Appendix
Quotes from the Perennial Wisdom Teachings
BC: The life of the indwelling Christ produces the transformation of the physical body, but deeper still, that life operates upon the emotional-feeling nature, and through the process of transmutation converts the desires and feelings, the pains and the pleasures, into their higher correspondences. Transmutation has been defined as “the passage across from one state of being to another, through the agency of fire.”6 It is appropriate in this connection to remember that the threefold lower man, with whom we have been dealing so often in these pages, is a dim reflection of [Page 148] Deity Itself. The physical body is related to the third aspect of divinity, the Holy Ghost aspect, and the truth of this can be realised if we study the Christian concept of the Virgin Mary overshadowed by the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is that aspect of divinity which is the active principle in matter, and of this the physical body is a correspondence. The emotional, sentient nature is a dim and distorted reflection of the love-nature of God which the cosmic Christ, the second Person in the Trinity, is engaged in revealing; and this aspect (transmuted through the agency of fire, the will or spirit of God) produces the transformation of the physical body. The mind in its turn is therefore the reflection of the highest aspect of deity, the Father, or Spirit, of Whom it is said that our “God is a consuming fire.”7 The releasing activity of this form of God’s spirit eventually produces that radiance (as a result of transformation and transmutation) which was the distinguishing characteristic of the Transfiguration initiation. “Radiation is transmutation in process of accomplishment.” Transmutation being the liberation of the essence in order that it may seek a new centre, the process may be recognised as `radio activity’ as far as humanity is concerned.”
GWP: Much of the true revelation since the time of Christ has come to the world along the line of science. The presentation, for instance, of material substance (scientifically proven) as essentially only a form of energy was as great a revelation as any given by the Christ or the Buddha. It completely revolutionised men’s thinking and was—little as you may think it—a major blow struck at the Great Illusion. It related energy to force, form to life, and man to God and held the secret of transformation, transmutation and transfiguration. The revelations of science when basic and fundamental are as divine as those of religion, but both have been prostituted to meet human demand. The era is [Page 188] close at hand when science will bend every effort to heal humanity’s sores and build a better and happier world.
EH: Students should remember that there is both an upward and a downward trend of energy within the entire structure of centres, where the aspirant and the disciple are concerned: 1. The upward trend…producing Transmutation. 2. The downward trend…producing Transformation. 3. The stage of energising the entire man… final stage of great importance, and only takes place in its completeness at the time of the third initiation, that of the Transfiguration. You can see, therefore, how three important words convey the purpose of the scientific unfoldment and the right direction of the centres: Transmutation. Transformation. Transfiguration. [Page 217]
Group Initiation: Rule XIII
For Applicants: Four things the disciple must learn and comprehend before he can be shown the inmost mystery: first, the laws of that which radiates; the five meanings of magnetisation make the second; the third is transmutation or the secret lost of alchemy; and lastly, the first letter of the Word which has been imparted, or the hidden name egoic.
For Disciples and Initiates: Let the group get ready to reveal the hidden mystery. Let the group demonstrate the higher meaning of the lessons learnt, and these are four and yet are one. Let the group understand the Law of Synthesis, of unity and fusion; let the threefold mode of working with that which is dynamic carry the group together towards the Higher Three where the Will of God holds sway; let Transfiguration follow Transformation and may Transmutation disappear. Let the O.M. be heard right at the centre of the group, proclaiming God is All.
“There is that which transmutes knowledge into wisdom within a flash of time; there is that which changes sensitivity into love within an area of space; there is that which alters sacrifice into bliss where neither time nor space exists.” -DINA II
RI 260: Forget not that our planet is not yet a sacred planet, though it is close to that great transformation. The cosmic secret of this transforming process is one that Sanat Kumara is now learning, and when That which overshadows Him during this incarnation has wrought the needed changes through a process of transformation and transmutation, then a great Transfiguration will take place and He will take His place among those empowered to work through a sacred planet.
Let Transfiguration follow Transformation, and may Transmutation disappear. [Page 278]
I would here remind you that in these fourteen rules we must approach our theme from the angle of the initiate-consciousness and not from that of the blended soul-personality consciousness. It is the higher approach which is here indicated, the problem of the initiate-group and not that of the individual within the group. Hence the great difficulty in putting any of these teachings into words. To the average aspirant to accepted discipleship, the three words which distinguish this third major injunction (but which symbolically constitute the fifth injunction in the rule) might be defined as follows: The ideas conveyed are those of an aspirant to the Mysteries as he faces initiation. Let us take these words in the order given in Rule XIII.
Transfiguration—that stage upon the Path of Initiation wherein the third initiation is undergone, wherein the personality is irradiated by the full light of the soul and the three personality vehicles are completely transcended; they have become simply forms through which spiritual love may flow out into the world of men in the salvaging task of creation.
Transformation—the evolutionary process which is carried on upon the Path of Discipleship, in which the disciple transforms his lower threefold “appearance” or personality and begins to display divine “quality.” His physical body becomes obedient to the dictates of his mind, which is becoming responsive to the higher mind through the medium of the soul; his emotional nature becomes the receptacle of buddhi or of the intuition; then, after the third initiation it disappears altogether, and the buddhic vehicle becomes the main instrument of sentiency. The mind, in due course, is equally transformed by impression from the higher mind, as it endeavours to implement the will nature of the Monad.
Transmutation—the method whereby that which is lower is absorbed by the higher, whereby force is transmuted into energy, whereby the energy of the three lower centres is carried up into the three higher centres (head, heart and throat) and which later enables the initiate to [Page 279] centralise all the energies in the three directing centres in the head. This transmuting process goes forward under the pressure of daily life experience, under the magnetic effect of soul contact, and as the inevitable result of evolution itself.
All these three spiritualising processes are well known, in theory at least, to all spiritual aspirants; they are expressions of soul-personality intention and effective interplay; they also constitute a paralleling activity to the task of building the antahkarana, as modes of alignment play a large part in the process of transmutation.
It is not, however, with these attitudes, processes and interpretations that the initiate is concerned, but with the significance of these processes in terms of the completed antahkarana and from the point of view of the “angle of intention” of the Monad. In other words: What do Transfiguration and Transformation signify to Members of the Hierarchy as They face the Way of the Higher Evolution? What can these words imply to Those for Whom the soul, the mediating principle, no longer has any factual significance?
Consider for a moment that the initiate who has undergone the first major initiation (the Transfiguration) and the two initiations of the threshold (the Birth and Baptism of the Christian Mysteries) has created the antahkarana in order to establish direct relation between the Monad and the personality, between the centre of universal awareness or identification and the form-expression in the three worlds. The antahkarana is constructed and constitutes an active channel of contact. The soul which has for ages directed the various and varying personalities is no longer in existence; the causal body has disappeared, shattered at the moment when the initiate (at the fourth initiation) cries out and says: “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” The Temple of Solomon, the spiritual temple “not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens,” is no longer required; it has served its ancient purpose, and that which has been deemed eternal must disappear in the light of [Page 280] THAT to which eternity is only a phase of that which shall later be revealed. All that now remains for the initiate are the two points of living purpose to which we give the names of spirit-matter or life-appearance. The lesson ahead of the initiate is to realise the inner meaning (not the obvious and easily grasped meaning) that spirit is matter at its highest point, and matter is spirit at its lowest. This involves the free interplay of life-energy, consciously applied as the result of age-long processes, and matter-force, via the antahkarana. The “rainbow bridge” becomes a channel for the impact of monadic or life energy upon substance, so that substance, taking form under the cyclic intention of the planetary Logos, may become increasingly coloured or qualified by the energy of universality. You can see from the above somewhat involved sentences how inadequate is language to express the understanding and the intention of the Hierarchy.
To the initiate, therefore, the two words, Transfiguration and Transformation, mean something quite different than they mean to a disciple, whilst Transmutation is now meaningless to him, for there is nothing within him which requires transmuting. It might consequently be stated that:
Transmutation concerns the expression of the life force upon the three lower planes of human living and evolution.
Transformation concerns in a most peculiar manner the three aspects of mind upon the mental plane:
- The lower mind
- The son of mind, the soul
- The higher mind.
- Transfiguration concerns the life of the Spiritual Triad upon its own three levels of identification.
To this might be added the fact that:
The three lower planes of transmutation are the dense, liquid and gaseous sub-planes of the cosmic physical plane.
The mental plane is a unique location (or state of consciousness) whereon or wherein the lower planes are [Page 281] subjected to impression from the three higher. The higher three and the lower three are subjected to a definitely esoteric and mysterious process, and it is on this plane that the work of transmutation is completed—from the angle of the initiate.
The three planes of the Spiritual Triad are the spheres whereon transformation goes forward. This transformation has naught to do with the transforming of the personality, but is uniquely related to the interior work of the Hierarchy and the effect of this living, developing intensity upon the Members of the Hierarchy. Five planes are therefore involved in these two phases of the divine work.
The two highest planes (the monadic and the logoic) are the planes of transfiguration, from the point of view of the higher initiate. By then the processes of transmutation have dropped below the threshold of consciousness, and though the initiate (working with forms in the three worlds) has his instrument upon the outer physical plane, his own work and hierarchical activity is strictly triadal and monadic, with a steadily growing responsiveness to logoic intent.
Let us now consider the phases of transfiguration and transformation as far as is possible in an exoteric instruction, and “may transmutation disappear” for all disciples as time elapses, and that with speed—owing to the great need today for hierarchical workers.
It might here be asked: What is the work undertaken by the Masters Themselves upon the three planes of the Spiritual Triad? Students are well aware that many of the Masters are occupied with the evolutionary processes of the various kingdoms in nature in the three lower worlds. They forget that the majority are not so occupied. Have you ever wondered what it is that incites a Master to stay working in the three worlds and with His mind focussed upon its evolutionary processes? Have you ever considered what else it might be possible that intrigued and demanded His interest? The self-centred attitude of mankind is inclined to believe that human need, and incidentally the need of the [Page 282] other kingdoms in nature, are all that prompts the Hierarchy to carry on its work of salvaging and stimulation. But that is only a partial estimate of the work which They are doing. In the processes of carrying forward Their work, the consciousness of the Master is being steadily expanded, and this because of the nature of Their work in the three worlds; it necessarily becomes more and more inclusive. That is the effect upon Him, as He works on behalf of humanity or on behalf of the other kingdoms in nature. There is a definite and evolutionary effect. But on the higher three levels of the Spiritual Triad, another type of evolutionary impulse is directing His activities. I have told you elsewhere that consciousness (as we understand it) is being transcended, and a new aspect of universal sentiency is taking its place. To this development I have given the inadequate name of Identification. This is a word which involves consciousness, which invokes the will, which is dynamic in nature, inclusive in contact, and which is also based upon the doctrine of non-separativeness.
This, however, is only a beginning of an entirely new phase of development; consciousness eventually drops below the level of perception. It becomes as automatic and unregistered in its expression as animal instinct is to the human being. It functions, but the man is not consciously aware of it. It is a protective mechanism. The will aspect of the Monad supersedes but does not negate love (which has become, in its turn, instinctual); a one-pointed, rapier-like assumption of identification takes the place of the inclusiveness hitherto felt and practised. Perhaps I can convey to you something of what I mean by pointing out that the circle with the point at the centre is symbolic of the perfected man. He is rounded out; he is inclusive both vertically (soul contact) and horizontally (human relationship), yet he stands at the centre of his consciousness and of its self-imposed ring-pass-not. From thence he never moves, but is aware all the time of all that proceeds within his sphere of influence. Here is the symbol of the Master, from a specific point of attainment. [Page 283]
But the Master Himself is not static. His field of work is clear; His realm of contacts—human, subhuman and super-human—is also clear. Within the ring-pass-not and in the world of sentiency and in relation to the world of loving understanding, He stands the Master.
It is at this precise point in time and space that the work of Transformation begins for the Master—a transformation which is brought about by the unfoldment and the development made possible upon the three levels of the Spiritual Triad. As this transformation takes place, a new activity supervenes which finally enables the Master to break through the planetary ring-pass-not, and thus arrive at the door of the Higher Evolution.
What I have now to say may be made somewhat clearer by means of the following symbol. The Master has now penetrated into another cosmic level, but He is still within the aura of the One Life. Now the cosmic astral plane is revealed to Him. He sees the reason why, first of all, sentiency had to be developed; why it had then to be used and mastered and finally had to be completely negated—negated in such a manner that it dropped below the level of consciousness. There is no glamour upon the cosmic astral plane, and only those who have dominated sentient reaction upon all levels of the cosmic physical plane and are completely free from it, can then—through the illumined will and through the power of that mysterious quality (if I may so call a factual expression) of identification—direct the lowest aspect of cosmic desire upon the cosmic astral plane. This necessarily has to be tuned in with that to which they are irrevocably related. This identification is therefore the highest expression of divine purpose upon the cosmic physical plane, even whilst it is the lowest aspect of the cosmic astral desire. Therefore, my brothers, the transformation with which this rule deals is the transformation of consciousness into identification. More than that I may not say. To express the true meaning I have no words or symbols.
In this line of approach through identification, the Master builds that of which the spiritual correspondence is [Page 284] the manasic antahkarana. The antahkarana which is now emerging is a projection from the Ashram of a Master; there are, therefore, seven ways into the Way of the Higher Evolution. These seven ways correspond to the seven Ashrams upon the seven Rays; they are related also to the seven initiations, to the seven principles of man, and to all the other many septenates. It is the force of Will, generated by the Master, during the process of
- Attaining the fifth initiation
- Working in the three worlds of creative salvaging
- Achieving ashramic purpose and consequent group activity
- Manifesting ray energy
- Demonstrating a faculty which is known only to initiates who have passed beyond the third initiation.
This provides the focussed intention which enables the Master to attain what is called transformation, and later, to project the dynamic impulse of His spiritual will in such a manner that He succeeds in piercing the planetary ring-pass-not; He is then given the freedom of the world, and not just the freedom of the worlds.
It will be obvious that I am dealing with the subject of the sixth initiation. When this initiation has been consummated, the Chohan then transcends the three worlds of the Spiritual Triad and is focussed as a “projecting agent of the Lighted Will” as it expresses itself upon the monadic plane. This stage of unfoldment is in reality the Ascension initiation, the true significance of which will be revealed through the medium of the coming world religion.
There then follows, as a result of this, what is called the true Transfiguration. This enables the initiate to function upon the logoic or highest plane of the cosmic physical plane. This—in Christian phraseology—is called the “sitting down upon the right hand of God in Heaven.” There the man who has attained this seventh initiation is transfigured. The first contact comes along the line which he has projected as a result of transformation; it is made with [Page 285] That which has ever overshadowed Sanat Kumara. The Chohan has now taken the seventh initiation.