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LETTER IV - THE USE OF THE SACRED WORD IN MEDITATION - Part 1

LETTER IV

THE USE OF THE SACRED WORD IN MEDITATION.

1—Fundamental postulates.

2—The creative effect of the Sacred Word.

3—The destructive effect of the Sacred Word.

4—Pronunciation and use of the Sacred Word.

5—Its effect on the centres and on each body.

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LETTER IV

THE USE OF THE SACRED WORD IN MEDITATION.

June 19, 1920

The subject that we are to deal with today is of such profundity and of such vital moment that your shrinking from even considering it is exceedingly natural.  No matter what we may say upon the matter, we can but touch the fringe of it, and the depths of what will be left unsaid may seem so great, that the data communicated may assume too small proportions.

Fundamental Postulates.

First, I seek to lay down certain basic postulates which, though realised as mental concepts, may yet be too deep for easy comprehension.

These postulates are five in number—five out of a number too vast for your apprehension.  These postulates themselves are based on certain fundamental facts, and these facts (seven in number) are not as yet all comprehended.  H.P.B. touched on three in his statement of the fundamentals of the Secret Doctrine.  Four yet remain hid, though the fourth is emerging somewhat through the study of psychology and mental science.  The other three fundamentals will emerge during the next three rounds.  This round will see the apprehension of the fourth fundamental.

These postulates are as follows:

1—That all that exists is based on sound or on the Word.

2—That differentiation is the result of sound.

3—That on each plane the Word has a different effect.

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4—That according to the note of the Word, or the vibration of the sound, will the work of building-in or casting-out be accomplished.

5—That the one threefold Word has seven keys, and these seven keys have their own subtones.

In the apprehension of these basic facts lies hid much light on the use of the Word in meditation.

In the great original sounding forth of the Sacred Word (the three original Breaths, with their seven sounds,—one Breath for each of the three solar systems) the note was different, and the sounds pitched to a different key.

In system one, the completion of the First Breath, the culmination, was the sounding forth, in note majestic, of the note FA,—the note which forms the basic note of this system, the note of manifested nature.  This note is, and to it must be supplemented the second note for this the second system.  It is not fully sounded or rounded out, nor to the end of the greater cycle will it be completed.  The Logos sounds it now, and should He cease to breathe it forth, the whole system would disappear into complete obscuration.  It would mark the end of manifestation.

In system two, the present system, the keynote may not be disclosed.  It is one of the secrets of the sixth Initiation, and must not he revealed.

In system three the final third note will be added to the basic notes of the first and second systems, and then what will you have?  You will have the major third of the Logoic Personality in its completeness, a correspondence to the major third of the microcosm,—one note for each plane.  We have been told that the solar Logos, on the cosmic planes, works at the problem of cosmic mind; that He functions in His physical solar system, is polarised in His cosmic astral, or emotional body, and is developing [53] cosmic mind.  So, on the planes of the solar system, is it as with the microcosm.  In the realisation of this correspondence and its wise application lies illumination on the use of the Sacred Word in meditation.

System I........corresponds to the physical body.

System II.......corresponds to the emotional body.

System III......corresponds to the mental body.

By the study of the Word or Sound in the formation of these three will help come on the use of that Word in the building of the intuitional vehicle, and the purification of the personality.

Now we will divide what we have to say under four heads, and take up each one of them separately:—

1—The creative effect of the Sacred Word.

2—The destructive effect of the Sacred Word.

3—Its pronunciation and use:—

a—In individual meditation.

b—In group and congregational work.

c—For certain specific ends.

4—Its effect on the bodies and centres, and its efficacy in effecting egoic alignment.

June 20, 1920

The Dual Effect of the Sacred Word; constructive and destructive.

We can today continue with the subject we were considering yesterday.  We divided the theme into four divisions and we will take the first two, the effect,—creative and destructive—of the Word.  Just a few broad hints will be possible, to form a basis for the intelligent application of the law.

First, let us repeat the truism that the worlds are the effect of sound.  First life, then matter; later the attraction [54] of the matter to the life for purposes of its manifestation and expression, and the orderly arrangement of that matter into the necessary forms.  Sound formed the allying factor, the propelling impulse, and the attractive medium.  Sound, in an occult and deeply metaphysical sense, stands for that which we term "the relation between", and is the creating intermediary, the linking third factor in the process of manifestation.  It is the akasha.  On the higher planes it is the agent of the great Entity Who wields the cosmic law of gravitation in its relation to our solar system, whilst on the lower planes it demonstrates as the astral light, the great agent of reflection, that fixes and perpetuates on its vibratory bosom the past, the present and the future, or that which we call Time.  In direct relation to the lower vehicle it manifests as electricity, prana and the magnetic fluid.  A simplification of the idea may come to you perhaps in the recognition of sound as the agent of the law of attraction and repulsion.

The seven great Breaths.

In sounding forth the Sacred Word in its sevenfold completeness for this solar system, the Logos gathered through inspiration the matter needed for manifestation, and started the evolution of that matter at the first great Breath.

At the second great Breath came differentiation and the instilling of the second aspect logoic.

At the third great Breath the activity aspect was demonstrated, matter was impregnated with that faculty, and fivefold evolution became a possibility.

At the fourth great Breath certain of the Hierarchies responded, and the great Builders more clearly saw the plan.  There is a definite connection between the fourth [55] Breath and the fourth Creative Hierarchy, that of the human Spirits.  This fourth note of the Logos has a special significance for the human Spirit, and an unique effect in this earth and in this fourth cycle.  The relativity of it is such that it is difficult for you in any way to realise that effect.  It demonstrates as far as you can grasp it in the harmonic note of the fourth plane and ray.  That note permeates the peoples of the world at this time and ever since the fourth root-race.  It shows itself in the struggle of humanity to grasp the ideal of harmony and peace, and in the world-wide aspiration in that direction.

This fourth Breath is especially applicable to human evolution.

You have therefore:

Subtone one of the threefold Word gave the first vibratory note and started the movement of the spheres—solar or atomic.  It embodies Will.

Subtone two of the threefold Word instilled the second aspect and called the cosmic ruler of the synthetic ray into manifestation.  It marked duality or reflex love.

Subtone three of the threefold Word made our fivefold evolution possible.  It is the basic note of the five lower planes.  It marked activity or adaptability.

Subtone four of the threefold Word is the sound of the Human Hierarchy, and in its entirety might be called the "cry of Man."

Each of the sounds directly called into manifestation one ray, with all that enters in on a ray.  Each sound demonstrates particularly on one plane, being the dominant note of that plane.

The fifth great Breath has an effect peculiar to itself, for in its reverberation it holds the key to all,—it is the Breath of fire.  It created a similar vibration to that of the cosmic mental level, and is closely allied with the [56] first Breath.  It is the dominant note (in technical musical terminology) of the solar system, just as the third Breath corresponds to the major third.  It is the note of the Logos.  Each breath attracts to the Logos for purposes of manifestation, some entity on cosmic levels.  The reflection of the method can be seen in the microcosm when the Ego sounds the egoic note in the three worlds and prepares to manifest or to come into incarnation.  The note attracts around the permanent atoms or nuclei adequate matter for the purpose of manifestation, and that matter is itself informed by some vital entity.  Similarly, the cosmic Lords of Fire, the great informing Entities of our solar system, respond when this fifth subtone is sounded forth.  Again, the Lords of the Flame within the solar system itself responded when the microcosm sounded the fifth subtone of the monadic note, and involved themselves in human evolution.

The sixth great Breath drew to itself the Lords of the mysterious Pentacle, the volatile essences of the emotional plane, the desire faculty clothed in matter, the watery aspect of the logoic life.

At the sounding of the seventh subtone crystallisation occurred and absolute conformity to the law of approach.  It resulted in the dense aspect of manifestation, the point of deepest experience.  You will note its connection, therefore, with the Ray of Ceremonial Law, one of the great building rays,—a ray which adjusts matter, under set forms, to the desired shapes.

You may ask here:  Why have I thus apparently digressed?  It seems to you wide of the mark and beside the question?  Let me elucidate.  The microcosm has but to repeat the work of the macrocosm.  The Spirit or monad on his own plane sounds forth the note (his hierarchical note) and descends into incarnation.  It is both [57] the note of attraction and of out-breathing.  The personality—the reflection of that monad at the densest point in evolution,—is linked to the monad by the attractive force of the Sacred Word sounded by its monad on its note and on its own subtone.

But the work of outbreathing is already accomplished.  It is involution.  The work of in-breathing or re-absorption into the source progresses.  When the Personality finds for itself (after lives of stress and search) its spiritual note with the right key and subtone, what is the result?  It accords with its monadic note, it vibrates to the same measure, it pulsates with the same colour, the line of least resistance is at last found, and the indwelling life is liberated and. returns to its own plane.  But this work of discovery is very slow and the man has to pick out the chord with infinite care and pains.  First, he finds out the third of the Personality and sounds that forth, the result being an ordered harmonious life in the three worlds.  Then he finds the dominant fifth of the Ego, the keynote of the chord, and sounds that in unison with the Personality note.  The result is that a vacuum is formed (if I may so express it) and the liberated man with his informing soul,—the threefold spirit, plus mind and experience—the Three completed by the Quaternary and the Fifth, escapes upward to the Monad.  It is the law of attraction demonstrating through sound.  Like to like and kind to kind, driven thereto by unity of sound, of colour and of rhythm.

This leads to the second factor we are considering, the destructive factor.  In emancipation comes the breaking of the chains, in liberation comes the abolition of the old forms, in the domination of matter is seen the liberation of spirit.  So, in the sounding of the Sacred Word in its sevenfold sense, comes the escaping from the shattered [58] forms; first in the out-breathing, the attraction of matter, then in the in-breathing, the gradual shattering of the material forms and the leaving of them behind.

Meditation and the Word.

I have pictured this for you on the systemic scale.  Now let me apply it to meditation and see how it will work.  Man, when meditating, aims at two things:—

a—At the formation of thoughts, at the bringing down to the concrete levels of the mental plane, of abstract ideas and intuitions.  This is what might be termed meditation with seed.

b—At the aligning of the ego, and at the creation of that vacuum betwixt the physical brain and the Ego, which results in the divine outpouring, and the consequent shattering of the forms and subsequent liberation.  This might be termed meditation without seed.

At a certain period in evolution the two blend, the seed is dropped and the vacuum is then created, not so much between the higher and the lower vehicles as between them and the intuitional plane or the plane of harmony.

Therefore, in the sounding of the Sacred Word in meditation man should (if rightly sounding it forth) be able to do both the creative work and the destructive work as does the Logos.  It will be the reflection in the microcosm of the cosmic process.  He will attract to his bodies matter of the finer kind and cast out that which is coarser.  He will formulate thoughtforms that attract to themselves finer matter and repudiate that which is of a lower vibration.  He should so sound the Word that alignment will [59] be automatically made, and the necessary vacuum created, eventuating in a downflow from above.  All these effects can transpire when the Word is correctly intoned, and each meditation should see the man more aligned, should disperse some of the matter of low vibration in one or other of his bodies, should open up the channel to a greater extent, and so provide a more adequate vehicle for the illumination from higher levels.

But—until correctness is possible—the effect produced by the use of the Word is very little, which is fortunate for the man who uses it.  In the studying of the seven great Breaths and their effect on each plane, a man can find out much that should transpire on the different subplanes of each plane, especially in relation to his own development.  In the studying of the basic note of the solar system (which was stabilised in System I), much can be found out about the use of the Word on the physical plane.  A hint lies here for consideration.  In the endeavour to find the note for this solar system, the note of love and wisdom, the student will make the necessary communication between the emotional or desire plane and the intuitional plane, and find out the secret of the emotional plane.  In the study of the Word on mental levels and its effect in form building, the key to the erection of Solomon's Temple will be discovered, and the pupil will develop the faculties of the causal body, and eventually find liberation from the three worlds.

The student must remember, nevertheless, that he has first to find his personality note, and then the egoic, before he can touch the monadic chord.  When he has done that he has, for himself, sounded his own threefold Word, and is now an intelligent creator animated by love.  The goal is reached. [60]

June 21, 1920

Some Practical Hints.

I wish to make clear this afternoon that it is not possible for me, nor wise and appropriate to give to you different keys in which the sacred Word can be intoned; I can do no more than indicate general principles.  Each human being, each unit of consciousness, is so unlike any other that the individual need can only be supplied when full causal consciousness exists on the part of the teacher, and when the pupil has himself reached a point where he is willing to know, to dare and to be silent.  The dangers involved in the misuse of the Word are so great that we dare do no more than indicate basic ideas and fundamental principles, and then leave the aspirant to work out for himself the points necessary for his own development and to carry out the needed experiments until he finds for himself that which he needs.  Only that which is the result of self-effort, of hard struggle and of bitter experience is of permanent and lasting value.  Only as the disciple—through failure, through success, through hardly won victories, and the bitter hours that succeed defeat—adjusts himself to the inner condition, will he find the use of the Word scientifically and experimentally of value.  His lack of will defends him largely from the misuse of the Word, whilst his endeavour to love guides him eventually to its correct intoning.  Only that which we know for ourselves becomes inherent faculty.  The statements of a teacher, no matter how profoundly wise he may be, are but mental concepts until experimentally part of a man's life.  Hence, I can but point the way.  I may give but general hints; the rest must be threshed out by the student of meditation for himself.

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Pronunciation and Use in Individual Meditation.

I shall now be very practical.  I speak for the man on the Probationary Path, who has therefore an intellectual grasp of what has to be accomplished.  He realises approximately his place in evolution and the work to be done if he would some day pass through the portal of Initiation.  In this way what I will say will teach the majority who study these letters........The man undertakes to meditate and seeks to conform to the necessary rules.  Let me give a few preliminary hints:—

The aspirant seeks daily a quiet spot where he can be free from interference and interruption.  If wise, he will always seek the same spot, for he will there build up a shell around it that will serve as a protection and make the desired higher contact more easy.  The matter of that spot, the matter of what you might term the surrounding space, becomes then attuned to a certain vibration (the man's own highest vibration, reached in consecutive meditations) which makes it easier for him each time to start at his highest and so eliminate a long preliminary keying up.

The aspirant composes himself to a position in which he can be unconscious of his physical body.  No hard and fast rules can be laid down as the physical vehicle itself has here to be considered,—it may be handicapped in some way, stiff or crippled.  Ease of posture is to be aimed at, coupled with alertness and attention.  Slothfulness and laxness lead a man nowhere.  The position most suitable for the average is cross-legged upon the ground, sitting against something that affords support to the spine.  In intensest meditation or when the aspirant is very proficient and the centres rapidly awakening (perhaps even the inner fire pulsating at the base of the spine) [62] the back should be erect without support.  The head should not be thrown back as tension is to be avoided, but it should be held level, or with the chin slightly dropped.  When this is done, that tenseness that is the characteristic of so many will be gone and the lower vehicle will be relaxed.  The eyes should be closed and the hands folded in the lap.

Then let the aspirant note if his breathing is regular, steady and uniform.  Should this be so, let him then relax his entire person, holding the mind positive and the physical vehicle supple and responsive.

Then let him visualize his three bodies, and having decided whether his meditation shall be in the head or within the heart (I will later take up this point) let him withdraw his consciousness there and focus himself in one or other of the centres.  In so doing let him deliberately realise that he is a Son of God, returning to the Father; that he is God Himself, seeking to find the God-consciousness which is His; that he is a creator, seeking to create; that he is the lower aspect of Deity seeking alignment with the higher.  Then let him three times intone the sacred Word, breathing it forth gently the first time and thereby affecting the mental vehicle; more loudly the second time, thereby stabilising the emotional vehicle; and in a still louder tone the final time, acting then upon the physical vehicle.  The effect upon each body will be threefold.  If correctly chanted with the centre of consciousness steadily held within whichever centre has been chosen, the effect will be as follows:

On Mental Levels:

a—The contacting of the head centre, causing it to vibrate.  The stilling of the lower mind.

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b—Linking up with the Ego to a more or less degree, but always to some extent through the permanent atom.

c—The driving out of coarse particles and the building in of finer.

On Emotional Levels:

a—The definite stabilisation of the emotional body through the permanent atom, and the contacting and setting in motion of the heart centre.

b—The driving out of coarse matter and the rendering of the emotional or desire body more colourless, so that it will be a true reflector of the higher.

c—It causes a sudden rush of feeling from the atomic levels of the emotional plane to the intuitional plane, via the atomic channel that exists between the two.  It sweeps upward and clarifies the channel.

On the Physical Planes:

a—Here the effect is very similar, but the primary effect is on the etheric body; it stimulates the divine flow.

b—It passes beyond the periphery of the body and creates a shell that serves as a protection.  It drives away discordant factors in the near environment.

June 22, 1920

The Logoic Chord and Analogy.

Now, let us proceed with the study of the use of the Sacred Word in its group application and in its employment for certain specific ends.  We have very briefly studied the Word as used by the individual who begins to [64] meditate,—the effect of its use being very largely one of purification, stabilisation and centralisation.  This is all that is possible until the student has reached a point where he may be allowed to sound the note in one of the subtones egoic.  You will have in the egoic note just the same sequence as in the note Logoic.  What had you there?  You had a sevenfold chord of which the important points at our stage of development are:

1—The basic note.

2—The major third.

3—The dominant or fifth.

4—The ultimate seventh.

A hint may here be given along the line of analogy.  There is a close connection between the fifth or dominant and the fifth principle, Manas or Mind, and, for this solar system (though not for the first or third), there is an interesting response between the fifth plane of mind and the dominant, and between the sixth plane of the emotions and the major third.  From some angles in this connection the emotional vehicle forms a third vehicle for consciousness—counting the dense physical and the vehicle for prana or electrical vitality as two units.  More I cannot say for the whole shifts and interpenetrates, but I have indicated food for thought.

In the egoic note,—as before said—you have a similar sequence, for it is the reflection on its own plane of the Logoic.  You will therefore have the basic note of the physical, the third of the emotional, and the fifth of the causal levels.  When a man has mastered the key, and has found his own subtone then he will sound the sacred Word with exactitude and thus reach the desired end; his alignment will be perfect, the bodies will be pure, the channel [65] free from obstruction, and the higher inspiration will be possible.  This is the aim of all true meditation and can be reached by the right use of the Word.  In the meantime, owing to the absence of a teacher and the defects of the pupil, all that is now possible is to sound the Word as well as may be, knowing that danger does not lurk where there is sincerity of purpose, and that certain results, such as protection, quieting and correction may be achieved.

Group Use of the Word.

In group formation the effect of the Word is intensified, provided the groups are correctly constituted, or rendered null and void and neutralised should the groups contain undesirable elements.  Certain things, therefore, have to be ascertained before the Word may be used with adequacy by a group:—

a—It is desirable that people on the same ray or on a complementary ray form a group.

b—It is desirable that the Word be intoned on the same key, or in part harmonic.  When this is done, the vibratory effect is far reaching and certain reactions will occur.

What results, therefore, when the Word is correctly sounded by a group of people rightly intermingled?

a—A strong current is set up that reaches the disciple or the Master responsible for the group and which enables him to put the group en rapport with the Brotherhood, permitting the channel to be cleared for the transmission of teaching.

b—A vacuum is created that corresponds somewhat to the vacuum that should exist between the Ego and the Personality, but this time between a group and Those on the inner side.

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c—If all conditions are right, it likewise results in a linking with the egoic groups of the involved personalities, a stimulation of the causal bodies involved, and a linking of all three groups—the lower, the higher and the Brotherhood—in a triangle for the transmission of force.

d—It has a definite effect on the physical vehicles of the lower group; it intensifies the vibration of the emotional bodies, driving out counter-vibration and swinging all into line with the higher rhythm.  This results in equilibrium; it stimulates the lower mind, yet at the same time opens the connection with the higher, which higher, entering in, stabilises the lower concrete mind.

e—It attracts the attention of certain of the devas or angels whose work lies with the bodies of men, and enables them to do that work with greater exactitude and make contacts that later will be of use.

f—It creates a protective shell around the group, which (though only temporary) leads to freedom from disturbance, enables the units of the group to work with greater ease and according to the law, and helps the inner Teachers to find the line of least resistance betwixt Themselves and those who seek Their instruction.

g—It aids in the work of evolution.  Infinitesimal that aid may be, yet every effort that leads to the free play of the law, that acts in any way on matter for its greater refining, that stimulates vibration and facilitates the contact between the higher and the lower is an instrument in the hand of the Logos for the hastening of His plan.

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I have touched here upon certain effects incident upon the chanting of the Word in unison.  Later, as the rules of occult meditation are understood and experimentally applied, these effects will be studied.  As the race becomes more clairvoyant, they will also be tabulated and checked.  The geometrical forms created by the individual, and by the group, in sounding forth the Word will be recorded and noted.  The elimination of individuals from different groups and their assignment to other groups more suitable will be effected by judicious consideration of the work done by them.  Later, as individuals develop the higher consciousness, wardens of groups must be chosen—not only for their spiritual attainments and their intellectual capacity, but for their ability to see with the inner vision, and hence assist their members and group to rightful plans and to correct development.

Groups for Specific Purposes.

Groups will later be formed for specific purposes, which brings me to my third point, the use of the Word for certain calculated ends.

Let me enumerate for you some of the aims groups will have in view when they form themselves, and by the use of the sacred Word, coupled to the true occult meditation, achieve certain results.  The time for this is not yet, and need arises not for detailed description, yet if things progress as desired, even you may see it somewhat worked out in your lifetime.

1—Groups for the purpose of working on the emotional body with the object of development, of subjugation, and clarification.

2—Groups for the purpose of mental development, of strengthening equilibrium, and the contacting of the higher mind.

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3—Groups for the healing of the physical body.

4—Groups whose purpose is to effect alignment, and to clear the channel betwixt the higher and the lower.

5—Groups for the treatment of obsessions and mental diseases.

6—Groups whose work it will be to study reaction to the sounding of the Word, to record and tabulate the consequent geometrical forms, to note its effect on individuals in the groups, and to note the extraneous entities it draws by its attractive force.  These must be rather advanced groups, capable of clairvoyant investigation.

7—Groups that definitely work at making contact with the devas, and collaborating with them under the law.  During the seventh ray activity, this will be much facilitated.

8—Groups that are definitely and scientifically working on the laws of the rays, and studying colour and sound, their individual and group effects, and their interrelation.  This is necessarily a select group and only those of high spiritual attainment and those nearing Initiation will be permitted to take part.  Forget not that these groups on the physical plane are but the inevitable working out into manifestation of the inner groups of aspirants, pupils, disciples and initiates.

9—Groups that are definitely working under some one Master, and conforming to certain procedure laid down by Him.  The members of these groups will therefore be chosen by the Master.

10—Groups working specifically under one of the three great departments and seeking—under expert guidance—to influence politically and religiously [69] the world of men, and to speed the processes of evolution as directed from the department of the Lord of Civilisation.  Some of these groups will work under the Church, others under Masonry, and others will work in connection with the Initiate heads of the great organizations.  In considering this you need to remember that the whole world becomes ever more mental as time proceeds,—hence the ever-increased scope of this type of work.

11—Other groups will work entirely in what might be termed preparatory work for the future colony.

12—Problem groups, as they might be called, will be formed to deal with social, economic, political and religious problems as they arise, studying the effects of meditation, colour and sound.

13—Still other groups will deal with child culture, with the individual training of people, with the guidance of persons on the probationary path, and with the development of the higher faculties.

14—Later, when the Great Lord, the Christ, comes with His Masters, there will be a few very esoteric groups, gathered out of all the others, where the members (through graduation and karmic right) will be trained for discipleship and for the first Initiation.  There will be seven such groups or centres formed for definite occult training...Only those whose vibratory capacity is adequate will find their way there.

I have given you enough to consider for today, and we will leave the consideration of point the fourth till tomorrow.

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June 23, 1920

You are right in thinking that conditions today are not desirable.  The whole world speeds towards a crisis—a crisis reconstructive, even though it seems to the onlooker to be destructive.  On all sides, the tearing down of the old forms is progressing, nor is the work as yet fully accomplished.  Enough has, nevertheless, been done to permit of the erection of the scaffolding for the new building.  In serenity and steady adherence to the next duty will come the simplification of that which must he done.

Today we deal with the effect of the Word on the various centres, on each body, and its utility in aligning the bodies with the causal vehicle.  This was our fourth point.  The first two are closely allied, for the sacred Word (when properly enunciated) acts on the various bodies through the medium of the centres, and their astral and mental counterparts.  Some of the effects, such as the elimination of undesirable matter, and the building in of new, the protective effect of the Word and its work of stabilisation and purification, we have somewhat touched upon.  We will now focus our attention largely upon the centres and the result upon them of the sounding of the Word.

The Seven Centres and the Sacred Word.

As is our custom, let us divide our thoughts under the following heads.  Tabulation has its value; it systematises knowledge, thus tending to the orderly arrangement of the mental body; it facilitates recollection through the assistance of the eye.

1—Enumeration and discussion of the centres.

2—Growth and development of the centres.

3—The effect of meditation on the centres.

4—Their interrelation in the work of alignment.

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First let me say that certain information that may seem to be the natural sequence and corollary of that which I have to impart will have to be withheld.  The dangers involved through the injudicious development of the centres are too great for us to venture yet to give full and detailed instructions.  We seek to develop Masters of Compassion, dispensers of the love of the universe.  We seek not to develop Masters of Black Arts and specialists in ruthless self-expression at the expense of the uninitiated.  Certain facts have been, and can be, imparted.  They will lead to the development of the intuition, and inspire the seeker after light to more earnest endeavour.  Others must be withheld for they would be weapons of great danger in the hands of the unscrupulous.  If then it seems to you that I have but imparted only sufficient to arouse interest, know then that that is my aim.  When your interest and the interest of all aspirants is sufficiently aroused naught can then be withheld from you.

1—Enumeration of the centres.

The physical centres are, as you know:—

1—The base of the spine.

2—The solar plexus.

3—The spleen.

4—The heart.

5—The throat.

6—The pineal gland.

7—The pituitary body.

This enumeration is correct, but I seek to give you another division, based on earlier imparted facts, those anent the solar system.  These seven centres may be enumerated as five if we eliminate the spleen and count the two head centres as one.  The five centres thus specified [72] are applicable to our fivefold evolution in this the second solar system.

In the first solar system the three lower centres were developed and with them the occultist has naught to do.  They form the basis of the development of the lower quaternary before individualisation, but are now transcended and the divine fire must be focalised in other and higher centres.

The Spleen.

The spleen, the third centre, has a specific purpose.  It has its correspondence in the third or activity aspect, and in the third or Activity (Adaptability) Ray, and is the basis of all the fundamental activities of the microcosm, and of the recurring adaptations of the microcosm to its environment, to its need and to the macrocosm.  It controls the selective processes of the microcosm; it takes the vibratory force and energy of the macrocosm and transmutes it for the use of the microcosm.  We might call it the organ of transmutation, and—as its functions are more completely understood—it will be found that it provides a magnetic link between the conscious, thinking, three-fold man and his lower vehicles, regarding those lower vehicles as the Not-Self, and as themselves animated by informing entities.  It is the life force contacting those entities that is the issue and aim.

In its emotional counterpart, it is the organ of emotional vitality, again in the same sense as providing a link; on the mental plane it serves somewhat the same purpose, only this time through this centre are the thoughtforms vitalised by means of the energising will.  I will not, therefore, deal more fully with this centre beyond these general indications.  Few people have the faculty of stimulating [73] it through the use of the Word, nor is it desirable that they should.  It develops normally if the aspirant himself—as a totality—progresses as desired:—if his physical body receives adequate application of the life forces of the sun, if his emotional body is moved by high desire, and open to the downflow of force from the causal and intuitional levels, and if his mental life is intense, vibrant, and animated by a powerful will.  Then the spleen, with its inner counterparts, will progress and be in a healthy condition.

We will therefore thus dispose of it and give no further space to it in these letters.

The fundamental centres.

The three fundamental centres of vital importance from the standpoint of the average man, polarised in his emotional body and living the normal life of the man of the world, are:

1—The base of the spine.

2—The solar plexus.

3—The heart centre.

The three major centres for the man nearing the Probationary Path and for the man who is aiming at a life of altruism, having examined the attractions of the three worlds, are:

1—The base of the spine.

2—The heart.

3—The throat.

His solar plexus is left then to normal functioning, having served its purpose as a centre for the emotional focussing.  The activity of the fire becomes more centered in the throat.

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The three major centres for the man on the Path itself in its twofold divisions are:—

1—The heart.

2—The throat.

3—The head.

The divine activity has developed the solar plexus centre, is controlling all the centres below the solar plexus, and is passing upward in ordered progression until it is focussed and vivifying the head centres.

Earlier we divided the life of the man into five main periods, tracing his development in each.  We might (if we are careful to generalise widely) apply the same to the five centres.

Period I—wherein the base of the spine is the most active in the purely rotary sense and not in a fourth-dimensional.  The inner fire is focussed on the vivification of the organs of generation and on the functional physical life of the personality.

Period II—wherein the solar plexus is the goal of the attention of the fire and when the emotional counterpart vibrates synchronously.  Two centres are thus vibrating, even though the measure be slow; the others are alive; pulsation can be seen, but there is no circular movement.

Period III—The divine fire now mounts to the heart centre and the three rotate in ordered measured unison.  I would point out that the vivification of any one centre causes an accession of force in all, and I would further point out that in the head are seven centres (three major and four minor) and that these centres directly correspond to one or other centre in the body.  They are the synthesis, and, on the stimulation of their corresponding centre, receive themselves a corresponding acquisition of rotary power.

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Period IV—marks the definite stimulation of the throat centre.  All the creative activity of the three-fold man—physical, emotional and mental—is turned upward in service, and his life begins occultly to sound.  He is occultly productive.  He manifests forth and his sound goes out before him.  This is an occult statement of fact definitely apparent to those who have the inner vision.  Coordination between the centres becomes apparent; rotation is intensified, and the centres themselves change in appearance, becoming unfolded, and the rotary movement becomes fourth-dimensional, turning inward upon itself.  The centres are then radiating nuclei of light, and the corresponding four lower head centres are equally alive.

Period V—marks the application of the fire to the head centres and their complete awakening.

Before initiation, all the centres will be rotating in fourth dimensional order, but after initiation they become flaming wheels, and—seen clairvoyantly—are of rare beauty,  The fire of Kundalini is then awakened and is progressing in the necessary spirals.  At the second initiation the emotional centres are similarly awakened, and at the third initiation those on the mental plane are touched.  The initiate can then stand in the Presence of the Great King, the One Initiator.

I seek to point out that the student must ever remember that here generalisations only are given.  The complexity in the development of the microcosm is as great as in the macrocosm.  The awakening of the centres and their particular order is dependent on several factors, such as:

a—The Ray of the Spirit or Monad.

b—The Ray of the Ego, Higher Self, or Son, or the sub-ray.

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c—Race and nationality.

d—The special type of work to be done.

e—The application of the student.

Fundamental centres of average man.

Fundamental centres of developed man.

Fundamental centres of man on Path.

Hence you can see for yourself that it is useless to lay down rules for the development of the centres and to formulate methods whereby the fire can be circulated until such time as trained teachers with expert knowledge and clairvoyant faculty are in charge of the work on the physical plane.  It is not desirable for aspirants to focus their thought on any one centre.  They run the risk of overstimulation, [77] or of attrition.  It is not wished that effort be made to turn the fire towards any particular point; in ignorant manipulation lies insanity and fell disease.  If the aspirant but seeks spiritual development, if he but aims at sincerity of purpose and at compassionate altruism, if he, with serene application, concentrates on the subjugation of the emotional body and the enlargement of the mental, and cultivates the habit of abstract thinking, the desired results upon the centres will be produced from necessity and danger will be eliminated.

When these triangles are paths of threefold fire, emanating from the base of the spine, when the interlacing is complete and the fire progresses along the path from centre to centre in the correct manner, and when this is accomplished in the order required by the man's primary ray, then the work is completed.  The fivefold man has attained perfection for this present greater cycle and the goal is reached.

(Note that this order has to be attained in the head centres likewise.)

Tomorrow we will continue the study of the centres more specifically and somewhat describe them, pointing to the effect upon the life through the awakening of these wheels.

June 25, 1920.

2—The growth and development of the centres.

We will now enumerate the centres again, this time considering their psychic correspondences and will note the colours and the number of the petals.

1—The base of the spine.  Four petals.  These petals are in the shape of a cross, and radiate with orange fire.

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2—The solar plexus.  Ten petals.  The colour rosy, with an admixture of green.

3—The heart centre.  Twelve petals.  Colour glowing golden.

4—The throat centre.  Sixteen petals.  Colour silvery blue, the blue predominating.

5—The head centres.  These are in a twofold division;—

a—Between the eyebrows.  Ninety-six petals.  Colour, one-half of the lotus is rose and yellow, and the other half is blue and purple.

b—The top of the head.  There are twelve major petals of white and gold, and 960 secondary petals are arranged around the central twelve.  This makes a total of 1068 petals in the two head centres, or 356 triplicities.  All these figures have an occult significance.

This description is taken from "The Inner Life."  This description applies to the etheric centres, which are themselves the working out into physical plane manifestation of corresponding vortices on the emotional plane, with emotional vitality playing through.  They have their mental counterparts, and in their awakening as aforesaid, and in their growth and development, comes the final vivification, and the resultant liberation.