296. A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - 14. DIVISION E - MOTION ON THE PHYSICAL AND ASTRAL PLANES - Part 3 - A. BAILEY

DIVISION E - MOTION ON THE PHYSICAL AND ASTRAL PLANES - Part 3

3rd

FORMLESS

Response to group vibration

2nd

FORMLESS

Spiritual telepathy

1st

FORMLESS

Buddhic.....

1. Comprehension	7th
2. Healing	6th
3. Divine vision	5th
4. Intuition	4th
5. Idealism	3rd

Atmic.....

1. Beatitude	7th
2. Active service	6th
3. Realisation	5th
4. Perfection	4th
5. All knowledge	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 realisation 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 visualised, using the above table as the basis:

a. The First Sense......Hearing.

1. Physical hearing.

2. Clairaudience.

3. Higher clairaudience.

4. Comprehension (of four sounds)

5. Beatitude.

b. The Second Sense.....Touch or feeling.

1. Physical touch.

2. Psychometry.

3. Planetary psychometry.

4. Healing.

5. Active service.

c. The Third Sense......Sight.

1. Physical sight.

2. Clairvoyance.

3. Higher clairvoyance.

4. Divine vision.

5. Realisation.

d. The Fourth Sense.....Taste.

1. Physical taste.

2. Imagination.

3. Discrimination.

4. Intuition.

5. Perfection.

e. The Fifth Sense......Smell.

1. Physical smell.

2. Emotional idealism.

3. Spiritual discernment.

4. Idealism.

5. All knowledge.

[190]

Let us now proceed to take up each of these senses in detail:

a. Hearing. This, very appropriately, is the first sense to be manifested; the first aspect of manifestation is that of sound, and necessarily therefore we would expect sound to be the first thing noticed by man on the physical plane, the plane of densest manifestation, and of the most marked effects of sound, regarding it as a creating factor. Pre-eminently the physical plane is the plane of hearing and hence the sense ascribed to the lowest plane of evolution, and of each of the five planes. On this seventh or lowest plane man has to come to full cognisance of the effect of the Sacred Word as it is in process of sounding forth. As it reverberates throughout the system, it drives matter into its appointed place, and on the physical plane finds its point of deepest materiality and of most concrete demonstration. The key for man to discover and turn, concerns itself with the revealing of the mystery of:

a. His own sound.

b. His brother's sound.

c. His group sound.

d. The sound of that one of the Heavenly Men with whom he is connected.

e. The sound of the Logos, or the sound of nature; of the solar system, of the Grand Man of the Heavens.

Therefore, we note that on the physical plane a man has to find his own note, finding it in spite of the density of the form.

a. On the physical plane he finds his own note.

b. On the astral plane he finds his brother's note; through identity of emotion he comes to the recognition of his brother's identity.

[191]

c. On the mental plane he begins to find his group note.

d. On the buddhic plane, or the plane of wisdom, he begins to find the note of his planetary Logos.

e. On the atmic, or spiritual, plane the note logoic begins to sound within his consciousness.

I am differentiating thus for the sake of clarity. In evolution itself, due to the parallelism of nature, the distinctions are not so sharply made, and a man's ray, point of development, the work earlier accomplished, his temporary limitations, and other causes create a seeming confusion, but in the great scheme as seen from above downwards, the work proceeds as described.

Hearing on the astral plane is commonly called clairaudience, and means the ability to hear the sounds of the astral plane. It is a faculty that demonstrates throughout the entire astral body, and a man hears all over his vehicle and not only through the specialised organs, the ears, the product of physical plane action and reaction. This would necessarily be so, owing to the fluidic nature of the astral body. Man on the physical plane hears at the same time a certain range of sounds, and only a small and particular gamut of vibrations impinges upon his ears. There are many of the lesser sounds of nature which entirely escape him, while the major group sounds are not differentiated at all. As evolution proceeds and the inner sense of hearing becomes acute, these other physical plane sounds will likewise swing into his ken, and he will be acutely conscious of all sounds on the astral, and the physical plane—a thing, which if possible now, would result in the shattering of the body. If the note of nature, for instance, were to strike but once upon the ear of a man (a note made up of the totality of vibrations produced by all dense material forms) his physical body would be completely disrupted. [192] He is not ready yet for such a happening; the inner ear is not duly prepared. Only when the threefold hearing is consummated will completed hearing on the physical plane be likewise permitted.

Hearing on the mental plane is simply an extension of the faculty of differentiating sound. The hearing dealt with on all these planes is the hearing that has to do with the form, that concerns the vibration of matter, and that is occupied with the not-self. It has not to do with the psyche, or the telepathic communication that proceeds from mind to mind, but with the sound of the form or that power whereby one separated unit of consciousness is aware of another unit who is not himself. Bear this carefully in mind. When the extension of hearing becomes such that it concerns the psyche, then we call it telepathy or that wordless communication that is the synthesis of hearing on all the three lower planes and which is known by the Ego in the causal body on the formless levels of the mental plane.

On the buddhic plane, hearing (now of the synthetic quality called telepathy) demonstrates as complete comprehension, for it has involved two things:

1. A knowledge and recognition of individual sound,

2. A similar knowledge of group sound,

and their complete unification. This causes the most perfect comprehension, and is the secret of the Master's power.

On the atmic plane this perfected hearing is seen as beatitude. Sound, the basis of existence; sound, the method of being; sound, the final unifier; sound therefore realised as the raison d'être, as the method of evolution, and therefore as beatitude. 

[193]

b. Touch. In taking up the subject of the second sense, that of touch, we must note that this sense is preeminently the sense of very great importance in this, the second, solar system—a system of astral-buddhic consciousness. Each of these senses, after having reached a certain point, begins to synthesise with the others in such a way that it is almost impossible to know where one begins and the other ends. Touch is that innate recognition of contact through the exercise of manas or mind in a threefold manner:

As recognition.

As memory.

As anticipation.

Each of the five senses, when coupled with manas, develops within the subject a concept embodying the past, the present and the future. Therefore when a man is very highly evolved, has transcended time (as known in the three worlds), and can therefore look at the three lower planes from the standpoint of the Eternal Now, he has superseded the senses by full active consciousness. He knows, and needs not the senses to guide him any longer to knowledge. But in time, and in the three worlds, each sense on each plane is employed to convey to the Thinker some aspect of the not-self, and by the aid [194] of mind, the Thinker can then adjust his relationship thereto.

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. 

[195]

In the evolution of the senses, hearing is the first vague something which calls the attention of the apparently blind self

a. To another vibration.

b. To something originating outside of itself.

c. To the concept of externality. When sound is first contacted the consciousness for the first time becomes aware of that which is without.

But all that is grasped by the dormant consciousness (by means of this one sense of hearing) is the fact of something extraneous to itself, and of the direction in which that something lies. This apprehension, in course of time, calls into being another sense, that of touch. The Law of Attraction works, the consciousness moves slowly outwards towards that which is heard; and when contact is made with the not-self it is called touch. This touch conveys other ideas to the groping consciousness, ideas of size, of external texture, and of surface differences; the concept of the Thinker is thus slowly enlarged. He can hear and feel, but as yet knows not enough to correlate nor name. When he succeeds in naming, he has made a big stride forward. We might note here, therefore, that the earliest cosmic symbols are applicable to the senses as well as elsewhere:

The point in the centre—consciousness and the not-self at a stage where sound alone is descriptive.

The divided circle—consciousness aware of the not-self, through a dual recognition.

[196]

Sight follows on this, the third sense, and the one definitely marking the correlation of ideas, or the relation between; it parallels the coming of Mind, both in time and function. We have hearing, touch or feeling, and then sight. In connection with the correspondence it is to be noted that sight came in with the third root-race in this round, and that the third race saw also the coming in of Mind. The Self and the not-self were immediately correlated, and co-ordinated. Their close partnership became an accomplished fact, and evolution hastened forward with renewed impetus.

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 realisation of the One in Many, the first Logos. The Law of Synthesis, operating between all forms which the self occupies, and the recognition of the essential unity of all manifestation by the means of sight.

As regards taste and smell, we might call them minor senses, for they are closely allied to the important sense of touch. They are practically subsidiary to that sense. This second sense, and its connection with this second solar system, should be carefully pondered over. It is predominantly the sense most closely connected with the second Logos. This conveys a hint of much value if duly considered. It is of value to study the extensions of physical plane touch on other planes and to see whither we are led. It is the faculty which enables us to arrive [197] at the essence by due recognition of the veiling sheath. It enables the Thinker who fully utilises it to put himself en rapport with the essence of all selves at all stages, and thereby to aid in the due evolution of the sheath and actively to serve. A Lord of Compassion is one who (by means of touch) feels with, fully comprehends, and realises the manner in which to heal and correct the inadequacies of the not-self and thus actively to serve the plan of evolution. We should study likewise in this connection the value of touch as demonstrated by the healers of the race (those on the Bodhisattva line) and the effect of the Law of Attraction and Repulsion as thus manipulated by them. Students of etymology will have noted that the origin of the word touch is somewhat obscure, but probably means to 'draw with quick motion.' Herein lies the whole secret of this objective solar system, and herein will be demonstrated the quickening of vibration by means of touch. Inertia, mobility, rhythm, are the qualities manifested by the not-self. Rhythm, balance, and stable vibration are achieved by means of this very faculty of touch or feeling. Let me illustrate briefly so as to make the problem somewhat clearer. What results in meditation? By dint of strenuous effort and due attention to rules laid down, the aspirant succeeds in touching matter of a quality rarer than is his usual custom. He contacts his causal body, in time he contacts the matter of the buddhic plane. By means of this touch his own vibration is temporarily and briefly quickened. Fundamentally we are brought back to the subject that we deal with in this treatise. The latent fire of matter attracts to itself that fire, latent in other forms. They touch, and recognition and awareness ensues. The fire of manas burns continuously and is fed by that which is attracted and repulsed. When the two [198] blend, the stimulation is greatly increased and the ability to touch intensified. The Law of Attraction persists in its work until another fire is attracted and touched, and the threefold merging is completed. Forget not in this connection the mystery of the Rod of Initiation. Later when we consider the subject of the centres and Initiation it must be remembered that we are definitely studying one aspect of this mysterious faculty of touch, the faculty of the second Logos, wielding the law of Attraction.

Let us now finish what may be imparted on the remaining three senses—sight, taste, smell—and then briefly sum up their relationship to the centres, and their mutual action and interaction. That will then leave two more points to be dealt with in this first division of the Treatise on Cosmic Fire, and a summing up. We shall then be in a position to take up that portion of the treatise that deals with the fire of manas and with the development of the manasaputras, ^[lxxxvii]85 both in their totality and likewise individually. This topic is of the most imperative importance as it deals entirely with man, the Ego, the thinker, and shows the cosmic blending of the fires of matter and of mind, and their utilisation by the indwelling Flame.

c. Sight. This sense, as said before, is the paramount correlating sense of the solar system.

Under the Law of Economy man hears. Sound permeates matter and is the basis of its subsequent heterogeneity.

Under the Law of Attraction, man touches and makes contact with that which is brought to his attention [199]through sound waves of activity. This leads to a condition of mutual repulsion and attraction between the one who apprehends and that which is apprehended.

Having apprehended and then contacted his eyes are opened and he recognises his place in the whole order under the Law of Synthesis.

Hearing	Unity
Touch	Duality
Sight	Triplicity.

In these three senses the present is summed up for us. The work of evolution is to recognise, utilise, co-ordinate, and dominate the whole till the Self, by means of these three, becomes actively aware of every form, of every vibration, and of every pulsation of the not-self; then, through the arranging power of mind, the objective of the self will be to find the truth, or that centre in the circle of manifestation which is, for the Self, the centre of equilibrium, and the one point where the co-ordination is perfected; then the Self can dissociate itself from every veil, every contact, and every sense. This leads in every manifestation to three types of separation:

Involution. The separation of matter, or the one becoming the many. The senses are developed, and the apparatus is perfected by the Self for the utilisation of matter. This is under the Law of Economy.

Evolution up to the time of the Probationary Path. The merging of Spirit and matter, and the utilisation of the senses in a progressing identification of the Self with all forms from the lowest to those relatively refined. This is under the Law of Attraction.

Evolution on the Path. Again the separation of spirit from matter, its identification with the One, and the ultimate rejection of form. The senses then are synthesised into acquired faculty, and the Self has no [200] further use for the not-self. It blends with the All-Self. This is under the Law of Synthesis.

If this is borne in mind it leads to a realisation that the separation of the Spirit from the material vehicle involves two aspects of the One great All; herein is seen the work of the Creator, the Preserver and the Destroyer.

In the final perfection of this third sense of sight, the term used is the wholly inadequate one of realisation. Let the student study carefully the lowest and highest demonstration of the senses as laid down in the tabulation earlier imparted, and note the occult significance of the expressions used in the summation.

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

This all concerns the perfected, realised Personality.

In all these perfections is seen the awareness of the Self, and the graded process of identification, utilisation, manipulation and final rejection of the not-self by that Self who is now consciously aware. He hears the note of nature and that of his monad; he recognises their identity, utilises their vibration, and passes rapidly through the three stages of Creator, Preserver and Destroyer.

[201]

He touches or feels the vibration of the form or not-self in all its various grades, recognises his identity in time and space, and for purposes of existence or being and by means of the three Laws of Economy, Attraction and Synthesis utilises, blends and eventually dissociates himself. He sees the threefold evolutionary process and by means of the development of the inner vision, sees within the heart of the system macrocosmic and microcosmic, the one SELF in many forms, and finally identifies himself with that one Self by the conscious rejection of the not-self after its complete subjugation and utilisation.

d. Tasting. He tastes then finally and discriminates, for taste is the great sense that begins to hold sway during the discriminating process that takes place when the illusory nature of matter is in process of realisation. Discrimination is the educatory process to which the Self subjects itself in the process of developing intuition—that faculty whereby the Self recognises its own essence in and under all forms. Discrimination concerns the duality of nature, the Self and the not-self, and is the means of their differentiation in the process of abstraction; the intuition concerns unity and is the capacity of the Self to contact other selves, and is not a faculty whereby the not-self is contacted. Hence, its rarity these days owing to the intense individualisation of the Ego, and its identification with the form—necessary identification at this particular time. As the sense of taste on the higher planes is developed, it leads one to ever finer distinctions till one is finally led through the form, right to the heart of one's nature.

e. Smelling is the faculty of keen perception that eventually brings a man back to the source from whence he came, the archetypal plane, the plane where his true home is to be found. A perception of difference has been cultivated that has caused a divine discontent within the [202] heart of the Pilgrim in the far country; the prodigal son draws comparisons; he has developed the other four senses, and he utilises them. Now comes in the faculty of vibratory recognition of the home vibration, if it might be so expressed. It is the spiritual counterpart of that sense which in the animal, the pigeon and other birds, leads them back unerringly to the familiar spot from whence they originally came. It is the apprehension of the vibration of the Self, and a swift return by means of that instinct to the originating source.

The consideration of this subject awakens the realisation of the vastness of the region of thought concerned—the region of the whole evolutionary development of the human being. Yet all that is possible here, as elsewhere, is to indicate lines of thought for careful pondering, and to emphasise certain ideas which may serve as the foundation thoughts for the future mental activity of the immediate generation. The following facts must also be borne in mind when considering the matter:

a. That the senses have been dealt with in this division of our Treatise on Cosmic Fire because they concern the material form. Strictly speaking the five senses, as we know them, are the means of contact built up by the Thinker (polarised in his etheric body) and find their expression in the physical form in those nerve centres, brain cells, ganglia and plexus which exoteric science recognises.

b. That these senses for all purposes of present manifestation, have their focal point on the astral plane and are therefore largely under the stimulating action of the solar plexus—that great focal point in the centre of the body which is the stimulating agent for most of the human family at this time.

c. That as the higher triangle comes into play and the polarisation steps up to the higher centres, the senses begin to make themselves felt on the mental level and [203] man becomes aware on that plane. We have in the human body an interesting reflection of the transference of the polarisation from the Personality to the Ego, or into the causal body, in the division that exists between the higher and the lower mental planes, and the dividing line of the diaphragm between the higher and the lower portions of the body. Below the diaphragm we have the four lower centres:

1. The solar plexus.

2. The spleen.

3. Organs of generation.

4. Base of the spine.

Above are the three higher:

1. Heart.

2. Throat.

3. Head.

In the microcosm we have the lower quaternary separated from the Triad in a similar manner, and this analogy will bear pondering upon. By careful thought we can therefore work out the reflex action of the centres and the senses from the standpoint of the different planes, remembering that as the centres are awakened the process will be threefold:

First. The awakening on the physical plane, and the gradually increasing activity of the centres, until the Probationary Path is reached. This is paralleled by the increasing use of the senses, and their constant utilisation for the identification of the self and its sheaths.

Second. The awakening on the astral plane, and the gradually increasing activity of the centres, until the first Initiation is reached. This is paralleled by the tremendously keen use of the senses for the purposes of discriminating between the Self and the not-self.

[204]

Third. The awakening upon the mental plane, and the gradually increasing activity of the centres and the senses. The effect in both cases tends to identification of the Self with its own essence in all groups and the rejection of the sheaths and the forms.

This development is paralleled on the two higher planes simultaneously as in the lower, and as the astral senses come into perfected activity, the corresponding centres of force on the buddhic plane begin to function until the vibratory interplay between the two is consummated, and the force of the Triad can be felt definitely in the Personality via the astral.

Again the corresponding vortices on the atmic level come into active vibration as the mental centres become fourth dimensional, till we have a wonderful fiery activity demonstrating on all the three planes.

From the point of view of fire, leaving the aura and its colors out of temporary consideration, the evolutionary development marks an equally definite process.

a. The vivification of the inner heat of the sheaths, or the tiny point of fire latent in every individual atom of matter. This process proceeds in all three bodies, at first slowly, then more rapidly, and finally simultaneously and synthetically.

b. The bringing into activity from latency of the seven centres on all planes, beginning from the bottom upwards, until the centres (according to ray and type) are interrelated and co-ordinated. There are manifest thirty-five vortices of fire in the perfected adept,—all of radiant activity and all interacting.

c. The vortices or wheels of lambent flame become interlinked by triangles of fire which pass and circulate from one to another, till we have a web of fiery lines, uniting centres of living fire, and giving truth to the statement that the Sons of Mind are FLAMES.

d. These centres reach this condition of perfection as the Spirit or Will aspect takes ever fuller control. The unifying triangles are produced by the action of the fire of mind, while the fire of matter holds the form together in ordered sequence. So the interdependence of matter, mind and Spirit can be seen and demonstrates to the eye of the clairvoyant as the co-ordination of the three fires.

e. In the Heavenly Man and His body, a chain of globes  likewise can be seen and we need here to remember very carefully that the seven chains of a scheme are the expression of a planetary Logos. The Heavenly Men are expressing Themselves through a scheme of seven chains and the emphasis has been laid unduly, perhaps, upon the dense physical planet in any particular chain. This has caused the fact of the chain importance to be somewhat overlooked. Each of the seven chains might be looked upon as picturing the seven centres of one of the Heavenly Men. The idea of groups of Egos forming centres in the Heavenly Men is nevertheless correct, but in this connection the reference is to the centres of force on buddhic and monadic levels. 

[207]

In connection with this there is a fundamental point that must never be forgotten: these seven Heavenly Men might be considered as being in physical incarnation through the medium of a physical planet, and herein lies the mystery of planetary evolution. Herein lies the mystery of our planet, the most mysterious of all the planets. Just as the karma of individuals differs, so differs the karma of the various Logoi, and the karma of our planetary Logos has been a heavy one, and veiled in the mystery of personality at this time.

Again, according as the centres are active or inactive, so the manifestation differs likewise, and the study which opens up is of vast and abstruse interest in connection with the solar system.

5. The Centres and Initiation

We have dealt briefly with the evolution of the centres, with their function, their organisation and their gradually increasing activity from a point of comparative inertia until they are consummated motion. Then they become living wheels of flame, distinguished by a dual motion of the periphery and the inner revolving wheels, and by a fourth-dimensional effect, due primarily to the alignment of the inner subtler vortices with the comparatively exoteric etheric centres. This alignment is brought about eventually at initiation.

At the time that initiation is taken, the centres are all active and the lower four (which correspond to the Personality) are beginning the process of translating the fire into the three higher. The dual revolution in the lower centres is clearly to be seen and the three higher are commencing to be similarly active. By the application of the Rod of Initiation at the time of the initiation ceremony, certain results are achieved in connection with the centres which might be enumerated as follows:

a. The fire at the base of the spine is definitely directed [208] to whichever centre is the object of special attention. This varies according to the Ray, or the specialised work of the initiate.

b. The centre has its activity intensified, its rate of evolution increased, and certain of the central spokes of the wheel brought into more active radiance. These spokes which are also called by some students lotus-petals, have a close connection with the different spirillae in the permanent atoms. Through their stimulation there comes into play one or more of the corresponding spirillae in the permanent atoms on the three lower planes. After the third Initiation, a corresponding stimulation takes place in the permanent atoms of the Triad, leading to the co-ordination of the buddhic vehicle, and the transference of the lower polarisation into the higher.

c. By the application of the Rod of Initiation the downflow of force from the Ego to the personality is tripled, the direction of that force being dependent upon whether the centres receiving attention are the etheric, or the astral at the first and second Initiations, or whether the initiate is standing before the LORD OF THE WORLD. In the latter case, his mental centres or their corresponding force vortices on higher levels, will receive stimulation. When the World Teacher initiates at the first and second Initiations, the direction of the Triadal force is turned to the vivification of the heart, and throat centres, and the ability to synthesise the force of the lower centres is greatly increased. When the One Initiator applies the Rod of His Power, the downflow is from the Monad, and though the throat and heart intensify vibration as a response, the main direction of the force is to the seven head centres, and finally (at liberation) to the radiant head centre above, and synthesising the lesser seven head centres.

d. The centres at initiation receive a fresh access of [209] vibratory capacity and of power, and this results, in the exoteric life, as:

First. A sensitiveness and refinement of the vehicles which may result, at first, in much suffering to the initiate, but which produces a capacity to respond to contacts that far outweighs the incidental pain.

Second. A development of psychic faculty that again may lead to temporary distress, but which eventually causes a recognition of the one Self in all selves, which is the goal of endeavor.

Third. A burning away, through a gradual arousing of kundalini, and its correct geometrical progression through the etheric web. This produces a resultant continuity of consciousness which enables the initiate consciously to utilisetime as a factor in the plans of evolution.

Fourth. A gradual grasp of the Law of Vibration as an aspect of the basic law of building; the initiate learns consciously to build, to manipulate thought matter for the perfecting of the plans of the Logos, to work in mental essence, and to apply the law of mental levels and thereby affect the physical plane. Motion originates cosmically on cosmic mental levels, and in the microcosm the same order will be seen. There is an occult hint here that will reveal much if pondered upon. At initiation, at the moment of the application of the Rod, the initiate consciouslyrealises the meaning of the Law of Attraction in form building, and in the synthesis of the three fires. Upon his ability to retain that realisation and himself to apply the law, will depend his power and progress.

e. By the application of the Rod, the fire of kundalini is aroused, and its upward progress directed. The fire at the base of the spine, and the fire of mind are [210] directed along certain routes, or triangles, by the action of the Rod as it moves in a specified manner. There is a definite occult reason, under the Laws of Electricity, behind the known fact that every initiate, presented to the Initiator, is accompanied by two of the Masters, who stand one on either side of him. The three of them together form a triangle which makes the work possible.

The force of the Rod is twofold, and its power terrific. Apart and alone the initiate could not receive the voltage from the Rod without serious hurt, but in triangular formation transmission comes safely. The two Masters Who thus sponsor the initiate, represent two polarities of the electric All; part of Their work is therefore to stand with all applicants for initiation when they come before the Great Lord.

When the Rods of Initiation are held in the hands of the Initiator in His position of power, and at the stated seasons, they act as transmitters of electric force from very high levels,—so high indeed that the "Flaming Diamond" at certain of the final initiations (the sixth and seventh) transmits force, via the Logos, from outside the system altogether. We need to remember that this major Rod is the one used on this planet, but that within the system there are several such Rods of Power, and that they are to be found in three grades, if it may be so expressed.

First. The Rod of Initiation used for the first two initiations and wielded by the Great Lord, the Christ, the World Teacher. It is magnetised by application of the "Flaming Diamond"—the magnetisation being repeated when each new world Teacher takes office. There is a wonderful ceremony performed at the time that a new World Teacher takes up His work. During the ceremony He receives His Rod of Power—the same Rod as used since the foundation of our planetary Hierarchy—and holds it forth to the Lord of the World, Who touches it [211] with His own mighty Rod, causing a fresh re-charging of its electric capacity. This ceremony takes place at Shamballa. 

Second. The Rod of Initiation known as the "Flaming Diamond" and used by Sanat Kumara, the One Initiator, called in the Bible, the Ancient of Days. This Rod lies hidden "in the East" and holds the fire latent which irradiates the Wisdom Religion. This Rod was brought by the Lord of the World when He took form and came to our planet eighteen million years ago.

Once in every world period it is subjected to a similar process as that of the lesser Rod, only this time it is recharged by the direct action of the Logos Himself,—the Logos of the solar system. The location of this Rod is known only to the Lord of the World, and to the Chohans of the Rays, and (being the talisman of this evolution) the Chohan of the second Ray is—under the Lord of the World—its main guardian, aided by the deva Lord of the second plane. The Buddhas of activity are responsible for its custody, and under them the Chohan of the Ray. It is produced only at stated times when specific work has to be done. It is used not only at the initiating of men, but at certain planetary functions, of which nothing as yet has been given out. It has its place and function in certain ceremonies connected with the inner round  and the triangle formed by the Earth, Mars [212] and Mercury. But more about this is not at this time permissible.