Seed Thought
Reading Assignment
Recommended additional reading material
Recommended for personal library
Written Work to be Completed and Mailed
Letter from Teaching Staff
Twentieth Century God
Constitution of Man
Relation Between Soul and Personality and Meditation
Man Has a Body But Also a Soul
Glossary of Terms
Extract from a statement by the Tibetan Published August, 1934

Reading assignment:

(In this year's work all reading assignments will be in the book "TREATISE ON WHITE MAGIC" by Alice A. Bailey., henceforth to be referred to as "WM".)

Pages 33-41 WM

Pages 398-434 WM

Recommended additional reading (Optional):

Bucke, COSMIC CONSCIOUSNESS

Recommended for your personal library:

Blavatsky, THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY

WRITTEN WORK:

First, please devote a daily study period (for one full month at least) to the contents of this study set and the reading assignments.

Then, answer the following questions out of your own thinking, rather than searching in the book for quotable answers. The purpose of these questions is to stimulate your thinking. Your answers and the thought you devote to writing them out will be a valuable contribution to the circulation of ideas through the group mind.

1.) If your next-door neighbor were a member of the New Group of World Servers, would you recognize him, or her, as such? If so, how? If not, why?

2.) On page 405 are mentioned two developments on the part of humanity that will be necessary to the full use of incoming Aquarian energies:

1) Elevation of consciousness onto the mental plane.

2) Breaking down of separative barriers and prejudice. Can you see any progress made thus far? Please describe it.

3.) Would you expect members of the New Group of World Servers to be deeply religious people? Why? Do the words "religious" and "spiritual" mean the same to you?

4.) "When the attention is fixed upon the soul, the physical plane life will be rightly handled." (page 420) What does that statement mean to you?

5.) What does the topic of this study set "The New Group of World Servers" have to do with your becoming more proficient in meditation?
 
 

Dear Fellow Student:

The theme of the coming year's work is the Magic of the Soul. You will receive instruction on the relation of the Soul to the Personality, upon the Constitution of Man, and upon the factor of Service in the spiritual life. These three are definitely related and it is essential to the unfoldment and full expression of your Self, the Soul, that you understand the various energies with which man can work, and that you begin to express the higher energies through the medium of service. The objective of this training is to enable us to work consciously and intelligently with the Plan of Hierarchy.

In the White Magic study sets the following related points are introduced:

Study Set 1. The New Group of World Servers
Study Set 2. Group Dynamics
Study Set 3. The Magical Work of the Soul
Study Set 4. Creativity on the Mental Plane
Study Set 5. Tranquility on the Emotional Plane
Study Set 6. Beauty in Physical Form
Study Set 7. Uses of Speech and Silence
Study Set 8. Integration: (a) of Person (b) into Community
Study Set 9. The Temple of the World
Study Set 10. The Temple of the Daily Life
Study Set 11. Skill in Human Relations
Study Set 12. Evaluation

A TREATISE ON WHITE MAGIC is the book you will study. In it the fifteen rules for individual development and control of the three-fold form (made up of the mental, the emotional and the physical bodies) are explained. The consciousness of most people is conditioned by thoughts, feelings, and desires that relate all occurrences to the personal self. The characteristics of the average person are clearly self-centered, and this is a necessary stage of evolution; however, when this selfish attitude is prolonged it is a hindrance to spiritual progress. Then the personality becomes the prison of the soul and its evolution is delayed.

When the pull or the magnetic attraction of the world of the soul becomes potent, the individual tries to find a truer world of values by searching for God, or Reality, outside of himself, in the outer environment. The truth is that the whole process of evolution is possible because the nature of God and of the soul is latent within man.

Spiritual growth, then, is the progress of developing awareness of that which is already within man, of responding to and cooperating with this inner directive influence. Man in essence is divine and the Soul's magical work is to develop this divinity into full awareness.

When the individual is aware of two aspects of himself, the Soul and the Personality, the first thing he must do is establish communication between these two aspects, When the fact of the soul is known and not simply felt, when this realization is mental as well as sensory, it becomes possible to build a line of communication between the two aspects by building a channel of conscious interplay between the soul, the mind, and the brain, This is done through meditation.

The unfoldment of spiritual possibility takes time, thought, and application in service. Continued study, meditation and application of the rules, as we learn them, will unfold the concepts which gradually take shape In your mind, and develop the power to manifest the innate divine qualities of the soul in your daily life, The personality is the positive factor during the earlier stage of evolution. This stage is necessary for the building of a stable and efficient form on the physical plane, by developing the physical, astral and mental bodies and integrating the three bodies into the unified expression of the personality, On the path of discipleship the soul must become the positive factor of control, and the personality becomes more and more receptive and responsive to impressions from the soul,

Soul impressions are received on the mental plane when the mind is turned toward the aims and intent of the soul, Through the first use of the mind man had earlier learned to protect himself, to guard his interests and to preserve his identity, Later, through using the mind in meditation, he learns to discriminate and to cultivate a sense of values which eventually enable him to lay emphasis upon spiritual ideals, Always man becomes that which he most thinks and talks about, therefore right meditation is important for spiritual growth.

True service is produced by the inflow of spiritual energy and not by emphasis upon physical plane activity. Service in the spiritual life is the spontaneous outflow of a loving heart and an intelligent mind. Service is the effect of a man being what he truly is, a divine son of God.

To become workers in white magic we are obliged to leave our personal interests, wishes and aims entirely out of sight for a time, and focus attention upon the spiritual objective of meditation, which is to bring the consciousness of the soul and the personality together into a working partnership of synchronized cooperation with the Plan.

The points touched upon in this letter will be fully explained in detailed study of the fifteen rules for 'White Magic. With the hope that this work will be the most important enterprise you have ever taken upon yourself, we are,

Your fellow workers,

The Staff of Arcana

If you were God
Running the modern world's business
In this atomic age. . . . .

Would you -
    Try to run the world by yourself;
    Galaxies, planets and microbes
            or
    Would you have a staff --
    Vice-Presidents, a Board of Directors,
    Committees, Departments with Managers
    To shoulder responsibilities?
            How do you know He doesn't?

Would you -
    Try to run
    The world's two and a half billion people
    Each man a puppet on a string and
    Like children envisioning you as Santa Claus
            or
    Issue each man his tools and mind
    A sprinkling of angels to oversee
    And let him learn what's wise or not?
            How do you know He doesn't?

Would you -
    Make every man guess
    What part he's to build
    Even whether or not there's a blueprint
            or
    Set up an on-the-job training department
    Using experienced help
    To show the way and offer guidance
    If a man but looks and listens. . . . .
            How do you know He doesn't?

Would you -
    Shelve each of your products
    After it had run through one production line
            or
    Send it to another department
    To be run through again
    For a little more machining
    Or polishing up?
            How do you know He doesn't?

Would you -
    Run your outfit with the same old crew
    Decade after decade
            or
    Take your better supervisors
    Off the production line
    And add them to your management staff?
            How do you know He doesn't?
 
Dorothy Ketterman Frank
From- THE BEACON, January 1956

The constitution of man is basically threefold, as follows:

I. The Monad, or pure Spirit, the Father in Heaven.

This aspect reflects the three aspects of the Godhead:

1. Will or Power.................................... The Father.
2. Love-Wisdom.................................... The Son.
3. Active Intelligence............................... The Holy Spirit.

and is only contacted at the final initiations, when man is nearing the end

of his journey and is perfected. The Monad reflects itself again in:

II. The Ego, Higher Self, or individuality.

This aspect is potentially:

1. Spiritual Will.................................. Atma
2. Intuition......................................... Buddhi,
                                                         Love-Wisdom, the Christ Principle.
3. Higher or abstract Mind (Higher Manas)

The Ego begins to make its power felt in advanced men, and increasingly on the Probationary Path until by the third initiation the control of the lower self by the higher is perfected, and the highest aspect begins to make its energy felt.

The Ego reflects itself in:

III. The Personality, or lower self, physical plane man.

This aspect is also threefold:

1. A mental body (lower manas)
2. An emotional body (astral body)
3. A physical body (the dense physical and the etheric body)

The aim of evolution is therefore to bring man to the realization of the Egoic aspect and to bring the lower under its control.  

INITIATION HUMAN AND SOLAR

First: There is a soul in every human form., and that soul uses the lower aspects of man simply as vehicles of expression. The objective of the evolutionary process is to enhance and deepen the control of the soul over this instrument. When this control is complete, we have a divine incarnation.

Secondly: The sum total of these lower aspects, when developed and coordinated, we call the personality. This unity is composed of the mental and emotional states of being, the vital energy and the physical response apparatus, and these hide or "mask" the soul. These aspects develop sequentially and progressively . . . and only on reaching a relatively high state of unfoldment does it become possible for man to coordinate them . . . . Later comes control by the soul, and a steadily increasing expression of the nature of the soul.

Thirdly: When the life of the soul, acting under the Law of Rebirth, has brought the personality to such a condition that it is an integrated and coordinated unity, then there is set up between the two a more intensive interaction. This interaction is brought about through the processes of self-discipline, and active will towards spiritual Being, unselfish service (for that is the mode by which the group conscious soul manifest itself) and meditation.

These three hypotheses must be accepted, at any rate tentatively, if this process of education through meditation is to be rendered effective.

This is the goal of the meditation process -- to lead men forth into the Light that is within themselves and enable them, in that light, to see LIGHT.

FROM INTELLECT TO INTUITION

Alice A. Bailey

Sydney J. Harris,
Columnist

A friend of mine, who prides him-self on being a hard-headed materialist, recently told me that he gets annoyed with my occasional references to the "soul".

"Since I don't believe in God or in any so-called 'spiritual' qualities," he said, "I'd like you to define for me what you mean by the 'soul' without mentioning God or going into religious matters that nobody can prove one way or the other."

I think it can be done so as to satisfy even my old-fashioned materialistic friend. The English word "soul" corresponds to the Greek word "psyche", which means the inner self of a person. That each of us has an inner self can be demonstrated without any reference to supernatural matters.

The brilliant French essayist Alain, in his book, "Definitions", gave what I believe is the best description of what people in all centuries and cultures -- religious or pagan -- have meant by the soul. I should like to quote a central paragraph of his essay to show how closely "lack of soul" corresponds to what we call "neurosis" in modern parlance:

"The soul is what refuses the body. What, for instance, refuses to flee when the body trembles, what refuses to strike when the body is provoked, what refuses to drink when the body thirsts, what refuses to take when the body desires, what refuses to give up when the body recoils in horror. These refusals are the prerogative of man. Total refusal is sainthood; looking before leaping is wisdom; and this power of refusal is the soul."

The neurotic lives only for self; he cannot oppose "self to self." He does not have the freedom of will to refuse the body; he is a driven creature, a slave to his own fears and appetites. He suffers from what moderns call "an impairment of psychic liberty," and what the ancients called a defect of soul. He is not what a human being should be -- and what is proper to a human being can only be summed up in the word "soul", in the act that refuses the body for the greater good of the whole creature.

Los Angeles MIRROR, 1961

Terms that may be new to you if you are unacquainted with the Tibetan's teachings:

CHELA

Oriental term for disciple; usually refers to a serious student of hierarchical teaching. More specifically, may refer to:
a. A pledged disciple, one who in his heart has pledged to his own soul that he will exert towards the goal of discipleship.

b. An accepting disciple, one who has recognized by the light of his soul some facet of the Plan which he can help serve, and voluntarily takes his place among those who (also voluntarily) have assumed responsibility for a service project.

c. An accepted disciple, one whose service activity has fulfilled Ashramic intent, thus demonstrating his right response to Ashramic impression via meditation. He is therefore accepted as a working member of an Ashram.
 

ASHRAM

The "place in consciousness" where a Master of the Wisdom and His disciples can be contacted.
 

ABSTRACT MIND
The three higher subplanes of the mental plane. Higher Mind. The part of mind that functions in the formless worlds. The part of the mind that comprehends ideas.

CONCRETE MIND
The four lower subplanes of the mental plane. Lower Mind. The part of mind that builds into a thoughtform whatever it considers.

IDEA

A truth or concept clothed in substance of the higher mind.

THOUGHTFORM

An idea which has been built into a form by the action of the lower mind upon it. Example: "Truth" is an idea. "Freedom" is an idea. Your definition of Truth and of Freedom will be thoughtforms.

Note: The following statement does not appear in early editions of the book "A Treatise on white Magic" but is included in more recent editions.

Published August 1934

Suffice it to say, that I am a Tibetan disciple of a certain degree, and this tells you but little, for all are disciples from the humblest aspirant up to, and beyond, the Christ Himself. I live in a physical body like other men, on the borders of Tibet, and at times (from the exoteric standpoint) preside over a large group of Tibetan lamas, when my other duties permit. It is this fact that has caused it to be reported that I am an abbot of this particular lamasery. Those associated with me in the work of the Hierarchy (and all true disciples are associated in this work) know me by still another name and office. A.A.B. knows who I am and recognizes me by two of my names.

I am a brother of yours, who has traveled a little longer upon the Path than has the average student, and has therefore incurred greater responsibilities. I am one who has wrestled and fought his way into a greater measure of light than has the aspirant who will read this article, and I must therefore act as a transmitter of the light, no matter what the cost. I am not an old man, as age counts among the teachers, yet I am not young or inexperienced. My work is to teach and spread the knowledge of the Ageless Wisdom wherever I can find a response, and I have been doing this for many years. I seek also to help the Master M. and the Master K.H. whenever opportunity offers, for I have been long connected with Them and with Their work. In all the above, I have told you much; yet at the same time I have told you nothing which would lead you to offer me that blind obedience and the foolish devotion which the emotional aspirant offers to the Guru and Master Whom he is as yet unable to contact. Nor will he make that desired contact until he has transmuted emotional devotion into unselfish service to humanity, -- not to the Master.

The books that I have written are sent out with no claim for their acceptance. They may, or may not, be correct, true and useful. It is for you to ascertain their truth by right practice and by the exercise of the intuition. Neither I nor A.A.B. is the least interested in having them acclaimed as inspired writings, or in having anyone speak of them (with bated breath) as being the work of one of the Masters. If they present truth in such a way that it follows sequentially upon that already offered in the world teachings, if the information given raises the aspiration and the will-to-serve from the plane of the emotions to that of the mind (the plane whereon the Masters can be found) then they will have served their purpose. If the teaching conveyed calls forth a response from the illumined mind of the worker in the world, and brings a flashing forth of his intuition, then let that teaching be accepted. But not otherwise. If the statements meet with eventual corroboration, or are deemed true under the test of the Law of Correspondences, then that is well and good. But should this not be so, let not the student accept what is said.

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