Study Set V
The Seven Centers of Energy
Contents
Seed Thought
Reading Assignment
Written Work to be Completed and Mailed
Letter from the Teaching Staff
The Tibetan Defines Esotericism
The Seven Centers of Force
The Fundamental Centers
The Seven Centers of Energy
The Centers and Corresponding Categories
SEED THOUGHT
Three things the Pilgrim must avoid. The wearing of a hood, the veil
which hides his face from others; the carrying of a water pot which only holds enough for
his own wants; the shouldering of a staff without a crook to hold. |
Reading Assignment:
SEVEN RAYS Vol. I, pages 311-357
Vol. II, pages: 520-555
WRITTEN WORK
1. Describe what you mean by living the spiritual life
twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
2. What effect does attempting to live the spiritual life have
upon one's family and close friends?
3. So much happens to a person within the family circle. It is
seldom realized how valuable to future achievement is the wide range of experience
provided by family life.
Family life is one of the finest training grounds for discipleship
and for the Great Service of membership in an Ashram.
What traits of character, what sensitivities and abilities that
distinguish the disciple are developed in family relationships and family living?
Your observations should include more than your present personal
situation, because one's present situation accounts for only a fraction of the souls
experience through many lifetimes.
Dear Fellow Student,
This study set and the ones that-follow contain a wealth of study
material that will not be fully assimilated at once. The form in which this material
presented here is extremely well organized. We hope you are filing all your study sets
carefully(perhaps in ringed notebooks) for continued use for many years. The form of this
material is part of the "field of knowledge" which you enter and explore by the
use of your lower mind as you apply your mind to study.
The expansion of consciousness which opens up to
the student as he relates esoteric knowledge to his observations and experiences in the
daily life, is the result of aligning the mind with the soul, through meditation.
Knowledge applied to living becomes wisdom. And wisdom comes from the eons. Wisdom is one
of the soul's powers. Esoteric training is far more concerned with the development of
wisdom, than with the accumulation of knowledge.
The wise student absorbs as much of the presented material as he can
relate, practically and realistically, to his present experience -- both his outer
experience in the daily contacts with other people, and his inner
experience of reaching more deeply into the world of meaning, and of broadening
his understanding of all he sees and touches. Those portions of the presented material
which seem to hold no practical value at this time, he plants like seeds
in the soil of his consciousness later, perhaps much later, when his expanded field of
service requires more knowledge of the laws and principles and energies that compose the
whole of life, he will discover that the seeds of learning previously planted have been
growing; when he returns his attention to them, he finds them more understandable and
probably more interesting.
We tend to associate wisdom in our thinking with the elderly, and
reasonably so, for much living and a wide range of experience in a variety of living
condition are required to enable the soul in incarnation to transform knowledge, which it
gains via its triple instrument, into wisdom which is the expression of the soul's innate
point of view. Thus it used to be that serious esoteric training that was undertaken only
in the latter half of an individual's life. It was not considered wise to introduce a
young person to the deeper levels of teaching or to the meditation work that enables one
to consciously control and employ one's own emotional and mental equipment in creative
endeavor under the soul's direction. There was a time when the disciple in training was
obliged to first fulfill his duty to family and then to achieve some success as a man of
affairs, in order to earn the karmic right to remove his attention and himself from the
affairs of society, retreat to some secluded spot, and devote his whole effort to the
meditative disciplines.
Today changes are occurring in the esoteric training field. Changes
are apparent in human nature too. And we know from our studies that energies of a new kind
are pouring into our planetary life.
Today young people are displaying intelligent interest in esoteric
literature. When this interest is combined with sincere interest in the public welfare and
compassionate concern for the plight of the underprivileged and the have-nots, and when
the young enquirer evidences a sense of responsibility for the wise care of his own form
nature the door into esoteric training opens to his knock.
Today as always, meditation requires periods of solitude,
and a place where privacy is not likely to be disturbed. But today,
unlike earlier times, a place of undisturbed privacy in the home and adequate periods of
solitude must be arranged by the meditator in the very midst of family life and in the
noise and turmoil of large cities. These arrangements must be made by each and every
serious student of meditation; and made without violating the principle of occult
reticence.
If the student lives in a crowded house, or his family includes
small children, or if the other members of the family do not share his high regard for
esoteric subjects, the student of meditation is obliged to use an unusual amount of tact
and ingenuity, and probably some self denial as well. To tell a small child to "go
away and be quiet while Mommy (or Daddy) talks to God" is hardly fair to the child,
and is quite unlikely to make God a beloved part of the child's world. No, the practice of
the group disciplines must be managed without calling the family's attention to one's
spiritual efforts, and without interfering with the performance of one's family duty.
The esoteric student who undertakes serious systematic meditation in
his twenties or thirties must be prepared to do so simultaneously with maintaining a
household and rearing a family, along with finding and filling his place (vocationally,
socially, culturally) in the community. He should be equipped with skill and sensitivity
in human relations, and the strength of character to pursue his own inner life
quietly, in order to be able to arrange a time and place within his home where he
is free to meditate and study and think constructively without bothering other
members of the household in any way whatsoever. Ideally, they should not even be
aware that he entertains interests which they do not share.
The details of making the necessary arrangements in the home vary
with each student. For most of us, it means rising an hour earlier in the morning and
making some personal sacrifice to adjust to others' dally routines. This is asking a great
deal of young people. Yet young people are entering the field of esoteric training and
accomplishing all these things. Young people are coming into Arcana already equipped with
the mental poise and emotional stability to undertake rather early in life what the
Tibetan calls the "dual life of the disciple". It marks a new advance for the
spiritual late of the planet.
Once the student has made the necessary interpersonal arrangements
within the home to provide a time and place for his daily meditation and study, and once
his spiritual training is well under way, his family and his other daily associates are
the first to benefit from his spiritual unfoldment. His deepening understanding of
conditions around him, the irradiating of his personality with the light and love of the
soul, the organization of his thoughtline, the sweetening and steadying of his emotional
life, his economy and effectiveness of speech, his increased efficiency in all physical
plane activities -- all these results of meditation become a blessing to all people around
him before he is aware of the changes and improvements in himself. A soul in full command
of its personality instrument is easier and more delightful to live and work with than is
a personality running wild.
The meditator benefits too, even though his purpose in learning to
be an expert meditator is not self interest or personal gain. The student who is learning
to sense and follow the daily direction of the soul and whose main incentive to effort is
his desire to help humanity upon its evolutionary way, finds that his daily life is less
perplexing and less complicated than the life of the ordinary person. He sees things in
proper proportion and true perspective. His days and his energies are not consumed by
trivialities, nor does he waste himself on dead-end by-paths. Rather, by the light of his
own soul, he sees the direction of humanitys progress, and points his whole effort
in that direction. He is the joyous daily realization that to serve the common good is to
be sustained and uplifted by the on-moving current of the One Life. This is pure
wisdom.
As we remarked earlier in this letter, such wisdom is usually not
expected of youth. Yet today -- such is the evolutionary progress of humanity in response
to hierarchical guidance -- a few young people are displaying the ability to shoulder
family responsibility simultaneously with spiritual responsibility. If perchance you are
such a one, these observations are here offered for your encouragement. If on the other
hand you are approaching, or already enjoying the wisdom years, we urge you to be ready to
recognize young people in your own environment who may be destined to carry the burden of
discipleship work, and to aid them according to the promptings of the soul.
From the souls perspective youth and age alternate in rhythmic
repetition is advancing all of us toward wiser and more capable application of the
Teaching.
Your loving companions,
The Staff of ARCANA
THE TIBETAN DEFINES ESOTERICISM
ESOTERICISM defined by the Tibetan, for a training
group in 1948.
It might be of service to you
if I attempted to define
esotericism in terms of the general average intelligence of students and their point in
evolution. I would remind you that true esotericism is a far deeper thing (from the angle
of the Hierarchy) than you can appreciate.
One of the most inadequate of the definitions is that it concerns
that which is concealed and hidden and which, even though suspected, still remains
unknown. The inference is that to be an esotericist is to be among those who seek to
penetrate into a certain secret realm to which the ordinary student in not permitted to
penetrate. If this were all it is, then every scientist and every mystic would represent
the approach to the world of esotericism and the hidden realities. This would not,
however, be accurate. The mystic is never a true esotericist for he is not dealing in his
consciousness with energies and forces but with that vague "Something other,"
called God, the Christ, the Beloved, and, therefore, in reality with that which satisfies
the hunger of his soul. The scientist who is now so rapidly dealing with and entering into
the world of forces and energies, is in reality a true esotericist -- even if, in his
effort to control the sought for energies, he denies their Source. That is of relatively
small moment; later, he will recognize their emanating Source.
The basic approach for all who endeavor to grasp esotericism
is to lay the emphasis upon the world of energies and to recognize that behind all
happenings in the world of phenomena (and by that, I mean the three worlds of human
evolution) exists the world of energies; these are of the greater diversity and
complexity, but all of them move and work under the Law of Cause and Effect. It is hardly
necessary for me, therefore, to indicate to you the very practical nature of this
definition and its applicability to the life of the individual aspirant, to community life
and world affairs or to the immediate conditioning levels of spiritual experimental
energies which are constantly seeking impact upon, or contact with, the world of
phenomena. This they do in order, under spiritual direction, to implement the Plan.
The above statement is foundational in its importance; al1 other definitions are implicit
in it and it is the first important truth anent esotericism which must be learnt and
applied by each aspirant to the mystery and the universality of that which moves the
worlds and underlies the evolutionary process.
The first task of the esotericist is to comprehend the nature of the
energies which are seeking to condition him and which work out into expression on the
physical plane through the medium of his equipment or his vehicles of manifestation. The
esoteric student has, therefore, to grasp that:
1. He is an aggregate of forces, inherited and conditioned by what
he has been, plus a great antagonistic force which is not a principle and which we call
the physical body.
2. He is sensitive to and should be increasingly aware of certain
energies, at present unknown and of no use to him; of these, he must eventually become
aware, it he is to move deeper into the world of hidden forces. They may be energies
which, for him, would be evil were he to work with them and these must be distinguished
and discarded; there are others which he must learn to use, for they would prove
beneficial and would increase his knowledge and should, therefore, be regarded as good.
Bear in mind, however, that energies per se are neither bad nor good. The Great White
Lodge, our spiritual Hierarchy, and the Black Lodge employ the same universal energies but
with different motives and objectives; both groups are groups of trained esotericists.
The esotericist in training has, therefore:
1. To become aware of the nature of the forces which constitute his
personality equipment and which he himself magnetically brought into expression in the
three worlds. They form a combination of active forces; he must learn to differentiate
between strictly physical energy which is automatic in its response to other and inner
energies, and those which come from emotional and mental levels of consciousness,
focussing through the etheric body which, in turn, motivates and galvanizes his dense
physical vehicle into certain activities.
2. To become sensitive to the impelling energies of the soul,
emanating from the higher mental levels; these seek to control the forces of the threefold
man when a certain definite point in evolution is reached.
3. To recognize the conditioning energies in his environment, seeing
them not as events or circumstances but as energy in action; by this means, he learns to
find his way behind the scene of outer happenings into the world of energies, seeking
contact and qualifying for the bringing about of certain activities. He thus acquires
entrance into the world of meaning. Events, circumstances, happenings and physical
phenomena of every kind are simply symbols of what is occurring in the inner worlds and it
is into these worlds that the esotericist must enter as far as his perception permits; he
will sequentially discover worlds which will call for his scientific penetration.
4. For the majority of aspirants, the Hierarchy itself remains an
esoteric realm which demands discovery and which will accept penetration. I am choosing my
words with care in an effort to evoke your esoteric response.
Beyond this point of humanity's destined goal, I seek not to go; to
initiates and disciples who have not yet taken the Initiation of Transfiguration, the
higher realms of awareness and the "secret Place of the Most High" (the Council
Chamber of Sanat Kumara) remain deeply esoteric. That is a higher realm of energies --
planetary, extra-planetary and inter-planetary; with them you have no concern..... The
task is to train students in the recognition of energy, and force; to discriminate between
the various types of energy, both in relation to themselves and to world affairs, and to
begin to relate that which is seen and experienced to that which is unseen, conditioning
and determining. This is your esoteric task.
There is a tendency among esoteric students, particularly those in
the older Piscean groups to regard any interest in the energies producing world events or
which concern governments and politics, as antagonistic to esoteric and spiritual
endeavor. The attitude of The Theosophical Society has even been of this type. But the
newer esotericism which the most modern groups and the more mental types will sponsor sees
all events and world movements and national governments plus all political circumstances
as expressions of the energies to be found in the inner world of esoteric research;
therefore, they see no sound reason for excluding such an important aspect of human
affairs from their reasoning and thinking and from the discovery of those new truths and
techniques which may bring about the new era of right human relations. They ask: Why omit
political research from the spiritual curricula? They deem it to be of equal if not of
greater importance than the activity of the churches. Governments condition people and aid
in the production of any current civilization, forcing the masses of men into certain
needed lines of thought. The churches and men everywhere need to learn that there is
nothing in the entire world of phenomena, of forces and of energies which cannot be
brought under the control of that which is spiritual. All that exists is, in reality,
spirit in manifestation. The masses today are becoming politically minded and this is
viewed by the Masters as a great step forward. When spiritually minded people of the world
include this relatively new area of human thought and its international activity within
the field of their esoteric research, very great progress will be made.
Let me give you one simple illustration: war is, factually, a great
explosion of energies and forces, generated on the inner planes where the esotericist
ought to be working (but is seldom to be found!) and finding its dire and catastrophic
expression upon the physical plane. This is indicated today by the constant use of the
terms "Forces of Light and Forces of Evil." When the inner, esoteric and
predisposing causes of war are discovered through esoteric research, then war and wars
will come to an end. This is in the nature of truly esoteric work but is scorned by
present day esotericists who regard themselves as spiritually superior to such affairs and
-- in their ivory tower -- concentrate on their own development, plus a little philosophy.
One point should here be stated: Esotericism is not in any way of a
mystical and vague nature. It is a science -- essentially the science of the soul of all
things, and has its own terminology, experiments, deductions and laws. When I say
"soul", I refer to the animating consciousness found throughout nature and on
those levels which lie outside the territory usually called nature. Students are apt to
forget that every level of awareness, from the highest to the lowest, is an aspect of the
cosmic physical plane and is, therefore, material in nature. The esotericist is dealing
with substance all the time; he is concerned with that living, vibrant substance of which
the worlds are made and which -- inherited as it is from a previous solar system -- is
colored by past events, and (as has been said) is "already tinged with karma."
It should also be noted that just as the physical plane, so familiar to us, is not
regarded as a principle by the esoteric student, so the cosmic physical plane (from the
standpoint of the Cosmic Lives) is likewise "not a principle." I give you here
much food for thought.
The task of the esotericist 1e to shift the focus of his attention
away from the form-side of existence and become aware of the source of form production on
any specified level. It is his task to develop within himself the needed sensitivity to
the quality of the life animating any form until he arrives eventually at the quality of
the ONE LIFE which animates the planet and within Whose activity we live and move and have
our being.
By means of all that I have said, you will realize that I am
endeavoring to take the vagueness out of the word "esotericism," and indicate to
you the extremely scientific and practical nature of the enterprise upon which all
esotericists are embarked.
Esoteric study, when coupled with esoteric living, reveals in time
the world of meaning and leads eventually to the world of
significances. The esotericist starts by endeavoring to discover the reason why
he wrestles with the problem of happenings, events, crises and circumstances in order to
arrive at the meaning they should hold for him; when he has ascertained
the meaning of any specific problem, he uses it as an invitation to penetrate sore deeply
into the newly revealed world of meaning; he then learns to incorporate his little
personal problems into the problem of the larger Whole thus losing sight of the little
self and discovering the larger Self. The true esoteric viewpoint is always that of the
larger Whole. He finds the world of meaning spread like an intricate network over all
activity and every aspect of the phenomenal world. Of this network, the etheric web is the
symbol and design, while the etheric web to be found between each of the centers up the
individual spinal column is the microcosmic correspondence.
Esotericism is not, however, concerned with the centers and
esotericism is not an effort scientifically to awaken the centers, as many students think.
Esotericism really is training in the ability to function freely in the world of meaning;
it is NOT occupied with any aspect of the mechanical form; it is occupied with the soul
aspect -- the mediating principle between life and form. This mediating principle is the
soul of the individual aspirant or disciple; it is also the anima mundi (world soul) in
the world as a whole.
Esotericism, therefore, involves a life lived in tune with the inner
subjective realities; it is only possible when the student is intelligently polarized and
mentally focused; it is only useful when the
student can move among these inner realities with skill and
understanding. Esotericism involves also comprehension of the relation between forces and
energies and the power to use energy for the strengthening and then the creative direction
of the forces contacted.
Esotericism is the art of "bringing down to Earth" those
energies which emanate from the highest sources and there "grounding" them or
anchoring them.
All true esoteric activity produces illumination; it results in the
inherited light of substance being intensified and qualified by the higher light of the
soul. It is, therefore, possible to define esotericism and its activity in terms of light
but I refrain from doing so because of the vagueness and the mystical application hitherto
developed by esotericists in past decades. The esotericists DOES deal with light in its
three aspects, but it is preferable today to attempt a different approach until, through
development, trial and experiment, the esotericist knows these triple differentiations in
a practical sense and not just theoretically and mystically. We have to live down some of
the mistakes of the past.
I would challenge all esotericists to attempt the practical approach
which I have here outlined. I would ask them to live redemptive lives, to unfold their
innate mental sensitivity and to work continuously with the meaning which is to be found
behind all individual, community, national and world affairs. It this is done, then the
light will suddenly and increasingly shine upon your way. You can become light-bearers,
knowing then that "in that Light you will see LIGHT" -- and so will your
fellowmen.
THE SEVEN CENTERS OF FORCE
The life force has seven main points of contact with the physical
body, called the seven centers.
These seven force centers transmit the life force, and are the
agents of the soul. They maintain bodily existence and produce its activity.
The Indian name of a force center is "chakra." The seven
centers of force (with their complete Indian names) are as follows, from the head
downwards:
1. Head center --sahasrara chakra
2. Center between eyebrows --ajna chakra
3. Throat center --vishuddha chakra
4. Heart or cardiac center --anahata chakra
5. Solar plexus center --manipura chakra
6. Sacral or sexual center --svadhisthana chakra
7. Center at base of spine --muladhara chakra
It will be noted that there are four centers above the diaphragm and
three below.
The force centers carry pranic energy for every part of the body and
are in close relation to the nervous system in its three divisions, namely: the
cerebro-spinal, sympathetic and peripheral.
From the force centers the vital or pranic energy is distributed
along subtle lines of direction. These lines are called "nadis" and are closely
related to the nerves and at the same time to the arteries.
Of the seven centers, two are in the head and five in the spinal
column. The two centers in the head have a direct relation to the faculties of mind and
motion. The sahasrara center (head center) called usually the thousand-petalled lotus, is
the embodiment of spiritual energy, demonstrating as Will, as the abstract or spiritual
mind, and as the intuition. The ajna center, or the center between the eyebrows, concerns
the lower mind and psychic nature of that integrated organism we call man, the
personality.
The five centers in the spinal column concern the varying activities
of the organism as the man demonstrates his animal instinct, his emotional reactions and
his life intention. They are largely directed by the force pouring into and issuing from
the head centers.
These centers vary in activity according to the evolutionary status
of the individual. In some people certain centers are "awake" and in others the
same centers may be relatively quiescent. In certain types, the solar plexus center will
be active or dominant, in others the heart, in still others the throat. In very few as
yet, is the head center active. Speaking largely, in savage people and the little evolved,
the three centers below the diaphragm -- the center at the base of the spine, the sacral
center and the solar plexus center-- are alive and dominant, but the centers above the
diaphragm are "asleep". In average humanity the throat center is beginning to
make itself felt with the head and heart centers still asleep. In the highly evolved human
being, the race leader, the intuitive philosopher and the scientist and in the great
saints, both the head and heart centers are making their vibrations felt, priority between
head and heart being determined by type and the quality of the emotional and mental
consciousness.
According, then, to the development of the man these force centers
become alive and dominant, and according to their alikeness various types of activity make
their presence felt. The centers below the diaphragm govern the physical life of the
material form and the animal psychic life, found both in man and in animal. Those above
the diaphragm concern the intellectual and spiritual life and bring about those activities
in which man demonstrates that his status is different to, and higher than that of the
animal, and that he is climbing upward on the ladder of evolution.
Such in brief is the teaching of the East with regard to he seven
centers of force or chakras.
When we compare the Eastern doctrine of the seven centers with the
Western doctrine of glands, we find first of all a striking fact with regard to locality.
The seven centers of force are to be found in the same region where the glands are
located, and each center of force might well be ( and according to Indian teaching is )
the source of power and of life
For the corresponding gland. The following comparative table shows
this identity of location.
CENTERS |
GLANDS |
Head |
Pineal |
Ajna |
Pituitary |
Throat |
Thyroid |
Heart |
Thymus |
Solar Plexus |
Pancreas |
Sacral |
Gonads |
Base of Spine |
Adrenal |
A second fact, even more striking than the first, is that the force
centers which are awake conform to the glands whose functions are known and of which most
of the secretions or hormones, have been discovered. The centers that are asleep or
awakening in advanced members of the race, conform to the glands whose functions are
relatively unknown and whose secretions in the main have not been isolated. It will be
noted, for example, that secretion of the pineal gland, one of the two in pituitary body
and the thymus gland, are listed as unknown, as is the secretion of the cortex adrenal
gland. These conform to the sleeping or awakening heart center, throat center, center in
the head and at the base of the spine.
Is this an interesting coincidence? Or are we faced with the fact
that in each case these glands with the undiscovered hormones, are allied to the center
which is asleep, not yet awakened in average humanity?
I believe it will eventually be established that the glands have
been brought into being through the energy of the centers, for those centers which, in
average humanity are awake and functioning, seem to be related to glands, whose peculiar
secretion have been isolated, and its action in relation to the bloodstream known, whilst
those centers which are as yet asleep and undeveloped seem to be allied to glands whose
secretion is only partially known or totally unknown. It is in any case worthy of
consideration.
The forces of the body serve to feed and stimulate the sex life
through the gonads; they create the urge to combat and to evolve though the adrenal
glands, the glands of combat, and of struggle; they govern the psychic instinctual life
through the solar plexus. Thus the personal man is mobilized and becomes a conscious
sentient human being. As his evolution proceeds, the self or soul becomes more and more
active and dominant in man and in his corporeal existence, and little by little all parts
of etheric structure become vitally awake. Gradually, the higher centers come into
increased activity, and the emphasis of the force pouring through the body shifts to the
centers above the diaphragm. The throat center awakens and becomes the organ of creative
work; the heart center is vivified and the man becomes aware of his soul relationships,
his group responsibilities and the inclusiveness of the life-soul. Finally the head
centers awaken and another range of perception enters into his consciousness. He becomes
aware of himself as a soul, integrated as a personality, and later still he becomes aware
of the world of spirit, divine life of unseen world of spirits, and of the "cloud of
witnesses" who testify to the reality of the soul life.
One of the objectives of human evolution is to accomplish this.
The center at the base of the spine, the heart and head centers,
must come into full functioning activity and thus, through a blending of the energy latent
in matter itself and stored up in the center at the base of the spine, of the energy of
the soul, which has its seat in the heart, and of the energy of the spirit, centered in
the head, bring the human being to the highest point of perfection.
Excerpted from THE SOUL AND ITS MECHANISM 109-124
THE FUNDAMENTAL CENTERS
The three fundamental centers of vital importance from the
standpoint of the average man, polarized in his emotional body and living the normal life
of the man of the world, are:
1. The base of spine.
2. The solar plexus.
3. The heart center.
The three major centers for the man nearing the Probationary Path,
and for the man who is aiming at a life of altruism, having examined the attraction of the
three worlds, are:
1. The base of the spine.
2. The heart.
3. he throat.
His solar plexus is left then to normal functioning, having served
its purpose as a center for motional focussing. The activity of the fire becomes more
centered in the throat.
The three major centers for he 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 center, is
controlling all the centers below the solar plexus, and is passing upward in ordered
progression until it is focussed and vivifying the head center.
The life of the evolving personality might be divided into five
divisions. Ours is, after all, a fivefold evolution, and the life of the man ( as a human
being and prior to obtaining the fifth Initiation, may be considered as a series of five
gradual steps, each step being gauged by the condition of the indwelling Flame of Spirit.
We might ( if we are careful to generalize widely ) apply the same
[five divisions ] to the five centers.
Letters on Occult
Meditation
pages 23 - 28 |
Letters on Occult Meditation
pages 71 - 74 |
Period I - wherein the base
of the spine is the most active in he purity 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. |
The first division of progress might be
measured from the moment when animal man becomes a thinking entity, a human being, to that
of the conscious functioning of the emotional body or to the point where the emotions are
very largely paramount. It corresponds to the period covered by the Lemurian and early
Atlantean days. During this period, the man is polarized in his physical body and is
learning to be controlled by his desire body, the body of feeling or emotion. He has no
aspirations save such as pander to the pleasure of the body; he lives for his physical
nature, and has no thought for aught that may be higher. This period parallels that of the
child from one to seven years. At this time the watching Teachers of the race see the
indwelling Flame as a tiny pin-point, and the permanent atom of the physical plane holds
the polarization. No attention is called for from the Teachers, for the instinctive force
inherent in the higher Self does the work, and the driving force of evolution carries all
on to perfection. |
Period II wherein the
solar plexus is the goal of the attention of the fire and when the emotional counterpart
vibrates synchronously. Two centers are thus vibrating, even though the measure be slow;
the others are alive; pulsation can be seen, but there is no circular movements. |
The second period covers a point in
development when the polarization is largely in emotional body and when lower mind desire
is being developed. Later Atlantean days hold the analogy hid. The desires are not so
purely physical, for mind is beginning to permeate, much as yeast causes a movement and a
rising in a mass of dough. The man is conscious of vague desires not associated with his
physical body; he is capable of a deep love for teachers and guides wiser than himself, of
a wild unreasoning devotion for environing associates. And of an equally wild and
unreasoning hatred, for the equilibrium that mind achieves, and the balance that is the
result of mental action, is wanting in his make-up. He suffers from extremes.
The polarization lies now in the emotional permanent atom but, (when this
point of development is reached ) a light plays between the two atoms that have known
polarization the emotional and physical. What I am seeking to bring out at this
stage is that the mental unit has not known the force of polarization, the emotional is
holding it, and the result is an integral difference within the periphery of the atom
itself. The electronic combinations that compose the atom which has suffered polarization
are grouped in a different geometrical form to those which have not yet experienced the
process. It is the effect of the life of Ego, playing on the matter of the atom and
causing various approximations and differentiations unseen in a non-polarized atom. The
matter is abstruse and complex.
This period is an analogous one to that in the life of a child from
seven to fourteen years, or that period when adolescence is traversed and the child is
maturing. This maturity is the product of emotional and physical polarization in
alignment. Alignment is now easily achieved between the physical and emotional bodies. The
problem is to bring both under alignment with the mental and later with the egoic bodies.
To the watching Guides of the race, the indwelling flame or Light
can be seen slightly enlarged, but still so small as to be inappreciable. But, If I can in
any way make clear without misleading by the use of words whereas in the first
period the physical atom could be seen illuminated, now in the second period the emotional
atom is similarly lit up, a signal to the Teachers that the work progresses. All this
covers a vast period of time, for progress at this period is inexpressibly slow. My
allusion to the Atlantean and Lemurian races was but to trace analogy in object, and not
analogy in time. |
Period III The divine
fire now mounts to the heart center and the three rotate in ordered measured unison. I
would point out that the vivification of any one center causes an accession of force in
all, and I would further point out that in the head are seven centers ( three major and
four minor ) and that these centers directly correspond to one or other center in the
body. They are the synthesis, and, on the stimulation of their corresponding center,
receive themselves a corresponding acquisition of rotary power. |
Now, on entering the third period,
comes the most vital point in the development of the man, that in which the mind is
developing and polarizing life shifts to the mental unit. Speaking in terms of the solar
system and viewing humanity as a unit, all of those permanent atoms form the molecules in
a corresponding cosmic atom, the work has progressed from physical to emotional
polarization and remains there. Not till the seventh cycle of the greater cycle, not till
the calling of the system into obscuration and out of manifestation will the cosmic mental
atom in the body of the Logos achieves polarization. Here and there individuals are, as
units, accomplishing the work and demonstrating the hope for all.
This period corresponds to that between the ages fourteen and twenty-eight.
This period here is longer for there is much to be done. The atoms have felt polarization,
and one is receiving the shifting. It is the middle point. At this time the light plays
between the three atoms (outlining the personality triangle ). But the focal point is
gradually shifting more and more into the mental unit, and the egoic body is becoming
gradually more rounded out, and assuming its proportions.
The man has control of the physical body and each life he builds a
better; he has a desire body of more refined requirements ( note the occult significance
of that word ); he realizes the joys of intellect and strives ever for a mental body of
greater adequacy; his desires turn upward instead of downward, and become transmuted into
aspiration, -- at first aspiration towards the things of mind, and later towards that
which is more abstract and synthetic. The indwelling egoic Flame or Light now radiates
from an inner center to the periphery, lighting the causal body and giving the indication
of burning. To the on-looking Hierarchy it is apparent that the divine fire is permeating
and warming and radiating throughout the causal body, and that the Ego is becoming ever
more conscious on its own plane, and ever more interested via the permanent atoms,
-- in the life of the Personality. The physical brain of the Personality is not yet aware
of the difference between inherent mental capacity and the directed impress of the
indwelling Ego, but the time is becoming ripe for a change of some kind, and evolution is
moving with rapidity. The fourth period approaches. I would here sound a warning. All this
proceeds not in ordered sections, if so I may term it. It proceeds as proceeds the great
system, with constant overlapping. |
Period IV marks the
definite stimulation of the throat center. 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 centers becomes apparent; rotation is intensified,
and the centers themselves change in appearance, becoming unfolded, and the rotary
movement becomes fourth-dimensional, turning inward upon itself. The centers are then
radiating nuclei of light, and the corresponding lower head centers are equally alive. |
The fourth period is that within
which coordination of the Personality is completed, and that wherein the man comes to
himself(as did the prodigal in the far country) and says: "I will arise and go to my
Father". This is the result of he first meditation. The three permanent atoms are
functioning and the man is an active, feeling, thinking entity. He reaches the
consummation of the personality life and he begins to shift consciously his polarization
from personality life to the egoic. He stands upon the Path of Discipleship or Probation,
or is close to it. He commences the work of transmutation; he laboriously, painfully and
carefully, forces his consciousness higher and to expand at will; at any cost he
determines to dominate and to function in full liberation on the three lower planes; he
realizes that the Ego must have perfect expression, physical, emotional and mental,
and he makes therefore, at infinite cost, the necessary channel. He attracts the
attention of the Teachers. In what way does he do this? The causal body begins to radiate
the indwelling Light. It has been constructed to a point where it is fine enough to act as
a transparency and, where the contact of the Ego is made with the Triad, a point of Flame
appears
The light is no longer under the bushel, but suddenly flames forth, and
catches the eager eye of the Master.
This marks the period
between twenty-eight and thirty-five in the life of the adult. It is the period wherein a
man finds himself, discovers what his line of activity may be, what he can accomplish, and
from the worldly standpoint, comes into his own. |
Period V marks the
application of the fire to the head centers and their complete awakening. |
During the fifth period, the Flame
gradually breaks through the periphery of the causal body, and the "Path of the just
shines ever more and more unto the perfect day". It is in the fourth period that
meditation commences, -- the mystic meditation that leads, in the fifth period, to that
occult meditation that brings about results, being under the law, and hence following the
line of the ray. It is by meditation that the man as a Personality feels out
the vibration of the Ego and seeks to reach up to the Ego and bring the egoic
consciousness ever more and more down, so as to include consciously physical plane. It is
by meditation or by retreating within that the man learns the significance of Fire, and
applies that fire to all the bodies, till naught is left save the fire itself. It is by
meditation, or reaching from the concrete to the abstract, that the causal consciousness
is entered, and man during this final period becomes the Higher Self and not
the Personality.
The polarization shifts during the fifth
period (the period on the Path of Initiation) entirely from the Personality to the Ego,
until, at the close of that period, the liberation is complete , and the man is set free.
Even the causal body is known as a limitation and the emancipation is completed. The
polarization then shifts higher into the Triad the shifting beginning at the third
initiation. The physical permanent atom goes and the polarization becomes higher mental;
The emotional permanent atom goes and the polarization becomes intuitional; the mental
unit goes and becomes spiritual. The man then becomes the Master of the Wisdom and is of
the symbolic age of forty-two, the point of perfected maturity in the solar system.
A still later period comes, corresponding to the ages forty-two to
forty-nine, wherein the sixth and seventh initiation may be taken, but this period
concerns not the reader of these letters
|
Before initiation, all the centers will be rotating in fourth
dimensional order, but after initiation hey 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 centers 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
generalizations only are given. The complexity in the development of the microcosm is as
great as in the macrocosm. The awakening of the canters and heir particular order is
dependent on several factors, such as:
-
The Ray of the Spirit or Monad.
-
The Ray of the Ego, higher self, or Son, or he sub-ray.
-
Race and nationality.
-
The special type of work to be done.
-
The application of the student.
Hence you can see for yourself that it is useless to lay down rules
for the development of the centers 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 center. They run the risk of over-stimulation, or
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 centers will be produced from necessity, and danger will be
eliminated.
Two passages from : The Letters on Occult Meditation
(pp. 23-29, 71-74)
placed in juxtaposition for greater study value.
Chart from ESOTERIC HEALING, pages 162 and 715
![](../images/eso-healing-715.jpg)
THE CENTERS AND
CORRESPONDING CATEGORIES
1.
|
CENTER |
GLAND |
PHYSICAL
ORGAN |
TYPE
OF
FORCE |
ORIGIN |
BODY |
Head.
Brahmarandra.
1000-petalled lotus. |
Pineal. |
Upper Brain.
Right eye. |
Spiritual will.
Synthetic.
Dynamic. |
Atma.
Monad via soul.
Will. |
Causal body.
Jewel in the lotus. |
Occultist.
Initiate. Master. Dominant after 3rd Initiation. |
2.
|
Center between the eyes.
Ajna. |
Pituitary body. |
Lower Brain.
Left eye.
Nose.
Nervous system |
Soul force.
Love.
Magnetic.
Light.
Intuition.
Vision. |
Petals of egoic lotus, as a whole. |
Buddhic vehicle.
Causal body.
Higher Mental. |
Aspirant.
Disciple. Mystic. Dominant after 2nd Initiation. |
3.
|
Heart.
Anahata. |
Thymus |
Heart.
Circulatory system.
Blood.
Also vagus nerve. |
Life force.
Group consciousness. |
Love petals. |
Higher Mental.
Causal body. |
All types of
Spiritual People. Dominant after 1st Initiation. |
4.
|
Throat center. |
Thyroid |
Breathing apparatus.
Alimentary canal. |
Creative energy.
Sound.
Self-consciousness. |
Knowledge petals. |
Mental body. |
Creative
Artists. All advanced humanity. The Intelligentsia. |
5.
|
Solar Plexus. |
Pancreas |
Stomach.
Liver.
Gall bladder.
nervous system. |
Astral force.
Emotion.
Desire.
Touch |
Astral centers. |
Astral body. |
Average
humanity. Ordinary people. |
6.
|
Sacral center. |
Gonads |
Sex organs |
Life force.
Physical plane force.
Vital energy.
Animal life. |
Physical plane. |
Etheric body. |
Low grade animal type of men. |
7.
|
Base of spine.
Muladhara. |
Adrenals |
Kidneys.
Spinal column. |
Will energy.
Universal life.
Kundalini. |
The Mother of the World. |
|
|
From ESOTERIC HEALING, page 45
Printable Version
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