356. A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - 74. SECTION THREE - III. GROUP RELATIONS DIVISION B. THE NATURE OF THE SEVEN COSMIC PATHS. - A. BAILEY

SECTION THREE - The Fire of Spirit - Electric Fire

III. GROUP RELATIONS

DIVISION B. THE NATURE OF THE SEVEN COSMIC PATHS.

It should be carefully borne in mind that when the term PATH is used, it is simply an energy term, and streams of energy are indicated,—seven streams which blend and merge to form one Path.  It should also be noted that the Adept Who undergoes the discipline and who passes through initiatory rites which will enable him to tread those seven Paths, has transcended colour, has passed beyond the veil and has expanded His consciousness so that he is at-one with the conscious life of His planetary Logos.  He has therefore arrived at a stage incomprehensible to man now; He is passing out of the realm of substantial forms altogether into the realm of energy.  He knows the life of the two aspects, the soul and the body, and is passing away from the realm of awareness altogether.  This will sound to the average reader as a foolish jingling of words and a splitting of hairs but he who reasons by the Law of Correspondences and who has grasped the basic essential relativity of the three aspects to each other has arrived at the knowledge that back of all form is a subjective Life which is known by its quality, its colour, and its attributes; he has expanded his consciousness until gradually he has ascertained and made a part of his own conscious ensemble those attributes and qualities.  But the pulsating dynamic vibration which is the producing cause of both the subjective life and its qualitative form is as yet—to him—the mystery of mysteries and the ineffable secret.  It becomes the goal of his endeavour as he sets foot upon one of the seven Paths which face him after the fifth Initiation.  If a Master of the Wisdom and the one who has unified both the manas (intellect) and wisdom (buddhi) knows not what shall be revealed to him as he treads the cosmic Path which is his choice, surely it is needless for us to try and comprehend (at our relatively low stage of evolution) what is the true [1242] connotation of the word "Spirit."  Pondering upon these matters is (for the average man) not only useless but also dangerous.  He has not yet the apparatus of thought necessary for its safe undertaking.  It is as if one tried to force a child in the first grade in school to comprehend the differential calculus and the laws of trigonometry.

These seven Paths, when trodden, prepare a man to pass certain cosmic initiations, including those upon the Sun Sirius.  One hint may here be given.  Each of these Paths eventually leads to one or other of the six constellations which (with ours) form the seven centres in the body of the ONE ABOUT WHOM NAUGHT MAY BE SAID.  Those adepts therefore who stay for a prescribed length of time upon our planet are a correspondence to those greater initiates who remain for many kalpas within the solar system, taking certain mysterious initiations concerned entirely with solar evolution.  Their work is concerned with the system as a centre in the body of that Existence Who vitalises the Logos of our own system.

It might be of value here to list the seven cosmic Paths as follows: 

Path I.....The Path of Earth Service.

Path II....The Path of Magnetic Work.

Path III...The Path of the Planetary Logos.

Path IV....The Path to Sirius.

Path V.....The Ray Path.

Path VI....The Path of the Solar Logos.

Path VII...The Path of Absolute Sonship.

It must be borne in mind and no confusion of thought must be permitted that these terms are the generic names given in the mystic parlance of the Lodge of Masters to the seven methods of work, of endeavour and of aspiration whereby the perfected sons of Earth's humanity pass on to specific cosmic Paths or streams of energy, making in their totality one great cosmic WAY.

The seven paths at a certain stage which may not be defined become the four paths, owing to the fact that our solar system is one of the fourth order.  This merging is effected in the following way:

The initiates upon Path I "fight their way" on to path VI.

The initiates upon Path II "alchemise themselves" on to Path VII.

The initiates upon Path III through "piercing the veil" find themselves upon Path V.

This leaves Path IV to be accounted for.  Upon this Path pass all those who, through devotion and activity combined, achieve the goal but who lack as yet the full development of the manasic principle.  This being the solar system of love-wisdom, or of astral buddhic development, the fourth Path includes the larger number of the sons of men.  In the hierarchy of our planet the "Lords of Compassion" are numerically greater than the "Masters of the Wisdom."  The former must therefore all pass to the sun Sirius there to undergo a tremendous manasic stimulation, for Sirius is the emanating source of manas.  There the mystic must go and become what is called "a spark of mahatic electricity."

These seven Paths are not concerned with nature or the balancing of the pairs of opposites.  They are concerned only with unity, with that which utilises the pairs of opposites as factors in the production of LIGHT.  They deal[1244] with that unknown quantity which is responsible for the pairs of opposites; therefore they are primarily concerned with that which lies outside the manifested forms, with the true abstraction or the Absolute.  Spirit and matter are never dissociated during manifestation; they are the duality lying back of all that is objective.  Yet some factor is responsible for them—that which is neither Spirit nor matter, that which will be regarded as nonexistent by anyone except the initiate.  At the third Initiation some glimmering light upon this Abstraction is sensed by the initiate, and by the time the fifth Initiation is reached enough is apprehended by him to enable him to set forth with ardour on the search for its secret.

Path I.  The Path of Earth Service.

The nature of the spiritual force which animates the group of our peculiar planetary initiates will become apparent perhaps if the methods and purposes of their work are studied from the standpoint of subjective energy, and not so specifically of the material form.  This point of view can be gleaned most easily from a consideration of the animating impulse lying behind all world groups which are particularly consecrated to the uplift of the race.  This will necessarily include all political, religious, scientific and metaphysical organisations.  It will be found that each and all are definitely related and have a point of at-one-ment with certain of the numerous occult bodies which are (usually unknown to the affiliated group) responsible for the vitalisation of the principal units in any of these organisations doing this pioneer work.

This first path is the one that keeps a man linked to the Hierarchy which is pledged to the service of our planetary scheme.  It comprises those who work under the Lord [1245] of the World in the seven groups into which our Masters of the Wisdom are divided.  Not so many Masters follow this Path as some of the others, and only enough are permitted to do so to carry on planetary evolution satisfactorily.  More is known about this Path than about any of the others, and more will continuously be found out as members of our humanity fit themselves to contact the Brothers of the Hierarchy.  Their field of employ, Their methods of work will eventually become exoteric, and as the seven groups are recognised and known, schools of development for the filling of posts in these groups will be the logical sequence.

The adepts who stay upon this Path are distinguished by a dual attribute, which is their guarantee of attainment along this line of spiritual endeavour.  They are animated by wise-compassion.  These words should be carefully studied for they hold the clue to the nature of this first Path.  The adepts who choose this Path are called esoterically the "beneficent dragons," and the energy with which they work and the stream of living force upon which they are found emanates from the constellation of the Dragon, working through the zodiacal sign Libra.  This special spiritual energy produces in all those groups which come under its direct influence a profound faculty for identification.  This identification does not concern the form nor the soul but only the spiritual point of positive life which in the human unit we call the "Jewel in the Lotus." It should be remembered in this connection that there is a jewel at the heart of every atom.  Every jewel has seven facets which are the seven doorways to the seven Paths.

The "beneficent dragons" are distinguished by their "luminosity," and it is this basic quality which lies behind the injunction given by all spiritual teachers to their pupils in the words "let your light shine forth."

When the adept enters through the "luminous door" he has before him four very peculiar and esoteric IDENTIFICATIONS.  This entrance takes place after he has passed the fifth Initiation and has demonstrated his fitness so to do through a long period of service in connection with our planetary evolution.  These identifications eventually bring about within the jewel, which is essentially the true spiritual unit, a momentous happening, and are undergone within the monadic consciousness after the transcendence of the atmic sheath.  These four identifications are connected with the fourfold lotus of the solar Logos, or with His twelve-petalled heart centre.  This lotus is sometimes called the "heart of the Sun," and concerns the subjective sun.  It is not, however, possible to say more along this line.

These four Identifications are only undergone upon this particular Path and are each preceded by three lesser identifications which make a totality of twelve Identifications, corresponding to the twelve-petalled lotus.  It will be noted by the accurate student that we are now discontinuing the use of the word "initiation" which has to do specifically with consciousness and therefore with duality and are utilising a word which connotes synthesis, though very inadequately.

The energy which is manipulated in the process of these identifications is largely that pouring through the sixth Hierarchy, which has an esoteric relation to the sixth Path on to which the initiates of Path I have eventually to fight their way.  The form through which the adept must work in order to demonstrate his control of the energy concerned may not here be given.  It may only be stated that luminosity is gained upon the battle ground through a fight with a dragon.  The following summation may be found suggestive:

PATH I.  EARTH SERVICE

Attributes.......Wise-compassion.

Source...........Constellation of the Dragon, via Libra.

Method...........Twelve cosmic Identifications.

Hierarchy........The sixth.

Symbol...........A green dragon issuing from the centre of a blazing sun.  Behind the sun and over-topping it can be seen two pillars on either side of a closed door.

Quality gained...Luminosity.

Path II.  The Path of Magnetic Work.

In considering this Path students must bear in mind that they are dealing with that Path which of all the seven expresses most fully the effects of the Law of Attraction.  It will be remembered by those who have carefully read this Treatise that this law is the expression of the spiritual will which produces the manifestation of the Son (Sun).  Magnetism—physical, attractive and dynamic—is the expression of the law in the three worlds as far as the human unit is concerned.  It will be apparent, therefore, that the adept who passes upon this Path is dealing with that reality which is the basis of all coherency in nature, and with that essence which through the force of its own innate quality produces the attractive energy which brings together the pairs of opposites; it is the force which is responsible for the interplay of electrical phenomena of every kind.  The adept who chooses this cosmic stream of energy upon which to make certain cosmic approaches and upon which to make a series of cosmic unfoldments is one who has worked primarily upon the second ray path prior to the fifth Initiation, and who frequently has also been upon the fourth ray path.  Adepts who have been upon the fourth ray path and who pass from thence upon the second ray do not as a rule choose this cosmic line of endeavour.

Those who do the work of wielding forces or electrical magnetism for the use of the Great Ones on all planes pass to this Path.  They wield the elemental formative energy, manipulating matter of every density and vibration.  Great waves of ideas and surging currents of public opinion on astral levels as well as on the higher levels where work the Great Ones, are manipulated by them.  A large number of fifth Ray people, those who have the Ray of Concrete Knowledge for their monadic ray, pass to this line of endeavour.  The inherent quality in the type of the Monad settles the line of activity.  The karma of the fifth ray is one of the factors which produces this.  These Monads work with fohat, and must, to the end of the greater manvantara.  They have their eventual position on the cosmic mental plane, but as yet the capacity for abstract thought is so little developed that it is impossible for us to comprehend the significance of this expression.

Three types of magnetic work have been mastered by the adept who treads this second Path.  He has mastered (in the three worlds) the magical work of form construction through the manipulation of magnetic energy and the utilisation of fohatic attractive energy in order to "bind the builders."  This he does through the medium of a purified lower nature which can act as a perfect transmitter.

He has learnt also the secret of group coherence on the higher levels of the mental plane in connection with his own planetary Logos, and with those two other Logoi Who form with his own Logos a systemic triangle within the solar system.  He has passed on also to a comprehension of the forces which unite the various streams of living energy emanating from Them in the furthering of the plans of solar evolution.  This becomes possible to him when he can function in the monadic vehicle and is conscious in that unit of force.

This has been expressed in the old Commentary in the following words:

"The seven Brothers love each other, yet each seeketh for many aeons the path of hatred.  They hate and kill each other until they find that which dieth not and is not hurt.  Together then they stand and serve and through their service the seven suns burn up."

The seven suns are destroyed because when synthesis and unity are reached and when the differentiated forces become one homogeneous force, the attractive or magnetic effect of this coherence is a manifested unit on the physical plane as well as on the subjective side of nature.  This produces necessarily the destruction of all limiting forms, the merging of the fires, and the blazing forth into objectivity of the vital body of the Logos prior to the final abstraction and the subsequent dying out or obscuration of the solar system.

The will or purpose aspect which is the spiritual life behind all subjective and objective phenomena suddenly makes itself felt and also seen.  It is the production of this which is the main work of the adept who passes on to Path II from off his particular ray path.

Those who tread this second Path work with magnetic or attractive energy because they have identified themselves with it.  Eventually they will all pass on to Path VII, which is the Path of Absolute Sonship.  All that can be said here in regard to their efforts is the statement that this Path carries them (through the medium of the logoic head centre) into the Heart of the ONE ABOUT WHOM NAUGHT MAY BE SAID.  They are swept out of systemic evolution altogether upon a great tide of attractive energy which emanates from one of the major centres of that great Existence Who is the source of the life of the solar Logos.  This centre is of course one of [1250] the seven constellations.  As it is the most potent constellation as far as our system is concerned owing to the fact that this system predominantly expresses love or attractive energy and our Logos is as yet polarised in His cosmic astral body, it is not permitted to hint at the name of the constellation.  The reason is that if the name were known and if enough people could do the work of occult meditation and visualisation, accompanying the work with a vivid imagination, it might be possible to attract into our system such a downpour of attractive energy from the constellation involved as to unduly speed up the processes of evolution upon our planet, and thus upset the systemic economy most dangerously.  People do not yet realise the potency of meditation and especially of group meditation.

The zodiacal sign concerned is Gemini, and the reason will be apparent to all trained initiates.

A word here is necessary in explanation of the expression used earlier in connection with the passing of adepts from off this second Path on to the Seventh Path.  It is stated that they "alchemise themselves" on to it.  Some idea as to the meaning of this phrase may be gained through a consideration of the purposes of heat, when divorced from moisture, and of the method of employing such heat.  The adepts use the "dry alchemical fires" to produce the results they desire in aiding the evolutionary process.  As they use these "dry fires" the reaction upon themselves is such that they transmute the electrical spark (or the Monad within the flame of the planetary Life) and break it up in such a manner that it can pass through the systemic etheric web and on to that stream of cosmic energy emanating from the constellation mentioned above.

They are then known as "Absolute sparks of parental love," or (in the exoteric language of the initiates) they pass on to Path VII, that of "Absolute Sonship."

The attributes which the adept on this path has to possess prior to taking the needed training for the seventh cosmic method of approach is responsiveness to heat and a knowledge of rhythm.  These words will, of course, mean nothing to the uninitiated but to some it will convey much and when it is noted that there will be found coupled with these two attributes an ability to "see the dancing of the particles of heat and the waves of warm vibration" (as it is called in an old manual which those in training for this path employ) it will be apparent that the effects of fire and the laws of fiery energy and vibration are here dealt with.  Those sons of men who at this time search for the "heat of the love nature" of the human unit and who add to that search a cultivation of a vivid imagination and an intense power to visualise are laying a groundwork upon which this later knowledge may be superimposed.  But this is not the easy thing it sounds, for it involves an identification at present impossible to the majority, and a power to realise the nature of that which is visualised which negates the idea of duality,—that which visualises and that which is visualised.

The method employed can only be expressed as the "entering of the burning-ground."  The power to do this is gained through passing through three preliminary burning-grounds, as is easily to be seen:

1. The burning-ground which lies between the Hall of Ignorance, and the Hall of Learning.  This is the destructive fire which man creates under the working of the Law of Karma.

2. The burning-ground of the dead personality which lies between the Hall of Learning and the Hall of Wisdom.  It is found upon the shores of the river of life and has to be passed prior to the third Initiation.

3. The burning-ground which is found when a man is ready to pass out of the Hall of Wisdom as a full adept.  It is a triple burning-ground and is found "upon the mountain top, being kept alive and flaming by all the winds of heaven."  It is responsible for the destruction of the egoic or causal body.

The third produces a spiritual alchemicalisation, whereas the other two produced results in the objective or form side and the subjective or consciousness aspect of his triple nature.  When these three burning grounds are passed then the adept is prepared for another and fiercer experience.

The hierarchies connected with this Path are mainly the third and the fourth.  Only the human units can pass on to these two paths.  The deva hierarchies of the third order have already passed upon them, and it is their previous work which enables man to do so.  This is a great mystery and more must not be revealed about it.  The group of the Silent Watchers of all degrees are closely connected with this second cosmic path.  All of Them are Lords of Sacrifice, and are animated solely by love, and all have therefore passed through the sacrificial burning grounds.

It is only possible to give the most elementary of the exoteric symbols.  It takes the form of a funeral pyre in full conflagration, and with four flaming torches one at each corner.  From the centre of the pyre a fivefold star mounts like a rocket towards a flaming sun of a predominantly rosy hue.

PATH II.  PATH OF MAGNETIC WORK

Attributes.........Responsiveness to heat and knowledge of rhythm.

Source.............An unknown constellation via Gemini.

Method............The entering of the burning-ground.

Hierarchy.........The third and fourth.

Symbol.............A funeral pyre, four torches, and a fivefold star mounting towards the sun.

Quality gained...Electrical velocity.

Path III.  Path of training for Planetary Logoi.

This path is one that attracts to itself only a few comparatively of the sons of men.  It involves a peculiar form of development and the faculty of continued awareness along with spiritual identification which is the distinguishing characteristic of the seven cosmic paths.

The adept who chooses this path preserves in a peculiar way the faculty of sense-perception plus identification with the spiritual aspect.  They are constantly spoken of in the occult archives as the "Lords Whose mayavirupa continuously recurs."  As they work with the psyche or the soul of manifestation and are primarily concerned with the subjective side of life they are connected with that centre in the Body of the ONE ABOUT WHOM NAUGHT MAY BE SAID which is the source of conscious sensation.  Therefore, they are vitalised from the solar plexus of that great Existence Whose all-embracing vitality holds our Logos, along with other solar Logoi, within the sphere of His consciousness.  As is well known, the solar plexus is the centre which synthesises the reactions and the essential virtues of the lower three centres.  This point must be borne in mind when studying this cosmic path.

These adepts are also called the "Lords of cosmic Maya" for they work with that faculty which is responsible for illusion and with the relation of the Knower to that which is to be known.  Remember here that we are not considering the three worlds of human endeavour except in so far as they form a part of a whole.

The attributes which predispose a man for the work of training himself for the path of a planetary Logos are three in number and may be expressed thus:

1. Cosmic vision.  These adepts are connected with the logoic third eye.

2. Deva hearing.

3. Psychic correlation.

All the senses are, as we know, connected with some centre, and these centres are in turn connected with planetary centres which are themselves energised from an analogous cosmic source.  The adept on this third Path has a specific connection with the energy which emanates from those cosmic centres which are related to spiritual vision and spiritual hearing.  The sense of touch has primarily to do with the objectivity of the dense physical form, and with it this particular group of adepts has nothing to do.  Sight, hearing and the power to correlate the relation between the Self and the Not-Self is theirs, but the Not-self comes specifically under the guidance and the stimulation of a totally different group of cosmic workers.  It is difficult to convey a clear meaning in this connection and the student must remember that we are dealing with spirit and with the other two types of cosmic energy.

This path is trodden by those who will take up the work of the seven planetary Logoi of the next solar system, and of the forty-nine sub-planetary Logoi, Their assistants and of certain other entities working in that particular department.  There will be seven systems, though we are only concerned with the major three, of which our present solar system is but the second.

Each Chohan of a Ray takes a certain number of initiates of the sixth Initiation and trains them specially for this work.  Special aptitude in colour and sound predisposes the choice, and the ability to work with "psyche," or with the Spirits in evolution, marks a man out for this high post.  We might say that the planetary Logoi are the divine psychologists, and therefore in the training for [1255] this post psychology is the basic subject, though it is a psychology inconceivable as yet to us.

Every planetary Logos has, in His own special planet, schools for the development of subordinate Logoi, and there trains them, giving them opportunity for wide experience.  Even the Logoi Themselves progress onward, and Their places must be taken.

Students may be surprised to know that the source of the peculiar cosmic energy which is found streaming towards our system along this cosmic Path is that of the sun Betelgeuse.  This name is, however, a blind.  The reason that certain facts connected with this sun have lately come more prominently before the public is in reality a subjective one.  The science of the soul in its various aspects (mental, psychical, and spiritual) is making much headway now in the world, and is absorbing more and more the attention of thinkers.  This is the result of certain waves of energy impinging upon our solar system and thus eventually finding their way to our planet.  Betelgeuse from the occult standpoint is a system of the second order, just as our solar system is one of the fourth order.  There is consequently a relation between these two numbers both in the system and the cosmos.  This influence reaches our system via the sign Sagittarius.

The work that adepts on this path have to accomplish primarily is to make possible the manifestation of the Monad of the solar Logos through the medium of the body of consciousness, or through the soul-form.  They thus repeat on a higher level the work of those Builders who create and make manifest the body through which the soul seeks to express itself.  They are not concerned with objectivity, and have a relation to that fifth Hierarchy which gives to man his egoic body.

The adepts on our Earth planet who seek this path do so through the department of the Mahachohan, which [1256]works with the intelligence or mental aspects of manifestation.  From this third department they pass under the direct training of one of the Buddhas of Activity, and in the final stages are personally taught by Sanat Kumara, functioning as the embodied planetary Logos.  This training concerns itself with three main subjects:

1. With colour, that which veils the Spirit aspect, as dense form veils the soul.

2. With sound, that which Spirit utters in order to make itself conscious, and to produce psychic awareness.  The whole science of mantra yoga is mastered by them, but only in connection with the higher planes and where the cosmic planes are concerned.

3. With the nature of duality, that which is basically the science of the soul.

It is difficult to express in words the method employed by a Master of the Wisdom as he enters this cosmic Path.  It has been called the method of prismatic identification, for it concerns the colour veils which shroud the spiritual energy.  Another mode of expressing the same truth is to say that it is the method of understanding the song of life.  As the "stars sing together," as the "chant of the Gods" peals forth in the great choir of the Heavens, it produces a corresponding colour symphony.  This particular mode of identification enables the adept to act as a director in the chorus and to produce the needed colour effects and chords.  When he can do this to perfection he is then in a position to take up office as a planetary Logos.  More it is not permitted to say and the above is but a symbolic way of expressing a basic and difficult truth.

The symbol of this Path (and the only one it is possible to make exoteric) is a radiant Cross of coloured light; it [1257]has the long limb formed of the seven colours of the solar spectrum, and the transverse limb is composed of twelve gradations of colours as yet unknown to man.  In the centre of the Cross is to be seen a five-pointed star in a deep indigo shade, and behind it is a blazing sun of a warm dark blue.  Above the whole are certain Sensa characters, depicted in gold, and conveying to the initiated adept the name of one or other of the planetary Schools in which this particular line of study is undertaken.  There are, as has been already said, seven such schools and candidates for this Path from our planetary scheme are transferred to the inner round and from thence to the Jupiter scheme.

The quality gained is cosmic etheric vision, the extent of the vision developed being within the seven systems which form (along with our solar system) the seven centres in the cosmic Life with whom our solar Logos is allied.  This is sometimes called septenary cosmic clairvoyance.

One more fact of interest might here be added.  This Path is sometimes called the "Lotus Path," as it concerns itself with the construction of the logoic Lotuses of solar Logoi.  The schools which prepare for this work are called in the mystic parlance of the adepts the "lotus lands."  The curriculum is termed at times the "Lotus sleep," as it involves a condition of complete negation where the form side of manifestation is concerned and an entire abstraction, thus producing a type of solar samadhi.  Whilst this is being undergone the adept functions in a form or vehicle which is a correspondence upon the plane of atma to the mayavirupa on the plane of mind.

PATH III.  THE PATH OF TRAINING FOR PLANETARY LOGOI

Attributes.......cosmic vision, deva hearing and psychic correlation.

Source...........Betelgeuse, via the sign Sagittarius.

Hierarchy.......the fifth.

Method..........prismatic identification.

Symbol...........a coloured Cross, with a star at the centre, and backed by a blazing sun, surmounted by a Sensa Word.

Quality............cosmic etheric vision or septenary clairvoyance.

Path IV.  The Path to Sirius.

This path is of all the Paths the most veiled in the clouds of mystery.  The reason for this mystery will only be apparent to the pledged initiate, though a clue to the secret may be gained if it is realised that in a peculiar and esoteric sense the sun Sirius and the Pleiades hold a close relation to each other.  It is a relation analogous to that which lower mind holds to higher mind.  The lower is receptive to, or negatively polarised to the higher.  Sirius is the seat of higher mind and mahat (as it is called, or universal mind) sweeps into manifestation in our solar system through the channel of the Pleiades.  It is almost as if a great triangle of mahatic energy was thus formed.  Sirius transmits energy to our solar system via that

"...sevenfold brooding Mother, the silver constellation, whose voice is as a tinkling bell, and whose feet pass lightly o'er the radiant path between our worlds and hers."

Within the solar system there is an interesting correspondence to this cosmic interplay in the relation between the Venus scheme, our Earth scheme and the Venus chain in our scheme.

Curiously enough it will be through a comprehension of the human antaskarana, or the path which links higher and lower mind and which is constructed by the Thinker during the process of evolution, that light on this abstruse matter will come.  There is (in connection with our planetary Logos) just such an antaskarana, and as He builds and constructs it, it forms part of the fourth Path, and permits the passage of the bulk of our humanity to this [1259]distant objective, and this without obstruction.  A clue to the nature of this Path and as to the reason why so many of the human Monads seek this particular stream of energy lies in the right understanding of the above suggestion.

The initiates who tread this way are primarily those of the fourth and the sixth order.  As earlier pointed out, this is the Path that the "lords of compassion" most frequently follow, and at this time the Egyptian Master and the Master Jesus are preparing Themselves to tread it.  The mystics of the Occident who have come into incarnation during the past one thousand years are a peculiar group of Egos whose impulse is towards this type of cosmic energy.  In this system they have developed certain basic recognitions and the "ecstasy" of the occidental mystic is the germ, latent within him, which will some day flower forth into that cosmic rapture for which we have as yet no name.

Cosmic rapture and rhythmic bliss are the attributes of the fourth path.  It is a form of identification which is divorced from consciousness altogether.  The reason also why the majority of the sons of men follow this Path lies in the fact of its numerical position.  These units of the fourth kingdom, the bulk of the fourth Creative Hierarchy on this fourth globe of the fourth scheme in a solar system of the fourth order are innately compelled to seek this fourth WAY in order to perfect themselves.  They are called the "blissful dancing points of fanatical devotion."  This is as near as we can get to the true description.  They have also been described as the "revolving wheels which turn upon themselves, and find the open door to perfect bliss."

The energy of Path IV reaches us from Sirius via the Sun.  This must be understood as a blind behind which one of the signs of the zodiac veils itself.

The hierarchies concerned with this specific type of [1260] cosmic force hide themselves under the numbers fourteen and seventeen.  This will serve as a complete blind to the average reader, but will carry to the pledged chela the hint needed to produce illumination.

The method whereby the adept fits himself to pass upon this path is termed that of duplex rotary motion and "rhythmic dancing upon the square."

The symbol, which is first given to the pledged disciple to study but which may, however, be described, is a duality of interlocked wheels revolving at a great pace in opposite directions, and producing a unified whole.  These wheels are portrayed as manifesting electric blue flame, rotating and revolving with great rapidity around an equal-armed Cross.  The Cross is pictured in orange fire with a deep emerald green circle, flaming at the point in the centre where the four arms of the Cross meet.  The symbolism of these colours links this fourth path to the solar system preceding this one.  In that system the Sirian influence was more potent than in the present one.

It is not possible to add more to this beyond pointing out that the quality gained by the adept who treads this path may not be revealed.  He comes under the concentrated influence of the energy which is identified with the planetary antaskarana.  It is not permitted, therefore, to state what its specific quality may be, as it would convey too much information to the intelligent reader as to the nature and the objective of our particular planetary Logos.

PATH IV.  THE PATH TO SIRIUS

Attributes.......cosmic rapture and rhythmic bliss.

Source...........Sirius via the Sun which veils a zodiacal sign.

Hierarchy.......veiled by the numbers 14 and 17.

Method..........duplex rotary motion and rhythmic dancing upon the square.

symbol............two wheels of electric fire, revolving around an orange Cross, with an emerald at the centre.

quality.............unrevealed.

Path V.  The Ray Path.

This Path is one of the great distributing paths of the system, and is trodden by the adept who has a clear understanding of the laws of vibration.  It leads to the next cosmic plane with great facility and is therefore called "the outer door of entry."  As we know, the seven Rays which manifest throughout our solar system, are but the seven subrays of one great ray, that of Love-Wisdom.  This ray Path is the one upon which the majority of the "Masters of the Wisdom" pass.  In the same way many of the "Lords of Compassion" pass on to Path IV.  Five-eighths of the former pass on to this path just as four-fifths of the adepts of suffering pass on to Path IV.  In considering these numbers it must be borne in mind that the figures are of very great magnitude.  One-fifth of the Compassionate Lords is a vast number, whilst three-eighths is a stupendous number of monads.  We must remember in this connection also that we are only dealing with the adepts of the fifth Initiation, and are not taking into consideration initiates of lower degrees nor disciples of many grades.  It is useless for average man to ponder upon these figures.  They are too difficult to compute and involve calculations most abstruse and intricate.  This can be demonstrated by pointing out that from these figures must be subtracted that two-fifths which (in the next round) pass before the Judgment Throne and are rejected.  Out of the remaining three-fifths only a percentage which may not be revealed reach final adeptship, though all pass upon the Path.  The five-eighths above referred to and the four-fifths have reference only to the two great groups of asekha initiates.

Adepts who pass upon the Ray Path have to possess attributes which make them exceedingly responsive to vibration.  In their group work (regarding all the units upon this Path as forming a unified Whole) the results achieved might be compared to that of a compass upon a ship.  They respond primarily to a basic vibration, not through sensation but through that which is the outgrowth of sensation.  It is a form of realisation which is the cosmic correspondence to the reaction which comes when the skin is touched.  It is not consciousness butknowledge through vibration.  They are themselves identified with a certain vibration and they respond to that vibration alone which is the higher correspondence upon the cosmic planes.  Other vibrations they ignore.

They are taught how to insulate themselves so that no vibration save the one which reaches them from the cosmic source of the synthetic ray can touch them.  Students can get some idea of the lower correspondence to this as they study the compass, its responsiveness to a certain magnetic current, and the tendency which it demonstrates to point ever towards the north.  These adepts of the fifth Path are the constituent factor which occultly holds our solar system steadily equilibrised in one specific direction.  Their main characteristic or attribute may be described as a sense of cosmic direction.

The source of energy to which they respond may be regarded as the Pole Star.  It should nevertheless be pointed out that this star serves only as a blind for a constellation which lies behind,—a constellation which exists only in etheric matter.  It is consequently ignored by astronomers, though its influence is exceedingly potent within our system.  It should be borne in mind also that upon another planet within our solar ring-pass-not this fifth Path is the one that the majority of their adepts follow.  Adepts who are on this Path, therefore, will pass to this other planetary scheme prior to finding their way [1263] to the Sun and from thence to cosmic spheres.  Adepts from other schemes are not transferred to our Earth scheme as a school of training as it is not a sacred planet and therefore lacks such a specific school.

The influence which emanates from the Pole Star and which is such a potent factor in our solar system reaches our planet via the sign Aquarius.  The reasons will be noted if the student bears in mind the significance of water as a symbol of the emotions, which are but a lower manifestation of love-desire.  Aquarius is a force centre from which the adept draws the "water of life" and carries it to the multitude.  This force from the Pole Star, via Aquarius, is of special power at this time and the day of opportunity is therefore great.  It is one of the agencies which make the coming of the Great Lord a possibility.  He is Himself upon the fifth Path just as the Manu is upon the third.  Hence the close link between the two paths, for those on the fifth path can pass to the third and vice versa.  The first and the seventh, the second and the fourth, and the third and the fifth are but the two sides of one whole, or the two aspects of the one Path.  These three paths (with the fourth Path) constitute two Paths and the two Paths are but one.  This great mystery may not further be enlarged upon.

The Hierarchies which play a great part in the introduction of polar influence are the first and the second.  It was this occult truth which had such a bearing upon the nature of the first two races of mankind and upon their habitat.

The method whereby the adept develops the needed powers for this Path have been hinted at above.  They might be expressed as a process of electrical insulation and the imprisonment of polar magnetism.  It is not permitted to say more.

The symbol of this path is five balls of fire (blue fire) confined within a sphere.  This sphere is formed by a [1264]serpent biting its tail, and the entire body of the serpent is closely covered with written Sensa characters; these characters embody the mantram whereby the adept insulates himself from the magnetic flow of all currents save that for which he is responsible.

The quality which the adept develops as he treads this Path can only be given in the words of the old Commentary:

"The depression at the northern point permits entrance of that which stabilises, and acts as the factor of resistance to that which seeketh to deter or to distract."

Perhaps cosmic stability and magnetic equilibrium serve best to convey the necessary idea.

PATH V.  THE RAY PATH

Attributes.........A sense of cosmic direction.

Source.............The Pole Star via Aquarius.

Hierarchies.......The first and the second.

Method............A process of electrical insulation and the  imprisonment of polar magnetism.

Symbol............Five balls of fire enclosed within a sphere.  Sphere is formed of a serpent inscribed with the mantram of insulation.

Quality.............Cosmic stability and magnetic equilibrium.

There is no way in which we can express any teaching or give any information anent the sixth and seventh Paths.  All that can be said is as follows:

Path VI.  The Path the Logos Himself is on.

It will be apparent to all those students who have studied with care the world processes in the light of the law of correspondences that the Logos on the cosmic planes is evolving inner cosmic vision, just as man in his lesser degree is aiming at the same vision in the system.  This might be called the development of the cosmic third [1265]EYE.  In the physical plane structure of the eye lies hid the secret and in its study may come some revelation of the mystery.

A certain portion of the eye is the nucleus of sight and the apparatus of vision itself.  The remainder of the eye acts as a protecting shell; both parts are required, and neither can exist without the other.  It is so in the cosmic sense also, but the analogy exists on such high levels that words only dim and blur the truth.  Certain of the sons of men, a nucleus who reached a very high initiation in a previous solar system, formed an esoteric group around the Logos when He decided upon further progress.  In consequence He formed this solar system, desire for cosmic manifestation urging Him on.  This esoteric group remains with the Logos upon the atomic or the first plane of the system, on the subjective or inner side, and it corresponds in an occult sense to the pupil of the eye.  The real home of these great Entities is upon the cosmic buddhic plane.

Gradually and by dint of hard effort, certain Masters have qualified themselves, or are qualifying themselves, to take the place of the original members of this group thus permitting of Their return to a cosmic centre around which our system, and the greater system of Sirius, revolves.

Only one adept here and there has the necessary qualities, for the development involves a certain type of response to cosmic vibration.  It means a specialising of the inner sight, and the development of a certain amount of cosmic vision.  More of the deva evolution pass to this Path than do the human.  Human beings pass to it via the deva evolution, which can be entered by transference to the fifth, or Ray Path.  On this latter Path the two evolutions merge and from the fifth, the sixth Path can be entered.

Path VII.  The Path of Absolute Sonship.

This sonship is a correspondence on the highest plane to that grade of discipleship which we call "Son of the Master."  It is the Sonship to a Being higher than our Logos of Whom we may not speak.  It is also the great controlling Path of Karma.  The Lipika Lords are upon this Path, and all who are fitted for that line of work, and who are close to the Logos in a personal and intimate sense pass to this seventh Path.  It is the Path of the special intimates of the Logos and into their hands He has put the working out of karma in the solar system.  They know His wishes, His will and His aim, and to Them He entrusts the carrying out of His behests.  This group, associated with the Logos, forms a special group linked to a still higher Logos.

These two paths enter into cosmic states of consciousness as inconceivable to man as the consciousness of the Ego of a human being is to an atom of substance.  It is unnecessary and profitless therefore to enlarge further upon these exalted states.