63. ALICE BAILEY - Discipleship in the New Age,Vol. II - 04. SECTION ONE - TALKS TO DISCIPLES - PART 3

SECTION ONE - TALKS TO DISCIPLES - PART 3

I suggest that you continue with the work, as hitherto given and undertaken, but I will give you a fuller picture of the full moon activity and purpose with some of the implications which may enable you to work with greater interest and understanding.

The first time, my brothers, that I outlined for you the work I sought to have you do at the time of the full moon, I undertook to work with you along these lines for a preliminary period of three years, each year expanding the work somewhat until the full moon of May of the third year. This period of time is now nearly completed, and today I ask you two questions:

1. What has this work meant to you?

2. Have you grasped the importance of the work to be done?

There has been a purpose behind all this effort which I have made, and an experiment of importance has been carried forward in preparation for the coming New Age activity.

In some of the earlier instructions ^[iii]* I indicated that the coming world religion would be based upon a new Science of Approach and that this would, in time, supersede the present world religious formulas and ceremonials. Hence the importance of the efforts now being made by disciples in these new seed groups. They are in reality occupied with the [50] process of anchoring upon earth a new religious idea or concept, a seed thought or germ of a new activity which (at some later date) will bear fruit and inaugurate a new method of drawing nearer to God.

It might be of value to all disciples if I here analysed the three years' work intended to be done during the full moon periods as outlined to you by me. Each year saw an addition to or expansion of the work and an enlargement of the concept. I seek now to make it all clearer to you, thus laying the foundation for the work to be done during the coming years, if you desire to continue with the work. Let us get these instructions into tabular form for the sake of clarity.

I

1. The first thing which I emphasised to you was that this was a group endeavour, and that its success depended upon the group fusion, the group love and the group understanding. The success of the desired inner contact was based upon a realised group relation. It was intended to be an endeavour which would be the outgrowth of a love, stabilised in and accentuated by all the group members. Hence my constant reiteration of the need of love between the group members. Towards the establishing of this loving relationship, I have been working for years with all of you. You may perhaps have believed that I did so in order that your group work in relation to your individual endeavour might be successful. That was not the major intent. The forming of units for special service in organising the life forces, processes and forms for the new technique of Approach to God or to the Hierarchy (which is the intermediary between spiritual reality and human life) was and is the major objective. Upon this statement I would ask you to ponder with renewed interest. Your interpretations are so often motivated by an unrealised spiritual selfishness and an undue emphasis upon your specific group importance. The groups are simply the field for hierarchical expression, and we are not yet convinced that the expenditure of force on our part is warranted by the results achieved. The group members have been primarily [51] occupied with the registering of the more phenomenal results and with what they, as individuals, sensed, and have neglected to pay due attention to the inner group relation which is the only thing of major importance. It is the only thing which will release the stored up energy on the subjective side.

2. The second factor of importance is deep recognition of the subjective reality of the spiritual world. I, in myself, as you thought of me, am only the symbol of that world, as are other Masters, focussed—as channels of contact and service—in the Hierarchy. You, as a group, unitedly and together, were asked to approach me and to contact me just as, in the coming New Age, the churches of the future will (at the full moon period) make a definite approach to the Hierarchy in order to

a. Intensify their spiritual life by the bringing in of spiritual force, with deliberation and consciously.

b. Achieve spiritual illumination through contact with the powerhouse of light, the Hierarchy.

c. Store up strength for increased dynamic activity for an ensuing period of service.

d. Bring about a fusion between the objective and subjective life of humanity.

3. This leads to a Technique of Approach, based upon the realisation of the above objectives, to an effort to see me (as I symbolise for you the spiritual vision), and to the establishing of a pathway of Approach, symbolised in the ritual I gave you as a golden band of light. This you were to visualise as extending between yourselves, as a group, to your Tibetan brother. This pathway of Approach is the Path which it is planned should constitute a more familiar symbol than has hitherto been the case in the religious life of the race.

4. This pathway of light leads to the heart of a dark blue disk at the very centre of which you were told I could be contacted. Those of you who are in any way adept at meditation work know well that the light in the head—when seen and [52] recognised—passes usually through three stages of intensification:

a. It is, first of all, a diffused light, surrounding the head, discovered later within the head and producing an inner radiance, which is the rudimentary halo.

b. This diffused light then consolidates and becomes an inner radiant sun.

c. Finally, at the centre of that sun, a point of dark blue, or a small indigo disk, appears. This is, in reality, the exit in the head through which the soul passes out of the world of phenomenal existence, and it is the symbol of the path or the door into the kingdom of God. This is the symbolical interpretation of the phenomena.

As the group approaches nearer and nearer to reality, the pathway or the band of light shortens (symbolically) and in time, when you are expert in this work and when your spiritual nature is truly intensified, you will enter almost immediately into, or through, the disk of blue and become aware of the higher consciousness, or divinity.

5. Three things are, at this stage, essential to success:

a. The mind must be "held steady in the light," and for this receptive experience all the previous work in meditation has been essential. Its positive, attentive activity has been an essential factor in producing the desired mind control.

b. The creative imagination, involving as it does the power to visualise, has also to be developed and consciously used in obedience to instruction in the early stages. This obedience has to be rendered voluntarily, even though blindly, before the true objectives can be grasped.

c. Results must be expected and an inner sensitivity developed which will eventually obviate surprise and lead to a conscious recognition of achievement. This sensitivity may differ according to ray and [53] type, but the general indications will be in the field of similarity and of group value.

All this was the objective of the work I outlined. Much remained to be done, and each year I have expanded the concept and laid the foundation for future work to be carried forward with steadfastness over a long period of time. A beginning has been made.

II

In the second stage of the work outlined by me when you had worked for a year at this full moon activity, I began to widen the teaching and I added to the earlier technique. In the religion of the future, three years will always be given to training the youth of the period (from the ages of fifteen to eighteen) in a preparatory technique of Approach.

The stages in the second year's activity were as follows:

1. The recognition by the group members of the necessity for a closer group relation within the circle of the group and with me. This is symbolic of the recognition of the world need of love, as exemplified by an attitude of goodwill and understanding, and a closer approach by humanity to the Hierarchy. In the past, the religious emphasis upon the esoteric side of instruction has been the approach of the individual man to the God within, to his own higher self, the soul, the first Master. In the future, the emphasis will be upon the united approach of humanity (as represented by an increasing number of groups of aspirants and disciples) to the Hierarchy. According to the status of the groups and their awareness and condition of illumination, so will be the grade of hierarchical Worker with Whom they will be in touch.

2. The recognition that in this work, true occult obedience or the intelligent response to the urge of the group soul and to the "pull" of the Hierarchy, is the next major requirement. This will produce the right carrying out of the required assigned technique and a complete refraining from [54] any interest in phenomenal results or an analysis (at this stage) of any reactions experienced. Individual analysis hinders group recognition and true realisation. This is a point to be considered and remembered.

3. The next step which I indicated to you was that in which I pointed out that these Full Moon Approaches required one entire week of inner activity, divided as follows:

a. The three days prior to the full moon were to be dedicated to preparation. This preparation involved confidence, which swept the brain (the focus of the physical plane expression) into the right condition; aspiration, which held the astral body in the right attitude; and dedication, which was the intelligent process, motivated by free will and involving mental concentration, which enabled the confident aspirant to "hold the mind steady in the light."

b. Then, there were the twelve hours on the day of the full moon, wherein a consciously achieved contact (dependent upon the success of the previous three days' work by the group) became a definitely proven possibility. By training you in these early stages in the attempt to contact me, I was laying the ground for two eventualities: your future contact with your Master, prior to initiation, and a contact with the Hierarchy. This was intended to be symbolic of humanity's future contact.

c. The three days succeeding the full moon period then were considered. In these days, it was pointed out, the personality could become conscious of the success of the previous work done and the subsequent contact. That realisation would be facilitated by an inner attitude of registration (by the mind) of that which the soul has sought to impress upon it at the moment of attempted or achieved contact; by the sense of expectancy which the emotional nature would be trained to express and experience; and by the acknowledged attitude of the physical brain as it held [55] to the belief of true success, when the requirements had been duly met.

It will be apparent to you, if you have followed the above in the right spirit, that from the very start I have been working towards objectives unrealised by you. I am trusting that the importance of this full moon work will become increasingly clear to you and make you more eager to work as requested by me.

III

The third stage, outlined by me during the past year's work, brought in a far more complicated activity than heretofore. I explained to you, if you will remember, that at the time of the full moon it was as if a door was opened between the Sun and Moon, making certain events of a spiritual nature possible. The band of golden light, extending between the Sun and the Moon, completely "irradiated the lunar surface" (to use the ancient formula) and made possible certain revelations. To students such as you, the symbolism should be apparent and can be seen as inviting a dual interpretation:

1. It concerns the relation of the Solar Angel to the lunar forces, of the Sun and the Moon and their work in synthesis.

2. It concerns the relation of the Hierarchy to humanity and consequently, of the subjective world to the objective worlds, of the realm of causes to the realm of effects. Ponder on this.

Individual approach must be merged into group approach, and the approach of groups will some day be superseded by the organised approach of humanity as a whole. This third stage can (like the two previous ones) be divided into the following activities, which require to be mentally grasped by the group:

1. That certain realisations become possible. These are two in number:

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a. Realisation one: That entrance upon the Path of Approach is possible for individuals, for groups, and for humanity as a whole, as a unit.

b. Realisation two: That energies, not usually or normally contacted, can be touched, grasped and utilised at the time of these Approaches, provided that they are contacted in group formation. Thus the individual, the group and humanity are enriched and vitalised.

2. That the spiritual Hierarchy can, at these times, be approached, verified and known, thus leading to active conscious cooperation with the Plan which the Hierarchy serves. It must be remembered that, on the side of the Hierarchy, a Technique of Approach to humanity will also be employed, and thus we have an essential dual activity. The first stage of this dual activity took place millions of years ago at the time of Individualisation, and produced the emergence of the fourth kingdom in nature, the human family. The second stage is being rapidly worked out today, and will produce the emergence of Initiation. The intermediate stage is that of Integration. We have therefore the germ of a new scientific religion, called (as I have earlier pointed out) the Science of Approach. It is one in which humanity can now consciously share, for their stage in evolution warrants it. Men can today grasp the objective, share in the united aspiration, and carry out the needed requirements.

3. The time to be given, at this stage of the training, to the Full Moon Approach was shortened, but tremendouslyintensified, and the objective was to produce a far more dynamic activity. A state of tension had to be achieved, which would eventually release dynamic energy from—if possible—levels higher than that of the soul. Hence the need for group integration and work. This period was divided as follows:

a. There were two days of intensive preparation. This involved the achieving of a right attitude of a dual kind: The group member fused his outer activity and [57] his inner orientation into one blended concentrated spiritual activity. He proceeded with his usual avocations, but at no time—whilst so occupied—was he to lose sight of the inner orientation and specific recollection. All the time he was outwardly busy, he was simultaneously occupied with a constant realisation of a retreat inward, a heightening of his vibration, and a raising of his consciousness.

b. On the day of the full moon, you were asked to go through a symbolic performance in the realm of the creative imagination, and through the medium of its agent, visualisation. This performance involved the following steps:

1. The recognition that in the blue disk, at the end of the golden pathway, was an ivory door which was slowly opening into a room with three windows.

2. The recognition that the group, as a unit, was advancing into that room and there, united in an act of solemn dedication, stands ready for revelation.

3. The recognition, by the group, of me, your teacher and Tibetan brother, and the saying by all of us together of the Great Invocation. This produces fusion and releases something from "that which lies above to that which lies below," speaking in the words of symbolism.

It will be obvious to you that in this symbolic ritual there is typified, first of all the Path, the goal, the kingdom of God, distinguished by spiritual mind, spiritual love and spiritual will (the three windows, atma-buddhi-manas, or the three aspects of the soul). Secondly, the focussing of the consciousness in that of the soul, followed by a group dedication; and, finally, that humanity (symbolised by the group) and the Hierarchy (symbolised by me) and the subsequent voicing by me of certain Words of Power were all intended to produce the fusion of the objective and subjective worlds, and the consequent emergence of the fifth kingdom in nature. Thus the skeleton structure of the new religious ceremonial [58] can be dimly seen and inadequately sensed. This stage is followed by:

4. Two days of intensive recollection by the group in their brain consciousness. This involves:

a. The development of the power to recall the Words of Power which had been spoken by me, and later, the listening for a Word of Power. This recognition of the Words will be one of the major objectives of the new world religion, and hence our effort (not particularly successful hitherto) to do something symbolically analogous in our group activity.

b. A subsequent definite intensification of the life processes, and a spiritual demonstration upon the physical plane as a result.

The above elucidation should give you a new and more intelligent grasp of the symbolic significances of the work we are now attempting.

I am going to ask you to go over the whole process in these first three major stages, studying with care my interpretation.

1. During the months of January and February, please study what I have said, reading and rereading it until it is clear and fixed in your minds.

2. During March take the first stage and work faithfully at it.

3. During April take the second stage.

4. During May, take the third stage. Then for the remainder of the time, until October, work at this third stage. In October, if you have faithfully fulfilled requirement, I will outline the work next to be done. May I ask for your real interest, service and cooperation?

Your personal instructions I have placed at the end to indicate to you its relative importance and so impress upon you the necessity for your individual teaching taking a secondary [59] place; it is of less importance than the group development and the service of humanity. You will all awaken some day to the realisation that the Science of Service is of greater importance than the Science of Meditation, because it is the effort and the strenuous activity of the serving disciple which evokes the soul powers, makes meditation an essential requirement, and is the mode—ahead of all others—which invokes the Spiritual Triad, brings about the intensification of the spiritual life, forces the building of the antahkarana, and leads in a graded series of renunciations to the Great Renunciation, which sets the disciple free for all eternity.

I am giving you here certain needed hints and much upon which to ponder. I give you of my time and of my love, of my interest and my understanding. Let us together serve.

January 1946

TO MY GROUP OF AFFILIATED DISCIPLES:

Since I last communicated with you the outer aspects of the world war, the carnage and the slaughter are over, except in a few sporadic instances. The struggle now being waged is to reach a point of stabilisation in human thinking and understanding from which a true and reliable peace can emerge. On the emotional plane, there is as yet no peace. On the mental plane, a great and deep-seated cleavage is going on and the occult significance of certain words, enunciated by the Christ when in Palestine, is being worked out. He gave them as the keynote for the particular subjective happening which is taking place at this time. He said: "He that is not with Me is against Me." This refers to the after-effects of the conflict between the Forces of Light and the Forces of Evil. Great decisions have to be made all over the world, as to whether humanity moves forward into a New Age of cooperation and of right human relations or whether the materialistic groups will reassert their control and succeed in winning the day. This great cleavage is now in process of settlement.

On the other hand, a deeply spiritual division is also taking place. In a peculiar sense, and speaking largely symbolically, [60] the first phase of the Great Judgment is asserting itself. The sheep and the goats are forming into two distinct groups. The judgment being given is not the generally assumed one of assigning penalties or rewards; it is not the negation of all effort as the result of decisive moves, nor will it result in the emergence of major dividing lines. Such interpretations are man-made and are not true interpretations of the parable or word picture which Christ gave to His disciples nearly two thousand years ago.

The judgment referred to has relation to a mysterious process which is going on in the thinking (if one dare use such a word for such a comprehensive process) of the planetary Logos. He is deciding at this time the mode by which a momentous event or happening within the Hierarchy shall take shape; He is timing the process of its externalisation; He is deciding which Ashrams shall be externalised and Who, within those Ashrams, should and must proceed with the purely inner and subjective work, and Who should be chosen to work—consciously and openly—in the outer world of men, thus duplicating in Their numbers what Christ experienced when He "descended into Hell." Many things have to be considered; the objectives in view of the Masters concerned, the rays in manifestation, and many astrological relationships.

In this deciding judgment Sanat Kumara is being aided by certain Members of the Great Council at Shamballa, by the Christ and by the seven Masters Who are responsible for the seven groups of Ashrams. He is also reaching certain conclusions as to the groups of disciples who have hitherto been under training during the final stages of the Path of Discipleship. This decision has to take under advisement the rapidity with which the entrance of men and women into the Ashrams can take place; it is also dependent upon the members of the Ashram moving forward according to their degree, and upon the power of the Ashrams to absorb and assimilate the much larger numbers, without upsetting ashramic stability. He has also to consider the ability of the neophyte under training to take and hold the far greater tension necessarily incident to true ashramic life in the New Age.

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These points are all being most carefully considered, because a major expansion of the Hierarchy as a whole, and the consequent reaction upon humanity, again as a whole, is not a thing lightly to be undertaken. Expansion—if it is to be safely undertaken—must proceed hand in hand with consolidation. The expansion now contemplated in the highest quarters will greatly alter the potency of the relation of the Hierarchy to Humanity, and therefore of the second divine aspect to the third. Can Humanity take this increased potency correctly and safely? Will the aspirants of the world—if given opportunity to pass off the Probationary Path on to the Path of Discipleship—be stable enough to stand steady under the impact of hitherto undiscerned spiritual energy? Can the Masters, under the pressure of Their enormous task of world reconstruction, find the needed time to increase Their training of Their disciples? For They are still governed by the time equation where Their disciples are concerned. Can the senior members in any Ashram relieve to some extent the pressures upon the Masters as well as upon the incoming and junior, and therefore inexperienced, disciples? If, however, the relation between the Hierarchy and Humanity is thus strengthened and there is freer access in both directions, there will clearly emerge the invocational pull or the magnetic potency of these blending centres: the pull will be upon Shamballa, which is the highest centre of all.

Is the etheric web of the planet sufficiently stable and balanced so that it can adequately respond to the new and potent forces which could and will pour through it into objective expression? I would remind you that the release of atomic energy has had a far more potent effect in the etheric web than in the dense physical vehicle of the planet. Three times the atomic bomb was used, and that fact is itself significant. It was used twice in Japan, thereby disrupting the etheric web in what you erroneously call the Far East; it was used once in what is also universally called the Far West, and each time a great area of disruption was formed which will have future potent, and at present unsuspected, results.

The formation of the Triangles of Light and of Goodwill[62]—essentially the manipulation of energy into a desired thought pattern—has a definite relation to this area of disruption. It will in due time be found that the Japanese people, with their peculiar knowledge of thought power (used along wrong lines in the war period), will respond more intelligently to this type of work than many of the Western peoples. An effort should therefore be made to reach the Japanese along the lines of the Triangle work.

I would like to point out that the distinction between the "sheep and the goats" is mainly hierarchical. The term "goats" is esoterically applied to initiated disciples and to those who have climbed the mountain of initiation. The term "sheep" is applied to those who are following blindly the inner urge of their souls and who are groping their way (in relatively large numbers) toward the Hierarchy. For them still has to come the great revelation that the "kingdom of God is within you." Such is the word for them at this stage in humanity's history. Once they have realised that, they are already being absorbed into the Hierarchy. Life will now for them simplify. For the "goats" must come the impelling call from the highest aspect of the Spiritual Triad, "Seek the way of Ascension"—ascension out of even triadal life into that of pure Being and of monadic existence.

In this Great Judgment all decision lies in the conclusive thinking of Sanat Kumara. It is His judgment; neither the sheep nor the goats, nor the great mass of men from among whom they have emerged, can affect that decision in the slightest degree. Any moment or climax of decision on the part of the Lord of the World institutes new law and brings into play new energies. Laws are only the unalterable conditions brought about by the activity, the orientation and the emanated decisive thoughts of the One in Whom we live and move and have our being, just as the activities, the orientation and the thinking of a human being carry the cells and the atoms of his body along the line of his wishes. Energies are but the rhythm of His breathing and the results of the systolic and the diastolic action of His heart. From these energies we cannot escape, but—in a mysterious and peculiar [63] manner—the planetary Logos directs them or withholds them to suit the recognised planetary needs of the period.

At this time the "eye of His direction" is turned towards a needy and waiting world, and particularly towards the large number of waiting people who hold within themselves the potencies of discipleship. They are the hope of the world. This outpouring of directed energy means a great stimulation of all sensitive and responsive aspirants; the result is not an easy one for them. Everything in them is raised to the surface of consciousness, and whilst they are faced with a vital and beneficent opportunity, they are also faced with the problem of absorbing more "punishment" (is not that the word I want, my brother?) than they would normally take. Will they break under the impact of self-discovery and the opportunity to eliminate personality? Or will they rise triumphant from the ashes of their dead selves into living power and beauty?

Though Sanat Kumara is naturally unaware of the individual disciple or aspirant, He is not unaware of their massed effect, quality or status. Contact and relationship are based upon vibratory reaction, and the potency of the united vibration of the disciples and aspirants of the world is today—for the first time in human history—strong enough to reach Shamballa. This is a new and very interesting fact.

The Hierarchy therefore is:

1. In a position of extreme tension.

2. In a condition of quiescent waiting. It awaits:

a. The decision which is on the verge of emanating from the judgment seat of Sanat Kumara.

b. Notification as to the period and mode of the coming externalisation.

c. The proposed influx into its ranks of disciples and aspirants.

d. The reaction, later to be sensed by Them, of the massed use of the Great Invocation.

e. The clear sounding of the invocative, though inchoate, [64] cry of the masses of those who are not yet even upon the Probationary Path.

3. Passing through a process of reorganisation. This involves the following:

a. Senior disciples in the major Ashrams are now beginning to form subsidiary Ashrams, as I began to do in the year 1925.

b. Owing to the war and the intensive efforts of the world disciples, more people along many and varied lines are being reached.

c. The mode, methods and techniques of training (as I have earlier told you) are being remodelled and rearranged in order to suit the modern mind and needs.

d. Senior disciples are undergoing a forcing process to enable them more rapidly to take the initiation immediately ahead of them. This necessarily brings added strains and risks, sometimes even to the point of death, but also greater spiritual light and life.

4. At the entrance to the Way of the Higher Evolution, which is now more easily to be found, owing to the rapid construction of the antahkarana by enlightened souls functioning upon the physical plane and working desperately to aid humanity. Their spiritual desperation is what is needed to provide the required "point of tension" from whence the antahkarana can be built. There is a basic distinction between desperation and pessimism. Desperation is related to the time element and to a correct and discriminative perception of the need. Pessimism is related more to an unjust appraisement of the quality of humanity.

All these things are at this time characteristic of the Hierarchy. I would remind you that when you think of the Hierarchy you think in terms of the Masters (as most people do) or of the higher initiates. This is not correct. Every accepted disciple is within the periphery of the Hierarchy and of its influence, and—as I have frequently pointed out—all have in some past life taken the first initiation. Every disciple has [65] been to Bethlehem and has seen the Star in the East—that star which shines forth in fuller splendour each time another initiation is taken.

The difference between such disciples as you and the more advanced initiates is that your basic orientation is different to that of the Masters. They are oriented to Shamballa; They are relatively unaffected by affairs and happenings in the three worlds, even though that is the sphere wherein Their work lies; there is nothing within Them to react to these phases of planetary livingness. Disciples and all initiates below the third initiation are oriented to the Hierarchy. Not the Council Chamber at Shamballa or the Way to the Higher Evolution engrosses their attention, but the life of the Ashram with which they are affiliated and the Way of Initiation. This is a useful point to bear in mind. There is much in them which can and will react to qualities and events within the three worlds, and—from the angle of the human consciousness—life for them is very difficult because the dualism of existence is apt to produce violent strain.

The extreme psychical tension affecting the Hierarchy puts an undue strain upon the emotions and the mental mechanism of the disciple because he is, as yet, unable to achieve that "quiescent waiting" which distinguishes the higher initiates. The Will of God is not yet adequately factual in his consciousness; he is preoccupied with the attempt to make his personal will synchronise with the spiritual will of the soul—a very different matter. The reorganisation being planned at this time by the Hierarchy and by the ashramic groups affects the personal lives of disciples and their efforts at accepting training; with the proposed changes and with the results of the outer ashramic work they must fall in line and they must accept the changing curriculum. Forget not that disciples in this particular period have to make adjustments which are not easy. They have been taught in terms of the old tradition, perpetuated and summarised by the Theosophical, Rosicrucian and other occult groups; they have had, since 1900, to accept and work with the newer modes of training and the changing forms of teaching applied by the Masters Who take pupils. This has created temporary [66] difficulties which will not be present when the newer modes and methods are more generally established. The problem, therefore, of the modern disciple is peculiarly hard, and the Masters bear this ever in mind. Also the strain of the world cataclysm has increased these difficulties, and that strain is far more wide-reaching than is generally believed. Do you realise wherein the strain consists, apart from the physical disasters and chaos, with its agony, despair, anxiety, and its demand for a poised and efficient exterior to be presented to the world? Do you appreciate the keen ability of the trained disciple to react to the harrowing conditions of human suffering and to penetrate the controlled response which has to be given?

There are also other factors of a more subjective nature to which the disciple is sensitive, and among them are the following:

1. The astral or emotional vortex which humanity has inevitably set up as a result of registered pain and through which the observing disciple must move.

2. The glamour induced upon the astral plane as the result of three intermingling and inflowing streams of energy:

a. The energies set in motion by the uprising cry of humanity itself, which inevitably shapes and moulds astral substance.

b. The new inflowing spiritual energies which the planetary Logos is steadily bringing to bear upon human life and upon all forms of physical existence. These must traverse or cut across the astral realm in reaching the physical plane.

c. The retreating forces of evil which are endeavouring to make a last desperate stand upon the astral plane.

These three types of force (when brought into relation with each other) are producing an unparalleled vortex of energy of which all disciples are necessarily aware, particularly those (and they are a large number) who are preparing for the second initiation. All disciples, working among their fellowmen, [Page 67] are brought into contact with this astral whirlpool. (I would call the attention of D.E.I. to this fact because it accounts for his reaction during the past two years and has led him to relinquish his position in my outer work and to retire into a phase of living which will provide him with no true scope for his pledged experience and his years of training; this present phase is in the nature of a cul-de-sac. Eventually he will have to retrace his steps and admit the reality of the time lost—lost in the moment of humanity's greatest need. Yet he will retrace his steps. I mention this as it is a typical instance of the effects of this glamour.)

3. The stimulation to which the lower vehicles of a disciple are unavoidably subjected. This evokes a full expression of all his inherent qualities, both good and bad. Everything in his nature is intensified, and the more mental he may be, the more he is consciously aware of these revelations. If his orientation is towards his life expression in the three worlds, a phase of depression, of self-accusation and frequently of doubt may have to be endured, thus handicapping his general usefulness.

4. The evocation of a strong sense of the soul within the personality. An emphasis upon the attitude of the soul to the personality life may also be induced and may prove very misleading. It would appear from the (apparently) voiced expression of soul comment, criticism, encouragement and planning that the main interest of the soul is with the dedicated personality. Such is not the case. The soul is very little aware of the personality nature, its disposition and ideas. The soul can be conscious of the limitations within the personality and of the barriers opposed to the inflow of soul energy, but the details are of no interest to the soul. The soul is occupied withrecognising hierarchical planning, with registering world need, and with responding (faintly, very faintly at first) to the developing monadic inflow. These attitudes and reactions of the soul (upon its own plane of being) affect profoundly and fundamentally the personality life and produce those basic changes which evoke the vocation of the disciple. The disciple is occupied with vocation and not so much with evocation. (I would call this to the attention of[68] D.H.B. This type of evoked response is in the nature of illusion. He will know to what I am referring.)

5. The danger of "Imperil," as the Master Morya has called it. This is somewhat erroneously interpreted as irritation by the neophyte, but it is not in fact irritation in the ordinary connotation of the word. The surface ripples of ordinary irritation and the evanescent angers to which all disciples are prone are relatively of small importance. They pass and, in the sum total of the soul's attitudes to the personality, evoke no response or registration whatsoever. What is referred to is the reaction of the disciple to world evil. This produces uncertainty as to the future, annoyance at what is being done throughout the planet by non-disciples, criticism of national and international planning and a general atmosphere of unhappiness, plus a sense of superior knowledge. All this is expressed in a negative, unconstructive manner. To this many disciples are today prone; they need to realise that world affairs are not and cannot be moulded or determined by any hierarchical knowledge in the possession of the disciple. World affairs and conditions have necessarily to be based upon the demand and the point in evolution of the mass of humanity, working through their representatives, chosen or imposed, in every country. This demand can be and is affected, modified and spiritualised by the attitude and the teaching of disciples everywhere who are vocal and of humanitarian instinct. If, however, the will and knowledge of disciples in all nations were to condition world affairs and control entirely the political, economic and social life of the people, it would produce a far more serious cleavage than now exists, for instance between the rich and the poor, or between the classes and the castes. It would produce a pronounced line of demarcation between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of men. This would run counter to hierarchical intention, which is rapidly healing the existent breach, and thus offset the work which Christ set out to do on Earth. This point is often overlooked by well-intentioned disciples. It is humanity which determines its own destiny. Disciples point the way, indicate the vision, set a needed example and emphasise the ancient landmarks.

[69]

A realisation of these few points which I have chosen to enumerate out of many, will indicate to you the difficulties with which disciples are today confronted—each of you among the many who are also struggling to meet human need in a modern world.

As a group of ashramic affiliates, you (together with disciples everywhere) are all reacting to this inflow of energies, and with consequent conflict; with some of you it has produced a definite crisis and one that you have not yet resolved; with one or two of you in this group, it has led to a seething inner turmoil accompanied by an overemphasised introspection. This will be apt (if too protracted) to hinder your exoteric service. It is needless to remark that all of you need to become so sensitive to the quality of my Ashram, and so preoccupied with the opportunity to serve which confronts every disciple these days, that your own personal development, your unique problem (so regarded by you) and your reactions should be forgotten. You need to remember that you are not as interesting to your soul as you may think.

From the angle of the Master, it is the ability of the soul to control its instrument, the personality, and to work through it, that is of interest; it is for these types of ability that He looks, and not at the reaction of the personality. This is hard, if not humiliating, for the disciple to remember. The more engrossed he is with his personal responsiveness and capacities, the more impenetrable the barriers he is setting up between himself (upon the physical plane) and his soul; as a result of this, barriers are then being set up between the disciple and the life of the Ashram of which he is intended to form a part. Have this in mind and be, therefore, so occupied with the life of the soul that you have no time for personality introspection. The pure life of the soul will galvanise the centres above the diaphragm into activity, and your lives will become simple and uncomplicated expressions of the second aspect of divinity—of which all Ashrams are focal points.

As you know, it is not my intention to give you any more personal instructions; you no longer need them during the rest of this life, because if you carry out those already given [70] there will be nothing to hinder your taking the initiation which is for you the next step forward. Do you realise the import of what I am saying? This initiation which confronts you can be taken either during the remaining years which are left to you; this, in the majority of cases is not probable, though a small minority—a very small minority—may achieve the goal. Or initiation may be taken in the interim period between incarnations, or else immediately upon return to physical plane life. This latter is the most probable for those who are not taking initiations higher than the third; and, at present, for that initiation I am not preparing disciples. It is usually regarded as essential that disciples who are taking the second or third initiations should register them in their brain consciousness. As I have often told you, the initiate consciousness isnot the factor which requires to be thus recorded; it is seldom so. Recognition of it comes when the candidate is participating in the "esoteric installation" of a candidate into the ranks of the Great White Lodge. What the disciple undergoing initiation (and I choose the word "undergoing" with deliberation) must and eventually does record are the crises which brought about his fitness to take initiation, as it is erroneously called in theosophical circles. These, correctly handled and surmounted, will result in his being an initiate—a very different interpretation to the current theosophical one. As I often told you, a man is an initiate, prior to any initiation ceremony. The ceremony concerns hierarchical recognition of the disciple and does not concern the candidate's fitness. I find it needful to reiterate this fact.

The planetary crises through which the planetary Logos is at this time passing should result in the emergence of many initiates; no true disciple is exempt from the effects of this planetary situation. Inevitably, changes are wrought by the soul in the personal life. When these changes are focussed through the lower centres and the lower bodies, the general result is purification and character building. The aspirant is then still upon the Probationary Path. When the disciple is in the position where he can pass through the first three initiations, then the inflowing energies work through the heart, [Page 71] the throat and the ajna centres; when the highest head centre and the lowest spinal centre are simultaneously involved, the disciple is then able to take the higher major initiations. Much of this has been given you in the earlier teaching you have received, but I repeat these statements, so that with clarity you may proceed.

One of you asked a question concerning divine intervention as a result of prayer, and I would point out that there is a distinction between Divine Intervention and Answered Prayer. One admits of reciprocal energies, the other predicates action from above only. The measure of success in either case is dependent upon humanity as a whole. Classically the body is not equipped to receive the fire, until consciousness is importuned to racial need. This is secondary to Divine Intervention which isolates the few and uses their organism to fuse and free the energies of dispersion. This is sudden death to the physical vehicle if unprepared. Think upon this and know the consequences of emotional fanaticism.

There are three ways whereby the inception may come:

1. Disciples aware of their charge, relinquish all personal ambition and are willing to meet the test and be used. For, be not surprised my brother, a disciple can meet the test if he will. Accepted discipleship is in itself a guarantee of a certain amount of preparedness administered through right devotion, pure purpose and rigid discipline.

2. The focussed intent of the hard pressed peoples of the world clamouring for peace, forms a nucleus of unregenerate energy which can and will be used. It is less potent in effect, but in these days of crisis everything must be used.

3. Every kingdom on earth is encumbered with shock—animal, vegetable, mineral, as well as human. This disturbance is a phase of promotion. There are crashed areas of released energy, causing forces to be freed which again can and will be used in the reconstruction.

[72]

The responsibility of this group is purpose. It is will fused and blended and dispersed. I charge you to waste no time in idle speculation, but to carry your responsibility as it should be carried, remembering that your only value is group determined. Placement determines effort (I suggest that you analyse this statement). Consequences are hierarchical. There is lowered vitality in the world today due to a fear psychosis.

Command your forces, stand in the Light, and the suspended mental link will recharge the magnetic field for which you, as a group, are responsible. The fusion exists in a small degree now, but Purpose is the magnetised line along which the fire may travel.

You have preserved your interest and effort for many years now. Can you continue with this enterprise? It is for you a task of perseverance and of faith. You may not in your various lifetimes see the world results. That I frankly tell you. You can undoubtedly realise and reap the benefit of the group results, for your fusion into one close bond of brotherhood and devotion, into one united band treading the Path together is adequate reward. It will offset the usual loneliness of the disciple's way and enable him to realise that he travels not alone.