Seed Thought
Reading Assignment
Evaluation
Written Work to be Completed
Letter from Teaching Staff
Initiation and Integration
Departments of the Hierarchy; The Lodge of Masters

Reading Assignment:
INITIATION, HUMAN AND SOLAR, Pages 37 – 62

Excerpts from the Tibetan's instructions to a group in training:

In the past and in order to get the idea of initiation into the minds of the people, the Hierarchy chose the mode (now obsolete) of holding out the prospect of initiation before the earnest disciple; upon this They placed an early emphasis of its peculiarity, its rewarding nature, its ritual and ceremonies and its place in the scale of evolution. Since the fact of initiation has been grasped by many and achieved by some, it has become possible today to reveal what has always been implied, that initiation is a group event. If clear thinking had taken the place of a selfish individual aspiration, the fact of group initiation would have been obvious, and, for the following reasons, inherent and implied in the whole situation:

1.The Soul -- in its own nature -- is group conscious and has no individual interests or individual ambitions and is not at all interested in the aims of its personality. Initiation is a process whereby the spiritual man within the personality becomes aware of himself as the soul, with soul powers, soul relationships, and soul purpose. The moment a man realizes this, even a small measure, it is the group of which he is conscious.

2.Only the man whose sense of identity is beginning to expand and become inclusive can "take initiation" (as it is erroneously termed). If the initiation was a purely personal achievement, it would throw the man back into the separative consciousness, out of which he is endeavoring to escape.

3.Initiation admits the aspirant into membership in the Hierarchy. This involves, speaking esoterically, the relinquishing of all separative personality reactions in a series of progressive renunciations.

It dawns on the initiate, as he proceeds from one initiation to another, that each time he moves forward on the path or penetrates into the heart of the Mysteries in company with those who are as he is, who share with him the same point in evolution and are working with him towards the same goal, that he is not alone; it is a joint effort that is being made. This is in fact the keynote of an Ashram, conditioning its formation. It is composed of disciples and initiates at various stages of initiate-unfoldment who have arrived at their point of ashramic consciousness together and who will proceed together until they arrive at that complete liberation which comes when the cosmic physical plane drops below the threshold of consciousness and no longer holds any point of interest.

This is one of the new factors in hierarchical methods and techniques which I have had the responsibility of bringing to public attention and so correcting the erroneous teaching of those trained under orthodox (so called) schools of occultism. One of the prime pre-requisites for initiation is a clear and concise recognition of one's own group, not through a process of wishful thinking but

Through factual cooperation and work upon the physical plane. I said Group, my brother, and not organization, for they are two different things.

Have carefully in mind, therefore, the fact of group initiation and forego the process of considered thought anent your preparation for initiation.

Group initiation cannot be achieved by a group in training until the members, as a group, have developed their particular "spiritual enterprise." It is the law of the spirit that the disciple must appear before the Initiator empty-handed, but that, in group formation, the group members unitedly contribute something to the enrichment of the Ashram. This may take the form of some considered project in line with the Plan, whereby they testify to their comprehension of that Plan and demonstrate to the initiate-company in which they find themselves and those senior disciples to whose contact they are to be admitted that they have already proven their fitness for acceptance and have proven it along the line of service. It has to be a group enterprise, a group service and a group contribution. The specific contribution of the individual does not appear.

In the light of the above teaching from the Tibetan, and keeping in mind that the whole group which is Arcana is preparing itself for the next step upon the initiatory way, will you please (in the manner of the Evening Review) write out as clearly, simply, and helpfully as you can, your answers to the following questions:

1. As a result of your work on the COMING ONE Series, what did you gain in real spiritual understanding through group meditation, group study, and your written papers which represented your contribution to group thought?

2. Can you see more definitely than when you started this Series, what is Arcana's "spiritual enterprise" and your part (subjective or objective) in the unfoldment of this enterprise? If so, please explain.

Dear Group Brother,

Before opening the door to our next series of study sets let us pause for an appreciative evaluation of the ground covered thus far. You have been exposed to a strong, new forward thrust of energy, a bit unsettling at times, perhaps; but the very fact that you have persevered thus far in your study, meditation, and service indicates that you have taken hold of your own growth. The service-motivated soul is not content to be carried forward on the tide of evolution. The soul's intent is to aid and further evolution. The serving soul requires control of its equipment. The effort to find the center, the soul, within the form aspect through meditation, led you to your group in ARCANA; for souls are group oriented, whereas personalities work independently. Meditation is always a group affair; initiation is always a group affair.

As meditation increases the light of consciousness, we are able to open our minds to the light of Hierarchy, to Purpose, to Plan. The soul is ever inclusive, desirous of invoking that which will benefit surrounding lives. (We cannot stress this often enough.) As you already know, the approach to the planetary Hierarchy is facilitated at the time of the full moon each month; and at that time we, the group, make of ourselves a ready instrument for an act of group service upon the plane of mind.

The soul's dedicated use of the lower vehicles (the physical, emotional and mental bodies) in full moon meditation and the daily disciplines, aids in the cleansing and purification of the threefold form; and aids also in the unfoldment of consciousness -- in turn giving greater focus to the total effort, leading to greater depth and expansion of understanding.

Your dally use of the spiritual journal aids in the grounding of ideas received through meditation. These ideas work out through service; for service, the Tibetan teacher tells us, is the spontaneous result of soul contact.

In short, the study work, meditation and service which we mentioned above may be considered a triangle -- a very important triangle, which points ever upward into greater light. This triple effort will aid the task of the New Croup of World Servers which is to convey to the minds of men the new ideas and ideals seeking manifestation in the form of a more brotherly world society.

The work goes on. One series of study sets leads into the next series. Complete your evaluation and move on. Evaluation is used at the end of each cycle by the person who is consciously evolving, whether it be at the end of a day as the evening review, at the completion of a series of study sets, as now, or at the end of a lifetime at death.

After the evaluation, the soul (which is group conscious) enters upon a new phase of group effort or group experience on a higher turn of the spiral. With each successive study set the Teaching deepens and meditation work is intensified, opening up new levels of consciousness and new areas of service -- just as your present awareness is greater than it was before your work on the study series you are now completing.

Increasing soul awareness will lead us to increasingly effective service. The Christ, Head of the Hierarchy, needs workers who are skilled and spiritually effective as well as willing and loving.

As we draw closer to the Christ it is almost as if He were holding us in the hollow of His hand. And who is to say it is not so? For the Christ is to humanity what the soul is to the personality. And as we in our great need cry out for help, the Christ hears and responds.

As we advance upon the way of group progress (which is the Aquarian way of spiritual unfoldment) we bring ever closer the reappearance of the Christ.

With joy in our hearts we send you the words of an old Gaelic blessing:

May the roads rise with you,
And the wind be always at your back;
And may the Lord hold you
In the hollow of His hand.

Sincerely,
The Staff of ARCANA

Initiation might be defined in two ways.

First, it is the entering into a new and wider dimensional world by the expansion of a man's consciousness so that he can include and encompass that which he now excludes, and from which he normally separates himself in his thinking and acts.

Secondly, it is the entering into the world of those energies which are distinctive of the soul and of the soul alone, -- the forces of intelligent love and of spiritual will. These are dynamic energies, and they actuate all who are liberated souls. This process of entering into and of being entered into should be a simultaneous and synthetic process, an event of the first importance. Where it is sequential or alternating, it indicates an uneven unfoldment and an unbalanced condition.

There is frequently the theory of unfoldment, and a mental grasp anent the facts of the initiatory process before they are practiced experimentally in the daily life and thus psychologically integrated into the practical expression of the living process on the physical plane. Herein lies much danger and difficulty, and also much loss of time. The mental grasp of the individual is oft much greater than his power to express the knowledge, and we haste consequently those outstanding failures and those difficult situations which have brought the whole question of initiation into disrepute. Many people are regarded as initiates who are only endeavoring to be initiate. They are not, however, real initiates. They are those well meaning people whose mental understanding outruns the pointer of their personalities to practice. They are those who are in touch with forces which they are not yet able to handle and control. They have done a great deal of the needed work of inner contact, but have not yet whipped the lower nature into shape.

They are, therefore, unable to express that which they inwardly understand and somewhat realize. They are those disciples who talk too much and too soon and too self-centeredly, and who present to the world an ideal toward which they are indeed working, but which they are as yet unable to materialize, owing to the inadequacy of their equipment. They affirm their belief in terms of accomplished fact and cause much stumbling among the little ones. But at the same time, they are working towards the goal. They are mentally in touch with the ideal and with the Plan. They are aware of forces and energies utterly unknown to the majority. Their only mistake is in the realm of time, for they affirm prematurely that which some day they will be.

When initiation becomes possible, it indicates that two great groups of energies (these of the triple integrated personality and those of the soul or solar angel) are beginning to fuse and blend. The energy of the soul is beginning to dominate and to control the lower types of force, and -- according to the ray of the soul -- so will be the body in which that control will begin to make its presence felt. It should be remembered that very little egoic control need be evidenced when the first initiation is taken. That initiation indicates simply that the germ of soul life has vitalized and brought into functioning existence the inner spiritual body, the sheath of the inner spiritual man, which will eventually enable the man at the third initiation to manifest forth as "a full-grown man in Christ", and present at that time the opportunity to the Monad … for full expression…

As the three rays which govern the lower triplicity blend and synthesize and produce the vital personality, and as they in their turn dominate the ray of the dense physical body, the lower man enters into a prolonged condition of conflict. Gradually and increasingly, the soul ray begins to become more active; in the brain of the man who is a developed personality, an increased awareness of vibration is set up. There are many degrees and stages in this experience, and they cover many lives. The personality ray and the egoic ray at first seem to clash, and then later a steady warfare is set up with the disciple as the onlooker -- and dramatic participator. Arjuna emerges into the arena of the battlefield. Midway between the two forces he stands, a conscious tiny point of sentient awareness and of light. Around hum and in him and through him the energies of the two rays pour and conflict. Gradually, as the battle continues to rage, he becomes a more active factor, and drops the attitude of the detached and uninterested onlooker. When he is definitely aware of the issues involved, and definitely throws weight of his influence, desires, and mind on to the side of the soul, he can take the first initiation. then the ray of the soul focuses itself fully through him, and all his centers are controlled by that focused soul ray, then he becomes the transfigured Initiate, and takes the third initiation. The ray Of the personality is occultly "extinguished" or absorbed by the ray of the soul, and all the potencies and attributes of the lower rays become subsidiary to and colored by the soul ray. The disciple becomes a "men of God", a person whose powers are controlled by the dominant vibration of the soul ray and whose inner, sensitive mechanism is vibrating to the measure of that soul ray which -- in its turn -- is being itself reoriented to, and controlled by, the monadic ray.

Initiation carried to its consummation, as far as humanity is concerned, produces the liberated Master of the Wisdom, free from the limitations of the individual, garnering the fruits of the individualization process and functioning increasingly as the solar angel, because focussed primarily in the inner spiritual body.

Just what do we mean by Integration? It has to be regarded as an essential step, prior to passing (in full waking consciousness) into the fifth, or spiritual kingdom. We regard the physical body as a functioning aggregate of physical organs, each with its own duties and purposes. These, when combined and acting in unison, we regard as constituting a living organism.

The many parts form one whole, working under the direction of the intelligent, conscious Thinker, the soul, as far as man is concerned. At the same time, this conscious form is slowly arriving at a point where integration into the larger whole becomes desirable and is finally achieved -- again in the waking consciousness. This process of conscious assimilation is carried forward progressively by the gradual integration of the part into the family unit, the nation, the social order, the current civilization. the world of nations, and finally into humanity itself. This integration is, therefore, both physical in nature, and an attitude of mind.

[Re: seven ray techniques] It is the ray of the ego or soul, slumbering in the early stages within the form, which occultly applies these modes of integration. The soul is essentially the integrative factor, and this shows in the early and unconscious stages as the coherent power of the life principle to hold the forms together in incarnation. In the later and conscious stages, it shows its power by applying these methods of control and unification to the personality. They are not applied, nor can the man avail himself of them, until such time as he is an integrated personality. This has often been forgotten, and men have claimed the rights of discipleship and the powers of initiation before they have even become integrated persons. This has led to disaster, and the falling into disrepute of the whole problem of discipleship and initiation.

The man who has awakened to full consciousness in the various aspects of his nature -- emotional, mental and egoic -- realizes himself first of all as a personality. He integrates his various bodies with their different states of consciousness into one active reality. He then… has passed a major milestone on the Path of Return. Inevitably, the evolutionary process must bring to pass this phenomenal occurrence in the case of every human being, but it can be produced... by a planned mental application to the task, and an intelligent consideration of the relation of the part to the whole.

It will be found that the purely selfish, material personality will eventually arrive at the condition wherein the man will be conscious of integrated activity and power, because he

1. Has developed and integrated his own separative "parts" into one whole.

2. Has studied and used his environment, or the whole of which his personality is but a part, in such a war that it contributes to his desire, his success, and his emergence into prominence. In doing this, he necessarily has had to make some living contribution to the whole, in order to evoke its integrating power. His motive, however, being purely selfish and material in objective, can only carry him a certain distance along the path of the higher integration.

The unselfish, spiritually oriented man also integrates the various aspects of himself into one functioning whole, but the focus of his activity is contribution, not acquisition, and, by the working of the higher law, the Law of Service, he becomes integrated, not only as a human being within the radius of the prevalent civilization, but also into that wider and more inclusive world of conscious activity which we call the Kingdom of God.

However, the integration with which we shall primarily deal is that of the personality as it integrates into the whole of which it is a part, through service to the race and to the Plan.

Adapted from SEVEN RAYS, Vol. II, 12-18, 346-351