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The Rays and the Initiations - Part One - Fourteen Rules For Group Initiation
The creative work of expression does not consequently concern the development and personal progress of the initiate. He has been taken into the Ashram because of his development and because of the contribution he should be able to make to the ashramic creative purpose. What, as a neophyte, he "touched" because of what he could gain spiritually for himself (and this with sound motive) has now become that which must be expressed in the field of service of the initiate, exacting from him all that he has and leaving him nothing for the separated self. A great creative activity involving all Ashrams - major and minor - is now being planned in the hierarchical assembly, and the work of all waiting and attentive disciples is to make that creative plan successful through its full expression upon the physical plane. This they must do through their grouped and blended activities, which will embody the full expression of all that they have achieved and gained in the earlier stages of their individual unfoldment. Thus you will see that from God the Creator of all that Is, down to the humblest disciple in the hierarchical center, the theme of creativity dominates and is the expression (again occultly understood) of the divine intention. At present, what is called creative work by men is in reality an expression of themselves and of their appreciation of beauty as they see it, of truth as they grasp it, of psychology as they interpret it, of nature as they scientifically interpret it. According to their spiritual development and their intelligent perception, so will be the quality and the nature of their expression - but it will be theirs. In the case of hierarchical workers however, the situation is different. They work to express that which the Ashram, through its group of workers, is seeking to express; they seek to express the Plan, or as much of it as they can grasp; they are occupied with the expression of soul as that soul should be known in the culture and the civilization [296] immediately to be developed. They can work entirely free from self-interest; that which they create is not claimed by them but is regarded as an expression of hierarchical activity; they are free from the spirit to identify themselves with that which they expressed, but - having created that which their ashramic impulse has indicated - they pass on to a fresh expression of the dynamic, ever-moving purpose. They are not occupied with form, but with life, with organism rather than organization, with ideas rather than ideals, and with essential truth rather than with carefully formulated theologies. Christ expressed in Himself and refrained from putting it into form; He Himself was the truth, yet inevitably (because of its inherent life) that which He expressed took form and has greatly modified and colored human thinking and planning, and this will be increasingly so. As the essence of Christianity emerges into expression (and in so doing destroys Churchianity) you have again a striking illustration of the truth of what I am seeking to emphasize. In the Christian Church, men have expressed themselves, not the Christ; they have imposed their interpretations of truth on truth itself; they have created a massive organization in every land but a living organism is non-existent. In the new world religion which is on its way, Christianity will be expressed through the creative activity of the Christ spirit through the medium of the world disciples and initiates; we shall then see the full expression of hierarchical truth - of which the Christ today is the symbol and exponent. Neophytes and aspirants have "touched" that for which the Christ stood, and have then attempted to impose their comprehension of that which they contacted upon the rest of the world. Knowers, disciples and initiates express that which He represented (love-wisdom). This they do automatically and by force of habit, first in themselves and finally by a definitely planned creative activity in the outer world. Therefore, my brothers, there lies ahead of all true aspirants an intermediate stage of decentralization, of automatic spiritual living and of absorption into the Hierarchy [297] through the medium of an Ashram; therein the Plan can be learnt. When this phase of development is completed the disciple can then begin to work creatively in line with hierarchical activity. As we consider the next word on our list, we must hold in our minds what we have discussed anent the words Touch and Express. It might be said that the words which are given to aspirants and applicants are the seed or germ of the concepts indicated in the words for initiates and disciples. Until the earlier significances are mastered in the earlier phases of discipleship, the later illumined service - based upon the later words - is not possible. Always in the fresh attitude to the developing esoteric understanding of the initiate there is implicit the fact of transition from individual self-interest to a universal state of consciousness; this in time becomes the directing agent for individualized service - as rendered by the individual disciple upon the physical plane. The fusion of the two attitudes - inclusive realization and specialized service - renders the task of the initiate peculiarly difficult. He has to hold two attitudes simultaneously, whilst at the same time subjecting himself to the training required in order to enable him to take his next step forward upon the Path. It is only whilst this condition persists that the initiate has any sense of triplicity. This is an important point to note. Bear this in mind as we discuss our next two words: See and Reveal.
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