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Initiation, Human and Solar - Chapter III - The Work of the Hierarchy
To set an Example to Humanity The fourth thing that men need to know and to realize as a basic fact is that this Hierarchy is composed of those who have triumphed over matter, and who have achieved the goal by the very selfsame steps that individuals tread today. These spiritual personalities, these adepts and Masters, have wrestled and fought for victory and mastery upon the physical plane, and struggled with the miasmas, the fogs, the dangers, the troubles, the sorrows and pains of everyday living. They have trodden every step of the path of suffering, have undergone every experience, have surmounted every difficulty, and have won out. These elder brothers of the race have one and all undergone the crucifixion of the personal self, and know that utter renunciation of all which is the lot of every aspirant at this time. There is no phase of agony, no rending sacrifice, no Via Dolorosa that they have not in their time trodden, and herein lies their right to serve, and the strength of the method of their appeal. Knowing the quintessence of pain, knowing the depth of sin and of suffering, their methods can be exquisitely measured to the individual need; yet at the same time their realization of the liberation to be achieved through pain, penalty, and suffering, and their apprehension of the freedom that comes through the sacrifice of the form by the medium of the purificatory fires, suffices to give them a firm hand, an ability to persist even when the form may seem to have undergone a sufficiency of suffering, and a love that triumphs over all [25] setbacks, for it is founded on patience and experience. These elder brothers of humanity are characterized by a love which endures, and which acts ever for the good of the group; by a knowledge which has been gained through a millennia of lives, in which they have worked their way from the bottom of life and of evolution well nigh to the top; by an experience which is based on time itself and a multiplicity of personality reactions and interactions; by a courage which is the result of that experience, and which, having itself been produced by ages of endeavor, failure, and renewed endeavor, and having in the long run led to triumph, can now be placed at the service of the race; by a purpose which is enlightened and intelligent, and which is cooperative, adjusting itself to the group and hierarchical plan and thus fitting in with the purpose of the Planetary Logos; and finally they are distinguished by a knowledge of the power of sound. This final fact is the basis of that aphorism which states that all true occultists are distinguished by the characteristics of knowledge, dynamic will, Courage, and silence. "To know, to will, to dare, and to be silent." Knowing the plan so well, and having clear, illuminated vision, they can bend their will unflinchingly and unswervingly to the great work of creation by the power of sound. This leads to their silence where the average man would speak, and their speaking where the average man is silent. When men have grasped the four facts here enumerated, and they are established as acknowledged truths in the consciousness of the race, then may we look for a return of that cycle of peace and rest and righteousness which is foretold in all the Scriptures of the world. The Sun of Righteousness will then arise with healing in his wings, and the peace which passeth understanding will reign in the hearts of men.[26] In dealing with this matter of the work of the occult Hierarchy, in a book for the general public, much must be left unsaid. The average man is interested and his curiosity is aroused by reference to these Personalities, but men are not yet ready for more than the most general information. For those who, from curiosity, pass on to desire and seek to know the truth as it is, more will be forthcoming, when they themselves have done the necessary work and study. Investigation is desired, and the attitude of mind which it is hoped this book will arouse might be summed up in the following words: - These statements sound interesting and perchance they are true. The religions of all nations, the Christian included, give indications that seem to substantiate these ideas. Let us therefore accept these ideas as a working hypothesis as to the consummation of the evolutionary process in man and his work upon the attainment of perfection. Let us therefore seek for the truth as a fact in our own consciousness. Every religious faith holds out the promise that those who seek with earnestness shall find that which they are seeking; let us, therefore, seek. If by our search we find that all these statements are but visionary dreams, and profit not at all, leading us only into darkness, time will nevertheless not have been lost, for we shall have ascertained where not to look. If by our search, on the other hand, corroboration comes little by little, and the light shines ever more clearly, let us persist until that day dawns when the light which shineth in darkness will have illuminated the heart and brain, and the seeker will awaken to the realization that the whole trend of evolution has been to bring him this expansion of consciousness and this illumination, and that the attainment of the initiatory process, and the entrance into the fifth kingdom is no wild chimera or phantasm, but an established fact in the consciousness. This each man must ascertain for himself. Those [27] who know may state a fact to be thus and so, but the dictum of another person and the enunciation of a theory do not aid beyond giving to the seeker confirmatory indication. Each soul has to ascertain for himself, and must find out within himself, remembering ever that the kingdom of God is within, and that only those facts which are realized within the individual consciousness as truths are of any real value. In the meantime, that which many know, and have ascertained within themselves to be truths of an incontrovertible nature for them, may here be stated; to the intelligent reader will then arise the opportunity and the responsibility of ascertaining for himself their falsity or truth. [28]
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