Qabalistic Paths to the Inner Planes - Class 3

We will start with the meditation from the Book of Tokens on the Magicians, the Hebrew letter called Base.

One and one only am I in essence, changeless, indivisible, concealing within my being the ten lights of divine emanation. In this, mine unalterable unity, am I supreme, and none is equal unto me. Me. Yet though I myself remain unchanged throughout eternity, my power doth manifest itself in ceaseless change. They err who speak of my changelessness in essence, as if it were fixity in operation. That which changes not is mine own nature, but this included the possibility of infinite diversity in ways and works. For the uninstructed, this is a stumbling block, confused by words of double meaning they perceive not that this mine immutable nature is an essence whose first ground is life and not mere being thou knowest me not oh israel if thou regardest me only as he who is they know me indeed who know that I am he who liveth I am life itself, and without mind there is no life.

I am the essence of mind, and the essence of mind is will.

Of my will all created wills are but reflections, and the essence of that will, what is it but desire? I am life eternal, and I am the eternal longing for manifestation, because of which I bring forth the shining world. For this do I divide myself, becoming two. Of these two, the first is the crown of my primal will. This, my superior nature, standeth above the world, which floweth forth from mine act of knowing. Yet even the superior nature is to mine inmost essence as something outside, and therefore is it to me as base my house for I am within it and it is an emanation from me nevertheless I fill my dwelling place hence it is written that the supreme is distinguished from the crown by name only in my supreme abode stand I as onlooker because of mine unwavering contemplation the The stream of manifestation continueth on its course. Whatsoever existeth hath its beginning in my will, continueth in my will, and by my will cometh at last to its appointed end.

Than this indeed there is no other will in all the universe, yet in it do all creatures have a part. From my substance all things derive their substance, and all that hath form is built from my fourfold elemental manifestation.

Four are the subtle principles, which the wise conceal from the uninitiate by the names fire, water, air, and earth. In endless variety of mixture and proportion, directed by my will, these mingle together for the production of form. They are transmutations of a single essence, and from their mingling are brought forth all things.

Watching thus the multiplicity of existences proceeding from my single essence, I understand them in all their relations.

I perceive that their beginning, middle, and end is in truth myself.

Thus do I see that all things, whatsoever their appearance, because they spring from mine own nature, are grounded in goodness.

My superior nature is reflected also in the mind of man created in my image know me thus as the source of all true will know me also as the power to perceive objects as having the appearance of standing outside and apart from him who regardeth them That in thee which so perceiveth objects, which giveth the power to distinguish between them, which revealeth them unto thee in their relations to each other and to thyself, and enableth thee to search out the laws of their reciprocal action, know this to be identical with my superior nature. Nature. Wherever this power acteth, whether in low forms or in high, I only am its source, and I the knower. Not thine, but mine, is the power of attention, of observation, of discovery, of the discerning of sequence in the operation of nature. In all this and in the power of discrimination my superior nature worketh through thee happy art thou if thou canst grasp this truth for then understanding that not thy weak self but my all-knowing mind looketh out upon the world through thine eyes shalt thou have faith to let me see then shalt thou overcome the evil of thy senses by devoting them wholly to my use.

Not thou, but I, shall then discern the weight and shape and textures of the things thou touchest. Not thine, but mine, shall be the knowledge of scent and savor gained through nose and tongue. And when I use thine ears for hearing, they shall be attuned to sweetest harmonies, where now they are assailed by strident discord. Cord, so shalt thou become a partaker in the bliss of mine experience of the universe, a joy unknown to those of unperfected souls whose time of realization is not yet at hand.

Last week we gave you a very quick and a very cursory introduction to the the way the emanations flow what appears to be downward from the tree, that is, coming from what is called the womb of the no-thing, from the limitless light, from the absolute, this involution of the energy of God's consciousness.

And though we could give a long, long course on just that part of the work, this particular group of classes happens to be for the purpose of trying to give you some understanding of the actual ways and means in which the true initiatory processes the true rosicrucian method handed down from long before even the biblical times the way that human beings have attained to, shall we say, more than man, and the way which is available here for those who have the perseverance and the aspiration to follow it. Now then, as we pointed out last week, having arrived at a point where there is complete self-consciousness in and through form, the ability to discern the difference between what we generally call I and what seems to stand outside. Having gone through the miseries, the unhappinesses of misinterpretation of these experiences, by feeling ourselves to be isolated, alone, lonely, something set apart from the whole universe, we become driven by our own higher soul incidentally because the time is at hand we become driven to find the answer to all things the aspiration starts to burn and various experience feeds this aspiration we as we have mentioned before will often take make highways and byways. We will hunt for the easy ways, for the promises, which will give us liberation in the six easy lessons. And we will discover that the promises are not fulfilled.

Some of us keep going this way, perhaps for many incarnations, searching for the easy way. Comes a time we realize there's nothing easier than the actual way, that is, the willingness to put oneself under the discipline of attaining to whatever it is that we want to attain to, even though we perhaps cannot put a finger on it. Then we are guided to what we call the high school college level of occultism which we represent to that which truly trains us in an ability to gain insight into our own subjective state our own thinking processes our own feeling processes to start understanding the amazing power of creativity which we not only have but have always had and and to start learning how to use this power consciously, very, very consciously.

Now, because being involved in these extraordinarily intensive energies which are utilized in the true mystical schools of occult training, It is very necessary to be able to weed out, as much as is humanly possible, those who are not truly prepared for such work. Now many people seem to feel that a lot of the mystery, a lot of the so-called secrecy, is something that should not be utilized by certain schools of occult training. These people fail to understand that this is really a protective device. For example, if a human being has tremendous power drive, and really remember most people are not yet aware of the things that go on in their own nature, of their real motives. Most people are prone to interpret their motives as pure and the other fellow's motives as impure, to interpret their ideas of spirituality as the true ones and the other person's as delusion if they feel kindly disposed or if they're not so kindly disposed as deliberate and outright dishonesty.

And just like the one who's conservative in politics will look upon the radical as an evil person, or at least one who is in back of evil things, and the radical in politics will look upon the conservative as one who is behind the evil things and, again, interpret that person as being evil. In the same manner we have a tendency to judge other people's spirituality, whatever we mean by that.

We have the tendency to judge this in terms of what we have decided a spiritual being is. And yet, not a one of us is in such a position, that is, to determine what spirituality actually is until we have experienced the true higher self and through that experience have seen into the hearts of men because only from that level, incidentally, do we truly see. And as an old American Indian adage says, says, Judge, no man until thou hast walked in his moccasins for six moons.

You see. Well, because we do have these mostly unrecognized drives in people. For instance, you have serious inferiority complexes. Complexes, they can act out in several ways. One of the usual ways is to attempt to make other people look less evolved or less developed than you are, to look down your nose at whatever it is that they are, because then that helps you to feel big. What do you think makes for race prejudice, for example. Race prejudice is the need to feel better than not only just another person, but a whole group. You see, that makes us that much bigger when we indulge in race prejudice.

So we can decide that if we belong to one group, we're something far superior in an evolutionary manner than another, and this feeds the ego. Incidentally, this is the most viciously unspiritual characteristic that a human being can have so little recognized and it is because it is the most separative in every way you can imagine it is the most separative kind of thinking it is the most hate producing kind of thinking and it does not belong at all in any kind of spiritual work, yet you would be amazed if you knew how many human beings call themselves occult aspirants and think of themselves as spiritually sensitive human beings, and very glibly talk about the inferiority of this race or that race or that group as compared to their own. And in fact, this in itself is usually a dead giveaway as to what their true level happens to be. I mean, it's one of the dead giveaways. So we have people with inferiority complexes who will need to feel better than the other in all sorts of ways. We We mentioned the race discriminative angle, because this is one of the most vicious.

And yet, in subtle ways, the same thing can take place. And it becomes just as dangerous when one starts utilizing the more intensive energy forces. It's like trying to handle the high-power lines, the high-power electrical lines, without knowing the safeguards, without having the grounding stripping bare a part of the line which will electrocute people. So what with inferiority complexes, the power drives, place-seeking, ambition needs, and incidentally even spiritual ambition is dangerous, dangerous, because many people think that they are spiritually aspiring, and actually they merely use this to try to make themselves feel better than other people, the spiritual ambition.

Even though they may have many other beautiful qualities, this becomes dangerous. Therefore, it is very important to weed out as much as possible those elements which are are not ready to safely handle energies which will backfire and, in a psychological sense, sort of electrocute them, if you know what we mean. That's the best analogy I can think of at the moment.

So there has been an attempt by those who are charged with the preservation, dissemination and teaching of these methods. There has been an attempt made to find the best safeguards possible and even then remember we make mistakes. We're not God and our supersensory perceptions, though we have them, aren't always on tap like a soda fountain. There are times when and one can overlook many subtleties in a person when they're hidden up, because they're so hidden from the person himself.

And this was so well understood by the masters who set up this system, that they did set up this system of graded practices for more than one reason. First of all, this is the way evolution works to begin with.

And we can't jump from being a seedling to a full-grown tree.

We can't jump from being an embryo to a full-blown man or woman.

Everything must go through its stages and in the process of training the aspirants through these stages, those elements which make one either unworthy, and there are such, or unable to go through the rest of the training, the processes themselves usually weed them out, even when a few mistakes are made. Nevertheless, it becomes ever more important to make as few mistakes as possible, because the the energies in the universe really are becoming ever more intensive at this time towards evolution, for evolution, because of the age that we're in, with the population multiplying in such a startling manner, with the entire age of Aquarius being ushered in. There are so many more aspirants who are ready, and therefore there is so much more opportunity for the unprepared to slip in, and thereby, incidentally, endanger themselves, also hurting to some degree, shall we say, the fraternal body or the spiritual body of the group, the esoteric group which is involved involved in these advancing grades of the true Rosicrucian initiatory practices.

So to begin with, aspirants have to know the basic principles, have to have gone through the tarot techniques, the Tree of Life techniques, teachings, as you receive in your lessons at home, because no matter what it is that you want to be, you certainly have to have your teaching, your training for that particular type of work. You cannot be a chemist if you don't go through school and learn chemistry, nor a mathematician if you don't go through school, learn your mathematics. You have to go through the symbol training period, or part of the symbol training period, so that you learn the language of subconsciousness, which is the area in which the most potent and vital part of esoteric work takes place, which you all realize, surely. And therefore, you have to learn the tools of the trade. Otherwise you're not going to have the trade that is you're not going to have what you require the buds in your consciousness to experience the levels of consciousness or to handle the energies that go with these levels of consciousness and evolution that is why the lesson part is really a preparation for the esoteric work but as we have heard so often till perhaps we are almost nauseated by it many are called but few are chosen we can well understand how few really keep going even on that level of the work they drop out because they are hunting for the easier ways and again because they're caught in the inertia of malku which is the bottom part of the tree this is the part where we're starting uh backward or inward or upward actually inward is the more accurate term, incidentally. Still, it seems to the experiencing consciousness often, when other levels are experienced, is an upward movement, and it's really going back towards the center, and yet at the same time keeping what has been gained from the awareness and the experiencing of consciousness in and through form. So we have then also the pranaya, which is the part of the work where the wheat and the chaff get sifted, so to speak. There, There we have the initiation into what is called the porch or portico or threshold of the tree.

There the aspirants have help in understanding the lesson. There they have the value of the initiation that they perform together in order to keep them pointed in the direction of that tree, to be open to the forces from those aspirants, those initiates, those adepts who have already gone from just a little bit beyond, some much beyond where they stand, to receive that help which comes down in forms of subtle energy and gives astonishing aid. Then, when they are prepared both in what they have learned and have shown themselves as having the qualities which make them worthy of participation in the more esoteric and the more intensive elements of the work, then one by one they are taken into the chapter. Now, here what we want to understand is this.

By worthy, it is never meant that one should already have attained all these perfections of consciousness and the ability to handle the mental and emotional states. If you had that, you would not need builders of the adytum at all. You would be one of those who would be serving the inner school and the masters and helping to bring others who have not yet got it into the fold into the evolutionary stream into the intensive energies and all that goes with it it It is not expected for the aspirants to have attained these levels. That's what the chapter is for. But it is expected that certain transmutations have already been accomplished, particularly, you see, during the process of pranayama. I hope it doesn't frighten you, pranayama, but in a sense you might say there's an eye being kept on you.

You're being studied, every one of you who are in pranayama, to see how well do you work with a group. Because you see in the chapter, through the initiatory process, it really becomes one one body in the subtle spiritual sense for a specialized purpose, just like God creates the body of a dog in order to specialize consciousness and self-experience as a dog. And I think a glorious job God made of it when he made that little dog I had, Foddy, you know. He was really doing a magnificent job at that time, according to my way of thinking. And just as God self-experiences himself as Anne through my vehicle and as you in you whatever your momentary name happens to be or as tree through a tree or a special kind of a tree in the same way on the subtle levels when you have a group working with spiritual powers together in spiritual aspirations you have a sort of subtle vehicle with a conscious cooperation taking place now for instance just take your body that you are functioning through now if your liver stops cooperating with the rest of your body you're going to be very sick. And if your heart stops cooperating, everything else in the body dies. And if any one of the vital organs stop cooperating, it's a sad thing. You're not going to be able to function through this vehicle anymore in this cycle. You'll have to go on vacation in the astral and then build yourself another vehicle. And, you know, it kind of seems like a waste of time and we've made so many vehicles and we're learning how to do it in an ever more efficient and effective way incidentally this is again part of the training process which you are receiving is learning how to make yourselves more effective vehicles but you see in the same way in the chapter after, you have to have those who function well as a group, who aren't going to try to hit somebody else over the head, psychologically speaking, or commit mental murder by whispering behind the back, well, I can't stand so-and-so because I don't like the way he twitches his eyebrow or perhaps because he's too talkative or perhaps because he looks like he's too secretive or so on and so on you know the things that we'll find about other people to make us feel that we don't care about them well uh while you're in pranayas uh you're being watched for all the subtle indications of power drives of inability to function harmoniously with a group of uh spiritual pride and particularly also incidentally any tendency towards race prejudice or other group prejudice or fanaticism no fanatic will make a good occultist no fanatic is going to get anywhere incidentally spiritually speaking because it's unbalanced and these important elements are being watched now many of you may have one or more of these elements in the nature. You're watched in the hope that the work of pranayama, the impact of your regular ritual and participation in it, your study at home and your group study, will help you wake up and transmute it to prepare you for entry into the chapter work. Anyway, don't be frightened.

Whatever you are or are not, whatever you have or have not, we love each and every one of you because we know every one of us, including those in chapter, have all sorts of traits that need transmuting. We wouldn't be around if it were not so. We do not seek perfection. We only seek certain qualifications, which are really not too difficult to acquire if you work towards it. Then comes the time when initiation takes place into chapter for those who've reached that point.

And this initiation, incidentally, gives the initiate, because at this point you are what is called a Qabalistic initiate. True, you have been initiated into pranayama, but remember that was the portico.

So you have had an initiation into a certain probationary stage and state. But this is an initiation into actual participation in the forces of what this tree represents.

Now, let's try to explain one other thing at this point so that we'll understand in what manner this tree represents it and why we will keep referring to the tree and to the paths and what it really means here. Now, of course, I am the last one to speak of maps that give you the, all of those intricate drawings, you know, the maps of the roads and the streets and the numbers, so that it will give you the help you need to go from one part of town to another, or from one town to another town, or from a state to another state, the highways, the roads, the connecting links. Now anyone who wants to go somewhere usually takes a map and he studies this map. And the reason I said I should be the last one to speak about this kind of map is because the inertia of Malkuth has always been so strong in me regarding that particular type of map that when I get in my car and have to go somewhere and somebody says, look at a map, I look at them in astonishment. I say, a map? What do I need a map for? I can stick my head out and ask somebody. It takes less time. And besides, I might meet someone interesting or pleasant that way. Or I'll give somebody the feeling of having helped me, which is good for them. So you see, I don't like looking at maps. And that's why I'm not good at reading maps. And And knowing this, I don't attempt it.

However, that is just a little aside to give you an idea of a map in terms of getting from one place to another. I do know that it's important to have maps. I'm very happy that so many people read them so well, because I just hand it over to somebody and say, Read it for me, please.

But we can't do that in spiritual aspiration. In traveling the paths of our inner consciousness, in traveling the paths of our own inner states and levels. We can't ask somebody else to read us the map, please. All we can do is ask them to explain what the map means. This is what we do with you in class. This is what you get in your lessons. This is what you get in pranayama, and then in chapter more intensively yet and in another way. So the tree of life you see really has been given to mankind by those who have levels of consciousness that are right with the heart of god given by those who have traveled these paths who know the road who know what we must avoid just how to go when we have to turn right and left or or top or bottom or backwards or something anyway this map really is a map of consciousness and it is a symbolic representation of the universal consciousness of man's consciousness and of man's relationship to the universal consciousness consciousness, man's relationship to man and to all other levels of life and form.

That is what this is a map of. It is intricate in some ways, and yet it is simplicity personified in other ways. If one takes the time and trouble to learn how to read the map so that one can follow the direction. That really is the crux of the matter. So the map has to be memorized. Why?

Because in the workings of inner consciousness, don't forget, anything you memorize becomes a a permanent symbol in the subconscious mind in actuality subconsciousness has this symbol even an aborigine even a primitive savage as well as the most highly civilized man has this map in subconsciousness but naturally he's unable to recognize it he's unable to read it It's just like if you wrote a bunch of figures on a sheet of paper and showed it to a dog.

The dog wouldn't even realize there are figures on that sheet of paper, even though you attempted to show it to the dog. The dog hasn't got the awareness, the conscious awareness and the faculties yet to be able to see that he has been shown the markings on a paper. And in the same way the memorizing of this map the memorizing of the attribution the memorizing of the various meanings of each of the sephiris and the paths gives the consciousness that symbol it can hold on to so that it doesn't go flying off in all directions all of you know and all of you realize how difficult it is to keep the mind centered on one area except when you're in love of course then you can't take your mind off that spot this is real concentration and sometimes just for a joke I've said that it might be that god created love in order to train us into concentration but in essence as surely we realize god is love and we are because god's image of himself is contemplating concentrated on at these aspects of himself which are you and me and the sky and the tree and the bird those we hate and those we love god loves it all because it exists only one place in the substance of god's consciousness as we tried to explain to you last week in trying to show the by the involution as really being an aspect of the the motion of God's consciousness within an area of his own substance.

Now then, when the initiation takes place, and of course the details of this type of thing cannot be given, because that is reserved for those who go through it, and the impact comes when they do go through it. But what is it what we want to help you understand is what it is that it aims to do why it aims to do these things and furthermore how you even now even those of you who are not yet in chapter how you can be preparing yourselves to utilize the powers of these tree of this tree and these paths by learning how to meditate on the meanings and thereby prepare yourselves that much more effectively for the opening up of consciousness to come more quickly once you are in chapter and have yourselves linked with the rest of the hierarchy of consciousness in this holy and sacramental area of self-development well consider for a moment before we go into the inner the spiritual psychological elements elements involved, what it is that will be stimulated, and what you can do to start that process even in a preliminary manner, at least up to a point.

Consider there, when you look at Malkuth, that lower part of the tree, remember, this symbolizes the actual physical universe in the cosmic sense and also each and every form, form, no matter how infinitesimal nor how large it may be. It is a symbol of the physical form. And of course we will have to discuss a little more of what we mean by physical form, so that we can learn how to think of our vehicle in the way that we must, sooner sooner or later in order to get this vehicle sensitized so that it can receive the influx of these higher states of consciousness.

If you will notice, Malkuth is divided into segments.

Actually, if you made a time sign, it would be the way that's segmented into four parts. And these are symbolizing what the ancients called fire air water and earth and what the ancients meant by that incidentally is the physical substance in its fiery state that is the electromagnetic energy state in its gas state of gas that is the elements and the gases which forms, in its state of fluids when you come down to any greater condensation from the gas form, and its state of earth, that is, its actual solidity. These are the four levels of the one thing in terms of the physical substance, and often and you have no doubt heard the analogy given that if you take ice, as ice, it is a solid. I get it in the certain vibratory state and heat is used in which to change the vibrations of ice, by the way. And actually, that's what happens. The vibratory rate is changed by heat.

You heat it down, you get it into its fluidic state. Keep heating that fluidic state and steam escapes. That's the gas of water which was ice and keeps heating and it dissolves itself entirely into the atoms which are the fiery electromagnetic energies the dots of fire you might say the dots of light so there you have in that one simple example an illustration of the exact knowledge knowledge that these ancients had and which of course we now know is true of just what the physical universe consists of in terms of the physical senses and of course here is where we will get be getting in to a greater insight into the physical universe as a whole now why Why does the initiation take place in that and through those symbols, which involve the physical element? Well, remember, it is in and through form that consciousness has evolved. It is in and through form that consciousness knows itself.

Even if you die, you have a form, you have your astral form.

And indeed all consciousness is great in form although when you come to the highest spiritual rate of consciousness the form is so subtle that from our physical point of view we would not recognize it as form nevertheless form it is why because as it is taught god sees himself as all these myriad aspects of being and the act of seeing is an image and that is why it is also said God created man in his own image and likeness all of creation is the self image God has of self and the details and the motion of this self image this of course must become a direct experience experience for you and will when you get to the point in your own evolution where it will open up. And the chapter work is meant to open up, stage by stage, these awarenesses. So you have to start with where you are and you have to start seeing the form in a way other than you have seen it before, and you have to do it in a disciplined manner.

In other words, you really have to go after it. Now this grade you see is each of the grades the aspirant is given a certain name or there's a term used to denote the level and in this particular grade the aspirant is called the zelotor now what does zelotor mean this is from the latin zealous and in essence it is meant to to fan the flame of aspiration to such a degree this is also being done in pranayas by the way but here far more intensive energies are being utilized even than in pranayas to fan the flame of aspiration to as intensive a degree as possible why because you see the inertia of form holds us back it's our own inertia at all times that holds us back and we have to have enough of this fire of zealousness stirred in us so that we will not be fooled by all the subtle ways that inertia comes in with which to fool us so that we will stay as we are or remain where we are or start hunting for the easy ways in order to avoid having to truly work and study and concentrate meditate and so on I see that it is almost time for our intermission but before that I will ask the reverend prasann to come up and give you a few announcements after which we will have about a five minute intermission to get the blood circulating then we'll continue with an explanation of the grades and what they mean to you okay you want to close this off then all right let's have a five minute intermission stretch get blood circulating Now actually initiation into the chapter has not yet incidentally brought one into the functions of the intensive forces of malkus yet.

In essence you might say that initiation is in two parts.

There's a certain period of time which is spent in learning certain things and certain tests have to be passed and after these tests have been passed these things have been learned then comes the advancement into malkuth the initiation gives the neophyte and in actuality for that first period of time the initiate that's called a neophyte it gives the neophyte the privilege and the help of participating in the motions of the tree which has to do with the ritual and ceremonial that goes along with this work now remember what we have said to you before the rituals and the ceremonials are set up symbols in motion which are exactly in accordance with the motion of the universal forces and the motion of consciousness and is aimed at bringing into subconsciousness that more potent force or factor which will stir and awaken it into responding to the higher directive impulses you all know what problems you have with your subconscious patterns and you perhaps at least we hope you are all familiar with the idea that that wonderful psychiatrist Dr. Jung brought out the discovery of the archetypal unconscious which incidentally he discovered through Qabalah in case you don't know it oh yes he became very very favorably impressed with the whole Qabalistic and incidentally also astrological elements of the ancient psychology because astrology is really the ancient psychology even though in modern times most people have just taken it as a sort of fortune-telling device and indeed the true essence of esoteric astrology is included in this work as we told you before the true rosicrucian paths of return involve all the methods that exist on this planet in one synthesized and balanced whole so that each one of these planets or sefiris are assigned to a zodiacal element as well as each one of the paths in between which we will explain to you and of course in Malkuth we're dealing with the planet Earth that is with our own immediate environment environment, and all the esoteric ideas involved with it, that is, the mental, spiritual background which makes us experience what we call Earth.

And this, of course, we gradually learn. We don't have to learn anything all at once. It's just that if we keep at it and persevere, much to our astonishment, in a few years we We are amazed at how much we have gathered, and then we start to realize that the secret of true concentration and meditation is in having a group of symbols all pertaining to one idea. This is what holds our attention and helps to open up the inner gates of consciousness. Otherwise, when people try to meditate on just, let's say, God, if they're natural mystics, without question they may have some very beautiful spiritual experiences, but they will not be able to utilize this for a real explanation of life, of form, of control, role of orderly expansion and conscious cooperation with the entire evolutionary scheme of the cosmic life, they will have found something that gives them a great deal of comfort. And it can be, and almost always is utilized by these mystics as an escape valve, not too different than morphine, as we've told you before, except that it doesn't cost any money, so it's cheaper. But it's used as an escape valve, and no aspirant can, in the final analysis, escape from the disciplines of becoming conscious co-creators with God. This is our destiny.

Me and even though some of us may have the comfort of certain spiritual states if we're natural mystics by uh meditation on say god and it's good there's nothing wrong with it nothing at all it's very fine and should be utilized by those who have the gift at the same time there's far more more involved than that. We are the sons of God who must claim our heritage, and claiming our heritage involves becoming masters of the elements, incidentally, as was Jesus, and as have been and are many others since. So the initiatory process brings about a potent and incidentally permanent link between the initiate, the aspirant, and the inner school, that is the third order. And this does not mean that this link guarantees that in this incarnation the aspirant is going to make the full grade. It does not mean that at all. Each human being is on a different level of self awakening and evolution even in the chest a thing like the chapter and for some it takes a great deal longer than for others to awaken to the import of what has been occurring inwardly this we have seen with great interest through many many years but but the point is that this link having been established, even if a person has been foolish enough to take such an obligation with motives secret and not recognized, that have not been of the higher kind, even if that person breaks his obligation, he cannot break the linkage that was made.

And what it does then is bring far more intensive problems for a while in order to drive that soul and that personality back to the proper motive and the proper idea but this happens very rarely indeed still it can occur the the motive is of most vital importance then the first first part of the probationary element of initiation actually into chapter having been accomplished the tests having been passed the advancement then is made into the actual consciousness of makus now then what does this involve here we're getting to the actual essence of what is intended and what does occur, though with some it takes far longer than with others for the realization to become self-conscious.

The linkage, each grade incidentally, forms a link, a new link, with another element or level of the cosmic mind and its cosmic activity.

And the advancement into Malkuth forms the link with what we call the soul of the earth the soul of the earth because incidentally the earth has a soul and you and I live in the soul of the earth and derive our livingness from the soul of the earth we are individualized it is true nevertheless remember what we have said before and what we will say many, many times. We may be individualized, but we're not separate.

It is like a whirlpool is a distinct whirlpool. Say the energy of consciousness sets up a whirling pool in some water. Just use your imagination. There's water that comes in from the without, out and then it goes out from the within the whirlpool remains constant but the elements that enter in and go out are in continuous change this is true of your body your physical body and mind and all bodies even science has come to the recognition of this principle known, of course, to those who have gone before us long since. Even science tells us now, as many of you have heard me relate, that in about ten months every single atom in our bodies is gone and new atoms have taken their place. Because we are emanating out at all times just by virtue of activity and taking in we share each other's physical bodies and we do not even know it just as well as sharing the processes of thought and of feeling and yet we are individual because there's a center in us that is continuous in other words that which is our true ego our true selfhood keeps holding the self image which is eternal from forever to forever that in us which says I nevertheless the substance of this I is shared with all life with in fact all universal life not just the life of this planet the substance of it and it is our self-image that keeps us in a state of continuous image of self as having remained as we were but we haven't what was your body like as a child what was it like 10 years ago you haven't got the same elements in it today but your consciousness has been a continuous stream what was your personality like as a child what was it like 10 years ago and what is it like today day. Your personality has been in continuous change, but something in you has been constant.

That is your eternal I that is always there with whatever motion and change takes place.

Well, in malkus—and in fact this happens with each of the grades—in a sense you might say a seed is planted in your consciousness. Those who have gone before participate, of course, in the initiation, in the advancement. And remember all of this linking up with the various levels of consciousness, with the motion of the subtle forces of the universe. This seed that becomes becomes planted, is naturally planted in consciousness, the impact of what lies behind the appearance is made, even though the conscious mind of the aspirant is not yet aware, because the seed must burst its shell, it must be nurtured, it must send its roots into the earth for its stability. It must send its shoot up into the air. It must grow itself, its tree, and its fruit. And that takes time, but the seed has been planted. That is the important thing. And so in the advancement into malkus, the seed is planted, that of giving you the closer linkage linkage with the world soul and with what it involves the fanning of the aspiration as we have told you is part of it to help you overcome the inertia of form not to do away with form but to become the controller of form this is the first step the linkage having been made with this world soul although it takes varying periods for the varying aspirants what I can tell you about myself is that although I had been a city girl all of my life I suddenly and I didn't know what was occurring because in actuality one doesn't really wake up with a really vast inner realization to what has been occurring until one reaches a higher grade on the tree because so many things are sort of put in to the ground at once it seems like at once even though it is a periodic factor that before it opens up into a conscious realization as we said it usually takes a certain grade at the turn the tree where the majority of the spire and starts start seeing a significance, a tied-in element, an interrelationship, and yet some will see it far sooner than others, and with some it may take a great deal longer even.

That should not be anyone's concern. The important thing is to work with the seed and give it its nourishment. But with me, what happened to me was I suddenly developed this tremendous compulsion to put some seeds in the earth.

And uh at that time the uh the little garden we have was nothing but a massive weed weeds and hard clay-like dirt it was a terrible looking place I was always busy working on what I felt mattered and it never occurred to me to put any attention or waste my time with the garden when I was working on spiritual things don't you see I developed this compulsion to put some seeds in the ground and so I picked up some little bags of seed at the store and I hunted around for some bear spots that'll show you how much I knew about growing things the fact that there are bear spots that are in a yard full of weeds shows that nothing wants to grow there but that seemed to me like the logical place and I got a little trowel and I dug about two inches just enough to get the seed there you see the whole thing hard clay and I put the seeds around and did a little watering in about four or five spots bare spots around the yard kept on with my work and several times a day I'd rush out and give it some water and and examine and meditate and examine it and meditate on these little bits of spots which I marked off with a few little stones since I wouldn't have known where they were otherwise and then a miracle a real miracle I discovered little green shoots coming up in several of the places and you would think I was god almighty himself which I felt like when I saw those green shoots coming up I got so excited it's a wonder I kept my friends because everyone who came to see me was led by the hand to look at my green shoots I was excitedly practically be jumping up and down saying look look what I've done you know anyway a very interesting thing developed from this uh the push got deeper and deeper uh deeper and deeper and I said to myself I've got to spend a little more time in this yard and make it it look nice and so I started trying to pull up the weeds I figured if I put in half an hour a day in about three to four months I'd have all the weeds done spend the rest of the time with the work so I got out there my first half hour stint I had set myself see I didn't even realize the disciplines of malkuth was stirring me I didn't realize it I started to pull up some weeds and then the neighbor on one side said what the world are are you doing and I said I'm pulling up weeds they said well ye gods how long do you think it's going to take you I said well what does it matter a half hour a day several months I'll get it done so she said this will never do and she called her husband she said look what she's doing why don't you give her a helping hand he said all right so he came in and started to pull weeds with me then she couldn't stand it she came pulled on the other side then their two sons thought gee that that looks like fun.

So they came and joined. Then my neighbors on the other side, they said, what are you doing? We said, we're pulling weeds. She said, thank God, your place has looked horrible. I'll help.

She got in there. And do you know, believe it or not, that whole yard was cleaned out in one day.

Straight floor.

And I got busy and I got a whole bunch of magazines on on growing things and oh it was just all Greek to me really but I felt like I was being very clever and I was just having a wonderful time because you see something strange had happened to me I'd get down there on the earth and I felt the livingness of it I actually experienced the livingness of earth and I myself one with it and it was me and when I would dig up a worm or two well you may think I'm crazy and if I am I hope I'll always be that way only don't spread the word it isn't good for the leader of an occult movement to be be spoken of as being wacky so let's just keep it to ourselves but uh I would uh take a look at these little worms wriggling and their livingness and I tell you I just loved them uh like nothing I can describe I felt at one with them living creatures the living creatures I went into an ecstasy uh you you think if you've ever been in love and if you've gone into an ecstasy over your beloved you should have seen me with those worms talk about an extremist and the flowers the you know and the watering that I did and I uh the flowers became living beings to me as they grew and but the earth particularly at that stage the The rest came, a lot of it came later.

But to me it was more or less the earth and form itself. I became so sensitized to form. I find myself looking at it and studying it and being overwhelmed with the miracle of it. All form started to radiate to me a sense of God.

And I didn't realize what was occurring at all. It's just that I decided a city girl had suddenly discovered nature so to speak and then there were other inner subtle things that that were involved with my whole feeling about earth and about about the planet itself such well that's what happened to me in that grade though I didn't realize its significance until I was much farther along in the work of the traveling of the tree in the chapter but if I had had nothing but that nothing but that it would have been worth all kinds of incarnations to me to have that rapture and ecstasy of feeling my oneness and the livingness of the earth before that a form was a form you know and of course still except when one gets into that real receptive state a form is just a form no matter what we experience we have to keep working with it or we will lose it everything atrophied and this is part of the lesson of this grade to realize this again the reason for the development of the zealous zealousness of not letting go and I know I have heard others say when I have related this one little incident I'll tell you of others as we go along the various paths I have heard some say oh heavens well I wouldn't I I wouldn't need the chapter I had that experience I I was a farm girl and I had that experience before but you see what uh such people if they have said it and felt it and I know two such who did uh don't realize is that if they had that much before how much more they would have had with chapter because then a deeper layer would have been opened up to them because there are layers upon layers and anyone who says I already have it really needs to have their heads examined because there's no such thing as having it whatever there is there's always more it's an the the it's an eternal unfolding and expanding of consciousness with more powers more glory more wonder and more control as it's involved. So a certain period of time, of course, has to be spent then in the grade of zelotir, which has been an actual advancement in tamalkus. Now here though is another thing that we need to point out that has to do with all of the grades, but each involves a different or separate element. The basic teaching is, as you have heard me say before, there are the four worlds. They're called the four Qabalistic worlds. And Atzaluth, the highest or innermost world, is the world of abstract ideas. And to that is assigned the actual aspect of God. So each of the Sefiris, incidentally, in each of the world have what is called a god name they have an archangelic name and that is in the next world called the world of bria and this is the creative world they have an angelic name it's like the hosts of angels and that's the world of yatsira which is called which means the formative world and then they have what is called the mundane chakra or that is a physical living living element, like in this case we told you the world soul is involved in the earth.

And it is called the mundane chakra because various planets or heavenly elements are involved there. That's why, and remember that the seven holy chakras in Qabalah are the seven holy planets.

And this incidentally has more truth than poetry to it because if you will consider that we are one with the universe those things we experience as the physical bodies of the universe when we look out through a telescope like these other planets we may be experiencing them through our sight in that way but there is a magnetic link in consciousness which we participate in and that's why this whole solar system is something that we are connected with magnetically in very intensive ways this is part of the opening out and expansion of consciousness incidentally now we are attempting attempting to expand our individual consciousness into the world consciousness. From that it will be into the solar consciousness, step by step. From that, incidentally, in the solar consciousness is really the Christ consciousness, that yellow place on the tree. Then from that it expands out into the universal consciousness and each. It's a step-by-step expansion. And we must sooner or later come to the point where we do take these stages even those of us who have experienced certain states of cosmic consciousness in the mystical inner experiences because those states have not given us the controls yet and the controls we must develop and have that's why many a very highly evolved mystic from say the east reincarnates in the west in order to go through the disciplines of form and start gaining the control that these higher states have made him aware of as far as just experiencing the unity and incidentally for such it's sometimes more difficult it depends on the type of course And none of us know what we've been in the innumerable incarnations we've had and what we've accomplished.

We feel that those who come to our work have accomplished a great deal in past incarnations, whatever the appearance now.

Some people think because you become a king or a queen or a president of something, why this means that you're something great, and if you happen to just be a housewife or a dishwasher, washer that it means you're something less because nothing could be less true the state and evolution of the soul has nothing to do with your outer uh station in life and sometimes those who have the highest outer station have the lowest evolutionary factor and when we look at world politics we might say more often than sometimes perhaps don't you think because they symbolically represent perhaps the lower elements which mingle in the in the life force all right then the last point I'd like to bring out then for tonight's class and uh and then next week uh we will take up the path that leads uh to yes there the foundation and show you just what the astral world really is supposed to be what it has to do with our subconsciousness and just what is involved in initiation what it awakens and stirs and why and how we can perhaps start the process now instead of later so that when we do get to that stage in the chapter work we'll be able to accomplish more than we would have otherwise otherwise the point then I'd like to bring out bring out as a last point for tonight anyway is this that the linkage is made between the energy of each of the four worlds when one advances into the grave that is the godhood and everything is always started and finished in the name of the the holy godhead and although there are different names given to the godhead of each of the sefiris remember it is all one god and remember what we told you last week god expresses in 10 outer spheres of activity and the type of activity gives it a special name for the one god merely indicating the activity of that one God in that area and therefore the forces that are involved awakening the forces of that level of God's selfhood in us so the linkage is made and it is because of this linkage in the advancement that one gets the intensified energies which which hasten the evolution of the aspirant and bring, and actually the initiations or advancements through these graves, cuts down the evolutionary level to a startling degree.

Sometimes where hundreds of incarnations could be involved, one can cut it down to a very few, provided one really sticks with the work because one has the advantage of utilizing an energy because of the group vehicle that's involved as a chapter group you see the energies that one can utilize are so overwhelmingly more powerful than one can handle when one works alone just at home so overwhelmingly more powerful that this is the reason that the evolution can be hastened and yet the these very energies that are being handled is not just for the purpose of each of the aspirants and participants in this inner work it's also so so that there be a vehicle through which the inner school can send out evolutionary energy for the rest of the planet and if one forgets that one one loses the real advantage of the work for one's own growth.

So the linkage is, you see, what helps to wake up an awareness of what is called the consciousness of the element. And this is what helps to break down our feeling of solidity in form. Because when you start becoming aware that everything that is, that this earth that you touch is living, that this flesh that you touch is living, that that rock that you touch, that stone, that creature, that it is living substance of God being held in a form because the central consciousness of God is expressing in and through that. You start breaking down that fixity in your consciousness that helps to open you up to all sorts of other things. And there is the value and the impact into subconsciousness through the ceremonial ritual brings that ability and capacity into focus and plants that seed and so there at least we've covered the first vital step that takes place in chapter work of the true rosicrucian paths of return and now and then we'll now be able to start covering the other ones a little more rapidly before we close I just want to bring out one more thing and then we'll have our questions and answers remember those four spheres below the yellow one are all the powers of the personality the yellow the red and the blue are the powers of the higher mind and that above the three supernal these are the powers of the spirit the Godhead yet they're all the powers of the Godhead on different levels of self-expression then we'll go into more of which of the faculty are our faculties are involved in each of those next week now let's have some questions yes I don't know I haven't never heard that I'd have to I'd have to see the x-ray and know the person was meditating on god before I'd accept it yes um I'm wondering uh but I'd like to uh to explain something and that is you mentioned before Yes, the four Sephiroth below the yellow one. That is Malkuth, which is the vehicle, and then the other three, the violet, the orange, and the green, which I'll discuss.

In assessing these paths of these two, isn't it the intensification that stirs certain emotions up so that they can be transferred? Yes, yes, definitely. We'll go into that much more when we cover those parts of the... That's true. Yes.

Okay. Conscious on my low self and then that big cloud is the one with the water comes from to be my soul from my high self that I share with everyone well it's not a bad picture to use except that it has certain correlations with uh the way the it actually functions but the thing is as you become familiar with the tarot keys and the tree you will find you will have more effectiveness if you use the actual images that the tarot keys and the tree represent you know for the various faculties you'll find that you'll make headway a great deal more rapidly than with the image you hold though the one you hold is all right it certainly certainly can help to set up more of a picture of the intangibility of certain elements. When you come to this picture, I've always felt like, and this is in my mind, that my purpose was to get to know that nebulous, low home that soaks. Is that my purpose here?

I mean, online? Well, it's everyone's purpose, except that it's not so nebulous, which you will see when we go along with the tree. You see, we have an idea that it's nebulous, but it isn't. And in actuality, when we're considering Malkuth, the one thing I didn't bring out, which I should, because that's one of the most important lessons of Malkuth, is that our job is to bring all the higher awarenesses into the physical body.

In other words, what you call the soul, the spirit, our job is to bring it into the physical body and in that way to make what we call the physical body the true vehicle for God, or the Higher Soul, the temple not made with hands, to make it the vehicle through which the Higher Self functions fully and completely. That is actually the purpose that all of us have.

Yes? So, when it walks through the internate and determines what it's coming back for, choose a certain parent as a channel. If it has achieved that level of evolution.

Well, what I was wondering was that sometimes these souls that are attracted to parent worms, whose birth is, or the conception is through accident or ready for war, What type of souls are these people drawn to be?

That's a mistaken idea that a lot of people in metaphysics have had, that if a child is conceived through rape or through hatred or through various things, that it can't be a high soul. In order to have a high soul, it has to be conceived in love.

Actually several of the most highly evolved souls I have ever known were certainly not conceived in love one I know of was conceived in actual hatred in fact the father even tried to choke the mother to death because she wasn't feeling uh any welcoming attitude towards his amorous demands and uh the result was a conception it was really a rape with terrible hatred involved and one of the most beautiful souls you can imagine I was involved and I know many other such instances it is a mistaken an idea yes well there are different levels of the being the actual higher soul doesn't really enter into the vehicle at all incidentally until the vehicle is grown into something pretty close to an adult it's a gradual immersion there the parts of the soul that are the more more automatic elements of the soul are always involved with growing the vehicle but it's a gradual you see just like you You can't put a quart of water into a pint cup.

There's a thread with a direction that's involved in growing that vehicle while it's an embryo.

But you haven't really... There's one part of the soul becomes a little more involved about the time of first movement.

And even then it's just a small portion. And then at birth there is a little bit more yeah there's a little bit more that becomes involved but if you will notice what barbarians little children are although we love them because we don't expect anything more of them we figure it's okay for children to be that way you can see that there's no higher soul uh bringing uh insights and understandings there they can't because the vehicle isn't ready yet you see and so as the vehicle becomes uh more matured and ready uh then more and more of the being uh can enter into and function through it and indeed there's a great part of our higher soul it never never does get in through the vehicle because we haven't evolved that much yet you see yeah it's a projection of a more and more usage uh there's uh no there was some other hand there somebody had not yet asked the question well in that case I'll let well how do you explain a child a small child is kind of going to complete tell us you say you're not feeling very well I can see by your colors what do you how do you explain that well we have quite a few children who are quite psychic and they lose it as they get a little older as a matter of fact all children are psychic but they forget it uh as because some of them uh lose it a little sooner than others but uh some children who are psychic keep the psychic quality and I've known lots of children or people who were psychic as children could see all kinds of things in fact were beaten or spanked for lying because of the things they were able to see uh this is a matter of having the psychic faculty it's not being psychic does not mean being spiritual you see I mean a person could be psychic and also spiritual and a person could be spiritual but not be psychic however being psychic does not make you spiritual so it could go hand in hand why there are lots of psychics who are the very reverse of spiritual a great deal of misunderstanding you'll understand that more I think after we have covered the the four parts of the personality which involve the astral body the mental body and the desire body you'll understand this a great deal better when we're through with that that lower functions of the individual yes well not exactly that uh it is more it is more like if you take water and you pour a lot of sugar into it when you saturated it you know melt it down it'll start forming crystals there you have see nothing but water and right out of nothing you'll see crystals forming try it it'll give you a better conception than anything you know seeing it come out of a fluid and actually the subtle part of consciousness is really fluidic and when experienced by those who have seen it well it's now time to say good night we'll gather together next week and some with some of you Sunday morning and we'll continue with our adventure on the past and then I'll give you a technique next time too to help you good night hi you better give it to my darling Eleanor there I could keep taking care of those things.

There are people out in the desert wanting to know if they could get appointments with you to talk to you about things, usually appointments. Well, Eleanor gives all the time she takes to tell them about things. I have to give that up because it's so easy that all the other characters... Do you have chapters, say, all around? Do you have chapters in other towns? No.

There's only one. The only place at the moment, I hope to have a couple more other places as soon as I've gotten enough of the group developed enough for it.

Yeah, give it to Eleanor there.

I wanted to ask you if you actually see what the thing is. You remember when you looked at my astronomical face?

You've been through hell and...

Can I clear it up? Did you actually see then what was going to happen to you? Well, I don't see details. I saw that there were some higher intensive energies that were being... That I'm going to go through the hell again. That's right.

And the hell is all part of getting them. They're on the way now, definitely. No one's through the hell anyway. They're in process. The activity has started. I saw that. I don't understand why I become emotional too because of that. Because you're waking up to real livingness.

And being emotional. Dearest, I'll meet you at... All right, sweetheart.

Because I can't... I used to be that way, and I got older. And now you're going to get it back, only in a much nicer way.

Sure, give me some of your work. Sure.

Thank you, dear. You're welcome, darling.

Hello, precious. How's my love? Great.

Good. Give the little one my love. And a great big kiss from me.

Thank you.