16. ALICE BAILEY - The Destiny of the Nations - 07. SPIRITUAL LIFE IN THE NEW AGE.

SPIRITUAL LIFE IN THE NEW AGE.

 One point I would like here to bring to your attention and that is that the two great groups of divine agents — the Great White Brotherhood and the Lodge of Materialistic Forces — are both of them seeking to divert these energies into channels which will further the ends for which they work and for which they were formed and exist.  Therefore, I would ask you to remember that behind all the outer events are these two directing agencies.  You have, as a consequence:

1. Two groups of advanced Minds, both equally illumined by the light of the intellect, and both of them formulating clearly their objectives, but differing in their direction and their emphasis.  One group, under the divine plan, works with the form aspect entirely, and in this group the light of love and of selflessness is absent.  The other group is working entirely with the soul or the consciousness aspect, and in this group the doctrine of the heart and the law of love control.

In this connection, the two groups are working in opposition, therefore, upon the mental plane.

2. The plans, which embody these two differing ideals and objectives, are carried down on to the astral plane, and thus into the world of desire.  The lines of demarcation remain ever entirely clear as far as the workers in these two groups are concerned, but are not so clear where ordinary human beings and the world disciples and initiates are concerned.  There is much chaos on the plane of desire, and the world Arjuna is today sitting in bewilderment between the two opposing forces or camps, recognising his relationship both to form and to soul and at the same time wondering where his duty lies.  His point in evolution determines his problem.

Thus the two groups are working in opposition upon the plane of desire.

3. The materialising of the plans of these two groups of illumined minds proceeds steadily under the differing laws of their being — the laws of form life and the laws of spiritual living.  In this initial stage and whilst the battle is being fought out in the realm of desire (for that is where the major conflict is being waged, and all that is happening upon the physical plane is only a reflection of an inner conflict) the forces of these two groups, working with the energies of the sixth and seventh rays, have brought about in the field of physical living, a state of complete cataclysm.  The economic situation and the religious hatreds are the two major instruments.  This is a subject upon which you would do well to ponder.

Consequently, you have two groups, two objectives, two great formulated ideals, two streams of active energy and two rays predominantly in conflict, thus producing the differing ideologies.  The result of this dualism is the external chaos, the differentiation of the two group ideals into the many human experiments, and the resultant ranging of the entire human family under many banners, which testify to the various viewpoints in the many fields of thought — political, religious, economic, social, educational and philosophical.  The result of all this conflict is, I would tell you, definitely good, and it demonstrates the steady achievement of the Great White Lodge.  The consciousness of humanity has been definitely expanded and the whole world of men at this time is thinking.  This is a totally new phenomenon and a fresh experience in the life of the human soul.  The first result of all the turmoil has been to shift the focus of human attention on to the mental plane and thereby nearer to the sources of light and love.

It is right here and in connection with this eventful change of focus that the world disciples can shoulder responsibility and proceed to active work.  When I here speak of disciples, I am using the term in connection with all who aspire to true humanity, to brotherhood, and to the living expression of the higher and spiritual values.  I am not using it altogether in the technical sense, which involves a recognised relation to the Hierarchy through the grades of probationary or accepted discipleship, though these are included in my thought.  I refer to all aspirants and to all who have any sense of true values and an urge to meet the world's need.

To understand a little the problem involved and the differing modes of work which characterise those who worked in the past under the influence of the sixth ray and those who are learning to work under the influence of the incoming seventh ray, it might be helpful if we compared very briefly the two systems of activity.  I would ask you to remember that both systems and modes of work are equally right in their time and place, but that the modern disciple should be discarding the old methods and steadily learning to employ the new and more modern and effective modes of work.  This he must learn to do optimistically and with assurance, knowing that the benefits and the experience gained under the sixth ray system of discipline is still his most precious possession because it has been transmuted from method and mode into characteristics and established habits.  It is the new ways of working and the new forces and objectives which the disciple of this present era has to master; he must do this relying upon the lessons learnt in the past and must base his new structure of truth upon the foundations and the stabilised orientations, which must now be established.

The first step for the sincere aspirant is at this point to stop for a moment to enquire and discover whether he is working primarily under the sixth ray impulse or the seventh ray influence.  I use these words "impulse and influence" deliberately because they describe the general effect of the two functioning energies.  Upon one thing all disciples and aspirants can rely and this is the basic and enduring effect of all the sixth ray potencies which have been established during the past two thousand years.  These must be counted upon, offset and understood and the newer influence must then be studied, the newer methods investigated and mastered, and the new ideas and idealisms must be brought through into objectivity and so expressed in a new way.  Only thus can the new civilisation and culture be wisely and sanely produced and the foundations laid for the development of the human family along right lines during the coming era.  It will be of value, therefore, to compare the old and the new ways of discipline and of training, of attribute and quality, and of method and objectives.

Let us take the sixth ray methods of activity and its major characteristics first of all.  They are, for us, the most familiar and can be rapidly considered, enabling us to pass on to the new ways of demonstrating and discovering the ancient wisdom, and to the comprehension of the fresh modes of working which will give new vitality to the work of the Hierarchy upon the physical plane.

The outstanding characteristic of the disciple and the aspirant under the old regime wasdevotion.  The race had, of necessity, to achieve a different and right orientation to the world of spiritual values, and hence the effort of the Hierarchy during the past twenty centuries was to lay the emphasis upon the realm of religious values.  The world religions have held the centre of the stage for several thousand years in an effort to make humanity seek one-pointedly for the soul and thus prepare itself for the emergence of the fifth kingdom in nature.  This is slated (if I might use such a specialised word) to come into manifestation during the imminent Aquarian age; this age will be predominantly the age of worldwide discipleship, leading later to the age of universal initiation in Capricornian times.  Therefore the great world religions have held authoritative sway for a very long time; their peculiar tenets, adapted to specific nation, race or time, embodied some truth through the medium of some particular teacher who attracted to himself individuals throughout the world who were spiritually minded, because he expressed for them the highest goal towards which they could possibly strive.  All the world religions have been thus built around an embodied Idea, Who, in His Own Person, expressed the immediate ideal of the time and age.  He demonstrated certain divine attributes and concepts which it was necessary to present to the vision of the sons of men as their possible and immediate goal.  In these manifestations — as I have earlier pointed out — the sixth ray influence can easily be seen.  When, however, an individual sixth ray influence can be noted in an era wherein the sixth ray is uniquely active, then the reason for the potency of the religious idea, as expressed in theological dogma and doctrine and the universal authority of the Churches can be seen.

This orientation of man to the world of higher values has been the main objective of the Piscean age which is ending now and of the sixth ray influence which is so rapidly passing out.  Though there has never been a time when this basic orientation has not been going steadily forward, it is of value to bear in mind that during the past two thousand years a much higher, rarer and more difficult process of orientation has been held before the race and for the following reason.  The fourth kingdom in nature has been definitely attracted upwards towards the emerging fifth kingdom and this has made necessary also the shift of attention away from the three worlds of human endeavour and expression into the higher world of soul consciousness.  It has necessitated likewise the refocussing of the instinctual and intellectual attention which are the main factors in the unfoldment of divine awareness.  This awareness can be instinctual, intellectual and therefore human, and also spiritual.  But all three are equally divine, which is a point oft forgotten.

The second objective of the sixth ray disciple or of the man who is emerging out of the sixth ray influence but is still conditioned by it (being a representative human being from the current evolutionary angle) has been the unfolding of the "capacity for abstraction," as it has been called.  The outstanding quality of our day and period, as a result of transmuting human quality and character in and through its disciples, has been the expression of the idealistic nature of man, or of his instinctual response to the higher intuitional values.  In the past, highly developed but rare people have here and there demonstrated this power to abstract the consciousness from the material or form side of life and to focus it upon the ideal and upon the formless expression of living truth.  Today, whole masses of people and entire nations are regimented to certain forms of idealism and can and do appreciate ideas, formulated into ideals.  Thus again the success of the evolutionary process can be seen and the work of the Hierarchy, as it endeavours to expand human consciousness, can be demonstrated to be effective.

Because of the potency of the sixth ray activity, owing to the long period wherein it has been expressing itself, the reaction of the average human being is one of intense devotion to his particular ideal, plus the effort, fanatically, to impose his idealistic dream (for that is all it potentially is) upon his fellowmen and to do so in such a form that unfortunately the original idea is lost, the primal ideal is destroyed and the devotee becomes much more occupied by the method of applying his ideal than by the ideal itself.  Thus the idea is lost in the ideal and the ideal, in its turn, in the method of its application.  The man becomes the devotee of an ideal which may or may not be embodied in an individual expression; this controls his thoughts, fore-ordains his activities and leads him frequently to merciless excesses in the interest of his peculiar and formulated idea.

Under the immediate expression of the sixth ray, the divine principle of desire has shifted potently away from the desire for material form into the realm of higher desire.  Though materialism is still rampant, there are few people who are not animated by certain definite idealistic aspirations for which they are ready, when needed, to make sacrifices.  This is a relatively new phenomenon and one that should be carefully noted.  Down the ages, great sons of God have ever been ready to die for an idea; today, whole masses of men are equally ready and have done so, whether it is the idea of a superhuman state, empire or nation, or some response to a major world need, or some potent adherence to some current ideology.  This indicates phenomenal racial achievement and the pronounced success of the Hierarchy to shift human attention into the world from whence ideas emerge and on to the higher and the less material values.

The instinct which has characterised this passing sixth ray period and which has been noticeably fostered under its influence is that of taste — taste in food, in human intercourse, in colour, in form, in art and architecture and in all branches of human knowledge.  This discriminating taste has reached a relatively high stage of development during the past two thousand years and "good taste" is a highly cherished mass virtue and objective today.  This is a totally new thing and one which has been hitherto the prerogative of the highly cultured few.  Ponder on this.  It connotes evolutionary achievement.  For the disciples of the world, this sense of taste has to be transmuted into its higher correspondence — a discriminating sense of values.  Hence the clear emphasis laid in all textbooks on discipleship upon the need to develop discrimination.  Desire — taste — discrimination; these are the values, under the sixth ray, for all evolutionary unfoldment and peculiarly the goal of all disciples.

The methods whereby the activity of the sixth ray and its objectives have been imposed upon the race are three in number:

1. The development of instinct.  This is followed by intelligently recognised desire and thus there is a steady expansion of requirements, of realisation and then of reorientation.

2. The consequent stimulation of the human consciousness towards expansion, leading finally to spiritual aspiration.

3. The reflection of reality in the mind consciousness follows next and this is sensed, demanded and sought through the medium of group work.

The apparatus of the human being, which is the mechanism whereby the soul contacts the three worlds which would be otherwise (under the present plan) sealed and hidden to the experience and experiment of the soul, has been more acutely sensitised and developed during the past two thousand years than in any previous period of ten thousand years.  The reason for this is that the mind of man has been consciously aiding in the process of coordinating the instincts and transmuting instinctual reaction, translating it into intelligent perception.  In the case of the world disciples, this process has been carried forward into the next stage of unfoldment to which we give the name of intuitional knowledge.  The counterparts of the five senses and their higher correspondences upon the subtler planes are being rapidly unfolded, organised and recognised and it is by means of these inner senses that spiritual discovery becomes possible as well as the more familiar psychic discoveries.  In the three phases:

a. Instinct to aspiration

b. Stimulation of divine desire

c. The reflection of reality

you have the history of the activity of the sixth ray and of its relation during the past few centuries to its major field of expression, the astral plane.

We can now proceed to consider the seventh ray in its relation to the present situation in just the same way as we considered the sixth ray.  Through doing this, there will unfold in your consciousness an idea of the developing process and of the emerging events and of the imminent happenings which may logically be expected.  There are, as you may realise, two ways in which any particular ray may be considered.  It can be studied, first of all, from the angle of energy which is ever coming into relation with other energies and forces, producing through their meeting and frequent conflict a situation entirely different and changed from that which existed prior to the contact.  The stages of this import might be covered briefly by the following words:  Contact, conflict, adjustment, equilibrium (a form of stalemate or static condition such as was arrived at during the 19th century), absorption and the final disappearance of the weaker outgoing energy.  The conclusion is always inevitable for it is not the rays themselves which are in conflict but the substance and the forms which are implicated during the period.  Secondly:  the quality of the ray can be considered.  This is in reality the expression of its soul and intrinsic nature, which — impinging upon the condition existing when the ray comes into manifestation — definitely does three things:

1. Changes the nature of the civilisation and the culture of humanity in any given period.  It is this force which the Hierarchy utilises when any meeting of the ray energies takes place.  The culture is first changed, because all basic quality changes work ever from above downwards, and it is the intelligentsia who are at first sensitive to the incoming differences.  Form changes then automatically reverse the process.  It is thus that points of juncture inevitably occur throughout the evolutionary process.  When the scientists concerned with the theory and processes of evolution accept and study the ray procedure, definite changes in attitude and a closer approach to the truth will at once appear.  This concept also lies behind the teaching which I have given anent the Great Approaches which must take place (and can take place very shortly) between the fourth and the fifth kingdoms in nature.  Of the fifth kingdom, the Hierarchy is the dynamic and living nucleus.

2. Changes in the other kingdoms in nature, producing a different quality in the manifestation of the soul of any kingdom (for they all differ in soul quality) and consequently changes in the form aspect as well.

3. Changes in the type of egos or souls which will take incarnation during any particular ray period.  By this I mean that just as during the age which is now coming to an end, the bulk of the incarnating souls were predominantly sixth ray in quality, so we can look for an increasing number of seventh ray egos now to appear.  The furtherance of the coming seventh ray civilisation of synthesis, fusion, and of increased soul expression, and the development of the new stage into which the white magic of the Hierarchy is entering is, therefore, inevitable and for this stage there should be definite preparation and training.

The powers of the magical age are many and one of the reasons why the seventh ray is now making its appearance is that, owing to the rapid perfecting and integration of the human personality, the higher integration between soul and personality is today more possible and more easily accomplished than ever before.  The new forms, through which that much desired consummation can be affected, must be consequently gradually and scientifically developed.  This, as you may well conceive, will be achieved through the intensification of the forces, functioning through the etheric body, through the coordination of the seven major centres, and the establishing of their rhythmic relationship.  The seventh ray governs predominantly upon the etheric levels of the physical plane.  It does not govern the dense physical form which is under the control of the third ray.  It is the vital or the etheric body which is responsive to and developed by the incoming seventh ray influences.

In considering the methods whereby the seventh ray purposes are achieved, I would like to point out that it is in this part of our discussion that I am limited and handicapped by language, because we are dealing with that which is new and, therefore, not as yet to be truly comprehended, and with those developments which will be eventually brought about by means of a true and scientific magic.  This new magic will have no more relation to the crude attempts and oft ridiculous undertakings of the magicians, alchemists and performers of the past than c-a-t, cat, has to an algebraical formula.  I would remind you also that in that home of ancient magic which you call Egypt, the magical work there performed was definitely concentrated upon the producing of physical effects and material results, and that the focus of the attention of the magician of the day can be seen in the stupendous production of those ancient and gigantic forms, standing silent and still in their pristine magnificence, which today call for the attention of archaeologists and travellers; the forms of lesser magic which they produced were dedicated to the magical protection of the physical form and allied matters.  In later days, we have the appearance of alchemy in its many forms plus its search for the Philosopher's Stone and the teaching as to the three basic mineral elements.  They were driven esoterically and from the subjective side of life to search for that which could unify the three lower physical levels and this is in its nature deeply symbolic of racial unfoldment.  These levels symbolise the integrated man — physical, astral and mental.  When to these elements the Philosopher's Stone is added and has done its magical work, then you have the symbolic representation of the control by the soul of the four higher levels of the physical plane, the etheric or energy levels.  Of this desirable consummation, the Philosopher's Stone is the emblem.  I said "emblem," and I did not say "symbol."  A symbol is an outer and visible sign of an inner and spiritual reality, carried out into expression upon the physical plane by the force of the inner embodied life.  An emblem is man's formulation of a concept, created by man and embodying for him the truth as he sees it and understands it.  A symbol is ever greater in its implications than is an emblem.

The etheric levels are also the field of expression for the soul, whether it is the human soul or the soul as an expression of the higher triad, the monadic life.  I wonder whether any of you have the faintest idea what will happen to humanity when the inner subjective reality, functioning through the etheric and pouring its forces unimpeded through the centres in that body, will have made its major controlling integration with the dense physical apparatus, reducing it to complete submission as a result of the higher integration, consummated between the soul and the personality.

We are, therefore, at a most interesting and crucial period in racial and planetary history — a period unlike any which has preceded it and for the reason that the evolutionary process has been definitely successful in spite of all failures, mistakes, and delays; of these latter there have been many owing to the refusal (curious and difficult to understand in your eyes) of the Energies, concentrated at Shamballa, to impose the force of will on matter and on form until such time as this can be done with the cooperation of the human family.  This has never been possible hitherto, owing to the unpreparedness of man for the task and his ignorance as to the Plan.  The Lord of Shamballa and His Helpers have had to wait until at least the dim outlines of the Plan had penetrated through into the consciousness of the race; this is beginning to happen with increasing frequency, and from day to day more and more intelligent men and women are coming (or are being brought) into touch with the emerging ideas of the Hierarchy.  We can look, therefore, for the steady appearance, gradually and cautiously applied, of the will energy of the highest centre (Shamballa) which is to be found upon our planet.  This centre corresponds to the monadic centre which makes its power felt in the consciousness of the disciple who is ready for the third initiation.  Once the second initiation has been taken, the watching Hierarchy can begin to note the constant reorientation of the soul towards the monad, and the attractive power of that highest aspect over the initiate.  Today, so many members of the human family — in incarnation or out of incarnation — have taken the first two initiations that the attention of Shamballa is being increasingly turned to humanity, via the Hierarchy, whilst simultaneously the thoughts of men are being turned to the Plan, to the use of the will in direction and guidance, and to the nature of dynamic force.  The quality, for instance, of the explosive and dynamic nature of war in this century is indicative of this, for the will energy in one of its aspects is an expression of death and destruction; the first ray is the ray of the destroyer.  What can, therefore, be seen occurring is the effect of the Shamballa force upon the forms in nature, due to the misuse of the incoming energy by man.  War in the past, speaking generally and esoterically, has been based consistently upon the attractive power of possessions and this has led to the aggressive and grasping character of the motives which have led to war.  Gradually there has been a change coming about and war has lately been founded upon somewhat higher motives and the acquisition of more land and territorial possessions has not been the true and the main motive.  War has been prompted by economic necessity, or it has been in the nature of the imposition of the will of some nation or group of nations and their desire to impose some ideology or other upon some nation or to rid itself of a worn out system of thought, of government, of religious dogma which is holding back racial development.  This is being now consciously done and is an expression of the Shamballa or will force and is not so definitely the desire force of the past.

The seventh ray is one of the direct lines along which this first ray energy can travel and here again is another reason for its appearance at this time, because, in the releasing of the life into the new and improved forms, the old ways of living, of culture and of civilisation have to be destroyed or modified.  This is, all of it, the work of the first Ray of Will expressing itself predominantly at this present time through the seventh Ray of Organisation and Relationship.

When we studied the sixth ray, we considered first of all the effect of the ray upon the work and training, the life and the plans of the disciple, conditioning as it inevitably must his activities and life output.  Then we considered the motivating principle of desire in this connection and finally touched upon the three modes of the prevalent ray activity.  Let us follow the same procedure now, thus gaining some idea of the relationship between the sixth and the seventh rays and the manner in which the potency of the sixth ray has prepared humanity for the imminent happenings with which it is faced.

What I have now to say will not be followed with ease or with due appreciation by the sixth ray disciple, because the methods employed by Those Who are handling and directing the new energies are not comprehensible by him, grounded as he is in the methods of the past; hence the appearance of the fundamentalist schools, found in every field of thought — religious, political and even scientific.  Again, when the sixth ray disciple attempts to use the new incoming energies, they express themselves for him upon the astral plane and the result is astral magic, deepened glamour and pronounced deception.  To this fact must be ascribed today the appearance of teachers, claiming to teach magic, to bring about certain magical results, to work with rays of differing colours and to utilise Words of Power, to pronounce decrees and to be repositories of the hitherto unrevealed wishes and secrets of the Masters of the Wisdom.  It is all a form of astral glamour, and the contacting upon the astral plane of that which will later precipitate upon earth.  But the time is not yet and the hour for such usages has not arrived.  The sense of time and the understanding of the correct hour for the carrying out of the Plan in its future detail has not been learnt by these sincere, but deluded, people and — focussed as they are upon the astral plane and undeveloped as they are mentally — they misinterpret to themselves and for others that which they there psychically sense.  They know far too little and yet believe that they know much.  They speak with authority, but it is the authority of the unexpanded mind.  The expression of old magical patterns, the digging up of hints and indications of crystallised and worn-out methods from the ancient past is all too prevalent at this time and it is responsible for much deception of the masses and consequent mass delusion.

White magic — as I would have you remember — is concerned with the unfoldment of the soul in form and its gaining needed experience thereby.  It is not concerned with direct work upon the form but with the indirect influence of the soul, functioning in any form in every kingdom in nature as it brings the form under its control, thereby effecting needed and developing changes in the apparatus of contact.  The white magician knows that when the proper and correct ray stimulation is applied to the centre which we call the soul in any form but not to the form itself, that then the soul, thus stimulated, will do its own work of destruction, of attraction, of rebuilding and of a consequent renewed life manifestation.  This is true of the soul of man, of the soul of a nation and of the soul of humanity itself.  Bear this in mind, for I have here stated a basic and fundamental rule by which all white magic is agelessly governed.

It is for this reason that the seventh ray is spoken of as governing the mineral kingdom and also as manifesting through its mediumship that significant soul characteristic and quality which we call radiation.  That word effectively describes the result of soul stimulation upon and within every form.  The life of the soul eventually radiates beyond the form and this radiation produces definite and calculated effects.  The sixth ray is, as you know, very closely related to the animal kingdom and its effect there is to produce in the higher forms of animal life the quality and expression of domesticity, and the adaptability of the animal to human contact.  The rays controlling the animal kingdom are the seventh, the third and the sixth.  Hence you can easily see that the relation which exists between the higher animals and man is a ray relation and, therefore, useful under the evolutionary law and inevitable in its results.  The rays governing the vegetable kingdom are the sixth, the second and the fourth and here again there is an interlocking relation through the medium of the sixth ray.  The human kingdom is governed by the fourth, the fifth and again the fourth and this again indicates relationship.  Some day these relations and inter-connected lines of force will be better understood and scientifically studied and the lines of related energies investigated.  This interlocking directorate of energies will engage the attention of some of the best minds and when that takes place much will be learnt.  This information is, however, of negligible use at this time and will remain so until such time as men are sensitive to the vibration of the different rays and can isolate a ray rhythm in their consciousness.  When this sensitivity is developed, then many rapid, significant and revolutionary discoveries will be made.

One of the inevitable effects of seventh ray energy will be to relate and weld into a closer synthesis the four kingdoms in nature.  This must be done as preparatory to the long fore-ordained work of humanity which is to be the distributing agency for spiritual energy to the three subhuman kingdoms.  This is the major task of service which the fourth kingdom, through its incarnating souls, has undertaken.  The radiation from the fourth kingdom will some day be so potent and far-reaching that its effects will permeate down into the very depths of the created phenomenal world, even into the mineral kingdom.  Then we shall see the results to which the great initiate, Paul, refers when he speaks of the whole creation waiting for the manifestation of the Sons of God.  That manifestation is that of radiating glory and power and love.

Incidentally I might point out here that the seventh ray influence will have three definite effects upon the fourth and third kingdoms in nature.  These are as follows:

1. All animal bodies will be steadily refined and in the case of humanity consciously refined, and so brought to a higher and more specialised state of development.  This is today proceeding with rapidity.  Diet and athletics, open air and sunshine are doing much for the race and in the next two generations fine bodies and sensitive natures will make their appearance and the soul will have far better instruments through which to work.

2. The relation between the human and the animal kingdoms will become increasingly close.  The service of the animal to man is well recognised and of ceaseless expression.  The service of man to the animals is not yet understood though some steps in the right direction are being taken.  There must eventually be a close synthesis and sympathetic coordination between them and when this is the case some very extraordinary occurrences of animal mediumship under human inspiration will take place.  By means of this, the intelligent factor in the animal (of which instinct is the embryonic manifestation) will be rapidly developed and this is one of the outstanding results of the intended human-animal relationship.

3. There will be, as a consequence of this quickened evolution, the rapid destruction of certain types of animal bodies.  Very low grade human bodies will disappear, causing a general shift in the racial types towards a higher standard.  Many species of animals will also die out and are today disappearing, and hence the increasing emphasis upon the preservation of animals and the establishing of game preserves.

In this comparative, even if inadequate, study of the old and of the new types of discipleship, one of the problems facing the Hierarchy is how to bring about the necessary changes in technique and method of development which the seventh ray type will require and yet at the same time so condition these changes that there can be smooth process of adjustment and interplay between the Hierarchy and the world aspirants.  This adjustment must include the two groups (one at present large and the other still small) of sixth and seventh ray disciples.  The problems of the Hierarchy are, of course, no real concern of those who have not achieved liberation and cannot, therefore, look at life through the eyes of those who are no longer held by the forces of the three worlds, but it might serve a useful purpose if disciples occasionally gave some thought to the relation as it exists upon the Master's side and gave less thought to their own individual and peculiar difficulties.

One of the major characteristics of the seventh ray disciple is his intense practicality.  He works upon the physical plane with a constant and steady objective in order to bring about results which will be effective in determining the forms of the coming culture and civilisation; towards the end of the seventh ray cycle he will work equally hard to perpetuate what he has brought about.  He wields force in order to build the forms which will meet his requirements and does this more scientifically than do disciples on other rays.  The sixth ray devotee is far more abstract and mystical in his work and thought, and seldom has any real understanding of the right relation between form and energy.  He thinks almost entirely in terms of quality and pays little attention to the material side of life and the true significance of substance as it produces phenomena.  He is apt to regard matter as evil in nature and form as a limitation, and only lays the emphasis upon soul consciousness as of true importance.  It is this failure to work intelligently, and I would like to add, lovingly with substance and so bring it into right relation with the dense outer form that has made the last two thousand years produce so disastrously a mismanaged world and which has brought the population of the planet into its present serious condition.  The unintelligent work upon the physical plane, carried forward by those influenced by the sixth ray force, has led to a world which is suffering from cleavage in as true a sense as an individual person can suffer from a "split personality."  The lines of demarcation between science and religion are a striking instance of this and have been clearly and forcefully drawn.  The cleavage to which I refer has been drawn by the churchmen of the past and by no one else; the lines have been determined by the mystics, impractical and visionary, and by the fanatical devotees of some idea who were, nevertheless, unable to see the broad implications and the universal nature of these recognised ideas.  I am generalising.  There have been many devoted and holy sons of God who have never been guilty of the above stupidities and separative tendencies.  At the same time as we recognise this, we must also recognise that orthodox religion has temporarily separated the two great concepts of spirit and matter in their thought and teaching, thereby pushing apart religion and science.

The task of the new age workers is to bring these two apparent opposites together, to demonstrate that spirit and matter are not antagonistic to each other and that throughout the universe there is only spiritual substance, working on and producing the outer tangible forms.

When a form and an activity is what you call evil, it is only so because the motivating energy behind the form and responsible for the activity is wrongly oriented, selfishly impulsed and incorrectly used.  Here again the two basic truisms of modern occultism (there are others which will be imparted when these two are mastered and rightly applied) are of importance:

1. Energy follows thought.

2. Right motive creates right action and right forms.

These two statements are of very ancient origin but are as yet but little understood.  Hence the first thing which every disciple has to learn is the nature, control and direction of energy; he does this by working with initiating causes, by learning the nature of the realm of causes and by developing the capacity to get behind the effect to the cause which generated or produced it.  In the case of the individual disciple and in the preliminary stage of his training, this involves the constant investigation of his motives until he has discovered what they are and has so directed his thought that those motives can, in every case, be depended upon to work automatically and dynamically under soul direction.

The sixth ray disciple, in the majority of cases, carries his work down as far as the astral plane and there lies the focus of his attention, his life and his thought.  Automatically and of necessity, his physical nature responds to the impulse sent from the astral plane, motivated from the mental and — at times — directed by the soul.  But the potency of this desire and his determination to see the fruit of his labour has produced much difficulty in the past by arresting the true expression of the originating impulse.  It is arrested upon the astral plane.  This has been balanced by the cyclic intervention of other ray forces or otherwise the situation would be much worse than it is.  The seventh ray disciple will bring the energy which he is wielding right down on to the physical plane, thereby producing integration; and the dualism which characterises it will be that of a centre of energy upon the mental plane and one upon the physical plane.  The dualism of the sixth ray worker is that of the pairs of opposites upon the astral plane.

It will be apparent, therefore, that, having established the two points of energy (mental and physical), the next task of the worker in magic will be to produce a synthesis upon the physical plane of the available energies, to concretise them, and invest that which has been constructed with the potency of activity and persistence.  The energy thus employed will, in the majority of cases, be of three kinds:

1. The energy of the mind.  This will be the dominant controlling energy used during the period of accepted discipleship and until the second initiation.

2. The energy of the soul.  This will be wielded, used and creatively employed from the second until the third initiation.

3. The energy of soul and mind, blended and synthesised.  This combination is of tremendous potency.  After the fourth initiation, this will be augmented by energy coming from the Monad.

I would have you bear in mind that, though all is energy yet at the same time in correct esoteric teaching the higher impulsive activity is called energy and that which is conditioned by and swept into activity through its agency is called force.  The terms are therefore relative and movable.  For the bulk of humanity, for instance, astral impulse is the highest energy to which they normally aspire and the forces upon which astral energy plays will then be the etheric and physical forces.  Higher energies may intermittently control, but as a general rule the life incentive or impulse is astral, and this can either be called desire or aspiration, according to the objective.  The latter may simply be mental ambition or desire for power and the term "aspiration" should not be confined only to so-called religious impulses, mystical longings and the demand for liberation.

The seventh ray disciple works consciously by means of certain laws, which are the laws governing form and its relation to spirit or life.  In A Treatise On Cosmic Fire, I gave you the three major laws of the solar system and the seven subsidiary laws through which these three express themselves; I gave you also indications as to the laws which govern group work.  You must remember that disciples upon different rays will wield these laws according to the quality of their ray impulses (I am handicapped here for words which are appropriate), interpreting them in terms of their specific life obligation or dharma and producing the desired results through the medium of differing ray techniques, conforming always, however, to the inevitability of the results wrought by the energies which they have released to play upon forces under the laws of their being.  The sixth ray disciple, working with the laws of nature and of the soul, will qualify his results and produce his creative forms upon the astral plane; he has consequently to learn frequently to work through a seventh ray personality for several lives (either before or after achieving discipleship) before he will be able to bring through on to the physical plane his dream and his vision.  The seventh ray disciple has no such problem.  By his knowledge of ritual (which is the ancient codified means whereby the attractive and expressive nature of the energies to be employed are organised and related), by his understanding of the "Words of Power" (which he discovers by experiment) and by using the potency of sound, the disciple of the future will work and build the new world with its culture and civilisation.  A curious indication of the effect of the seventh ray magical work upon the mass consciousness is the growing use of slogans and of "catch phrases" (is that not the term used?) which are employed to bring about results and to sweep human beings into certain forms of mass action.  This is the embryonic use of the Words of Power, and from a study of their tonal values, their numerological indications and their inherent potency, men will eventually arrive at vast magical achievements and creations, producing group activity and the appearance of certain forms of expression upon the outer plane.  After all, scientific formulas have reduced the most intricate and abstruse discoveries to a few signs and symbols.  The next step is to embody these signs and symbols into a word or words, thus imparting to them what is esoterically called "the power of embodiment."  If I might express it this way, the ancient statement that "God spoke and the world were made" simply means that God's formula for creation was reduced to a great Word which He sounded forth and the inevitable results followed.  Something of this process on a tiny human scale will be seen happening in the coming age.  At present, what I have said above may sound fanciful and fantastic to the average student.

It will be obvious to you that seventh ray disciples wield much power and for this reason the emphasis in all teaching given is laid upon purity of motive.  In the past, the emphasis has been laid upon purity of body in the case of the sixth ray disciples.  As was inevitable, they have carried the idea to a fanatical extent, and have stressed celibacy, asceticism and stringent rules of physical life, oft making sinful that which is natural.  This has been a necessary stage in their development for it was essential that the physical plane should become a greater factor in their consciousness and that their attention should be turned from the realm of abstraction (which is their line of least resistance) and focussed upon physical living, for, again, energy follows thought.  Thus their attitude to life could become more practical and the necessary integration take place.  Disciples in the new age will lay the emphasis upon the mental principle, because it conditions thought and speech.  All magical work is based upon the energy of thought and of the spoken word (the expression of the two magical centres referred to above) and purity in the realm of the mind and motive is regarded consequently as a basic essential.

The seventh ray influence is that which will produce in a peculiar and unexpected sense the Western School of Occultism just as the sixth ray impulse has produced the Eastern School of Occultism — the latter bringing the light down on to the astral plane and the new incoming influence carrying it down on to the physical.  The Eastern teaching affected Christianity and indicated and determined the lines of its development and Christianity is definitely a bridging religion.  The roles will eventually be reversed and the shift of the "light in the East" will be over Europe and America.  This will inevitably bring about the needed and desired synthesis of the mystical way and the occult path.  It will lead later to the formulation of the higher way; of this it is useless to speak at this time for you would not comprehend.  None of the foundational and ancient Rules of the Road will ever be abrogated or discarded.  Just as men used to travel on the ancient highways on foot, conforming to the requirement of their time and age, and today travel by rail or automobile (arriving at the same destination) so the same road will be followed, the same goal achieved but there may be different procedures, varying safeguards and changed protective measure.  The rules may vary from time to time in order to provide easier indication and adequate protection.  The training of the disciple in the future will differ in detail from that of the past but the basic rules remain authoritative.