3. In our modern Aryan race—modern as far as racial histories are concerned—the third thread, the creative thread, comes into active expression and use. I would remind you that all these threads exist from the beginning of human existence, and that all these three streams of energy have been indissolubly present from the beginning of human consciousness. But for the greater part of human history, up to the present, men remained unaware of them, and quite unconsciously made use of and continued to make use of their presence. The process of recognising creative ability and of opportunity falls into two phases or stages:
a. The stage wherein the mind principle is developed and unfolded and man becomes a mental creature. This produces the full activity of the mental unit, the integration of the three aspects of the personality, and the consequent awareness of the Son of Mind or soul.
b. The stage of creative activity wherein the creative thread is brought into full use. This personality use of the thread—as distinguished from racial use—is characteristic of the Aryan race. It is only during the past five thousand years that it has gradually become the outstanding quality of mankind. In the other two races, and in the early stages of the Aryan race, although great creative monuments appeared everywhere upon the planet, they were not the product of the minds of the men of the time, but were the imposition of the creative will of the planetary Hierarchy upon those who were sensitive to the higher impression. The responsive sensitivity to creative impression was the outstanding quality of the later Atlantean consciousness and of the early Aryan period. It is today giving place to individual creativity, and consequently to the conscious creation of the bridging [479] antahkarana, which is the outcome of the fused and blended threefold thread.
This brief summation of the past process is intended simply to give a synthetic background to all the work now to be done, and to convey to you an almost visual concept of the method whereby man has reached the stage of conscious life, of full self-awareness and creative expression. All of these were the expression of divine energy as it poured into his mechanism, via the silver thread of divine potency. This might be regarded as a threefold demonstration of the vertical life which becomes the horizontal life through the expression of creativity. Man then indeed becomes the Cross. When, however, he succeeds in constructing the rainbow bridge (which can only be done when man is upon the Fixed Cross), then finally the Cross gives place to the line. This takes place after the fourth initiation—that of the Crucifixion. There remains then only the vertical line “reaching from Heaven to Hell.” The goal of the initiate (between the fourth and the seventh initiations) is to resolve the line into the circle, and thus fulfill the law and the “rounding out” of the evolutionary process.
Another summation of the entire process may be found in the lines from Stanzas for Disciples which I gave out some time ago (June 1930) and which will also be found elsewhere in this volume.
“In the Cross is hidden Light. The vertical and horizontal in mutual friction creates a vibrant Cross scintillates, and motion originates. When the vertical assumes the horizontal, pralaya supervenes. Evolution is the movement of the horizontal to upright positiveness. In the secret of direction lies the hidden wisdoms in the doctrine of absorption lies the healing faculty in the point becoming the line, and the line becoming the cross is evolution. In the cross swinging to the horizontal lies salvation and pralayic peace.”
It might be said that few, very few, people are today at the Lemurian stage of consciousness wherein the life thread, [480] with its physical implications, is the dominant factor. Many, very many, people are at the Atlantean stage of development of “auric sensitivity.” A few—a very few in comparison with the untold masses of human beings—are utilising the results of the triple construction of energy within their own aura of awareness and their area of influence, in order to build, construct and utilise the bridge which links the various aspects of the mental plane. These three aspects they must employ simultaneously, and then later supersede them in such a manner that personality and ego disappear and only the Monad and its form upon the physical plane remain. In this connection, my earlier statement on the nature of form may be useful and lead to increased insight and understanding:
The physical plane is a complete reflection of the mental; the lowest three subplanes reflect the abstract subplanes, and the four etheric subplanes reflect the four mental concrete planes. The manifestation of the Ego on the mental plane for the causal body) is not the result of energy emanating from the permanent atoms as a nucleus of force, but is the result of different forces, and primarily of group force. It is predominantly marked by an act of an exterior force, and is lost in the mysteries of planetary karma. This is equally true of man's lowest manifestations. It is the result of reflex action, and is based on the force of the group of etheric centres through which man (as an aggregate of lives) is functioning. The activity of these centres sets up an answering vibration in the three lowest subplanes of the physical plane, and the interaction between the two causes an adherence to or aggregation around, the etheric body of particles of what we erroneously term 'dense substance.' This type of energised substance is swept up in the vortex of force currents issuing from the centres and cannot escape. These units of force, therefore, pile up according to the energy direction around and within the etheric sheath till it is hidden and concealed, yet interpenetrating. An inexorable law, the law of matter itself, brings this [481] about, and only those can escape the effect of the vitality of their own centres who are definitely 'Lords of Yoga' and can—through the conscious will of their own being—escape the compelling force of the Law of Attraction working on the lowest cosmic physical subplane.
A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE, PAGE 789
I have earlier told you that the astral body is an illusion. It is eventually discovered to be nonexistent by the man who has achieved the consciousness of the initiate. When buddhi reigns, the lower psychic nature fades out.
When the antahkarana is built, and the mental unit is superseded by the manasic permanent atom, and the causal body disappears, then the adept knows that the lower mind, the mental body, is also an illusion and is, for him, non-existent. There are then—as far as his individual consciousness is concerned—only three focal points or anchorages (both of these expressions are inadequate to express the full meaning):
1. Humanity, in which he can focus himself at will through the medium of what is called technically the “mayavirupa”—a bodily form which he creates for the fulfillment of monadic purpose.
He then fully expresses all the energies of the Mutable Cross.*
2. The Hierarchy. Here, as a focussed unit of all-inclusive buddhic awareness, he finds his place and mode of service, conditioned by his monadic ray.
He then expresses the values of the Fixed Cross *
3. Shamballa. This is his highest point of focus, the goal of the exertions of all initiates of the higher degrees and the source of the sutratma, through which (and its differentiations) he can now consciously work.
Here he finds himself still crucified, but on the Cardinal Cross*.
*(A Treatise on the Seven Rays, Vol III, Esoteric Astrology, Chapter VI.)
The task with which the human being in all his stages [482] of unfoldment has been occupied might therefore be stated to be the bridging of the gap between:
1. The Mutable Cross and the Fixed Cross.
2. Humanity and the Hierarchy.
3. The lower triplicity, the personality, and the Spiritual Triad.
4. The Monad on its own plane and the outer objective world.
This he does through a process of Intention, Visualisation, Projection, Invocation and Evocation, Stabilisation and Resurrection. With these various stages, we will now deal.
The Construction of the Antahkarana in the Aryan Race. Present
I would like to pause here and make a few remarks anent this relatively new process of building the antahkarana. It has been known and followed by those who were training for a
ffiliation with the Hierarchy, but it has not been given out before to the general public. There are two things which it is essential that the student should note: one is that unless it is borne in mind that we are concerned with energy, and with energy which must be scientifically used, this whole teaching will prove futile. Secondly, it must be remembered that we are dealing with a technique and process which are dependent upon the use of the creative imagination. When these two factors are brought together (consciously and deliberately)—the factor of energy substance and the factor of planned impulse—you have started a creative process which will be productive of major results. The human being lives in a world of varied energies which are sometimes expressing themselves as dynamic, positive energies, as receptive, negative energies, or as magnetic, attractive forces. An understanding of this statement will substantiate that made by H.P.B. that “matter is spirit at its lowest point,” and the reverse is equally true. The whole process is one of establishing constructive relations between negative and positive energies and the subsequent production of magnetic force. This is the creative [483] process. It is true of the activity of a solar Logos, of a planetary Logos and of a human being—the only conscious creators in the universe. It must prove true of the disciple, who is attempting to bring into a constructive relation the Monad and the human expression in the three worlds of human evolution.
There has been much emphasis upon the life of the soul and its expression upon the physical plane; this has been necessary and a part of the evolutionary development of the human consciousness. The kingdom of souls must eventually give place to the rule of the spirit; the energy of the Hierarchy must become a force, receptive to the energy of Shamballa, just as the force of humanity has to become receptive to the energy of the kingdom of souls. Today all three processes are going on simultaneously, though the receptivity of the Hierarchy to the second aspect of the Shamballa energy is only now beginning to be recognisable. The Hierarchy has for long been receptive to the third or creative aspect of the Shamballa energy, and—at some very distant period—it will be responsive to the first aspect of that same energy. The triple nature of the divine manifestation must also express itself as a duality. This can be understood in a faint way when the disciple realises that (after the third initiation) he too must learn to function as a duality—Monad (spirit) and form (matter)—in direct rapport with the consciousness aspect, the mediating soul being absorbed into both of these two aspects of divine expression, but not functioning itself as a middle factor. When this has been achieved, the true nature of Nirvana will be comprehended, the beginning of that endless Way which leads to the One; this is the Way whereon duality is resolved into unity, the Way that Members of the Hierarchy are seeking to tread and for which They are preparing.
The initial step towards bringing about this dualism is the building of the antahkarana, and this is consciously undertaken only when the disciple is preparing for the second initiation. As I have already said, there are literally [484] thousands so preparing, because it can be assumed that all earnest and true aspirants and disciples who work undeviatingly for spiritual advancement (with pure motive), and who are oriented unswervingly towards the soul, have taken the first initiation. This simply connotes the birth of the infant Christ within the heart, speaking symbolically. There should be many who are preparing to begin this task of building the rainbow bridge and who, under the influence of the Ageless Wisdom, are grasping the necessity and the importance of the revelation which this process conveys. What I am here writing has, therefore, a definite and useful purpose. My task has been for a long time the giving out, in book form, information anent the next stage of intelligent and spiritual recognition for humanity. Therefore, again, the understanding of the method of building the antahkarana is essential if humanity is to move forward as planned, and in this moving forward the disciples and aspirants must and do form the vanguard. Humanity will awaken steadily and as a whole to the incoming spiritual urge; an overwhelming impulse towards spiritual light and towards a major orientation will take place. Just as the individual disciple has to reverse himself upon the wheel of life and tread the Way counter-clockwise, so must humanity; and so humanity will. The two-thirds who will make the goal of evolution in this world cycle are already beginning to do so.
In the process, however, the third divine aspect—that of the Creative Actor—comes into activity. It was so in the creative process where the tangible universe was concerned. It must also be when the individual disciple becomes the creating agent. For aeons, he has built and has used his vehicles of manifestation in the three worlds. Then came a time when advanced people began to create upon the mental plane; they dreamed dreams; they saw a vision; they contacted intangible beauty; they touched the Mind of God and returned to earth with an idea. To this idea they gave form and became creators upon the mental planet they became artists in some form of creative effort. In the task [485] of building the antahkarana the disciple has to work also on mental levels, and that which he there constructs will be of so fine a substance that it may not and cannot appear on physical levels. Because of his fixed orientation, that which he builds will “move upwards toward the centre of life,” and not “downwards toward the centre of consciousness or toward light appearance.”
Herein lies the difficulty for the beginner. He has, so to speak, to work in the dark, and is not in a position to verify the existence of that which he is attempting to construct. His physical brain is unable to register his creation as an accomplished fact. He has to depend entirely upon the proved technique of the work outlined, and to proceed by faith. The only evidence of success may be slow in coming, for the sensitivity of the brain is involved, and frequently where there is very real success the brain cells are not of the calibre which can register it. The possible evidences at this stage may be a flash of the spiritual intuition or the sudden realisation of the will-to-good in a dynamic and group form; it may also be simply an ability to understand and to make others understand certain spiritual and occult fundamentals; it may be a “facility of revelation,” both receptive and conditioning or distributing, and so world effective.
I am attempting to make a very abstruse subject clear, and words prove inadequate. I can but outline to you process and method and a consequent hope for the future; on your side, you can only experiment, obey, have confidence in the experience of those who teach, and then wait patiently for results.
The Six Stages of the Building Process
I have employed six words to express this process and its resultant condition. It might prove useful to study them from the angle of their occult significance—a significance which is not usually apparent except to the trained disciple who has been taught to penetrate into the world of meaning and to see interpretations not apparent to the neophyte. [486] Perhaps by the time we have investigated these words, the method of construction and the means whereby the antahkarana is built will appear with greater clarity.
These words cover a building technique or a process of energy manipulation which brings into being a rapport between the Monad and a human being who is aspiring towards full liberation and is treading the Path of Discipleship and Initiation; it can create a channel of light and life between the higher and the lower divine aspects and can produce a bridge between the world of spiritual life and the world of daily physical plane living. It is a technique for producing the highest form of dualism and of eliminating the threefold expression of divinity, thereby intensifying the divine expression and bringing man nearer to his ultimate goal. Disciples must always remember that soul consciousness is an intermediate stage. It is also a process whereby—from the angle of the subhuman kingdoms in nature—humanity itself becomes the divine intermediary and the transmitter of spiritual energy to those lives whose stages of consciousness are below that of self-consciousness. Humanity becomes to these lives—in their totality—what the Hierarchy is to humanity. This service only becomes possible when a sufficient number of the human race are distinguishe
d by the knowledge of the higher duality and are increasingly soul-conscious and not just self-conscious. They can then make this transmission possible, and it is done by means of the antahkarana.
Let us, therefore, take these six aspects of a basic building technique and endeavour to arrive at their occult and creative significance.
1. Intention. By this is not meant a mental decision, wish or determination. The idea is more literally the focussing of energy upon the mental plane at the point of greatest possible tension. It signifies the bringing about of a condition in the disciple's consciousness which is analogous to that of the Logos when—on His much vaster scale—He concentrated within a ring-pass-not (defining His desired [487] sphere of influence) the energy-substance needed to carry out His purpose in manifesting. This the disciple must also do, gathering his forces (to use a common expression) into the highest point of his mental consciousness and holding them there in a state of absolute tension. You can now see the purpose lying behind some of the meditation processes and techniques as embodied in the words so often used in the meditation outlines: “raise the consciousness to the head centre”; “hold the consciousness at the highest possible point”; “endeavour to hold the mind steady in the light”; and many similar phrases. They are all concerned with the task of bringing the disciple to the point where he can achieve the desired point of tension and of energy-focussing. This will enable him to begin the conscious task of constructing the antahkarana. It is this thought which really lies unrecognised behind the word “intention,” used so often by Roman Catholics and Anglo-Catholics when preparing candidates for communion. They indicate a different direction, however, for the orientation they desire is not that towards the Monad or spirit, but towards the soul, in an effort to bring about better character equipment in the personality and an intensification of the mystical approach.
The Rays and the Initiations Page 52