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The Shamballa Force
You have been told that this force has–during this
century–made its first direct impact upon humanity;
heretofore, it reached mankind in the three worlds after
being stepped down and modified by transit through the
great planetary centre to which we give the name of the
Hierarchy.
This direct impact will again take place in 1975, and
also in the year 2000, but the risks will then not be so
great as in the first impact, owing to the spiritual
growth of mankind. Each time this energy strikes into
the human consciousness some fuller aspect of the divine
plan appears. It is the energy which brings about
synthesis, which holds all things within the circle of
the divine love.
Since its impact during
the past few years, human thinking has been more
concerned with the production of unity and the
attainment of synthesis in all human relations than ever
before, and one result of this energy has been the
forming of
the United Nations.
(The Rays and the Initiations, p. 716) |
Contents
Shamballa – The Centre Where The Will of God is Known
SHAMBALLA
From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.
Shamballa–The Centre Where The Will of God is Known
Definitions
Shamballa is simply a word conveying the idea of a vast focal point
of energies which are assembled and brought together by the
planetary Logos in order to create a manifestation adequate to His
unfolding intention and planetary service.
(Discipleship in the New Age, Vol. II, p. 404)
Shamballa is a state of consciousness or a phase of sensitive
awareness wherein there is acute and dynamic response to divine
purpose--a response made possible by the synthesis of purpose and of
spiritual relationship which exists between those who are associated
with Sanat Kumara. (The Rays and the Initiations, p. 276)
The only place of complete "peace" . . . is the "centre where the
will of God is known." The spiritual Hierarchy of our planet . . .
is not a centre of peace but a very vortex of loving activity, the
meeting place of energies coming from the centre of the divine will,
and from humanity, the centre of divine intelligence.
(The Reappearance of the Christ, p. 28)
. . . Peace, as the expression of the will of Shamballa, produces
balance, equilibrium, synthesis and understanding, plus a spirit of
invocation which is basically an action producing reaction. This
demonstrates as the first great creative and magical work of which
humanity is capable, swinging, as it does, all the three divine
aspects into a simultaneous activity in line with the will of God.
(The
Externalization of the Hierarchy, p. 165)
Some key thoughts
-
Shamballa is the place of purpose. It is a purpose which cannot be
understood until the Plan is followed. Herein lies a clue.
-
Shamballa is not a Way, but a major centre of related states and a
relatively static energy–energy held ready for creative purposes by
the focused intention of the Great Council, acting under the
directing eye of the Lord of the World.
-
Shamballa is the major point of tension upon the planet. It is a
tension that expresses loving intelligent will, free from all
self-will or mental bias.
-
Shamballa is the major receptive agent upon the planet, from the
angle of solar inflow, but at the same time it is the main
distributing point of energy, from the angle of the kingdoms in
nature, including the fifth kingdom. From the point of tension the
life pattern of the planetary Logos and His will become embodied and
finally matured through the processes of evolution.
-
Shamballa receives energy from various solar and extra-solar
Entities or centers of emphatic and energetic life; i.e., from
Venus, from the Central Spiritual Sun, from the current conditioning
constellation through which our sun may be passing, from the Great
Bear and other cosmic centers. Sirius, so important a factor in the
spiritual life of the planet, brings its energies to bear direct
upon the Hierarchy, and energy from Sirius does not normally enter
our planetary life via Shamballa.
-
Shamballa is the head centre, speaking symbolically, of our
planetary Life, focusing will, love and intelligence in one great
and fundamental Intention and holding that focused point throughout
the entire life cycle of a planet. This great Intention embodies
current purpose and expresses itself through the medium of the Plan.
(Discipleship in the New Age, Vol. II, pp. 519-20)
Shamballa, Hierarchy and Humanity
Behind this spiritual centre of Love and Light another centre is to
be found, for which the West has no name but which is called in the
East by the name Shamballa. Perhaps the Western name is Shangri-Lha–a
name which is finding recognition everywhere and which stands for a
centre of happiness and purpose. Shamballa, or Shangri-Lha, is the
place where the Will of God is focused and from which His divine
purposes are directed.
From it the great political movements and the
destiny of races and nations and their progress are determined, just
as the religious movements, the cultural unfoldments and spiritual
ideas are sent forth from the hierarchical centre of Love and Light.
Political and social ideologies and world religions, the Will of God
and the Love of God, the Purpose of divinity and the plans whereby
that purpose is brought into activity all focus through that centre
of which we are each consciously a part, Humanity itself.
There are,
therefore, three great spiritual centers on the planet: Shamballa,
the spiritual Hierarchy, and Humanity.
(The
Externalization of the Hierarchy, p. 407)
At Shamballa, the Great Lives Who function there not only see
manifestation whole and apart from all the limitations of time, but
They feel all the major evolutionary impulses which are bringing the
developing world into line with the divine Will. They embody those
impulses not in terms of progressive movement, but in terms of one
great divine and spiritual reaction.
This idea can perhaps be best
understood by you in terms of the Eternal AUM which is the symbol of
the Eternal NOW. You have been told, and it has been demonstrated,
that the AUM is composed of one major Sound, three minor sounds, and
seven subsidiary vibratory tones. So it is with the Will of God
which is embodied and held in synthesis by the Members of the
Council Chamber.
To Them, as They "hold the Will of God in solution,
it is one clear note; as They see that Will in motion, it is three
abiding chords, carrying outwards into all the worlds the Purpose of
the ONE Who for aeons will abide; as They impel that Will to
demonstrate, it is seven vibratory tones, drawing out into the
reflected worlds the structure of the Plan. And thus the note, the
chords and tone produce the Plan, reveal the Purpose and indicate
God's Will." This is a quotation from certain of the ancient
Archives which constitute the study of the Masters; they relate to
the nature of Shamballa, its work and emanating energies.
Shamballa, as it constitutes the synthesis of understanding where
our Earth is concerned, is also the centre where the highest Will of
the Solar Logos is imposed upon the Will of our planetary Logos, Who
is, as you know, only a centre in His greater body of manifestation.
With this item of information you can have no possible concern; the
Masters Themselves are only learning the Will of the planetary
Logos; the objective of effort in Shamballa is, however, the
apprehension of solar Purpose, the Plan of which is working out on
the highest levels of our planetary system, just as the Will,
Purpose and Plan of Shamballa work out on the three lowest levels of
our planetary system.
Again, this item of information serves only to
indicate hierarchical objectives, and those objectives extend away
from time and space into the Mind of God Himself.
There are certain synonyms which here may serve to develop your
synthetic thinking and so bring in a definite measure of
enlightenment.
Shamballa |
Hierarchy |
Humanity |
Synthesis |
Unity |
Separation |
Will |
Purpose |
Plan |
Life |
Soul |
Appearance |
Spirit |
Consciousness |
Substance |
Apprehension |
Polarization |
Focus of Activity |
Power |
Momentum |
Action |
Energy |
Distribution |
Forces |
Direction |
Transmission |
Reception |
Head |
Heart |
Throat |
|
It will be apparent to you how little
you can understand of the Shamballa intention when you realize that
it is not easy for you to see any true distinction between unity and
synthesis and, at the same time, how impossible it is for me to make
the distinction clear.
All I can say is that synthesis IS, whilst
unity is achieved and is the reward of action and effort. As you
progress upon the Path of Initiation the meaning of unity clarifies.
As you direct yourself towards the Way of the Higher Evolution
synthesis emerges. More than that it would be useless for me to say.
(Ibid., pp. 533-5)
Divine Purpose
The energy emanating from Shamballa has been divided into two direct
and distinctive streams. One stream, embodying the dynamic of
purpose, is now pouring into the Hierarchy and into its seven major
Ashrams; another stream, embodying the dynamic of determination or
of enlightened enthusiastic will, is reaching humanity direct, via
the New Group of World Servers.
Hitherto a blended stream of Shamballa force has poured into the Hierarchy and has streamed, in
its undifferentiated type and quality, into all the groups within
the Hierarchy. Now the quality of determination, or of what the
average person understands by the use of the word "Will," is pouring
into the New Group of World Servers, whilst the energy of dynamic
purpose, differentiated into seven diverging streams, is pouring
into each of the "seven points of reception," the Masters' Ashrams
within the ring-pass-not of the Hierarchy.
These seven types of
purpose embody the seven energies which will reorganize and redefine
the hierarchical undertakings, and thus inaugurate the New Age.
These seven purposes might be called:
a. The unknown, unseen and unheard purpose of
Sanat Kumara. It is
the secret of life itself and is known only to Him alone. In its
initial phase of this new expression, it works through the Manu and
the Master Morya; it is that which veils the central mystery which
all esoteric schools–if true to their inaugurating impulse–will
eventually reveal. What that is we do not yet know, but it is hinted
at in Rule XIII.
b. The purpose underlying revelation. This may be a somewhat new
idea to you for you are apt to regard revelation as a goal in
itself. You seldom consider it as an effect of the inner purpose of
Sanat Kumara.
c. The (as yet) unrecognized purpose which evoked the creative
activity of our Planetary Logos. This brought the third aspect of
the divine Trinity into play. The usual reasons brought forward by
the finite mind of man to account for what is called by us
"manifestation," and to explain the dualism of all existence and the
relation of spirit-matter, are by no means the real explanation of
the divine purpose; they are based on man's own essential dualism;
they are the highest explanation of his own divine nature which he
can achieve at this time . . .
d. The mysterious purpose which has necessitated the calling into
activity the Principle of Pain. Suffering and pain are essential
requirements in order to carry this purpose to completion. The
capacity to suffer, which is distinctive of humanity, is the
outstanding conscious reaction to environment of the fourth kingdom
in nature, the human. It is related to the power to think and
consciously to relate cause and effect . . .
e. The fifth great secret underlying the purpose of
Sanat Kumara is
related in a peculiar sense to the cyclic manifestation of all that
is found in the three worlds of human evolution. It concerns that
which is working slowly into manifestation through the medium of the
lower concrete mind as it controls desire and brings substance and
matter into conformity with the divine thought along this line.
The sum-total of the highest phases of human thinking along all lines,
materially affects what appears on the physical plane in all the
kingdoms of nature, what precipitates civilizations and cultures,
and which expresses the best response at the moment of human
sensitivity to cosmic impression . . .
This fifth purpose is
therefore closely related to the whole theme of "the garment of God"
and to the emergence into manifestation of His "robe of beauty" as
it is created and brought into being by humanity, acting as the
medium for ideas from the superhuman kingdoms, and then influencing
and swinging into creative cooperation the subhuman kingdoms.
f. It is difficult for me to give any idea whatsoever of the purpose
with which we are now concerned, because it is expressed in the
relation existing between the significance of Desire, Will, Plan and
Purpose . . . It is only as human beings enter into relation with
the Hierarchy and are gradually absorbed into the hierarchical life
and begin to take the higher initiations that the true nature of the
divine Will will be grasped and the purpose of Sanat Kumara be
revealed by an appreciation of the plan, followed by a consequent
cooperation with that Plan. All this will be done through the
transmutation of desire into aspiration, and then into fixed
determination.
g. The final phase of the divine purpose is the most difficult of
all to indicate, and when I say indicate, I mean exactly that, and
nothing more definite and clear. Does it mean anything to you when I
say that the ceremonial ritual of the daily life of Sanat Kumara,
implemented by music and sound and carried on the waves of colour
which break upon the shores of the three worlds of human evolution,
reveal–in the clearest notes and tones and shades–the deepest secret
behind His purpose?
It scarcely makes sense to you and is dismissed
as a piece of symbolic writing, used by me in order to convey the unconveyable. Yet I am not here writing in symbols, but am making an
exact statement of fact. As beauty in any of its greater forms
breaks upon the human consciousness, a dim sense is thereby conveyed
of the ritual of Sanat Kumara's daily living. More I cannot say.
Here are hints, therefore, as to the divine purpose; each of the
seven supplements and completes the other six. Only by attempting to
grasp the whole inner synthesis will we arrive at the merest hint of
the nature of that exalted consciousness which has brought our
planet and all that is within and upon it into being.
(The Rays and the Initiations, pp. 240-7)
Energy Relationships
The seventh kingdom in nature is that of the Lives Who participate
in full capacity of understanding with the group of Beings Who are
the nucleus of the Council at Shamballa. Around the Lord of the
World this group pivots; Their consciousness and state of being is
only dimly understood by the most advanced Members of the Hierarchy,
and the relation of these Lives to the Lord of the World is similar,
and yet fundamentally different, to the relation of the Members of
the Hierarchy to the three Great Lords–the Christ, the Manu and the
Mahachohan.
Through these three Lords pours the energy which streams
from Shamballa, transmitting the purpose and motivating the plan of
Sanat Kumara–His Life Plan. What you call "the Plan" is the response
of the Hierarchy to the inflowing purposeful will of the Lord of the
World. Through Sanat Kumara, the Ancient of Days (as He is called in
the Bible), flows the unknown energy of which the three divine
Aspects are the expression.
He is the Custodian of the will of the
Great White Lodge on Sirius, and the burden of this "cosmic
intention" is shared by the Buddhas of Activity and those Members of
the Great Council Who are of so elevated a consciousness and
vibration that only once a year (through Their emissary, the Buddha)
is it safe for Them to contact the Hierarchy.
(Ibid., p. 130)
The Wesak Festival is the Festival at which three factors of
importance to humanity are brought into relation:
-
The Buddha, the embodiment or agent of the Forces of Light can then
be contacted and that which They seek to transmit to humanity can be
consciously appropriated.
-
The Christ, the embodiment of the love and the will of God and the
agent of the Spirit of Peace, can also be contacted and humanity can
be trained to appropriate this extra-planetary type of energy.
-
Through the Christ and the
Buddha, humanity can now establish a
close relationship with Shamballa and then make its own
contribution–as a world centre–to the planetary life. Pervaded by
light and controlled by the Spirit of Peace, the expression of
humanity's will-to-good can emanate powerfully from this third
planetary centre.
Humanity will then for the first time enter upon
its destined task as the intelligent, loving intermediary between
the higher states of planetary consciousness, the super-human states
and the sub-human kingdoms. Thus humanity will become eventually the
planetary saviour. (The Externalisation of the Hierarchy, pp. 162-3)
The masses of mankind everywhere have only one desire–tranquility.
I use not the word "peace," because it has such a misleading
connotation. Thinking men and women in every country stand with
massed intent, determined, if possible, to take those steps which
will ensure peace on Earth, through the expression of goodwill. Note
that phrasing.
The working disciples throughout the world are
struggling with every means at their disposal to spread the gospel
of sacrifice, because only upon sacrifice can world stability be
safely founded–the sacrifice of selfishness. In those words is
summed up the demand being made on those whose responsibility it is
to determine policies (national and international) and to take those
steps which will establish right human relations.
The Hierarchy
stands–no longer watching and waiting, but acting today with
impelling wisdom and fixed decision in order to strengthen the hands
of Their workers in every field of human activity (political,
educational and religious) so that they may take right action and
correctly influence human thinking.
A powerful first ray activity–the activity of will or purpose–is
swinging into action. The Christ, as the Leader of the Forces of
Light, has empowered the Ashrams of the Masters upon this first Ray
of Power to strengthen the hands of all disciples in the field of
government and of political arrangement in every nation; to
enlighten, if possible, the various national legislatures by
whatever means may be needed, so that the potency of their words,
the wisdom of their planning, and the breadth of their thinking may
prove so effective that the "Cycle of Conferences and of Councils,"
now being initiated by the statesmen of the world, may be under the
direct guidance (again if possible) of Those in the Council Chamber
at Shamballa Who know what is the Will of God. The selfishness of
the little minds in the various legislatures of the world must in
some way be offset. That is the problem.
Forget not that divine energy must make its impact upon human minds;
these minds are the only available instrument–in their aggregated
effect–through which the Will of God can express itself; they are
necessarily responsive to the stimulating and energizing results of
that impact, and this will evoke results suited to the type of mind
affected. Response will be compatible with the quality and the
intention of those minds. (Ibid., pp. 446-7)
Back to Contents
The Shamballa Force
Underlying Relationships
Each divine aspect has three subsidiary aspects, and in our planet
and on the cosmic physical plane the lowest aspect of love (that
which we call the Will-to-Good) is revealed. For humanity,
struggling upon this cosmic physical plane, we subdivide
unconsciously this will-to-good into three aspects; these we are
only today beginning to grasp as existent possibilities.
The lowest
aspect we call goodwill. little realizing the attitude to the
universal goal which it sets; the second aspect we vaguely call love
and hope to demonstrate that we do demonstrate love through our
affiliation with the Hierarchy; the highest we call the will-to-good
and leave it undefined because it is in no way possible, even for
initiates of the fifth initiation, truly to comprehend what is the
nature and purpose of the will-to-good which conditions divine
activity. (The Rays and the Initiations, p. 536)
It is of course not possible for me to give you any true picture of
the interior events and happenings in the life of our planetary
Being. I can only indicate and point out that the world situation is
simply an embodiment of the reaction and the response by mankind to
great paralleling and originating happenings which involve the
following groups:
-
The emanating Avatar and His relationship to the
Lord of the World,
our planetary Logos.
-
The Lords of Liberation, focused in Their high place, as They
become conscious of the invocation of humanity and become more
closely related to the three Buddhas of Activity.
-
The Great Council at Shamballa and the planetary Hierarchy.
-
The Buddha and His Arhats as They unitedly cooperate with the
Christ
and His disciples, the Masters of the Wisdom.
-
The Hierarchy, the embodiment of the fifth kingdom in nature, and
its magnetic attractive rapport with the human kingdom, the fourth.
-
The effect of all these great groups of Lives upon humanity, and the
inherent consequences as they work out in the subhuman kingdoms.
A study of the above in terms of forces and energy will give some
idea of the underlying synthesis of relationships and the unity of
the whole. (Ibid., p. 13)
As regards the Hierarchy itself, speaking esoterically and
technically, its Members (many of Them) are "being abstracted from
the middle point of holiness and absorbed into the Council of the
Lord." In other words, They are passing onward into higher work and
are becoming custodians of the energy of the divine will and not
simply the custodians of the energy of love.
They will work
henceforth as power units, and not just as units of light. Their
work becomes dynamic instead of being attractive and magnetic, and
is concerned with the life aspect and not just with the soul or
consciousness aspect. (Ibid., pp. 15-6)
The Potency of the Will of God
The energy of Shamballa is... the demonstration of the will of
God in new and potent livingness.
(The Destiny of the Nations, p. 17)
This energy lies behind the world crisis of the moment . . .It is
the Will of God to produce certain radical and momentous changes in
the consciousness of the race which will completely alter man's
attitude to life and his grasp of the spiritual, esoteric and
subjective essentials of living. It is this force, in conjunction
with second ray force, which will bring about that tremendous
crisis, the initiation of the race into the Mystery of the Ages.
(Ibid., p. 13)
This energy of the will is the most potent energy in the whole
scheme of planetary existence. It is called the "Shamballa Force,"
and it is that which holds all things together in life. It is, in
reality, life itself. This life force or divine will (implementing
divine intention) is that by means of which Sanat Kumara arrives at
His goal. On a tiny scale, it is the use of one of the lowest
aspects of the will (human self-will) which enables a man to carry
out his plans and attain his fixed purpose–if he has one. Where the
will is lacking, the plan dies out and the purpose is not achieved.
Even in relation to self-will, it is veritably the "life of the
project." The moment Sanat Kumara has attained His planetary
purpose, He will withdraw this potent energy, and (in this
withdrawing) destruction will set in. This Shamballa force is
steadily held in leash for fear of too great an impact upon the
unprepared kingdoms in nature. This has reference to its impact also
upon humanity. (The Rays and the Initiations, p. 715)
The most powerful force is that pouring into the world from
Shamballa, the planetary centre where the Will of God is known. Only
twice in our planetary history has this Shamballa energy made its
presence felt directly: the first time, when the great human crisis
occurred at the individualization of man in ancient
Lemuria; the
second time, in
Atlantean days in the great struggle between the
Lords of Light and the Lords of Material Form, also called the Dark
Forces.
Today, this force streams out from the Holy Centre; it
embodies the Will aspect of the present world crisis and its two
subsidiary effects or qualities are:
-
The destruction of that which is undesirable and hindering in the
present world forms (in government, religion and society).
-
The synthesizing force which binds together that which has hitherto
been separated.
The Shamballa force is so new and so
unrecognized that it is hard
for humanity to know it for what it is–the demonstration of the
beneficent Will of God in new and potent livingness.
(The Externalisation of the Hierarchy, pp. 71-2)
The energy of the first divine aspect (that of will or power) now
being applied with the most scrupulous care by Shamballa. This
energy of the will is–as you have been taught–the potency of the
life in all beings; it has in the past only been permitted to make
contact with "the substance of humanity" via the Hierarchy. Lately,
direct impact has been permitted experimentally and of this the
world war (1914-1945) was the first evidence, clarifying issues,
presenting opportunity, purifying human thinking and destroying the
old and worn-out civilization.
It is an exceedingly dangerous energy
and cannot be applied in fuller measure until the race of men has
learned to respond more adequately to the energy of the second
aspect of love-wisdom, and therefore to the rule of the Kingdom of
God. (Ibid., p. 658)
Release of the Shamballa Force
H.P.B. (one of the first working disciples to go forth on the
externalization impulse and with first ray energy driving him) gave
the background of the Plan, under impression from me; the more
detailed structure and the sweep of the hierarchical intention have
been given by me in the books which A.A.B. has introduced under her
own name to the public (in so doing acting under my instructions).
For the first time in human history, the purpose of past
events–historical and psychological–can be clearly noted as the
foundation for all present happenings, thus bringing the mysterious
Law of Karma in an easy manner to public attention.
The present can
also be seen, indicating the way of the future and revealing clearly
the Will-to-Good which is animating the entire evolutionary
process–a process in which humanity (again for the first time) is
intelligently participating and cooperating. It is this cooperative
participation, even if unconsciously rendered, which has made it
possible for the Hierarchy to grasp the opportunity to bring to an
end the long silence which has persisted since Atlantean days; the
Masters can now begin to undertake to renew an ancient "sharing of
the secrets," and to prepare humanity for a civilization which will
be distinguished by a constant intellectual perception of truth, and
which will cooperate with the externalized Ashrams in the various
parts of the world.
The internal consolidation is now being somewhat loosened, if I may
use such an inadequate expression, and a majority of the Members of
the Hierarchy are withdrawing Their close attention from reception
of impression from Shamballa and are now orienting Themselves–in an
entirely new and directed manner–to the fourth kingdom in nature. At
the same time, a very powerful minority of Masters are entering into
a much closer association with the Council of Sanat Kumara.
(Ibid., p. 685)
An intensive training process, therefore, is being carried out in
every ashram and along identical lines, resulting in the
"isolation," occultly understood, of certain Masters and initiates.
They have been thus isolated in order that They may work more
readily and easily with Shamballa; They can thus form a dynamic and
galvanic storehouse of energy (the energy of the divine Will) and
thus make it available for the use of the other Members of the
Hierarchy, as They stand in "isolated unity" upon the highways of
Earth, and thus are "in the world and yet not of the world".
The
learning of this lesson calls into activity the sacrificial will of
both the hierarchical groups; this remains the binding cord between
Them and that aspect of the antahkarana along which energy can flow
in a new and electric fashion from Shamballa, via the hierarchical
minority referred to above, and into the large group of Masters and
initiates and disciples to whom is committed the task of
consolidation.
All this constitutes–for the Members of the
Hierarchy–a definite process of testing out and of trial, prior to
and preparatory to some of the higher initiations.
(Ibid., pp. 687-8)
The dynamic impression which emanates from Shamballa reaches forth
in great cycles and cyclic waves; these are impulsed from
extra-planetary sources, as demanded or invoked by the Lord of the
World and His Associates; they emanate in response to the "acclaimed
will" of Sanat Kumara in the Council Chamber.
(Telepathy and the Etheric Vehicle, p. 81)
The energy flowing through the Hierarchy at this time–the energy of
love–is seeking to blend with that which is flowing out of Shamballa
and is needed in order to make the desired application of it. The
problem of the Hierarchy at this time is to produce a wise and
adequate fusion of the Shamballa and the hierarchial energies and
thus temper destruction and bring to the fore the spirit of
construction, setting in motion the building and rehabilitating
forces of the second ray energy.
The Shamballa energy prepares the
way for the energy of the Hierarchy. Thus it has been from the
beginning of time, but the cycles of the Hierarchy, though
relatively frequent, have not coincided with those of Shamballa,
which are rare and infrequent. As time progresses, the impact of the
Shamballa force will be more frequent because men will develop the
power to stand and withstand it . . . .
Now the experiment is being
attempted of permitting man to receive it and its impact, free from
the mediation of the Hierarchy. It may prove a premature and
abortive effort but the issues are not yet determined and the Lord
of Shamballa, with His assistants and with the aid of the watching
Members of the Hierarchy, are not discouraged over the initial
results.
Humanity is responding unexpectedly well... The new
forms are, however, being built and the Shamballa potencies, plus
hierarchical guidance, are working towards ends which are definitely
planned and which are working out favorably.
(The Destiny of the Nations, pp. 18-9)
You have been told that this force has–during this century–made its
first direct impact upon humanity; heretofore, it reached mankind in
the three worlds after being stepped down and modified by transit
through the great planetary centre to which we give the name of the
Hierarchy.
This direct impact will again take place in 1975, and
also in the year 2000, but the risks will then not be so great as in
the first impact, owing to the spiritual growth of mankind. Each
time this energy strikes into the human consciousness some fuller
aspect of the divine plan appears. It is the energy which brings
about synthesis, which holds all things within the circle of the
divine love.
Since its impact during the past few years, human
thinking has been more concerned with the production of unity and
the attainment of synthesis in all human relations than ever before,
and one result of this energy has been the forming of the United
Nations. (The Rays and the Initiations, p. 716)
Cooperation With the Shamballa Force
Two thousand years have gone since Gethsemane and since
Christ made
His initial contact with the Shamballa force, and by this means and
on behalf of humanity established a relationship which even after
two thousand years is but a thin, frail line of connecting energy.
This Shamballa force is nevertheless available for right usage, but
the power to express it lies in its understanding (as far as may be
possible at this midway point in human evolution), and in its group
use. It is a unifying, synthetic force, but can be used as a
regimenting, standardizing force. May I repeat those two key words
to the use of this Shamballa energy: Group Use and Understanding.
Mankind has had much difficulty in comprehending the significance of
Love. If that is so, the problem in relation to the Will will
naturally be still more difficult. For the vast majority of men,
true love is still only a theory. Love (as we usually interpret it)
works out as kindness, but it is kindness to the form side of life,
to the personalities of those around us, and fulfils itself usually
in a desire to carry out our obligations and not to obstruct in any
way those activities and relationships which tend to the well-being
of our fellowmen.
It expresses itself in a desire to end abuses and
to bring about happier, material world conditions; it shows itself
in mother love, in love among friends, but seldom as yet in love
among groups and nations. It is the theme of the Christian teaching,
just as Will, divinely expressed, will be the theme of the coming
world religion, and has been the impulse lying behind much of the
good work done in the fields of philanthropy and human welfare, but
factually, true love has never yet been expressed–except by the
Christ.
You might ask why, if this is so, do you emphasize this highest
aspect? Why not wait until we know more about Love and how to
manifest it in our environment? Because, in its true expression, the
Will today is needed as a propelling, expulsive force, and also as a
clarifying, purifying agent.
(Esoteric Astrology, pp. 581-2)
Three emerging aspects of the Shamballa life, quality and energy:
-
The Will which conditions the life aspect.
-
The Will which brings
fulfillment of right human relations.
-
The Will which finally conquers death.
These three aspects are all related to the three divine expressions
of spirit, soul and body, of life, consciousness and form, of life,
quality and appearance. This phase of Christ's life expression has
never been properly studied, yet even a little grasp and
understanding of it would aid humanity to drive evil (individual,
group and planetary) back to the place from whence it came and would
aid in the release of humanity from the terror which is today
stalking abroad, defying God and man.
The Shamballa energy is, therefore, that which is related to the
livingness (through consciousness and form) of humanity; we need not
consider its relation to the rest of the manifested world; it
concerns the establishing of right human relations and is that
condition of being which eventually negates the power of death. It
is, therefore, incentive and not impulse; it is realized purpose and
not the expression of desire. Desire works from and through the
material form upwards; Will works downwards into form, bending form
consciously to divine purpose.
The one is invocative and the other
is evocative. Desire, when massed and focused, can invoke will;
will, when evoked, ends desire and becomes an immanent, propulsive,
driving force, stabilizing, clarifying, and–among other
things–finally destroying. It is much more than this, but this is
all that man can grasp at this time and all for which he has, as
yet, the mechanism of comprehension.
It is this will–aroused by
invocation–which must be focused in the light of the soul, and
dedicated to the purposes of light and for the purpose of
establishing right human relations which must be used (in love) to
destroy all that is hindering the free flow of human life and that
is bringing death (spiritual and real) to humanity. This Will must
be invoked and evoked. (Ibid., pp. 583-4)
There is only one way in which
focused evil will, with its
responsiveness to the Shamballa force, can be overcome and that is
by the opposition of an equally focused spiritual will, displayed
by responsive men and women of goodwill who can train themselves to
be sensitive to this type of new incoming energy and can learn how
to invoke and evoke it.
You can consequently see why there was more than the casual use of a
current word in my mind when the terms of goodwill and of the
will-to-good were discussed. All the time, I had in my thoughts not
just kindness and good intention, but the focused will-to-good
which can and must evoke the Shamballa energy and use it for the
arresting of the forces of evil.
This, I realize, is a relatively new idea to many of you; to others
of you it will mean little or nothing; others again may have faint
glimmerings of this new approach to God and service which–again I
say–can and must remake, rebuild, and rehabilitate the world. I
would like here to point out that the will aspect can be contacted
only from the mental plane and only those, therefore, who are
working with and through the mind can begin to appropriate this
energy. Those who seek to evoke the Shamballa force are approaching
close to the energy of fire.
Fire is the symbol and the quality of
the mental plane. Fire is an aspect of the divine nature. Fire was
an outstanding aspect of the war. Fire is produced by physical means
and the aid of the mineral kingdom and this was the great menacing
and chosen means of destruction in this war. This is a fulfillment of
the ancient prophecy that the attempt to destroy the Aryan race will
be by means of fire, just as ancient Atlantis was destroyed by
water. But, fiery goodwill and the conscious focused use of the
Shamballa force can counter fire by fire and this must be done.
I cannot give you more upon this subject until you have given time
to its consideration and have sought to understand the use of the
will, its nature, purpose and its relation to what you understand by
the human will. You must ponder upon how it should be employed and
in what manner aspirants and disciples who are mentally polarized
can focus that will and safely shoulder the responsibility for its
wise use. Later when you know more about it, I can give you further
knowledge upon the matter.
I would however like to make one
practical suggestion. Might there not be organized a group who would
take this subject as the theme of their meditation and who would try
to fit themselves by–right understanding–to contact and use the
Shamballa energy? Would it not be possible gradually to elaborate
this theme of the revelation of the divine will so that the general
subject may be ready for presentation to the thinking public when
peace truly comes?
There is much to be considered in this
connection. There is the demonstration of the three aspects of the
will as enumerated above; there is the preparation of the individual
for the expression of this energy; there is a mature consideration
to be given to the relation of the Hierarchy to Shamballa, carried
forward as the Masters attempt to work out divine purpose and to be
the distributing Agents of the will energy.
There is the effort to
be made to comprehend somewhat the nature of the direct impact of
the first aspect upon the human consciousness, apart from the
hierarchical centre altogether–an impact made without any of the
absorbing and stepping-down process to which the Hierarchy subjects
it. I have referred to this direct contact elsewhere; it can be more
direct and complete when there is greater safety brought about by a
more understanding human approach.
(Ibid., pp. 586-8)
Quality and Effect of the Shamballa Force
Three great energies are focused in
Shamballa, the seat of fire:
-
The Energy of Purification:
This is the power, innate in the
manifested universe, which gradually and steadily adapts the
substance aspect to the spiritual by a process which we call
purification, where humanity is concerned. It involves the
elimination of all that hinders the nature of divinity from full
expression . . .
-
The Energy of Destruction:
This is a destruction which removes the
forms which are imprisoning the inner spiritual life, and hiding the
inner soul light. This energy is therefore one of the major aspects
of the purificatory nature of the divine Life . . .Two things must
be borne in mind in connection with the destroyer aspect of Deity
and with those responsible for its appearance:
-
The destructive activity is set in motion through the will of Those
Who constitute the Council at Shamballa and Who are instrumental in
bringing the forms in all the subhuman kingdoms into line with the
evolving purpose. Under cyclic law, this destructive energy comes
into play and destroys the forms of life which prevent divine
expression.
-
It is also brought into activity through the determinations of
humanity itself which–under the Law of Karma–makes man the master of
his own destiny, leading him to initiate those causes which are
responsible for the cyclic events and consequences in human affairs.
There is naturally a close connection between the first
Ray of Will
or Power, the energies concentrated at Shamballa and the Law of
Karma, particularly in its planetary potency and in relation to
advanced humanity... Two factors have, subjectively and
spiritually, precipitated this world crisis: The growth and
development of the human family and (as you have been told) the
inflow of the Shamballa force at this particular time, both as a
result of Karmic law and the planned decision of the Great Council.
-
The Energy of Organization:
This is the energy which set in motion
the activity of the great Ray Lives and started the motivation and
impulse of that which produced manifestation. Thus were the seven
ray qualities brought into expression. The relation of spirit and
matter produced this ordered process which again, cyclically and
under law, creates the manifested world as a field for soul
development and as an area wherein divine purpose is wrought out
through the medium of the plan . . .
It is these three energies which have precipitated the world crisis,
and it is helpful for us to recognize the factual nature of the
Shamballa forces as they play upon our planetary life and work out
human destiny. (The Rays and the Initiations, pp. 84-6)
Light can be regarded as a symptom, a reaction to the meeting and
consequent fusion of spirit and matter.
Therefore, where that great point of fusion and of solar crisis (for
that is what it is, even when producing a planetary crisis) appears
in time and space, light also immediately appears and of such
intensity that only those who know the light of the soul, and who
can bear the hierarchical light can be trained to enter into and
form part of the light of Shamballa and walk in those "radiant halls
where move the Lights which carry out the Will of God."
To carry the concept a little nearer home: only when the will of the
personality and the will of the soul come together–evoked by
love–does the light of the soul dominate the material light of the
personality. This is a statement of importance. Only when the will
of the Monad and the will of the Hierarchy of souls meet and blend
in the "upper brackets" (if I may use such a modern business phrase)
can the radiant light of Life dominate the blended lights of
Humanity and of the Hierarchy. Faintly this group fusion and
junction can be seen to be taking place.
It is also the first touch of the radiance of
Shamballa which is
bringing the universal revelation of evil, a radiance which is now
producing the world unrest and which has brought about the lining up
of good and evil; this touch of radiance is the conditioning factor
behind what is called post-war planning and the ideas of
reconstruction and of world rebuilding which are dominating the best
human thinking at this time.
It should be carefully borne in mind that evil (cosmic evil or the
source of planetary evil) is much closer to Shamballa than it is to
Humanity. The Great Lives there move entirely free from glamour;
Their vision is one of extreme simplicity; They are concerned only
with the great and simple duality of spirit and matter, and not with
the many forms which the fusion of these two brings into being. The
domination of spirit (and its reflection, soul) by matter is what
constitutes evil and this is true whether the statement is applied
to the development of the individual or of the group.
The "Lights
which carry out the will of God" move free from the spell of evil.
The Light in which They move safeguards Them, and Their Own innate
and inherent radiance repels evil. But They "move alongside the evil
to which all lesser forms are prone"; They are part of a great
observing Group which "moves forward in time and space"; its members
watch the great war and conflict proceed on Earth between the Forces
of Light and the Forces of Evil. They have let loose upon Earth the
Forces of Light, whilst the Forces of Evil are inherent in substance
itself–of which all the many forms of life are constructed.
At this time, the work of the
Great Council at Shamballa, working
until now through the Hierarchy, is with the life within the form;
They have to proceed with the utmost caution as They thus work,
because these Lights know that the danger of premature direct
contact with humanity, and of consequent over-stimulation, are great.
One of the causes of the present cataclysm is the fact that humanity
was deemed capable of taking and receiving a "touch from Shamballa,"
without stepping it down via the Hierarchy, as has hitherto been the
custom.
The determination to apply this touch (which is in the
nature of a great experiment) was made in 1825, when the Great
Council had its usual centennial meeting. The results you know; they
are working out before your eyes. The industrial movement began to
take shape one hundred years ago and received a great impetus from
this touch. The evil in nations aggression, greed, intolerance and
hate was aroused as never before, and two world wars occurred, one
of which is still raging.
Paralleling this was an uprising of good,
again in response to the divine "touch," resulting in the growth of
understanding, the spread of idealism, the purification of our
educational systems and the inauguration of reforms in every
department of human life. All has been speeded up and little such
growth was seen on a worldwide scale prior to 1825. The knowledge of
the Hierarchy is also spreading over the earth; the facts anent
discipleship and initiation are becoming common property; humanity
has consequently moved onward into a greater measure of light.
Good
and evil stand out in clearer focus; light and dark are in a more
brilliant juxtaposition; issues of right and wrong are appearing
with cleared definition, and humanity as a whole sees the great
problems of righteousness and love, of sin and separateness upon a
worldwide scale. (Ibid., pp. 143-6)
Back to Contents
Group Use and Understanding
Two keywords to the use of the Shamballa energy: group use and
understanding. (Esoteric Astrology, p. 581)
Group Initiation
The initiate has ever been. The divine Son of God has ever known
himself for what he is. An initiate is not the result of the
evolutionary process. He is the cause of the evolutionary process.
(The Rays and the Initiations, p. 61)
The work now being done by Shamballa and the Hierarchy on behalf of
humanity will tend also to develop group consciousness and the
formation of many groups which will be living organisms and not
organizations; it will make group initiation possible, and will
enable certain aspects of the will to flower forth correctly and
with safety. (Ibid., p. 95)
Group initiation means that the bulk of the members are correctly
oriented; that they are proposing to accept the discipline which
will prepare them for the next great expansion of consciousness, and
that none of them can possibly be deviated from their purpose (note
that word with its first ray or Shamballic implications), no matter
what is happening in their environment or their personal life. You
need to reflect on this if you desire to make the needed progress.
(Ibid., p. 36)
Approaching this subject from another angle, the mental
polarization
of the disciple seeking entry into the hierarchical sphere of work
is producing a unification of initiatory effort which is new in the
spiritual history of the planet and which is the first step being
taken at this time upon inner and subtle planes to bring about
certain great "Crises of Initiation," involving simultaneously all
the three major planetary centers–a thing hitherto unknown.
Up to
1875, initiation was a sequential process as well as largely an
individual process. This is slowly being changed; groups are being
admitted to initiation because of a recognized and sensed
relationship which is not that of disciple and Master (as
heretofore), but which is based on initiate-relationship in group
form, and which is present between Humanity, the Hierarchy and
Shamballa. It is this spiritual and subtly sensed relationship which
is today finding physical plane expression in the worldwide effort
to establish right human relations.
(Discipleship in the New Age, Vol. II, pp. 351-2)
The Fourteen Rules for Group Initiation are "Rules or Formulas of
Approach", primarily concerned with the Shamballa or life aspect and
. . . the expression of the will aspect . . . They deal with the unfoldment of group consciousness, because it is only in group
formation that, as yet, the Shamballa force of the will can be
tapped . . . Only the group, under the proposed new made of working
and group initiation, is capable of invoking Shamballa.
(The Rays and the Initiations, p. 35)
The Group Will
It is these changes in the "moving, shifting realities" of the soul
consciousness and spiritual awareness of the Members of the
Hierarchy which are responsible for the new trends in the life of
the Spirit and the new methods in training disciples–in such an
experiment, for instance, as externalizing the Ashrams of the
Masters. It is this new approach to life conditions, as a result of
the inflow of new energies, which is producing the universal trend
towards group awareness, and its highest result in the human family
is the taking the first steps towards group initiation.
Such a thing
as group initiation was never heard of prior to the present time,
except in connection with the higher initiations emanating from the Shamballa centre. Group initiation is based upon a uniform and
united group will, consecrated towards the service of humanity and
based upon loyalty, cooperation and interdependence.
(Ibid., p. 17)
The group recognizes and works under the pervasive influence of the
purpose; the individual initiate works with the plan. The group
expression, as far as in it lies at any given moment in time and
space, is in line with the will of the One in Whom we live and move
and have our being, the Life of all that is . . .The group can be,
and frequently is, responsive to the "bright centre," Shamballa,
where the initiate by himself and in his own essential identity
cannot so respond.
The individual must be protected by the group
from the terrific potencies which emanate from Shamballa. These must
be stepped down for him by the process of distribution, so that
their impact is not focused in any one or all of his centers but is
shared by all the group members. Here is the clue to the
significance of group work. One of its major functions, esoterically
speaking, is to absorb, share, circulate, and then distribute
energy. (Ibid., p. 68)
A group of disciples must be distinguished, as I already told you,
by pure reason which will steadily supersede motive, merging
eventually into the will aspect of the Monad, its major aspect. It
is, technically speaking, Shamballa in direct relation with
Humanity.
-
What, therefore, is the group will in any ashram or
Master's group?
-
Is it present in any form vital enough to condition
the group relations and to unite all into a band of brothers–moving
forward into the light?
-
Is the spiritual will of the individual
personalities of such strength that it negates the personality
relation and leads to spiritual recognition, spiritual interplay and
spiritual relation?
It is only in consideration of these fundamental
effects of standing as a group in the "head's clear light" that it
is permissible for a disciple to bring into the picture personal
sensitivities of thought, and this only because of a group temporary
limitation. (Discipleship in the New Age, Vol. II, pp. 6-7)
1. The Monad relates the initiate to the Will of God, to the Council
at Shamballa, to forces active on the planet Pluto, and on another
planet which must remain nameless, and also to the Central Spiritual
Sun.
2. The Soul relates the initiate to the Love of God, to the
consciousness aspect of Deity, to the Hierarchy as a whole, entering
it through the Ashram of the Master Who has aided him to take
initiation, to the planets Venus and Mercury, to the Sun Sirius, and
to the Heart of the Sun.
3. The Personality relates the initiate to the Mind of God, to the
intelligence principle of the planetary Life, to humanity as a
whole, to Saturn and Mars, and to the physical Sun through its
pranic aspect.
4. The Life aspect of the planet, or that great ocean of forces in
which all these three aspects live and move and have their being,
relates the initiate to that Life which works out through Shamballa,
through the Hierarchy and through Humanity, thus forming part of the
great sum-total of manifestation.
(The Rays and the Initiations, pp. 96-7)
As the individual disciple builds the rainbow bridge, the
antahkarana, and as a group of disciples build the group antahkarana,
they make possible the "Triadal perception" . . . When the disciple
has flung one strand of living light (through the power of magnetic
love) across the space separating the Triad and the personality, he
discovers that he is a part of a group. This group
recognition–faulty and unintelligently expressed at first–is the
factor which enables him to pass, along the anchored thread, into
the Ashram of a Master.
From the angle of the old teaching, the
Ashram of the Master and the
focus of the Hierarchy were on the higher levels of the mental
plane. Today, that is not so. They are on the plane of spiritual
love, of the intuition and of buddhi. The Hierarchy is both
retreating towards the higher centre of Shamballa, and at the same
time advancing towards the lower centre, Humanity.
Both these
activities have been made possible by man himself; the growing
intuitive perception of humanity, in its higher brackets, enables
him to function upon the Path of Discipleship and on higher levels
than ever before. This the Hierarchy recognizes. The growing
aspiration of the masses is also drawing the Masters closer to
humanity than ever before. This is an instance of the ability of the
initiate consciousness to function on initiate levels and also in
the three worlds simultaneously.
Of this the dual activity of the
mind is a symbol, acting as it does as the common sense and so
dealing with all matters in the three worlds, and as the spiritual
mind at the same time, dealing with all matters connected with the
soul, with light and illumination.
The second demand, that the sense of synthesis should be the goal of
the training given to applicants in the New Age, is a direct
evidence of the new Shamballa contact, because synthesis is an
attribute of the divine will and the outstanding quality of Deity.
It was inevitable that intelligence and love should be evolutionary
objectives on the planet and the first two divine aspects to be
developed, for they are qualities of the will; they make the
manifestation of the divine will possible; they guarantee its
intelligent application and its magnetic power to draw to itself all
that is needed for the expression or the manifestation of the divine
envisaged purpose, visualized synthetically, and motivated,
implemented, engineered and made possible by the dynamic aspect of
the same will.
It is interesting to note that there is every evidence in the world
today that the Shamballa energy is directly impinging upon the human
consciousness and directly producing results. The destroyer aspect
of the first Ray of Will or Power is producing worldwide destruction
through the use of the first kingdom in nature, the mineral kingdom.
That which is made of metals and chemicals is bringing catastrophe
and destruction on earth, primarily in the human kingdom.
At the
same time the second attribute of the will, synthesis, is evoking an
equally widespread response. This sense of synthesis has a mass
effect earlier than it has an individual effect, and this is a thing
of interest and importance to note at this time. Later, the dynamism
inherent in the will, wielded by the New Group of World Servers and
by the disciples and initiates of the world, will turn that
instinctive mass response into factual experience and produce the
"appearance" on earth of the new, developed "quality" which "life"
seeks in the New Age to demonstrate.
In the first volume of this
Treatise, I called attention to the three divine aspects: Life,
Quality and Appearance. They are now in process of making their
appearance in final form for this particular cycle.
(Ibid., pp. 119-20)
Mankind has evolved so well that today the goals and theories, the
aims and determinations now expressed in human thinking and writing
showed that the will aspect of divinity, in its first embryonic
manifestation, was beginning to make its presence felt.
Have you
followed this hint?
Have you realized that the uprisings of the
masses and their determination to overcome handicaps and all
hindrances to a better world state are indicative of this?
Do you
grasp the fact that the revolutions of the past two hundred years
are signs of the striving of the spirit aspect?
That spirit is life
and will; the world today is showing signs of new life. Think this
out in its modern and immediate implications and see the way that
the world is going under the inspiration of the spiritual Will.
(Discipleship in the New Age, Vol. II, p. 278)
Group Training
What are some of these newer truths for which I am responsible as
transmitting agent to the world of occult students? Let me briefly
state them in the order of their relative importance:
1. The Teaching on Shamballa. Little has ever been given on this
subject. Only the name was known. This teaching includes:
a. Information as to the nature of the will aspect. b. Indications as to the underlying purposes of Sanat Kumara. c. Directions as to the building of the antahkarana, which is the
first step towards achieving monadic consciousness, and thus the
first step towards the Way of the Higher Evolution.
2. The Teaching on the New Discipleship. This has been revolutionary
where the older schools of occultism are concerned . . .
3. The Teaching on the Seven Rays . . .
4. The Teaching on the new Astrology . . .
5. Information about the
New Group of World Servers and their work .
. .
6. The attempt to form an exoteric branch of the inner Ashrams. This
is evidenced in the work I have done with a special group of
aspirants and accepted disciples whose instructions, emanating from
my Ashram, have been embodied in the book Discipleship in the New
Age.
7. Teaching upon the new world religion, with its emphasis upon the
three major Full Moon periods (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, falling
usually in April, May and June respectively) and the nine
(occasionally ten) minor Full Moons each year.
(The Rays and the Initiations, pp. 251-4)
It is hard for esoteric students to
realize that the emphasis of the
coming Schools of Enlightenment will be upon the life aspect, and
not upon contact with the soul. The goal will be transference and
not union. Aspirants and disciples today are largely the result of
the old order of teaching and are the flower of the processes to
which humanity has been subjected.
This is a vital transition
period; disciples and aspirants in the world at this time are,
figuratively speaking, at the same stage as the group which we are
considering–the stage of the transference of the life from the outer
form into the inner being. Hence the difficulty with which you are
all faced, and the arduous task it is to comprehend realistically
that which I am attempting to convey.
The problem of soul contact is
something which you can and do grasp, at least theoretically. The
problem of life transference from the highest point of present
attainment into some vague and mystical spiritual focus is not so
easy to understand. (Ibid., pp. 221-2)
The individual disciple, seeking initiation, is with deliberation
and with his full and free consent merged into the group; he
achieves this fusion by his own individual effort and is (throughout
the entire process) an absolutely free agent, moving forward and
becoming mentally inclusive, as rapidly or as slowly as he chooses.
He determines the time and the event himself without interference or
obstruction from any outside force.
This is the relatively new spiritual technique, and it is a
technique accepted by initiates and disciples of all degrees in all
three divine centers. (Discipleship in the New Age, Vol. II, p. 353)
The stage of recognizing the revelation which is accorded to the
initiate of the major Mysteries is itself divided into lesser
phases. These might be described as three in number though much is
dependent upon the initiation to be taken and the ray of the
prepared disciple. These are:
1. The Stage of Penetration
This refers to the piercing through the
world glamour and thereby effecting two objectives:
a. The Light of the Spiritual Triad streams into the consciousness
of the initiate, via the antahkarana, so that the Plan for humanity
and the divine Purpose in relation to the planet become increasingly
clear. This initiates relation to Shamballa.
b. Part of the world glamour is thus dissipated and thus a
clarifying of the astral plane takes place and humanity is
consequently served. Every disciple who arrives at a recognition of
the initiate-revelation releases light and dissipates a part of the
glamour which blinds the mass of men. The sixth ray disciple takes
far longer over this stage of penetration than do disciples on the
other rays but only in this world cycle.
2. The Stage of Polarization
This is the stage wherein the
initiate, having let in the light and penetrated through the dense
fogs and mists of the world of glamour, suddenly realizes just what
he has done and takes a firm stand, correctly oriented towards the
vision (or to word it otherwise towards Shamballa). One of the
things which must be grasped is that as the initiate is a point of
hierarchical life (either on the periphery of the Hierarchy, or
within the circle or at the centre) he is a definite part of the
hierarchical effort.
That effort is directed towards an orientation
to the greater centre of life–Shamballa. Students are apt to believe
that the orientation of the Hierarchy is towards humanity. That is
not so. They respond to human need when the demand is effective, and
are custodians of the Plan; but the orientation of the entire
hierarchical group is towards the first aspect, as it expresses the
Will of the Logos and manifests through Shamballa.
Just as the
disciple has to do two things: polarize his position by establishing
right human relations and at the same time become a conscious,
practicing member of the Kingdom of God, the Hierarchy, so the
initiate upon a higher turn of the spiral has to establish right
relations with the Hierarchy and become simultaneously conscious of
Shamballa.
All I can impart here is the desired point of attainment but the
phraseology is relatively meaningless, except to those who are
experienced in the processes of initiation to a greater or less
degree, according to the initiations already taken. This
polarization, this point of focused effort and this attained
orientation is the basic idea lying behind the phrase "the Mountain
of Initiation." The initiate "plants his feet upon the mountain top
and from that point of altitude perceives the thought of God,
visions the dream within the Mind of God, follows God's eye from
central point to outer goal and sees himself as all that is and yet
within the whole."
3. The Stage of Precipitation
Having thus identified himself
through penetration and polarization with the Plan and with the Will
of God (which is the key to Shamballa), he then proceeds–as a result
of this triple recognition–to do his share in materializing the Plan
and in bringing through into outer manifestation and expression as
much of that Plan as he can. He thus becomes first of all an outpost
of the Hierarchy (which of necessity means sensitivity to the
Shamballa energy), and then increasingly an Agent of Light–the Light
universal, or the Light of the Monad.
I have no more to say today an end initiation. Ponder upon that which
I have given and grasp as far as you imaginatively can the
magnificence of the initiatory process–so vastly more inclusive than
has been indicated by any of the teaching given hitherto. After the
war is over and the new world, with its coming civilization and
culture begins to take shape, an increasing emphasis will be laid
upon the purpose of the Controlling Deity or basic Life or Energy as
it is working out through humanity.
This will be done by those who
are trained esotericists. Much that is now being said by world
leaders and serving workers in every nation is an indication of an
unconscious response to the Shamballa energy. Towards the end of the
century and during the first few decades of the twenty-first
century, teaching anent Shamballa will be given forth.
The effort of
the abstract mind of man will be towards the comprehension of this,
just as the goal of hierarchical contact marks the present effort of
the disciple. Glamour is disappearing; illusions are being
dissipated; the stage of penetration into a new dimension, into a
new phase of effort and of attainment is rapidly being promulgated.
This is being done in spite of all the horror and agony and will be
one of the first results of respite from war. The war itself is
shattering illusions, revealing the need for change and producing a
demand for a future new world and a coming beauty in living which
will be revolutionary and a material response to an intensive
initiation process in which all disciples can share and for which
advanced aspirants can prepare themselves.
(Discipleship in the New Age, Vol. II, pp. 259-62)
The secret of the higher initiations lies in the trained use of the
higher will. It does not lie in purification or in self-discipline
or in any of the expedients which have acted in the past as
interceptors of the truth. This whole problem of the Shamballic will
is in process of revelation, and will eventually alter the entire
approach of the disciple in the New Age to initiation. The theme of
"the Way into Shamballa" requires reflective study and esoteric
understanding.
In this concept of the new and future section (if I
may so call it) of the Way or Path with which the modern disciple is
faced lies the secret of the coming revelation and of the spiritual
dispensation which will emerge as humanity constructs the new world
civilization and begins to formulate the new culture. The burning,
purifying, destructive effects of the monadic will upon its
distorted reflection, the individual will, deeply deserves
consideration. (The Rays and the Initiations, p. 30)
Will governs the Way into Shamballa and is the foundation for all
approach to, appreciation of and identification with, Being.
(Ibid., p. 46)
There are three doors into Shamballa, speaking figuratively:
1. There is the door of the reason, of pure perception of truth.
Christ gave the clue to this teaching when He said "I am the Way,
the Truth and the Life." Of that Way we know much, because upon the
Way a vast body of teaching has been given, and that teaching, if
followed, brings a man into the Hierarchy. He then becomes a factual
part of the hierarchical membership. Of that Truth, we know (as
aspirants) relatively very little.
Truth–as we understand it during
the early treading of the Path of Discipleship–is concerned with
great verities which are (from the insight of the Enlightened Ones)
only the a b c of life. These truths are:
a. The manifestation of divinity on the physical plane.
b. The doctrine of Avatars. This religious history reveals.
c. The nature of consciousness, through the development of
psychology.
d. The doctrine of the Trinity, as it expresses itself through the
aspects and the attributes.
These four expressions of truth will be found to convey all the
knowledge with which the initiate must stand equipped when he climbs
the Mount of Transfiguration at the time of the third initiation.
They have given him a spiritual perception of the Plan.
Of that Life, we know nothing whatsoever. The contemplation of its
significance belongs to Those Who can move at will within the
"precincts of the Lord of Life"–in Shamballa itself. All we can know
about it is its lowest step. This enables us to study the impulse or
instinct which enables all forms of life to function, which embodies
the principles of responsiveness to contacts and to environment, and
which embodies itself in the breath of life; this is also related to
the air in some mysterious manner, and also to fire. More anent this
subject it would be useless for me to say.
There is also the door of the will. This is a penetrating power
which relates Plan to Purpose and which has in it the faculty of
coherent persistence. The reason for this persistence is that it is
not dependent upon the content of the form–whether it is the form of
an atom, of a man or of a planet–but upon a vital dynamic and
immutable purpose, latent in the consciousness of the planetary
Being Who, "having pervaded this entire universe with a fragment" of
Himself, REMAINS–greater, more inscrutable and "firmer in intent"
than any of His creations, even the most advanced and the closest to
Him.
Only those have clear perception of His divine purpose who do
not belong to our earth humanity at all; these are the Lives who
came with Him to this planet when He came, and Who remain with Him
as "the prisoners of loving intention" until the last "weary pilgrim
has found his way home."
This spiritual will is something of which humanity knows nothing; it
is hidden and veiled by the self-will of the individual and the
group will of the soul. Through both of these experiences the human
being moves until his individual will is developed and grounded,
focused and reoriented, and his group will is unfolded so that it
includes and swallows up the dedicated, conscious, individual will.
When this fusion has taken place (at the third initiation) a great
revelation unfolds itself, and for the first time the initiate
senses and then contacts the universal will; from that moment the
initiate says, "Father, not my will but Thine be done." Just a
little of what that will includes may emerge as we study this
seventh rule and some of the succeeding rules.
I can find no words to express the nature of the third door. Let us,
in default of a better term, call it the door of the monadic sense
of essential duality. Body and life, soul and personality, the
Spiritual Triad and its expression, the Christ in incarnation all
these dualities have played their part. Man has passed from one
expansion of consciousness to another.
Now he comes to the final
duality of spirit and matter, prior to their resolution into
something to which the terms "isolated unity" and "universal
synthesis" give only faint and inadequate clues. To the development
of this system of identification the initiate of the degree of
Master of the Wisdom, and also (on a higher turn of the spiral) of
the degree of the Christ, are focusing all Their efforts. Up to the
fourth initiation, the term "system of expansions" would seem
illuminating; after that great initiation, the term "system of
identification" would appear more appropriate.
When the initiate has passed through the three doors, symbolically
speaking, he then faces all life, all events, all
pre-determinations, all wisdom, all activity and all that the future
may hold of service and progress from the angle of the pure reason
(infallible and immutable), of true spiritual will (completely
identified with the purpose of the planetary Logos), and of the
highest possible focused relation.
The mystery of relationship
becomes revealed to him. Then the entire scheme of evolution and of
the intention of the One in Whom he lives and moves and has his
being becomes clear to him; he has no more to learn within this
planetary scheme; he has become universal in his attitude to all
forms of life, and is also identified with the "isolated unity" of
Sanat Kumara.
Few of the great Lives Who form the inner group of the
Council Chamber at Shamballa are now of greater advancement than he;
the "Supernal Three," the "Radiant Seven," the "Lives embodying the
forty-nine Fires," the "Buddhas of Activity," and certain "Eternal
Spirits" from such centers of dynamic spiritual life as Sirius, or
from the constellation which at any one time forms a triangle with
our Sun and Sirius" and a Representative from Venus are of
greater–far greater–advancement.
Otherwise, all initiates of the
sixth degree, and a few of the Masters Who have undergone
specialized training because They are upon the first Ray of Will or
Power (the ray conditioning Shamballa itself), form part of the
Great Council. Many Masters and Chohans, however, after serving upon
the planet in various capacities, working with the Law of Evolution,
pass out of our planetary life altogether.
(Ibid., pp. 139-42)
The clue to all this esoteric work demanded by
Shamballa is to be
found in the development of the Art of Visualization. Through
visualization, three expressions of the human consciousness will
become possible.
1. The antahkarana can be built and the shining of the Triad be
definitely seen. Such will be the new vision–an outcome of the
development of the sense of vision.
2. Groups, large wholes and major syntheses will also be
visualized,
and this will lead to a definite expansion of consciousness. Thus
the sense of synthesis will be unfolded.
3. All creative art will be fostered by this training, and the new
art of the future in all departments of creativity will be rapidly
developed as the training proceeds. The unfoldment of the sense of
vision and of the sense of synthesis, through visualization, will
lead to a sense of livingness in form.
(Ibid., p. 123)
Initiation can now be taken in group form; this is something
entirely new in the work of the Hierarchy. Not one by one do
candidates stand before the Initiator, but many so stand
simultaneously. Together they can think in complete accord; together
they are tested, and together they reach the "point of triumph"
which supersedes the "point of tension"; together they see the "Star
shine forth," and together the energy emanating from the Rod of
Initiation fits them for the reception of specialized energy, to be
later used in their future world service.
This group approach, this
group intention, this "group silent reticence and vocal
recognition," and this group dedication and vision are no longer in
the experimental stage. This group achievement (I refer not here to
your particular group which has not been outstandingly successful)
marks the point where there can be the inauguration of a new phase
of activity in Shamballa. This will enable the Lord of the World to
become the Ruler of a Sacred Planet which, up to date, has not been
the case.
Our Earth can now become a Sacred Planet, if all right
conditions are fulfilled. A new divine quality (as yet unrevealed
and which we would not at this time recognize if presented with it)
is slowly crystallizing into expression, through the medium of this
hastened initiation process.
Disciples are today witnessing the
emergence of a solar characteristic, through the medium of their
planetary Logos, just as the "Lives of similar Intention"–as it is
esoterically called–witnessed it many aeons ago. It is to this
unknown and mysterious quality that the "shining forth" of the Star
refers. (Discipleship in the New Age, Vol. II, pp. 325-6)
. . . There is naught in the world of Shamballa which is of the same
nature as the phenomenal world of man in the three worlds, or even
of the soul world. It is a world of pure energy, of light and of
directed force; it can be seen as streams and centers of force, all
forming a pattern of consummate beauty, all potently invocative of
the world of the soul and of the world of phenomena; it therefore
constitutes in a very real sense the world of causes and of
initiation. (Ibid., pp. 292-3
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