in the Occident, are in this category. This is a point worth careful consideration. [510]

9. Dreams which are Records of Instruction. This type of dream embodies the teaching given by a Master to His accepted disciple. With these I shall not deal. When a man can receive these instructions consciously, either at night when absent from the body or in meditation, he has to learn to direct them correctly from mind to brain and to interpret them accurately. They are communicated by the Master to the man's soul. The soul then impresses them on the mind, which has been held steady in the light, and then the mind, in its turn, formulates them into thought forms which are then thrown down into the quiescent waiting brain. According to the mental development and educational advantages of the disciple so will be his response and his correct use of the communicated teaching.

10. Dreams connected with the World Plan, the solar plan, and the cosmic scheme. These can range all the way from the insane brain and recorded experiences of the mentally unbalanced to the wise and measured teaching of the World Knowers. This teaching is communicated to the world disciples and can be regarded by them as either an inspired utterance or a dream with a deep significance. It should be remembered in both cases (the mentally unbalanced and the trained disciple) that a similar condition exists; there is a direct line from the soul to the brain. This is true of both types. These dreams or recorded instructions indicate a high stage of evolutionary advancement.

A consideration of all the above will indicate to you the complexity of the subject. The superficial student or the mystically inclined person is apt to feel that all these technicalities are of minor importance. The charge is often made that the "jargon" of occultism and its academic information is of no true importance where knowledge of the divine is concerned. It is claimed that it is not necessary to know about [511] the planes and their various levels of consciousness, or about the Law of Rebirth and the Law of Attraction; it is an unnecessary tax upon the human mind to study the technical foundation for a belief in brotherhood, or to consider our distant origin and our possible future. It is nevertheless just possible that if the mystics down the ages had recognized these truths we might have had a better managed world. It is only today that those forces are being set in motion which will lead, to a truer understanding of the human family, a wiser comprehension of the human equipment, and, therefore, to an effort to bring human living into line with the basic spiritual truths. The sorry condition of the world today is not a result of the intellectual unfoldment of man as is often claimed, but it is the working out of the unalterable effects of causes, originated in the past of the Aryan race.

That good can come from evil, that the bad effects of man's mental laziness can be transmuted into teaching point in the future and that humanity is now intelligent enough to learn wisdom will be the result of the widespread dissemination of the academic truths of the esoteric teaching and its correct interpretation by the trained minds in the Occident. The East has had this teaching for ages and has produced numerous commentaries upon it - the work of the finest analytical minds that the world has ever seen - but it has made no mass use of the knowledge, and the people in the Orient do not profit by it, as a whole. It will be different in the West and is already modifying and influencing human thought on a large scale; it is permeating the structure of our civilization and will eventually salvage it. Be not, therefore, afraid of the technicalities of wisdom but seek for the reason of the undesirable reaction against them in the latent inertia of the mystical mind, plus the lowered vital condition of the entire race.

This brings me to a point I would seek to touch upon: that [512] of the widespread depression which is so seriously affecting the whole of humanity. The physical vitality of the races is low, or it is being whipped up into a better condition by the imposition of applied thought. Instead of drawing upon the resources of vitality, stored up in the soil, in food, fresh air and outer environing conditions, men are beginning to draw it from the etheric body itself through the galvanizing effect of two things: ideas, as they are presented to them, thereby aligning mind and brain and incidentally stimulating the etheric body; mass impetus or contact which swings the unit into line with mass intention and opens up to him therefore the vast resources of mass intention. This enables him to feed his etheric body at the general etheric center of power. This can be seen happening in its initial stage in practically every country. In the interim, however, between the establishing of the facility to tap at will the inner sources of vital stimulation and the changing of the old conditions, the masses of the people are left with neither source of sustenance available for their helping. They are consequently depleted, full of fear, and unable to do more than stand ready and hope for a better future for the next generation.

It is during this interim state that the full difficulty of depression can be felt, and it is at this time one of the major problems confronting the Hierarchy. How can the vitality of the human family be restored? How can the ancient joyousness of life, the keenness of spirit and the easy activity which distinguished the ancient races in the earlier phases of civilization be recovered and humanity lose its depression and its unhappiness?

The whole position is the reverse of the problems of stimulation which constitute the major difficulty of the mystical life. With these we shall later deal. [513]

No general covering solution has yet appeared. But inevitably it will, and when it does it will be the direct result of the activity of the New Group of World Servers. It will be a slow process, for humanity is entering into what may be regarded as a long convalescence. It will be brought about in three ways:

1. The discovery of the unused resources and vital reservoirs of strength, latent in the human being himself.
2. The promulgation of such truths as the potency of good will by members of the New Group of World Servers. The healing power of such realizations is immense.
3. Certain potencies and outer forces which the senior Members of the Hierarchy are now in process of invoking to the aid of humanity.

We come now to one of the most valuable and practical parts of our study upon the effects of the seven rays of energy as they make their presence felt in the human unit, and particularly as they affect the aspirant, disciple and mystic. During the past three decades, much has been written upon the pathology of the mystic and the physiological disturbances accompanying the mystical experience; much has also been investigated in connection with the neurotic characteristics which arc frequently to be found in the spiritually polarized person and the inexplicable conditions which seem to exist - mentally, emotionally and physically - along with deep spiritual knowledge, definite mystical phenomena and high aspiration for divine contact. These conditions are increasing with great rapidity. More and more people are, for instance, becoming clairvoyant and clairaudient, and these reactions to stimulation and these expressions of innate powers are regarded as evidence of mental derangement, of [514] delusions and hallucinations, and sometimes of insanity. Certain nervous complaints, affecting at times the muscular equipment and other parts of the human body, will be found eventually to have their origin in over-stimulation; instead then of being handled (as they now are) by imposed processes of rest, by the use of soporifics, and other forms of treatment, the patient will be taught methods of divorcing himself temporarily from the source of this mystical or spiritual potency; or he may be taught how to deflect these forces which art pouring into and through the various centers to those centers which can more safely handle them, thus producing a more even distribution of energy. He will also be taught how to use them effectively in outer service. Forms of nervous inflammation and neuritis will be regarded as symptoms of the wrong use made of the energy available in the human equipment or of undue emphasis upon it. We shall discover the sources of certain disorders and find that the difficulty lies in the centers which are found near to the particular organ in the body which seems outwardly to be responsible for the trouble. This is noticeably true in connection with certain forms of heart trouble and brain tensions and, of course, all cases of hypertension. It is true likewise in relation to the metabolism of the body which can be seriously thrown out of balance by the over-stimulation of the throat center, with consequent evil effects upon the thyroid gland - that master gland which is related to the transference of the various forces (found in the body) to the head. There are two major centers definitely connected with the fact of transference:

1. The solar plexus center which is the transferring center for all the forces found below the diaphragm to the centers above the diaphragm. [515]
2. The throat center, which is the transferring center for all the forces found above the diaphragm into the two head centers.

There are three aspects connected with this whole subject of the diseases and difficulties of the mystical life which it would be well to bear in mind. Those people who are concerned with the education and training of children or with the esoteric training of the world disciples and aspirants should study the matter with care; they should attempt to understand the causes of many of the nervous complaints and pathological conditions found in the advanced people of the world, plus the problems arising out of the premature development of the lower psychic powers as well as the unfoldment of the higher faculties. The problem, therefore, involves people at all stages of unfoldment and they should carefully consider them from the standpoint of energy activity - a thing which has been little done as yet.

The first of these three aspects could be stated as follows: We are passing at this time through a transition period wherein old energies are passing out and new ray influences are coming in. We are transiting into a new sign of the zodiac. Therefore, the impact of the new forces, plus the withdrawal of the old, is apt to produce clearly felt effects upon humanity, as a whole, and upon mystics and aspirants in particular, and cause definite reactions. With these we shall shortly deal when we consider the influence of the rays today and in the Aquarian Age. (A Treatise on the Seven Rays, Vol. III and The Destiny of the Nations).

Secondly, the present world problem, the fear and deep anxiety, and the suffering and pain which are so widespread, are producing a mixed and dual result. These two results (with all their intermediate stages) are [516]

1. The extraversion of the mass consciousness.
2. A pronounced introversion of the individual.

There is, therefore, a mass effect and an individual effect and these two must be more carefully borne in mind. This process of externalization can be seen working out in all the clamor and in the ardent and oft noisy psychology of the great national movements and experiments, going on today all over the world. Simultaneously, individuals in all these countries and in practically every land are learning a needed (and sometimes enforced) suppression, control of speech and other restraining reactions; they are being turned definitely inward through force of circumstances and in such a powerful manner that - if you could see the play of forces as we on the inner side can see them - you would become aware of these two great movements being carried forward in the three worlds of human endeavor, as if they were opposing currents of force:

1. The movement, tending towards the extraversion or the externalization of the great energies to which the mass consciousness responds. This is being directed or enforced through the activity of the first ray energy. Much of it, therefore, is to be found in the political field and in the realm of the mass will. In these early stages we are witnessing the evocation of that mass will; it is, as yet, unintelligent, inchoate, fluidic and easily imposed upon by the directed will of a group in any land, which can evidence enough power to engross the mass attention. This can also be sometimes done by a dominant and powerful personality. The net result - from the long range point of view - is the bringing to the surface of the deeply hidden and submerged mass consciousness, a silent, hitherto unexpressed and unoriented force, and yet a potency in the planetary life. [517]
2. The movement towards the introversion or the "turning inwards" of the intelligent consciousness (not the mass consciousness this time) of all those men and women in the world today whose minds are awakening and who can function actively and creatively on the three levels of human awareness.

It is this dual movement - outward and inward - which is the source of much of the present world crisis. The effect of this "pull" in two directions is having a serious effect upon sensitive individuals. They are pulled in two directions: outward by the pull of the mass consciousness, and by the force of the political, economic and social life of the race; inwards by the pull of the world of higher values, by the kingdom of souls, by the organized work of the spiritual Hierarchy, aided by the age-old religious consciousness.

Psychologists would do well to study their patients from the angle of these two diverging energies. They would thus offset the tendency to cleavage which is one of the major anxieties of the spiritual Workers at this time. In the stress and strain of modern living, men are apt to think that the major task and the most important duty today is to make life more bearable and thus easier for humanity to live. To the spiritual Hierarchy of our planet, the major task is so to safeguard mankind that, when this period of transition is over and the forces that are withdrawing their influences have ceased entirely to have an effect upon humanity, there will be fusion and not cleavage to be found in the world. Thus the kingdom of God and the kingdom of men will be fusing rapidly into a dual manifesting expression. The incoming force will then be stabilized and its note clearly heard.

The third factor to be considered by the man who is working towards the well-being of his fellows is the study of the [518] effects of the new incoming forces upon the present mechanism of man. This is not yet being done but is a determining factor in the successful development of the human unit. Therefore, it is of vital importance to educators, psychologists, parents and esotericists. There is, however, as yet no real recognition of the fact and the urgency of these incoming forces, nor is there any appreciation of the potency of the energies emanating from

1. The sign of the zodiac into which we are now passing.
2. The effect of the relation existing between the forces emanating from the sign Aquarius and the sign Leo which is its polar opposite and, therefore, closely related to it. The interplay of the two signs is, at this time, responsible for the appearance of the great and modern human movements, involving vast numbers of men and engineered usually by some dominant personality. It is responsible also for the intense individualism which is manifesting in every department of human life today.
3. The effect of the new zodiacal influences upon the eleven other signs. This is a most interesting theme and one that has been little considered. What effect will the potency of the sign Aquarius (which is becoming increasingly dominant with each decade) have upon a person or a nation which is governed by the sign Taurus, for instance, or by Sagittarius, or Pisces? In coming centuries, this aspect of astrological science will be of definite importance and will be considered by those responsible for the rearing and education of children during the coming centuries. It will be one of the most important themes to be dealt with in all systems of psychological and esoteric service to humanity, and will [519] eventually cause a reorganization of the methods employed up to date to aid and liberate man.
   This we shall endeavor to elucidate as one of the points in Volume III of A Treatise on the Seven Rays, and it will contribute an entirely new approach.
4. The effect of the relation of the seven rays to the zodiacal forces. It should be remembered that there is a close interplay between the seven rays and the twelve signs of the zodiac.

Another task of the psychologist is to investigate the effect or the relation of the seven centers of force, which are to be found in the human body, in the etheric counterpart of the physical body. Many of the modern physical ills and a large number of undesirable psychological conditions will then be traced to their true source. This is the over-stimulation, plus the underdevelopment, of the centers of energy found in the human mechanism and closely connected with the endocrine system. This is part of the new Science of Humanity.

You will see from the above how vast and intricate is our theme. It will not be possible for me to do more than generalize, and point out the way to certain broad trails or lines of investigation along which the modern student and scientist would do well to go. I would like to remind you also that the problem of the human being is essentially and basically the problem of consciousness or awareness. The five aspects of man

1. The physical body.
2. The vital or etheric body.
3. The astral body.
4. The mental body.
5. The soul body or the egoic lotus,

are basically only open doors into the larger whole of which [520] the individual unit is a part. They put the man into relation with the divine expression and manifestation in the same way that his five senses put him in touch with the tangible world and enable him thus to share the general life.

Many of our present problems (arising out of the mystical or the spiritual life) and a large number of our psychological difficulties are connected with this fact. Many a man also is over-developed in some one of these directions and, therefore, (through this developed sensitivity of some aspect of the fivefold instrument of contact) he becomes aware of a realm of consciousness and of states of awareness with which he is not competent to deal, owing to the underdevelopment of his mind and the lack of soul contact.

B.IV. Diseases and Problems of Disciples and Mystics

We will divide what we have to say about our theme, The Diseases and the Problems of Mystics, under four headings:

1. Those arising out of the awakening of the centers. These constitute a major difficulty and will, therefore, be dealt with first of all.
2. Those arising out of the unfoldment of psychic powers.
3. Those connected with group conditions and problems.
4. Those related to the outgoing sixth ray forces and the incoming seventh ray influences.

B.IV.1. Problems arising out of the Awakening and Stimulation of the Centers

Those of you who have read my other books and treatises will know how immense is the subject with which we are concerned and how little is yet known and taught anent the centers and their force emanations and the activity of the vital or etheric body which is the receiver and the distributor [521] of energies. These energies determine and condition the circumstances and the physique of the human being and produce (in the last analysis) the phenomenal manifestation of man upon the physical plane, plus his inherent characteristics. All of this information I have earlier given and it can be read and studied by those who are interested to do so. They can thus clarify their knowledge anent the various centers. One thing I would like here to point out and will later elucidate and that is the relation of the various centers to the rays. This is as follows:

• Ray one - Power or Will - Head center.
• Ray two - Love-Wisdom - Heart center.
• Ray three - Active Intelligence - Throat center.
• Ray four - Harmony through Conflict - Ajna center.
• Ray five - Concrete Knowledge - Sacral center.
• Ray six - Devotion - Solar plexus.
• Ray seven - Ceremonial Order - Base of spine.

Much could be learned if one would gather all the data given on this subject into one book, thus relating what is known about the specific energy points to be found in the human frame. All that I can do here is to give a general idea of the subject, indicate certain lines of development and relationship anent the seven major centers, the seven major glands and the localities and areas in the human body where these glands and centers are to be found. I would also beg you to realize five facts:

1. That undeveloped men are energized and galvanized into outer activity through the medium of the three centers below the diaphragm.
2. That average man is beginning to function primarily through the solar plexus center and to use it as a transferring center of force for energies which must be carried from below the diaphragm to above the diaphragm. [522]
3. That the world aspirants are slowly being energized and controlled by the forces which are being transferred from the centers below the diaphragm to the throat center and from the soul to the throat center. This leads to creative activity of some kind.
4. That the world disciples are beginning to be governed and controlled by the throat and heart centers and are also beginning to transfer the forces which have been raised to the heart and throat, to the ajna center between the eyebrows, in the middle of the forehead. When this has been done, the man is then an integrated personality. The soul also stimulates the ajna center.
5. That the more advanced disciples and world initiates are also energized from two sources: by means of the energies raised up and lifted into the head from all the centers in the body, and by those which pour into the human frame from the soul, via the highest center at the top of the head.

The whole process is, as you can see, one of development, use and transference, as is the case in all evolutionary development. There are two major transferring centers in the etheric body - the solar plexus and the throat - and one master center through which the energy of the soul must pour when the right time comes, pouring consciously and with the full awareness of the disciple. That center is the head center, called in the Eastern Philosophy "the thousand-petalled lotus". The problem of the average man is, therefore, connected with the solar plexus. The problem of the disciple, the advanced aspirant and the initiate of the lower degrees is connected with the creative center, the throat.

I would here remind students that the following three [523] points, related to the transference of energy, must be borne in mind:

1. That there is a transference to be made from all the lower centers to higher ones and that this is usually done in two stages. This transference, carried on within the personality, is paralleled by the transference of spiritual energy from that reservoir of force we call the soul to the man on the physical plane. This becomes possible as the man makes the needed transference within himself. These transferences can take place in the course of the evolutionary process, or they can be hastened through the forced training given to disciples of all degrees.

2. That, within this major field of activity, the following transferences will have to be made:

1. The energy of the center at the base of the spine (the organ of the personal will) must be raised and carried up the spinal column to the head center, via the ajna center.
2. The energy of the sacral center (governing the sexual life and the organs of physical creation) must be raised to the throat center, which becomes the organ of creative activity of a non-physical nature.
3. The energy of the solar plexus (the organ of self-conscious personal desire) must be raised to the heart and there transmuted into group service.

3. That all these centers are developed and brought into activity in three stages, and thus progressively condition the outer aspects of a man's life:

1. There is a period wherein the centers are active only in a sluggish and semi-dormant manner: the forces of [524] which they are formed, and which they express, move slowly and with a heavy inert rhythm; the light which can be seen wherever there is a center is dim; the point of electric potency at the center (the "heart of the lotus or chakra," the hub of the wheel, as it is esoterically termed in the Oriental teaching) is relatively quiescent. There is just enough energy pouring into the center to produce the preservation of life, the smooth functioning of the instinctual nature, plus a tendency to react, in a fluctuating and unintelligent manner to stimuli coming from the astral plane, via the individual astral body.
2. A period wherein there takes place a definite heightening and intensifying of force. The light of the centers is brighter and the solar plexus center, in particular, becomes very active. As yet, all the real life of the man is focused below the diaphragm. The centers above the diaphragm are dim and dull and relatively inactive; the point at the center is, however, more electrical and dynamic. At this stage, the man is the average intelligent citizen, predominantly controlled by his lower nature and his emotional reactions, with what mind he has actively employed in bringing satisfaction to his needs. His centers are the receivers primarily of physical and astral forces, but occasionally respond to mental impacts.
3. A period wherein the first transference is being made. This can last a long time and cover several lives. The centers below the diaphragm are fully awakened; their activity is great; their light is vivid; their interrelation is real, so much so that a complete magnetic field has been set up involving the whole area below the diaphragm and becoming potent enough to extend its [525] influence above the diaphragm. The solar plexus becomes the dominant organ in the place of the sacral center which has so long determined the life of the animal nature. It becomes the recipient of energy streams from below which it absorbs and starts on its task of deflecting them and transferring them to the higher centers. The man is now the highly intelligent citizen and aspirant. He is conscious of the dualism of his nature, of that which is below and of that which is above, as it has been called, and is ready to tread the Probationary Path.
4. A period wherein the transference is continued. The sacral forces are carried to the throat and the solar plexus forces are carried to the heart. The latter transference is as yet of so small a measure that the effect of the transference is almost negligible. This period is a long and very difficult one. Today, most people are going through periods c and d, which are preparatory to the expression of the mystical life.
5. A period wherein the heart and throat centers are brought into activity. The man is creatively intelligent along some line or other and is slowly becoming group conscious. As yet, however, his reactions are still selfishly motivated though - at the same time - he is subject to cycles of vision and periods of spiritual effort. The mystical life is definitely attracting him. He is becoming the mystic.
6. A second period of transference ensues and the ajna center, which governs the integrated personality, becomes active and dominant. The life of feeling and of mystical effort is, at this time, liable to die down temporarily in its expressed fervor and ardent disciplines, and personality integration, personality [526] ambitions, personality aims and personality expression take its place. This is a right and good change and tends correctly to a rounded out development. It is only temporary, for still the mystic sleeps beneath the outer activity and the intelligent worldly effort, and will emerge again to living endeavor when the mind nature has been fully aroused and is controlling, when desire for mental satisfaction has been satiated and the "son of God is ready to arise and enter the Father's house". During this period, we find the intelligently creative or the powerful man will come to the zenith of his personality life. The centers below the head will all be active and functioning, but the centers below the diaphragm will be subordinated to and controlled by those found above. They are subject then to the conditioning will of the man who is governed at this time by ambition, intellectual expediency and that form of group work which tends to the expression of his personality potency. The ajna center is vivid and potent; the throat center is intensely active and the heart center is rapidly awakening.
7. A period wherein the highest head center is brought into radiant activity. This occurs as the result of the uprising (in a fresh and more potent manner) of the mystical instinct, plus, this time, an intelligent approach to reality. The result is twofold:
   1. The soul begins to pour its energy into all the etheric or vital centers, via the head center.
   2. The point at the heart of each center comes into its first real activity; it becomes radiant, brilliant, magnetic and forceful, so that it "dims the light of all that lies around." [527]

All the centers in the body are then swept into ordered activity by the forces of love and will. Then takes place the final transference of all the bodily and psychic energies into the head center through the awakening of the center at the base of the spine. Then the great Polar opposites, as symbolized and expressed by the head center (the organ of spiritual energy) and the center at the base of the spine (the organ of the material forces) are fused and blended and from this time on the man is controlled only from above, by the soul.

There are, consequently, two points to be borne in mind as we study the mystic and his difficulties; first of all, the period of awakening and subsequent utilization of the centers and, secondly, the period of the transference of energy from the solar plexus to the heart, and then from all the four centers up the spine to the throat center, prior to the focusing of the energy of all the centers in the ajna center (between the eye brows). This center is the controlling one in the personality life and from it goes all personality direction and guidance to the five lower centers which it synthesizes. Each of these stages brings with it its own difficulties and problems. We shall, how ever, concern ourselves with these problems only as they affect present opportunity or hinder the man who finds himself upon the Path and is, therefore, taking his own evolution in hand. Then he stands "midway between the pairs of opposites" and this means (as far as our particular interest at this time is concerned) that we shall find three stages in the mystical work, each of which will mark a definite point of crisis, with its attendant tests and trials:

1. The stage wherein transference is made of all the lower [528] energies into the solar plexus, preparatory to carrying them to the throat and heart centers above the diaphragm. This stage covers not only the process of transference but also that of focusing the forces in the higher centers.
   • Period - The later stages of the Path of Probation and the early stages of the Path of Discipleship.
   • Keynote - Discipline.
   • Objective - Idealism, plus personality effort. Purification and control.
2. The stage wherein transference is made into the ajna center and the personality life becomes integrated and powerful.
   • Period - The later stages of the Path of Discipleship and up till the time of the third initiation.
   • Keynote - Expression of the soul, through the medium of the personality.
   • Objective - The understanding of the Plan and consequent cooperation with it.

Then comes the third and final stage with which we need not concern ourselves wherein there is a complete blending of the bodily forces (focused through the ajna center) with the Soul forces, (focused through the head center). It is at this time that there comes the final evocation of the personality will (purified and consecrated) which has been "sleeping, coiled like the serpent of wisdom" at the base of the spine; this surges upward on the impulse of devotion, aspiration and enlightened will and thus fuses itself in the head with the spiritual will. This is the final raising, by an act of discriminating determination, of the kundalini fire. This, raising takes place in three stages, or impulses: [529]

1. The stage wherein the lower energies are carried to the solar plexus center.
2. The stage wherein these energies, pouring through to the heart, are blended with it and carried to the throat.
3. The stage wherein all the five lower forms of energy are focused in the ajna center in the head.

Students might here ask: Are there any other energies below the diaphragm, except those of the sacral center and those focused in the center at the base of the spine which are carried up to the ajna center via the solar plexus center? There are quite a large number of lesser centers and their energies, but I am not specifying them in detail for the sake of clarity; we shall deal here only with the major centers and their effects and interrelations. The subject is abstruse and difficult in any case without our complicating it unduly. There are energies, for instance, pouring into the spleen from planetary sources as well as into two small centers situated close to the kidneys, one on either side, besides several others and these forces must all be understood, transmuted, transformed and transferred. It is interesting to note that the two little centers close to the kidneys are related to the lower levels of the astral plane and let loose into the system much of the fear, etc., which is the distinguishing factor in those subplanes. They are, therefore, found close to the center which can control them because even the modern endocrinologist knows that the adrenal glands, when stimulated, produce (as a psychological result of a physical happening) an access of courage and a form of directed will which enables achievements to be carried out that are, at other time, well-nigh impossible.

I would like here to point out that the statement so frequently made in occult books that "kundalini sleeps" is only partially true. The center at the base of the spine is subject to [530] the same rhythmic life as are the other centers. The specific period wherein "kundalini awakes" refers to that period wherein the "point at the center" becomes vibrant, potent and active: its forces can then penetrate throughout the entire spinal area until the highest head center is reached. This, however, would not be possible had there not been three earlier "uprisings of the latent force of will". These uprisings serve to clear the passage up the spine, penetrating and destroying the etheric web which separates each center and the area it controls from the next above.

All these transferences and interior organization produce normally and naturally turmoil and conflict in the life of the mystic, causing difficulties of a definitely psychological nature and frequently pathological trouble as well. You have to note consequently, the series of - transference, psychological difficulty and pathological results.

For instance, these ideas may clarify themselves in your mind if I point out certain facts, relating to the sacral center which for so long a period of time governs the animal and physical creative life of the human being. During the processes of evolution, the sacral center passes through the stages of automatic unconscious use, such as you find in purely animal man; then use under the urge of desire for pleasure and physical satisfaction, wherein the imagination is beginning to exert its influence; next comes the period wherein there is the conscious subordination of the life to the sex impulse. This is of a different nature to the first mentioned. Sex becomes a dominating thought in the consciousness, and many people today are passing through this stage and everybody at some time or in some life passes through it. This is followed by a period of transference wherein the physical pull of sex and the urge to physical creation is not so dominant and the forces begin to be gathered up into the solar plexus. There they will [531] be controlled largely by the astral imaginative life far more than by the unconscious animal or the conscious desire life. They blend there with the forces of the solar plexus itself and gradually are carried up to the throat center, but always via the heart center. Here we find a major point of difficulty for the mystic who is rapidly coming into being and functioning activity. He becomes painfully conscious of duality, of the pull of the world and of the mystical vision, of divine possibilities and personality potencies, of love in place of desire and attraction, of divine relationship instead of human relations. But this whole subject is still interpreted in terms of duality. Sex is still imaginatively in his consciousness and is not relegated to a balanced place among the other instincts of the human nature; the result is an almost pathological interest in the symbolism of sex and what might be called a spiritualized sex life. This tendency is amply exemplified in the writings and experiences of many of the mystics of the middle ages. We find such expressions as the "bride of Christ", the "marriage in the Heavens", the picture of Christ as the "heavenly bridegroom" and many such symbols and phrases. In the Song of Solomon, you find a masculine rendition of the same basically sexual approach to the soul and its all embracing life.

These and many more unpleasant examples of a sex psychology are to be found, blended with a true and pronounced mystical aspiration and yearning, and a genuine longing for union with the divine. The cause of all this lies in the stage of transference. The lower energies are subject, as you can see, to two stages of transference: first, into the solar plexus and from thence to the throat center. The throat center is not, at this period, active enough or sufficiently awakened to absorb and utilize the sacral energies. They are arrested in some cases in their upward passage and retained temporarily in the heart [532] center, producing the phenomena of sex urges (accompanied at times with definitely physical sexual reactions), of religious eroticism and a generally unwholesome attitude, ranging all the way from real sexuality to fanatical celibacy. This latter is a s much an undesirable extreme as the other and produces most undesirable results. Frequently in the case of a male mystic there will be over developed sexual expression on the physical plane, perversions of different kinds or a pronounced homosexuality. In the case of women, there may be much disturbance of the solar plexus (instead of sacral disturbances) and consequent gastric trouble and an unwholesome imaginative life, ranging all the way from a feeble prurience to definite forms of sexual insanity with (frequently) a strong religious bias at the same time. I would remind you here also of the fact that I am definitely dealing with abnormalities, and hence must touch upon that which is unpleasant. In the early stages of mystical development, if there were right guidance of the mental life and of thought, plus courageous explanation of process, a great deal of difficulty would later be avoided. These early stages resemble closely the interest shown by the adolescent both in sex and religion. The two are closely allied in this particular period of development. If right help can be given at this time by educators, parents and those concerned with the training of the young, certain undesirable tendencies - now so prevalent - would never grow into habits and thought states as they now do.

The next question which might most correctly emerge in the student's consciousness could be stated as follows: How can this process of awakening the centers, of using them as channels for force (at first unconsciously and later with increasing consciousness), and finally of transferring the energy to ever higher centers - produce problems, disease, and the many and varied difficulties of a phenomenal nature to which [533] humanity seems heir, once the mystical experience becomes a goal and appears desirable. I would again remind you that the whole problem must be interpreted in terms of the growth of consciousness and also in terms of the bringing together, in progressive stages, of various types of energy. The human body is, in the last analysis, an aggregate of energy units. In the vital body (thus conditioning the endocrine and lymphatic systems) are certain focal points through which energy pours into the physical body, producing an impression and a stimulation upon the atoms of the body and thus having a powerful effect upon the entire nervous system which it underlies in all parts. The vital or etheric body is the subtle counterpart of the physical body in its nervous structure and the energy centers condition and control the glandular system. Thus energies, influences, potencies and forces pour into and pass through the physical body - consciously in some cases, unconsciously in the majority of cases - from the three worlds of human enterprise and activity. When the heart center and the head centers are awakened and used by the interior and the exterior forces, you have the beginning of the mystical and occult life.

There are two reasons for this period of excessive difficulty:

1. The thread of consciousness in the head is anchored in the neighborhood of the pineal gland. The thread of life is to be found anchored in the heart. The turning of the forces (found below the diaphragm) into the solar plexus and from thence into the heart and the head brings those two major streams of energy (one coming from the Monad via the soul body to the heart center, and the other coming from the soul direct to the highest head center) to the attention of the mystic. He then becomes aware of life possibilities and of the wide field which [534] consciousness can cover and of the area or the extension of its capacity. This is the period of interior awareness.
2. The inflow of planetary and solar potencies, via the head center to the heart and from thence to the other centers.
   This inflow produces:
   1. Stimulation of all the centers, major and minor, carried forward according to ray tendencies and influences.
   2. The revelation of good and evil, that is, of the worlds of personality expression and of the world of soul expression. This dual process proceeds simultaneously.
   3. The existence, therefore, of duality, which when realized and when the great opposites (soul and personality) are blended, can and will produce the at-one-ment.

The result of these realizations in consciousness leads inevitably to struggle, conflict, and aspiration plus constant frustration; this process produces those adjustments which must be made as the man becomes increasingly aware of the goal and increasingly "alive". The life expression (the threefold lower man) has to become accustomed to the new fields of consciousness and the opening areas of awareness, and to become used to the new powers which emerge, making the man able to enter more easily the wider fields of service which he is discovering. It might be stated here in a broad and general sense that:

1. Stimulation produces the awakening of the lower psychic powers if the incoming energy is directed to the solar plexus or to the throat center. It produces the intense activities of the centers and this can, in the early stages, [535] cause definite psychic trouble. In illustration of this I would like to indicate the general nature of the difficulties to which the mystic can be physically prone:

1. The awakening of the head center can produce serious trouble if brought about prematurely and even lead at times to insanity. Inflammation of certain areas of the brain and certain forms of brain tumors can be induced by a too rapid inflow of the highest form of energy which a man can receive prior to initiation. This takes place, however, only in those cases where the man is a highly developed person and of a mental type. In other cases of premature soul inflow, the energy pours through the opening at the top of the head and finds its way to some one or other of the centers, according to the ray type or stage of unfoldment. Where the greatest attention of the man's consciousness and life force is focused (even if unconsciously) to that point the incoming energy will almost automatically flow.
2. The awakening of the ajna center which is, as we have seen, primarily the result of the development of a man's personality to the point of integration, can (if the energies involved are not correctly controlled) lead to serious eye trouble, to many aural difficulties, to various forms of neuritis, headache, migraine, and nerve difficulties in various parts of the body. It can produce also many difficulties connected with the pituitary body and psychological trouble emanating from this important controlling gland as well as definite physical trouble.
3. The awakening of the heart center (which is going on very rapidly at this time) is responsible for many [536] forms of heart trouble and for the various difficulties connected with the autonomic nervous system, particularly in relation to the vagus nerve. The prevalence of various forms of heart disease at this time, particularly among the intelligentsia, professional and financial classes, is due to the awakening of this center and to the discovery of an unrecognized capacity in humanity to become group conscious, and to undertake group service. The thymus gland, which controls in a peculiar manner the life aspect in man, is closely connected with the heart center, as might be expected. This gland must eventually become more active in the adult than is now the case, just as the pineal gland in the coming human races will no longer be an atrophied organism with its true functions not understood and comprehended, but it will be an active and important part of man's equipment. This will take place normally and naturally as man learns to function as a soul and not just as a personality.
4. Again, much trouble among people is due at this time to the awakening of the throat center. This center governs and conditions the thyroid gland and the para-thyroids. It can produce, when unduly developed or prematurely awakened, hyperthyroidism with its attendant difficulties and its often dangerous effects upon the heart and upon the metabolism of the body. The psychological effects are well-known and recognized. These difficulties are increased and this higher creative center unduly stimulated and rendered a danger instead of an aid to expression by the enforced celibacy of many people, owing to the present unfortunate economic conditions. These conditions are such that people refrain from marriage and there is consequently [537] the lack of opportunity to use (or to misuse) the energy flowing through the sacral center. Mystics are likewise prone to this difficulty. The throat center is not used creatively nor is the sacral center turned to its proper uses. The sacral energy is carried prematurely to the throat where it produces an intense stimulation. The equipment of the man concerned has not yet reached the point where it can be turned to creative work in any field. There is no creative expression of any kind as the development of the man does not permit him to be creative in the higher sense. The Swiss people, though highly intelligent, are not creative in this sense. The energy flowing through the thyroid gland is not used in creative art, music or writing in any outstanding manner, and hence the prevalence of goiter and thyroid difficulty. There is much energy flowing through and to the thyroid gland and, as yet, but little use made of it.
5. The increased activity and stimulation of the solar plexus center today is a most fruitful source of trouble. It produces a great deal of the nervous difficulties to which women are particularly prone, and many of the stomach ills and liver troubles of the time, as well as intestinal difficulties. One of the most powerful sources of cancer in various parts of the body (except in the head and face) can esoterically be traced to the congestion of the energy of the solar plexus center. This congestion has a general and widespread effect. Difficulties arising from the awakening of the heart center and the solar plexus center (for the two are closely allied and have a reciprocal action for a long time in the mystical experience) produce also a powerful effect upon the blood stream. They are connected with [538] the life principle which is ever "carried upon the waves of desire" (as the ancient writings put it) and this, when prevented from full expression, through lack of development or other causes, leads to cancerous areas in the body wherever there is a weakness in the bodily tissue.
6. The awakening of the sacral center is of such ancient origin that it is not possible at this time to trace the true history of the development of the difficulties connected with sexual expression, nor is it desirable. I have dealt with the subject of sex in my other treatises, particularly in A Treatise on White Magic. I call attention to it only because in the course of the mystical life there is often a period of sexual difficulty if the mystic has not previously learnt sexual control and unless it has assumed balanced proportions to his other life activities and natural instincts in his consciousness. Else, as he touches the heights of spiritual contact and brings in the energy of his soul to the personality, that energy will pass straight down to the sacral center and not be arrested at the throat center, as it rightly should be. When this occurs, then perversions of the sex life may take place, or an undue importance may be attached to the sex activity, or the sexual imagination can be dangerously stimulated, leading to lack of control and to many of the difficulties known to physicians and psychologists. The result is ever an over-activity of the sex life in some form or another.
7. The awakening of the center at the base of the spine during the final stages of the higher mystical experience carries with it its own dangers. These definitely affect the spine and consequently all the nerves which branch out in all directions from the spinal column. [539] The raising of the kundalini force - if brought about ignorantly and prematurely - may produce the rapid burning through of the protective web of etheric matter which separates the various areas of the body (controlled by the seven centers) from each other. This causes serious nervous trouble, inflammation of the tissues, spinal disease, and brain trouble.

I have here hinted at some of the difficulties in an effort to give you a general picture of the problem of the mystic.

2. Utilization of a center. Let me explain this phrase. Certain difficulties also arise when a center is used to such an extent that the attention is withdrawn from the activity of the other centers and they are thus neglected. In this way, whole areas of consciousness can temporarily cease to be recognized. It should be remembered that the goal of all the mystic's efforts should be to achieve a rounded-out development which brings into use sequentially, correctly and in conformity to right ray methods, all the different centers. Many people, however (once a center is awakening and is subjectively stimulated) immediately find the utilization of the center to be the line of least resistance; they, therefore, begin to function almost exclusively through that center. This can be well illustrated by two examples.

The solar plexus center is, at this time, highly active among men and women everywhere. In every country millions of people are over-sensitized, emotional frequently to the point of hysteria, full of dreams, visions and fears, and highly nervous. This produces widespread gastric difficulties, indigestion, stomachic and liver ills and diseases, and intestinal disorders. To all of these the race today is exceedingly prone. To these are often [540] coupled all kinds of skin eruptions. The cause is twofold:

1. The over-stimulation of the solar plexus center by its practically exclusive use, and by the consequent inflow of forces from the astral plane, to which the solar plexus is the wide open door.
2. The increased and constant use of this center as its rhythm and vibration get too powerful to control. The man then succumbs to the temptation to focus his life interest and attention in the astral world and to do this with increasing awareness, interest and phenomenal results.

The man is, therefore, a victim of forces which would otherwise produce a gathering together of that "which is lower" and their necessary transference into that which is higher. A needed purpose would then be served, but - in the case we are considering - these forces are all concentrated in that central area of the body which is intended to be simply the clearing house for that "which is below into that which is above". Instead of this, there is set up a tremendous whirlpool of forces which not only produces physical difficulties of many kinds (as stated above) but which is also a fruitful source of the cleavages with which modern psychology is dealing at the time. So potent are the forces generated by the over use of the solar plexus (which is one of the most powerful of all the centers) and through the consequent flowing in of astral forces of every kind - thus augmenting the difficulties - that they assume eventually complete control of the life. The forces below the diaphragm and those above become separated by this vibrant and potent central force center. Cleavage, astralism, delusions, hallucinations, nervous disorders of every kind and difficulties of a physical nature which definitely [541] involve the intestinal tract, the liver and the pancreas are only some of the problems which arise from the uncontrolled use of the solar plexus center. The man becomes controlled by it and is not the controlling factor, as he is intended to be.

The second illustration is connected with the unfoldment of the heart center with its recognition of the group life and consequent group responsibility. This today is rapidly growing and can be seen on every hand. Students are apt to think that the awakening of the heart center and its consequent group recognitions must be expressed in terms of religion, of love and of divinity. They, therefore, make of it something spiritual, as that much misused word is understood by the orthodox religious man. But it is far more than that. The heart is connected with the life aspect, for there is the seat of the life principle and there is the life energy anchored. It is connected with synthesis, with the monad, and with all that is more than the separated self. Any group which is engineered and controlled by one man or by a group of men, whether it is a nation, or a big business institution or an organization of some kind or another (such as a great hospital) is connected with the life which is found in the heart. This remains true even when the motive or motives are mixed and undesirable, or purely selfish. A business magnate controlling vast interests who has the lives of many people dependent upon the contingencies of a business which he may have founded and over which he presides, is beginning to work through the heart center. Hence the prevalence of certain forms of heart trouble to which so many people of influence and power so frequently succumb. The heart becomes over-stimulated by the impact of the energies pouring in on the man who is subjected - among other things - to the directed thoughts of those connected with his organization. Can you see why, therefore, the senior members of the Hierarchy, Who work through the [542] head and the heart centers, keep Themselves withdrawn from public life and much human contact? These two illustrations may help to clarify in your minds the sense in which I here use the term, "utilization of a center".

3. In the period of transference wherein the forces of the body are in a state of abnormal flux and mutation, it will be obvious what danger there is for the mystic and the disciple, and how serious can be the results of any transference which is forced into effect instead of following the natural course of evolution. This accounts, partially, for the present world upheaval and chaos. The forces flowing through the masses of average intelligent men today (and by that I mean those men who are educated and able to recognize the world news and to discuss world events and trends) are constituting the experimental ground for the transference of the energy of the sacral center to the solar plexus. This leads inevitably to turmoil, over-stimulation, revolt and many other difficulties.

The problems, therefore, are many but are subject to solution. Let that not be forgotten. The whole theme is vast, but many minds are today seeking to deal with it and are working selflessly and altruistically to bring about the needed changes, a better understanding of man's physical and psychological natures, and a new approach - both to religion and education. When the mystical approach and its consequences - good and bad, material and spiritual - are better understood, through study and experiment, we shall arrive at a more complete comprehension of our problem and a better program for human unfoldment.

I would like to point out that I am using the words "mystic and mystical" in this section of our treatise because I want [543] what I have to say to meet with the interest of those who recognize the fact of the mystical approach to God and the mystical life of the soul, but who refuse as yet to widen the concept so that it includes also the intellectual approach to divine identification.

The keynotes which the mystic at present recognizes and which the religious writer and thinker is also willing to admit are those of feeling, sensitivity to the divine existence, the recognition of a vision of God which will suffice to meet individual need and thus bring relief, peace, understanding and the realization of divinity without and within, plus the relationship of the man to some extraneous Factor called God, or the Self, or the Christ. This attitude is colored always by a sense of duality; it leads to the attainment of union - a union of which the marriage relation remains still the best symbol and illustration as the writings of the mystics of all periods and nationalities will testify, and which still preserves the consciousness of the two identities.

The keynotes of the occult life have been (and rightly) the notes of knowledge, of the mental approach to the problem of divinity, the recognition of divine immanence and of the fact that "as He is so are we." There is, however, no sense of duality. The goal is the achievement of such an approved and appreciated identification that the man becomes what he is - a God and, eventually, God in manifestation. This is not the same thing as the mystical union.

And yet, the whole theme is mystical and innately subjective. The time must come when the mystic will appreciate and follow the way of the head and not only the way of the heart. He will learn to realize that he must lose his sense of the Beloved in the knowledge that he and the beloved are one and that the vision must and will disappear as he transcends it [544] (note that phrase) in the greatest processes of identification through initiation.

The occultist, in his turn, must learn to include the mystical experience in full understanding consciousness as a recapitulatory exercise before he transcends it and passes on to a synthesis and an inclusiveness to which the mystical approach is but the beginning, and of which the mystic remains unaware.

The mystic is too apt to feel that the occultist over-estimates the way of knowledge and repeats glibly that the mind is the slayer of the real and that the intellect can give him nothing. The occultist is equally apt to despise the mystical way and to regard the mystical method as "lying far behind him". But both must learn to tread the way of wisdom. The mystic must and will inevitably become the occultist and this whether he likes the process or not. He cannot escape it in the long run, but the occultist is not a true one until he recovers the mystical experience and translates it into terms of synthesis. Note the structure of words I have used in this last paragraph for it will serve to elucidate my theme. I use therefore the words "mystic and mystical" in this section of the treatise to describe the intelligent, highly mental man and his processes upon the Path of Discipleship.

In dealing with the problems and diseases of mystics who are at the point in their evolution where they are making one of the major transferences of force, it should be pointed out that in the earlier stages quite a long period of time may elapse between the first effort to transmute and transfer the energies and that particular life wherein the energies are finally gathered up and "elevated" as the esoteric term usually employed technically expresses it. It is at this point of focused activity (in the place of the previous fluidic and spasmodic efforts) that one finds a definite point of crisis in the life of the mystic.

The question is often asked: Why is there frequently so [545] much illness, nervous trouble and various pathological conditions found among the saints of the earth, and among those who are clearly oriented towards the light? The answer is that the strain put upon the physical vehicle by the shift of the forces is usually unduly great and so produces these undesirable conditions. These again are often augmented by the foolish things done by the aspirant as he seeks to bring his physical body under control. It is, however, far better for the undesirable results to work themselves out in the physical vehicle than in the astral or mental bodies. This point is seldom realized and hence the emphasis laid upon the idea that sickness, ill-health, and disease are indicative of individual error, of failure and of so-called sin. They can of course be all of these things, but, in the case of the true aspirant who is endeavoring to discipline and control his life, they are often not due to these causes at all. They are the inevitable result of the clash of forces - those of the awakened energies which are in process of elevation and those of the center into which the energies are being raised. This clash produces strain, physical discomfort and (as we have seen) many distressing kinds of disorders.

The widespread disease and ill-health found everywhere at this time is caused by a mass transference which is steadily going forward in the race. Through this transference, the solar plexus center is thrown into an abnormal activity, thereby releasing all kinds of astral forces into the consciousness of man - fear, desire of a wrong kind and many of the emotional characteristics which are causing people so much distress. The process is as follows: the consciousness first of all registers these astral impressions, then formulates them into thought forms and - as energy follows thought - a vicious circle is thus set up, involving the physical body. In the turmoil consequently evoked by these clashing forces which are [546]

1. Mounting from below into the solar plexus
2. Pouring into the solar plexus from the astral plane
3. Reacting to the magnetic attractive power of the higher centers,

the interior life of the man becomes a whirlpool of conflicting energies with disastrous effects upon the intestinal tract, upon the liver and upon the other organs found below the diaphragm. The mystic, as is well known, is often dyspeptic and this is not always caused by wrong eating and wrong physical habits. It is brought about in many cases by the processes of transference which are going on.

One of the difficulties which tend also to increase the strain is the inability of the average mystic to divorce his mind from his physical condition. Energy inevitably follows thought and where a distressed area is found, there the mind seems to throw all its attention, with the result that the situation is not bettered but surely and steadily made worse. The best mental rule of all mystics should be to keep the mind definitely above and away from the region where the transference is going on, except in those cases where esoteric methods are being employed to force the process, to hasten and facilitate the processes of elevation. Then (under right direction and guidance plus a knowledge of the rules) the mystic can work with the center in the spine which is concerned. This academic technique, I will endeavor to indicate in a later Instruction, but I want first of all to deal with the psychic difficulties of the mystic, for both the psychic and physical difficulties arise from the same basic cause and can be offset and controlled by the same correct occult and psychological knowledge.

The ills with which we are dealing are, therefore, the result of a large number of causes and it might be of service if I [547] listed them here, reminding you that the centers up the spinal column and in the head govern definite areas in the body. These are affected and controlled by the centers and it is in these regions that one must look for indications of trouble.

Speaking generally, diseases fall into five major categories and it is only with the last of them that we are here occupied. These five groupings of disease are:

1. Hereditary diseases:
   1. Inherent in the planet itself and having a definite effect upon humanity, through contact with the soil and water.
   2. Developed during past ages in mankind itself and handed on from generation to generation.
   3. Characteristic of some particular family and inherited by the member of this family as part of his chosen karma. Souls come into certain families because of this opportunity.
2. Diseases invoked by tendencies in the man himself. These are governed by his astrological sign - either his sun sign or his rising sign and will be considered later.
3. Contagious diseases (epidemic or endemic) which are of group origin and involve the man as a part of his group karma, but are quite frequently unrelated to his personal karma.
4. Acquired diseases and accidents which are the result of injudicious action or unwise habits in this life and definitely condition his future karma. One interesting point in connection with accidents might here be made. Accidents are frequently caused by what might be regarded as "explosions of force". These are generated by a man or by a group of human beings through hatred or [548] jealousy or vindictiveness, which qualities react or are "turned back" upon the individual life like a boomerang.
5. The diseases of mystics with which we are at this time concerned. Speaking generally, these are caused by the energy of an awakened and active lower center being transferred into a higher one. This is done in three stages and each stage brings its own physiological difficulties:
   1. The stage wherein the energy of the lower center becomes intensely active prior to rising upward. This will produce over-activity of the organs in the physical area governed by the center, with consequent congestion, inflammation, and usually disease.
   2. The stage wherein the "processes of elevation" are taking place, producing intense activity in the higher center and a lessening of activity in the lower. A fluid period intervenes in which the forces swing back and forth between the two centers, accounting for the uneven life of the mystic in the earlier stages of his unfoldment. This is particularly the case in connection with the solar plexus. The energy is rejected at first by the higher center and is then reabsorbed into the lower only to be elevated again and again until the higher center can absorb and transmute it.
   3. The stage wherein the energy is raised definitely into the higher center. This leads to a difficult period of adjustment and of tension, again producing physical ills but, this time, in the area controlled by the higher center.

When, for instance, the sacral energy is raised to the solar plexus, there will be found many ailments involving, as noted before, the intestinal tract. When the energy of the lesser centers which are found below the diaphragm (but not up the [549] spine) are raised to the solar plexus center, trouble involving the gall bladder and the kidneys will often be found. Occultly speaking, any process of elevation or of "raising up" automatically involves death. This death affects the atoms in the organs involved and causes the preliminary stages of ill-health, disease and disruption, because death is nothing but a disruption and a removal of energy. When the science of the transference of energy from a lower center to a higher is understood, then light will be thrown upon the entire problem of dying and the true Science of Death will come into being, liberating the race from fear.

Students would do well at this stage to pause and consider the following points with care:

1. Which are the areas controlled by the five centers up the spine and the two centers in the head.
2. The three major points of transference: - the solar plexus, the throat center and the ajna center in the head. The heart center and the highest head center, as points of transference, only concern the initiate.
3. The fluidic and changeable condition produced by the processes of awakening, transference and the focusing of the energy in the higher center. These three major activities arc conditioned by the intermediate stages of:
   1. The active radiation of the lower center.
   2. The responsiveness of the lower center to the magnetic pull of the higher.
   3. The succeeding interplay between the higher and the lower centers, conditioned at first by a rhythmic repulsion and attraction. This is a reflection of the play of the dualities in the career of the human being.
   4. This is followed by a concentration of the lower energy in the higher center. [550]
   5. Then comes the control of the lower center or centers by the higher focal points of energy and their rhythmic interplay.

Between all these different stages come "points of crisis" of greater or lesser moment. This intense interior activity which is going on all the time in the subjective life of humanity produces both good and bad effects, and psychological as well as physiological reactions. Today, the mass transference of the forces of the sacral center into that of the solar plexus is responsible for many of the modern and physical disabilities of the race. Because also of the slow removal on a racial scale of the sacral force to the solar plexus there is eventuating a condition which is called sometimes "race suicide", necessitating the efforts of many of the different governments to offset the rapidly falling birth rate in their countries.

The above summation of the threefold activity which is going on in the human body all the time will give some idea of the strain under which the individual man labors, and will account, therefore, for much of the discomfort and disease found in those areas in the human body which are governed and controlled by a particular center. I would like to add the following points to the information given above:

1. The intense activity of the sacral center will often produce diseases and physiological abnormalities, connected with the organs of reproduction (both male and female). These difficulties are of two kinds:

1. Those to which normal humanity is prone and which are well known to the physician, surgeon and psychologist.
2. Those which are the result of over-stimulation, through the successful effort of the mystic to bring in energy [551] from the higher centers and from sources outside the human frame altogether.

2. In all cases of transference, the intense activity produced will cause all kinds of tensions and reactions, resulting in congestions, inflammations and diseases of the organs vitalized. This is particularly the case today in relation to the sacral and solar plexus centers. The glands - major and minor, endocrine and lymphatic - in the abdominal area are powerfully affected and through their hypersensitivity or their "deficiency through abstraction" (as it is esoterically called) they constitute a fruitful source of difficulty.

3. The activity of the solar plexus center at this time, which is a result of this transference, produces the abnormal tension which characterizes the race. This tension, with the average man, controls the intestinal tract and its connections, both above and below the diaphragm. With the advanced man, it produces tension in the higher centers, definitely affecting the heart and the vagus nerve. It should be pointed out that many of the diseases inherent in the racial form to which planetary disease predisposes the human being are brought into activity as the result of the stimulation of the solar plexus. As humanity becomes less astral in its consciousness and the solar plexus, therefore, becomes less active and less dominating, these forms of difficulty, will die out. As the heart centers and the higher centers assume control, such diseases as cancer, tuberculosis and the various syphilitic complaints (due to the age old activity of the sacral center) will gradually die out.

4. The activity of the heart center as it

1. Magnetically attracts the energies out of the solar plexus, [552]
2. Becomes involved in a reciprocal interplay with the solar plexus, is a fruitful source of nervous trouble to the mystic and advanced aspirant. The heart center powerfully affects the vagus nerve and the autonomic nervous system with all that that involves and we are only today beginning to understand and deal with these difficulties. Clarification will come once the premise of the existence of the centers and their three "activities of interplay" are admitted - even if only as a possible hypothesis. The little understood thymus gland holds the key to much that concerns the activity and control of the vagus nerve - a fact not yet generally recognized. Later, a carefully controlled process with the object of stimulating the thymus gland and its secretion will be worked out by the medical profession, leading to a much better functioning of the nervous system and of the vagus nerve which controls it. I can but hint at possibilities at present because the basic premise of the existence of the centers of force is not yet recognized. It is interesting to note, however, that the solar plexus (as a great nerve center) is recognized and this is due to the fact that the bulk of humanity is, at this time, transferring force to that center. It is, for the masses, the major recipient of forces, both from below the diaphragm, from above, and from the environment.

5. The activity of the throat center is steadily increasing today, owing to the creative activity and the inventive genius (which brings in the higher stimulation) and the idealistic conceptions of the intelligentsia of the world. This activity is responsible physiologically for many of the diseases of the respiratory tract. Energy is carried to the throat but is not adequately used and there is a [553] consequent congestion and similar consequences. But, curiously enough, a great many of the difficulties connected with the entire breathing apparatus are related to group conditions. These I will touch upon later. Today, the concentration of energy is producing serious effects upon that master gland, the thyroid gland. These effects disturb the balance of the physical body and involve also the parathyroid glands. The metabolism of the body is upset bringing attendant difficulties. The race is advancing so rapidly in its development that this center will soon compete with the solar plexus center for the position of being the most important center and the major clearing house in the human body. I would commend this statement to your careful consideration for it carries with it much of encouragement. It indicates, nevertheless, much physiological change and many problems and above everything else much psychological difficulty.

6. The activity of the ajna center will increase a great deal during the coming century, bringing with it its own attendant problems. Its close relation to the pituitary body and the growing interplay between

1. The ajna center and the pituitary body
2. The center at the top of the head (involving the pineal gland) and the ajna center

will produce serious problems connected with the brain and the eyes. The ajna center focuses the abstracted energy of the five centers up the spine and is the seat of personality power. According to the use made of that power and according to the direction of the force sent forth throughout the body by the directed, integrated personality, so will the organs of the body be affected. The solar plexus can be stimulated from that center with [554] disastrous effects; the heart center can be swept into undue activity by the imposition of personality force, and its energy deflected downwards in a focused selfish manner; the solar plexus can be so over-vitalized that all the forces of the personality can be turned downwards and subverted to purely selfish and separative ends, thus producing a powerful personality, but - at the same time - the temporary suspension of the spiritual life of the man. When this suspension takes place, all the forces of the body which have been "elevated" are driven downwards again, putting the man en rapport with the rank and file of humanity who are working through the lower centers; this tends to produce an immense personality success. It is interesting to note that when this takes place, the energies - concentrated in the ajna center - sweep down into the solar plexus or into the sacral center, and seldom to the heart center. The heart center has a power all its own to produce what is called "occult isolation", because it is the seat of the life principle. The throat center receives stimulation in this case but seldom to the point of difficulty. The man is a powerful creative thinker, selfishly polarized and with an emotional solar plexus contact with the masses. He frequently also has a strong sexual complex in some form or another.

7. The activity of the head center is as yet little known and there is little that I can profitably say about it, for I would not be credited with speaking the truth. This center is the central factor in human life, but the focalization of the lower and the higher bodily forces is not yet located there. Beyond producing hypertension (becoming so prevalent today among the more advanced people of the world) and certain forms of brain trouble and nervous disorders, its power is mostly seen in its [555] pronounced psychological effects. With these I shall proceed to deal as we consider the unfoldment of the psychic powers, the evolution of the mystical vision and the revelation of the light and of power. This center controls the pineal gland and consequently certain areas of the brain. Indirectly also, the vagus nerve is affected. Consciousness and life, sensitivity and directed purpose are the great energies which express themselves through this center, for consciousness is a form of energy, as well you know, and life is energy itself.

B.IV.2. Unfoldment of the Psychic Powers

The forces which are responsible for the awakening of the centers are many. The primary one is the force of evolution itself, plus the inherent or innate forward-pressing urge towards greater inclusiveness which is always found in every individual being. This secondary aspect of the evolutionary principle needs careful elaborating. We have for too long been occupied with the effort to develop the form side of nature so that it shall become increasingly sensitive to its environment and thus build an ever improving mechanism. But the twofold idea (should I say Fact, for such it is?) of the development of an increasing capacity to include and the fact of the existence of the one interior factor, the Self, which brings about this steady development, needs emphasizing. From the standpoint of the occult student, there are three ideas which lie behind this belief:

1. The fact of the Indweller, the Entity within the form who looks on at life as it unfolds, who develops awareness of the environment and who becomes inclusive - eventually to the point of synthesis.
2. The fact of the inherent ability (found in all forms of life [556] in all kingdoms) to progress towards this greater inclusiveness, passing from kingdom to kingdom in this unfolding process.
3. The fact that humanity constitutes a central point from which this inclusiveness can be consciously developed. Hitherto, the development has been natural, normal and part of the evolutionary urge. This it still remains, but the process can be hastened (and frequently is) as man gains control of his mental processes and begins to work (as the conscious Indweller) towards appointed ends.

I wanted to make these points adequately clear because they have a definite bearing on our theme which concerns the psychic difficulties of modern man. These difficulties are rapidly growing and are causing much distress among those who believe that the development of the lower psychic powers is a hindrance to true spiritual development. Certain mystics regard these powers as indications of divine grace, however, and as guarantees of the reality of their endeavor. Others regard them as signifying a definite "fall from grace". It seems to me, therefore, that an analysis of these powers, their correct placing upon the path of development, and a comprehension of the distinction between the higher and the lower powers will be of real value and will enable students in the future to proceed with a greater surety and knowledge. They will thus be more accurately sure of the nature of the contacts of which they become aware and of the means whereby these contacts are approached and gained.

The major idea which I would have you bear in mind is the development of Inclusiveness. This inclusiveness is the outstanding characteristic of the soul, or self, whether it is the soul of man, the sensitive nature of the cosmic Christ, or the anima mundi, the soul of the world. This inclusiveness tends [557] to synthesis. It can already be seen functioning at a definite point of fulfilment in man, because man includes in his nature all the gains of past evolutionary cycles (in other kingdoms in nature and in previous human cycles), plus the potentiality of a greater future inclusiveness. Man is the macrocosm of the microcosm; the gains and peculiar properties of the other kingdoms in nature are his, having been resolved into capacities of consciousness. He is, however, enveloped in and part of a still greater macrocosm, and of this greater Whole he must become increasingly aware. Let this word, Inclusiveness, govern your thinking as you read this instruction which I am giving you upon the psychic powers and their effect.

The next idea to which I would call your attention is that the human being has the power to be inclusive in many directions, just as a line can be drawn from the point at the center of the circle to any point upon the periphery. You must remember that for a large part of his career and for the most important part of his human experience, he remains the dramatic actor, holding the center of the stage and in his own eyes playing the star part; he is always conscious of his acting and of the reactions to that acting. When man was little more than an animal, when he was in the state which we have earlier called the Lemurian consciousness and the early Atlantean consciousness, he lived unthinkingly; life unrolled like a panorama before his eyes; he identified himself with the episodes depicted and knew no difference between himself and that which he seemed to be in the unfolding picture. He simply looked on, played his little part, ate, reproduced, reacted to pleasure and to pain, and seldom, if ever, thought or reflected.

Then comes the period, familiar to all of us, wherein the man becomes the dramatic center of his universe - living, loving, planning, acting, conscious of his audience and his [558] surroundings, and demonstrating to his fullest capacity the later Atlantean and present Aryan characteristics. He is intelligently aware of his power and of a few of his powers; he is a functioning personality and (because the mind is controlling or beginning to control) the lower animal powers and the Atlantean psychism which have distinguished him begin to fade out. He loses these lower powers and has not yet developed the higher ones. Hence the reaction to be seen on every hand today to such powers as clairvoyance, clairaudience, etc.; hence their wholesale condemnation as fraudulent by the intelligentsia of the world.

Next comes the mystical stage wherein the advanced human being, the aspirant and the disciple becomes steadily aware of another realm of nature to conquer, the realm of the Kingdom of God, with its own life and phenomena; he registers the existence of other powers which he can develop and use if he so desires and is willing to pay the price; he recognizes another and wider sphere of being which he can include in his own consciousness if he permits himself to be conquered by it.

The inference then is that there are two sets of powers latent in his human equipment - the lower one being recoverable if he deem it desirable, the other and higher one to be developed. These two sets of powers are:

1. The ancient powers and faculties which humanity developed and possessed in past ages which he drove into the background of his consciousness and below the threshold of his current awareness in order to develop the mind and thus become himself a conqueror and a personality.
2. The higher powers and faculties which are the prerogative of the conscious soul. These are greater powers to which the Christ referred when He promised His [559] disciples that some day they would do greater things than He had done.

It should be remembered, however, that all the psychic powers are the powers, faculties and capacities of the One Soul but that, in time and space, some of them are expressions of the animal consciousness or the animal soul, some of the human soul, and some of the divine soul.

The following tabulation of the developing psychic powers as they blend in consciousness three kingdoms in nature may be of service at this point if careful study is made of the inferred relationships:

Animal	Human	Divine
1. The four major     instincts.	The five major instincts.	The five transmuted instincts.
a. Self-preservation.	Creative self-preservation.	Immortality.
b. Sex.	Sex. Human love.	Attraction.
c. Herd instinct.	Gregariousness.	Group consciousness.
d. Curiosity.	Enquiry. Analysis plus Self-assertion.	Evolutionary urge. Self-control.
2. The five senses.	The five senses.	The five senses.
a. Touch.	Touch. Contact.	Understanding.
b. Hearing.	Hearing. Sound.	Response to the Word.
c. Sight.	Seeing. Perspective.	The mystical vision.
d. Taste (embryonic).	Taste. Discrimination.	Intuition.
e. Smell (acute).	Smell, Emotinal idealism.	Spiritual discernement.
3. Lower psychic powers.	The human correspondences.	Higher psychic powers.
a. Clairvoyance.	Extension through vision.	The mystical vision.
b. Clairaudience.	Extension through hearing.	Telepathy. Inspiration.
c. Mediumship.	Intercourse. Speech.	Mediatorship.
d. Materialization.	Invention.	Creativity.
e. Divination.	Foresight. Planning.	Prevision.
f. Healing through animal    magnetism.	Healing through science.	Healing through spiritual magic. [560]

B.IV.2.a. Microcosmic Sensory Evolution

Extracts from A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, pages 188-196:

Physical plane	1. Hearing 2. Touch, feeling 3. Sight 4. Taste 5. Smell	5th - gaseous 4th - first etheric 3rd - super-etheric 2nd - subatomic 1st - atomic
Astral plane	1. Clairaudience 2. Psychometry 3. Clairvoyance 4. Imagination 5. Emotional idealism	5th 4th 3rd 2nd 1st
Mental plane	1. Higher clairaudience 2. Planetary psychometry 3. Higher clairvoyance 4. Discrimination 5. Spiritual discernment     Response to group vibration     Spiritual telepathy	7th (form) 6th (form) 5th (form) 4th (form) 3rd (formless) 2nd (formless) 1st (formless)
Buddhic plane	1. Comprehension 2. Healing 3. Divine vision 4. Intuition 5. Idealism	7th 6th 5th 4th 3rd
Atmic plane	1. Beatitude 2. Active service 3. Realization 4. Perfection 5. All knowledge	5th 6th [561] 5th 4th 3rd

It can be noted that we have not summed up the two planes of abstraction on the atmic and the buddhic planes, the reason being that they mark a degree of realization which is the property of initiates of higher degree [189] than that of the adept, and which is beyond the concept of the evolving human unit, for whom this treatise is written.

We might here, for the sake of clarity, tabulate the five different aspects of the five senses on the five planes, so that their correspondences may be readily visualized, using the above table as the basis:

1. The First Sense - Hearing.
   1. Physical hearing.
   2. Clairaudience.
   3. Higher clairaudience.
   4. Comprehension (of four sounds)
   5. Beatitude.
2. The Second Sense - Touch or feeling.
   1. Physical touch.
   2. Psychometry.
   3. Planetary psychometry.
   4. Healing.
   5. Active service.
3. The Third Sense - Sight.
   1. Physical sight.
   2. Clairvoyance.
   3. Higher clairvoyance.
   4. Divine vision.
   5. Realization.
4. The Fourth Sense - Taste.
   1. Physical taste.
   2. Imagination.
   3. Discrimination.
   4. Intuition.
   5. Perfection. [562]
5. The Fifth Sense - Smell.
   1. Physical smell.
   2. Emotional idealism.
   3. Spiritual discernment.
   4. Idealism.
   5. All knowledge.

Extract 2

• Hearing gives him an idea of relative direction, and enables a man to fix his place in the scheme, and to locate himself.
• Touch gives him an idea of relative quantity and enables him to fix his relative value as regards other bodies, extraneous to himself.
• Sight gives him an idea of proportion, and enables him to adjust his movements to the movements of others.
• Taste gives him an idea of value, and enables him to fix upon that which to him appears best.
• Smell gives him an idea of innate quality, and enables him to find that which appeals to him as of the same quality or essence as himself.

In all these definitions it is necessary to bear in mind that the whole object of the senses is to reveal the not-self, and to enable the Self therefore to differentiate   between the real and the unreal.

Extract 3

These three major senses (if I might so describe them) are very definitely allied, each with one of the three Logoi:

• Hearing - The recognition of the fourfold word, the activity of matter, the third Logos.
• Touch - The recognition of the sevenfold Form Builder, the gathering together of forms, their approximation and interrelation, the second Logos. The Law of Attraction between the Self and the not-self begins to work.
• Sight - The recognition of totality, the synthesis of all, the realization of the One in Many, the first Logos. The Law of Synthesis, operating between all forms which the self occupies, [563] and the recognition of the essential unity of all manifestation by the means of sight.

Extract 4

• Hearing - Beatitude.
  This is realized through the not-self.
• Touch - Service.
  The summation of the work of the Self for the not-self.
• Sight - Realization.
  Recognition of the triplicity needed in manifestation, or the reflex action of the Self and the not-self.
• Taste - Perfection.
  Evolution completed through the utilization of the not-self and its realized adequacy.
• Smell - Perfected Knowledge.
  The principle of manas in its discriminating activity, perfecting the interrelation between the Self and the not-self.

A close study of the above will bring to the open-minded student two major points which he would do well to consider:

1. That the instinctual nature, as it develops in the three kingdoms (animal, human and divine) is, in fact, that which develops stage by stage into what we call consciousness; it is in reality, the development of a gradual expansion of capacity to be aware of the environment, whatever that environment may be. The herd instinct of the animal is, for instance, the embryonic unfoldment of what is later recognized by the intellect as group consciousness. These higher developments are brought about by the application of the intellect and a change in the motivating power. The same idea can be traced in connection with all the instincts.
2. That the lower psychic powers, inherent in the animal nature, are in every case embryonic indications of soul capacities. [564]

Once this idea is grasped, the attitude of the skeptic and unbeliever will change and he will see (as he studies these lower powers) that, rightly understood and utilized, they can be direct avenues of approach to certain states of existence, but are incidental to and not substitutes for the higher powers.

I would like to offer two other points to your consideration:

First, that the man or woman who is expressing and interested in these lower powers (which are called the lower siddhis by the oriental philosophy) is demonstrating true powers. They are not however the highest possible powers nor are they the powers which humanity is intended to express unless at the lowest point in evolution and, therefore, allied closely to the animal kingdom; or at the highest point, in which case the greater powers automatically include the lesser. The lower psychic powers are shared with the animal kingdom and with all those human races which are low down in the scale of the human evolution.

This is a fact and a statement which arouses much antagonism among the present day exponents of these powers, both in and out of the spiritualistic and occult movements. Such people are apt to consider these powers as indicative either of an advanced spiritual condition or as a rare and unique possession, setting their owner apart as more gifted, more wise and more able to advise and direct other human beings than is the ordinary man. This attitude is demonstrated by the immense audiences such people can address and gather around themselves, and the willingness of the public to listen to them and to pay money for the privilege and the benefit of the demonstration and the advice.

Secondly, the difficulty of this situation is increased because, as evolution proceeds, certain more or less advanced [565] people recover these ancient animal propensities and capacities as their power to become inclusive goes forward; they begin to expand their consciousness so that the past as well as the future is brought within their range of awareness. Knowing that they are aspiring to the higher things and towards the world of mystical realization (in contradistinction to that of psychical realization), they interpret some episode, which they may have clairvoyantly apprehended, as appertaining to them as individuals; they regard some clairaudient injunction or happening as appropriately theirs, and some vision of a thought form of the Christ or of one of the Masters as indicative of a direct and personal interview with these advanced leaders. They thus enter into the world of glamor and of delusion from which they must, finally with great difficulty, extricate themselves.

May I also call your attention to the fact that the lines of demarcation between these animal, human and divine states of consciousness are not clear cut as in our tabulation? A recognition of this will call attention to the complexity of the subject and the difficulty of our theme. This complexity can, I think, be well illustrated by a study of the uses of the word telepathy. As generally used today it indicates two powers:

1. An instinctual registering of some situation, some call and some impression which impinges upon the solar plexus center. This power of impression is Not controlled; there is no supervised intentional mental perception of a directed message; there is only a tuning in on a state of mind or on a condition and situation connected with the one who is regarded as sending the message. In nine cases out of ten, this message is one of distress and goes forward and produces its effect without any capacity on the part of the recipient to induce the reception of the [566] message. An illustration of this would be the recognition by a mother that a loved child is in danger.
2. A form of clairvoyance which enables the man to see that which is hidden, such as the number of symbols on a playing card which is laying face downwards upon the table.

True telepathy, however, is a direct mental communication from mind to mind and in its more advanced expression is a communication of soul to soul, using the mind later as a formulator of the communication, as in the case of inspiration. It is interesting to note (and instructive also in view of our subject) that in true telepathic registration, the lesser powers may be raised and used at a high level of awareness. It is well known esoterically that

1. Some people simply record telepathically in their minds the information coming from another mind. The registration as well as the communication is wordless and formless. The recipient simply knows and the imparted knowledge takes form in the consciousness without any intermediate stages or steps. This is formless telepathy.
2. Other people instantaneously step down into form the knowledge which has been imparted; they will see the message, word or information appear before their eyes in written or printed form as if it were imposed upon a moving screen, seen within the head.
3. Others will step the information down into form whereby they hear it.

In these two latter cases, the true man is making use of his latent lower powers, raising them to as high a level as possible and subordinating them to mental or soul uses. The difference [567] between this usage of the power of clairvoyant and clairaudient demonstration is that in this case there is full mental control and understanding, and in the other cases the lower powers are automatically employed, are uncontrolled, are occupied with matters of no true importance and are not understood in any way by the one who is employing them.

The one basic sense, as you well know, is that of touch. This is the reason why I have not placed psychometry in any particular category in my tabulation of the instincts, senses and powers. Psychometry is essentially the capacity to work with and to get in touch with the soul of the higher grouping to which the unit in the lower grouping aspires, and with the soul that can thus aspire in any form. It concerns, in reality, the "measure" of inclusiveness. This measure will govern, for instance, the relation of the dog or other domesticated animal to a human being, of a man to other men, and of an aspirant to his soul, his master and his group. When this psychometrical inclusiveness is turned towards the world of tangible things - minerals, possessions and other material objects, for instance - we tend to make a magical performance out of it, and to charge money for the demonstration of psychometrical power. We then call this the science of psychometry. Yet it is the same power, turned towards the lower kingdoms as is employed in making contact with the higher. There are three groups of people who use the lower psychic powers, either consciously or unconsciously:

1. Those whose evolutionary stage is low enough to permit of their automatic use.
2. Those who have brought over the capacity to see and hear on astral levels or to "work magic" from another life - from Atlantean times. These powers are natural to them, but are usually neither understood nor controlled by [568] knowledge and they usually make their owner a victim or an exploiter of these powers.
3. The mystic upon the path of vision who (through the bringing in of energy from the soul through meditation and aspiration) stimulates the solar plexus or throat centers and thus opens a door on to the astral plane.

In all cases, it is the astral plane which stands revealed. The statement can here be made that where there is color, form and phenomena analogous to or a replica of that to be found upon the physical plane then there is to be seen the "duplicating phenomena" of the astral plane. Where there is materialization of forms upon the physical plane you see the joint activity of the astral and etheric planes. You do not have the phenomena of the mental or soul levels. Bear this definitely in mind. The astral plane is - in time and space and to all intents and purposes - a state of real being plus a world of illusory forms, created by man himself and by his imaginative creativity. One of the major lessons to be learnt upon the Path of Discipleship is to learn to distinguish that which is real from that which is illusion.

What then, is to be seen and heard by the medium when in trance or when giving an exhibition of clairvoyance and clairaudience? Several possibilities, which I might list as follows:

1. A revelation of the "wish life" of the person or the group to whom the medium is addressing himself. This wish life takes form in proportion to the power of the unexpressed wish or the mental ability of the person or persons concerned.
2. A recognition by the medium of the thought forms or thought form to be found in the aura of the person in the audience or circle. These thought forms have been [569] built over a space of time and are usually of some one deeply loved or as deeply disliked. They are often so real in appearance that the person can recognize them when described by the medium and the medium can at the same time by a process of telepathy (via the solar plexus center) become aware of the things which the sitter wishes to hear, which will be in line with the usual mannerisms and methods of speech and thought of the departed or living friend. This accounts for the mediocre caliber of the usual utterance and statement made at a seance. The average person who frequents a seance is not usually of the highest grade of intelligence, unless he is simply there as an investigator.
3. A few rare cases when a soul on the path of return to incarnation or immediately after death is impelled (for good and sufficient purpose) to make a contact with a friend or relative via a medium. Such cases are known and usually presuppose more than average intelligence on the part of the sitter, the communicator and the medium. They constitute however, the exceptional occurrence.
4. The revelation to the clairvoyant and clairaudient worker of much of the phenomena of the astral plane, which parallels that of the physical plane and which is conditioned by the quality and caliber of the circle of people who constitute the audience. This, the medium interprets to them and it usually evokes recognition.

I am here casting no doubt on the sincerity of the performance nor on those mediums who are born with these clairvoyant and clairaudient faculties. I am only pointing out that the phenomena which they are contacting is astral in nature and that anyone looking at a circle from the standpoint [570] of the higher psychic powers would note around each sitter a group of astral forms (self-created) of those who have departed physical life through death, of those who are constantly in his thoughts though still alive, and also a kaleidoscopic and changing process of appearing and disappearing forms (some quite nebulous and some quite substantial according to the power of thought) which concern the wish life of the sitter, which are concerned with his home affairs, his business or are built up around his health. The sensitive tunes in on these, connects them with the attendant thought forms and hence the production of the usual performance found in the seance room or with the average audience. The medium is truly and accurately relating just what he sees and hears and therefore is sincere and truthful, but because he receives no real training in the art of interpretation and in the technique of distinguishing the illusory from the real, he is, perforce, unable to do more than describe the phenomena seen and the words heard.

When, however, the mystic opens up these same powers as is sometimes the case, the phenomena seen and the words which are heard can be of a very high order. Nevertheless they are still astral, for they concern happenings and phenomena found upon the higher levels of the astral plane. He comes into contact with the spiritual or religious wish life of the race and according to the basic trend of his individual aspiration at the moment so will be his contacts. If he is an earnest and devoted Christian, he will see one of the beautiful and vital thought forms of the Christ there to be found and in the wonder of that revelation, his love and his imagination and all that is best in him will be evoked in adoration and mystery. Hence some of the inspired writings and illumined visions of the mystic. If he is a Hindu, there may come [571] to him a vision of the Lord of Love, Shri Krishna, or, if a Buddhist, he may see the Lord of Light, the Buddha, in all His radiance. If he is an occult student, or a Theosophist or Rosicrucian, he may see a vision of one of the Masters or of the entire Hierarchy of adepts; he may hear words spoken and thus feel assured, past all controversy, that the Great Ones have chosen him for special privilege and for unique service. And yet, his consciousness has never moved from off the astral plane and his contacts have only been a wonderful and inspiring expression of the phenomena of that plane, released to his inner sight and hearing through his aspiration.

All this is brought about through the over-activity of the solar plexus center, stimulated by the energy pouring in from the heights he has attained in aspirational meditation. The results are very emotional in their nature, and the reactions developed and the subsequent service rendered are on emotional levels. A great deal of this is to be seen among the teachers in the world at this time in many lands. Such teachers have been and are true aspirants. They have awakened in consciousness upon the higher levels of the astral plane. They have there seen the thought forms which humanity has created of the spiritual Hierarchy or the reflections on those levels of that Hierarchy (a still more potent group of thought forms) and have heard repetitions of that which has been said and thought by the world aspirants of all time - all of it most beautiful, good and true. They then proceed to teach and proclaim what they have thus heard, seen and learnt and frequently do much good - on astral levels. They are, all the same, confusing the reflection with the reality, the reproduction with the original, and the humanly constructed with the divinely created.

Forget not, that the astral plane is that whereon man has [572] to learn to distinguish truth from error, and the real from the unreal. Thus those who are deceived are only learning a needed lesson. The fact of the astral plane is being steadily recognized and that is good. The fact of the existence of the spiritual Hierarchy and of Masters is being brought to the attention of the masses even if it is being done by those who are confusing the reflection and the thought form with the reality.

The question could here properly be asked: How can the mystic avoid this error and confusion? How can he distinguish the real from the illusory? This constitutes an individual problem for every mystic and there is no one profound and scientific rule whereby he can guide his reactions. The only rules which I can give you are so simple that those who are occupied at this time with teaching and proclaiming that which they have astrally contacted may not like to follow them. The attitude of mind which will guard the mystic from astral delusion and error is:

1. The cultivation of a spirit of true humility. There is a spiritual arrogance which masks itself behind a cloak of humbleness and which is very prevalent at this time. It leads people to regard themselves as the chosen of the Hierarchy to save the world; it leads them to look upon themselves as the mouthpieces of the Masters or of the Christ; it tends to make them separative in their attitudes to other leaders and teachers, refusing to recognize the many aspects of the one work and the many methods which the Mind of God has devised for reaching the masses.
2. The refusal to accept any contact or message which has personality implications or which sets its recipient apart, thus tending to the development of a Messiah complex. [573] I like that phrase. It is simple and concise and illustrates dramatically the state of mind and describes the assured nature of the consciousness of many of the present teachers of humanity. A true contact with the Hierarchy and the true accolade of service carries with it the conviction of the existence of the many servers in the one Service, of the many messengers carrying the one message, of the many teachers of the many aspects of the one Truth, and of the many and various ways back to the Heart of God. When this all-embracing revelation accompanies the call to service, then the spirit of inclusiveness is developed and the man can be sure that he is truly called to cooperate and convinced of the reality of his vision.
3. The freedom from emotional appeal. The true disciple and mystic is ever mentally polarized. His vision is free from the deluding reactions of the solar plexus center. His vision awakens the heart center and evokes the response of his personality energy (focused in the ajna center) and produces eventually a "centering in the place of light". This indicates the growing activity of the head center. He may, later, use controlled emotional appeal in dealing with the masses but he himself seeks to remain free from all emotional control.

We are considering the unfoldment of the psychic powers, producing conditions in the subject which are regarded by the orthodox investigator as pathological in nature or as indicating psychological trouble of a serious kind. However, we are today close to the time when the fact of there being modes of perception other than those of the physical senses will be recognized, and the attitude of medicine and of the psychiatric and neurological sciences will undergo definite [574] changes - much to the assistance and aid of humanity. The development of the psychic powers is basically due at this time (for the whole problem shifts into changing fields as evolution proceeds) to the psychic becoming aware of a field or fields of phenomena which are always present but which remain usually unrecognized because the inner mechanism of perception remains latent or quiescent. In the undeveloped human being or in groups of men who are low down in the racial scale, as also in animals, there is much psychic perception because the sacral center motivates the physical plane life and the solar plexus center governs the psychic nature. In these cases, all the higher centers are quiescent and undeveloped. The solar plexus is to the worlds of lower psychic perception what the brain is intended to be in the worlds of higher psychic understanding. In the one case, you have a center of energy which is so potent that it swings the man into a state of consciousness which is fundamentally astral, thus governing the sex life from the angle of the sentient consciousness; in the other case, you have so close an identification between the head center in etheric matter and the brain in physical substance that an organ which is definitely physical functions sympathetically, accurately and synchronously with its subjective counterpart, registering impressions from the head center and the worlds with which that center puts a man in touch. The two are then as one.

In between these stages of low grade psychic life and the spiritual perception of the initiate there is to be found every possible type of sentient consciousness. These can be divided into three major categories:

1. The unfoldment and use of the psychic powers, both higher and lower.
   This is the stage of Psychism. [575]
2. The evolution of the mystical vision.
   This is the stage of Mysticism.
3. The revelation of light and power.
   This is the stage of Occultism.

All these expressions of divine knowledge are connected with, and dependent upon, the development of the centers. In the low grade human being, the centers are nothing more than slowly revolving, palpitating disks of dim light. In Lemurian days, the sacral center was the most active and the brightest. In Atlantean days, the solar plexus center was by far the most significant. Today, as you know, the higher correspondences are coming into functioning activity and humanity is beginning to reap the benefits derived from experience in three races - the Lemurian, the Atlantean and the Aryan.

The throat center is now the most active in the majority of cases and the most significant. The time is, however, coming when humanity will function on a large scale and as a mass through the ajna center; this will take place in the next race for, in the next great cycle of racial development, there will be no people with a Lemurian consciousness to be found any where and the "pull" or the activity of the sacral center will be greatly lessened and controlled. This can be seen happening today among the intelligentsia of the race. The Atlantean state of awareness (which functions primarily through the solar plexus) will be also greatly lessened as the heart center awakens. Humanity will then be wrestling with difficulties and pathological and psychological troubles which will be based on group conditions and influences and not so much on a man's individual unfoldment. The beginnings of this can already be seen in its lowest phase in the emergence today of what is called "mass psychology" - a thing practically unknown (except in urban centers) a few hundred years ago. [576] Now it is well nigh planetary in its radius of influence. Public opinion, with its determining and conditioning influence, is another phase of the same emerging factor.

The Aryan state of consciousness, with its coordinating capacity and its mental emphasis, will control the mass of the people, for in the coming race the Atlantean emotional state of consciousness will be to humanity what the Lemurian or low grade type is to the Aryan at this time. The masses will then all come under the category of the intelligentsia, whilst the intelligentsia of today will be the intuitive of tomorrow. In the language of mysticism, the masses will be on the probationary path and the cream of the race will be on the path of discipleship. The number also of the initiates and adepts, present in incarnation in order to carry forward the externalized work of the Hierarchy, will be great. The world will then be full of people who will be completely integrated personalities with all the virtues (and consequently all the vices), the ambitions and problems, incident to that stage of awareness.

It is for this reason that the Hierarchy is working at this time to bring about the fecundation of the race by the cosmic principle of love, so that love and intellect can proceed hand in hand and thus balance each other. It is for this reason that the fact of the existence of the spiritual Hierarchy must be brought to the attention of the masses. This must be done in order to enhance the magnetic power of the love aspect of the hierarchical effort and not in order to awaken fear or awe, for that is of the old order and must disappear.

I might here touch upon the paralleling activity of the forces which are working to prevent the externalization of the Hierarchy of Light since such a happening as that would mean increased - because proven - power. As you know, on the astral and mental planes centers exist which are [577] called "dark centers" because the emphasis of their activity is upon the material aspect of manifestation and upon the activity of material substance; all energy is subordinated to purely selfish purpose. As I have before stated, the Forces of Light work with the soul, hidden in every form. They are concerned with group purposes and with the founding of the kingdom of God on earth. The dark forces work with the form side of expression and with the founding of a center of control which will be theirs entirely and which will subdue all the living forms in all kingdoms to their peculiar behests. It is the old story, familiar in Biblical phraseology, of the kingdoms of the world and the kingdom of the Christ, of the power of Antichrist and the power of Christ. This produced a great climax in Atlantean days and, though the Hierarchy of Light triumphed, it was only by the merest margin. The battle was fought out on the astral plane, though it had its correspondence upon the physical plane, in a great world conflict of which the ancient legend tells us. It ended in the catastrophe of the Flood. The seeds of hate and of separation have been fostered ever since that time and the three modes whereby the forces of darkness seek to control humanity are hatred, aggression and separativeness. The three great spiritual counterparts are love, selfless sharing and synthesis.

However, the hold of the forces which are working against the living principle of love (as embodied in the Hierarchy) is not gaining ground at this time, for the response of humanity to that which is good and synthetic is much more rapid and general than it was a few hundred years ago. There is much reason to hope that there will be a steady waning of the undesired control. The dark forces are ruled on the physical plane by a group of six oriental leaders and six occidental leaders; of these the oriental are the most powerful because [578] they are the oldest racially and therefore the most experienced. They work by the intensification of glamor and by the stimulation of the lower psychic powers. Their particular point of attack at this time is the group of world disciples and initiates, for these latter are responsible for the fostering of love in the world and for the binding of men together in the spirit of unity. If they cannot succeed with this task now, it should be possible to externalize the Hierarchy and thereby greatly lessen the control of the so-called evil forces.

If these evil forces cannot induce the disciples everywhere, in group formation or individually, to succumb in some form to glamor, then they will endeavor to utilize group glamor to negative their efforts and force those with whom the disciples work to believe evil, to impugn motives, and to produce such a convincing story that the struggling disciple will be left to fight almost single-handed. If this cannot be done, they may then attack the physical bodies of the workers and agents for the Hierarchy, and seek, through the distress of the physical body, to control the disciple's output. This does not always prove successful, as the Master can, and often does, protect His disciple. The dark forces work also through the intensification or stimulation of the psychic mechanism, so that the lower psychic powers become abnormally developed and prematurely assume proportions which are almost uncontrollable. This happened on a large scale in Atlantean days and led to the entire astral plane standing revealed, but not understood. Its undesirable potencies were then let loose upon the physical plane and this led to the war between the two great schools of the mysteries - the Light and the Dark - which culminated in the destruction of the then known world.

Today these potencies, light and dark, are again struggling for physical plane expression and supremacy but this time [579] the result is vastly different. The effort to produce soul contact or to hinder it is working out in the form of nervous diseases and pathological conditions and this is affecting potently the group activity of man. The effort by the dark forces to stimulate the lower psychic powers seems able to reach no deeper into matter and form than the etheric vehicles and from there to condition the physical body physiologically in the form of diseases, lesions, nervous troubles and brain afflictions and the many other ways in which the human being is rendered helpless and unfitted to cope with daily living and modern world conditions. But the mind nature has reached a stage of protective usefulness and some of the great guarding barriers which are flung up around humanity at this time are the spirit of scepticism, and the refusal to recognize the existence or the usefulness of the psychic powers. This is a point to be remembered.

I have several times used the expression "the premature awakening" of the psychic powers. By that I mean the abnormal unfoldment of the powers of clairvoyance and of clairaudience so that the entire lower levels of the astral plane stand revealed, though the possessor of these powers can neither control the phenomena of subtle sight and hearing, nor interpret correctly what he sees and hears. In the earlier animal or savage stage, these faculties are frequently normal and there is no mental reaction of any kind and, therefore, no undue strain is put upon the nervous system and the brain. There is what I might call a flat or unemotional acquiescence in the condition which is due to the complete lack of the interpretative sense and of the dramatic self-conscious attitude of the man who is beginning to use his mind. The moment the "I-consciousness" becomes uppermost, then the possession of these lower psychic powers becomes a hindrance and a complication. Temporarily, they must be thrust into the background [580] in order that the mind principle may assert its control and the life of the soul can then flow out into matured and considered expression upon the physical plane. This relegation of the psychic powers to a position below the threshold of consciousness is the intent of the development planned for the Aryan race.

I would like here to point out that I use the word "Aryan" in contradistinction to the majority of the races found in Asia. Speaking generally, we can today classify the races into three groups:

1. The many remnants of the Atlantean or fourth root-race people, plus a very small sprinkling of the Lemurian peoples - so small as to be negligible.
2. The Aryan race itself, which includes the civilization of India and all Latinos, Teutons, Nordics, and Anglo-Saxons, and their various off-shoots.
3. A group which bridges between the Oriental races and the Aryan race which we call the Semitic. This race is neither purely Oriental nor is it Aryan.

The Jews are a group of people in whom the principle of separation is pronouncedly present. For ages they have, with determination and in obedience to the injunctions in the Old Testament, insisted on regarding themselves as a people set apart. For ages they have held themselves separated off from all other peoples in the world. The result is that they are now evoking from the races among whom they are scattered a corresponding desire to force that very separation upon them. Under the law, we draw forth from others what is actually present within ourselves, and to this law, races and nations are no exception. Through the interrelation of Jew and Gentile, of Semitic and Aryan, and through the solving of [581] the Jewish problem will the great heresy of separateness eventually be fought out.

It is not intended that the Aryan race should be a psychic race. Their goal is bringing the mind nature into prominence. This could not take place if the "drift" of the forces, flowing into the human mechanism was in the direction of the solar plexus - the major center, governing all lower psychic unfoldment. Just as certain transferences are going on today between the centers below the diaphragm into those above the diaphragm, so the solar plexus (which is like the controlling brain in the animal and the physical-emotional man) must cease finally to control the activities of the human being and the brain must become the seat of the directing agency in its place. Speaking again generally, there are three major controlling factors in the career of a human being:

1. The solar plexus, corresponding to that stage wherein the play of the forces is physical-etheric-astral.
   This is the stage of psychic development.
2. The ajna center between the eyebrows, corresponding to the period of integration and of personality control, wherein certain areas of the brain become sensitized and used.
   This is the stage of mental development.
3. The head center, involving the entire brain area around the pineal gland, wherein the spiritual man assumes control.
   This is the stage of soul control.

It is in this latter stage that the higher psychic faculties come into play and the lower powers can then again be used, if deemed desirable. The initiate has full control of all faculties and powers, and knows both when and how to use them the most profitably and with the least expenditure of energy. It [582] should be noted, however, that the average modern psychic or medium does not come under this category, for the initiates and Masters use all Their powers quietly and behind the scenes and not for demonstration before the public. The majority of psychics today are solar plexus workers, though a few - a very few - are beginning to shift their forces into the ajna center and to develop mental faculties. This has an integrating effect and temporarily is marked by a complete and necessary cessation of the lower powers. In this sense "the mind is the slayer of the real", but only of the relatively real. That which has seemed real and of importance or which proved interesting and exciting to the average psychic is eventually forced below the threshold of consciousness by the unfoldment of the mind. It is this needed transition period in the case of many of the modern psychics which lies at the root of a number of their undoubted difficulties. They are faced with issues they cannot resolve and which they do not understand as they have no background of occult practice or understanding. They have been brought to the point of discarding the old ways and yet the new techniques of living and of practice mean nothing to them. A future which must be faced without the phenomena which has made the past so exciting, interesting and frequently remunerative does not attract them. Yet, in reality, they are faced with the transition out of the Atlantean state of consciousness into the higher and Aryan state of awareness. They are offered a step forward and need to remember that every step forward in evolution and, therefore, towards the spiritual goal, is always at a cost and through the relinquishing of that which has hitherto been held dear.

The psychical difficulties, which eventually are many, fall into three general categories: [583]

1. Those arising from the premature awakening of the centers. In these cases, the psychic has no control whatsoever over his powers. He simply knows that he sees and hears that which cannot be seen and heard by the average man. His problem is to live consciously and simultaneously upon the physical and astral planes. He cannot stop himself seeing and hearing and his life becomes most complex and complicated. Where there is this premature awakening in the case of the intellectual man, it frequently produces great difficulty, nervous tension, brain disturbance and always misunderstanding from those around. There is many times a definite drift into insanity. In the case of the average unintelligent person, there is usually a shift of the life-emphasis on to the astral plane and away from the physical plane where it is intended that men should express all that is in them. The psychic then lives altogether in the world of glamor and of lower psychic phenomena. What he sees and relates is truly and sincerely what he has noted but there is no interpretative ability. It is seldom of a high order because the psychic is not of a high order of mentality or influence himself.
2. Those arising out of a loose connection existing between the physical body and the etheric body. This produces the various stages of mediumship, of control by entities of some kind or another, of trance conditions and of many kinds of obsession, temporary or permanent.
   I do not include in this list the work of the materializing mediums, for their work is of a totally different kind and though not so dangerous to the personality of the medium is perhaps still more undesirable. So completely is the medium divorced (as an astral-mental-soul individual) from his physical body that it becomes [584] dominant in its own field (the material) and can absorb - through the many etheric orifices - the stuff of which certain of the lower forms are constituted; it can attract the primitive substance of a low grade which can be built into shape (and often is) by the thought, either of a sitter or of a group of sitters in a so-called "materializing seance". With these the medium is en rapport subconsciously. This is not a telepathic rapport but a solar plexus, a psychic rapport. The subject is too abstruse for elaboration here and this form of mediumship must inevitably be discarded as the evolution of the race proceeds.
3. Those which are indicative of an exceeding sensitivity to impressions, to conditions and to atmospheres, surrounding the psychic. This sensitivity is of a somewhat inchoate nature and is difficult to define, but it is analogous to the general sense of Touch. There is no part of the human frame which, if it is touched in a certain manner, will not react. So the sensitive will register psychic awareness of a more general nature than that of the defined powers.
   We have consequently:

  Physical Psychic Higher Correspondence   a. Hearing Clairaudience This leads eventually to mental telepathy and finally to spiritual knowledge. b. Sight Clairvoyance This leads eventually to spiritual vision and finally to spiritual identification. c. Touch Sensitivity This leads eventually to spiritual aspiration and finally to spiritual impressibility.   It might here be pointed out that mystical development and aspiration are the way of escape from the highest aspect of the Atlantean consciousness. This is itself astral in nature. [585]

Occultism and science are the way of escape from the highest expression of the concrete mind, and from the Aryan consciousness, which is mental in nature. Sensitivity or the psychic sense of touch is etheric in nature, is general in expression and must eventually give place to that spiritual impressibility which enables a man, like the Christ, simply to "know" what is in his fellow man and to be aware of his condition and of the condition of life in all forms. It is the first step towards that universal spiritual key of which psychometry is the lowest expression.

In the above paragraph and differentiations I have given you much food for thought and indicated a sequence of unfoldment which is individual, racial and universal.

If we extend these ideas into their planetary connotations (which is interesting but probably quite useless to you) I would add that:

1. Touch - is the keynote of the evolution proceeding at this time on Venus. It is sensitivity to spiritual impression.
2. Hearing - is the keynote of the evolution proceeding at this time on Mars. It is spiritual telepathy and knowledge.
3. Sight - is the keynote of the evolution proceeding at this time on the Earth. It is spiritual vision leading to identification.

Let us now consider how the abuse of the lower psychic powers may be arrested temporarily until such time as the initiate may seek to use them, in full consciousness and with full control.

The prime difficulty of the natural psychic and of the man who is born as a medium is his inability intelligently to control the phenomena evidenced. Lack of control of the physical powers is deemed highly undesirable. Lack of psychic control should also be relegated to the same category. The [586] medium is either in trance or his psychic powers are brought into expression through the stimulation which comes from his contact with the group of sitters in the seance room or from a large audience. In other cases, he is all the time living on the borderland of consciousness between the physical and the psychic or astral planes. How can this be changed, provided the medium wishes for such a change, which is rare indeed. In three ways only:

1. By ceasing to be interested in the display of these powers, by refusing to use them any more and by this means causing them gradually to die out. This leads to the closing of the solar plexus center (and consequently of the open door to the lower levels of the astral plane) and the atrophying of that part of the inner mechanism which has made these powers available.
2. By the transference of the attention to the mystical life and to the expression of an intense aspiration towards the spiritual realities. This provides the new interest which eventually becomes dynamically expulsive of the old interests and thus tends to shift the life-emphasis away from the lower levels of the astral plane to the higher levels. This also presupposes a tendency to spiritual orientation on the part of the psychic.
3. By a course of intellectual training and of mental development which would, if persisted in for a sufficient length of time, automatically make the use of the lower powers impossible because the shift of the flow of energy will be into the centers above the diaphragm. It is well known in psychic circles that mental training does bring to a close the psychic cycle.

There are three ancient rules which - in the last period of the Atlantean cycle - were given by the Adepts of the time [587] to Their disciples. You must bear in mind that the problem before the Hierarchy at that time was to bring to an end temporarily the then normal psychic emphasis and start the flow of the forces to the upper part of the body. These three rules can be connected in your minds with the three methods touched upon above.

1. Shun the pits of hell, Oh, Chela. Let your feet go hurrying from the lower way and seek the upper reaches of the plane of glamor. Ascend. Choose for your good companions those who live a life of arduous labor upon the plains of earth. Depart. Descend and live the normal life of Earth. Depart.
2. Lift up thine eyes, Oh, Chela, and cleanse thine heart and see the vision of thy soul. Look up, not down; within, not out. Live free and hasten towards the higher goal. Depart and seek the distant secret place where dwells thy soul.
3. Energy follows thought, the ancient rule proclaims. Think, Chela, think and leave behind the realms where thought rules not and where no light revealing can be seen but only self-engendered light and thus deluding. So, therefore, think.

These rules sound simple and familiar but are of profound difficulty to follow, particularly in the case of the average psychic, and this for two reasons; first, he does not truly desire the loss of the power which the use of the powers confers, and secondly, his mental perception is as a rule so undeveloped that the effort to transfer his consciousness into the higher levels of expression proves too arduous a task. But, where the will is active and the peril entailed by continuing to work on the lowest astral levels is adequately perceived, then in due time the needed effort will be made. [588]

The above rules apply to the psychic who is willing enough and intelligent enough to change his orientation and type of work. But what of the man who has drifted into the dangerous ways of the lower psychism when he is an Aryan in consciousness and not an Atlantean? What can he do if the solar plexus center is over-active and the door to the astral plane stands wide open? He seeks to shut it and to function normally; he distrusts and fears his psychic powers of sight and hearing. There is no one specific or one rule of conduct for much is dependent upon the originating cause, but I will here suggest various rules and remedial lines of behavior.

1. If the door to the astral plane has been opened by following certain breathing exercises, plus certain postures, and other methods taught by ignorant teachers at this time, I would suggest certain preliminary and necessary steps, as follows:

1. Let the man drop all such exercises and postures and avoid all contact with the teacher. This is a first and necessary step.
2. Let him live a full life of physical activity, permitting himself no time for the introspective life. If he is materially minded, let him fulfil his commercial, business or social obligations, by physical plane interests and his due responsibilities with every power he has, permitting himself no backward thought.
3. Let him focus his attention upon the things of physical living until such time as evolution carries him to the stage of mental focusing and spiritual orientation. Before this can be done, the lower door must be closed. Let him, therefore, control emotion, for emotion serves to keep the door ajar and facilitates astral experience. [589]
4. Let him "learn to work and think with the spine and head and not with the forefront of the body", as the ancient rule can be translated. The idea is that the average psychic regards the solar plexus and throat centers (the only two about which they seem to know anything) as existing in the front and center of the torso or the front of the throat. This carries the energy downwards by the involutionary route and not upwards by the evolutionary route of the spinal column. This is of moment.

2. If the door to the astral plane is open because of natural birthright, the activity of previous lives and because the flow of the forces normally focuses in the solar plexus, the problem is much more difficult. It will be necessary to gain:

1. Some understanding of the etheric constitution of man and teaching must be given as to the nature of the centers of force so that the Aryan psychic has some intelligent background upon which to work. The effort must be made to build a healthy body.
2. Higher goals must be emphasized and the necessity for the life of service must be stressed. I would remind you that service is a scientific method whereby the forces which awaken, stimulate and control the solar plexus are directed to the heart center, thus causing the closing of the astral door and a decentralization of the interests of the psychic. This decentralization is technically fulfiled when the central plexus is no longer the dominant factor and the thought interests of the man are of a different nature.
3. One other practical hint may be useful here. When the psychic is at the Aryan stage of unfoldment and is not simply at the Atlantean, then much good can [590] come from the frequent use of the color yellow. He should surround himself with that color, for it serves to keep the inflowing energies in the head or to prevent their descent no lower than the diaphragm. This deprives the solar plexus of a constant inflow of energy and greatly aids in freeing of the psychic from the astral plane. I would point out here that the psychic with the Atlantean consciousness (and they constitute the great majority) is functioning normally when displaying the psychic faculties, though along an arc of retrogression, but the man with the Aryan consciousness who displays these powers is an abnormality.

3. Where the danger is of a serious nature, producing great nervous tension or excessive debility, extreme care must be used. Where there is a violent fight against the psychic activity going on, or where there is a nervous breakdown and loss of mental grip and control, then it is essential that at times the psychic should be forced to take a long rest in bed, with light diet and complete freedom from all contacts. It may be necessary at times to put him under restraint. Today, many such cases - fighting hard for mental equilibrium and seeking to close the astral door - are deemed insane or on the border line of insanity. Their plight is greatly enhanced by the lack of understanding of their friends, and of the consulting physicians and psychologists. Their trouble is not mental but is entirely related to the solar plexus. Only when this is recognized will we begin to have a right handling of these problem cases. It is rare indeed to find a psychologist who would be willing to admit the possibility of these premises. [591]

When psychic difficulties arise in the case of the advanced mystic, the disciple or the occult student, the mode of approach has to be more definitely scientific, for the trouble is more deep seated owing to the fact that the mind is more involved. Definite work with the centers up the spine and in the head is in order but must be carried forward under careful supervision. I cannot here give the exercises which lead to

1. The closing of the different centers
2. The opening of the higher centers
3. The transference of force from one center to another.

This treatise is intended primarily for the general public and will be widely read during the next generation. Should I give them here, my readers might experiment with them and only succeed in doing real harm to themselves.

B.IV.2.b. The Science of the Breath, which is the science of laya-yoga or the science of the centers, is one of profound importance and one of real danger as well. It is, in the last analysis, the Science of Energy and teaches the method whereby energy can be controlled, directed and utilized for the expanding of the consciousness, for the establishing of right relations between the man and his environment and, above all (in the case of those affiliated with the Great White Lodge), for the production of white magic. This pranic energy works through the vital body and courses through the many "nadis" found therein. These "nadis" exist in their millions and are minute channels of force which underlie the entire nervous system of man. Of this they are the counterpart and the animating factor, making sensitivity possible and producing that action and reaction which converts the mechanism of man into an intricate "receiver" of energy and "director" of force. Each [592] of these tiny lines of energy are fivefold in nature and resemble five strands or fibers of force, closely knit together within a covering sheath of a different force. These forces are bound together in a cross-sectional relation.

It is to be noted, also, that these five types of energy form one closely knit unit, and these units form, in their entirety, the etheric sheath itself. Through these five channels flow the five major pranas - energizing, galvanizing and controlling the entire human organism. There is no part of the physical body which this network of energies does not underlie or "substand". This is the true form or substance.

Where the lines of force cross and recross, as they repeat in the microcosm the involutionary and evolutionary arcs of the macrocosm, there are formed five areas up the spinal column and two in the head where the energies are more potent than elsewhere, because more concentrated. Thus you have the appearance of the major centers. Throughout the entire body, these crossings and recrossings occur and so the equipment of energy centers is brought into being:

1. Where the lines of force cross 21 times, a major center is found. Of these there are seven.
2. Where they cross 14 times, you have the appearance of the minor centers, to which I earlier referred.
3. Where they cross 7 times, you have tiny centers and of these minute centers there are many hundreds.

Some day the entire etheric body will be charted and the general direction of the lines of force will then be seen. The great sweep of the energies will be apparent, the point in evolution more easily established and the psychic situation infallibly indicated. The intricacy of the subject is, however, very great, owing to just this difference in the evolutionary development of the vehicles, the stage of the expanding [593] consciousness and the receptivity to stimulation of the human being. The Science of Meditation will eventually absorb the science of laya-yoga, but only in the highest form of the latter. 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 center 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 the 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 center and then at the heart and head, for in these three centers and in their relative "light and radiant brightness", the whole story of the individual stands [594] revealed. The head center, looked at for the average or below average man, is the center, between the eyebrows. In the case of the aspirant, mystic and disciple, it is the highest head center.

As evolution proceeds and the life forces flow ever more freely along the "nadis" and through the centers - 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", utilizing the area around any of the major centers as distributing areas and thus galvanizing, 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 centers up the spine from each other, has been burned away by the fires of life. The [595] "sushumna" or central channel can be slowly utilized. 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.

I have dealt with this in detail as the practice of breathing exercises definitely moves the forces flowing through the "nadis" and reorganizes them - usually prematurely. It hastens the process of breaking down the walls separating four forces from the fifth energy, and hastens the burning of the protecting etheric webs up the spinal column. If this is done whilst the emphasis of the life is below the diaphragm and the man is not even an aspirant or intelligent, then it will cause the over-stimulation of the sex life, and also the opening up of the astral plane and hence much physical difficulty and disease. It occultly "releases the lower fires and the man will be destroyed by fire"; he will not be then (as is intended) the "burning bush which burns forever and cannot be destroyed". If this burning takes place by a forced process and is not under right direction, there must inevitably be difficulty. When the man is on the Path of Purification or Probation or is in the early stages of discipleship, with the emphasis of his intention above the diaphragm, then there is much danger of over-development of the sense of egotism, over-stimulation of the heart center (with the consequent appearance of various forms of heart disease and of emotionalism, evoked over group conditions) and of troubles related to the thyroid gland and the brain, as well as difficulties connected principally with the pituitary body.

I could give you here certain forms of breathing exercises which might prove helpful to some people in the work of reorganizing the vital body and consequently the etheric body, but the dangers involved in the case of the majority of [596] my readers negate any such action. The old rule that aspirants must find their way into an esoteric or mystery school still holds good. All I can do - as I have done - is to give certain directions and teach certain safe and generally well-known rules which will lay the foundation for the more advanced work which must be carried forward under careful personal supervision. For this reason, once this present world crisis is duly ended, there must be laid a foundation of true esoteric schools. Such do Not as yet exist. Today, aspirants and disciples are working in the modern esoteric schools (such as the Arcane School and the Esoteric Section of the Theosophical Society - to mention two of the most important) and there they learn some of the foundational truths of esotericism; they begin to gain control of the emotional nature and the mind; they learn to purify the body and to apprehend the basic postulates of the Ageless Wisdom. They are then under the direction subjectively of some senior disciple who knows the needed next truth and has unfolded in himself the "sense of contact" and the power of intuitive perception. A few persons, here and there, are definitely working under the direction of one of the Masters. Only where there is direction, a knowledge of a man's governing rays and a grasp of the astrological indications as to a man's "path of life" can the true, but dangerous, rules be given, which will lead to:

1. A right distribution of energy.
2. The focusing of the forces in the centers.
3. The burning of the separating walls and of the dividing etheric webs.
4. The lifting of the energies ever higher in the body by the power of the directed will.

Many of the difficulties of mystics and occultists today are due to the fact that they are literally "playing with fire" and are [597] not aware of it; that they are not preserving the right or ordered sequence of development, as outlined above; that they are following practices for which they are not ready, which have not been modified to suit the occidental type of body, and which they blindly follow without any understanding of the process or results. Unless the basic rule is grasped that "energy follows thought", it is inevitable that dire results must eventuate. The mystic, for instance whose thought is focused on the Christ, regarding Him as somewhere in Heaven, but as outside himself, and whose aspiration makes Him the objective of all his desire, is frequently debilitated and physically ill. Why is this the case? Because the energy which is seeking to enter him and permeate his whole organism only reaches as far as the heart center and is from there constantly turned back and driven out of the physical body by the directing power of the mystic's thought. Christ, for him, is elsewhere. Outside himself lies his thought and the energy consequently streams out of his body. It is a much discussed problem among initiates today as to whether the generally debilitated condition of the human race is not due in part to the fact that the aspiration and thought of mankind, having been constantly directed to some outside goal and not (as should have been the case) to the center of life and love within each human being, has drained man of much needed energy. In spite of the fact that he has been taught for centuries that the kingdom of God is within, the peoples in the occident have not accepted the statement or worked on the premise presented, but have sought for reality without and have turned their attention to the Personality of the One who taught them a major truth. At no time did He desire or seek their devotion. The price of this distortion of the truth has been paid again and again by a devitalized body and by the [598] inability of the average mystic to live a concrete, and yet divine, life upon earth.

There is little more that I can say here in connection with the problems and the difficulties of the psychic powers as they unfold in humanity and on a higher turn of the spiral than in the past. As evolution proceeds, the human and animal psychic faculties become available to the disciple. Humanity has chosen to proceed by means of the "trial and error" method and it is in many ways a sound choice, but it is slow and leads to points of crisis and moments of almost intolerable difficulty in the history of the race. In the case of the mystic and the disciple who is endeavoring to gain control of these inherent instincts, the problem is today enhanced by the fact that the physical vitality of the race is so lowered and also so little understood and the proper care of the body is consequently so poorly rendered that the unhealthy condition of that body releases the lower powers more easily than would otherwise be the case. They therefore unfold prematurely and before their nature and function is understood or the laws of their control grasped. The acceptance of this statement would be found enlightening and much progress would be made if the various premises I have made were accepted as valid hypotheses and acted upon. The result would open the door to a new understanding of the psychic faculties. Psychology and medicine would be thereby enriched.

We come now to two more problems which are related to the higher psychic powers but are of a more advanced kind and dependent upon the development of the mind nature more than upon the solar plexus consciousness.

B.IV.2.c. Problem of the Development of the Mystical Vision

This process of sensing the goal, of contacting the ideal and of visioning the many symbols that veil the soul, which [599] portray pictorially the ultimate destination and the final purpose, are the recognized prerogative of the mystical aspirant. The mystical literature of all the world religions is, as you know, full of these visions, ranging all the way from the more sexual approach of the Song of Solomon or the writings of many of the feminine mystics of the Church to the amazing revelations given in the ancient Puranas or in the Apocalypse. These cover all the ground from the formulation of the high-grade "wish-life" of the mystics to the true prevision as to the future of the race as found in the writings of the prophetically Scriptures. With the detail I do not intend to deal. It has been considered by the modern psychologist and the religious instructor and Church writers and dealt with by them at great length. I want only to touch upon the effects that these experiences have upon the mystic himself. I would ask you also to remember that I am generalizing and not being specific.

The difficulties to which such mystics are prone are four:

1. Devitalization. The mystic is drawn so constantly "upwards" (as he regards and terms it) to the land of his dreams, to the person of his idealism or to the spiritual ideal (personified or non-personified) of his aspiration that he reverses the normal and wholesome process of "the Way of the constant materializing of the Real". He lives entirely in the world of his aspiration and thus neglects life on the physical plane, becoming not only impractical but negative to the physical plane. He draws all his life forces upward so that the physical body and life on the physical plane suffers. Technically, the forces of the solar plexus are not drawn upward into the heart center, as they should be, nor is the energy of the heart poured out in selfless love of humanity; they are all focused and distributed in the highest level of the astral consciousness and sent to feed the forces of the astral body. They reverse, [600] therefore, the normal process and the physical body suffers grievously through this.

A study of the lives of the saints and mystics will reveal much of this difficulty, and even in the relatively rare cases where there has been some definite service to humanity, the motives were frequently (I might say, usually) the meeting of a sensed requirement or obligation which would serve the mystic, bringing him emotional satisfaction and reward. This devitalization was often so excessive that it led not only to nervous debility, trance conditions and other pathological developments, but sometimes to death itself.

2. Delusion. The drama life of the mystic and the constant cultivation of the vision (whatever that might be) led also in many cases to serious if unrecognized psychological trouble. The vision absorbed the mystic's whole attention and instead of indicating to him a goal to which he might some day attain, or existing in his consciousness as the symbol of an inner reality which he would some day know, as it in truth was, he lived always within his own thought-form of this goal. This powerful dream, this defined thought-form (built year by year through aspiration, worship and longing) ended by obsessing him to such an extent that he finally ended by mistaking the symbol for the reality. Sometimes he died of the ecstasy induced by his identification with his vision. Nevertheless, I would point out here that the true attainment of the mystical goal, so that it is no longer seen but is realized as fact, has never yet killed anyone. It is delusion which kills. It is only when the focus of the life is in the astral body, when the downflow of soul force is there also and when the heart center is over-energized that the mystic dies as a result of his aspiration. Where death does not take place (and this is somewhat unusual) serious psychological difficulties are apt to be found. These have brought much concern to Churchmen at [601] all times and to the modern psychologist and have brought the whole subject of the mystical unfoldment into disrepute, particularly in this modern scientific age.

It is the materializing of the vision in astral matter, its development through the power of emotion (masquerading as devotion) and the failure of the mystic either to enter into the realm of mental perception or to bring his idealistic dream down into physical expression which lies at the root of the trouble. The man becomes deluded by the best that is in him; he is the victim of an hallucination which embodies the highest he knows; he is overcome by the glamor of the spiritual life; he fails to distinguish between the vision and the Plan, between the manufactured unreal of the ages of mystical activity and the Real which stands ever in the background of the life of the integrated human being.

Forget not that the vision (of Heaven, of God, of Christ, of any spiritual leader - or of any millennium) is based in the majority of cases upon the dreams and aspirations of the mystics down the ages who have blazed the mystical trail, who have used the same terminology and employed the same symbols to express that which they sense, and to which they aspire and for which they long so yearningly. They all sense the same Reality, lying behind the glamor of the world aspiration; they all couch their desire and longing in the same symbolic forms - marriage with the Beloved, life in the Holy City, participation in some ecstatic vision of God, adoration of some deified and loved Individuality, such as the Christ, the Buddha, or Shri Krishna, walking with God in the garden of life, the garden of the Lord, the attainment of the mountain top where God is to be found, and all stands revealed. Such are a few of the forms in which their aspiration clothes itself and their sense of duality finds satisfaction. These ideas exist as powerful thought forms on the astral plane and they [602] attract - like magnets - the aspiration of the devotee which follows century after century the same path of yearning search, imaginative expression of a deep seated spiritual "wish-life" and an emotional surging outward towards divinity, described sometimes as "the lifting of the heart to God.

Devitalization and delusion are the frequent case history of the purely emotional mystic. When this astral cycle is over and he later (and probably in another life) swings into a frankly agnostic state of mind, there comes a restoration of balance and a more wholesome unfoldment becomes possible. The true and valuable fruits of the mystical experience of the past are never lost. The inner spiritual realization remains latent in the content of the life, later to be resurrected to its true expression but the vagueness and the sense of duality must eventually be transformed into a realized mental clarity; dualism must give place to the experience of the at-one-ment and the mists must roll away. The mystic sees through a glass darkly but some day must Know, even as he is known.

When, in these modern times, the mystically oriented person comes under the care of a wise psychologist, the latter would be well advised gently and gradually to develop in him a cycle of doubt, leading even to a temporary agnosticism. The result would be a rapid establishing of the desired equilibrium. I would call your attention to the words "gently and gradually". The encouraging of a normal physical life, with its ordinary interests, the fulfiling of its obligations and responsibilities and the usual physical functioning of the nature should bring about much wholesome and needed orientation.

3. Delirium. I use this powerful word with deliberation when dealing with the dangerous and difficult stages of the mystical life. When the delusions of the mystic and his devitalization have gone beyond a certain point, he arrives at a stage where he has no real inner control, he develops the [603] mystical sense to the point where he has no sense of proportion, where the conventions (right or wrong), social training, economic responsibility, human obligations and all the aspects of daily life which integrate the human part into the whole of humanity fail to police the lower nature. His outer expression becomes abnormal and he (from the highest and best sense of values) anti-social. Such an anti-social attitude will range all the way from a relatively usual fanaticism which forces its possessor to see only one point of view out of the many possible, to certain pronounced and recognizable forms of insanity. The mystic is then obsessed by his own peculiar thought-form of truth and of reality. He has only one idea in his head. His mind is not active, for his brain has become the instrument of his astral nature and registers only his fanatical devotion and his emotional obsession. The ajna center swings into activity before there is any true integration of the whole man, and any true useful purpose to its activity.

A period ensues wherein the man expresses himself in many undesirable ways which include a too strenuous one-pointed-ness, real fanaticism, sadistic effort with a supposed spiritual motive, (such as was seen in the Inquisition) and certain forms of mental breakdown. Occultly speaking, "the fiery vision proceeds to burn its victim and thus destroys the thread which holds his mind and brain in friendship close." This burning astral fever necessarily produces an effect upon the physical body as well as on the personality expression, and the trouble can then be recognized by others as real and serious in consequences and effects. Frequently, there is little that can be done; sometimes no attempts to help prove availing. The mystic has, for this one life, done himself irreparable damage. The healing influence of death, and the interlude of the life beyond the physical plane must do their beneficent work before the man can again achieve normality and begin [604] to transmute his Vision of the Good, the Beautiful and the True into working expression upon the plane of daily living; he will then bring his mind to bear upon the problem; he will then discover that the vision is but the reflection of the Plan of God. He will know that the power to personalize aspiration must be transformed into the power to depersonalize oneself, prior to world service and cooperation with the Hierarchy.

4. Detachment. This is one of the major psychological difficulties which leads to the common phenomenon of cleavage. It is one of the hardest to handle. The mystic who can see naught but his vision, who registers that vision in terms only of symbolic forms, of sexual longing, of agonizing aspirations and an intense "wish-life" of dream and desire may eventually succeed in severing all right relations both within himself (with his physical body in one place, his emotional life directed to another and his mind preoccupied elsewhere) and with his surroundings and environing responsibilities, so that he lives entirely in a world of his own manufacturing - detached, unmoved, and untouched by normal affairs or human calls. This is sometimes also brought about by an unrecognized desire to escape from responsibility, from the pain and irk-someness of daily living or from the clinging hands of those who love him; it can be brought over from another life of mystical experience which should, in this life, be permanently transcended and outgrown, having served its useful purpose and done a needed work. This is a detachment of the wrong kind.

I realize as I give you this teaching upon the difficulties of the mystical life - devitalization, delusion, delirium and detachment - that those who have gained much from the mystics or those who are at this time mystically inclined will violently disagree. I would seek to make myself clear on these [605] points. The mystical way is the right way for people at a certain stage of evolution, the Atlantean stage, provided it is not carried to the point of insanity, hallucination, furious fanaticism and psychopathic complications. It is, rightly expressed, a useful and needed process whereby the astral body is reoriented and spiritual aspiration begins to take the place of desire. It is necessary to have vision for "where there is no vision, the people perish". True vision is, in reality, the astral reflection of the divine Plan, reflected into the higher levels of the astral consciousness of the planet and there contacted and sensed by those human beings whose focus in life is of a very high grade nature, whose "intention is towards God and righteousness" but who are introverted at this time, who lack much technical knowledge either of divine law or of the constitution of man or of the planetary life, and whose minds are quiescent and non-questioning except in an emotional sense and for the relief of the mystic's own spiritual distress and desire for peace and satisfaction. There is, for instance, little in the writings of the mystics of the middle ages, (either in the East or in the West) which gives any indication of a sense of world need or of humanity's demand for enlightenment.

The astral reflection of the Plan - such is the vision. There the life forces of the mystical physical nature, of his astral body and of his soul (two forces and one energy) unite and there they produce a powerful expression of focused desire, deep inchoate longing, vivid imagination and the construction of a thought form, expressing all that the mystic desires to contact or to see expressed.

There will be, as time goes on, less and less of this mystical approach. The work of realizing beauty and the instinct to reach out towards divinity are now so deeply rooted in the racial consciousness that the balancing work of the mind and the presentation of the Plan in the place of the Vision can [606] safely proceed. The children of the race who are still Atlantean in consciousness will continue with the mystical approach and the beauty of that contribution will still be the heritage of the race. But the cycle of the mystical effort and experience will be considerably shortened and scientifically controlled because its purpose, its place in racial unfoldment and its contribution to the "doctrine of Reality" will be better understood.

This mystical cycle is the correspondence to the "adolescent" cycle in the life of the young, valuable, visionary and life-giving, spurring on to right orientation and stabilizing certain standards and values. Such a cycle will, however, be recognized as undesirable when the time has come that a new and higher set of values and a more spiritual and controlled technique should take its place. A life purpose, a recognized plan and a correctly directed activity must eventually supersede all adolescent yearnings, dreams, imaginative longings and aspiration in the life of the individual and of the race.

Mistake Me Not. The vision is a vision of reality. The Eternal Dreamer dreams and the greatest of all Mystics is the divine Logos Himself. But His dream must be registered in our consciousness as God's Plan and the mystical vision is the necessary though passing development in the human being of the "dreaming" aspect of God's Nature. Ponder on this, for it holds revelation to those who ponder rightly.

B.IV.2.d. Revelation of Light and Power and Attendanti Difficulties

The problems with which we must now deal belong in a totally different category. They have no relation at all to emotion or to the astral plane but constitute the specific difficulty of the aspirant or the advanced man or disciple who has learnt to focus himself in the mental nature. They are problems connected with achieved contact with the soul, [607] which results in the illumination of the mind and a definite influx of power.

These difficulties only come to the man in whom the throat center and the ajna center are awakening. The moment that any difficulty is sensed in relation to the phenomena of light, the psychologist or the physician can know that the pituitary body is involved and that consequently the center between the eyebrows is beginning to be active and awake.

The problem of power, sensed by the aspirant and seeking expression in his life, falls into two categories:

1. The sense of power which comes through the effort to do definite creative work. This necessarily involves the activity of the throat center. Where there is this inflow of creative force and where there is no real use made of the inflowing energy in the production of creative work, then there is very apt to be difficulty with the thyroid gland.
2. The sense of power which takes the form of ambition, and of an integration which is brought about by the force of that ambition. This frequently succeeds in subordinating the various aspects of the lower nature to that ambition. When this takes place the ajna center is active and is synchronizing its vibration with that of the throat center. This leads to real difficulty and is one of the commonest forms of ambition to which the aspirant and the disciple succumb.

One can also divide the problem of light into two groups of difficulties if one so desires - one related to the physical registering of the light in the head and the other to the acquiring of knowledge.

This registering of light within the periphery of the skull is connected with the relation to be found between the head [608] center and the center between the eyebrows; that is, between the area (localized around the pituitary body) and that localized around the pineal gland. The vibratory effect, you know, of those two centers can become so strong that the two vibrations or their "pulsating rhythmic activity" can swing into each other's field of action and a unified magnetic field can be set up which can become so powerful, so brilliant and so pronounced that the disciple - when closing his eyes - can see it plainly. It can be visually sensed and known. Eventually, and in some cases, it can definitely affect the optic nerve, not to its detriment but to the extent of evoking the subtler side of the sense of sight. A man can then see etherically and can see the etheric counterpart of all tangible forms. This is physiological and not a psychic power and is quite different to clairvoyance. There can be no etheric vision apart from the usual organ of vision, the eye. The sensing and the registering of this light in the head can lead to its own peculiar problems when the process is not correctly understood or controlled, just as the registering of the energy of power (coming from the mind in its will aspect or from the soul through the will petals) can prove definitely detrimental to the personality, when not consecrated or refined.

Again, this registering of the light falls into certain definite stages and takes place at certain definite points in the unfoldment of the human being, but is more likely to occur in the earlier stages than the later. These are:

1. The sensing of a diffused light outside the head, either before the eyes or over the right shoulder.
2. The sensing of this diffused misty light within the head, permeating, apparently, the entire head.
3. The concentrating of this diffused light until it has the appearance of a radiant sun. [609]
4. The intensifying of the light of this inner sun. This is in reality the recognition of the radiance of the magnetic field, established between the pituitary body and the pineal gland (as expressions of the head and the ajna centers). This radiance can at times seem almost too bright to be borne.
5. The extension of the rays of this inner sun first to the eyes, and then finally beyond the radius of the head so that (to the vision of the clairvoyant seer) the halo makes its appearance around the head of the disciple or aspirant.
6. The discovery that there is, at the very heart of this, a point of dark blue electric light, which gradually grows into a circle of some size. This occurs when the light in the head irradiates the central opening at the top of the head. Through this opening the various energies of the soul and the forces of the personality can be synthesized and thus flow into the physical body, via the major centers. It is also the esoteric "door of departure" through which the soul withdraws the consciousness aspect in the hours of sleep and the consciousness aspect plus the life thread at the moment of death.

The registering of this inner light often causes serious concern and difficulty to the inexperienced person and the intensity of their concern and fear leads them to think so much of the problem that they become what we occultly call "obsessed with the light and so fail to see the Lord of Light and that which the Light reveals". I would point out here that all aspirants and occult students do not see this light. Seeing it is dependent upon several factors - temperament, the quality of the physical cells of the brain, the nature of the work which has been done or of the particular task, and the extent of the magnetic field. There never need be any difficulty if the [610] aspirant will use the light which is in him for the helping of his fellowmen. It is the self-centered mystic who gets into difficulty, as does the occultist who uses the light which he discovers within himself for selfish purposes, and personal ends.

An incidental difficulty is sometimes found when the "doorway out into the other worlds" is discovered and becomes, not a door for rightful and proper use, but a way of escape from the difficulties of life and a short cut out of conscious physical experience. The connection then between the mystic and his physical vehicle becomes less and less firmly established and the link gets looser and looser until the man spends most of his time out of his body in a condition of semi-trance or a deep sleep condition.

Students should make no effort to see the light in the head, but when it is sensed and seen - then there should be a careful regulation and registration of it. Second ray types will respond to this phenomenon more easily and more frequently than first or third ray types. First ray people will register the inflow of force and power with facility and will discover that their problem lies in the control and the right direction of such energies.

Much of the present impasse to be found in the personalities of the aspirants of the world is due to the fact that the light that is in them remains undirected and the power that is flowing through them remains unused or misapplied. Much of the physical blindness and the poor sight to be found in the world today (unless the result of accident) is due to the presence of the light of the head - unrecognized and unused - and thus producing or exciting a definite effect upon the eyes and upon the optic nerve. Technically speaking, the light of the soul - localized in the region of the pineal gland - works through and would be directed through the right eye which is (as you have been told) the organ of the buddhi, [611] whilst the light of the personality - localized in the region of the pituitary body - functions through the left eye. The time has not yet come when this statement means much except to very advanced students, but it should be on record for the future use of disciples and aspirants.

I would also like to point out that one of the difficulties today is that the light of the personality is more active within the head than is the light of the soul and that it has far more of the quality of burning than has soul light. The effect of the soul light is stimulating and occultly cool. It brings the brain cells into functioning activity, evoking response from cells at present quiescent and unawakened. It is as these cells are brought into activity by the inflow of the light of the soul that genius appears, accompanied often by some lack of balance or control in certain directions.

This whole subject of light and power is of so vast a nature and is relatively so little understood in its true significance as an expression (in dual form) of energy which flows upward from the personality and downward from the soul that it is only as more and more people tread the Path that the problem will emerge in its true light and thus eventually be handled rightly. I will refer here briefly to some of the problems so as to provide the germ or seed of thought from which future study can grow and the future investigation arise. They might be summarized as follows:

1. The theme of light and energy is closely connected with the problem (for such it is at this time) of the entire glandular system; it is, therefore, of basic importance that there should be understanding of this relation for it is one of the fundamental things upon which the health of the entire body and its right functioning rests.
2. When there is a correct grasp of this subject, it will be [612] found that the brain and the two head centers (actuating the pituitary body and the pineal gland) are the directing agents for all the activities of the man upon the physical plane. Today, he is largely directed by his animal instincts, by his sexual life and by his emotional reactions or else by his creative activities as they express themselves through the throat center. A few - very few - of his activities are directed from the heart, but eventually men must control their life expression from the head via the dual organs of the soul and the personality - the ajna center, working through the pituitary body and expressing the personality life at its highest, and the head center, working through the pineal gland, responsive to soul impulse. There will then be balance and right direction of all the life forces and a right development (following ray indications) of all the centers in the body.
3. Through this right rearrangement of the life forces in the body and their consequent "enlightenment and energizing", men will be enabled to do two things, speaking symbolically:
   1. They will "see God" and be in touch with the soul.
   2. They will "know what is in man" and can then act wisely and work constructively.
4. They will be able to "pierce the glamor of the astral plane" and proceed to function without error and can thus bring about the unimpeded illumination of the brain and the dissemination of knowledge in the brain.

You will note from the above how many of the hallucinations, the glamors, the ambitions and the errors of the modern mystic can all be traced to the early stages and the embryonic beginnings of these developments. They are indicative, [613] therefore, of unfoldment. But unfortunately they are not understood for what they are and the available light and energy are misapplied or turned to selfish and personal ends. This cannot as yet be avoided by any but the more advanced and experienced disciples and occultists; and many aspirants must continue for some time destroying themselves (from the personality angle and in this life) in what has been called the "fiery light of their misunderstanding and the burning fire of their personality ambition" until they learn that humility and scientific technique which will make them wise directors of the light and the power which is pouring into and through them all the time.

A study, therefore, of the three types of difficulties, emerging out of the development and the unfoldment of the psychic powers brings me to a wide generalization, to which you must remember there will be many exceptions:

1. The appearance of the lower psychic powers usually indicates that the man who is their victim (for we are here only dealing with the abnormalities of the psychic science) is on the third ray or that the third ray is dominant in his personality or a controlling factor in his personality equipment. Frequently an astral body, controlled by the third ray, will be found.
2. The registering of the mystical vision with its attendant difficulties is facilitated when the second ray is controlling and powerful, because the second ray is connected peculiarly with vision and with light.
3. It will be apparent to you that the revelation of power is obviously part of the expression of the first ray type.

In this way, though all experiences come eventually to the disciple, the three major difficulties with which we have been dealing, - the psychic powers, the problems incident to the [614] mystical vision and the revelation of light and power - have a relation to and a connection with the ray expression. This should be borne in mind by the psychologist, the investigator and the physician. Psychic sensitivity, mystical duality, and dominating power - these are the three major problems of the aspirant and should be studied and understood. They affect the three major centers - the head, the heart and the center between the eyebrows - in the disciple, for psychic sensitivity is related to the heart, mystical duality to the ajna center and the problem of power to the highest head center.

In the aspirant or advanced human being, they affect the throat, the solar plexus and the sacral center, but as they are definitely due to an expansion of consciousness, they have little registered or noticeable effect upon the unevolved man or upon the average man who is preoccupied with physical plane life and emotional reactions. He is not passing through the stimulating but disrupting processes of reorientation, of recognizing duality and of fusion of the personality. As we have earlier seen, the processes of integration bring their own problems.

As time goes on, the stages of difficulty will be more carefully investigated from the angle of the occult hypotheses and then much progress will take place. This will be peculiarly so, if the problems of adolescence are studied, for they are the problems of the Atlantean consciousness and of the mystical unfoldment.

I would like here to point out that just as the embryo in the womb recapitulates the various stages of animal unfoldment, so the human being, during the years of infancy, adolescence and youth up to the age of 35, recapitulates the various racial stages of consciousness. At 35 years old he should then affirm in himself the stage of the intelligent disciple. Much will be gained by a recognition of this recapitulatory process which [615] - in the New Age which is upon us - will do much to control and to determine the processes of unfoldment to which the child and youth will be subjected by the wise educator.

B.IV.3. Diseases connected with Group Conditions

We can only briefly touch upon this theme, owing to the fact that group work (esoterically understood) is relatively new, and because the individual, working at this time in a group, is scarcely affected at all by these factors, owing to his relatively partial integration. I refer here to his integration in the group. People are still so insulated in their personalities that they are shut off, in many cases, from group stimulation, group effects and group impulses. It is only as they become decentralized and, therefore, more easily responsive to the group ideas, the group idealism, and to the group aura (with its outbreathing and its inbreathing and its group livingness) that they can and do succumb to those difficulties which group life imposes. Today it is the central figure in the group life, the dominant personality or soul, who is the one to whom the group life and the group thought turns, with all the consequences of such turning. It is this person, upon whom the group life pivots (if I may use such a term), who is the group victim and it is he who pays the price of any group weakness. The expression of the group attitude finds its outlet in him and he is, at times, practically "killed" by the group. No group today is a perfect group. They are in the experimental stage and are largely composed of a few Aquarians, many Pisceans and a number of people who are in a transition stage between these two. The leader or leaders of the new groups are usually of as pure a type of the new age or Aquarian character as is possible or available at this time. This accounts for the failure of the group, as a rule, either to understand the [616] leader or to cooperate with the new ideals as is desired. The leader is a pioneer in a new field of thought and of intention and, therefore, suffers the penalties of his daring and of his spirit of enterprise.

It is not my intention to deal here with group difficulties, for that is not my theme. I am considering the difficulties (amounting often to physical disease) and the problems of the individual who is sensitive to group pressures and group life - a very different thing to the usual problems of the mystics of the past. These can only be studied and investigated today by a consideration of the lives, physical condition, problems, difficulties and deaths of group leaders. I would call this definitely to your attention. The group members - little as they may like to recognize this fact - are not as yet prone to suffer much from the group life, the group emanation and the group energy for they are not yet sufficiently integrated into the group.

The problem we are considering falls into two major categories and as I seek to deal with them I realize that there is relatively little that I can say. The next century will see the problems more defined and the difficulties more clearly delineated. They are:

1. Those arising as a result of the directed thought of the group. On this I can say something.
2. Diseases, connected with the respiratory tract. On these I can say but little.

Let us, therefore, look at these problems. We shall have to study the first from the angle of the one most affected by them - the leader or focal point of the group. These same problems may also affect the three or four people who, with the group leader and in collaboration with him, direct the group policies. [617]

B.IV.3.a. Diseases and Problems evoked by Directed Group Thought

It will be obvious to you that the first and most important of these difficulties will be those arising from group criticism, either voiced or strongly felt. This criticism can be based on many things, but is usually rooted in jealousy, thwarted ambition, or pride of individual intellect. Each member of any group, particularly those in the immediate circle of the leader or leaders, is prone to sit in judgment. The responsibility is not theirs; they know not the problems as they truly exist and criticism is, therefore, easy. It should here be remembered that criticism is a virulent poison. It damages in every case eventually the one who criticizes - owing to the fact of voiced direction - it hurts still more the one who is criticized. Where there is purity of motive, true love and a large measure of detachment, the subtler bodies of the one who is under attack may remain immune but the physical effects will be definite and where there is any physical weakness or limitation there will be found the localization of the projected poison.

Unvoiced criticism is very dangerous for it is powerfully focused and strongly, though not individually directed; it issues continuously and as a steady stream, sent forth on the wings of jealousy, ambition, pride in a personal grasp of a supposed situation and a belief that the one who criticizes is in a position to understand correctly and could - given right opportunity - take right action. Where the criticism is voiced and expressed in words, it is consequently strengthened by the cooperation of those influenced by the criticism and the consequences of this group-directed thought may result in the physical undoing, and disruption of the physical body of the leader or leaders. This may be a new thought to some and should cause many in the New Age groups to arrest their [618] thoughts and so release their leaders from the disastrous impact of their criticism.

I refer not here to hate, though that is often present, either consciously or unconsciously, but simply to the "sitting in judgment" and to the idle critical gossip which seems necessary to the average group member. It is like the very breath of death and it can not only kill the leader through accumulated poison and distress but it can also kill the group life and render abortive the efforts which could, if given cooperation and time to develop, prove constructive agencies through which the Hierarchy might work.

From every side and in every group there streams in on the group leader directed criticism, poisonous thoughts, untrue formulated ideas, idle gossip of a destructive kind, the imputation of motives, the unspoken jealousies and hates, the frustrated ambitions of group members, their resentments and their unsatisfied desires for prominence or for recognition by the leader or leaders, their desires to see the leader superseded by themselves or by someone else and many other forms of selfishness and mental pride. These produce results in the physical bodies of the leader or leaders and often in the emotional bodies. The responsibility of the group member is, therefore, great and it is one which they seldom recognize or shoulder. It is hard for them to appreciate the dire effects when one person is the target for group criticism and when the directed thought of a number of persons is focused on one or two individuals.

The more highly evolved the group leader, the greater the pain and suffering. First ray people who have naturally a "technique of isolation" suffer less than many for they know how to shut off these directed streams of force and how to deflect them and - when they are not deeply spiritual people - they can return them to their originators and thus wreak [619] havoc in their lives. Second ray persons do not and cannot work this way. They are naturally absorbers and magnetically attract all that is in their environment which is directed towards them. That is why Christ paid the penalty of death. He was killed, not only by His enemies, but also by His so-called friends.

You might here ask. What can a leader or a group of leaders do in these unfortunately normal and usual circumstances? Nothing, but continue in the work; retreat within themselves; speak the truth with love when occasion occurs; refuse to become bitter over the pain which the group occasions and wait until the group members learn the lessons of cooperation, of silence, of loving appreciation and a wise realization and understanding of the problems with which all group leaders are faced in these difficult and individualistic days. That time will come.

Then there is the reverse of this problem and one that must be faced by many group leaders. In this reverse situation, the leader is overcome and (if I might use such a phrase) is "smothered" by the devotion of certain of the group members. Group leaders can be almost annihilated by the personality love of people. But this is not of such a poisonous nature as the difficulties above referred to, for - though it is handicapping and leads to many forms of difficulty, misunderstanding and group reaction - it is along the line of love and not of separation and hate. It produces what is esoterically called "the crippling of the one who seeks to serve and the binding of his hands and feet."

One other difficulty I will touch upon for it is important in so far that it is a group activity, carried forward as a whole and is not the act of one individual or a small handful of individuals within the group. I refer to the way in which at this time a group drains the life of its leader or leaders. The [620] umbilical cord (speaking symbolically) is seldom cut between the leader and the group. That was the major mistake of the groups in the Piscean age. Always they remained attached to the leader or - when aroused to hate or dislike - they violently disrupted the tie and severed the relationship, causing much distress and unnecessary suffering to the group as well as to the leader. In the New Age the cord will be cut early in the life of the group but the leader or group of leaders will remain for a long time (as does the mother of a child) the guiding inspiration, the loving protecting force and the source of instruction and of teaching. When this is the case, the group can proceed upon its way and live its life as a self-directing agent even when the leader passes over to the other side or there is a change in leadership for some good reason or other.

According to the general flow of group life and activity so will be the effect - emotional and physical - upon any sensitive group member; the more frequent the physical contact between the group members the more definite will be the group problems and difficulties, however. Groups in the New Age will be held together by a subjective link and not so much by the emotional reaction induced by outer contact. I would ask you to ponder carefully upon this last paragraph for it holds the clue to the successful working of the new groups. It is from group life and group atmosphere that much infection arises, leading to difficulties of a physical nature. Disease is largely of group origin and the mystics and sensitive of the world most easily succumb. In these early stages of true group work, the difficulties which arise from group contacts are frequently of a purely physiological nature and are not so deep seated as those with which we have earlier been dealing. This is a point to be remembered. Physical trouble and disease is not of so serious a nature as psychological. [621]

B.IV.3.b. Respirational Diseases of Mystics

There is little to say about this. It will constitute a major difficulty as the groups grow in strength and power. Just in so far as they are objective and not subjective so will this trouble increase. I refer to those diseases affecting the breathing apparatus which arise from group contact; I do not refer to the same difficulties which are brought by the individual to the group. Esoterically, the reason for this should be obvious. Mistakes in speech, idle talk and gossip, the effects of the leaders' words - all these will have a subjective result little grasped or realized by the average student and all these work out as physical effects - either good or bad. Owing to the newness of this theme and the lack of evidence to substantiate my statements, I can only call your attention to the latent possibilities and leave time to demonstrate the accuracy of my position. Curiously enough this whole subject of breathing - individual and group breathing - is evoking its own paralleling solution in the emphasis that is being laid in many esoteric groups upon breathing exercises, upon the sounding of the Aum (which is the breath of the soul when correctly sounded) and on the practice (under different formulas) of rhythm. These are all the unrecognized effort on the part of the group - instinctual in nature more than intelligently planned - to offset certain definitely sensed group dangers.

These practices can be beneficial if carefully carried out, but often induce their own peculiar problems. The sounding of the Aum, for instance, by the unprepared or by groups who are intrigued by the activity but who have no faintest idea of what they are doing, carries with it definite difficulties. However, the special difficulties of group work in the New Age can be offset by certain esoteric exercises and practices connected with the respiratory tract. More than this I [622] can not say for the new groups are in their infancy and group difficulties have not yet developed on a large scale nor are the future problems (incident to the occult and pronounced mystical nature of these groups) of so defined a nature that they can evoke understanding formulation.

B.IV.4. Problems of Mystics connected with Present Ray Influences

Today we are watching the passing out of the sixth ray energy and the growing power and activity of the seventh ray. The energy which is withdrawing itself from our planet in one of the cyclic crises has for centuries expressed itself through the planetary solar plexus and also, as might be inferred, through the solar plexus center of the average aspirant. This has led to much of the digestive difficulties, plus the emotional problems (and are they not closely related) from which the majority of people have suffered in this age and generation. The intense one-pointed attitude, the fanatical state of mind, the sacrifice of the personal life to the sensed ideal have all brought about a dangerous condition in those organs of the body which lie below the diaphragm. This should be remembered.

The seventh ray, working as it does through the center at the base of the spine, will in time have a peculiar effect upon the entire circulatory system, for this basic center is connected with the life-force and, as you know, the "blood is the life". It works with the highest center in the body and is therefore related to the entire problem of the polarities. It is consequently one of the factors which will increase the difficulties connected with the various psychological "cleavages" with which we have earlier dealt. It concerns the human triplicity of spirit-soul-body, the duality of soul and personality and [623] the major aspects of Deity, spirit and matter, as well as the many groupings of the pairs of opposites with which the mystic is so constantly concerned and which he has eventually to resolve into a unity. The recognition of this will make clear how complex are the problems and the possibilities arising out of the stimulation which will be felt as the "will to circulate, the will to relate and the will to express" makes its presence felt with the manifestation of the seventh ray. This force, as far as the individual is concerned, will play upon the center at the base of the spine, arousing it into a hitherto unknown activity. These aspects of the will life are fortunately for humanity far from full development, but much of the present world confusion and the swing between the expressed extremes, are to be attributed to the play of these new forces. Much of the untimely and over-emphasized expression of the Will aspect of certain nations and individuals is connected with the coming into manifestation of this seventh ray and the passing out of the old. The problem is greatly increased by the fact that there is apparently a pronounced affinity between the fanatical idealistic will of the sixth ray - which is crystallized, directed, unwavering, emotional emphasis - and the will force of the untrained magical worker who is influenced by seventh ray energy, working through the center at the base of the spine.

The distinction between these two forces and their expression at this time is subtle in the extreme and most difficult for the neophyte to distinguish. Each one leads to its own difficulties. I only mention them here as they constitute a problem of a mystical nature with which the Hierarchy has to deal but with which the average aspirant need not attempt to cope as yet.

As I conclude this discussion of the problems and diseases of the mystics, I realize far more than you can that I have been [624] able to say little about the last few points, particularly about those connected with group or ray problems. This was unavoidable and inevitable. The new age groups are, as yet, seldom found, though many new age people are coming into manifestation. Only in the middle of the next century will the really new type of group emerge. Tentative beginnings of such groups are to be found today but their success or their failure is an unstable matter and both so ephemeral that it is not easy yet to bring them under law. One ambitious, disloyal person, for instance, can wreck a group; one selfless, non-critical, consecrated person can swing the group into successful work. This will indicate to you the potency of the individual and the fact that he can temporarily and at any given moment prove stronger than the group because the group has yet no true understanding of group activity, group coherency and group vitality. The mystic therefore suffers as a result of this condition, producing diseases and psychological difficulties which are not only personal but are often the result of the fluidity of the conditions in which he his to live.

One of the reasons guaranteeing the power of the Hierarchy and its freedom from any psychological problems inherent in group work and from any mystical or occult disturbances is its stability, its coherency and the surety of its touch on life. The mystic and the occultist are frequently passing through a cycle of insecurity and of transition from doubt as to the future's possible revelations, into a faith that the testimony of the ages is based on incontrovertible fact. The average mystic and occult student therefore lacks stability in his environing conditions and faith in his group affiliations. The greatest contribution to world thought at this time is the emerging recognition everywhere to be found of [625] the finiteness of man's knowledge, of the insufficiency of his accumulated wisdom to cope with the world situation, and of his inability as yet to produce that workable plan which will lead the race out of its present difficulties and impasse. Human beings are neither sure of themselves nor of each other, and the greater their sensitivity the more complex their reaction and the more complicated and disastrous the physiological and psychological effects. Humanity as a whole is becoming mystical in its orientation and consciousness. The intelligentsia of the race are adding to that mystical awareness (which is always there, even if unrecognized or repudiated) a rapidly developing sense of occult understanding.

The Atlantean consciousness of adolescent humanity is giving way to the more developed consciousness of the mature human being. The problems, difficulties, diseases and disturbances of the man who is mystically oriented, introspective and enquiring, will, during the next few centuries, give place to the problems and complexities of the man who is becoming group conscious and who is working with an extraverted awareness in a group of some kind or another. I would remind you here that - as a result of the Piscean influence during the past two thousand years - such groups are predominantly idealistic.

This brings us to one of the most interesting parts of our treatise, which is the influence of the rays today and in the Aquarian age which is now upon us. This should prove of practical value. Let us bring to the work of the new cycle which is opening before us a renewed aspiration, a deepened love and a livelier faith, remembering, as we study the future, that Faith is one of our major needs, being "the Substance of things hoped for, the Evidence of things not seen". [629]