From “The Journal of Esoteric Psychology”, Vol. XII, No. 1, 1998

INTRODUCTION

Nowadays most people, who are occupied with the esoteric teaching, are aware of the fact that the path of spiritual evolution is not a diffuse notion but a well-defined process which proceeds in definite stages termed initiations.

The theosophical pioneers knew that, and in traditional theosophical literature we find reasonable descriptions of the process. But not until the appearance of modern theosophy, that is the epoch-making co-operation between the Tibetan Master Djwhal Khul (DK) and Alice A. Bailey (AAB), did the concept of initiation assume its rightful position in the esoteric world picture.

This is partly due to the fact that the first book they produced together was called Initiation—human and solar. It is a book which makes extensive use of traditional theosophical ideas, and there is no doubt in my mind that one of its purposes was to show the theosophists of the time that a renewal and extension of the teaching was on its way. And so the first chapters of the book were in fact issued in the journal of The Theosophical Society, The Theosophist, but unfortunately lacking ability to accept the position of AAB made it impossible for the project to continue. It meant that Alice and Foster Bailey had to found their own organisation, and that there arose a division in what the Tibetan might have termed “the continuous revelation of the teaching”.

But it is wise to notice that the first book, and as far as it goes also the last, deal with initiation, for we have to get used to the idea that none of what this spokesman for our Spiritual Hierarchy does is accidental. He probably wanted to renew the interest in the subject and make esotericists aware of the practical and actual nature of the path of spiritual evolution. He says:

“Many who read these instructions and who study the books I have written are in process of preparation for one or other of the initiations, and the entire theme should therefore be of major interest to you. You should decide (at least tentatively) which initiation lies ahead of you and then discover all you possibly can about it and its prerequisites, endeavouring to make practical application of the imparted information; either that which I give to you is true or it is not true; if true, it is vital to your future progress and you should aim at achieving a measure of real understanding.”

But the Tibetan is not the only Master who stresses this subject. In 1988 the Occult Diary of Geoffrey Hodson (GH), Light of the Sanctuary, was published posthumous. GH became an initiate of the 3rd degree, and during his long and prosperous life he was frequently contacted by members of the Hierarchy who utilised his exceptional psychic and spiritual powers to communicate with humanity through him. On page 393 we read the following message from the Masters Kuthumi and Morya:

“Your contributions more recently begin to refer to the upper regions of the structure, namely the spiritual and occult teachings and their especial applications to two classes of people: genuine seekers for philosophic and religious truth upon which their ways of life can be founded, and guidance—assurance even—of assistance on the Path of Hastened Evolution available to those who, totally ahamkara-less, find themselves awakening to the call of the Path Life.”

Later in the book Geoffry Hodson’s Master, Morya, continues the theme:
 

“Yes, Geoffrey, the reprinted pamphlet (The Path to the Masters of the Wisdom) is appreciated and especially at this time... it draws attention winningly to this great ideal of the spiritual life. Continue, if We may indicate, this work of presenting the Discipleship and Initiation ideals, as you have recently and valuably been doing.”

On the same page is a message from the Master Rakoczy—the present Mahachohan:
 

“The procedures of occult advancements are of extreme importance, not only for the individuals concerned, but for humanity as a whole. A step taken by one Ego-personality helps onward the evolution of the human race, especially as regards both mental attitudes towards life itself and all sentient beings, and also general evolutionary progress, however slightly the conditions of one person may be presumed to affect the whole of humanity. Path people are therefore racially of great importance in the eyes of the Adept Brotherhood as a whole, and those Masters Who perform the specialized function.”

On page 415 we read a message from the Master Serapis Bey who belongs to the Brotherhood of Luxor:

“The three central subjects thus to be presented are:
 

1. The possibility of spiritual advancement under Adept guidance through successive and continually more potent Initiations.
 

2. The Serpent Fire in all its aspects and symbology—as you are doing.
 

3. As a sufficient number of people are moved by and display the right, true spirit, more definite steps may be taken by Ourselves with your and other aid, to establish the Occult Mysteries as a recognized aspect of civilisation. This, as you know, is Our aim, so that the few right-thinking people, worthy women and men, may once again be drawn towards the sacred portals and admitted to successive and advancing Initiatory Rites.”

And, finally, on page 520 Master Morya makes the importance of the theme lucidly clear:

“To fail to keep within the teachings of theosophy the great ideal of the Goal of Discipleship, would be to take the Heart and the Soul out of theosophy. The maintenance of the Path Ideal within the teachings and thought of the Theosophical Society, is one of the greatest if not the greatest responsibility before you in this life. Proceed. The Path is the hidden Life and Light of the World.”

Therefore it is vital for us to understand that the concept of initiation is of immediate importance to many people. We are even told that humanity in general is approaching the 1st initiation. Supposedly this doesn’t mean that most people on the planet are going to take this initiation in the immediate future, for in that connection we should remember another information, namely that 2/5 of humanity will be transferred to a another planet in the middle of the next round at the event which the Bible calls the “Day of Judgement”. For at that time these people are still not securely anchored in the process of spiritual unfoldment, and so their presence would impede the progress of the rest of humanity. And this may be some 8-10 billion years ahead.

So the information about humanity approaching the 1st initiation probably implies that the number of individuals who are actually going to take this initiation will reach the “critical mass”, which means that there will be a sufficient amount to influence the development within the world society in a significant way. And as these people by definition are relatively highly evolved it may not be that many compared to the total amount of incarnated human beings. But let us see what the Tibetan says:

“The first major proof that humanity (through the medium of the majority of its advanced people) has undergone the first initiation will be the appearance of a cycle of entirely new creative art.”

Therefore it is extremely relevant to take a closer look at the concept of initiation in order to clarify exactly what qualities seekers on the way have to develop if they want to qualify for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd initiations respectively. At the present time the higher initiations are of no immediate concern for most people.

In trying to assess initiation—our own (if any) or that of somebody else—we may approach the subject in two different ways: (1) We can focus on the “passive” disciplinary requirements, that is the kind of control the aspirant has to obtain, or (2) we may attempt to define the “active” spiritual qualities which enable the aspirant to obtain the discipline or control in question.

PASSIVE DISCIPLINARY

REQUIREMENTS
 

The first approach is the most common, may be because it is the easiest one to survey, and may be also because it makes it realistic for quite a number of people to imagine that they have taken or are about to take initiation—for seen from a disciplinary point of view the first 3 initiations are defined in a clear and manageable way.

The 1st initiation

This is characterised by a relatively advanced control of what in biblical terms is called the “lusts of the flesh”. It means that those states of consciousness which originate in the two basic aspects of the instinctual life—the instinct of self-preservation and the sexual drive—are not allowed to have a decisive influence on life. At first sight, this may seem to be requirements that fairly many people can meet today, but if we push the analysis to extremes we may get a clearer picture of what they really entail.

Our entire striving for material well-being and position in society is connected with the instinct of self-preservation, while our home life is basically a function of the sexual drive. So if the desire for material prosperity is a primary demand and the needs of the family are considered in details before any other perspective enters into the picture, then the requirements for the 1st initiation are probably not met—and here we speak about the vast majority of people in our modern western world.

Naturally, the fulfilment of these disciplinary prerequisites does not imply that aspirants to initiation cannot have a reasonable standard of living and be sexually active. It would be a disaster to evolution if disciples and initiates did not have children and a secure and comfortable home, for otherwise where would advanced souls incarnate? Meeting the requirements means that material and sensory values are no longer the aim and meaning of life, and that they are not allowed to decide the course of life. It means—as the Italians probably would say—that we no longer “live to eat but eat to live”.

If we for a moment consider the energy aspect of the 1st initiation we may say that the primary factor is the sublimation of energy from the sacral to the throat centre. This is done by stimulating the throat centre through creative mental activity like study and meditation. Thereby it is rendered magnetic and enabled to attract energy from the sacral centre. But this is only possible if the aspirant also integrates his personality under the supervision of the intellect and gathers his personality forces in the brow (ajna) centre. Simultaneously, the creative use of the intellect, and especially occult meditation, gradually opens the head centre to such a degree that the energy of the soul is able to meet the personality forces in the form of a “light bridge” between the etheric counterparts of the pineal and pituitary glands respectively. It is this inflow of soul energy from the unfolding knowledge petals of the egoic lotus to the throat centre that eventually makes true control of the instinctive life possible.

The 2nd initiation

This implies a corresponding control over the emotional life in general. Selfishness, jealousy, envy, passion, desire and related states of consciousness are not permitted to interfere with daily life in any decisive way. Personal sympathies or antipathies do not determine who we can co-operate with, and ambition and desire for a worldly career have but little influence on what kind of work or activity we give the highest priority in life.

Technically what happens is that the disciple renders the heart centre magnetic by developing detachment, discrimination and a sense of responsibility so that it attracts and sublimates energy from the solar plexus centre. This means that he lives in the higher and more unselfish regions of the astral body, and gradually the whole of his emotional life is turned into aspiration—that is desire for spiritual unfoldment—which is really “the desire to end all desires”, because finally it results in the total abnegation of that aspect of consciousness. But the stimulation of the heart centre also means that the higher counterpart of the emotional aspect, the pure intuitive reason of the buddhic body, begins to make itself felt as group consciousness and group responsibility which are the first practical expressions of true spiritual love-wisdom.

But as in the case of the 1st initiation, the 2nd initiation does not imply that the disciple is not a times torn by strong emotions. In the beginning this frequently happens, because activities like study, meditation or lecturing result in an inflow of fairly large quantities of soul energy into the mental, emotional and physical nature, and as this energy is completely impersonal in its effect it will stimulate all aspects of the personality—including the instinctual and emotional natures.

That is why the demand for emotional control is far more difficult to live up to than at any prior stage of evolution, as for instance the one termed the stage of the integrated personality. This latter stage represents the transition from ordinary materialistic ambition to the first emotionally motivated search for some alternative reality — (the phase of the mystic). The integrated personality is known for its relatively advanced control of the emotional nature, and because of this people going through this phase often reach the top of their profession in some part of society—for by controlling their emotions they gain power over other people. That is what is meant by the expression “poker face”. The player with a poker face does not disclose his emotional reaction to the cards he holds, and that enables him to adapt his efforts to the hands of the other players, for they continually display their position through body language, drops of perspiration on the forehead and radiation of anxiety or excitement.

Perhaps we may say that the individualisation process, that first long stretch of evolution primarily governed by karmic law, culminates in the stage of the integrated personality. For the first time in history individualistic man is intelligent and powerful enough to satisfy his desires to such a degree that he feels how empty and frustrating this really is. Desire cannot be saturated, it increases its force (elemental essence) each time it is repeated, and in this phase man experiences directly that satisfying more desires will not make him any happier. This results in a sense of deep dissatisfaction which drives him into alternative areas of existence where he hopes for his mystical dreams and longings to come true—for his still has to desire and the satisfaction is still something he wants for himself.

But the emotional control of the disciple at the second initiation is on a far higher turn or the spiral, for it implies a shift in the attitude towards the desire function itself. The demand for safety, comfort and happiness is no longer the aim and meaning of life, but on the other hand, the alternative states of consciousness which should compensate for the personality losses are not yet fully developed, and therefore the dissatisfaction and desperation reach their highest level. Let us see what the Tibetan has to say about this situation:

“He has, through his willingness to pass through the second initiation, struck the first blow at his innate selfishness and has demonstrated his determination to think in wider and more inclusive terms. The group begins to mean more to him than himself... At the second initiation he is granted a vision of a higher focus, and his place in the larger whole begins slowly to reveal itself. A new creativity and a new focus become his immediate goals, and for him life can never again be the same. The old physical attitudes and desires may still at times assume control; selfishness may continue to play a potent part in his life expression, but—underlying these and subordinating them—will be found a deep dissatisfaction about things as they are and an agonising realisation of failure. It is at this point that the disciple begins to learn the use of failure and to know certain fundamental distinctions between that which is natural and objective and that which is supernatural and subjective.”

Now the most difficult time in the entire human evolution begins. By taking the 2nd initiation the disciple has obtained and intense enhancement of his general level of energy. He is filled with a deep devotion to the cause and works desperately to realise his latent spiritual possibilities, but he has still no absolute certainty. He is working blindly in “anticipation of a grant”, for his spiritual nature usually limits its expression to the ability to receive and interpret ideas. DK says:
 

“We are told (and it is factually true) that the longest period between initiations is that to be found between the first and the second initiations. This is a truth which must be faced, but it should also be remembered that it is by no means the hardest period. The hardest period for the sensitive, feeling aspirant is to be found between the second and the third initiations. It is a period of intense suffering, of the penalty of applying factors of glamour and illusion, of pronounced involvement in situations which, for a long time, remain unclarified, and of a steady moving forward as best the beleaguered aspirant can—under the influence of right direction and spiritual determination. This he has usually to do in the dark, working under the action of the logical and understanding mind, but seldom under the influence of inspiration. Nevertheless, the good work goes on. The emotions are brought under control, and necessarily the factor of the mind assumes an increasingly right importance. Light—flickering and as yet uncertain and unpredictable—pours occasionally in from the soul, via the mind, adding frequently to the complications but producing eventually the needed control which will lead to and result in freedom.”
 

The 3rd initiation
 

This denotes the culmination of form evolution and with that the total transfiguration of human nature. Man becomes a “journeyman”, while at the 5th initiation he becomes a Master. Seen from the disciplinary angle it means that the soul takes control over the intellect and that the entire personal standpoint is abandoned. The initiate is no longer a human being with extraordinary qualities and a remarkable personal magnetism. He is an illumined soul, utilising the personality as his vehicle in the 3 worlds of human endeavour.

Technically speaking, the work consists in making the brow centre magnetic through complete personality integration and transmission of abstract ideas, while the head centre is rendered magnetic through occult meditation and the use of the will. Thereby the brow centre attracts and sublimates energy, not only from the throat centre making it easier to control the creative mind, but also from the remaining four “body” centres, so that a powerful, negatively polarised (i.e. receptive) field of tension is established in the brow centre. At the same time the head centre draws positively polarised (i.e. stimulating) energy “down” from the soul and kundalini fire “up” from the centre at the base of the spine.

The kundalini fire turns the entire physical cell nature and the etheric or vital body into a quivering “high-tension transmission line”, while the “voltage” between the head and brow centres draws a “spark” between the etheric counterparts of the pineal and pituitary glands within the physical head so that there is a free passage from the soul to the physical brain consciousness.

Simultaneously the antahkarana is projected in the mental nature, but as it would carry us too far to deal with that here I will take the liberty of referring to the two previous parts of this paper.
 

ACTIVE SPIRITUAL QUALITIES
 

However, trying to assess initiation on the basis of the “passive” disciplinary prerequisites may very well involve elements of glamour and illusion, for it is not difficult to imagine a situation where a person would meet the demands of discipline and control without necessarily having the corresponding initiation(s).

Let us picture to ourselves a very old man sitting in his wheelchair. It is probably not very difficult for him to control his sexual urges, and in many cases he will not be especially violent or passionate in his emotional life either. But can we be sure that he has at least the 1st, but perhaps also the 2nd initiation? Certainly not, for his apparent discipline may simply be due to lack of vitality.

This means that the discipline has to be evaluated according to the level of energy, and the possibility of over stimulation has to be taken into account. It is not difficult to keep quiet if we do not have the energy to move, but it may be very hard to be detached and impersonal if the entire personality in all 3 dimensions seethes and bubbles with high frequency energy.

Therefore we will focus on the “active” qualities which are the real prerequisites for initiation, the spiritual powers that make it possible for aspirants and disciples to obtain true control over the functions of the personality.
 

The 1st initiation
 

This is characterised by the development of creative ideation. But there are many people today who possess and use in daily life a creative intellect without having the 1st initiation. For instance, the advertising and marketing business is full of such people. The major difference between those and the initiate of the 1st degree is that the latter is accumulating and coordinating his buddhic vehicle.

As esotericists know, the 3 worlds of human endeavour—the mental, emotional and physical planes—are not considered a macrocosmic or planetary principle, in the same manner as the dense physical cell body does not constitute a microcosmic or human principle—and by principle we mean principle of evolution. This means that all states of conscious ideation in our 3 worlds may be regarded as either a manipulation of ideas already present within the mental sphere or a direct response to streams of spiritual ideas emitted by the Hierarchy from the buddhic plane. But sensitivity to buddhic impression is only possible when a buddhic body and a linking bridge (the antahkarana) is being built. When this is the case the creative intellect is enabled to receive and adapt ideas containing elements of future visions that people with purely mental powers cannot handle at all.

This is the kind of creativity that characterises the initiate of the 1st degree and makes it possible for him to sublimate such an amount of creative energy from the sacral to the throat centre that he is able to ignore sexual impulses and relegate them to their rightful place. So if we want to know whether a person has taken or is approaching the 1st initiation we will have to ask ourselves if he has that kind of a creative intellect.
 

The 2nd initiation
 

This is characteristic of a dynamic aspiration, germinating impersonality and group consciousness. But not so many esotericists are aware of the fact that the disciple here is accumulating and organising his atmic body. It implies that pure spiritual will streams forth into the consciousness of the personality via the sacrifice petals of the egoic lotus and the mind.

This results in a powerful radiation which is far more intense than in the case of an initiate of the 1st degree. But the fact that atma expresses itself through the mental body or intellect also means that there arises a clarity and breadth of view in the thought life that is quite unusual—even among spiritually inclined people. At the same time the disciple is enabled to see through the disguises and motivations of other people in a split second.

This may lead to problems of communication, because most people expect a long and secure period of contact before relatively intimate questions like that of motivation are brought out in human relations. Normally we assume that the ordinary armour of social politeness or courtesy can withstand a brief encounter, and that we have to know each other fairly well before basic attitudes and especially motivations become obvious to the other party.

But it is this extra power in connection with the 2nd initiation that makes it possible for the disciple to develop a detachment and an impersonality which lead to true group consciousness and incipient decentralization of the self-centered and selfish “I”. So if we want to estimate whether or not a person is about to undergo, or has undergone, the 2nd initiation, we may ask ourselves if that person is in the possession of a powerful radiation which has a marked influence on the surroundings, and if he is able to form an almost instantaneous mental overview of a situation—and by mental we do not mean intellectual but abstract, philosophical and intuitive.
 

The 3rd initiation

This implies that the disciple has his first direct contact with the monad, and that the initiator is no longer the Christ but the planetary Logos himself functioning through his vehicle of expression, the Lord of the World, Sanat Kumara. As mentioned above, it means that all essential human weaknesses are conquered, that there is continuity of consciousness between the ashram, the higher self or spiritual triad and the personality, and that the disciple exclusively works to realise that part of the plan of evolution which his soul or ray group is involved in. Moreover we know that when the present Master Jesus was born in Israel some 2000 years ago he had the 3rd initiation. So these informations together should suffice to make it absolutely clear that people who have taken this initiation necessarily are fully aware of it.
 

CONCLUSION

Naturally it is a complicated matter to relate to all this information at once if we try to assess our exact level of evolution. But nevertheless, it is important that we make the attempt, for the stage of development is the starting point for a clear conception of what the next step ahead would be and what our line of service might be. Therefore I will include the more general, but also less precise, description of the requirements for the 1st and 2nd initiations, which the Tibetan gives us:
 

“Members of the New Group of World Servers should watch with care for all those who show signs of having passed through the “birth” experience and should help them toward a greater maturity. They should assume that all those who truly love their fellowmen, who are interested in the esoteric teaching, and who seek to discipline themselves in order to attain greater beauty of life, are initiate and have undergone the first initiation. When they discover those who are seeking mental polarisation and who evidence a desire and aspiration to think and to know, coupled with the distinguishing marks of those who have taken the first initiation, they can, in all probability, safely assume that such people have taken the second initiation or are on the verge of so doing.”