Letters on Occult Meditation

by Alice A Bailey

  c—The Department of the Lord of Civilisation.

  6—Forms for calling elementals.

  7—Forms for contacting the devas.

  8—Special forms connected with Fire.

  August 11, 1920.

  ...Periods of physical weakness are of value only for the reason that they demonstrate the absolute necessity there is for the worker to build a strong body before he can accomplish much, and the importance of good health before the disciple can go forward on the Path. We cannot permit those we teach to do certain things, nor inform them along certain lines unless their physical vehicles are in good shape, and unless the handicap of ill health and disease is practically negligible, and the karma of accidental trouble almost completely obviated in the personal life. National or group karma occasionally involves a pupil, and upsets somewhat the plans, but this is unavoidable and can seldom be offset.

  3 - The use of specific forms for specific ends.

  Until now we have dealt more with the personal aspects of meditation, and have considered the two types that are practically universal and fundamental, having studied briefly, (a) Meditation as followed by the mystic, and (b) Meditation as pursued by the occultist.

  We have largely generalised and have not in any way attempted to enter into particulars. It is neither desirable [155] at this stage nor proper. At a certain point in meditation, nevertheless, when the pupil has made the desired progress and covered certain specific stages and attained certain objectives (which attainment can be ascertained by a review of the pupil's causal body) and when a foundation of right living has been laid which neither storms nor attack will be liable easily to upset or destroy, the Teacher may impart to the earnest pupil instructions whereby he can build in mental matter and under definite rules, forms that will lead to specific actions and reactions. These forms will be imparted gradually, and at times the pupil (this especially at first) may not be in the least conscious of the results achieved. He will obey the orders, say the imparted words, or work through the outlined formulas, and the results attained may do their work even though the pupil is unconscious of the fact. Later—especially after initiation, as the subtler faculties come into activity, and the centres are rotating in fourth dimensional order—he may be aware of the effects of his meditation on the emotional and mental planes.

  Results never concern us. Strict obedience to the law, and steady adherence to the rules laid down, with skill in action aimed at are the part of the wise pupil. The effects then are sure, and carry no karma with them.

  ...Let us take up each of the forms in order, but first I would give a warning. I do not intend to outline forms, or to give specific instructions as to how the results indicated may be achieved. That will be done later, but when, it is not possible to say. So much depends upon the work done during the next seven years, or on the group karma, also on the progress made, not only by the human hierarchy, but by the deva or angel evolution as well. The secret of it all lies hid in the seventh Ceremonial Ray, and the hour for the next step onward will [156] be given by the seventh Planetary Logos, working in conjunction with three Great Lords, especially with the Lord of the third department.

  Forms used in work on the three bodies.

  These forms will be some of the first revealed, and already in the various meditations advocated by the wise Guides of the race you have some of the lesser foundation outlines designed for working on the lower mind. These forms will be based on the special need of any one body, and will seek through the manipulation of matter to build that which is needed to fill the gap, and thus to supply the deficiency. This manipulation will be begun first on the etheric matter of the physical body, by forms of breathing (respiration and inspiration), and by certain rhythmic currents set up on the mental plane and driving from thence to the lower ethers. The etheric body will thus be strengthened, purified, cleansed, and rearranged. Many of the diseases of the dense physical body originate in the etheric, and it will be an object of attention at as early a date as possible.

  The emotional body likewise will be dealt with through special forms, and when the pupil has strenuously cultivated the quality of discrimination, and made it a working factor in his life, then these forms will be gradually imparted. But until he can distinguish somewhat between the real and the unreal, and until his sense of proportion is wisely adjusted, the emotional plane should be for him a battle ground, and not a field for experimentation. Let me illustrate the type of work that these forms which work on emotional matter will accomplish. The aim of the pupil who treads the Path is to build an emotional body that is composed of matter of the higher subplanes, is clear and sensitive, an accurate transmitter, and which [157] is characterised by a stable vibration, a steady rhythmic motion, and is not prone to violent storms and the agitating effects of uncontrolled emotion. When the idealism is high, when the percentage of matter of the two higher subplanes is approaching somewhat the desired figure, and when the pupil recognises practically all the time that he is not his vehicles, but is indeed the divine Dweller within them, then certain things will be imparted to him, which—when carefully followed out—will do two things:

  They will act directly on his emotional body, driving out foreign or lower matter, and stabilising his vibration.

  They will build in emotional matter a body or form that he can use for certain work, and can employ as his agent to attain results that will be part of the purificatory and constructive work of the emotional body. This is as much as can be said, but it will serve to show the type of form aimed at.

  Ray forms.

  This is a profoundly interesting and vast subject, and may only be indicated in general terms. Certain forms, built up on the numerical aspect of the various rays, are the special property of those rays and embody their geometrical significance, demonstrating their place in the system. Some of these forms being on the concrete rays or building rays are the line of least resistance for the occultist, while other forms on the abstract or attributive rays are more easily followed by the mystic.

  These forms are for three objects:—

  a. They put the pupil in direct contact with his own ray, either the egoic or personality ray.

  b. They link him up with his group on the inner planes, either the group of servers, the group of invisible helpers, or later with his egoic group. [158]

  c. They tend to merge the occult and the mystic paths in the life of the pupil. Should he be on the mystic path he will work at the forms upon the Rays of Aspect, and so develop knowledge of the concrete side of Nature—that side which works under law. You can reverse the case for the man of occult tendency, till the time comes when the paths merge and all forms are alike to the Initiate. You have to remember that at this point of merging a man works ever primarily on his own ray when he has transcended the personality and found the egoic note. Then he manipulates matter of his own ray, and works through his own ray-forms with their six representative sub-ray forms until he is adept, and knows the secret of synthesis. These forms are taught by the Teacher to the pupil.

  You will find that though I have imparted but little on this subject, yet, if you brood over what I have given, it contains much. It may give those who wisely assimilate it the key they seek for their next step on. I may touch on this and somewhat enlarge when we take up the subject of access to the Masters through meditation.

  Forms used in healing.

  We must touch now on these forms, remembering first of all that they will be necessarily arranged in three groups, each with many subsidiary heads.

  a. Forms for use in physical healing. You would be surprised how seldom these forms will be required, and how few in number therefore they are. The reason for this is that very few of the troubles of the dense physical body arise within that body itself. A few arise directly in the etheric body, but at this stage of evolution most of the troubles arise in the emotional body, and the remainder in the mental. We might generalise and say that: [159]

  25% of the ills flesh i
s heir to, arise in the etheric body.

  25% in the mental body.

  50% find their origin in the emotional body.

  Therefore, though accidents may occur which lead to unexpected physical disaster and for which forms for healing may be given, yet the wise student will find that the forms that affect the etheric body may be the first point of departure. These forms, built up in meditation, will act directly on the pranic channels that go to the makeup of the etheric—that intricate web which has its counterpart in the circulatory system of the dense physical body. They are the seat of much of the present disease in that body, either directly or through causes set up on the emotional plane and reacting on the etheric.

  b. Forms for healing the emotional body. As said above, much of the present sickness is due to causes set up in the emotional body and these causes are mainly three. I would point out that I but outline broadly and give general indications.

  Violent emotion and unstable vibration. This, if indulged in, has a shattering effect and reacts on the nervous system. If suppressed and inhibited it has an equally dangerous effect, and results in a diseased condition of the liver, in bilious attacks, in the poisons which are generated in the system and find their outlet in certain cases of septic poisoning, in skin diseases, and in some forms of anemia.

  Fear and forebodings, worry and despair. These types of emotion—which are so common—have a general debilitating effect on the system, leading to loss of vitality, to sluggish action of the organs, and to many forms of obscure diseases of the nervous system, of the brain and of the spine. [160]

  Sex emotions, covering a very large range of feeling, ranging from the suppressed sex emotion which is now beginning to be studied by our psychologists to the unclean criminal emotion that finds its expression in violent orgies and license.

  Under all these heads many points may be gathered, but I write not letters on healing, but letters on meditation, so I must not further enlarge.

  In the forms used in these three cases attention will be paid to the cause of the trouble, to the plane on which it originates, and to the effects on the lower bodies or body. In apportioning forms different aims will be in view. Where, for instance, the trouble is based on suppressed emotion, the effect of the form (when rightly followed) will be to transmute the emotion and turn it upward. When, by right use, the emotional body is cleared of the emotional congestion, the life-giving forces of the Ego, and of the pranic life everywhere available, will be set free. They can then circulate with facility, tuning up the entire system and cleansing all organs that were suffering from the inner congestion.

  c. Forms for mental healing. These will be, for the majority of you, much more obscure, and in fact mental trouble is far more difficult to cure than either of the other two. This is due to two causes, one being that our polarisation as a race is not yet in the mental body. It is always much more easy to contact a body and to manipulate it when it is the seat of the centre of consciousness. The emotional body likewise, being more fluidic, is more easily impressed. I cannot enlarge upon the troubles of the mental body today save to point out that these causes may arise within the mental body itself as a karmic inheritance, or may originate on the emotional plane and work their way back into the mental body. For instance, [161] a person may be prone to some emotional storm. This—if persisted in—may set up an analogous vibration in the mental body. This vibration in its turn may become practically permanent, and by the interaction of these two bodies serious trouble may be set up. This trouble may go all the way from simply causing a general souring of the Personality, so that the man is recognized as an unhappy, unpleasant individual, to definite brain disease, resulting in lunacy, brain tumours and cancer in the head.

  For all these troubles forms of meditation may be found which—if followed in time—will eventually dissipate them. The fundamental fact to be grasped here is that only when the pupil has an intelligent appreciation of the trouble or troubles affecting him, only when he has the ability to conscientiously follow the imparted formulas, and only when his object is unselfish, will he be trusted with these forms. When his object is to equip himself for service, when he aims only at the acquirement of healthy vehicles for the better carrying out of the plan of the Great Ones, and when he desires not to escape disease for his own personal benefit, only then will the formulas work in connection with the egoic consciousness. The downflow of life from the God within results in sound vehicles, so that it is only as the Personality becomes merged in the Ego, and the polarisation shifts from the lower to the higher that the work becomes possible. That time is nearing now for many, and progress in the new medical school—based on thought—can be looked for. Forms in meditation are but forms in thought matter, so that it will be apparent to you that a general beginning has been made.

  One more hint on this matter I give:—Through the various centres of the body—those seven centres with [162] which the pupil has to do—will come the power to heal the corresponding physical centre. As the centres are vitalised certain physical effects will be demonstrable, and in specific forms that work on and through the centres will come results that may throw light on this obscure matter of healing through the subtle bodies.

  August 20, 1920.

  Mantric forms.

  We must today continue the discussion on the forms that will some day be in common use among the students of occult meditation. We have touched upon three of the forms, and five more remain to be dealt with.

  Mantric forms are collections of phrases, words, and sounds which by virtue of rhythmic effect achieve results that would not be possible apart from them. These mantric forms are too numerous to study here; suffice it to indicate somewhat the types of mantrams there will be in use, or are now in use among those privileged to use them.

  There are mantric forms based entirely on the Sacred Word. These, sounded rhythmically and on certain keys, accomplish certain results, such as the invoking of protective angels; they lead to certain effects, either objective or subjective. These forms or mantrams are much more in use among orientals and in the eastern faiths than at present among occidentals. As the power of sound is more completely understood and its effect studied, these mantrams will be adopted in the occident.

  Some of them are very old and when enunciated in the original Sanskrit have unbelievably powerful effects. So powerful are they that they are not permitted to be [163] known by the ordinary student and are only orally imparted during preparation for initiation.

  There are a few very esoteric mantrams that exist in the original Sensa, and that have remained in the knowledge of the Brotherhood from the early days of the founding of the Hierarchy. They were brought by the Lords of Flame when They came to earth and are only thirty-five in number. They form the key that unlocks the mysteries of each subplane on the five planes of human evolution. The adept receives instruction on their use, and can employ them in the right place and subject to certain conditions. They are the most powerful known on our planet and their effects are far-reaching. As you know, each plane vibration responds to a different key and note, and its matter is manipulated, and its current tapped, by the sounding of certain words in a specific manner, and in a specific tone. When so sounded, the adept enters into the consciousness of that plane and of all contained therein. Mantrams in any tongue are founded on them, even though so far removed and unlike as to be practically useless.

  Certain of these original mantrams are chanted in unison by the Brotherhood on great occasions, or when the united power of the Lodge is required to effect desired ends. Great events are inaugurated by the sounding of their key note with appropriate words employed; each root-race has its mantric chord known to those who work with races.

  Again there are, as you know, certain mantrams in Sanskrit that are employed by students in meditation to call the attention of some one Master. These mantrams are communicated to Their disciples, and by their means the Master's attention is attracted, and His assistance called for. [164] />
  Other and greater formulas are sometimes imparted by which the three Great Lords may be contacted, and Their attention drawn in any specific direction.

  A mantram, when rightly sounded forth, creates a vacuum in matter, resembling a funnel. This funnel is formed betwixt the one who sounds it forth and the one who is reached by the sound. There is then formed a direct channel of communication. You will see therefore why it is that these forms are so carefully guarded and the words and keys concealed. Their indiscriminate use would but result in disaster. A certain point in evolution has to be reached, and a similarity of vibration somewhat achieved, before the privilege is afforded the pupil of being custodian of a mantram whereby he may call his Master.

  There are also seven mantrams that are known to the three Great Lords and the Heads of the Hierarchy, whereby They can call the seven Planetary Logoi, or the seven “Spirits before the Throne” as They are called in the Christian Bible. One of these mantrams, which causes contact with the Logos of our planet, is known to the adepts as well. So the scale is mounted, and the Words are sounded forth, until we reach the mantram of our planet, which is based on the key of the Earth, and embodies a phrase which sums up our evolution. Each planet has some such note or phrase whereby its guides may contact their Planetary Logos. The seven Logoi in Their turn have Their available ritual or form whereby They can communicate with the threefold Lord of the Solar System. This is done always four times a year, or when urgent need arises.

  Once a year the entire Hierarchy employs a composite mantram that creates a vacuum between the highest and the lowest members of that Hierarchy and on up—via the seven Planetary Logoi—to the Logos Himself. It marks [165] the moment of intensest spiritual effort and vitalisation during the year, and its effects last throughout the intervening months. Its effect is cosmic, and links us up with our cosmic centre.