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Twenty-Four Books of Esoteric PhilosophyIt is upon this truth that Christian Science has laid the emphasis. These forces constitute the lowerman. The solar angel is a dual combination of energies—the energy of love, and the energy of will orpurpose—and these are the qualities of the life thread. These two, when dominating the third energy ofmind, produce the perfect man. They explain the human problem; they indicate the objective beforeman; they account for and explain the energy of illusion; and they point out the way of psychologicalunfoldment, which leads man (from the triangle of triplicity and differentiation) through duality tounity.These truths are practical and hence we find today such dominant emphasis laid upon theunderstanding of the Plan amongst esotericists; hence likewise the work of the psychologists as theyseek to interpret man and hence also their differentiations as to the human apparatus, so that man isseen—as it were—dissected into his component parts. The recognition is emerging that it is man'squality which outwardly determines his place on the ladder of evolution, but modern psychology of theextreme materialistic school erroneously supposes that man's quality is determined by his mechanism,whereas the reverse condition is the determining factor.Disciples have the problem of expressing the duality of love and will through the personality. Thisstatement is a true enunciation of the goal for the disciple. The initiate has the objective of expressingthe Will of God through developed love and a wise use of the intelligence. The above preamble laysthe ground for the definition of the three stages of egoic growth.What, therefore, is individualisation from the standpoint of the psychological unfoldment of man? It isthe focussing of the lowest aspect of the soul, which is that of the creative intelligence, so that it canexpress itself through the form nature. It will eventually be the first aspect of divinity thus to expressitself. It is the emergence into manifestation of the specific quality of the solar angel through theappropriation, by that angel, of a sheath or sheaths, which thus constitute its appearance. It is the initialimposition of an applied directed energy upon that triple force aggregation which we call the formnature of man. The individual, on the way to full co-ordination and expression, appears upon the stageof life. The self-aware entity comes forth into physical incarnation. The actor appears in process oflearning his part; he makes his debut and prepares for the day of full personality emphasis. The soulcomes forth into dense form and on the lowest plane. The self begins the part of its career which isexpressed through selfishness, leading finally to an ultimate unselfishness. The separative entity beginshis preparation for group realisation. A God walks on earth, veiled by the fleshly form, the desirenature and the fluidic mind. He is a prey temporarily to the illusion of the senses, and dowered with amentality which primarily hinders and imprisons but which finally releases and liberates.There has been much written in The Secret Doctrine and A Treatise on Cosmic Fire on the subject ofindividualisation. It can be simply defined as the process whereby forms of life in the fourth kingdomin nature arrive at:1. Conscious individuality, through experiencing the life of the senses.2. The assertion of individuality through the use of the discriminating mind.3. The ultimate sacrifice of that individuality to the group.Today, the masses are occupied with the task of becoming conscious of themselves, and are developingthat spirit or sense of personal integrity or wholeness which will eventuate in an increased selfCopyright 1998 LUCIS TRUST

Twenty-Four Books of Esoteric Philosophyassertiveness, that first gesture of divinity. This is well and good, in spite of the immediatecomplications and consequences in the world consciousness and state of being. Hence also the needfor the immediate guidance of the disciples in every nation and their training in the life of correctaspiration, with their subsequent preparation for initiation. The task of the intelligent parent today andof the wise teacher of the young should be that of turning out, into world activity, those consciousindividuals who will undertake the work of self-assertion in the affairs of today. The mass psychologyof accepting information indiscriminately, of giving prompt mass obedience to imposed limitations ofpersonal liberty, without due understanding of the underlying reasons, and the consequent blindfollowing of leaders, will only come to an end through the intelligent fostering of individualrecognition of selfhood and the assertions of the individual as he seeks to express his own ideas. Oneof the basic ideas underlying all human and individual conduct, is the necessity for peace and harmonyin order that man may specifically work out his destiny. This is the deep foundational belief ofhumanity. The first developed evidence of the emerging self-assertion of the massed individuals musttherefore be turned in this direction, for it will constitute the line of least resistance. There will followthen the eradication of war and the establishing of those conditions of peace which will bring about theopportunity for trained and carefully cultured growth. The dictator is the individual who has, under theprocess, flowered forth into knowledge and power, and is an example of the effectiveness of the divinecharacter, when permitted scope and as the product of the evolutionary process. He expresses many ofthe divine potentialities of man. But the dictator will some day be an anachronism, for when the manyare at the stage of individual self-awareness and potency and seeking the full expression of theirpowers, he will be lost from sight in the assertion of the many. He, today, indicates the goal for thelower self, for the personality.Before, however, the many men can be safely self-assertive, there must be an increased appearance ofthose who have passed beyond that stage, and of those who know, teach and demonstrate, so that themany constituting the intelligent group, composed of the self-aware individuals, can then identifythemselves discriminatingly with group purpose, and submerge their separative identities in organisedgroup activity and synthesis. This is the predominant task of the New Group of World Servers. Itshould be the aspiration of the world disciples today. This work of training the individuals in grouppurpose must be accomplished in three ways:—1. By personal, imposed identification with the group, through the experience of understanding, serviceand sacrifice. This can well constitute a useful self-imposed experiment.2. By the education of the masses in the principles underlying group work, and the training of anenlightened public opinion in these concepts.3. By the preparation of many in the New Group of World Servers for that great transition inconsciousness which we call initiation.What, therefore, is Initiation? Initiation might be defined in two ways. It is first of all the entering intoa new and wider dimensional world by the expansion of a man's consciousness so that he can includeand encompass that which he now excludes, and from which he normally separates himself in histhinking and acts. It is, secondly, the entering into man of those energies which are distinctive of thesoul and of the soul alone—the forces of intelligent love and of spiritual will. These are dynamicenergies, and they actuate all who are liberated souls. This process of entering into and of beingentered into should be a simultaneous and synthetic process, an event of the first importance. Where itis sequential or alternating, it indicates an uneven unfoldment and an unbalanced condition. There isCopyright 1998 LUCIS TRUST

Twenty-Four Books of Esoteric Philosophyfrequently the theory of unfoldment, and a mental grasp anent the facts of the initiatory process beforethey are practiced experimentally in the daily life and thus psychologically integrated into the practicalexpression of the living process on the physical plane. Herein lies much danger and difficulty, and alsomuch loss of time. The mental grasp of the individual is ofttimes much greater than his power toexpress the knowledge, and we have consequently those outstanding failures and those difficultsituations which have brought the whole question of initiation into disrepute. Many people areregarded as initiates who are only endeavoring to be initiate. They are not, however, real initiates.They are those well meaning people whose mental understanding outruns the power of theirpersonalities to practice. They are those who are in touch with forces which they are not yet able tohandle and control. They have done a great deal of the needed work of inner contact, but have not yetwhipped the lower nature into shape. They are, therefore, unable to express that which they inwardlyunderstand and somewhat realise. They are those disciples who talk too much and too soon and tooself-centeredly, and who present to the world an ideal toward which they are indeed working, butwhich they are as yet unable to materialise, owing to the inadequacy of their equipment. They affirmtheir belief in terms of accomplished fact and cause much stumbling among the little ones. But at thesame time, they are working towards the goal. They are mentally in touch with the ideal and with thePlan. They are aware of forces and energies utterly unknown to the majority. Their only mistake is inthe realm of time, for they affirm prematurely that which some day they will be.When initiation becomes possible, it indicates that two great groups of energies (those of the tripleintegrated personality and those of the soul or solar angel) are beginning to fuse and blend. The energyof the soul is beginning to dominate and to control the lower types of force, and—according to the rayof the soul—so will be the body in which that control will begin to make its presence felt. This will beelaborated later in the section dealing with the rays as they govern the various bodies,—mental,emotional and physical. It should be remembered that very little egoic control need be evidenced whenthe first initiation is taken. That initiation indicates simply that the germ of soul life has vitalised andbrought into functioning existence the inner spiritual body, the sheath of the inner spiritual man, whichwill eventually enable the man at the third initiation to manifest forth as "a full-grown man in Christ",and present at that time the opportunity to the Monad for that full expression of life which can takeplace when the initiate is identified consciously with the One Life. Between the first and secondinitiations, as has been frequently stated, much time can elapse and much change must be wroughtduring the many stages of discipleship. Upon this we will later dwell as we study the seven laws ofegoic unfoldment.Individualisation, carried to its full, consummates as the integrated personality, expressing itself as aunity through three aspects. This expression of personality involves:—1. The free use of the mind so that focussed attention can be paid to all that concerns the personal selfand its aims. This spells personality success and prosperity.2. The power to control the emotions and yet have the full use of the sensory apparatus to senseconditions, to feel reactions, and to bring about contact with the emotional aspects of otherpersonalities.3. The capacity to touch the plane of ideas and to bring them through into consciousness. Even if theseare later subordinated to selfish purpose and interpretation, the man can, however, be in touch with thatwhich can be spiritually cognised. The free use of the mind presupposes its growing sensitivity tointuitional impression.Copyright 1998 LUCIS TRUST

Twenty-Four Books of Esoteric Philosophy4. The demonstration of many talents, powers and the working out of genius, and the emphatic bendingof the whole personality to the expression of some one of these powers. There is often an extremeversatility and an ability to do many outstanding things noticeably well.5. The physical man is frequently a wonderfully sensitive instrument of the inner, emotional and mentalselves, and gifted with great magnetic power; there is often resilient, though never robust, bodilyhealth, and great charm and personal outer gifts.A study of the outstanding individuals in all fields of world expression today, when entirely divorcedfrom the higher group concepts and the constant spiritual aspiration to serve humanity, will indicate thenature of the consummated individuality and the success of this part of the divine plan. It should becarefully noted that the successful demonstration of the dominant individual is just as much a divinesuccess in its proper place and time as is the case with the great Sons of God. One success, however, isthe expression of the third aspect of divinity as it veils and hides the soul, and the other is theexpression of two aspects of divinity (the second and the third) as they veil and hide the life aspect ofthe Monad. When this is grasped, our evaluation of world achievement will undergo change, and wewill see life more truly and divorced from the glamour which distorts our vision and the vision of thegreat Personalities as well. It should also be borne in mind that individual separative success is in itselfan evidence of soul activity, for every individual is a living soul, actuating the lower sheaths of bodies,and proceeding to1. Build sheath after sheath, life after life, that will be increasingly adequate to its own expression.2. Produce that sensitivity in the sheaths—sequentially and finally simultaneously—which will enablethem to respond to an ever increasing sphere or measure of divine influence.3. Integrate the three sheaths into a unity which for three and sometimes seven lives (occasionallyeleven lives) will function as a dominant personality in some field of wide expression, using the energyof ambition to bring this about.4. Re-orient the lower individual self so that the realm of its desires and the satisfaction of personalityachievement will eventually be relegated to their rightful place.5. Galvanise the self-assertive man into that realisation of new achievements which will direct his stepson to the Path of Discipleship and eventually on to the Path of Initiation.6. Substitute for past, necessarily self-interested and personal ambition, the needs of the group and thegoal of world service.Is not the above sufficiently practical?Initiation carried to its consummation, as far as humanity is concerned, produces the liberated Masterof the Wisdom, free from the limitations of the individual, garnering the fruits of the individualisationprocess and functioning increasingly as the solar angel, because focussed primarily in the innerspiritual body. Awareness of the Presence is thus steadily developed. This fact merits the deep studyand meditation of all disciples. As the three rays which govern the lower triplicity blend and synthesiseand produce the vital personality, and as they in their turn dominate the ray of the dense physical body,Copyright 1998 LUCIS TRUST

Twenty-Four Books of Esoteric Philosophythe lower man enters into a prolonged condition of conflict. Gradually and increasingly, the soul ray,"the ray of persistent and magnetic grasp", as it is occultly called, begins to become more active; in thebrain of the man who is a developed personality, an increased awareness of vibration is set up. Thereare many degrees and stages in this experience, and they cover many lives. The personality ray and theegoic ray at first seem to clash, and then later a steady warfare is set up with the disciple as theonlooker—and dramatic participator. Arjuna emerges into the arena of the battlefield. Midwaybetween the two forces he stands, a conscious tiny point of sentient awareness and of light. Aroundhim and in him and through him the energies of the two rays pour and conflict. Gradually, as the battlecontinues to rage, he becomes a more active factor, and drops the attitude of the detached anduninterested onlooker. When he is definitely aware of the issues involved, and definitely throws theweight of his influence, desires, and mind on to the side of the soul, he can take the first initiation.When the ray of the soul focusses itself fully through him, and all his centres are controlled by thatfocussed soul ray, then he becomes the transfigured Initiate, and takes the third initiation. The ray ofthe personality is occultly "extinguished" or absorbed by the ray of the soul, and all the potencies andattributes of the lower rays become subsidiary to and colored by the soul ray. The disciple becomes a"man of God",—a person whose powers are controlled by the dominant vibration of the soul ray andwhose inner, sensitive mechanism is vibrating to the measure of that soul ray which—in its turn—isbeing itself reoriented to, and controlled by, the monadic ray. The process then repeats itself:—1. The many rays which constitute the lower separative man are fused and blended into the threepersonality rays.2. These are, in their turn, fused and blended into a synthetic expression of the dominant self-assertiveman, the personal self.3. The personality rays then become one ray and in their turn become subservient to the dual ray of thesoul. Again, therefore, three rays are blended and fused.4. The soul rays dominate the personality and the three become again the one, as the dual ray of thesoul and the blended ray of the personality vibrate to the measure of the highest of the soul rays—theray of the soul's group, which is ever regarded as the true egoic ray.5. Then, in time, the soul ray begins (at the third initiation) to blend with the ray of the Monad, the liferay. The higher initiate is therefore a dual and not a triple expression.6. In time, however, this realised duality gives place to the mysterious, indescribable process calledidentification which is the final stage of soul unfoldment. It is useless to say more for what might besaid could only be comprehended by those preparing for the fourth initiation, and this treatise is writtenfor disciples and initiates of the first degree.In these successive stages we can glimpse the vision of what we are and may be. Steadily theunfolding purpose of our own souls (those "angels of persistent and undying love") should gain fullerand deeper control over each of us, and this, at any personal cost and sacrifice, should be our steadfastaim. For this, in truth and sincerity, we should strive.We have thus touched upon the three great divisions which mark the soul's progress towards its goal.Through the process of Individualisation, the soul arrives at a true self-consciousness and awareness inthe three worlds of its experience. The actor in the drama of life masters his part. Through the processCopyright 1998 LUCIS TRUST

Twenty-Four Books of Esoteric Philosophyof Initiation, the soul becomes aware of the essential nature of divinity. Participation in fullconsciousness with the group and the absorption of the personal and individual into the Whole,characterise this stage on the path of evolution. Finally comes that mysterious process wherein the soulbecomes so absorbed into that supreme Reality and Synthesis through Identification that even theconsciousness of the group fades out (except when deliberately recovered in the work of service).Naught is then known save Deity,—no separation of any part, no lesser syntheses, and no divisions ordifferentiations. During these processes it might be stated that three streams of energy play upon theconsciousness of the awakening man:—a. The energy of matter itself, as it affects the consciousness of the inner spiritual man, who is using theform as a medium of expression.b. The energy of the soul itself, or of the solar angel, as that energy pours forth upon the vehicles andproduces reciprocal energy in the solar form.c. The energy o

ESOTERIC PSYCHOLOGY - VOLUME