The Rays and the Initiations

by Alice A Bailey

  1. The Law demands the entrance of that which can effect a change.

  Bearing in mind what I have elsewhere given, it is obvious that that which must find entrance is that vital concentrated will which, when set in motion in an individual, in a group, in a nation, in a kingdom of nature (a planetary centre), and in the planet as a whole, i.e., in all the planetary centres simultaneously, will cause a stirring, a changed measure, a new movement and momentum, an uprising and a consequent abstraction. The changes wrought in the centres when the death of the physical body is taking place have never yet been observed or recorded; they are, however, definitely present to the eye of the initiate and prove most interesting and informative. It is the recognition of the condition of the centres which enables the initiate to know—when in process of bestowing healing—whether the physical healing of the body is permissible or not. He can see whether the will principle of abstraction to which I have been referring is actively present or not. The same process can be seen taking place in organisations and in civilisations in which the form aspect is being destroyed in order that the life may be abstracted and later again rebuild for itself a more adequate form. It is the same under the great processes of initiation, which are not only processes of expanding the consciousness but are rooted in the death or the abstraction process, leading to resurrection and ascension.

  That which effects a change is a discharge (to use a totally inadequate phrase) of directed and focussed will-energy. This is so magnetic in quality that it draws to itself the life of the centres, bringing about the dissolution of the form and the release of the life. Death comes to the individual man, in the ordinary sense of the term, when the will-to-live in a physical body goes and the will-to-abstract [165] takes its place. This we call death. In cases of death in war, for instance, it is not then a case of the individual will-to-withdraw, but an enforced participation in a great group abstraction. From its own place, the soul of the individual man recognises the end of a cycle of incarnation and recalls its life. This it does through a discharge of the will-energy that is strong enough to bring about the change.

  2. The Law demands that right direction should then guide the entering forces.

  The entering forces, working under this law, are directed first of all to the head centre, from thence to the ajna centre and then to that centre which has been the governing and most active centre during the incarnation of the life principle. This varies according to the point reached upon the ladder of evolution, and according to the personality ray, with later the soul ray bringing about a major conditioning and change. In the work of the initiate who is consciously wielding this law, the principle of abstraction (when entering the body) is held focussed in the head and is of such a magnetic potency that the energy of the remaining centres is rapidly gathered up and withdrawn. What is true of the individual process of abstracting the life principle, under the Law of the Supplementary Seven, is equally true of the process in all forms and in all groups of forms. Christ referred to this work of abstraction, as regards the third great planetary centre, Humanity, when He said (and He was speaking as the Representative of the Hierarchy, the second planetary centre into which all human beings achieving initiation are “withdrawn” esoterically), “I, if I be lifted up will draw all men unto me.” A different word to this word of His will be spoken at the end of the age when the Lord of the World will speak from Shamballa, will abstract the life principle from the Hierarchy, and all life and consciousness will then be focussed in the planetary head centre—the great Council Chamber at Shamballa.

  3. The Law demands that the changes thus effected remove the form, bring quality to light, and lay the emphasis upon life.

  [166] Here the three great aspects—form, quality and life—are brought into relation and the point of the evolutionary objective is seen in its true light—LIFE. Note this phrasing. Form or appearance, having served its purpose, disappears. Death of the form takes place. Quality, the major divine attribute being developed in this planet, becomes dominant and is “conscious of itself “—as the ancient writings put it. It is identified and individual but has no implementing form, except that of the greater whole in which it finds its place. Neither form nor quality (body nor consciousness) are paramount in the new state of Being, but only the life aspect, the spirit on its own plane, becomes the dominating factor. Some faint dim light on the significance of this may come if you bear in mind that our seven planes are only the seven subplanes of the cosmic physical plane. The process of developing sensitivity in this sevenfold evolution has been undergone in order to enable the initiate to function upon the cosmic astral plane, when withdrawn or abstracted after the higher initiations. He is abstracted from our planetary life altogether. Only one factor could prevent this, and that might be his pledge to serve temporarily within the planetary ring-pass-not. Such Members of the Hierarchy Who pledge Themselves to this work are stated to have the Buddhic consciousness, and the line of Their descent (occultly understood) is from the Eternal Pilgrim, the Lord of the World, then the Buddha, and then the Christ. They remain identified through the free choice with the “quality seen within the light,” and for the term of Their freely rendered service They work with the consciousness aspect in order to lay the emphasis later upon the life aspect.

  4. The Law demands that this is brought about by the One, working through the Three, energising the Seven and creating the straight line from there to here, and ending in a point which ignores the Three.

  Let me paraphrase this, for detailed comment is not possible or permissible. The One directed will (of the individual, [167] of humanity, of the Hierarchy) and the great Lords of Shamballa, working through the three major centres (head, heart and throat; Humanity, the Hierarchy and Shamballa), thereby energise all the seven centres (to the point of abstraction), using the straight line of the antahkarana from above downwards (from the centre of power, the head or Shamballa), and gather all upwards into a point which is neither of the Three (Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity) and ignores them, for they must no longer limit the life. This point lies outside manifestation altogether. Abstraction is complete.

  Ponder, therefore, upon this doctrine of abstraction. It covers all life processes, and will convey to you the eternally lovely secret of Death, which is entrance into life.

  RULE NINE

  As we proceed with the study of these rules the difficulty of interpreting and explaining them becomes increasingly great. We have arrived at a section of the rules which requires initiate-consciousness for right and true comprehension; we are studying ideas for which we have, as yet, no adequate language. Briefly, we have considered certain of the lower aspects of the Laws of Life as they appear to the initiate and are interpreted by him within the sphere of his normal consciousness—that of the Spiritual Triad. The presentation which I gave you had to be confined within the area of consciousness which we call “manasic awareness,” which is that of the abstract mind. Just in so far as that abstract mind is developed in you and the antahkarana tenuously constructed will be your understanding of my words.

  The difficulty becomes still greater as we arrive at the study of Rule IX. It was of real difficulty when presented in its lower form to applicants. That rule, as you may remember, ran as follows: [168]

  Let the disciple merge himself within the circle of the other selves. Let but one colour blend them and their unity appear. Only when the group is known and sensed can energy be wisely emanated.

  Three major ideas appear in this easier rule:

  1. The idea of complete identity with all other selves.

  2. The idea of the uniformity of their spiritual presentation to the world when unity is established.

  3. The idea that—as a result of the two above achievements—the group force, as a real and focussed energy, can then be used.

  Glibly the neophyte talks of identifying himself with others, and eagerly he endeavours to ascertain his group and merge with it; yet in so doing the constant concept of du
ality is ever present—himself and all other selves, himself and the group, himself and the group energy which he may now wield. Yet this is not so in reality. Where true identity is achieved, there is no sense of this and that; where the merging is complete, there is no recognition of individual activity within the group, because the will of the merged soul is identical with that of the group and automatic in its working; where true unity is present, the individual applicant becomes only a channel for the group will and activity, and this with no effort of his own but simply as a spontaneous reaction.

  I have emphasised the above because in the rule for disciples and initiates, this will be found to be still more the case and the results are brought about by a conscious use of the will which is divine synthesis in action; also, the group referred to is not the Ashram of some particular Master, but that of all Ashrams as they in their entirety reflect the purpose of Shamballa and work out the Plan within the active sphere of the hierarchical consciousness.

  The Ashrams of the Masters are to be found on every level of consciousness in the threefold world of the Spiritual Triad. Some Masters pre-eminently occupy themselves with the mind aspect within all forms, and therefore their Ashrams are conditioned by the manasic consciousness; they are [169] the Ashrams of those initiates who have taken the fourth initiation but who are not yet Masters. They are largely adepts upon the third and fifth rays, and work with the manas or mind as it is developing in all forms. They do foundational work of great importance, but are little understood and their lives are consequently lives of great sacrifice and the term of their service in this particular connection is relatively short. Certain aspects of their developed consciousness have to be kept in abeyance and must remain temporarily unexpressed in order to permit them to work with substance and specifically with the consciousness of the atoms which constitute the forms in all the subhuman kingdoms of nature. They do very little work with humanity, except with certain advanced members of humanity who are on the scientific line, drawing to their Ashrams only those who are on the third and fifth rays and who can continue with the work, being trained along peculiar and special lines.

  The Ashrams of the Masters (to be found on all the rays) Who work in particular with humanity, are mostly to be found upon the buddhic levels of the triadal consciousness. There the note of “loving understanding” predominates, but even these words must be interpreted esoterically and not according to their usual and obvious meaning. It is not a case of “I understand because I love,” or that “this,” with love, understands “that.” It is something far deeper, involving the idea of identification, of participation, and of synthetic realisation—lovely euphonious words, but meaning little to the non-initiates.

  On atmic levels, the levels of the spiritual will, are to be found the Ashrams of those Masters Who are interpreting the will of Shamballa and to Whom is committed the task of transmitting the purpose and organising the plans whereby that purpose can be fulfilled. As on manasic levels the Ashrams as a whole are presided over by the Master R., the Lord of Civilisation, so on buddhic levels all Ashrams are supervised by the Master K.H., with the aid of myself (the Master D.K.) and three senior and initiated [170] disciples; the objective is the unfoldment of group awareness and of loving understanding, in order that the forms prepared and conditioned under the supervision of the Master R. may be sensitised and become increasingly conscious of reality through the development of an inner mechanism of light which—in its turn—will condition and develop the outer mechanism of contact. Ashrams on atmic levels are under the control of the Master M., Who fosters the will aspect within the developed forms and Who (as the Old Commentary expresses it) “adds darkness unto light so that the stars appear, for in the light the stars shine not, but in the darkness light diffused is not, but only focussed points of radiance.” The symbolism will be obvious to you though not the full significance.

  Embracing, fusing and unifying the endeavour of all these groups of Ashrams, stands the living Christ, the Head of all Ashrams and the Master of the Masters, the Mediator between Shamballa and the Hierarchy and between the Hierarchy and Humanity. Will you gain some insight into the all-pervading conditions if I state that His work of mediating between humanity and the Hierarchy was perfected by Him and carried to a conclusion when He was last on Earth, and that He is now achieving facility in the higher mediatorship which will bring about a closer relation of the Hierarchy with Shamballa at this time. This mediatory work, based on the blending of the spiritual will (which He has already developed) with the universal will (which He is developing), marks for Him a goal which will be consummated when He takes the ninth initiation. These are great mysteries and I only indicate them in order to convey to you a sense of the synthesis of the whole scheme and a recognition of the urge-to-good which pervades every aspect of the planetary Life from the smallest atom of substance, through all the intermediate living forms, on and up to the planetary Logos Himself.

  The will is too often regarded as a power by means of which things are done, activities are instituted and plans worked out. This general definition is the easiest for men [171] to formulate because it is understood by them in terms of their own self-will, the will to individual self-betterment—selfish and misunderstood at first but tending eventually to selflessness as evolution carries out its beneficent task. Then the will is interpreted in terms of the hierarchical plan, and the effort of the individual man becomes that of negating his self-will and seeking to merge his will with that of the group, the group being itself an aspect of the hierarchical effort. This is a great step onward in orientation and will lead to a change in consciousness eventually. This last sentence is of importance.

  It is at this stage that most aspirants today find themselves. However, the will is in reality something very different to these expressions of it which exist in the human consciousness as men attempt to interpret the divine will in terms of their present point in evolution. The clue to understanding (the clue which will be the easiest for you to understand) is to be found in the words “blotting out all form.” When the lure of substance is overcome and desire dies, then the attractive power of the soul becomes dominant and the emphasis for so long laid upon individual form and individual living and activity gives place to group form and group purpose. Then the attractive power of the Hierarchy and of the Ashrams of the Masters supersedes the lower attractions and the lesser focal points of interest. When these, in their turn, assume their rightful place in consciousness then the dynamic “pull” of Shamballa can be felt, entirely unrelated to form or forms, to a group or groups. Only a group sense of “well-Being,” esoterically understood is realised, for it is comprehended as the will-to-good. No forms can then hold; no group or Ashram can then confine the consciousness of the initiate, and all differences of every kind disappear. This preamble is given in an effort to clarify your minds before we study Rule IX care-fully and arrive at its essential meaning.

  Rule IX.

  Let the group know there are no other selves. Let the group know there is no colour, only light; and then let [172] darkness take the place of light, hiding all difference, blotting out all form. Then—at the place of tension, and at that darkest point—let the group see a point of clear cold fire, and in the fire (right at its very heart) let the One Initiator appear Whose star shone forth when first the Door was passed.

  The greatest problem facing aspirants and disciples prior to the third initiation is that of comprehending the nature of identification. This concerns (in the first instance) the relation of the self to the Self and of all selves to the all-inclusive SELF. It involves the mystery of duality with which they are occupied, and the very moment that theory as to essential unity becomes definite realisation, then the realm of synthesis is entered. For that type of realisation, language as we now have it has no words, and it is therefore impossible to formulate concepts to interpret the consequent and resultant state of being. “Identification with” is the phrase which approaches the closest to the ini
tial idea, and until man has grasped his identical at-one-ness with even one human being, it is not possible for him even to think about it in any truly constructive manner. The complete fusion of the negative and the positive aspects in marriage, at the moment that life is transmitted and transferred, is the only tangible though unsatisfactory symbol of this life-sharing process which takes place when an individual or a group knows actually and not simply theoretically that “there are no other selves.”

  Identification (to use the only word available for our purpose) is connected with dynamic life, with conscious enhancement, with completion and with creative sharing, plus process. It is a process of participation—consciously and constructively undertaken—in the life actions and reactions of the One in Whom we live and move and have our being; it is related to the network of life channels which keep the form aspect of the planetary Logos functioning as a “Divine Representation.” Note that wording. It is connected with the circulation of that “life more abundantly” to which the Christ referred when dealing with the true nature of His [173] mission. It might be said that as He uttered this phrase this mission dawned on Him and He made a preliminary effort to serve Shamballa, instead of the Hierarchy of which He was even then the Head. Later, He enunciated as best He could the extent of this realisation, in the words so familiar to Christians, “I and the Father are One.” This He also attempted to elucidate in the seventeenth chapter of St. John’s Gospel. There is no other passage in the literature of the world which has exactly the same quality. Oneness, unity, synthesis and identification exist today as words related to consciousness and as expressing what is at present unattainable to the mass of men. This manifesto or declaration of the Christ constitutes the first attempt to convey reaction to contact with Shamballa, and can be correctly interpreted only by initiates of some standing and experience. A concept of unity, leading to cooperation, to impersonality, to group work and to realisation, plus a growing absorption in the Plan are some of the terms which can be used to express soul awareness in relation to the Hierarchy. These reactions to the united Ashrams which constitute the Hierarchy are steadily increasing and are beneficently conditioning the consciousness of the leading members of the forefront of the human wave at present in process of evolution.