72. ALICE BAILEY - Discipleship in the New Age,Vol. II - 13. SECTION THREE - TEACHINGS ON INITIATION - PART 1

SECTION THREE - TEACHINGS ON INITIATION - PART 1

PART I

Prior to profiting by more information and thus piling up increased responsibility, there is a vital need for the majority of aspirants and disciples to assume a different attitude towards the opportunity to prepare for initiation with which they are all faced. The more advanced among them are conscious of impending possibilities. The significance of the proffered training has made its just appeal. Others are so immersed in the tests and difficulties incidental to the clarification of the vision prior to the processes of initiation, that they have neither the time nor the strength to do more than live through the time of trial and, at the same time, to serve as best they can. Both the vision and their service suffer from their failure to develop that divine indifference which is the hallmark of the true initiate. Added to all this is the world situation with its inevitable all-enveloping psychic atmosphere, its attendant strains and its constant wearing anxiety, plus the hold which war sufferers have on all hearts and sympathies. Most aspirants and disciples believe that they are bearing enough and are tried to the limit of their capacity. This is not the case. The deeper sources of strength in them have not yet been evoked, and the tension under which they should act and live from day to day is only as yet a feeble one—it is not all-exacting. Ponder on this last phrase.

The objective demands being made upon all disciples and therefore upon all of you, are not simply to enable you to live through the present period as successfully—emotionally, mentally and spiritually—as possible. It goes far deeper than that, or should. Apart from the demands upon your spiritual resources (incident to the particular initiation which it is desired that you take) there is also the demand upon all [244] disciples to participate in the effort of humanity, as a whole, to take the first initiation with all the physical relinquishments, and the agony that ever precedes the birth of the Christ in the heart of the individual—only this time it is the hearts of all humanity. Preparatory to this first initiation, there has always to be—individually and now collectively for the first time—the denial of the lower self and the fervid acceptance by the personality of the loss of all the material factors which have held the soul a prisoner in the womb of time.

Hence, my brothers, the wide extent of the material destruction to be seen on every hand, the depths of physical poverty into which all men have been and are being plunged, the detachment from the priority of things which is being enforced, and the necessity for rebuilding human life on sounder values than the physical. In all this disciples and initiates are today sharing and (when understanding is present and right orientation) the help which those can give who have already undergone the first initiation, is great. To this you are called, and upon your understanding response to the collective need will depend the rapidity with which you will be enabled to achieve the next expansion of consciousness or initiation which may be, for you as an individual, possible. You have, therefore, to consider your individual response to the demands of your own soul and your collective response to the collective need. It is the initiate in you, the Christ in you, which is now called to this collective service and the radiation today of the Christ spirit, actively present in the hearts of all disciples is the one thing which can salvage mankind, enable humanity to move forward on to the Path of Discipleship and thus evoke that new spirit which can and will build the new world.

I would like to deal somewhat with the theme anent the attitude of the accepted disciple towards his Master and towards the general subject of initiation, and then consider the immediate steps ahead which the disciple must take, where he is and with what equipment he has. This is the first and necessary step. Disciples must clarify their position and must continue to learn from their Master, in spite of [245] the crises of initiation. Unless they act upon the proffered instruction and have confidence in His occult intention, all that the Master may say or do is of small usefulness. It serves only to increase grave responsibility with its attendant liabilities; knowledge and the pressure of spiritual energy become a danger if not used. This is a basic and important statement.

There are, my brothers, two major prerequisites which are needed by all of you in connection with group integration, and they follow upon what you have had earlier when I sought to help you to integrate with your brothers. I gave you, as you will recall, as part of your group meditation the following simple integrating formula:

"I am one with my group brothers, and all that I have is theirs. May the love which is in my soul pour forth to them. May the strength which is in me lift and aid them. May the thoughts which my soul creates reach and encourage them."

Of the two prerequisites to which I now allude as needed by all of you, one of them refers to your integration into my group of "practising chelas," and the other relates to your capacity to contact me at will—a thing as yet only permitted to three of you at this time, and this because they seldom avail themselves of the privilege. Our first task is therefore to attend to these requirements which call for a right attitude on your part and the use of the first of the ancient formulas which it is my intention to give for deep consideration and eventual experimental use. Before I give this formula, however, I would like to deal with a question which is bound to arise in the minds of those of you who are senior in this group.

The question might be voiced thus: "If I am in preparation for the second or the third initiation, I must have been in a group of disciples—presumably the Tibetan's—for some lives at least. Why then the need for an integrating formula?" Because, my chela, though you have been in a group of disciples prior to this, it was not my group but[246] the group of either the Master M. or the Master K.H. Owing to the fact of world urgency and the immensity of the work to be done by Them and owing also to the fact that They are preparing to pass through one of the highest initiations, these two Masters have handed all but a few of Their senior disciples to me and to two other of Their initiate disciples, themselves Adepts or Masters. They have also retained in Their groups of disciples those who have started specific work under Their direction in some previous life, and a few disciples who came into incarnation in this world period having the brain and the mind awakened to their relationship to these Masters. These conditions do not exist in this group in relation to me—the Master chosen to lead you forward. Yet (though you remember it not) all of you knew me well when working with the two Chohans, and hence the decision for you to work under my instruction and guidance. It has worked happily and with no delay so far.

Another reason for the use of this formula of integration by those who have had experience of group work is that there are some in the group who are as yet far from true integration, and the experience of the older chelas can be of inestimable help if they will thus to serve the group and me. Much of what I said in the earlier instructions (Vol. I) on the relation of chelas to their Master could well be applied here and with profit.

THE FORMULAS

There are six ancient formulas or symbolic forms which are to be found in the archives for disciples. They concern the six fundamental prerequisites for initiation. They are used prior to all the major initiations, and have therefore five significances or meanings which will become apparent only as each of these initiations is undergone. They are in the form sometimes of symbols and sometimes of words, and are amongst the oldest formulas in the world. They have been used down the ages by all disciples and initiates of the Great White Lodge. They concern what are called "the six [247] relations." Each of these relations must find expression in attitude, in service, and in some deeper expansion of consciousness, to which I may not refer but which must be self-ascertained. It is essential that the would-be initiate discover for himself the esoteric, inner and subjective value of the formula under his consideration. Just one hint however in this latter connection I may give.

The disciple, when he becomes an accepted disciple (and this through the Lodge's recognition of his pledge to his own soul), arrives at a definite and factual recognition of the Hierarchy. His suppositions, his desires, his aspirational wish-life, his theories, or whatever you may choose to call his reaching out and up towards divinity, give place to clear knowledge of the liberated group of souls. This happens not through the occurrence of convincing phenomena, but through an inflow of the intuition. He undergoes, therefore, an expansion of consciousness which may or may not be registered in the brain. Every step of the way from that point of recognition onward has to be consciously achieved and must involve a conscious recognition of a series of expansions. These expansions are not initiation. Have that clearly in your mind. The initiation lying immediately ahead is simply the effect of the recognition. They might be called "stabilising points of crisis," in which the "occasional becomes the constant and the intended becomes the intentional." Ponder on these words. The Hierarchy is now a fact in your life and your awareness. What is the next fact or point of integration or consciously achieved inclusiveness? A study of the formulas and their correct use will reveal this to you. I have laid the emphasis upon visualisation and given you some hints connected both with initiation and the creative work of the imagination, because these teachings and the development of these faculties will require calling into play your understanding, if the formulas connected with initiation are to be given. These six formulas are therefore formulas of integration, and one or two hints may here be imparted.

Formula One concerns, as I have told you, integration into a Master's group, and it has two uses—if I might so [248]express it from your particular point of view. One produces a group inclusiveness, which integrates you with your group brothers into my group and brings a revelation of the hidden side of a chela's life. When I say this I refer to his new astral conditioning. This is given the name of the Revelation of Group Feeling. This subject is vaster in its implications than you might surmise, for it concerns united group sensitivity or response, outwards to the world of men, inwards to the Hierarchy, and upwards to the Monad. It does not concern the sum total of the petty moods and feelings of the personalities of the group members. Its second use is to bring about contact with the Master of your group—in this case myself, the Master D.K. This is a process which I have already done my best to help you to achieve through my instructions re the Full Moon contact—something you have most inadequately understood and attempted. Perhaps now you will work harder at the production of "contact relationship" as it is esoterically called. It is with Formula One that you must now work.

Formula Two deals with alignment; not alignment as it is understood in the very necessary preparatory work of the Arcane School. That form of alignment is the production of effective and direct contact with the soul. The alignment to which this formula refers is connected with the antahkarana. This will be our next consideration when Formula One has brought about certain changes in consciousness. I shall not consider these formulas at present. I will only point out their major implications which will be seldom what you think, conditioned as you are by the terms and interpretations of the lower mind.

Formula Three is related to certain changes in the egoic lotus. These changes might be inadequately expressed in the terms of the Old Commentary:

"There is that which transmutes knowledge into wisdom within a flash of time; there is that which changes sensitivity into love within an area of space; there is [249] that which alters sacrifice into bliss where neither time nor space exists."

Formula Four has a specific effect upon the "jewel in the lotus," awakening it to life; this it does (through effects produced) upon the three planes of the three worlds, thus bringing about changes in the seven wheels (centres) so that the "dynamic point at the centre of each wheel obliterates the lesser points of force, and thus the wheel begins to turn upon itself."

Formula Five awakens the Will, but any interpretation of this awakening would prove meaningless to you until the previous four formulas have established an effect upon you and the needed interior changes have taken place.

Formula Six is sometimes called "the word of death." It negates the destructive effect of the death process which is going on all the time within the mechanism of the disciple or initiate. The death proceeds with its needed work, but it is not destructive in effect. This formula has never been given out before to disciples, but can now be known because the Piscean Age is one in which at last the power of physical death is definitely broken and the signature of the Resurrection is revealed. In this esoteric negation of death are the deeply hidden and impressive causes of the two stages of the world war (1914-1945), and in this formula lies the significance lying behind the "fight for freedom" of the peoples of the world. It is sometimes called "the formula of liberation."

If you were a disciple who had access to the archives wherein instructions for disciples are contained, you would be confronted (in relation to the six formulas referred to above) by six large sheets of some unknown metal. These look as if made of silver and are in reality composed of that metal which is the allotrope of silver and which is therefore to silver what the diamond is to carbon. Upon these sheets are words, symbols, and symbolic forms. These, when related to each other, contain the formulas which the disciple has to interpret and integrate in his waking consciousness. This must be done through the medium of living processes. [250] As I cannot show you these formulas upon the physical plane, the best that I can do is to describe them to you, and in this Instruction I will seek to describe Formula One. The comprehension of the words and symbols produces two reactions in the consciousness of the disciple—and when a group of disciples are working with the same formula (as is the case in this group) this is intensified and of still greater value.

The first reaction is called the "Formula of Revelation" and is related to the united sensitivity of the group. As, together, the group members brood upon and come to an understanding of the formula, they will swing into a responsiveness to the feeling and sensitive reactions of the individuals in the group, and these, together, constitute and form the astral body of the group.

When this reaction has been established (and a spirit of non-criticism and of love will greatly aid in the process), the group together can arrive at the second purpose of the formula, which is called "the discovery of the point within the circle." This signifies—as far as the group is involved—the revelation of the central coherent force of the group itself. This is—at the same time and until after the higher initiation which we call the fourth initiation—the Master at the centre of the group. This is, consequently, the correspondence to the "jewel in the lotus," where the individual is concerned, to the Hierarchy, where humanity is concerned, and to the central point of life in all forms. Of form and of consciousness, the circle and the point are the natural symbols. This applies equally to the atom, to man, to the planet and to the solar system. The concept must constitute the foundational idea in all reflection upon this formula.

Now for the formula itself:

"A line of fire between two blazing points. A stream of water blue—again a line—emerging from the earth—and ending in the ocean. A tree with root above and flowers below.

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"Out of the fire, and always at the midway point, appears the eye of God (Shiva). Upon the stream, between the two extremes, there floats the eye of vision—a thread of light unites the two.

"Deep in the tree, between the root and flowers, the eye again is seen. The eye that knows, the eye that sees, the directing eye—one made of fire, one fluid as the sea, and two which look from here to there. Fire, water and the earth—all need the vital air. The air is life. The air is God."

The significance of this formula is not difficult for the advanced student to grasp in connection with himself. The eye of knowledge, the eye of vision and the directing eye of Deity are familiar to him. But it is the great and major esoteric implications which I ask you to consider. An extension of these concepts to a Master and His ashram or His group of practising disciples, is of value to you in your reflective consciousness. The first and obvious interpretation concerns the eye of knowledge. But what of the eye of vision when duality is being overcome, and what of the "purpose for which the worlds were made"—the little world of the individual (once individuality is achieved) and the greater world of an organised group, integrated and functioning as a unit, and the distant subtle world of divine intent?

I say no more in this connection. I commend to your brooding reflection these subtle implications. I would ask you to ponder on them and—prior to the Wesak Full Moon—I would ask you to write your understanding of the formula from two angles. About these two angles you definitely should have ideas.

1. The angle of the individual.

2. The angle of a group of chelas.

Both these unities utilise the eye of knowledge and the eye of vision.

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PART II

POINTS OF REVELATION

I have dealt considerably in my earlier writings with the theme, Points of Crisis. We can now approach and prove the livingness of our progress from the angle of Points of Revelation. The entire objective of the initiation preparatory process is to bring about revelation. You must ever bear in mind that that which is revealed is eternally present. There is, therefore, occult truth in the statement that there is "nothing new under the sun." All that is revealed upon the Path of Discipleship and of Initiation is forever there, but that which can perceive, reach out and include has developed with the ages. Upon the Path of Discipleship, in the earlier stages, the eye of vision is the illumined mind. Upon the Path of Initiation it is that of which the eye of the mind is the exteriorisation—the intuitional perception of the soul itself. But as evolution proceeds, that which is brought to the point of perceiving the existing verities differs vastly as the centuries slip away. E'en the adept of the present is pronouncedly more perceptive and more accurately interpretive and his vision more penetrative than was the adept in Atlantean days, and the initiate who will achieve initiate-perception during the coming Aquarian Age will be greatly in advance of those who now function as the adepts of today.

I have warned you that discipleship is becoming increasingly difficult. This is owing to the increased sensitivity to the esoteric values and realities which the modern disciple manifests. He can and does perceive that which was the goal of initiation in earlier aeons and perceives these things normally and as an established fact in a developed awareness. It is the spiritual parallel of the development during material evolution of the five senses. His goal and his "pointed direction" lie far ahead and his inclusiveness opens for him doors which in earlier times only opened to the initiate knock. I consequently hold out to you no easy way but only one of difficulty and adjustment.

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In all forward stages upon the Path of Initiation, there are three phases which concern the initiate-aspirant's reactions. There is first of all the vision of the soul, but whereas in the past there was the vision and the starting point, now the modern disciple perceives likewise many of the intermediate stages, the opposing forces, the obstructions and the rapidly arousing handicaps and hindrances. The words I here use are chosen with deliberation. He is not now totally blind nor does he move forward entirely in the dark. There is enough light in him to bring to him what is called the "little revelation," and, in that light, will he see the greater light and arrive at a truer perception. He sees himself, and that—for aeons—the disciple has ever been able to do. But now he also perceives and recognises his brother in the light, and this evokes personality reactions and he has to adjust himself not only to himself as he discovers himself to be, but likewise to what he finds his brother also to be. This is no easy adjustment to make, and this the earlier imparted Rules of the Road ^[xv]* will have indicated to you.

I would like here, my brother, to list for you the most important of the statements made by me in the previous instruction, indicating those which embody important hints and showing you, this one time, with what care I prepare that which I seek to impart and how, therefore, I expect from you a careful study of my words. Here are these key thoughts:

1. Only that which you know for yourself and consciously experience is of importance. This refers especially to the following:

a. Your perception of the vision.

b. Your contact with me, your Master.

c. Your recognition of the initiatory process.

I told you, therefore, that you must have (for the goal) the demonstrating of the initiate-consciousness through both mind and brain and consequently upon the physical plane.

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2. Initiation is, as far as you are at present concerned, a "moment of crisis wherein the consciousness hovers upon the border line of revelation." This involves consequently:

a. A tremendous pull between the pairs of opposites.

b. The existence, as a result, of a field of tension.

c. The effort to stand firm at the midway point.

I would remind you that this does not refer to the man upon the path of life, pulled as he is between the pairs of opposites upon the plane of desire, but to the soul standing at the midway point between the monad and the personality and preparing to make the Great Renunciation—a renunciation which the personality makes possible—and to disappear, leaving the two (personality and monad) perfectly at-one. It is the man, as the soul, in full waking consciousness who takes initiation. Hence the emphasis upon soul contact when a man is upon the Probationary Path and passing through the early stages of discipleship. This leads, later, to the emphasis placed upon the need for two major activities—before the man can take the higher initiations:

a. Upon alignment.

b. Upon the scientific building of the antahkarana.

3. The revelation, given to the initiate, is not a vision of possibilities, but a factual experience, leading to:

a. The evocation of new powers.

b. The recognition of new modes and fields of service.

c. Freedom of movement within the bounds of the Hierarchy.

d. New hierarchical contacts and new responsibilities which face the initiate.

He, therefore, realises what St. Paul meant when—talking in hierarchical terms—he said "All things are become new." It is not simply a question of vision and contacts but of vital interrelation and of recognition which bring with them insight into the Mind of God.

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4. Four lines of teaching were emphasised in past centuries and up until the year 1875:

a. Hints as to the changing of personality character as preparatory to initiation.

b. Teaching as to the oneness of Deity and of the universal order.

c. Instruction as to the creative process.

d. Laya yoga or the yoga of energy, working through force centres.

Two things must now happen: the imparted theories which have guided the disciple's thinking hitherto must become practical experiences, and there must be such a shift in consciousness that the present vision must become the past experience and a new and deeper and entirely different recognition must take the place of the old goals. Here comes, consequently, a complete test-out of past hierarchical methods and modes of work. Has what the past has given proved an adequate preparation for that which will be the methods and propositions of the future? Have the foundations of truth been so securely settled that the coming superstructure will be based on such a sound reality that it can stand the impact of the new incoming solar and cosmic forces? Will the past work of the Hierarchy stand? Such are the problems with which the initiate-teachers are today faced.

Just as the attitudes of the disciple to daily living and to world happenings are totally unlike that of the average man because he is living increasingly in the world of meaning, so the initiate-disciple develops an attitude to living processes and to world events which is based on character (necessarily), interpreted in the world of meaning, but to them he brings a different light to bear and a motivation—based on newly acquired knowledge and understanding—which is entirely different to the two previous conditions. The four lines of teaching are taken for granted; the initiate is supposed to have grasped and mastered all of it in some experimental and experiential measure. Now the new formulas of life must control; they are life formulas, not [256] soul formulas. New knowledge must supersede the old and it will not concern that which has hitherto been regarded as the ultimate goal.

An illustration of this is the fact that to the esotericist of the past little was known of the seven Rays and the seven ray types, and naught had been given out anent Shamballa. Now the world of instructed disciples is slowly awakening to these newer values and truths and to the sevenfold source of life expression; the Will of God is going to take shape consciously in the minds of men in the future in such a manner that the old truths will condition and control as never before, but will drop automatically below the threshold of consciousness and the new emerging values and recognitions will take their place in the surface consciousness of all disciples—and their name will be Legion.

5. The astral body provides no hindrance to the initiate-disciple, but provides a medium of facile contact with the Hierarchy. This is due to the fact that the link between the astral body and the buddhic consciousness becomes at this stage increasingly close. They constitute essentially a pair of opposites which will eventually fuse; then the astral body will disappear as does the soul body at a later stage of development.

6. Every disciple has to discover for himself and alone for which initiation he is being prepared; the Master never gives this information. Light on the subject comes through the recognition of tests and the types of experience which come his way. "It is a matter," I have elsewhere told you, "of interior orientation and not of outside information." Recognition and orientation are the keynotes of this phase.

7. Always there exists the need for humility. This involves:

a. An adjusted sense of right proportion.

b. A balanced point of view.

c. A dispassionate attitude.

d. Truthful recognition of assets as well as debits.

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Here also I gave you a hint in stating that true humility is based on fact, on vision and on time pressures.

8. Two immediate objectives face the disciples, plus the need for one quality:

a. To integrate into the inner Ashram as "practising chelas."

b. To contact the Master at will.

c. To develop divine indifference.

9. In connection with the formulas, two reactions are automatically evoked in the true disciple and in the true group within the Ashram:

a. The reaction which is called the "formula of revelation." This designates sensitive response to the ancient formulas which are given to those being prepared for initiation. One of these I have already given to you.

b. The reaction called the "discovery of the point within the circle."

Have you ever thought, my brother, that one reason why you have not as yet contacted me freely in your waking consciousness and talked with me face to face may be due to the fact that the "circle" is for you only as yet a theory? Until the circle of your brothers is a fact in your everyday awareness and of prime importance in your daily life, it is not possible for you to arrive at contact with the "Point." The disciple starts on the periphery of the Master's circle and works towards the centre; he is apt, however, to reverse this procedure in his consciousness.

I have stated that initiation is essentially a process of revelation. For the disciple who is being prepared to take an initiation the emphasis is necessarily laid upon recognition—the intelligent recognition of what is to be revealed. This requires on his part a definite emergence from the world of glamour so that there can be a clear perception of the new vision; a new light is thrown upon old and well-known truths so that their significance is extraordinarily [258]changed, and in that changing the plan or purpose of Deity takes on an entirely fresh meaning. The inexperienced neophyte is constantly receiving revelations and recording what he regards as most unusual intuitions. All that is really happening, however, is that he is becoming aware of soul knowledge, whereas for the initiate the intuition is ever the revelation of the purpose of Shamballa and the working out, both from the short range and the long range angle, of the divine Plan. The revelation which is accorded at initiation is given to the soul, recorded by the "mind held steady in the light" and then later—with greater or less rapidity—transferred to the brain. You can see, therefore, the true intention of the system of Raja Yoga as it trains the mind to be receptive eventually to the Spiritual Triad. You can also see why for centuries the emphasis of the Teachers of the Ageless Wisdom has been upon the necessity for discrimination, particularly where the probationary disciple is concerned.

I am at this time carrying the current teaching upon initiation a step forward and am seeking to show that it is not essentially a process of soul-personality fusion (though that has to be a preliminary step) but of monad-personality integration, carried forward because of an attained alignment with the soul. Initiation is in fact the essential and inevitable process of transferring the primary triplicity of manifestation into the basic duality of spirit-matter. It is the "dissolution of the intermediary," and to this the crucifixion and death of the Christ was dedicated and intended to be the revelation, to the initiates of the past 2000 years, of the transmutation of the trinity of manifestation into the duality of purpose. I cannot word this in any other way but the enlightened will comprehend my meaning. The interpreters of the Gospel and many disciples of the Christian dispensation have singularly failed to grasp this revelation; they have laid the emphasis upon the death of the personality, whereas when Christ experienced the "great void of darkness" and chanted aloud the occult mantram "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me," he was recognising simultaneously the distinction between His "robe of glory" (symbolised by the [259] partition of His garment by the Roman soldiery) and also calling the attention of all future disciples and initiates to the disappearance of the "middle principle," the soul; He was projecting (into the world consciousness) the recognition which must come of relation to the Father or the Monad. This great dissolution is culminated for us at the time of the third initiation when the Light of the Monad obliterates the light of the soul and the material atomic light of the threefold personality. But—and here is the point—the recognition of this death and its effects is only symbolically enacted and recognised at the time of the fourth initiation, the Crucifixion. All lesser dissolutions, deaths, renunciations and disappearances of that to which the lower nature holds and is held are enacted in relation to the accustomed aspects of form-life, and of conscious sensitivity and awareness; they are simply preparatory to and symbolic of the final great dissolution of the causal body, consummated at the Crucifixion. This leads to the resurrection or uprising of the personality-soul consciousness (duly fused and blended) into that of the monad. This is finally carried to the point of solar perfection at the Ascension initiation.

I have given you this teaching in terms of the Christian presentation as it may be simpler for you to grasp, but there are many other formulations and approaches to these truths and the newer they are the more difficult necessarily are they to present. Only those who are on the immediate verge of initiation will understand; the others will prefer to interpret these truths to themselves in the easier and well-known formulas of the preparatory stage of the at-one-ing of soul and personality.

The stage of recognising the revelation which is accorded to the initiate of the major Mysteries is itself divided into lesser phases. These might be described as three in number though much is dependent upon the initiation to be taken and the ray of the prepared disciple. These are:

1. The Stage of Penetration. This refers to the piercing through the world glamour and thereby effecting two objectives:

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a. The Light of the Spiritual Triad streams into the consciousness of the initiate, via the antahkarana, so that the Plan for humanity and the divine Purpose in relation to the planet become increasingly clear. This initiates relation to Shamballa.

b. Part of the world glamour is thus dissipated and thus a clarifying of the astral plane takes place and humanity is consequently served. Every disciple who arrives at a recognition of the initiate-revelation releases light and dissipates a part of the glamour which blinds the mass of men. The sixth ray disciple takes far longer over this stage of penetration than do disciples on the other rays but only in this world cycle.

2. The Stage of Polarisation. This is the stage wherein the initiate, having let in the light and penetrated through the dense fogs and mists of the world of glamour, suddenly realises just what he has done and takes a firm stand, correctly oriented towards the vision (or to word it otherwise towards Shamballa). One of the things which must be grasped is that as the initiate is a point of hierarchical life (either on the periphery of the Hierarchy, or within the circle or at the centre) he is a definite part of the hierarchical effort. That effort is directed towards an orientation to the greater centre of life—Shamballa. Students are apt to believe that the orientation of the Hierarchy is towards humanity. That is not so. They respond to human need when the demand is effective, and are custodians of the Plan; but the orientation of the entire hierarchical group is towards the first aspect, as it expresses the Will of the Logos and manifests through Shamballa. Just as the disciple has to do two things: polarise his position by establishing right human relations and at the same time become a conscious, practising member of the Kingdom of God, the Hierarchy, so the initiate—upon a higher turn of the spiral—has to establish right relations with the Hierarchy and become simultaneously conscious of Shamballa.

All I can impart here is the desired point of attainment [261] but the phraseology is relatively meaningless, except to those who are experienced in the processes of initiation to a greater or less degree, according to the initiations already taken. This polarisation, this point of focussed effort and this attained orientation is the basic idea lying behind the phrase "the Mountain of Initiation." The initiate "plants his feet upon the mountain top and from that point of altitude perceives the thought of God, visions the dream within the Mind of God, follows God's eye from central point to outer goal and sees himself as all that is and yet within the whole."

3. The Stage of Precipitation. Having thus identified himself through penetration and polarisation with the Plan and with the Will of God (which is the key to Shamballa), he then proceeds—as a result of this triple recognition—to do his share in materialising the Plan and in bringing through into outer manifestation and expression as much of that Plan as he can. He thus becomes first of all an outpost of the Hierarchy (which of necessity means sensitivity to the Shamballa energy), and then increasingly an Agent of Light—the Light universal, or the Light of the Monad.

I have no more to say today anent initiation. Ponder upon that which I have given and grasp as far as youimaginatively can the magnificence of the initiatory process—so vastly more inclusive than has been indicated by any of the teaching given hitherto. After the war is over and the new world, with its coming civilisation and culture begins to take shape, an increasing emphasis will be laid upon the purpose of the Controlling Deity or basic Life or Energy as it is working out through humanity. This will be done by those who are trained esotericists. Much that is now being said by world leaders and serving workers in every nation is an indication of an unconscious response to the Shamballa energy. Towards the end of the century and during the first few decades of the twenty-first century, teaching anent Shamballa will be given forth. The effort of the abstract mind of man will be towards the comprehension of this, just as the [262] goal of hierarchical contact marks the present effort of the disciple. Glamour is disappearing; illusions are being dissipated; the stage of penetration into a new dimension, into a new phase of effort and of attainment is rapidly being promulgated. This is being done in spite of all the horror and agony and will be one of the first results of respite from war. The war itself is shattering illusions, revealing the need for change and producing a demand for a future new world and a coming beauty in living which will be revolutionary and a material response to an intensive initiation process in which all disciples can share and for which advanced aspirants can prepare themselves.

THE FORMULAS

Now that you have, presumably, brooded for some months on my instructions on the Formulas, I will seek to impart to you some of the deeper implications.

Formula One. — "A line of fire between two blazing points. A stream of water blue, again a line, emerging from the earth and ending in the ocean. A tree with root above and flowers below.

"Out of the fire and always at the midway point appears the eye of God (Shiva). Upon the stream, between the two extremes, there floats the eye of vision; a thread of light unites the two.

"Deep in the tree, between the root and flowers, the eye again is seen. The eye that knows, the eye that sees, the directing eye—one made of fire, one fluid as the sea, and two which look from here to there. Fire, water and the earth—all need the vital air. The air is life. The air is God."

These formulas and their implications have caused some of you concern because of their extreme difficulty of interpretation. I would ask you to bear in mind that you are individually [263] quite unable to grasp the extent of your own comprehension because the mind (the major conditioning factor in a disciple's life in the early stages of his training) knows far more than the brain is capable of recording. Later, in the life of the initiate, the soul registers consciously for the disciple who can identify himself with the soul, far more than the concrete mind is able to register. I would ask you, therefore, to cease gauging your capacity to understand and instead simply to brood and reflect.

Let me briefly summarise for you some of the things I indicated anent these formulas in my previous instructions:

1. They are concerned with the six relationships, as the disciple succeeds in establishing them.

2. These six relationships are not six initiations but six intermediate expansions of consciousness, occurring between the major initiations.

3. They are definitely formulas of integration:

a. They concern integration progressively into a Master's group.

b. They also concern integration into some state of group sensitivity, on some one plane, for consciousness of sensitive response is the keynote of all the planes throughout the solar system.

4. They are also formulas of revelation. This is peculiarly so in connection with Formula One. They bring about, when rightly used:

a. The revelation of group feeling.

b. The revelation of the Master as He is, the centre of light and power within the circle.

c. The revelation of the point of life at the centre of all forms.

These effects, resulting from right comprehension of the formulas, might be regarded as reactions—automatic and inevitable; I used this word "reaction" in my last instruction. These reactions are frequently, and I might say usually, unconscious and it is only gradually that the disciple wakes up to the fact that by quiet reflection upon the formula, certain [264] expansions of consciousness, a greater sensitivity and an intuitive recognition of the hitherto unseen and unrealised have wrought definite changes in his subjective nature. He does the required work and the results naturally and simply happen.

Here is a hint as to the need for occult obedience. I have the responsibility of indicating to you the work I want done and the steps to be taken. You subsequently have to do the work. Most of you, living normally as you do in the world of effects and not in the world of causes, are preoccupied with the possible results and the phenomenal differences (if I might call them so) which are expected by you to eventuate from the work. Therefore, instead of concentrating upon exactitude of work and meticulous obedience, your energy goes into the thought of what will happen, into the consideration of the difficulties of the work, and into your belief that no results are demonstrating in your particular case. Primarily what I am doing in giving you these formulas is to aid you to work in the world of causes and so draw you consciously out of the world of effects. Therefore, I would ask you to do the indicated work, to concentrate your minds upon these formulas of power—"working without attachment," as the Gita expresses it—and refrain from looking for results, knowing that they will be there, e'en though unrecognised by you, until your focus is more definitely subjective. I did not say "introspective," my brother, but "subjective." To be an introvert really means that you, as a thinking personality, are always looking in to your inner feeling and thought life. That is not living subjectively; it is living as an outer observer who looks within. To live subjectively means that the focus of your consciousness is within and that from that point you look in two directions: outward at the personality upon the physical plane and inward at the soul. Ponder on this. The distinction is very real and one that you should grasp. The man who knows the difference between living an introspective life and a subjective life is well on the way to being a true esotericist.

Let us look for a minute at Formula One and seek its [265] simplest interpretation, and yet an advanced one from the angle of the neophyte (which you should not be). I will take one or two general ideas which emerge from an analysis of the whole and then a few sentences which—when interpreted—may throw light upon certain basic and practical significances.

I would first have you note the emphasis upon the "eye" in this formula. It is a keynote and appears in various guises. Behind all the ideas lies the concept of seeing, of a Seeing One, looking on at the created Whole. This same concept is to be found in the fundamental Masonic symbol of the Eye of God which dominates everything within the Temple. In this formula we have:

1. The Eye of God. Shiva is the first Person of the Trinity, the Destroyer, but at the same time the Final Absorber, the Whole and yet the part. This is the organ of the divine Will or Power, the Eye, through Whose directed gaze the power flows outward to its created Whole. In the case of the human spirit, it is the Monad.

2. The Eye of Vision, indicating this time not the directing energy, but the conscious Observer, the Soul, whether cosmic, solar or human.

3. The Eye that Knows. This is the disciple who, from stage to stage, reacts increasingly to the direction of the spiritual will and to the growth of sensitive response, and in both his brain and his mind consciousness in the three worldsknows. That knowledge is limited in the neophyte, deepening in the disciple and profound in the Master, but it is all related to vision.

4. At the same time this formula tells us that there are four eyes:

a. "One made of fire" . . . the eye of God.

b. "One fluid as the sea" . . . the eye of vision.

c. "And two which look from here to there, the eye that knows." These are the eye of the disciple and the eye of the personality. There is a clue to this in a statement in The Secret Doctrine that the right eye [266] is the eye of buddhi and the left eye the eye of manas—these are the eyes of the high grade integrated personality, en rapport with the soul.

d. "Fire, water and the earth all need the vital air. The air is life." The clue again to this is to be found in The Secret Doctrine, I.80, where we find the words "Matter is the Vehicle for the manifestation of Soul on this plane of existence, and Soul is the Vehicle on a higher plane for the manifestation of Spirit and these three are a Trinity, synthesised by Life, which pervades them all."

You can see, therefore, upon careful reflection how simple this matter is, exoterically considered, and how the key to understanding lies in conscious identification with all three, both sequentially through growth and simultaneously through initiation. I have here given you an occult hint.

Secondly, I would have you note how this formula refers to the antahkarana:

1. "A line of fire between two blazing points"—the monad and the soul.

2. "A line, emerging from the earth and ending in the ocean"—referring to the sutratma which, when the antahkarana is completed, blends all types of consciousness, spirit and matter, into one living whole, the ultimate Reality.