THE ESOTERIC SENSE

We come now to the consideration of the last rule for magic.  As we cast our minds back over this long series of instructions certain basic lines of teaching stand out with exceptional clarity, casting lesser lines of instruction into the shade.  Students would do well to remember that in the reading of any basic textbook (and this one is so regarded) a definite procedure should be adopted.  The student should first of all read the textbook as a whole, in order to grasp its outstanding points, its main lines of teaching, and the three or four propositions upon which its entire structure is founded.  Having grasped these, he can then begin to deal with, and to isolate, those subsidiary points which serve to elucidate and clarify the main essentials.  After that, he can successfully deal with the details.  Students therefore would find it of interest to review these instructions, and gather out of them the major points; then they can proceed to fill in the secondary teachings, and finally arrange the detailed data under the various heads which have emerged.  This, when completed would constitute a synopsis of the book and would fix the knowledge it contains firmly in the student's memory.

One of the main teachings which can be seen most clearly in all instructions of a truly esoteric character, concerns the attitude of the student of the occult.  He is supposed to be dealing with things subjective and esoteric; he aims to be a worker in white magic.  As such, he must assume and consistently hold the position of the Observer, detached from the mechanism of observation [602] and contact; he must recognise himself as essentially a spiritual entity, different in nature, objectives and methods of working from the bodies which he considers it wise to occupy temporarily and to employ.  He must realise his unity and lines of contact with all similar workers and thus arrive at a conscious awareness of his position in the spiritual hierarchy of Beings.  So much misinformation has been spread abroad and so much emphasis has been unwisely laid upon status and position in the so-called hierarchy of souls, that sane and balanced disciples now seek to turn their thoughts elsewhere and to eliminate as far as may be all thought of grades and spheres of activity.  It is possible, in the swing of the pendulum, to swing too far in the opposite direction and to discount these stages of activity.  Do not misunderstand me however; I do not suggest that an attempt be made to place people and to decide where they stand upon the evolutionary ladder.  This has been most foolishly done in the past, with much dishonour to the subject, so much so that, in the minds of the public, the whole matter has fallen into disrepute.  If these stages are regarded sanely for what they are—states of extended consciousness, and grades of responsibility—then the danger of personality reaction to the terms "accepted disciple, initiate, adept, master" would be negligible and much trouble would be eliminated.  It must ever be remembered that individual status is rigidly kept to oneself, and the point of evolution (which may be truthfully recognised as lying ahead of that of the average citizen) will be demonstrated by a life of active unselfish service and by the manifestation of an illumined vision which is ahead of the racial idea.

In the gathering together in the world at this time of the new Group of World Workers, true caution must be preserved.  Each worker is responsible for himself and his service and for no one else.  It is wise to gauge and [603] approximate the evolutionary status, not upon claims made, but upon work accomplished and the love and wisdom shown.  Judgment should be based upon an evidenced knowledge of the plan as it works out in the wise formulation of the nest step ahead for the human race; upon a manifested esoteric sense, and upon an influence or an auric power which is wide, constructive and inclusive.

You ask me to define more clearly what I mean by the words "esoteric sense".  I mean essentially the power to live and to function subjectively, to possess a constant inner contact with the soul and the world in which it is found, and this must work out subjectively through love, actively shown; through wisdom, steadily outpoured; and through that capacity to include and to identify oneself with all that breathes and feels which is the outstanding characteristic of all truly functioning sons of God.  I mean, therefore, an interiorly held attitude of mind which can orient itself at will in any direction.  It can govern and control the emotional sensitiveness, not only of the disciple himself, but of all whom he may contact.  By the strength of his silent thought, he can bring light and peace to all.  Through that mental power, he can tune in on the world thought, and upon the realm of ideas and can discriminate between and choose those mental agencies and those concepts which will enable him, as a worker under the plan, to influence his environment and to clothe the new ideals in that thought matter which will enable them to be more easily recognised in the world of ordinary everyday thinking and living.  This attitude of mind will enable the disciple also to orient himself to the world of souls and in that high place of inspiration and of light, discover his fellow-workers, communicate with them and—in union with them—collaborate in the working out of divine intentions.

This esoteric sense is the main need of the aspirant at [604] this time of the world history.  Until aspirants have somewhat grasped it and can use it, they can never form part of the New Group; they can never work as white magicians, and these Instructions will remain for them theoretical and mainly intellectual, instead of being practical and effective.

To cultivate this inner esoteric sense, meditation is needed, and continuous meditation, in the early stages of development.  But as time elapses and a man grows spiritually, this daily meditation will perforce give way to a steady spiritual orientation and then meditation as now understood and needed will no longer be required.  The detachment between a man and his usable forms will be so complete, that he will live ever in the "seat of the Observer", and from that point and attitude will direct the activities of the mind and of the emotions and of the energies which make physical expression possible and useful.

The first stage in this development and culture of the esoteric sense consists in the holding of the attitude of constant detached observation.

The new Group of World Workers might well be regarded in its outer ranks as a trained body of organised observers.  I would divide the group into three divisions and I do so in order that aspirants and chelas all over the world may be guided in their knowledge as to where they stand individually and may, in sincerity and truth, begin to work with intelligence.  They can be thus aided to place themselves.

First, there are the Organised Observers.  These aspirants are learning to do two things.  They are learning to practice that detachment which will enable them to live as souls in the world of daily affairs and to understand the real significance of the words:  to work without attachment.  They are also, secondly, those students of world affairs in one or other of the seven departments [605] earlier referred to when I brought the new group to the attention of the world.  They are studying the signs of the times.  They investigate the great drama of history in order to discover its main trend and so express to the ordinary academic world and to the thinkers of the race what they see and understand.

Running all through human history is a triple thread and in the interplay of these three threads the story of evolution is to be found.  One thread guides the thoughts of man as he deals with the development of the form aspect, with the racial trends, and it shows how undeviatingly the forms of races, of countries, and of the fauna and flora of our planetary life have kept pace with the needs of the slowly emerging sons of God.  The second thread leads us to an understanding of the growth of consciousness, and indicates emergence from the instinctual stage into that of intellectual awareness, and on to that intuitional illumination which is the present goal of consciousness.

The third thread concerns the Plan itself and here we enter the realm of the truly unknown.  What the plan is, and what the goal, is as yet totally unrealised except by the highest adept and the most exalted of the sons of God.  Until the illumined mind and the power of intuitional response are developed in the human family, it is not possible for us to grasp the basic concepts which are to be found in the mind of God Himself.  Until the highest point of the Mount of Initiation has been climbed, it is not possible to vision the Promised Land as it is.  Until the limitations—the necessary limitations—of the three worlds have been surmounted and man can function as a free soul in the spiritual kingdom, that which lies beyond that kingdom must remain hid to man just as much as the human state of being and awareness remains a sealed book to the animal.  This is a salutary and needed lesson which all disciples should grasp.

[606]

But observers of times and seasons can make rapid progress in intuitional growth if they persevere in their meditation, train their intellects, and endeavour always to think in terms of universals.  Let them look at the historical retrospect as part of the emerging preparation which will inaugurate the future.  Let them take heart of grace as they recognise the fact that the kingdom of souls is steadily becoming a physical plane phenomenon (do I speak paradoxically?) and will be known eventually as a kingdom of nature and considered so by the scientists before two centuries have passed away.  These "Organised Observers" form the outer circle of the new group and their keynote is synthesis, the elimination of non-essentials and the organising of human knowledge.  Working in the many fields of human awareness, they are distinguished by a non-sectarian spirit, and by an ability to deal with foundational essentials and to link up varying departments of human investigation into one organised and unified whole.

Second, the next group in the new Group of World Workers is that of the telepathic communicators.  These are much fewer in number and are distinguished by their relatively close interrelation with each other.  They are primarily a linking or a bridging group.  They are gathered out of the more exoteric circle of the organised observers, but have a wider scope of service than they have, for they work in a more truly esoteric manner.  They are in touch with each other, and with the organised observers, but they are likewise in touch with the group of men and women who stand at the very centre or heart of the world group.  Their work is threefold and very difficult.  Steadily they have to cultivate that detachment which characterises the soul which knows itself.  Steadily they take the knowledge and information accumulated by the organised observers and adapt it to the need of the world, and give out the teaching.  They work effectively [607] but always from behind the scenes, and though they may be known in the world in this early stage of the work of the new group, and though they may be therefore recognised as teachers, writers and workers, later they will recede more and more into the background and will work through the outer circle.  They will inspire them, and will place increasing responsibility upon their shoulders; they will nurture the growth of telepathic interplay in the world and thus weave those strands which will eventually bridge the present gap between the seen and the unseen and so make the new world possible—a world in which death as we know it will be abolished and a trained universal continuity of consciousness be established.  That is why the emphasis is laid in training the members of this group in the new group, upon telepathic sensitivity.  The members of this second circle of workers are taught to develop sensitiveness in three directions:  to the thoughts of men in physical incarnation; to the minds of those who have passed over and who are still in mind bodies, and thirdly to the group of spiritual Beings who stand as the custodians of the evolutionary process and through whose hands the three threads of developing life steadily pass.

Their task is exceedingly hard, far harder than that of the first group and harder even than that of the last, for they lack as yet certain powers and needed experience.  Their centre of consciousness is the intuition and not that of the synthesising intellect, and their state of awareness is wide and inclusive.  They therefore can suffer more than the majority, and few there are who are not at this stage too sensitive for their own comfort and too responsive to vibrations emanating from the form aspect in all three worlds.  Their state of detachment is not yet complete.  They bridge, and therefore support infinite problems and respond to world pain.  They see, if I may so express it, too much, for theirs is not yet the privilege [608] of visioning with clarity the goal that lies two hundred years ahead.  They sense the present need.  They are responsive to the new tide of spiritual force which is flowing in.  They carry the weight of humanity on their shoulders, and because they are somewhat coordinated, they live in all three worlds at once, and this few can do.  They are aware of the urgency of the present opportunity and also of the apathy of the many and for these reasons they work under terrific pressure.

Third, the innermost group of all is that of the members of the Hierarchy itself.  I care not the least whether these liberated souls are recognised as Elder Brethren of the race, as Masters of the Wisdom, as the Cloud of Witnesses, as the Christ and His Church, as Supermen or under any terms which the inherited tendencies of humanity or tradition may choose to call them.  They themselves care less.  The petty quarrels as to their personalities and names and status matter not at all.  But they are the intelligent forces of the planet; they express, because of their state of expanded consciousness, the Mind of God; they embody the intelligent principle, immutable and unchanging, and through them flows the energy which we call the Will of God, for lack of better understanding.  They know far more of the plan than do the two outer circles in the new Group of World Workers, for they see clearly just what is the next step which planetary evolution will guide the race to take during the next two hundred years.  They do not occupy themselves with idle speculations as to the ultimate goal at the close of a world age.  This may surprise you in view of the many speculations of the uninitiate.  But so it is.  They know that there is a time and a season for all things, and looking ahead and comprehending intuitively the goal for all kingdoms in the immediate future, all their united effort is bent to one end—the cultivating of the intuitional telepathic responsiveness of the Communicators who bridge the gap [609] between them and the physical world.  These latter in their turn seek to employ the Observers. Knowers, Communicators, and Observers—all working in a close if oft-times unrealised unity, and all responsive (according to their degree) to the impulsion of the Mind and Will of the Logos, the solar Deity.

Beyond this triple group stand the Thrones, Principalities, and Powers with whom we need not concern ourselves.  On the other side stands humanity torn by the disasters of the past world war, bewildered by the social, religious and economic pressure of the present, sensitive and responsive to the influences and energies pouring in on the new tide of the Aquarian Age; unable to understand and explain, and conscious only of a longing for liberty of thought and of physical condition, snatching at every chance to gain knowledge and so providing a fertile field wherein this new group can work.

We have seen that the objective of all inner training is to develop the esoteric sense, and to unfold that inner sensitive awareness which will enable a man to function, not only as a Son of God in physical incarnation but as one who also possesses that continuity of consciousness which will enable him to be interiorly awake as well as exteriorly active.  This is accomplished through developing the power to be a trained Observer.  I commend these words to all aspirants.  It is persistence in the attitude of right observation that brings about detachment from form, a subsequent power to use form at will and with the end in view of furthering hierarchical plans and consequent usefulness to humanity.  When this power to observe has been somewhat brought about, we then have the aspirant joining that intermediate group of trained Communicators who stand between the aforementioned groups (the exoteric groups and the group of spiritual workers on the subjective plane), interpreting the one to the other.  It is well to remember that even the members [610] of the Hierarchy profit by the opinions and advice of those disinterested disciples who can be trusted to rightly recognise and interpret the need of the hour.

When this stage has been reached and a man is in conscious touch with the plan then true magical work can begin.  Men and women, who are beginning to live as souls, can undertake the magical work of the new age, and can inaugurate those changes and that rebuilding which will bring about the manifestation of the new heavens and the new earth, to which all the Scriptures of the world bear eloquent testimony.  They can then work with forces in etheric matter and so bring into being those physical plane creations and organisations which will more adequately embody the life of God in the Aquarian Age which is now upon us.  It is to this stage that Rule XV refers.

These words mark the consummation of the magical work, and are equally true of the magical work of a solar Logos, of a planetary Logos, of an incarnating soul, or of that advanced human being who has learnt to work as a white magician under the plan of the great White Lodge.  It, of course, refers to the work of those who through intellectual achievement have learnt to work as magicians but on what is called the black side, for the same rules of magical work hold good for both groups, though the motivating impulse differs.  But with the work of the black magician we have naught to do.  That which they do is powerful in transient effect, using the word transient in its cyclic sense; but these effects must in due time cease, and be subordinated to the claims and the work of the bringers of light and of life.

The shadow stage is the dim and uncertain period which is found prior to dense and concrete manifestation.  It does not here refer to the shadow as the counterpart in physical manifestation of the soul.  It refers to one of the intermediate stages in the creative process. [611] It is technically called the "stage of the waxing and the waning of the nebulae",  and this stage precedes the appearance of the more stabilised and relatively static exoteric form.  In the formation of a solar system, this is recognised as a preliminary period and can be seen going on in the starry heavens.  It indicates the stage wherein the Great Magician is only in process of carrying forward His work; He has not yet finally chanted those mystic words or those spiritual sounds which will produce concretion and the tangible appearance of form.

The Secret Doctrine refers to the three fires, and these are of ancient usage; the Vishnu Purana gives these fires exactly the same nomenclature as does H.P.B. who borrowed the terms from the ancient Scripture.  Electric Fire, Solar Fire and Fire by Friction, when brought into conjunction, produce the manifested macrocosm and microcosm, and to this conjunction my earlier Treatise on Cosmic Fire referred.  These fires are esoterically one fire but this fire produces, according to the witnessing consciousness (itself at varying stages of evolutionary development) the effect of differentiated fiery essence.  This fiery essence can be known as Life itself, or as the "Self-shining Light," or it can be known as the active form inherent in the one substance which underlies all phenomena.  In this final rule for magic the fires which are considered are those of matter itself which approach the shadow and (as the Old Commentary  symbolically expresses it) "rise up from the second darkness at the call of the spirit of light and meet in their appointed place that which will absorb them and raise them to the fiery point from whence the fires of living light and radiant life have come."