CHAPTER I - The Psychological Causes of Disease - Part 6

There has been much teaching given anent the age-long struggle between personality and soul, but it has always been presented in the language of spiritual approach, of mysticism and of religion, or else in terms of character reaction, of abstract aspiration and of purity or non-purity.  With these I shall not deal.  My theme is the effects of this conflict in the physical body.  I wish, therefore, to confine myself only to the physiological and psychological problems incident to the struggle which, in the main, make hard the lot of the disciple.  It might be posited that:

A. All diseases and physical difficulties are caused by one or more of three things or conditions:

1. A developed soul contact, thus producing the vitalisation of all the centres in ordered rhythm, according to the soul ray.  This necessarily produces stress and strain in the physical vehicle.

2. Personality life and focus, which attempts to negate this soul control, and which is largely expressed through the activity of the throat centre (predisposing an activity of the thyroid gland) and of the centres below the diaphragm.

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3. A cycle in the life of the aspirant wherein personality control begins to weaken and in which the emphasis and consequent activity shifts into the centres above the diaphragm—again causing trouble and readjustment.

B. Certain objectives present themselves to the aspirant at various stages, and each involves progress, but at the same time certain attendant difficulties.

1. The objective before the initiate is to have every centre in the etheric body responsive to the ray energy of the soul and with all the other seven ray energies subsidiary to it.  This process of stimulation, of readjustment, and the attainment of established control goes on until after the third initiation.  Then, when that initiation has been taken, the physical vehicle is of a totally different calibre and quality, and the Rules and Laws of Health no longer apply.

2. The objective before the disciple is to promote control of the centres in the body, via the soul, through stimulation, elimination and eventual stabilisation.  This inevitably produces difficulty, and the vitalisation or inspiration (either of these words would be appropriate), or their lack or deficiency, affect the bodily organs within the areas around the centres and affect all substances surrounding the centres.

3. The objective before the aspirant or the probationary disciple is to transfer the forces from the centres below the diaphragm, via the solar plexus centre, to the centres above the diaphragm.  The energy of the base of the spine has to be transferred to the head; the energy of the sacral centre must be lifted to the throat, whilst the energy of the solar plexus must be transferred to the heart.  This is done in response to the magnetic "pull" of the soul ray as it begins to dominate the personality ray.  It is a long and painful [139] process, covering many lives and carrying, as the result, many physical ills.

4. The objective before the average man (unconsciously effective) is to respond fully to personality force, focussed primarily at the middle point, the solar plexus, and then steadily and intelligently to coordinate these forces so that an integrated personality is presented eventually to the soul for control and use.

5. The objective before the primitive or undeveloped man (again unconsciously effective) is to live a full animal and emotional life, thereby gaining experience of growth, of contact, and eventually of understanding.  By this means the response apparatus of the soul in the three worlds is built.

I would also call attention to the thought which I have here interjected, that the objectives intrinsically in themselves have an effect upon that towards which man is striving.  This is a thought warranting careful consideration.

These generalisations will be useful only if you remember that they are generalisations.  No aspirant at any stage is perfectly clear cut in his endeavour until after the third initiation, nor is he entirely particularised in his life and effort.  Men are at all imaginable stages of development, and many of these stages are intermediate to the five stages above mentioned.  These all merge and blend into each other, and often constitute a formidable and confusing arena for thought and activity.  It is only in the life of the undeveloped individual that clear simplicity is to be found.  In between—from the stage of infancy of the race or of the man to that of the state of liberation from personality life—there is nothing but complexity, the overlapping of states of consciousness, difficulty, disease, psychological problems, illness and death.

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This must obviously be so when the vast number of energies and forces which constitute man's being and form his environment are brought into relation with each other.  Every human being is, in reality, like a miniature whirlpool in that great ocean of Being in which he lives and moves—ceaselessly in motion until such time as the soul "breathes upon the waters" (or forces) and the Angel of the Presence descends into the whirlpool.  Then all becomes still.  The waters stirred by the rhythm of life, and later stirred violently by the descent of the Angel, respond to the Angel's healing power and are changed "into a quiet pool into which the little ones can enter and find the healing which they need."  So says the Old Commentary.

The Centres and the Glandular System

It will therefore be apparent to you that disease (when not of a group origin, or the result of planetary karma or based on accident) takes its rise in the activity or the non-activity of the centres.  This is a statement of a basic truth, given in the simplest manner.  The centres, as you know, govern the endocrine system which, in its turn, controls the seven major areas of the physical body and is responsible for the correct functioning of the entire organism, producing both physiological and psychological effects.

The importance of this glandular system cannot be overestimated.  It is a replica in miniature of the septenary constitution of the universe and the medium of expression and the instrument of contact for the seven ray forces, the seven Spirits before the Throne of God.  Around this at present unrecognised truth the medicine and the healing methods of the future civilisation will be built.

The glands constitute a great relating system in the body; they bring all parts of the physical vehicle into relation with each other; they also relate the man to the etheric [141] body—both individual and planetary—and likewise to the blood stream, the carrier of the life principle to all parts of the body.  There are consequently four major agents of distribution to be found in the physical body.  They are all complete in themselves, all contributory to both the functional and the organic life of the body, all closely interrelated and all producing both physiological and psychological results according to their potency, the response of the centres to the higher inflow, the point in evolution achieved, and the free expression, or the reverse, of the incoming energies.  These four agents of distribution of energy are:

1. The etheric vehicle itself.  This with its myriads of lines of force and of energy, the incoming and the outgoing energies, its responsiveness to energy impacts coming from the environment as well as from the inner spiritual man and the subtle bodies, underlies the entire physical body.  In it are to be found the seven centres as focal points of reception and of distribution; they are the recipients of seven types of energy, and they distribute these seven energies through the entire little human system.

2. The nervous system and its various interlocking directorates.  This is a relatively tangible network of energies and forces which are the outer expression of the inner, vital, dynamic network of the etheric body and the millions of nadis or the prototype of the nerves which underlie the more substantial body.  These nerves and plexi and their many ramifications are the negative aspects of the positive energies which condition or are attempting to condition the man.

3. The endocrine system.  This is the tangible and exoteric expression of the activity of the vital body and its seven centres.  The seven centres of force are to be found in the same region where the seven major glands are located, and [142] each centre of force provides, according to the esoteric teaching, the power and the life of the corresponding gland which is, in fact, its externalisation.

These three systems are very closely related to each other and constitute an interlocking directorate of energies and forces which are essentially vital, galvanic, dynamic and creative.  They are basically interdependent, and upon them the entire interior health of the physical organism depends. They are responsive first to one or other of the bodies (emotional or mental), then to the integrated personality and its ray, and finally to the soul ray as it begins to assume control.  They are, in reality, responsible for the production of the physical body and—after birth—they condition its psychological quality, and this in its turn produces the developing physical man.  They are the agents for the three divine aspects of all manifestation:  life quality appearance.

4. The blood stream.  This is the carrier of the life principle and of the combined energies and forces of the three above systems.  This will be an idea of some novelty to the orthodox.  The relationship of the circulatory system of the blood to the nervous system has not been as yet adequately developed in modern medicine.  Much, however, has been done to relate the glandular system to the blood.

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Only when these four interrelated systems are viewed as one integrated whole and as the four aspects of one vital circulatory system will the truth emerge.  Only as they are acknowledged to be the four major distributing agents of the combined rays of the individual man will the true nature of material phenomena be grasped.  It might be added here that:

1. The etheric vehicle from the circulatory angle, is governed by the Moon, as it veils Vulcan.

2. The nervous system is ruled by Venus.

3. The endocrine system is governed by Saturn.

4. The blood stream is governed by Neptune.

These four systems are in reality the manifestation of the four aspects of matter in its lowest or purely physical expression.  There are other aspects of expression of the fundamental substance, but these are the four of greatest importance.

Each of these is essentially dual, and each duality corresponds to the ray of the soul or of the personality.  Each is therefore both positive and negative; each can be described as a unit of resistant force and of dynamic energy; each is a combination of certain aspects of matter and substance—the matter being the relatively static aspect, and the substance the relatively fluid or quality-endowing agent.  Their interplay, relationship and unified function are an expression of the One Life Principle, and when they have reached a point of perfected fusion or synthesis or coordinated activity there then appears that "life more abundantly" of which Christ spoke and of which we, as yet, know nothing.  The four aspects of matter produce the correspondence also to the four divine attributes as well as to the three divine aspects.

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The analogy of the basic dualism of all manifestation is also preserved, thus making the nine of initiation—the three, the four and the two.  This correspondence to the initiatory process is, however, in the reverse direction, for it is initiation into the creative third aspect, the matter aspect and the world of intelligent activity.  It is not initiation into the second or soul aspect, as is the case with the hierarchical initiations for which the disciple is preparing.  It is the initiation of the soul into the experience of physical incarnation, into physical plane existence, and into the art of functioning as a human being.  The door into this experience is the "Gate of Cancer."  Initiation into the kingdom of God is entered through the "Gate of Capricorn."  These four attributes and the three aspects of matter, plus their dual activity, are the correspondence to the four aspects of the personality and the Spiritual Triad and their dual active relationship.  In this statement is hidden the key to liberation.

The Seven Major Centres

It would be of value here if we consider for a moment the nature of the centres themselves, summarising somewhat the teaching already given in my other books, and so presenting a clear picture of the energy body which underlies the dense physical vehicle.

There are many focal points of force within the body, but we shall deal only with the major seven which control in some degree or other all the remaining.  In that way we shall not be confused.  We shall consider the five centres found upon the spinal column and the two which are found in the head.

1. The Head Centre.  This is located at the very top of the head.  It is frequently called "the thousand-petalled lotus" or the Brahmarandra.

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a. It corresponds to the central spiritual sun.

b. It is brought into functioning activity after the third initiation and is the organ for the distribution of monadic energy, of the will aspect of divinity.

c. It is related to the triple personality by the antahkarana, which disciples and initiates are in process of constructing and which reaches its full usefulness only after the destruction of the causal body at the fourth initiation.

d. It is the Shamballa centre in the physical body and the agent of the Father or of the first divine aspect.

e. It registers purpose, corresponds to the "electric fire" of the solar system, and is dynamic in quality.

f. Its dense physical externalisation is the pineal gland in the head.  This remains active during infancy and until the will-to-be is sufficiently established so that the incarnating person is firmly anchored in physical incarnation.  In the final stages of divine expression in man it again comes into activity and usefulness as the agent for the accomplishment on earth of the will energy of established Being.

g. It is the organ of synthesis because, after the third initiation and prior to the destruction of the causal body, it gathers into itself the energies of all the three aspects of manifested life.  Where man is concerned, this means the energies of the Spiritual Triad, of the threefold egoic lotus and of the triple personality, thus again making the nine of initiation.  The energies thus synchronised and focussed in, around and above [146] the head are of great beauty and extensive radiation, plus dynamic effectiveness.  They serve to relate the initiate to all parts of the planetary life, to the Great Council at Shamballa, and to the Lord of the World, the final Initiator—via the Buddha and one of the three Buddhas of Activity.  The Buddha, in a most peculiar sense, relates the initiate to the second aspect of divinity—that of love—and therefore to the Hierarchy; the Buddhas of Activity relate him to the third aspect of divinity, that of active intelligence.  Thus the energy of will, of consciousness and of creativity meet in him, providing the synthesis of the divine aspects.

h. This is the only one of the seven centres which at the time of perfected liberation retains the position of an inverted lotus, with the stem of the lotus (the antahkarana, in reality) reaching up into "the seventh Heaven," thus linking the initiate with the first major planetary centre, Shamballa.  All the other centres start by being inverted, with all the petals turned downwards towards the base of the spine; all, in the process of evolution, gradually unfold their petals and then slowly turn upwards "towards the summit of the rod," as it is called in the Old Commentary.  The above is a piece of information which is of small value, except in so far as it presents a truth, completes a picture, and gives the student a symbolic idea of that which is essentially a distributing agent of the will energy of Deity.

2. The Ajna Centre.  This is the centre between the eyebrows and is found in the region of the head just above [147] the two eyes, where it "acts as a screen for the radiant beauty and the glory of the spiritual man."

a. It corresponds to the physical sun and is the expression of the personality, integrated and functioning—first of all as the disciple, and finally as the initiate.  This is the true persona or mask.

b. It achieves this functioning activity fully by the time the third initiation is taken.  I would remind you that this initiation is regarded by the Hierarchy as the first major initiation, a fact which I have already communicated.  It is the organ for the distribution of the energy of the third aspect—the energy of active intelligence.

e. It is related to the personality by the creative thread of life, and is therefore closely connected with the throat centre (the centre of creative activity), just as the head centre is related to the centre at the base of the spine.  An active interplay, once established between the ajna centre and the throat centre, produces a creative life and a manifested expression of the divine idea on the part of the initiate.  In the same way, the active interplay between the head centre and the centre at the base of the spine produces the manifestation of the divine will or purpose.  The forces of the ajna and the throat centres, when combined, produce the highest manifestation of "fire by friction," just as the energies of the head centre and the basic centre produce the individual "electric fire" which, when fully expressing itself, we call the kundalini fire.

d. It is the centre through which the fourth Creative Hierarchy on its own plane finds expression, [148] and here also this Hierarchy and fourth kingdom in nature, the human family are fused and blended.  The head centre relates the monad and the personality.  The ajna centre relates the Spiritual Triad (the expression of the monad in the formless worlds) to the personality.  Ponder on this statement, because you have here—in the symbolism of the head centre, physically considered—the reflection of the spiritual will, atma, and spiritual love, buddhi.  Here also comes in the teaching on the place of the eyes in the development of conscious expression, creatively carrying forward the divine purpose.

When these three eyes are functioning and all of them "seeing" simultaneously, you will then have insight into divine purpose (the initiate), intuitive vision of the plan (the disciple), and a spiritual direction of the resulting creative activity (the Master).

e. The ajna centre registers or focusses the intention to create.  It is not the organ of creation in the [149] same sense that the throat centre is, but it embodies the idea lying behind active creativity, the subsequent act of creation producing eventually the ideal form for the idea.

f. Its dense physical externalisation is the pituitary body:  the two lobes of this gland correspond to the two multiple petals of the ajna centre.  It expresses imagination and desire in their two highest forms, and these are the dynamic factors lying behind all creation.

g. It is the organ of idealism therefore, and,—curiously enough—it is closely related to the sixth ray, just as the head centre is essentially related to the first ray.  The sixth is peculiarly linked to the third ray and the third aspect of divinity as well as to the second ray and the second aspect.  It fuses, anchors and expresses.  This is a fact which I have not hitherto emphasised in my other writings.  The ajna centre is the point in the head where the dualistic nature of manifestation in the three worlds is symbolised.  It fuses the creative energies of the throat and the sublimated energies of desire or the true love of the heart.

h. This centre, having only two real petals, is not a true lotus in the same sense as are the other centres.  Its petals are composed of 96 lesser petals or units of force (48 + 48 = 96) but these do not assume the flower shape of the other lotuses.  They spread out like the wings of an airplane to the right and left of the head, and are symbolic of the right hand path and the left hand path, of the way of matter and the way of spirit.  They constitute symbolically, therefore, the two [150] arms of the Cross upon which the man is crucified—two streams of energy or light placed athwart the stream of life descending from the monad to the base of the spine and passing through the head.

The idea of relativity is one that must ever be held in mind as the student seeks to comprehend the centres, interiorly related within the etheric body, related at the same time to the subtler bodies, to the states of consciousness which are synonymous to states of being and of expression, to ray energies, to environing conditions, to the three periodical vehicles (as H. P. B. calls the personality, the threefold soul and the Spiritual Triad), to Shamballa and to the totality of manifested Lives.  The complexity of the subject is extreme, but when the disciple or initiate is functioning in the three worlds and the various energies of the whole man are "grounded" in the earthbound man, then the situation becomes clearer.  I use the expression "grounded" in its true and correct sense, and not as the description of a man who has discarded his physical body as the spiritualists use the term.  Certain recognitions in time and space become possible; certain effects can be noted, certain ray influences appear more dominant than others; certain "patterns of being" appear; an expression of a spiritual Being at a certain point of conscious experience emerges into clarity and can then be spiritually diagnosed.  Its aspects and attributes, its forces and energies, can be determined at that time and for a particular created expression of life.  This must be borne in mind, and the thoughts of the student must not be permitted to rove too far afield but must be concentrated upon the appearance of the man (himself or another) and upon the emerging quality.  When that student is a disciple or an initiate, he will be able also to study the life aspect.

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Our study will, however, be somewhat different, for we shall attempt to discover the diseases and difficulties incident to the energy stimulation or the lack of stimulation of the centres, and so arrive at some of the effects which this energy inflow and conflict with forces will produce.

3. The Throat Centre.  This centre is to be found at the back of the neck, reaching up into the medulla oblongata, thus involving the carotid gland, and down towards the shoulder blades.  It is an exceedingly powerful and well developed centre where average humanity is concerned.  It is interesting to note in this connection that

a. The throat centre is ruled by Saturn just as the two head centres are ruled respectively by Uranus (ruling the head centre) and Mercury (ruling the ajna centre).  This is only where the disciple is concerned; the rulership changes after the third initiation or before the first.  These three planets constitute a most interesting triangle of forces and in the following triplicities and their inevitable inter-relations you have—again only in the case of disciples—a most amazing picture story or symbol of the ninefold of initiation:

1. The head centre

    The ajna centre

    The throat centre

2. The third eye

    The right eye

    The left eye

3. The pineal gland

    The pituitary body

    The carotid gland

thus presenting the mechanism through which the Spiritual Triad, the soul and the personality work. [152] The key to a right understanding of process lies in the relation of the three planets:  Uranus, Mercury and Saturn, as they pour their energies through these nine "points of spiritual contact" upon the physical plane into the "grounded sphere of light and power which is the man in time and space."

b. This centre is related to the first initiation and develops great activity when that point in experience is achieved, as it has been achieved by the vast majority of men who are at this time the aspirants and the probationary disciples of the world.  (Forget not that, technically speaking, the first major initiation from the hierarchical angle is the third.  The first initiation is regarded by the Masters as signifying admission to the Path.  It is called an initiation, by humanity, because in Lemurian days, it was then the first initiation, signifying entrance into complete physical control).  It is the organ for the distribution of creative energy, of the energy of the third aspect by souls at the above point of evolution.  There are three centres in the human being which are related to and the major expression of the third ray or aspect at certain differing stages of development upon the path:

1. The sacral centre for the undeveloped and the average man.

2. The throat centre for the aspirant and probationary disciple.

3. The ajna centre for disciples and initiates.

Here again you have a great triplicity of energies, containing great potencies today, owing to the fact that the expression of the third aspect of active intelligence [153] has reached such heights through human development and consciousness.

c. It is related to the personality by the creative thread, to the soul by the thread of consciousness, and to the monad by the sutratma or life thread.  It is not related to any of the divine aspects by the antahkarana because that thread which links monad and personality directly (and finally independently of the soul) simply anchors the monadic expression of life in the head, at the head centre.  Then direct consciousness is established between the monad and the personality, and a great duality comes into being.  Life, consciousness and form are then all focussed creatively and actively in the head, and their activity is directed from the head via the two head centres.  The ajna centre only comes into creative activity when the antahkarana has been built.  In the earlier stages it is the throat centre which is the creative agent, and in the earliest period of all the sacral centre is active.  You have, however, one interesting thing to remember.  The building of the antahkarana only becomes genuinely possible when the creative life of the aspirant shifts from the sacral centre into the throat and is becoming factual and expressive.  Of this connecting "bridge," the neck itself is the symbol, as it relates the head—alone and isolated—to the dual torso, consisting of that which lies above the diaphragm and that which lies below—the symbol of the soul and the personality united, fused and blended into one.  The head is the symbol of what Patanjali describes as the state of "isolated unity."

d. It is the centre through which the intelligence aspect of humanity focusses creatively.  It is therefore the [154] centre through which the creative energy of that great planetary centre called Humanity flows.  The three major planetary centres are Shamballa, Hierarchy and Humanity.  When perfection has been achieved, the Shamballa energy of will, power and purpose will pour freely through the head centre, the love-wisdom energies of the Hierarchy will flow through the heart centre, and the energy of humanity will focus through the throat centre, with the ajna centre acting as the agent of all three.  Then will take place a new activity on the part of mankind.  It is the task of relating the three superhuman kingdoms to the three subhuman kingdoms, and thus establishing the new heavens and the new earth.  Then humanity will have reached the summit of its evolutionary goal on this Earth.

e. The throat centre is the organ specifically of the creative WORD.  It registers the intention or creative purpose of the soul, transmitted to it by the inflow of energy from the ajna centre; the fusion of the two energies, thus brought about, will lead to some type of creative activity.  This is the higher correspondence to the creativity of the sacral centre.  In that centre the negative and the positive creative energies are embodied in the separate male and female organisms and are brought into relation in an act of creation, consciously undertaken, though as yet without much definite purpose.

f. The dense physical externalisation of this centre is the thyroid gland.  This gland is regarded as of supreme importance in the well-being of the average human being of today.  Its purpose is to guard health, to balance the bodily equilibrium in certain important aspects of the physical nature, and it symbolises [155] the third aspect of intelligence and of substance impregnated with mind.  It is in reality connected with the Holy Ghost, or the third divine aspect in manifestation, "overshadowing" (as the Bible expresses it), the Mother, the Virgin Mary.  The parathyroids are symbolic of Mary and Joseph and the relation they hold to the overshadowing Holy Ghost.  It will eventually be determined that there is a close physiological relation existing between the thyroid gland and the pineal gland, and between the parathyroids and the two lobes of the pituitary body, thus bringing into one related system the entire area of the throat and of the head.

g. Just as the head symbolises the essentially dualistic nature of the manifested God, so the throat centre symbolises the triple nature of the divine expression.  The dualistic nature appears fused and blended in the head in the relation between the two centres and their two dense physical reflections.  The three great energies which are brought into play during the divine creative activity are unified in activity by the full expression of the energy flowing through the throat centre, through the apparatus of speech and the two lungs.  You have in this relation:  Life or Breath, the Word or the Soul, and the throat centre of Substance in activity.

h. This lotus of the throat is inverted in the early stages of evolution, and its petals reach out towards the shoulders and include the two lungs or parts of them.  During the life cycle of the soul, it slowly reverses itself, and its petals then reach out towards the two ears and include the medulla oblongata and the carotid gland.  This gland is more closely related [156] to the thyroid gland than it is to the two other glands in the head.

Thus it will be apparent to you how whole areas of the physical organism can be brought into active and correct functioning, can be vitalised and kept in good and true condition by the activity in some form or another of the centre nearest to the area of the body under consideration.  It will also be apparent to you that deficiency and disease can result from the inactivity of a centre.

4. The Heart Centre.  This is located between the shoulder blades and is—in this day and age—the centre which is receiving the most attention from Those Who are responsible for the unfoldment of the human consciousness.  It might be truly said, brother of mine, that the rapid unfoldment of this lotus is one of the reasons why the world war could not be avoided.  In one sense, it was a necessary happening (given the blind selfishness of the bulk of humanity) because it had become necessary to do away with all the old forms of government, of religion and of the crystallised social order.  Humanity has now reached a point of group awareness and of group interplay of a deeply spiritual kind, and new forms were required through which this new spirit could function more adequately.

a. The heart centre corresponds to the "heart of the Sun," and therefore to the spiritual source of light and love.

b. It is brought into functioning activity after the second initiation.  That initiation marks the completion of the process whereby the emotional nature (with its outstanding quality of desire) is brought under soul control, and the desire of the personal lower self has been transmuted into love.  It is the organ for the distribution of hierarchical energy, poured out [157] via the soul into the heart centre of all aspirants, disciples and initiates; in this way this energy is made available and brings about two results:

1. The regeneration of humanity through love.

2. The relationship, firmly established, between a rapidly developing humanity and the Hierarchy.  In this way two great planetary centres—the Hierarchy and Humanity—are brought into a close contact and relationship.

As the Bible says: "the love of God is shed abroad" in the human heart, and its transforming, magnetic and radiatory power is essential for the reconstruction of the world and for the establishment of the new world order.  Upon the unfoldment of the heart centre, and on an intelligent relation of mankind to the Hierarchy, with the consequent response of man to the energy of love, all disciples are asked at this time to ponder and reflect, for as a "man thinketh in his heart, so is he."  Thinking in the heart becomes truly possible only when the mental faculties have been adequately developed and have reached a fairly high stage of unfoldment.  Feeling in the heart is often confused with thinking.  The ability to think in the heart is the result of the process of transmuting desire into love during the task of elevating the forces of the solar plexus into the heart centre.  Heart thinking is also one of the indications that the higher aspect of the heart centre, the twelve-petalled lotus found at the very centre of the thousand-petalled lotus, has reached a point of real activity.  Thinking as a result of correct feeling is then substituted for personal sensitivity.  It gives us the first faint indications, likewise, of [158] that state of being which is characteristic of the monad and which cannot be called consciousness—as we understand the term.

c. The heart centre becomes essentially related to the personality when the process of alignment with the soul is being mastered.  This process is today being taught in all the newer and sounder esoteric schools, and has been emphasised in the Arcane School from the start; it is that procedure (distinguished by right orientation, concentration and meditation) which relates the personality to the soul, and thus to the Hierarchy.  Relationship to the Hierarchy automatically takes place as this alignment goes forward and direct soul contact is thereby established.  Personality consciousness is superseded by group consciousness, and the inflow of hierarchical energy follows as a natural consequence, for all souls are only aspects of the Hierarchy.  It is this established relationship, with its subsequent interplay (magnetic and radiatory), which brings about the final destruction of the soul body or causal body as the relationship reaches its highest point of intensified recognition.

d. It is that centre, therefore, in the physical body through the medium of which the Hierarchy works; it is also the agent of the soul.  When I here use the word "soul" I refer not only to the individual soul of man but to the soul also of the planetary Logos, both of which are the result of the union of spirit and matter, of the Father aspect and the Mother aspect.  This is a great mystery which only initiation can reveal.

e. The heart centre registers the energy of love.  It might here be stated that when the antahkarana has been finally constructed, the three aspects of the [159] Spiritual Triad will each find a point of contact within the etheric mechanism of the initiate who is functioning upon the physical plane.  The initiate is now a fusion of soul and personality through which the full life of the monad can be poured.

1. The head centre becomes the point of contact for the spiritual will, Atma.

2. The heart centre becomes the agent for spiritual love, Buddhi.

3. The throat centre becomes the expression of the universal mind, Manas.

In the work of the initiate, as he works out the divine purpose according to the plan, the ajna centre becomes the directing agent or the distributor of the blended energies of the divine man.  The heart centre corresponds to "solar fire" within the solar system, and is magnetic in quality and radiatory in activity.  It is the organ of the energy which brings about inclusiveness.

f. Its dense physical externalisation is the thymus gland.  Of this gland little is known at present, though much will be learned as investigators accept and experiment with the hypotheses which the occult sciences present, and as the heart centre develops and the thymus gland is returned to adult functioning activity.  This is not as yet the case.  The nature of its secretion is not yet established, and the effects of this gland are better known from their psychological angle than from the physical.  Modern psychology, when allied to medicine, recognises that this gland when overactive will produce the irresponsible and amoral person.  As the race of men learns the nature of responsibility we shall have [160] the first indications of soul alignment, of personality decentralisation and of group awareness, and then—paralleling this development—we shall find the thymus gland becoming correctly active.  At present, the general imbalance of the endocrine system militates against the safe and full functioning of the thymus gland in the adult.  There is as yet an unrecognised relation existing between the pineal gland and the thymus gland, as well as between both of these and the centre at the base of the spine.  As the Spiritual Triad becomes active through the medium of the personality, these three centres and their three externalisations will work in synthesis, governing and directing the whole man.  As the pineal gland is returned to full adult functioning (as is not the case with adult man) the divine will-to-good will make itself felt and divine purpose be achieved; when the thymus gland similarly becomes active in the adult, goodwill will become apparent and the divine plan will begin to work out.  This is the first step towards love, right human relations and peace.  This goodwill is already making its presence felt in the world today, indicating the coming into activity of the heart centre, and proving that the heart centre in the head is beginning to unfold as a result of the growing activity of the heart centre up the spine.

g. It is the organ of fusion, just as the head centre is the organ of synthesis.  As the heart centre becomes active, the individual aspirant is slowly drawn into an increasingly closer relation to his soul, and then two expansions of consciousness take place which are interpreted by him as events or happenings:

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1. He is drawn into the Ashram of one of the Masters, according to his soul ray, and becomes an accepted disciple in the technical sense.  The Master is Himself the heart centre of the Ashram and He can now reach His disciple, via the soul, because that disciple, through alignment and contact, has put his heart into close rapport with the soul.  He then becomes responsive to the heart of all things which, as far as humanity is at present concerned, is the Hierarchy.