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Esoteric Psychology I - Section Two - III. The Rays and Man
The work of each individual aspirant is therefore to arrive at an understanding of: His egoic ray. His personality ray. The ray governing his mind. That governing his astral body. The ray influencing his physical body. When he has achieved this fivefold knowledge, he has fulfiled the Delphic injunction: "Know thyself," and can consequently take Initiation. Every human being is also governed by certain group rays: [405] Those of the fourth kingdom in nature. This will have different effects, according to the ray of the personality or soul. The fourth kingdom has: The fourth ray as its egoic ray. The fifth ray as its personality ray. The racial rays, at this time, are the third and fifth, for our Aryan race, and this powerfully affects every human being. The cyclic ray. The national ray. All of these control the personality life of each man. The egoic ray of the individual, plus the egoic ray of the fourth kingdom, gradually negate the rays governing the personality as the man nears the path of probation and discipleship. Man therefore is an aggregate of forces which dominate him serially and together; these color his nature, produce his quality, and determine his "appearance," using this word in its occult sense of exteriorization. For ages he is wielded by one or other of these forces, and is simply what they make him. As he arrives at a clearer understanding, and can begin to discriminate, he definitely chooses which of them shall dominate, until he eventually becomes controlled by the Soul ray, with all the other rays subordinated to that ray and used by him at will. In studying the egoic ray of man we have to grasp: The process followed - externalization. The secret to be found - manifestation. The purpose to be known - realization. We have also to understand the dominant ray influences of the kingdom of souls, the fifth kingdom. These are: Ray five - working through the personality. [406] Ray two - working through the intuition. The Personality ray finds its major field of activity and expression in the physical body. It determines its life trend and purpose, its appearance and occupation. It is selective of quality, when influenced by the egoic ray. The Egoic ray has direct and specific action upon the astral body. Hence the battlefield of the life is ever on the plane of illusion; as the soul seeks to dispel the ancient glamor, the aspirant is enabled to walk in the light. The Monadic ray influences the mental body, after integration of the personality has been brought about. It causes the mind nature to achieve that clear vision which finds its consummation at the fourth initiation, and releases the man from the limitations of form. There is an analogy to this triplicity and an interesting symbolic relation in the three Initiators. The first Initiator - the soul of man. This controls gradually the personality. The second Initiator - the Christ. Releasing the love nature. The final Initiator - the Planetary Logos. Illumining the mind. The egoic or soul ray begins to make its presence actively felt, via the astral body, as soon as alignment has been achieved. The process is as follows: It plays on the astral body externally. It stimulates it internally to greater size, color and quality. It brings it and all parts of the physical life into activity and under control. All the above propositions could be summed up in the statement that the personality ray induces a separative attitude and causes a detachment from the group of souls of [407] which the personality is an externalization, and a consequent attachment to the form side of manifestation. The egoic ray induces group consciousness and detachment from external forms, causing attachment to the life side of manifestation and to the subjective whole. The monadic ray has an effect which can be understood only after man has taken the third initiation. We might divide what we have to say in the next section of our treatise, which deals with the egoic ray, into the four following parts: THE GROWTH OF SOUL INFLUENCE THE SEVEN LAWS OF EGOIC LIFE THE FIVE GROUPS OF SOULS RULES FOR INDUCING SOUL CONTROL [411]
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