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The Rays and the Initiations - Part Two - Introductory Remarks
It will be obvious to you that as this Treatise is not written to instruct Members of the Hierarchy, but only for aspirants and disciples and initiates below the grade of the third initiation, much that I will say will be somewhat "blind" or veiled in symbol; much that I could say (if words existed of an adequate nature) will not be said. Those that have eyes to see and ears to hear will read between the lines and correctly interpret my symbols, hints and references. To many what I will say will be as meaningless as A Treatise on Cosmic Fire is to the average reader and as the entire theme of initiation is to the ignorant and the undeveloped [329] man. Much, however, should be of practical service to the struggling disciple, and I want in these concluding pages to fire his zeal, deepen his understanding, stimulate his capacity to love, and enlighten his mind. Such is what I seek to do. On his part, let him approach this subject with deep humility, with a meditative and reflective attitude, and with a refusal to materialize the presented concepts, as is so easy a thing to do. Let him refuse to step down the teaching to the level of his physical consciousness. In these words I have conveyed a basic hint. Love and light are the great revealers, and if the student truly seeks to understand and profit by what I am endeavoring to teach, let him love all men more deeply and let him see to it that his light shines forth in a dark place, for "in that light shall he see Light." It is the lesser light within that reveals the greater light; when the light of the soul combines with the light of the lower man, then that fused and blended light will enable the aspirant to see the Door which opens upon the Way of the Higher Evolution. In considering our theme I propose to divide what I have to say, according to my usual custom as follows: The Aspirant and the Mysteries of Initiation The entering of the two Doors The entering of the Ashrams The dual life of the initiatory process The science of the Antahkarana The Aspirant and the Major Initiations The relation of the seven Rays to the Initiations The significance of the initiations The Aspirant and the seven Centers I have given you here and elsewhere in my writings all that it is at this time possible to give anent the planetary centers and the rays, including the rays of nations and of races. You will find a wealth of information hidden in my various books if due search is made and the material is gathered together into a coherent whole. I suggest that you study and compare, read and search topically and extract all that I have said about the various nations, their governing [330] constellations and their planetary rulers. This will facilitate research into the relation of the planetary centers to the systemic centers, the sacred planets and the energies pouring through them from the constellations which they "rule" in the esoteric sense. This is one of the paradoxes of occultism but it can be understood if the student remembers that the centers in his etheric body rule in so far as they are receptive or non-receptive to the influences emanating from the planet, via the planetary centers. It would not be advisable for me to give out the relation of the planetary centers to the centers of the human being; there is not enough love present as yet to balance such knowledge and to offset any possible misuse with its dire consequences. The reason I include them in the above outline is to show the organic wholeness of our theme, for the life of man encompasses the abstract and subjective as well as the outer physical levels of the manifested world. I have made two affirmations during the past years anent the Hierarchy. One was that as a result of the cleansing of the Earth through the medium of the world war (1914-1945) and through the suffering to which humanity has been subjected (with a consequent purifying effect which will demonstrate later), it will be possible for the Hierarchy to externalize itself and function openly upon the physical plane. This will indicate a return to the situation which existed in Atlantean days when (using the Biblical symbolism) God Himself walked among men - divinity was present in physical form because the Members of the Hierarchy were guiding and directing the affairs of humanity as far as innate free will permitted. On a higher turn of the spiral, this again will happen. The Masters will walk openly among men. Secondly, the Hierarchy will then restore the ancient Mysteries, the ancient landmarks so earnestly preserved by the Masonic tradition and which have been securely embalmed in the Masonic ritual, awaiting the day of resurrection. These ancient Mysteries were originally given to humanity by the Hierarchy, and were - in their turn - received [331] by the Hierarchy from the Great White Lodge on Sirius. They contain the clue to the evolutionary process, hidden in numbers and in words; they veil the secret of man's origin and destiny, picturing for him in rite and ritual the long, long path which he must tread. They provide also, when rightly interpreted and correctly presented, the teaching which humanity needs in order to progress from darkness to Light, from the unreal to the Real and from death to Immortality. Any true Mason who understands, even if only to a slight degree, the implications of that in which he participates will recognize this most ancient of Oriental prayers, giving the key to the three degrees of the Blue Lodge. I mention here the Masonic purpose because it is closely related to the restoration of the Mysteries and has held the clue - down the ages - to that long-awaited restoration, to the platform upon which the restored teaching can be based, and the structure which can express, in powerful ritual and in organized detailed rites, the history of man's moving forward upon the Path of Return. The Mysteries will be restored in other ways also, for they contain much besides that which the Masonic rites can reveal or that religious rituals and ceremonies can disclose; they contain within their teaching and formulas the key to the science which will unlock the mystery of electricity - that mystery of which H.P.B. spoke; though much progress has already been made by science along this line, it is as yet only embryonic in nature, and only when the Hierarchy is present visibly on earth, and the Mysteries of which the Masters are the Custodians are given openly to man, will the true secret and nature of electrical phenomena be revealed. The Mysteries are, in reality, the true source of revelation, and it can be only when the mind and the will-to-good are closely blended and conditioning human behavior that the extent of the coming revelation will be grasped, for only then can humanity be trusted with these secrets. They concern those capacities which enable the Members of the Hierarchy to work consciously with the energies of the planet and of the solar system and to control forces within the [332] planet; they will put the ordinary psychic powers (today so stupidly approached and so little understood) in their rightful place and guide man towards their helpful usage.
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