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The Rays and the Initiations - Part One - Fourteen Rules For Group Initiation
PART ONE - THE FOURTEEN RULES FOR GROUP INITIATION Preliminary Remarks It might be here of value, my brothers, if I again laid emphasis upon the fact that the formless world is only entered when the aspirant has acquired somewhat the capacity to center himself on the abstract levels of the mental plane. This involves necessarily certain developments within the aspirant's own nature. The demanded contact would otherwise be impossible. What is needed is self-exertion, the resultant developments of which might be touched upon as follows: I. The Repolarization of the Entire Lower Man so that his attitude toward the aggregate of forms which make up his field of general contact has changed. He is no longer deluded by the things of the senses but has in his hand that thread or clue which will eventually guide him out of the maze of the lower life perceptions into the field of clear knowledge and the realm where daylight is found; he will then no longer need to walk in the dark. This repolarization is brought about in four ways, each of which provides the next step forward, and in their totality (and when definitely followed) will eventuate in the total subjugation of the personality. These four ways are: A constant and unfailing attempt to center the consciousness within the head. From this central position the real man, the directing agency will direct and guide all his members, imposing upon the "lunar lords" of the physical body a new rhythm and habit of response. Two factors are of value and helpful in the production of the necessary polarization: The reiterated appreciation of the words "I am the Self, the Self am I" The habit of early morning meditation wherein the Thinker centers himself in the point of control and [4] starts upon his day's experience and contacts with the realization that he is only the Observer, the Perceiver and Actor. A close consideration throughout the day as to the use and misuse of energy. Every man should realize that in the use of energy lies direction and the treading of the Path. It produces eventually truthful manifestation and the displaying of one's light in order that circumstances may be irradiated and fellow pilgrims helped. Students should familiarize themselves with the "energy concept" and learn to regard themselves as energy units displaying certain types of energy. In this connection it should be borne in mind that when spiritual energy and material energy (the two opposite poles) are brought into relationship, a third type of energy is produced, and the work of the fourth or human kingdom is to demonstrate this peculiar type. It might serve to clarify thought if students remembered that Superhuman entities display spiritual energy. Subhuman entities display the energy of matter. Human entities display soul energy. In the perfect manifestation of these three will the plan of creation be consummated. It should also be borne in mind that these three are nevertheless a manifestation of duality - spirit and matter - and that this is the manifestation of a great Existence and of His appearing. Therefore, what are called the "three gunas" in Hindu philosophy are but the qualities He manifests through these types of entities. Superhuman lives express sattva, the guna of rhythm and of harmonious response to divine urge, of perfect display of coordinated cooperation with the purpose of manifestation. Human lives demonstrate the quality of rajas, of mobility, of constant and conscious change in order to ascertain what is the Real and through the medium of experience demonstrate the true nature of rhythmic response. Subhuman lives express the guna of tamas or of inertia. They work blindly and have no ability to respond [5] consciously to the plan. They are the sumtotal of the "units of inertia" just as the human units are called "the points of light moving within the square." This may have its appeal to Masons. This subject of the use or misuse of energy is capable of infinite expansion, and in my other books where I give you more upon the centers I have enlarged upon it. I but seek at this time to give you that which can be of immediate use to students and thus lay the foundation for later work. A close study of the needed transmutation of astral and emotional energy into love, the energy of love. This involves the sublimation of personal feeling into group realization or consciousness, and when carried out successfully produces in time the construction of a higher and subtler body, the buddhic sheath. When this sheath is thus materialized a very high stage of advancement is marked, but the earlier stages can be intelligently approached by any earnest student and probationer. To transmute emotion into love the following realizations will be found necessary: A realization that all moods, all display of sorrow, of pain, or of happy excitement are due to our identification with the objects of desire, with the form aspect, and with that which is material. An understanding of the emotional or astral body and the place it plays in the student's development. It should be recognized as the shadow of the monad, and a connection should be traced between The Astral Sheath - 6th Plane The Buddhic Sheath - 4th Plane The Monadic Sheath - 2nd Plane and the place the love petals in the egoic lotus play should also be carefully considered. A comprehension of the potency of the astral sheath owing to its undivided nature. A study of the purpose of the solar plexus, and the part it plays as an organ of transference of energy from the three great centers below the diaphragm to the three higher [6] centers. There is a very close analogy here to the solar lotus, the egoic body, occupying a midway point between the threefold Monad and the threefold lower man. The more advanced should follow this. The development of the faculty of mind control, so that the Thinker grips and holds steady the mental processes and learns to regard the mind as the interpreter of the states of consciousness, as the transmitter of egoic intent to the physical brain and as the window through which the Ego, the real Man looks out upon vast and (to the majority) unknown fields of knowledge.
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