154-162

[154] THE SEX PROBLEM,

[155] SHAMBALLA,

[156] SIGHT,

[157] SOLITUDE,

[158] THE SOUL,

[159] SOUND,

[160] SPACE,

[161] SPEECH,

[162] SPIRIT

[154] THE SEX PROBLEM

(1) I want to write a word on the subject of sex in the life of the disciple. There is much confusion in the minds of aspirants on this matter, and the injunction as to celibacy, is assuming the position of a religious doctrine. We are often told by the well-meaning but illogical, that if a man is a [Page 368] disciple, he cannot marry, and that there is no real spiritual attainment, unless a man is celibate. This theory has its roots in two things:

First, there has ever been a mistaken attitude in the East towards women. Secondly, in the West, from the time of Christ, there has been a tendency towards the monastic and conventual conception of spiritual life. These two attitudes embody two mistaken ideas, and lie at the root of much misunderstanding, and at the heart of much evil. Man is no better than the woman, nor woman than man. . . .

The belief that to be a disciple necessitates a celibate life, and complete abstinence from all natural functions, is neither correct nor desirable. This can be proved by the recognition of two things:

The first is that if divinity is indeed a reality, and an expression of omnipotence and omnipresence as well as omniscience, and if a man is essentially divine, then there can be no condition possible, wherein divinity cannot be supreme. There can be no sphere of human activity, where man cannot act divinely, and wherein all functions cannot be illumined by the light of pure reason and divine intelligence. . . .

Secondly, a life that is not normally rounded out till all the functions of its nature - animal, human and divine - (and man is all of these three in one body) are exercised, is frustrated, inhibited, and abnormal. That all cannot marry in these days is true, but that fact does not negate the greater fact, that man has been created by God to marry. . . . That an enforced celibacy is an indication of a deep spirituality, and a necessary part of all esoteric and spiritual training, is equally false, abnormal, and undesirable. There is no better training school for a disciple and an initiate, than family life, with its enforced relations, its scope for adjustments and adaptability, its demanded sacrifices and service, and its opportunities for the full expression of every part of man's nature. There is no greater service to be rendered to the race, than the proffering of bodies to incoming souls, and the giving of attention and educational facilities, to those souls within the home limits. . . .

The disciple and aspirant upon the Path, and the Initiate upon his "Lighted Way", have no better training ground therefore, than the marriage relation, rightly used and rightly understood. . . . It is of course true that sometimes a man may be called to some particular life, wherein he is faced with the problem of celibacy, and is forced to abstain from all physical relations, and to live a strictly celibate life, in order to demonstrate to himself that he can control the animal and instinctual side of his nature. But this [Page 369] condition is frequently the result of excess and licence in a previous life, which necessitates stringent measures, and abnormal conditions in order to offset and rectify past errors, and give the lower nature time to readjust itself. But again it is no indication of spiritual development, rather the reverse. Forget not that here I am dealing with the special case of self-applied celibacy, and not with the present world-wide condition wherein, through economic and other reasons, men and women are forced to live without a natural and full life expression.

The sex problem must, in the last analysis, be solved in the home, and under normal conditions, and it is the advanced people of the world and the disciples of all degrees, who must thus solve it. (14 - 304/7).

(2) Many initiates have attained their objective when duly and wisely participating in the marriage relation. An initiate cultivates a peculiar attitude of mind, wherein there is a recognition that all forms of manifestation are divine, and that the physical plane is as much a form of divine expression as any other of the higher planes. He realises that the lowest manifestation of divinity must be under the conscious control of that indwelling divinity, and that all acts of every kind should be regulated by the endeavour to fulfil every duty and obligation, to control every action and deed, and to utilize the physical vehicle so that the group may be thereby benefited and aided in its spiritual progress. . . .

Initiates and Masters, in many cases marry, and normally perform their duties as husbands, wives, and householders, but all is controlled and regulated by purpose and intention, and none is carried away by passion and desire. In the perfect man upon the physical plane, all the centres are under complete control, and their energy is legitimately used. (1 - 204/5).

(3) Out of the many sexual experiments now going on, the coming generation will arrive at a point of balance and then, as a consequence, they will tip the scales in the desired and desirable direction. Of this there is no question of doubt; there is only the point in time, and this will be astrologically determined. Through the legal minds and through right legislation, sex will be seen eventually to be a proper and divine function, and will then be safeguarded by right education of the young and the ignorant, and the right action of the young and highly intelligent emerging generation - the children and babies of today.

The teaching of wrong sexual habits, the example of widespread prostitution (I use this word in connection with men as well as women), the growth of homosexuality ( not in its rare physiological forms and predispo- [Page 370] sitions, but from the angle of a perverted mentality, and an unwholesome imagination, which today lie behind so much of its expression), the narrow-minded Christian inheritance of a "guilt complex" where sex is concerned, and the heritage of diseased and over- or under-sexed physical bodies, have brought the race to its present chaotic and unintelligent handling of the important problem. The solution will not be found through religious pronouncements, based upon an outworn theory, or through physiological inhibition or legalised license; neither will it come through legislation, inspired by various schools of thought in any community or nation. It will be the result of the united activity of the spiritually minded consciousness, the judicial attitude, the intellectual perception, and the steady urge of the evolutionary process. Nothing can prevent the inevitability of the solution, and the appearance of desirable attitudes and conditions wherein sex can find right expression. (16 - 235/6).

(4) You have likewise been told that the energy of the sacral centre (the centre most implicated and active at the time of the first initiation), has to be transmuted and raised to the throat centre, thereby transforming the physical creative act into the creative process of producing the good, the beautiful and the true. This is the A B C of your fundamental knowledge: the transmutation of sex. In that transmutative process, men have greatly erred and have approached the subject from two angles:

1. They have sought to stamp out natural desire, and have endeavoured to emphasise an enforced celibacy; they have thus frequently warped the nature, and subjected the "natural man" to rules and regulations which were not of divine intent.

2. They have tried - at the other extreme - to exhaust normal sexual desire by promiscuity, license and perversions, damaging themselves, and laying up the basis for trouble for many incarnations ahead.

. . . When a proper recognition of the place the sex life should play in the daily life, is paralleled by the concentration of thought anent the throat centre, that centre becomes automatically magnetic, and attracts the forces of the sacral centre upward through the spine into "the place of creative building"; the normal sex life is then regulated and not atrophied, and is relegated to its rightful place, as one of the usual faculties or appetites with which man is endowed; it is brought under control through the lack of directed interest, and is
subordinated to the law of the land as regards its relation to the opposite pole - either negative and feminine, or masculine and positive. To the aspirant it becomes mainly the agent for the creation [Page 371] of the vehicles needed for reincarnating souls. Thus by force of example, by the avoiding of all extremes, by the dedication of the bodily energies to the higher uses, and by the acceptance of the law of the land in any given country, and at any given time, the present disorder and the current misuse of the sex principle, will give way to orderly living and to the right use of this major bodily function. (18 - 669/70).

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[155] SHAMBALLA

(1) Shamballa, where They (Sanat Kumara and His Pupils) dwell, exists in physical matter as do the Kumaras, but it is matter of the higher ethers of the physical plane, and only when man has developed etheric vision will the mystery lying beyond the Himalayas be revealed. (3 - 753).

(2) Though Shamballa is spoken of as existing in physical matter and as occupying a definite location in space, the physical matter referred to is etheric, the Lord of the World and His assistants of the higher degrees occupying bodies formed of etheric matter.

It was decided about seventeen million years ago (the coming of the Hierarchy and the founding of Shamballa being about eighteen and a half million years ago) to have on the dense physical plane an organisation and a headquarters for the mysteries, and to have a band of Adepts and Chohans who would function in dense physical bodies and thus meet the need of the rapidly awakening humanity. (4 - 378).

(3) The first outpost for the Shamballa Fraternity was the original temple of Ibez, and it was located in the centre of South America, and one of its branches, at a much later period, was to be found in the ancient Maya institutions. . . . A second branch was later established in Asia, and of this branch the Himalayan and southern Indian adepts are the representatives, though the work is materially changed. At a later date than the present, discoveries will be made, revealing the reality of the old form of hierarchical work; ancient records and monuments will be revealed, some above ground and many in subterranean fastnesses. As the mysteries of Central Asia, in the land stretching from Chaldea and Babylon through Turkestan to Manchuria, including the Gobi desert, are opened up, it is planned that much of the early history of the Ibezhan workers will be revealed. (4 - 379).

(4) The most obvious and powerful force in the world today, is that of the first Ray of Will and Power. . . . This is the force which pours into the world from the major world centre, Shamballa. Little is known of Sham- [Page 372] balla . . . . Only twice before in the history of mankind has this Shamballa energy made its appearance and caused its presence to be felt, through the tremendous changes which were brought about:

1. When the first great human crisis occurred at the time of the indivi-dualisation of man in ancient Lemuria.

2. At the time of the great struggle in Atlantean days, between the "Lords of Light and the Lords of Material Expression".

This little known divine energy now streams out from the Holy Centre. It embodies in itself the energy which lies behind the world crisis of the moment. It is the Will of God to produce certain radical and momentous changes in the consciousness of the race, which will completely alter man's attitude to life and his grasp of the spiritual, esoteric, and subjective essentials of living. It is this force which will bring about (in conjunction with second ray force) that tremendous crisis, the initiation of the race into the Mystery of the Ages, into that which has been hid from the beginning. (9 - 12/3)

(5) I would also remind you that the use of first ray energy, inevitably means destruction in the early stages, but fusion and blending in the later and final results. If you study the nations of the world today from this angle, you will see this Shamballa energy of will working out potently through the agency of certain great outstanding personalities. The Lord of Shamballa in this time of urgency, from love of the life aspect, and from understanding of the Plan, as well as from love of humanity, is sending forth this dynamic energy. It is form destroying and brings death to those material forms and organised bodies, which hinder the free expression of the life of God, for they negate the new culture and render inactive the seeds of the coming civilisation.

From this display of energy, unthinking humanity draws back in fear, and likes it not. When full of personality hate and self-will, human beings seek often to turn this energy to their own selfish ends. If human beings (even the best of them), were not so undeveloped and so superficial in their judgments and their vision, they would be able to penetrate behind what is going on in the key countries in the world, and see the gradual emergence of new and better conditions, and the passing away of the loved, but slowly decaying forms. The energy of Shamballa is, however, so new and so strange, that it is hard for human beings to know it for what it is - the demonstration of the Will of God in new and potent livingness.

. . . The problem of the Hierarchy at this time is to produce a wise and [Page 373] adequate fusion of the Shamballa and hierarchical energies, and thus temper destruction, and bring to the fore the spirit of construction, setting in motion the building and rehabilitating forces of the second ray energy. The Shamballa energy prepares the way for the energy of the Hierarchy. Thus it has been from the beginning of time, but the cycles of the Hierarchy, though relatively frequent, have not coincided with those of Shamballa, which are rare and infrequent. As time progresses, the impact of the Shamballa force will be more frequent, because men will develop the power to stand and withstand it. Hitherto it has been too dangerous an energy to apply to mankind, for the results have worked out destructively, except in the first great Lemurian crisis. Its work has, therefore, been confined almost entirely to the Hierarchy, Whose Members are equipped to handle it, and to assimilate it correctly, and also to use it for the benefit of humanity. Now the experiment is being attempted of permitting man to receive it and its impact, free from the mediation of the Hierarchy. It may prove a premature and abortive effort, but the issues are not yet determined and the Lord of Shamballa, with His assistants, and with the aid of the watching Members of the Hierarchy, are not discouraged over the initial results. Humanity is responding unexpectedly well. There has been much success along this line, but the results do not appear with clarity to intelligent human beings, because they refuse to see anything except the destructive aspect, and the disappearance of the forms to which they have hitherto anchored their emotions, their desire, and their mental perceptions. They fail, as yet, to see the irrefutable evidence of constructive activity, and of true, creative work. The temple of humanity in the New Age is rising rapidly, but its outlines cannot be seen because men are occupied entirely with their individual or national selfish point of view, and with their personal or national instincts or impulses.

Most of the response to the Shamballa activity is characterised by fear and terror, by sensitivity and distressingly developed reactions to the forces of hate and separation. Only a few, here and there, really grasp the vision of the future, and realise what is going on, seeing truly the beauty of the emerging plan. It is with these few that the Members of the Hierarchy can work, because they (even when lacking understanding) bear no ill-will or hatred to others. Love is a great unifier and interpreter. 9 - 17/20).

(6) Humanity is the result of all sub-human forms of expression and experience, and of the activity of superhuman Beings. These superhuman Beings are the product of past evolutionary systems, and are in Themselves the sum total of the great Divine Sacrifice, as it focusses itself in our planetary life. Having passed through all previous phases of existence, and per- [Page 374] fected the consciousness aspect in Themselves through human experiences, They have transcended all that men can know and all states of consciousness with which he is or may be in the future familiar, and are now expressing a phase of divinity of which he can know naught. They LIVE. They are energy itself, and in Their totality They form the "bright centre lying far ahead". (Shamballa). (18 - 78/9). See also: (6 - 404, 519/20).

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[156] SIGHT

(1) Sight - that inner vision which is produced through the initiation process, yet which is withall but the recognition of a faculty, always present yet unknown. Just as an infant has eyes which are perfectly good and clear from birth, yet there comes a day wherein the conscious recognition of that which is seen is first to be noted, so with the human unit undergoing spiritual unfoldment. The medium of the inner sight has ever existed, and that which can be seen is always present, but the recognition of the majority as yet exists not. This "recognition" by the initiate is the first great step in the initiation ceremony, and until it has transpired all other stages must wait.
(1 - 114).

(2) Faith is lost in sight, and things unseen are seen and known. No more can he doubt, but he has become instead, through his own effort, a knower. (1 - 118).

(3) The immortality of the soul and the reality of the unseen worlds is for him proven and ascertained. Whereas, before initiation, this belief was based on brief and fleeting vision and strong inner convictions (the result of logical reasoning and of a gradually developing intuition) now it is based on sight and on a recognition past all disproving, of his own immortal nature. (1 - 119).

(4) Etheric vision is comparatively common even now. But comment concerning it is rare, owing to the fear of criticism. (3 - 453).

(5) The greatest physical gift is that of sight, and it is the same upon a higher turn of the spiral within the world of the soul. When the disciple has achieved a measure of vision and is "in sight" of his soul, he can then be admitted to an Ashram wherein the nature of revelation can be made known to him. Men are apt to confuse vision and revelation, and I seek to clarify your minds somewhat on this matter; therefore, the preceding sentence is of major importance. Aspirants are prone to think that the goal [Page 375] towards which they move, is that of soul contact, with a secondary goal of hierarchical position, and a third goal of service. This, however, is not correct.

The goal ahead of the aspirant is the consciousness of non-separateness, and the recognition of a universal inclusiveness; the secondary goal is the ability to reveal the nature of that reality, Unity; the third goal is the ability to take those measures in the three worlds, which will facilitate mankind's apprehension of these fundamentals. You will note how this last definition of the goal removes inevitably the factor of self-interest in its entirety. It might therefore be said that revelation concerns Oneness and nothing else. The practical nature of this truth is only recognised when the disciple attempts to do two things: to realise it individually, and to bring the nature of planetary unity and of non-separateness to the minds and into the lives of men everywhere.

The work of the aspirant is to see the light; only when this has become a fact in his consciousness, can he begin to grasp the hidden revelation which that contacted and utilised light can reveal. Here is another key sentence for your consideration. (18 - 297/8).

(6) When, therefore, sight has been attained and the light streams forth, revelation of the oneness of all life is a simple and immediate occurrence; it comes first of all to the disciple as a flash of wondrous informative and instinctive realisation, and then steadies down, as progress is made, into a constant apprehension and appreciation; it eventually produces the motivating impulse of all action. (18 - 299),

(7) Sight is the greatest of all the developments in this world period, in which the Logos is seeking to bring the subhuman kingdoms to the point where human vision is theirs, to bring humanity to the point where spiritual vision is developed and hierarchical insight is the normal quality of the initiate sight, and to bring the Members of the Hierarchy to the point where universal perception is Theirs. (11 - 56).

See also: "Light" and "Illumination''.

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[157] SOLITUDE

(1) One of the primary conditions that a disciple has to cultivate, in order to sense the plan and be used by the Master, is solitude. In solitude the rose of the soul flourishes; in solitude the divine self can speak; in solitude the faculties and graces of the higher self can take root and blossom in the [Page 376] personality. In solitude also the Master can approach and impress upon the quiescent soul the knowledge that He seeks to impart, the lesson that must
be learnt, the method and plan for work that the disciple must grasp. In solitude the sound is heard. The Great Ones have to work through human instruments and the plan and the vision are much handicapped by failure on the part of these instruments. (4 - 132).

(2) There comes always to the striver after the Mysteries and the manipulator of the law, a period of aloneness, and of sorrow when no man stands by and isolation is his lot . . . But this is only temporary. (4 - 263).

(3) The lonely way is also the lighted way. Loneliness is an illusion which seeks to thwart the efforts of the server; it is glamour which can seriously impair true vision. (5 - 113).

(4) Loneliness grows as the aspirant detaches himself from the world of souls. There comes ever an interlude wherein the disciple senses an intense seeming isolation, but it is only an illusion. You know that you are not alone. (5 - 419).

(5) The first ray disciple loves isolation. It is for him the line of least resistance. He is, as you know, normally the one who stands alone. This is his strength and it is also his weakness. He glories in detachment. (5 - 625).

See also: (6 - 45/6, 763/4).

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[158] THE SOUL

(1) Matter is the vehicle for the manifestation of soul on this plane of existence, and soul is the vehicle on a higher plane for the manifestation of spirit, and these three are a trinity synthesised by life, which pervades them all. Through the use of matter the soul unfolds and finds its climax in the soul of man. (4 - 13/4)

(2) The soul is as yet an unknown quantity. It has no real place in the theories of the academic and scientific investigators. It is unproven and regarded by even the more open-minded of the academicians as a possible hypothesis, but lacking demonstration. It is not accepted as a fact in the consciousness of the race. Only two groups of people accept is as a fact; one is the gullible, undeveloped, childlike person who, brought up on a scripture of the world, and being religiously inclined, accepts the postulates of religion - such as the soul, God, and immortality - without questioning. The other is that small but steadily growing band of Knowers of God, and [Page 377] of reality, who know the soul to be a fact in their own experience but are unable to prove its existence satisfactorily to man who admits only that which the concrete mind can grasp, analyse, criticise and test. (4 - 17).

(3) The soul is the quality which every form manifests. It is that subtle something which distinguishes one element from another, one mineral from another. It is the intangible essential nature of the form which in the vegetable kingdom determines whether a rose or a cauliflower, an elm or a watercress shall come into being; it is a type of energy which distinguishes the varying species of the animal kingdom, and makes one man different from another in appearance, nature or character. (4 - 33/4).

(4) The soul . . . is neither spirit nor matter but is the relation between them. The soul is the mediator between this duality; it is the middle principle, the link between God and His form. Therefore the soul is another name for the Christ aspect, whether in nature or in man . . . The soul is the form-building aspect, and is that attractive factor in every form . . . which drives all God's creatures forward along the path of evolution, through one kingdom after another, towards an eventual goal and a glorious consummation. (4 - 35).

(5) The qualities, vibrations, colours, and characteristics in all the kingdoms of nature, are soul qualities . . . The qualities are brought into being through the interplay of the pairs of opposites, spirit and matter, and their effect upon each other. (4 - 36).

(6) The soul of mankind is not only an entity linking spirit and matter, and mediating between Monad and personality, but the soul of humanity has a unique function to perform in mediating between the higher three kingdoms in nature and the lower three. (4 - 47).

(7) I . . . seek to assure my fellow pilgrims that the passing things of the senses are but trivial, and of no value compared to the rewards, here and in this life, to the man who seeks to merge his everyday consciousness with that of his own soul. He enters then into the community of souls, and stands not alone. The only lonely periods are the result of wrong orientation and the holding on to that which hides the vision, and fills the hands so full that they cannot grasp what has been called "the jewel in the lotus". (4 - 90)

(8) The light of the soul is like an immense searchlight, the beams of which can be turned in many directions, and focussed on many levels. (10 - 144).

(9) The outer garment of the soul (physical, vital and psychic) is part of the outer garment of God.

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Man's self-conscious soul is en rapport with the soul of all things. It is an integral part of the universal Soul, and because of this can become aware of the conscious purpose of Deity; can intelligently co-operate with the will of God, and thus work with the plan of Evolution.

Man's spirit will in some distant time, put him en rapport with that aspect of God which is transcendent, and thus each son of God will eventually find his way to that centre - withdrawn and abstracted - where God dwells beyond the confines of solar system. (14 - 58).

(10) Along these various lines, proof of the soul will accumulate. In the massing of testimony and of evidence, a fruitful field of activity lies. In the training of the higher types of men in the use of soul force and soul powers, and in the trained control of the mechanism, that evidence so produced will be seen to be of so high an order, and will be so scientifically presented, that it will be regarded as of as much importance, and as justifiable, as any views presented by our leading scientists in their various fields of research today. The study of the soul will before long be as legitimate and respectable an investigation as any scientific problem, such as research into the nature of the atom. The investigation of the soul and its governing laws, will before long, engross the attention of our finest minds. The newer psychology will eventually succeed in proving the fact of its existence, and the paralleling intuitive and instinctive response of mankind to soul nurture, emanating from the invisible side of life, will steadily and successfully prove the existence of a spiritual entity in man, - an entity all-wise, immortal, divine and creative. (14 - 104/5).

(11) Humanity is an expression of two aspects of the soul - the animal soul and the divine soul - and these two, blended and fused in man, constitute the human soul. It is this fact that is the cause of man's special problems, and it is these two factors which involve him in the long struggle which eventuates in the liberation of the divine soul, through the sublimation of the animal soul. In these words lie much food for thought. (14 - 248).

(12) On the plane of soul existence, there is no separation, no "my soul and thy soul". It is only in the three worlds of illusion and of maya, that we think in terms of souls and bodies. (15 - 116).

(13) This joy and serenity is not an astral condition, but a soul reaction. These qualities are not achieved as the result of disciplining the emotional nature, but demonstrate as natural, automatic reaction of the soul. This is the reward of a definitely achieved alignment. These two qualities of the soul - serenity and joy - are the indications that the soul, the ego, the One Who stands alone, is controlling or dominating the personality, circum- [Page 379] stance, and all environing conditions of life in the three worlds. (15 - 200).

(14) The disciple knows, or is learning to know, that he is not this or that, but Life itself. He is not the physical body or its emotional nature; he is not, in the last analysis (a most occult phrase) the mind, or that by which he knows. He is learning that that too must be transcended and superseded by intelligent love (only truly possible after the mind has been developed), and he begins to realise himself as the soul. Then, later, comes the awful "moment in time" when, pendant in space, he discovers that he is not the soul. What then is he? A point of divine dynamic will, focussed in the soul, and arriving at awareness of Being through the use of form. He is Will, the ruler of time and the organiser, in time, of space. (18 - 107).

(15) The power wielded by those who are seeking to live as souls, and in touch with the soul and the world of spiritual realities, is out of all proportion to their registered sense of power and usefulness. You are, as you endeavour to wield spiritual force constructively and selflessly, far more potent than you realise.

(16) You should learn always to think of each other as souls and not as limited human beings. (5 - 12).

(17) Live, therefore, always above your physical body, ignoring how you feel, and seeking to dwell as far as is possible, with your waking consciousness blended and fused with that of the soul. Even if you feel it not, then know that it is there. (5 - 429).

(18) Just in so far as a person comes under soul impression, then soul control, and final identification with the soul, just so far does he move towards the centre of fusion. As your love for humanity increases, and your interest in yourself decreases, so will you move towards that centre of light and love where the Masters stand in spiritual being. (5 - 682).

See also: "The Ego", and (6 - 67, 289).

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[159] SOUND

(1) Through the mismanagement of men, and their unbalanced development, the sounds of earth, such as those of great cities, of the manufactories, and of the implements of war, have brought about a very serious condition among the gaseous devas. This has to be offset in some way and the future efforts of civilisation will be directed towards the spreading of a revolt against the evils of congested living and to the dissemination of an impulse of a widespread nature to seek the country and wide spaces. One of the main [Page 380] interests in the future will be a tendency towards the elimination of noise, owing to the increased sensitiveness of the race. When the energy of water and of the atom is harnessed for the use of man, our present types of factories, our methods of navigation and of transportation, such as steamers and railway apparatus, will be entirely revolutionised. This will have a potent effect not only on man but on the devas. (3 - 909/10).

(2) The significance of what has happened in the world during the last century in the realm of sound, is not appreciated yet, nor understood. Terrific effects are, however, being produced by the unbelievably increased noise and sound emanating from the planet at this time. The roar of machinery, the rumble of transportation mechanisms in all parts of the world - trains, vessels and airplanes - the focussing of the sounds of men in such congested areas as the great cities, and, at this time, the universal use of the radio, bringing musical sounds into every home and into street life, are producing effects upon the bodies of men and upon all forms of life everywhere, which will become apparent only as time lapses. Some forms of life in the animal kingdom, but primarily in the vegetable kingdom, will disappear, and the response of the human mechanism to this world of sound, uproar and music in which it will increasingly find itself, will be most interesting. (4 - 335/6).

(3) First, let us repeat the truism that the worlds are the effect of sound. First life, then matter; later the attraction of the matter to the life for purposes of its manifestation and expression, and the orderly arrangement of that matter into the necessary forms. Sound formed the allying factor, the propelling impulse, and the attractive medium. Sound, in an occult and deeply metaphysical sense, stands for that which we term "the relation between", and is the creating intermediary, the linking third factor in the process of manifestation. (2 - 53/4).

(4) It is a truism to say that sound is colour, and colour is sound, yet so it is, and the topic I really seek to bring to your attention is not so much sound as sound, but the colour effects of sound. I seek to emphasise especially the colour aspect in this letter, begging you to remember always that all sounds express themselves in colour. (2 - 205).

(5) Each of the seven rays emits its own sound, and in so doing, sets in motion those forces which must work in unison with it. (14 - 8).

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[160] SPACE

Energy is now regarded as all that IS; manifestation is the manifestation of a sea of energies, some of which are built into forms, others constitute the medium in which those forms live and move and have their being, and still others are in process of animating both the forms and their environing substantial media. It must also be remembered that forms exist within forms. . . . You - as you sit in your room - are a form within a form; that room is itself a form within a house (another form), and that house is probably one of many similar houses, placed the one on top of another, or else side by side, and together composing a still larger form. Yet all these diverse forms are composed of tangible substance, which - when co-ordinated and brought together by some recognised design or idea in the mind of some thinker - creates a material form. This tangible substance, is composed of living energies, vibrating in relation to each other, yet owning their own quality, and their own qualified life . . .

It might be profitable to point out that the entire universe is etheric and vital in nature, and of an extension beyond the grasp of the greatest mind of the age, mounting into more than astronomical figures - if that statement even conveys sense to our minds. This extent cannot be computed, even in terms of light years; this cosmic etheric area, is the field of untold energies, and the basis of all astrological computation; it is the playground of all historical cycles - cosmic, systemic and planetary - and is related to the constellations, to the worlds of suns, to the most distant stars, and to the numerous recognised universes, as well as to our own solar system, to the many planets, and to that planet upon which and in which we move, and live, and have our being, as well as to the smallest form of life known to science, and perhaps covered by the meaningless term "an atom". All are found existing in Space - Space is etheric in nature and - so we are told in the occult science - Space is an Entity. The glory of man lies in the fact that he is aware of space, and can imagine this space as the field of divine living activity, full of active intelligent forms, each placed in the etheric body of this unknown Entity, each related to each other through the potency which not only holds them in being, but which preserves their position in relation to each other; yet each of these differentiated forms possesses its own differentiated life, its own unique quality or integral colouring, and its own specific and peculiar form of consciousness.

This etheric body - vast and unknown as it is, as to its extent - is never- [Page 382] theless limited in nature and static (relatively speaking) in capacity; it preserves a set form, a form of which we know absolutely nothing, but which is the etheric form of the Unknown Entity. To this form the esoteric science gives the name of SPACE; it is the fixed area in which every form, from a universe to an atom, finds its location.

We speak at times of an expanding universe; what we really mean, is an expanding consciousness . . . (11 - 177/9).

See also: (6 - 396).

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[161] SPEECH

(1) One of the greatest instruments for practical development lying in the hands of small and great, is the instrument of SPEECH. He who guards his words, and who only speaks with altruistic purpose, in order to carry the energy of Love through the medium of the tongue, is one who is mastering rapidly the initial steps to be taken in preparation for initiation. Speech is the most occult manifestation in existence; it is the means of creation and the vehicle of force. In the reservation of words, esoterically understood, lies the conservation of force; in the ultilisation of words, justly chosen and spoken, lies the distribution of the love force of the solar system - that force which preserves, strengthens, and stimulates. Only he who knows somewhat of these two aspects of speech, can be trusted to stand before the Initiator and to carry out from that Presence certain sounds and secrets imparted to him under the pledge of silence.

The disciple must learn to be silent in the face of that which is evil. He must learn to be silent before the sufferings of the world, wasting no time in idle plaints and sorrowful demonstration, but lifting up the burden of the world; working, and wasting no energy in talk. Yet withal he should speak where encouragement is needed, using the tongue for constructive ends; expressing the love force of the world, as it may flow through him, where it will serve best to ease a load or lift a burden, remembering that as the race progresses, the love element between the sexes and its expression will be translated to a higher plane. Then, through the spoken word, and not through the physical plane expression as now, will come the realisation of that true love which unites those who are one in service and in aspiration. Then love between the units of the human family will take the form of the utilisation of speech for the purpose of creating on all planes, and the energy which now, in the majority, finds expression through the lower or gene- [Page 383] rating centres will be translated to the throat centre. This is as yet but a distant ideal, but even now some can vision that ideal, and seek - through united service, loving co-operation, and oneness in aspiration, thought, and endeavour - to give shape and form to it, even though inadequately. (1 - 74/5)

(2) The disciple who seeks to enter within the Portals of Initiation cannot do so until he has learnt the power of speech and the power of silence . . . Until a man comprehends the significance of the spoken word, and until he utilises the silence of the high places for the bringing about of desired effects on one plane or another, he cannot be admitted into those realms wherein every sound and every word spoken produces powerful results in matter of some kind . . . (1 - 198).

(3) The occult significance of speech . . . The greater the progress that is made along the path of approach to the Mysteries, the greater the care that must be taken by the aspirant (with speech). This is necessary for three reasons:

First, owing to his stage in evolution, he is able to enforce his words in a manner which would surprise him could he but see on the mental plane. He builds more accurately than the average men, his subsequent thought-form is more strongly vitalised, and it performs the function whereon it is sent by the "Sound" or speech with greater precision.

Second, any word spoken and consequent thought-form built (unless along the higher path and not based on personality impulses) is apt to cause a barrier of mental matter between a man and his goal. This matter or separating wall has to be dissipated before further advance can be made.

Third, speech is very largely a mode of communication on the physical levels; on the subtler levels whereon the worker stands, and in his communications with his fellow workers and chosen co-operators it will play an ever lessening part. Intuitive perception and telepathic interplay will distinguish the intercourse between aspirants and disciples.

If man succeeds in understanding the significance of speech, if he learns how to speak, when to speak, what is gained by speech, and what happens when he speaks, he is well on the way to achieving his goal. (3 - 977/8).

(4) Every good speaker is doing a most occult work. A good lecturer (for instance) is one who is doing work that is analogous on smaller scale to that done by the solar Logos. What did He do? He thought, He built, He vitalised. A lecturer, therefore, segregates the material with which he is going to build his lecture and which he is going to vitalise. Out of all the thought matter of the world he gathers together the substance which he [Page 384] individually seeks to use. Next he copies the work of the second Logos in wisely building it into form. He constructs the form, and then when it is constructed, he finishes up by playing the part of the first Person of the Trinity putting his Spirit, vitality and force into it, so that it is a vibrant, living manifestation. (3 - 979).

(5) In physical plane manifestation, we are known by our speech; we are known by our reticence, by the things we say, and by the things we leave unsaid, and are judged by the quality of our conversation. We think of people in terms of what they say, because their words disclose the type of thought-matter in which they work and the quality of energy or life which they put behind their words. (3 - 980).

(6) Through speech a thought is evoked and becomes present; it is brought out of abstraction and out of a nebulous condition, and materialised upon the physical plane, producing (could we but see it) something very definite on etheric levels . .

Speech is one of the keys which opens the doors of communication between men and subtler things . . . But only he who has learnt to keep silent, and has arrived at the knowledge of the times to speak, can pass this veil and make certain esoteric contacts. Magic consists, we are told in the Secret Doctrine, in addressing the Gods in Their Own language; therefore, the speech of average man cannot reach Them.

Therefore, those who seek to learn the occult language, those who yearn to become aware of the words which will penetrate to the ears of those who stand on the other side, and those who seek to utilise the formulae and phrases which will give them the power over the Builders, have to unlearn their previous use of words and to refrain from ordinary methods of talking. Then the new language will be theirs and the new expressions, words, mantrams and formulas will be entrusted to their care. (3 - 981).

(7) The purpose of all speech is to clothe thought and thus make our thoughts available for others. When we speak we evoke a thought and make it present, and we bring that which is concealed within us into audible expression. Speech reveals, and right speech can create a form of beneficent purpose, just as wrong speech can produce a form which has a malignant objective. (4 - 143).

(8) In the final analysis, the main problem of the world government, is the wise use of ideas. It is here that the power of speech makes itself felt, just as in the department of religion or of education, the power of the written word, of the printed page, is felt. In the field of politics, the masses are swayed by their orators, and never more so than now through [Page 385] the use of the radio. Great ideas are dinned into the ear of the public without cessation - theories as to dictatorship, communism, nazism, fascism, marxism, nationalism, and democratic ideals. Methods of rule by this or that group of thinkers are presented to the public, leaving them no time for consideration, or for clear thinking. Racial antipathies are spread, and personal preferences and illusions find expression, bringing about the deception of the unthinking. The man who has a golden tongue, the man who has the gift of playing with words, and can voice with emphasis people's grievances, the juggler in statistics, the fanatic with a certain and sure cure for social ills, and the man who loves to fan race hatreds, can ever get a following. Such men can with facility upset the balance of the community, and lead a body of unthinking adherents to a transient success and power, or to obloquy and oblivion. (14 - 179/80).

(9) Let each of you gain that control of speech which has often been your goal but seldom your achievement, and remember that the most powerful factor in the control of speech is a loving heart. Wild and fearful talk, hateful gossip, cruel innuendo, suspicion, the ascribing of wrong and wicked motives to persons and peoples, and the divergences of attitude which have separated the many different nations in the world, are rampant today, and have brought the world to its present distressing situation. It is so easy to drift into the same habits of speech and thought which we find around us and to discover ourselves participating in attack and the spirit of hate. Guard yourselves strenuously against this and say nothing which could inflame hate and suspicion in connection with any race, any person, any group or any leaders of groups and nations. You will have to guard yourselves with care, so that even in defence of that which you may personally or nationally approve, you do not find yourselves full of hate and breaking the law of love - the only law which can truly save the world. Perhaps the key to your success along this line will be the silence of a loving heart. ( 13 - 82).

(10) Still another deciding factor with me, is to test out your ability to keep silent until it is no longer necessary to do so. Silence is one of the prime pre-requisites for initiation, and something which every disciple must perforce learn. (5 - 78).

(11) Learn to know when to speak and when to be silent, remembering that the elimination of possessiveness and of self-reference will reduce speech to its spiritual essentials. (6 - 551).

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[Page 386]

[162] SPIRIT

(1) The nature of Spirit can only be intelligibly revealed to the higher grades of the initiates, that is, to those who (through the medium of the work effected in the third Initiation) have been put in conscious contact with their "Father in Heaven", the Monad. Esoteric students, disciples and the initiates of lower degree are developing contact with the soul, or the second aspect, and only when this contact is firmly established, can the higher concept be entertained. (3 - 1229).

(2) The goal of realisation for man is consciousness of the nature of the Soul, the medium through which the Spirit aspect ever works. More it is not possible for him to do. Having learnt to function as the soul, detached from the three worlds, man then becomes a conscious corporate active part of that Soul which permeates and pervades all that is in manifestation. Then, and only then, the pure light of Spirit per se becomes visible to him through a just appreciation of the Jewel hidden at the heart of his own being; then only does he become aware of that greater Jewel which lies hidden at the heart of solar manifestation. Even then, at that advanced stage, all that he can be aware of, can contact and visualise, is the light which emanates from the Jewel and the radiance which veils the inner glory.

. . . Needless it is, therefore, for us to study and consider that which the initiate of high degree can only dimly sense; useless it is for us to seek for terms to express that which lies safely hidden behind all ideas and all thought, when thought itself is not perfectly understood, and the machinery for comprehension is not perfected. Man himself - a great idea and a specific one - knows not the nature of that which he is seeking to express.

All that we can do is to apprehend the fact that there exists THAT which may not as yet be defined, to realise that a central life persists which permeates and animates the Soul and which seeks to utilise the form through which the soul expresses itself. This can be stated to be true of all forms, of all souls, human, subhuman, planetary and solar. (3 - 1231/2).

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