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4. Cosmic Energies and Transformation. - Part 1

Let us now briefly get an idea of this stream of energies as they move outward into space from Ursa Major, as they are transmitted, through certain zodiacal constellations to our solar system and thence, via the Sun to the seven sacred planets. These produce what are called "transformations" on our non-sacred planet, the Earth, bringing it increasingly into line with the will aspect of divinity. You have in reality the following explanatory diagram, which may make the whole process somewhat clearer to you:

DIAGRAM THREE

This is the only way that I can give you an idea of the distribution of energies, their limitation within the bounds of the zodiac, and their focussing within the periphery of [610] our solar system. Let me make it more specific as regards one of the rays and its triangular relationships as given in Tabulation X:

DIAGRAM FOUR

a. The Earth being itself one of the five non-sacred planets, only four are listed as among the transfiguring agents.

b. The darkened planets indicate the transmitting agents of the Forces, passed through the transformation process by the Sun.

c. The Sun and Moon are listed among the non-sacred planets as they are, in this instance, blinds or veils.

d. The origin of the hour glass is to be found in this diagram of the inflowing energies.

e. The above diagram can be used in connection with any of the seven rays, but will involve:

1. The use of other transmitting agents in the form of the appropriate three zodiacal constellations and their rulers.

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2. The indicating of planets, different to those involved in the inflow of first ray energy.

f. The key to the whole process as far as the Earth is concerned—and the individual on the Earth—is to be found in the words:

Transcending.—The transcending cause.

Transmitting.—The zodiacal constellations.

Transforming.—The Sun. The Soul.

Transfiguring.—The planets.

To these I might add one word in connection with the Earth and its humanity which is allied to all the above. This

DIAGRAM FIVE

word is Translated, for when the "souls of just men are made perfect," a process of translation takes place which [612] lifts humanity off and away from the planet on to one or other of the seven cosmic Paths to which our seven initiations form the entering doors.

In connection with the human individual and his progress and initiation or translation from one state of consciousness to another, there is to be found a small replica of the above:

a. The soul of man receives from all three major planetary centres or groups.

b. The darkened spots indicate awakened, alert centres.

c. The diagram indicates the "interior light chart" of an advanced aspirant on the verge of discipleship.

The whole story of extension from the One into the Many and of the Many into the One is contained in these macrocosmic and microcosmic diagrams.

Let us now take each of the seven Rays and see how they embody and transmit the three aspects of the will, via three constellations and their rulers, to our Earth. We enter here into the realm of causes and are dealing with those transcendent purposes, incentives, urges and objectives of the One in Whom we live and move and have our being. This great Life, the Ancient of Days, the Lord of the world, Sanat Kumara, the Eternal Youth, the planetary Logos—His many names are of relative unimportance—is the only Existence upon our planet Who is capable of responding to and carrying out the objectives of the solar Logos. He, in His turn, is the only one in our solar system capable of responding to the sevenfold Emanating Cause, expressing Itself through the Great Bear or Ursa Major. We will, however, deal with the psychological aspects of the emanations of the seven Rays which embody the will-to-good.

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|

Aries,

RAY I. Will or Power.

|
|

Leo. . . . . . . working through the medium of the four
   planets:  Mars, Mercury, the Sun, Saturn

 

|

Capricorn.

 

This is the will which lies behind all initiatory activity, that is,

a. The initiation of the previous stages of creation.

b. The initiation of the urge to evolve, proceed, progress.

c. The initiation of the differentiating process in order to produce.

These are all expressions or effects of the activity of the ray energy and all can be best summed up in the thought of a dynamic "entering into"—by an act of the focussed will—a new state of consciousness. This leads inevitably to a new realisation of being. In this statement, you have one of the basic definitions of initiation as far as the initiation of a human being is concerned. These are dim reflections of the dynamic processes to which the One Life subjects Itself as it enters into the dualistic condition of spirit-matter. The will here referred to lies behind the dualism and is analogous to the reception and focussing of an initial idea as it enters into the mind of a creative, advanced human being, his thought processes and his achievements. Some understanding of this will come if the disciple will consider what fixed aspiration, a vision of the goal and a determination to follow the will-to-good has effected in his life. Beyond this realisation, he cannot go, but it holds for him the cosmic seed of understanding.

It is necessary to remember that on the Path of Initiation, the whole training process is turned towards the evolution of the will and this is possible because behind the development of love lies the revelation of the will. It is rightly [614] taught that man's immediate goal is the unfoldment (into full expression) of the love nature. This begins to take place and reaches a relatively high stage of unfoldment upon the Path of Discipleship. The detail of the process in a broad and general sense might be stated as follows:

1. Path of Evolution and Probation.

a.       Unfoldment of intellect and of sensory perception.

b.      Response to the centre called Humanity.

c.       The mind takes control. Personality functions.

2. Path of Discipleship.

a.       Unfoldment of the love nature.

b.      Achievement of illumination.

c.       Response to the centre called the Hierarchy.

d.      Buddhi or the intuition is in control. The soul functions.

3. Path of Initiation.

a.       Unfoldment of the will.

b.      Achievement of synthesis.

c.       Response to the centre called Shamballa.

d.      Dynamic Purpose in control. The will-to-good. The Monad functions.

This covers familiar ground for all of you but in the effort to achieve a vision of the whole, constant repetition has its place. We are now concerned with the third stage of the evolutionary process, carried forward upon the Path of Initiation and entered into (as far as humanity is concerned) at the third initiation, and consummated at the seventh initiation—an initiation far more easily reached by people upon the first Ray than on any of the others.

This—as far as you can at this time grasp—concerns primarily the creative will as it:

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1. Initiates manifestation, and conditions that which is created.

2. Brings about eventual fulfilment.

3. Overcomes death or differentiation.

All initiates must and eventually do express dynamic, creative will, a focussed purpose which expresses only the will-to-good and also that sustained effort which brings fulfilment. I would remind you here that sustained effort is the seed of synthesis, the cause of achievement and that which finally overcomes death. Death is really deterioration in time and space and is due to the tendency of matter-spirit to isolate itself, whilst in manifestation (from the standpoint of consciousness). This sustained effort of the Logos is what keeps all forms in manifestation and preserves even the life aspect as the integrating factor in form building and—which is equally an act of the sustaining will—can abstract or withdraw the life consciousness intact at the close of a cycle of manifestation. Death and limitation are synonymous terms. When the consciousness is focussed in form and identified entirely with the principle of limitation, it regards freedom from form life as death; but, as evolution proceeds, the consciousness shifts increasingly into awareness of that which is not form and into the realm of that which is transcendent or into the world of the abstract, i.e., into that which is abstracted from form and focussed in itself. This, by the way is a definition of meditation from the angle of goal and achievement. A man can truly meditate when he begins to use the mind, the reflection of the will aspect, and employs it in its three aspects: as initiating his entrance into the world of souls, as conditioning his personality life and as enforcing and eventually bringing about a full expression of soul purpose. This results [616] in the complete overcoming of death. I am bringing this whole concept down into terms of the microcosm even though it will be obvious that only the pledged disciple in preparation for initiation can begin to grasp some of the significant implications.

Perhaps I can best sum up the keynote of the first Ray of Will or Power, as it seeks expression as dynamic purpose on Earth and in relation to the human being, by quoting or paraphrasing the Old Commentary.

"The Transcendent One, the Life, the Whole, the All entered into communion with Itself and by this act became a vital point of life and focussed power.

I am and I am not. Greater than This is That; smaller than That is This. But That must show to This the nature of the whole, and showing prove itself unto Itself.

I, the beginning am. I am the outward and the inward Way and back into the point of concentration and from the point I turn again unto Myself, carrying within my heart of love that which I, the One, have served and that for which I sacrifice Myself."

In the process of sacrifice, that which is the sustaining Whole, the inner core of all life and the principle of integration, realises within Itself the following stages in consciousness:

1. It knows Itself as the transcending will, the will which sees the entire process from the point of initiation, but which limits itself to the gradual expression of that will on account of the limitations of those aspects of Itself [617] whose consciousness is not that of the Whole. That which initiates, sees the end from the beginning and works towards the goal in progressive stages, not for Itself but for those aspects which are still limited, unaware, blind and unseeing and unreasoning.

2. It knows Itself as the transmitting will, working from the point of synthesis, stepping down the energies distributed, in line with the creative, evolutionary plan. This, the Life of our planet, carried forward in three major stages, particularly from the consciousness angle; that is via Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity. From thence the transmitting Life moves outward into all the other kingdoms of nature. Each great centre is, therefore, a transmitting agency. The fourth Creative Hierarchy, the human Kingdom, is the agent through which eventually the energies of Shamballa and of the Hierarchy will be focussed for the redeeming of the life of all the sub-human kingdoms. This can only take place when humanity can work with the focussed will, engendered by the life of Shamballa, inspired by love, fostered by the Hierarchy and expressed through the intellect which humanity itself has developed—all of these used dynamically and consciously under the pressure of that which is higher and greater than Shamballa itself.

3. It knows Itself as the transforming will or that sustained, applied process which brings about the needed mutations and changes through the action of the constant incentive of the will-to-good. Yet at the same time it is not identified in any way with the process. These mutations, producing transformation of the One into the Many and later in time and space of the Many into the One are carried forward from a point of [618] focussed, dynamic will, the "Point in the Centre" which changes not but remains ever immovably subject to its own inherent purpose.

When the disciple or the initiate can stand also at the centre as the transforming will, he can then bring about the needed changes in the form nature without identifying himself with it or being himself affected by the changes. This may serve to make my meaning clear.

4. It knows Itself as the transfiguring will. This transfiguration is the fulfilment of purpose and the final expression of synthesis brought about by the sustaining will-to-good of the transcending, transmitting, transforming will.

Students would do well to shift their eyes off the goal of transfiguration (achieved at the third initiation and increasingly present at each previous initiation) and pay more attention to the recognition of that in them which "having pervaded their little universe with a fragment of itself remains." They will then have anchored their consciousness in the centre of transcending power and guaranteed the flow of the will-to-achieve. From that high point in consciousness (imaginatively reached at first and practically achieved later) they would find it useful to work at the process of transmission, knowing themselves to be agents for the transmission of the will-to-good of the Transcendent One. They should next pass on to the stage of transformation wherein they would visualise and expect to see developed the needed transformation carried forward in their lives; then—equally expectant—they should believe in the transfiguration of those lives in line with the will of the [619] Transcendent One, the success of the Transmitting One, and the activity of the Transforming One—all of Whom are but the One, the Monad, the Self. All this is done by the use of the will, conditioning, fulfilling and overcoming.

To return to our theme of the greater Whole, leaving behind us for a minute the efforts of the microcosm to comprehend the Macrocosm, let us consider the relation of the three constellations in the task of expressing Ray One:

1. ARIES is the constellation through which initiating conditions will stream into our solar system. It embodies the will-to-create that which will express the will-to-good. It is the monadic ray of our planetary Logos, Whose Soul ray is the second and the personality ray the third. You can note here, therefore, how the transmitting ray of our planetary Logos is the first; and hence the place which the will plays in our human evolutionary process; His transforming ray is the second and that eventually brings transfiguration through the medium of the third and in this combination you have the reason why, in the evolution of the will aspect, you have the influence of Mars and Mercury—the one bringing conflict and the death of the form and the other bringing illumination and the development of the intuition as a result of that conflict and death. New cycles of Being and of consciousness are initiated by conflict. Such seems as yet to be the law of life and the governing factor in evolution. If, however, the result of this initiating, energising will is to produce such beneficent effects of intuitive understanding and the activity of Mercury as the messenger of the Gods, it can be seen how truly through conflict the will-to-good can be wrought out.

2. LEO. This is the constellation through which the will-to-fulfilment or to achievement pours into humanity and on to the planet. It is essentially the spirit of self-determination. [620]  It is at first the determination of the little self, the personality, the self-conscious individual. It is next the determination of the Self, the soul, the group conscious individual, aware of the greater Whole and of itself as the part, integrated and basically at-one.

This will-to-good (achieved through fulfilment) works out in relation to the human being through the medium of three climaxes:

1. The will-to-good, demonstrated by the achieving of self-consciousness. This is the first stage of completed, divine fulfilment. It connotes body, appearance. It is the expression of the third aspect.

2. The will-to-good, demonstrated at the third initiation when self-consciousness gives place to group consciousness. This is the second stage of divine fulfilment. It connotes soul, quality. It is the expression of the second aspect.

3. The will-to-good, demonstrated in the higher initiations when God-consciousness is achieved. This is the third stage of divine fulfilment. It connotes Monad, Life. It is the expression of the first aspect.

It is useful to see these relationships. It will also be obvious why the Sun rules Leo, both exoterically and esoterically. The Sun reveals or "lights up" the two stages of the hidden will: the physical sun, lighting up the personality upon the physical plane and the Heart of the Sun revealing the nature of the soul.

3. CAPRICORN. This is the constellation by means of which comes the conquering will which releases from form life and initiates the man into the kingdom wherein the will aspect (not the soul aspect) of divinity expresses itself. You will remember that there is a close connection between [621] the Earth and Capricorn. The reason for this is that the Earth provides ideal conditions for this particular type of achievement because it is in process of transforming from the stage of a "non-sacred planet" into that of a "sacred planet." This is why Saturn is so powerful a ruler and transmitter to the Earth of the dynamic quality of the first ray of power. This inpouring of first ray energy will be greatly accelerated from now on. These energies and their inflow must be carefully studied in connection with the diagrams given earlier in this treatise, remembering that visualisation is always a directing energy, employed to bring about a specific desired effect.

Aries, the Initiator, Leo, the Self, and Capricorn, the transfiguring Agent—such are some of the implications in relation to the first ray and humanity.

I would point out here that I have given this triangle of constellations in the order of their relationship to the Great Life Who employs them as transmitting agencies for first ray activities. It should also be noted that the reason for this relation is inherent in the nature of the informing Lives of the particular constellations. They are Themselves expressions of the will-to-good and, therefore, constitute the line of least resistance for the dissemination of first ray energy throughout our solar system. From the angle of human relations, this triangle rearranges itself. It becomes Leo, the giver of self-consciousness; Capricorn, the sign wherein initiation can be taken; and Aries, the incentive towards a new beginning. In the understanding of the significance of the distinction between constellations as galaxies of stars, and signs as concentrated influences will come fresh light upon the science of astrology. This is fundamentally connected with the difference between the relation of a ray energy to the triangle of constellations and the human [622] relation. More I may not say but this will give a hint to the intuitive astrologer.

 

 

| Gemini,

RAY II. Love-Wisdom.

| Virgo. . . . . . . working through the medium of the five planets: Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, the Moon, Pluto.

 

| Pisces.

 

This "line of distribution" (if I may so express it) is related to the will which produces inevitable union, at-one-ment and synthesis, through the power of attraction, based upon power to see the vision. In this solar system and during this world cycle and, therefore, upon our planet and throughout the period wherein our planet moves from the position of a non-sacred to a sacred planet, this is the dominating will aspect of Deity; it is the energy with which our planetary Logos is preoccupied. It is that which has brought the Hierarchy into being, under the impact of the Shamballa or first ray force. It is, however, with hierarchical energy that humanity is, at this time, preoccupied. In my use of the word "preoccupied" in connection both with the planetary Logos and humanity, you will find indication of a growing response between the two centres, Shamballa and Humanity.

Anent this ray energy, the esotericists of the world know much and this for three reasons:

1. The emphasis of all the teaching given out during the past three hundred and fifty years has been upon it.

2. The two great exponents of this ray energy are the two best known world Teachers and Saviours from the human point of view in both the East and the West: the Buddha and the Christ.

3. The two Masters Who have attempted to awaken humanity in the West to a realisation of the Hierarchy [623] are the Masters Morya and K.H., the two working in the closest relation and expressing first and second ray energy.

The keynotes of illumination, of vision, of sight or of spiritual perception and of the fusion of the occidental or the mystic way are dominant in this cycle. The Buddha summed up in Himself all the light of the past as far as humanity was concerned. He was the culminating Messenger, and demonstrated the innate possibilities of mankind, radiating the light of wisdom in relation to the light of substance and producing that dual blaze or flaming light which had been fanned and fostered (though not fully expressed) by humanity up to that time. He came forth as the flower or fruition of the past and as the guarantee of man's innate capacity. Christ, whilst able also to say "I am the light of the world," went further in His manifestation and gave a vision of the next step, demonstrating the light of the soul and pointing to the future, thus presenting that which could be because He had released on Earth the cosmic principle of love. Love is an aspect of the will, which is a point very little realised by the mass of men. It is the will to draw into itself or the will to attract into itself, and this will, when exerted toward that which is not material, we, in reaction to the differentiating mind, call Love. But humanity has to see that which must be loved before that power of the will is sufficiently evoked. Then the vision can become a manifestation and a fact in expression.

It is here that the wonder of the work of Christ, the Lord of Love emerges into our consciousness. He makes it very clear that this love which He demonstrated was an aspect of the will, functioning through the medium of the second ray; this powerful love released into the world the [624] cosmic principle of love. Again the three aspects of the divine will can be seen functioning through the second ray:

1. The will-to-initiate or to condition demonstrates in Christ's work as He inaugurates the era wherein it became possible for the kingdom of God to appear on Earth. In reality, this will be a demonstration of the fusion of the two centres, Humanity and the Hierarchy. By fusion, I mean their complete reciprocal at-one-ment. It will inaugurate an era wherein—through increased capacity to see the vision and increased power to identify oneself with the vision—a race of men will be produced whose life expression will be that of love-wisdom.

2. The will which brings fulfilment demonstrates through the second ray by the means of that driving force which enables the second ray soul steadily to achieve its goal, relentlessly pushing forward, permitting itself no let-up or leeway until the desired goal is reached. This is a different expression to the will of the first ray which is dynamic and which crashes forward in spite of all obstacles; the latter does not require the slower methods of the steady drive.

3. It is also the will which conquers death because of its intense love of reality and of that "persistent One" who exists behind all phenomena.

In the Old Commentary this type of will—the will-to-love—is spoken of in the following terms:

"The Transcendent One said: I am alone. I must arise and seek with ceaseless urge, that which produces completion, round out my circle whole, intensity My life and make Me truly One, and this because I recognise the Two. I must have union with my other self, the self I dimly sense.

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Unto My heart I drew that other One and drawing thus I gave enlightenment; I dowered with enrichments; I freely gave."

This embodies not the mystical vision of the other one but the will aspect of the planetary Logos, the incentive behind the life of Shamballa. It is the Lord of Sacrifice Who speaks. The keynote of sacrifice or the "process of making whole" runs through all that concerns the will aspect as it functions through the medium of the seven rays; this becomes beautifully apparent in the activity of the second ray as it is the channel for the will of God.

It knows itself as the transcending will because behind its expression of cosmic love (attracting, fusing and producing cohesion) lies a synthetic vision of divine Intention. It differentiates between process and goal, between initiation and that which is revealed by the initiatory process and that is something which as yet is unknown to initiates below the third degree. Herein lies the distinction between the Christ and the Buddha. The latter revealed the process, but the Christ embodied in Himself both goal and process. He revealed the cosmic principle of love and by its means—embodied in Himself—He produced effects also and momentous changes in the world through those presented to Him for initiation.

The second ray knows itself as the transmitting will because through its means something passes between the pair of opposites (spirit-matter) which draws them together until eventually they form one blended whole. This is a basic mystery—the basic mystery of initiation and concerns the at-oning will which functions through love. Its lowest expression and its most material symbol is the love between the sexes.

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It knows itself likewise as the transforming will because the entire evolutionary process (which is, in the last analysis, the working out of the inter-relation between God and His world, between cause and effect and between Life and form) is based upon the transformation brought about by divine attraction. This enables "spirit to mount upon the shoulders of matter," as H.P.B. expresses it, and forces matter to achieve the purification which will lead it eventually to act as a transparent medium for the revelation of divinity.

It knows itself finally as the will which transfigures. It was this transfiguration which Christ manifested when He emerged before the startled eyes of His disciples as Light Incarnate and "was transfigured before them."

The entire process of transcendence, resulting in transfiguration, is worked out in relation to the second ray by the combined influences of the three constellations through which this ray chooses by an "act of its sufficient will to act in time and space." Let us look at them for a moment:

1. GEMINI. This is the great symbolic constellation of the Two Brothers, expressing the interplay between the dualities. Because it is governed by Mercury and Venus, you have the light of the intuition and of the mind blended together into one illuminated whole, typical of the fusion of spirit-matter and the demonstration of their essential oneness. Gemini, as you know, is the sign of divine interplay and it is the life of the Father (of spirit and of will) which flows through the Two Brothers, through the polar opposites, making them one in reality though two in manifestation. Their real nature as the "elder brother and the prodigal son" is revealed by the intuition when it takes hold of the mind. But it is the will to love which governs the relationship and which finally brings about divine synthesis.

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2. VIRGO is the constellation which is symbolic of the second stage of the relation between the pair of opposites. Here we have, as you know, the Mother of the Christ Child and the fostering process of interchange which brings about life, love and their united manifestation in one form. This second ray is, therefore, closely related to Virgo and its lowest aspect is mother love with its instinctual care of that which must be nourished and guarded. Its highest aspect is the incarnated, manifested Christ. Then instinct is transmuted into wisdom and with that the will-to-manifest and bring into the light of day the hitherto Hidden Christ. This sign and this second ray Will have a mysterious relation to Time, to process and to the sustaining life of the Mother (matter) which, throughout the gestation period, nourishes and cares for the rapidly developing Christ Child. The Moon has also a peculiar function which can only be expressed in the idea of death—the death of the relationships between the Mother and the Child because the moment comes when the Christ Child will emerge from the womb of time and of matter and stand free in the light. This will have been due, necessarily, to many inherent factors but primarily to the sustaining will of the Mother, plus the dynamic will of the Christ Child. Here again is an aspect of the curious and mysterious relation between the first and the second rays.

3. PISCES. In this sign the work is consummated and the will of the Father works out through the second ray will as the will-to-save. In Gemini, therefore, you have the two, the pair of opposites and the will-to-relate; in Virgo, you have their work in cooperation, the nurturing of the life of that second ray phenomenon, a Christ, the consummation of the task of matter and its elevation into heaven. In Pisces, you have the consummation of the work of that [628] which the matter aspect has made possible, and the Christ emerges as the world saviour. All this has taken place through the will aspect of the second ray, focussed in Shamballa, expressing itself through humanity and consummated in the Hierarchy. Here you have the whole story of unity, brought about by the life and the will of the second ray, producing the emergence of the Christ consciousness and the appearing in objectivity of the Christ principle.

In time and space and from the angle of humanity, the triangle of constellations is Virgo, Gemini and Pisces and not the order as here given, which is Gemini, Virgo, Pisces; the latter is the angle from the standpoint of Shamballa.

 

 

| Cancer,

RAY III. Active Intelligence.

| Libra. . . . . . . working through five planets:
      The Moon, Venus, Saturn Neptune, Uranus.

 

| Capricorn.

 

In this divine expression of ray energy is to be found the key or clue to what is commonly called evolution. The emphasis, is necessarily from the angle of the form nature and upon the phenomenal side. Today, however, the evolutionary process can be considered from the two aspects of the evolution of form and the evolution of consciousness; science and psychology contribute to this a gradually developing whole or picture. But that which I deal with here is the evolution of That which is both consciousness and form but which is more than either, i.e. the One Who wills to manifest and to know or to become aware. It is this which lies behind and which is greater than the Identity in time and space to which we give the name Logos. I seek to deal, therefore, with the Creative Will which is dynamically manifesting, consciously establishing contact and persistently focussed in the form whilst time and space endure.

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This third aspect of the divine expression is the result or outcome of the activity of the other two major rays. You must, with care, distinguish in your minds between matter or the Mother and substance or the "Holy Spirit overshadowing the Mother"; it is with this latter we are concerned, for we are regarding all these rays in terms of will, of spirit, and of life. This whole treatise, therefore, deals with an idea which lies beyond or behind the entire content of modern knowledge and is consequently inexplicable to the finite mind. All that is possible is to indicate That which exists prior to manifestation and which persists after the cycle of manifestation is over—unprovable, unknowable and intangible. This inherent Reality is to the manifested Logos what the sensed, immortal Self is to the man in incarnation. As the abstract mind of man develops, these subjective themes, leading to the central Theme of manifestation, will become clearer and the density of the mystery will lighten. With this promise you must be content for you are not yet initiate. The initiate will sense whereof I speak.

This evolving Reality which is focussed in the third Ray of Active Intelligence during the "period of appearance" has—in this solar system—undertaken the task of developing conscious "awareness of Itself in that which it is not." This is carried forward in three stages—all of them the result of process, of progress, of activity and of mind or intelligent perception. These three stages are:

1. The stage wherein sensory perception is transmuted into knowledge. This is the stage in which the form gradually and steadily adapts itself to the requirements of the perceiving Self.

2. The stage wherein knowledge is transmuted into wisdom, [630] or consciousness utilises the gradually acquired knowledge to achieve detachment from the form, the organ of perception.

3. The stage wherein wisdom is transmuted into omniscience and both consciousness and form are superseded by the One Who exists, Who is conscious, but Who remains as greater than either of these two phases of divine life. This One wills to incarnate, wills to know, wills to be conscious, but is none of these phases essentially, having realised them, prior to manifestation.

This third ray will is the producer of external synthesis in successive stages, carried forward from temporary syntheses until there is complete unification between consciousness and form and later complete atonement realised between That which is neither consciousness nor form but the Creator of both and the relating Principle of spirit-matter. It will be seen how the above definition shows the function of the third ray to be the will-to-initiate on the physical plane that which will express divinity; that it defines not only appearance but the revelation of that quality of which the appearance is the effect or result, and that inherent in these two propositions lies the third which states that this creative will is not only the cause of manifestation and the guarantee of achievement, but is also the proof of the potency of that Life which ever defeats and annihilates death. So, we come back to our initial proposition of that divine trinity of Life-Quality-Appearance (considered in the opening pages of Volume I); thus also to the creativity of the three major rays; thus to their basic relation and thus to their enduring and persistent synthesis. The circle of revelation is rounded out; the cycle is completed; the serpent of matter, the serpent of wisdom and the serpent of life are seen to be one [631] whole and behind the three "stands the Eternal Dragon for ever spawning forth the triple serpent, for ever saying: Go forth and come thou back." Thus speaks the Old Commentary in reference to this matter.

Three words are concerned with this triple manifestation: Attraction, Subtraction, Abstraction and these three are related (as far as man is concerned) to the first three initiations, but only from the will aspect and in relation definitely to the third ray upon the physical plane, or rather on the plane of the etheric body or the vital effective activity. It is this which must be borne in mind when considering the active work of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

This Trinity in manifestation knows Itself as the Transcending Reality and utters ever the word: "Having pervaded this whole universe with a fragment of Myself, I remain."

This Trinity in manifestation knows Itself as the Transmitting One and says through the words of the Christ: "I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me." This, through the attractive power which the Transmitting One transmits.

This Trinity in manifestation knows Itself to be the Transforming Agent and through the voice of the many chants the words: "Glory to God in the highest, on Earth peace, goodwill to men"—glory, peace and the will-to-good being the effects of the transmitted life of the Transcendent One.

Finally, at the end of the age, it knows Itself as the Transfigured One and realises that the paean of the angels: "Glory to God in the highest" is the enunciation of its ultimate perfection and triumph.

Can more be said anent this subject? The major Rays of Aspect embody the entire story; the minor Rays of Attribute contribute the detail in process and enterprise. They [632] are conditioned by the three major rays. It is not, therefore, my intention to take up the analysis of the four remaining triangles. I have indicated enough in this treatise to enable the interested student to work out for himself their subjective theme. I will, however, consider briefly the three constellations connected with the third ray; their significance is relatively clear.

1. CANCER. This is the constellation which symbolises the will of the mass, which conditions mass response and mass psychology. This has not yet been the theme of astrological study for it connotes far more than the mass consciousness. It is basically the focussing of the mass will through the medium of the mass consciousness—a thing unknown as yet, though the rudiments of this knowledge can be seen in that peculiar factor in the life of humanity which we call 'public opinion.' This is now being brought into the educational field through what is commonly called propaganda. The implications will be clear to you. A trained and enlightened public opinion is an unknown thing on a world-wide scale, though enlightened groups are rapidly appearing. Out of public opinion (which is the focussed expression of the growth of mass consciousness) will emerge the mass will-to-good, inherent in every individual; for this humanity must work and wait.

2. LIBRA. This constellation, as you know, connotes the point of balance in the long relationship and interplay between the pairs of opposites. It indicates the will-to-express—in perfected proportion and harmony—both the life of the spirit and the potency of matter.

3. CAPRICORN. This constellation stands for the influence which will carry the will of Shamballa to the Hierarchy or to the world initiates, giving to Them that dynamic and [633] enterprising spirit which will enable Them to carry forward to completion the Will of God on Earth. It was the "angel, born under Capricorn" which came to Christ in the garden of Gethsemane and fused His individual will into the divine Will and thus enabled Him to carry out His mission to completion. This was not only the revelation of divine love to the world but—as the legend in the Masters' Archives goes on—He came "to fabricate the gossamer thread which bound the two together and linked the place of the Most High (Shamballa) with the Holy City (The Hierarchy). The bridge between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies was securely anchored. The will of God could now be carried to fruition." Under the same symbolic teaching, we could say that the following terms distinguish the three rays with which we have been dealing.