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SECTION ONE
I. Introductory Remarks
II. Certain Questions and Answers
III.Ten Basic Propositions

SECTION TWO
I. The Seven Creative Builders the Seven Rays
II. The Rays and the Kingdoms in Nature
III.The Rays and Man
IV. Some Tabulations on the Rays

"Matter is the Vehicle for the manifestation
of Soul on this plane of existence, and Soul is the
Vehicle on a higher plane for the manifestation of
Spirit, and these three are a Trinity synthesized
by Life, which pervades them all."

[deleted]

THREE SOULS, ONE MAN

Three souls which make up one soul: first, to wit,
A soul of each and all the bodily parts,
Seated therein, which works, and is what Does,
And has the use of earth, and ends the man
Downward: but, tending upward for advice,
Grows into, and again is grown into
By the next soul, which, seated in the brain,
Useth the first with its collected use,
And feeleth, thinketh, willeth,- is what Knows:
Which, duly tending upward in its turn,
Grows into, and again is grown« into
By the last soul, that uses both the first,
Subsisting whether they assist or no,
And, constituting man's self, is what Is -
And leans upon the former, makes it play,
As that played off the first: and, tending up,
Holds, is upheld by, God, and ends the man
Upward in that dread point of intercourse,
Nor needs a place, for it returns to Him.
What Does, what Knows, what Is; three souls, one man.

From Death in the Desert
by Robert Browning.

FOREWORD

The question arises, each time a book is written which is to be read by earnest aspirants: What line of instruction will carry forward their training with the most speed? _for speed is an essential factor, if the present day unfoldment is to be rightly utilised and the stress and strain in the world relieved. The teaching to be given must likewise increase their mental competency, and lead to that stabilisation of the emotional body which will most rapidly set them free for service. It must be remembered that constant study (of papers), and the apprehension by the ear and eye of statements anent the Ageless Wisdom, serve only to increase responsibility, or produce brain fatigue and soreness, with subsequent revolt from instruction. Only that which is brought into use in the life is of practical value and retains its livingness. Sincerity is the first thing for which those of us who teach inevitably look.

Let us remind those we reach through these books that the main result we look for is one of group co-operation and understanding, and not that of individual benefit. By studying and reading with care, a group interplay is set up, the group becomes more closely integrated, the units in it more closely linked together and as a group more closely blended in the unfolding Plan of the treat Ones. We are building and planning for the future and for humanity, and not for the personal unfoldment of any particular aspirant. The individual growth is of no tremendous significance. The formation and development of a band of pledged aspirants, trained to work together and to respond in unison to a teaching, is of real moment to those of us who are responsible for the training and for the preparation of the group of world noos who will function with freedom and power in a later cycle.

You see a tiny portion of the Plan. We see the Plan as it unfolds for a series of lives ahead, and we are today seeking those who can be taught to work in group formation and who can constitute one of the active units in the vast happenings that lie ahead, connected with that two-thirds of humanity who will stand upon the Path at the close of the age, and with that one-third who will be held over for later unfoldment. We are training men and women everywhere so that they can be sensitive to the Plan, sensitive to their group vibration, and thus able to co-operate intelligently with the unfolding purpose. It is a mistake to think that the Plan is to train aspirants to be sensitive to the vibration of a Master or to the Hierarchy. That is but incidental and of minor importance.

It is for the purpose of training aspirants so that group awareness may be developed that these books have been written. Recognise clearly that you personally do not count, but that the group most surely does. Teaching is not given only in order to train you or to provide you with opportunity. All life is opportunity, and individual reaction to opportunity is one of the factors which indicate soul growth. For this, the training school of the world itself suffices.

There should be in all impartation of truth no imposition of authority. Aspirants must be left free to avail themselves of the teaching or not, and spiritual work must go forward because of the free choice and self-initiated effort of the individual student.

In the books already published three basic lines of teaching can be traced:
First, a relatively new technique has been given as to the control of the body.
Second, teaching has been given anent the formation of the New Group of World Servers.
Third, the general lines of the magical work of creation have received attention.

The first line of teaching concerns the individual and his[/her. wsw] development; the second indicates the nature and ideals of the group into which he/she may find his/her way if he/she profits by the teaching and learns control; the third, could you but realise it, details in some measure the methods and modes of work during the coming new age.

Ponder upon these three main approaches to truth, and think upon them with clarity of thought. Mental appreciation of their significance will produce understanding and will likewise increase the group apprehension of the teaching which we have sought to impart. Any student who thinks clearly and applies the teaching to his/her daily life is contributing most valuably to the group awareness.

Oft an aspirant says to him/herself: "Of what real use am I? How can I, in my small sphere, be of service to the world?" Let us reply to these questions by pointing out that by thinking this book into the minds of the public, by expressing before your fellow men-w-c the teaching it imparts, and by a life lived in conforming with its teaching, your service is very real.

This will necessarily involve a pledging of the entire personality to the helping of humanity, and the promise to the Higher Self that endeavour will be made to lose sight of self in service_ a service to be rendered in the place and under the circumstances which a m-w-c's destiny and duty have imposed upon him/her. We mean a renewal of the effort to bring about the purification of all the bodies so that the entire lower man may be a pure channel and instrument through which spiritual force may flow unimpeded. We mean the attaining of an attitude wherein the aspirant desires nothing for the separated self, and in which he/she regards all that he/she has as something which he/she can lay upon the altar of sacrifice for the aiding of his/her brethren.

Could all who read this book see the results of such a united effort, there would emerge a group activity, intelligently undertaken, which would achieve great things. So many people run hither and thither after this individual or that, or this piece of work or that, and, working with lack of intelligent co-ordination, achieve nothing and no group results. But united group effort would eventuate in an inspired reorganisation of the entire world, and the elimination of hindrances; there would be the making of real sacrifices and the giving up of personal wishes and desires in order that group purposes may be served.

Above all, there must be the elimination of fear. With this we have dealt at length, and have given likewise certain rules and formulas for its control. How many who have read the teaching profited by the information imparted? Will you not, with determination and because the world cries out for help, cast away fear and go forward with joy and courage into the future?

There has been, behind all the books which we have written, a definite purpose and a planned sequence of teaching. It may be of interest to you if we trace them for you:

The first book issued [deleted under advisement. wsw] was intended for the average aspirant, to lead him/her on from where he/she was to a vision of an organised band of teachers who were seeking to aid humanity (and incidentally him/herself), and to give some idea of their technique of work and modes of procedure.

[deleted] indicated how these teachers could be reached and the discipline of life that the treading of the Path involved. These two are especially for aspirants.

[deleted] is in an entirely different category. In the last analysis, it is for the guidance of the initiates of the world, and will lift the aspirant's eyes away from him/herself and his/her own growth to a vaster conception and a universal ideal. The mark of the initiate is his/her lack of interest in him/herself, in his/her own unfoldment and his/her own personal fate, and all aspirants who become accepted noos have to master the technique of disinterestedness. Their eyes have also to be lifted away from the group of workers and from the hierarchy which they constitute and to be fixed on wider horizons and vaster realms of activity. The great creative Plan, its Laws and technique of unfoldment, and the work of the Builders of the Universe was dealt with; emerging out of the mass of imparted facts, and underlying all the teaching, was the idea of a great Life with its own psychology and ideas. It was an attempt to give a synthetic picture of the unfolding Mind of God as It works out Its plans through the lesser Sons of Mind. In symbolism and archaic phrases it veiled the truths and principles which lie at the root of the creative process, and in its entirety is beyond the grasp of the advanced student. At the same time, it is a most valuable compendium of information, and will serve to convey truth and to develop the intuition.

The last book, [ deleted], is a parallel volume to [deleted] Just as the first dealt with the psychology of Deity, the work of the Macrocosm, and the Laws whereby the Solar Logos works, so this book constitutes a treatise on the psychology of the Son of God and the work of the Microcosm. It intimately concerns his/her Place in the Larger whole.

We have also aided [ deleted] in getting out a translation of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which is a bridging book, intended to show the aspirant the rules whereby the light within him/her may be developed and the power of the intuition be brought to bear on all problems and on the phenomena of life itself. This book was given the name [deleted].

Here we are fulfilling our intention to write a book on the subject of the Seven Rays. This topic has always been of real interest for students, but about these rays little is known. We know, from [deleted], that they are the building Forces and the sum total of all that is in the manifested universe, but their effect in the human kingdom, and their essential quality and nature, remain as yet a mystery. It will be necessary for us to avoid the cosmic note, if we may so call it, for we seek to make the information of practical value to the student and to the intelligent reader. We shall therefore approach the subject entirely from the standpoint of the human family and deal with the subject in terms of psychological values, laying the foundation for that new psychology which is much needed, and so dealing primarily with the human equation. What we have to say will be a commentary upon an expansion of the words found in the proem of [ deleted], that "All Souls are one with the Oversoul."

We shall, from the outset, accept the fact of the soul. We shall not consider the arguments for or against the hypothesis of there being a soul-universal, cosmic, and divine, or individual and human. For our purposes of discussion, the soul exists, and its intrinsic reality is assumed, as a basic and proven principle. Those who do not admit this assumption can, however, study the book from the angle of a temporarily accepted hypothesis, and thus seek to gather those analogies and indications which may substantiate the point of view. To the aspirant, and to those who are seeking to demonstrate the existence of the soul because they believe in its existence, this expression of its Laws and tradition, its nature, origin and potentialities will become a gradually deepening and experienced phenomenon.

What we indicate and the suggestions we may make, will, we forecast, be demonstrated, in the scientific sense, during the coming Aquarian Age. Science will then have penetrated a little further into the field of intangible yet real phenomena; it will have discovered mayhap it has already made this discovery) that the dense and concrete do not exist; it will know that there is but one substance, present in nature in varying degrees of density and of vibratory activity, and that this substance is impelled by urgent purpose and expressive of divine intent.

We shall seek to avoid as far as possible those loose generalities which are so distressing to the academic and critical mind, and in which the mystic finds such relief and joy. We will however ask those who study this treatise to reserve their opinion and come to no crystallised judgment until the entire proposition has been presented to them, and its outlines have been clearly sensed and its detail somewhat elaborated.

It will be necessary for us to introduce the subject on a wide basis and to link the individual with the general, and this may (at the first) seem too vast a theme, too speculative a presentation and too misty and vague an outline. But this situation cannot be avoided, for the argument_ as must be the case in all truly psyientific work-must be considered from the universal to the particular, from the cosmic to the individual. Men-women-children are, as yet, too interested in the particular and the individual to find it easy to apply the same interest to the greater Whole in which they "live and move and have their being," nor do they at this time (as a general rule) possess that inner mechanism of thought and that intuitive perception of truth which will enable them easily to grasp the significance of that which underlies the symbolism of words, or to see clearly the subjective outline under the objective form. But the effort to understand carries its own reward, and the attempt to grasp and comprehend the Soul-cosmic, universal, planetary and individual leads inevitably to an unfoldment of the mental apparatus (with a subsequent development of the, as yet, quiescent brain cells) which must eventually produce a co-ordination of the thinking faculty, and resultant illumination.

The nature of our septenary universe must be considered, and the relation of the threefold human being to the divine Trinity must be noted. A general idea of the entire symbolic picture is of value. Each student, as he/she takes up the study of the rays, must steadily bear in mind that he/she him/herself-as a human unit-finds his/her place on one or other of these rays. The problem thus produced is a very real one. The physical body may be responsive to one type of ray force, whilst the personality as a whole may vibrate in unison with another. The ego or soul may find itself upon still a third type of ray, thus responding to another type of ray energy. The question of the Monadic ray brings in still another factor in many cases, but this can only be implied and not really elucidated. As we have oft told you, it is only the initiate of the third initiation who can come in touch with his/her Monadic ray, or his/her highest life aspect, and the humble aspirant cannot as yet ascertain whether he/she is a Monad of Power, of Love or of Intelligent Activity.

In concluding, we ask for your sincere cooperation in the work which we are undertaking. It may be of more general and public value than any other of our writings. We shall seek to make this treatise upon the soul relatively brief. We shall seek to express these abstract truths in such a way that the general public, with its profound interest in the soul, may be intrigued and won to a deeper consideration of what is as yet a veiled surmise. The Aquarian Age will see the fact of the soul demonstrated. This is an attempt, carried forward in the difficulties of a transition period which lacks even the needed terminology, to aid that demonstration.

Let us also add that your attitude to the imparted instruction should be that of the student who is seeking truth that can be verified and information that can be applied to the daily life and tested in the crucible of life experience. If, for instance, there are indeed seven Rays, embodying seven types of divine energy, then a m-w-c should be able to recognise these types and energies in the particular field of phenomena in which he/she plays his/her little part. If the truth given is veiled in symbolism and offered as an hypothesis, it should at the same time be unveiled sufficiently so as to be recognisable, and should have in it if sufficient intelligent appeal to warrant its investigation. The words "All souls are one with the Oversoul" may and do, we believe, embody a basic and essential piece of information, but unless there is evidence in the world that there is appearing a living relation between all sentient beings, then the statement is meaningless. But the fact is that universal sentiency and a general awareness are recognised everywhere as existing and as developing. The world is full of knowledge, which is in the last analysis sentient response to conditions which exist, by minds which are developing but are not fully developed. It is becoming gradually apparent that under diversity lies a basic unity, and that our awareness is right and true and correct in so far as we can identify ourselves with this unity.

In closing, may we ask all of you to go forward. Let nothing in the past_ physical inertia, mental depression, lack of emotional control_ keep you from taking fresh hold and with joy and interest making that needed progress which will fit you for more active and useful service. That none of you may be hindered by the past or by the present, but may live as Onlookers, is the prayer, constant and believing, of your teachers. [names & rank deleted upon instruction. wsw]

Part One of Introduction to the Seven Rays. I. Introductory Remarks.

1. The three Objectives in studying the Rays.
2. Definition of the words: Life-Quality-Appearance
3. The Seven Rays enumerated.
4. The Function of Christianity.

Introductory Remarks

I. The Three Objectives in Studying the Rays

The study of the rays, and a true and deep comprehension of the inner significance of the teaching, will do for us three things:

A. It will throw much light upon the times and cycles in the unfolding panorama of history. In the last analysis, history is an account of the growth and development of m-w-c from the stage of the cave man, with his/her consciousness centred in his/her animal life, up to the present time wherein the human consciousness is steadily becoming more inclusive and mental, and so on and up to the stage of a perfected son of God. It is an account of the apprehension, by m-w-c, of the creative ideas which have moulded the race and are establishing its destiny. It gives us a dramatic picture of the progress of those souls who are carried in or out of manifestation by the appearance or disappearance of a ray. We shall find, as we study, that words will greatly handicap our expression of the realities involved, and we must endeavour to penetrate beneath the surface meaning to the esoteric structure of truth.

These rays are in constant movement and circulation, and demonstrate an activity which is progressive and cyclic and evidences increasing momentum. They are dominant at one time and quiescent at another, and according to the particular ray which is making its presence felt at any particular time, so will be the quality of the civilisation, the type of forms which will make their appearance in the kingdoms of nature, and the consequent stage of awareness (the state of consciousness) of the human beings who are carried into form life in that particular era. These embodied lives (again in all four kingdoms) will be responsive to the peculiar vibration, quality, colouring and nature of the ray in question.

The ray in manifestation will affect potently the three bodies which constitute the personality of m-w-c, and the influence of the ray will produce changes in the mind content and the emotional nature of the m-w-c and determine the calibre of the physical body.

We are aware, therefore, that in giving out this relatively new teaching upon the rays we may, in our endeavour to shed fresh light, temporarily increase the complexity of the subject. But as experiment is made, as people are studied in the laboratories of the psychologists and the psychoanalysts in connection with their ray indications, and as the newer sciences come into wise use and their proper sphere, we shall gain much and the teaching will find corroboration. We shall see emerging a new approach to the ancient truths, and a new mode of investigating humanity. In the meantime let us concentrate upon the clear enunciation of the truth anent the rays, and seek to tabulate, outline and indicate their nature, purpose and effects.

The seven Rays, being cyclic in appearance, have continuously passed in and out of manifestation and have thus left their mark down the ages upon mankind, and therefore hold the clue to any true historical survey. Such a survey still remains to be made.

B. A second result of the study of the rays will be to clarify our knowledge as to the nature of man. Modern psychology, experimental and academic, has done much to gather information as to how a m-w-c functions, what is the nature of his/her reactions, the calibre of his/her thought apparatus and the quality of his/her physical mechanism, the mode of his/her thinking and the sum total of complexes, psychoses, neuroses, instincts, intuitions and intellectual fixations which he/she undoubtedly is. Medical psychology has also given us much, and we have learnt that the human being is entirely conditioned by his/her instrument of expression and can express no more than his/her nervous system, brain and glands permit. We find, however, that some of the theories, even the best proven, break down, given varying conditions. The field covered by psychology today is so vast, its schools so many and varied, and its terminology so cumbersome, that we can make no attempt to deal with it here.

The indebtedness of the world to the trained psychologists cannot be estimated, but unless there is a key idea interjected into the whole field of thought, it will fall of its own weight, and produce (as it is already producing) problems, complexes and diseases of the mind which are direct results of its own methods. The knowledge we now have of how men-women-children work on the physical plane as integrated personalities, and of how they can be expected to work, given certain conditions, is broad and sound, and the wideness of its grasp can be somewhat gauged if we compare what we know today with what was known a hundred and fifty years ago. But it has been largely based upon a study of the abnormal, and upon the form aspect (this latter being the true scientific method), and is therefore limited and circumscribed when it is put to the test in the last analysis and in the light of the undoubtedly existent supernormal. What we seek to do, and the contribution we seek to make to the subject, have to do with the emphasis we shall lay upon the nature of the integrating principle found within all coherent forms and on that which can (for lack of a better word) be called the soul /or self.

This principle, which informs the body nature and expresses its reactions through the emotional and mental states, is of course recognised by many schools of psychology, but remains nevertheless an unknown and undefinable quantity. They find it impossible to discover its origin; they know not what it is, whether or no it is an informing entity, detached and separate from the body nature; they question whether it is an integrated energetic sum total brought into existence through the fusion of the body cells, and therefore, through the process of evolution, constituting a thinking, feeling entity; or whether it is no more than the aggregated life and consciousness of the cells themselves.

The above is a generalisation which will serve our purpose and will cover the general proposition. It will appear, as we study, that the energies which inform the personalities and which constitute the nature of the human being fall naturally into three groups:

1. Those energies which we call "the spirits in men." You note here the utter superficiality of that phrase. It is meaningless and misleading. Spirit is One, but within that essential unity the "points of fire" /or "the divine sparks" can be seen and noted. These unities, within the unity, are coloured by and react qualitatively to, three types of energy, for it is scientifically true, and a spiritual fact in nature, that God is the Three in One and the One in Three. The spirit of man came into incarnation along a line of force emanation from one or other of these three streams, which form one stream, emanating from the Most High.

2. These streams of energy differentiate into a major three, yet remain one stream. This is an psyientific fact worthy of the deepest meditation. In their turn they differentiate into seven streams which "carry into the light," as it is called, the seven types of souls. It is with these seven that we shall deal.

3. The energies into which the three distribute themselves, thus becoming seven, in their turn produce the forty-nine types of force which express themselves through all the forms in the three worlds and the four kingdoms in nature. You have therefore: a. Three Monadic groups of energies. The essential Unity expresses, through these three, the qualities of Will, Love and Intelligence.
b. Seven groups of energies which are the medium through which the three major groups express the divine qualities.
c. Forty-nine groups of forces to which all forms respond and which constitute the body of expression for the seven, who in their turn are reflections of the three divine qualities.

In some mysterious ways, therefore, the differentiations which manifest in nature are found in the realm of quality and not in the realm of reality.

It is with the seven groups of souls (or soul energies) that we shall deal, and with the threefold forms in the fourth kingdom of nature which they create, and through which they have to express the quality of their ray group and the energy of that one of the three essential groups to which their soul ray is related. We shall therefore, if possible, endeavour to add to modern psychology and enrich its content with that esoteric psychology which deals with the soul /or self, the ensouling entity within the form.

C. The third effect of the study of these rays should be twofold. Not only shall we understand somewhat the inner side of history, not only shall we gain an idea of the divine qualities emerging from the three aspects and determining the forms of expression on the physical plane, but we shall have a practical method of analysis whereby we can arrive at a right understanding of ourselves as ensouling entities, and at a wiser comprehension of our fellowmen-women-children. When, through our study, we ascertain for instance that the tendency of our soul ray is that of will or power, but that the ray governing the personality is that of devotion, we can more truly gauge our opportunity, our capacities and our limitations; we can more justly determine our vocation and service, our assets and our debits, our true value and strength. When we can add to that knowledge an analysis which enables us to realise that the physical body is reacting preeminently to the soul ray, whilst the emotional body is under the influence of the personality ray which is historically in manifestation at the time, we are then in a position to gauge our particular problem with judgment. We can then deal more intelligently with ourselves, with our children and with our friends and associates. We shall find ourselves able to cooperate more wisely with the Plan as it is seeking expression at any particular time.

It is a platitude to say that the true meaning of "psychology" is the "word of the soul." It is the sound, producing an effect in matter, which a particular ray may make. This is in some ways a difficult way of expressing it, but if it is realised that each of the seven Rays emits its own sound, and in so doing sets in motion those forces which must work in unison with it, the entire question of man's free will, of his/her eternal destiny and of his/her power to be self-assertive comes up for solution. These questions we shall seek to answer as we proceed.

Some of the points which we may seek to make clear will not be capable of substantiation and cannot be proved by you. These it would be wise to accept as working hypotheses, in order to understand that whereof we seek to speak. Some of the points we may make you may find yourself capable of checking up in your own life experience, and they will call forth from you a recognition coming from your concrete mind; or they may produce in you a reaction of the intensest conviction, emanating from your intuitively aware Self. In any case, read slowly; apply the Laws of analogy and of correspondence; study yourself and your brethren; seek to link what we say to any knowledge you may possess of the modern theories, and remember that the more truly you live as a soul the more surely you will comprehend that which may be imparted.

As you study you must not forget the basic concept that in all psyientific work one is occupied with energy_ energy units, energy embodied in forms, energy streams in flow; and that these energies are made potent and embody our purpose through the use of thought; they follow along the well-defined thought currents of the group.

It must be remembered, however, that it is in this region of thought that the cleavage comes between black and light / white magic. It is in the use of thought power that the two aspects of magic can be seen functioning, and therefore it is true that there is no black magic, per se, until one reaches the realm of mind. No one can be a black magician until the will and the thought work in unison, until mind control and the creative work of the focussed mind can be seen. It has oft been said the black magician is rare, indeed, and that is verily true, because the creative thinker, with power to use the sustained will, is also rare.

Let us illustrate. There is need for clear thinking on these matters, for as we study the psychology of the microcosm and arrive at an understanding of his/her ray impulses and energies we shall need to see clearly the way we go so that we shall tread the path of selflessness, leading to group awareness, and not the path of individualism, leading eventually and inevitably (as the mind aspect becomes organised) to the left hand path of black magic.

Those strong souls who consciously and knowingly enter into the realms of spiritual force and take thence that which they need and that which they choose, must work with intelligence, so that there may be a subsequent wise distribution of force within a chosen area. Those who know themselves to be in the rank and file of aspirants, but who possess the persistence which will drive them forward to the goal, need to remember that theirs is the responsibility of adding their quota to the sum total, and that this is done every time they think of the group, correspond with a fellow aspirant or meditate.

Extend the idea, then, from the student in a group to the group itself, regarding it as a group unit within a larger group. You have there a perfect analogy to the way the Great Ones work at this time. Regard, therefore, all your work as group work, causing effects which are inevitable and contributing to the potency of the group thought form.

The second thing upon which we seek to touch concerns the testing going on inevitably among the aspirants and noos at this time. This is not so much a testing of their place upon the Path, as of their power to live in the world as citizens of another kingdom, and as the custodians of that which the world as a rule does not recognise. In so far as that testing is applied, and in so far as it can be gauged, we seek to point out that the testing is not applied, as some think, because of their affiliation with any group or because of their one-pointed determination to tread the Path. It is applied because the aspirants' own souls so ordained it, prior to incarnation, and it was the will of their souls that a certain measure of growth, hitherto unknown, should be attained, a certain degree of detachment from form should be achieved, and a certain preparation should be undergone which would lead to a liberation from the form life. The idea that a renewed effort towards the goal of spiritual light is the cause of trouble or precipitates disaster is not a statement of fact. The extent of the discipline to be undergone by a noo is settled and known by his/her soul before he/she even takes a body; it is determined by Law.

It is this problem of energy units and their mutual interplay which underlies the entire subject of the rays which we shall seek to investigate. Every group in the world is a nucleus for the focussing and interplay of the seven types of force, just as every human being is also a meeting place for the seven types of energy,_ two in the ascendant and five less potent. Every group can consequently be a creative centre and produce that which is an expression of the controlling energies and of the directed thought of the thinkers in the group. From the standpoint of Those Who see and guide, therefore, every group is constructing something that is relatively tangible and governed by certain building Laws . The great work of the Builders proceeds steadily. Often that which is built is inchoate, futile and without form or purpose, and of no use to either gods or men. But the race as a whole is now coming into an era wherein the mind is becoming a potent factor; many are learning to hold the mind steady in the light, and consequently are receptive to ideas hitherto unrecognised. If a group of minds can be so drawn together and fused into an adequate synthesis, and if they (in their individual and daily meditation) keep focussed or oriented towards that which can be apprehended, great concepts can be grasped and great ideas intuited. Men-W-C can train themselves_ as a group_ to think these intuited ideas of the true and the beautiful and of the Plan into manifested existence, and thus a creation of beauty, embodying a divine principle, can be built. Ponder on this, seek to fit yourselves for the registering of these ideas, and train yourselves to formulate them into thoughts and to transmit them so that others can apprehend them also. This is the nature of the real work to be done by the new groups, and students today who can grasp this idea have the opportunity to do some of this pioneering work.

Always the individual of advancement and of poise has been able to do this intuiting, and to concretise the idea. Groups of students meditating synchronously should now attempt to do the same. The effort to synchronise effort does not relate so much to the time element as to unity of intent and of purpose.

There is to be found today in the realm of the intuition much of wonder; this can be contacted. It is now the privilege of the race to contact that "raincloud of knowable things" to which the ancient seer Patanjali refers in his fourth book; the race, through its many aspirants, can today precipitate this "raincloud" so that the brains of men-w-c everywhere can register the contact. Hitherto this has been the privilege of the illumined and rare seer. In this way the New Age will be ushered in and the new knowledge will enter into the minds of humanity.

This can be practically demonstrated if those who are interested in this treatise […] can attune themselves to think clearly, and with a poised and illumined mind seek to understand what is relatively a new aspect of truth.

In undertaking to reveal something anent the nature of the seven Rays, we feel it necessary to remind all of you who take up this study that any speculation as to the emanating source of the rays must remain profitless until there is developed within each student that apparatus of response and that sensitive mechanism which will enable him/her to register a wider field of contacts than is at present possible. Many are as yet in the initial stage of registering an awareness of a field of expression which they know exists_ the field of soul awareness_ but which is not yet for them their normal field of expression. Many know a great deal about it, theoretically, but the practical effects of applied knowledge are not yet theirs. Many are conscious of consciousness, and are aware of the kingdom of the soul and of an occasional reaction to impression from that kingdom, but they are not yet consciousness itself, nor so identified with the soul that consciousness of all else drops away. To achieve that is their aim and objective.

Let us also remind you that the career of the Monad (an aspect of energy found on one or other of the three major rays) can be roughly divided into three parts, leading to a fourth:

1. A lower realisation of a unity which is the unit of the form nature. In this unity, the soul is so closely identified with the matter aspect that it sees no distinction, but is the form, and knows not itself as soul. This often reaches its height in some life of full personality expression, wherein the soul is completely centred in personality reactions; the lower life is so strong and vital that a powerful and material expression eventuates.

2. A subsequent and painful differentiation of the consciousness into a realised duality. In this condition, the m-w-c is distinctly aware of what is termed his/her essential duality; he/she knows he/she is spirit-matter, is form-life, and is the soul in manifestation. During this stage, which covers many lives and carries the m-w-c along the path of probation and nooship as far as the third initiation, the centre of gravity (if we may so express it) shifts steadily out of the form side and centres itself more and more in that of the soul. There is a growing consciousness that there is a Reality which embraces, and at the same time extinguishes, duality.

Remember that the entire story of evolution is the story of consciousness, and of a growing expansion of the "becoming-aware" principle, so that from the microscopic interest of the self-conscious man_ for we shall retain the parable within the confines of the fourth kingdom in nature_ we have a slowly developing inclusiveness which finally leads him/her into the consciousness of the cosmic Christ.

3. The higher realisation of unity follows upon this sense of duality, and in this final stage the sense of being soul and body is lost. The consciousness identifies itself with the indwelling Life of the planet and of the solar system. When this happens, there is the registering of a state of being which lies beyond word, mind and form expression of any kind.

The great Jewish seer sought to convey these three stages in the words, I Am_ That_ I Am. He thus expressed them tritely and succinctly and adequately, had we but the development to know it. The third (however understood) defies expression, and hints at a fourth type of realisation which is that of Deity itself, about which it profits us not to speculate.

2. Life - Quality - Appearance

In our study of the rays it must therefore be remembered that we are dealing with life-expression, through the medium of matter-form. The highest unity will be cognised only when this dual relation is perfected. The theory of the One Life may be held, but we deal not basically with theory but with that which may be known, provided there is growth and intelligent application of truth. We deal with possibility and with that which is capable of achievement. Many these days like to talk and think in terms of that One Life, but it remains but speech and thought, whilst the true awareness of that essential Unity remains a dream and an imagining. Whenever this reality is put into words duality is emphasised and the spiritual controversy (using the word in its basic meaning and not in its ordinary warlike connotation) is enhanced. Take for example the words: "I believe in the One Life" or "To me, there is but one Reality," and note how they are in their phraseology an expression of duality. Life cannot be expressed in words nor can its realised perfection. The process of "becoming," which leads to "being," is a cosmic event, involving all forms, and no son of God lies separated from that mutable process as yet. As long as he/she is in form he/she cannot know what Life is, though, when he/she has attained certain steps and can function on the higher planes of the system in full awareness, he/she can begin to glimpse that awful Reality. Certain great initiates, down the ages, have fulfilled their function of revealers, and have held before the eyes of the pioneering noos of life the ideal of Oneness and of Unity. It has nevertheless been a matter of shifting the focus of attention progressively out of one form into another, and thus, from a higher standpoint getting a fresh glimpse of a possible truth. Each age (and the present is no exception) has believed its grasp of Reality and its sensitivity to the inner Beauty to be greater and nearer the True than was ever previously possible. The highest realisation of what is termed the One Life is the awareness (of the initiate of high degree) of the embodied Logos, of Deity, and his/her identification with the consciousness of that stupendous Creator Who is seeking expression through the medium of the solar system. No initiate on the planet can identify him/herself with the consciousness of that Identified Being (in the esoteric sense of the term) Who, speaking in the Bhagavad Gita, says: "Having pervaded the entire universe with a fragment of Myself, I remain."

These thoughts we commend to your consideration and to your careful pondering, begging you to see to it that there is a steady expansion of your sense of awareness and a growing capacity to make understanding contacts with that emerging Truth, Reality and Beauty which the universe declares. Guard yourself at the same time from mystical rhapsodies anent the One Life, which are apt to be no more than the negation of all mental apprehension and a luxuriating in the sensuous perception of a highly developed and high grade emotional nature.

All our considerations therefore in this treatisewill necessarily be held within the realm of thought which involves awareness of duality. We shall employ the language of duality, and this we shall do, not because we seek to emphasize it to the neglect of unity (for this unity is to us somewhat of a reality and we glimpse more than a possibility), but because all aspirants and noos and all initiates up to the third initiation_ as we earlier said_ are swinging as a pendulum between the pairs of opposites, spirit and matter. We speak not here of the pairs of opposites of the astral or emotional plane, which are illusory reflections of the true pairs of opposites, but of the basic duality of manifestation. We seek to deal with that material which is of practical value and which can be grasped by the illumined intelligence of the average m-w-c. It is necessary for all students who seek illumination and a right apprehension of truth to drop the emphasis so often laid upon certain aspects and presentations of truth being spiritual and others being mental. It is in the realm of so-called mind that the great principle of separateness is found. It is also in the realm of mind that the great at-one-ment is made. The words of the initiate Paul have here a fitting place, wherein he/she says: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ," and adds in another place that Christ had made "in him [/herself], of twain, one new man". It is through the mind that theory is formulated, truth distinguished and Deity apprehended. When we are more advanced upon the Path, we shall see naught but spirit everywhere, and the aphorism, enunciated by that great noo, [deleted], that "matter is spirit at the lowest point of its cyclic activity" and "spirit is matter on the seventh plane," or the highest, will be a realised fact in our consciousness. It is as yet but an intellectual phrase which means little except the enunciation of a truth, incapable of proof. Everything is an expression of a spiritual consciousness, which spiritualises by its inherent life all matter-forms. A grub or worm working out its little life in a mass of decaying substance is as much a spiritual manifestation as an initiate working out his/her destiny in a mass of rapidly changing human forms. It is all manifested Deity; it is all divine expression and all a form of sensitive awareness and of response to environment, and therefore a form of conscious expression.

The seven Rays are the first differentiation of the divine triplicity of Spirit-Consciousness-Form, and they provide the entire field of expression for the manifested Deity. We are told in the scriptures of the world that the interplay, or the relation between, Father_ Spirit and Mother_ Matter produces eventually a third, which is the Son , or the consciousness aspect. That Son , the product of the two, is esoterically defined as "the One Who was third but is the second." The reason for this wording is that there first existed the two divine aspects, Spirit-Matter, or matter impregnated with life, and it was only when these two realised their mutual unity (note the necessary ambiguity of that phrase) that the Son emerged. The esotericist, however, regards Spirit-Matter as the first unity, and the Son therefore is the second factor. This Son, Who is divine Life incarnate in matter, and consequently the producer of the diversity and immensity of forms, is the embodiment of divine quality. We might therefore utilise_ for the sake of clarity_ the terms Life-Quality-Appearance as interchangeable with the more usual trinity of Spirit-Soul-Body, or Life-Consciousness-Form.

We shall utilise the word Life when referring to Spirit, to energy, to the Father, to the first aspect of Divinity, and to that essential dynamic electric Fire which produces all that is, and is the sustaining, originating Cause and Source of all manifestation.

We shall use the word Appearance to express that which we call matter, or form, or objective expression; it is that illusory tangible outer appearance which is animated by life. This is the third aspect, the Mother, overshadowed and fertilised by the Holy Ghost, or Life, united with intelligent substance. This is fire by friction_ a friction brought about by life and matter and their interplay, and producing change and constant mutation.

We shall use the word quality as expressive of the second aspect, the Son of God, the cosmic Christ incarnate in form_ a form brought into being by the relation of spirit and matter. This interplay produces that psychological Entity which we call the Christ. This cosmic Christ demonstrated to us His perfection, as far as the human family is concerned, through the medium of the historical Christ. This psyphological Entity can bring into functioning activity a quality within all human forms which esoterically can "obliterate the forms" and so engross the attention as to be regarded eventually as the main factor and as constituting all that is. This truth as to life and quality and form is made most clearly apparent to us in the story of the Christ of Galilee. He was constantly reminding the people that He was not what He appeared to be, neither was He the Father in Heaven, and He is ever referred to by those who know and love Him in terms of quality. He demonstrated to us the quality of the love of God, and in Himself He embodied not only that which He had evolved of the seven ray qualities, but also_ as do few of the sons of God_ a basic principle of the ray of the Solar Logos Himself, the quality of Love. This we shall study more closely when we take up the consideration of the second ray of Love-Wisdom.

The seven Rays are therefore embodiments of seven types of force which demonstrate to us the seven qualities of Deity. These seven qualities have consequently a sevenfold effect upon the matter and forms to be found in all parts of the universe, and have also a sevenfold interrelation between themselves.

Life - Quality - Appearance are brought together into a synthesis in the manifested universe and in m-w-c incarnate, and the result of this synthesis is sevenfold, producing seven types of qualified forms which emerge on all planes and in all kingdoms. It must be remembered that all the planes which we, from our little point of view, regard as formless are not really so. Our seven planes are but the seven subplanes of the cosmic physical plane. We shall not deal with the planes, except in their relation to m-w-c's unfoldment, nor shall we deal with the macrocosm, or with the developing life of the Cosmic Christ. We shall confine our attention entirely to man and to his/her psychological reactions to the qualified forms in three directions: to those in the subhuman kingdoms in nature, to those with whom he/she associates in the human family and to the guiding Hierarchy and the world of souls. The seven ray types must be dealt with entirely from the human angle, for this treatise is intended to give the new psychological approach to man through an understanding of the energies, seven in number, with their forty-nine differentiations, which animate him/her and make him/her what he/she is. Later, as we take up each ray type, we shall subject man to a close analysis and study his/her reactions in these three directions.

These seven Rays are the seven streams of force issuing from a central energy after (in point of time) that vortex of energy had been set up. Spirit and matter became mutually interactive and the form or appearance of the solar system began its process of becoming,_ a process leading to an eventual being. This idea is ancient and true. We find reference to the seven aeons and the seven emanations and to the life and nature of the seven "Spirits which are before the Throne of God" in the writings of Plato and of all initiates who laid down in ancient times the basic propositions which have guided the human mentality down the ages. These great Lives, functioning within the boundaries of the solar system, gathered to Themselves that substance which They required for manifestation and built it into those forms and appearances through which They could best express Their innate qualities. Within the radius of Their influence, They gathered all that now appears. This aggregated, qualified material constitutes Their body of manifestation, just as the solar system is the body of manifestation of the Trinity of aspects.

This idea can best be apprehended if one remembers that every human being is, in his/her turn, an aggregate of atoms and cells built into form and having scattered throughout that form organs and centres of differentiated life which function in rhythm and relation, but which have varying influences and differing purposes. These aggregated and animated forms present an appearance of an entity or central life which is characterised by its own quality, and which functions according to the point in evolution, thus making an impress by its radiation and life upon every atom and cell and organism within the radius of immediate influence and also upon every other human being contacted. Man is a psychic entity, a Life Who, through radiatory influence, has built a form, coloured it with His own psychic quality and thus presented an appearance to the environing world which will persist for as long a time as He lives in form.

This statement covers also the life story and the qualified appearance of any one of the seven Rays. God, Ray, Life, and Man are all psychological entities and builders of forms. Therefore a great psychological life is appearing through the medium of a solar system. Seven psychological lives, qualified by seven types of force, are appearing through the medium of the seven planets. Each planetary life repeats the same technique of manifestation_ Life - Quality - Appearance_ and in its second aspect of quality demonstrates as a psychological entity. Every human being is a miniature replica of the entire plan. He/She is also spirit-soul-body, Life-Quality-Appearance. He/She colours his/her appearance with his/her quality and animates it with his/her life. Because all appearances are expressions of quality and the lesser is included in the greater, every form in nature and every human being is found upon one or other of the seven qualifying rays and his/her appearance in a phenomenal form is coloured by the quality of his/her basic ray. It is qualified predominantly by the ray of the particular life upon whose emanation he/she issued forth, but it will include also in a secondary measure the six other ray types.

Let us therefore posit_ as a symbolical analogy_ the fact of a Central Life (extraneous and outside our solar system yet within it during the process of manifestation) Which decides within Itself to take a material form and to incarnate. A vortex of force is set up as a preliminary step and we then have God immanent and God transcendent at the same time. This vortex, as a result of this initial activity, demonstrates through the medium of what we call substance or (to use a technical term of modern science, which is the best we can do at this time) through the ether of space. The consequence of this active interplay of life and substance is that a basic unity is constituted. Father and mother are at-one. This unity is characterised by quality. Through this triplicity of life-quality-form, the central Life evokes and manifests consciousness, or awareness of response to all that is eventuating, but in a degree which it is impossible for us to cognise, limited as we are by our present relatively undeveloped point in evolution.

Students of this treatise must bear in mind, from the very start of their studies, the necessity for familiarising themselves with these four conditioning factors_ Life-Quality-Appearance_ and their result or synthesis which we call Consciousness.

Always, therefore, we predicate that which stands outside of the appearance and which is conscious of that appearance. This involves awareness of its material development and consequent adequacy of expression, and also awareness of its psychic unfoldment. No study of the rays is possible apart from this fourfold recognition. Our grasp of the subject will be much facilitated if we train ourselves to regard ourselves as an accurate (though as yet undeveloped) expression and reflection of this initial creative quaternary. We are lives, making an appearance, expressing quality and slowly becoming aware of the process and the objective, as our consciousness becomes more like that of Divinity Itself.