RULE TWO
When the shadow hath responded, in meditation deep the work proceedeth. The lower light is thrown upward; the greater light illuminates the three, and the work of the four proceedeth.
The Hindrances to Occult Study
This rule is one of the most difficult in the book and yet one of the most comprehensive. It will take us some time rightly to handle it. We have in it an interesting illustration of the microcosmic correspondence to the macrocosm. It can be elucidated in two ways in relation to the light it mentions.
Reference is made to the “greater light” which illuminates the three and, secondly, to the throwing upward of the “lower light”.
The “greater light” is that of the soul, who is light itself illuminating the manifestation of the threefold personality. Herein lies the correspondence to the macrocosm as it is symbolized for us in God, the manifesting light of the solar system. The solar system is three in one, or one in three, and the light of the Logos illuminates the whole. The “lower light” is that which is hidden within the human being on the physical plane. This light, at a certain stage of man’s experience, is awakened throughout the physical body and blends eventually with the “greater light”. The light and life of God Himself may emanate from the central Spiritual Sun, but it is only as the light within the solar system itself is awakened and aroused that there will come that eventual blazing forth which will typify the glory of the sun shining in its strength. Similarly, the light of the soul may emanate from the Monad, but it is only as the light within the little system (directed by the soul) is awakened and aroused that there will come the eventual shining forth of a son of God.
In these instructions, however, we are dealing primarily with the microcosm and the light within it; we shall not enlarge upon the macrocosmic analogies.
In considering this second rule, we must note that a conscious relation has been established between the soul and its shadow, the man on the physical plane. Both have been meditating. Students would do well to note this and to remember that one of the objectives of the daily meditation is to enable the brain and mind to vibrate in unison with the soul as it seeks “in meditation deep” to communicate with its reflection.
The correspondence to this relation, or synchronizing vibration is interesting:
- • Soul – Man on the Physical Plane
- • Mind – Brain
- • Pineal Gland – Pituitary Body
The relation also between the centers, and their synchronization is interesting and in it is epitomized the evolution of the race as well as the racial unit, man.
- • Head Center – Base of the Spine
- • Heart Center – Solar Plexus
- • Throat Center – Sacral Center
In the above lies a hint for the more advanced student (and he is the one who hesitates so to regard himself). It is also symbolized for us in the relation between the Eastern and the Western hemispheres and between those great bodies of truth which we call Religion and Science.
The life of meditation proceeds and the rapport between the soul and its triple instrument becomes steadily closer, and the resulting vibration more powerful. How many lives this will take depends upon various factors, which are too numerous to be mentioned here but which the student will find it useful to consider. Let him list the factors which he feels he needs to take into account as he seeks to decide his evolutionary standpoint.
The result of this response is a reorientation of the lower man in order to produce a synthesis of the Three and the One so that the work of the Four may proceed. Here you have the reflection consummated in the microcosm of that with which the Solar Logos started, the “Sacred Four” of the Cosmos; man in his turn becomes a ” Sacred Four” – spirit and the three of manifestation.
Four words should be pondered upon here:
- Communication
- Response
- Reorientation
- Union
The Old Commentary expresses it in the following terms:
“When communion is established, words are forthwith used, and mantric law assumes its rightful place, provided that the One communicates the words and the three remain in silence.
“When response is recognized as emanating from the three, the One, in silence, listens. The roles are changed. A threefold word issues from out the triple form. A turning round is caused. The eyes no longer look upon the world of form; they turn within, focus the light, and see, revealed, an inner world of being. With this the Manas stills itself, for eyes and mind are one.
“The heart no longer beats in tune with low desire, nor wastes its love upon the things that group and hide the Real. It beats with rhythm new; it pours its love upon the Real, and Maya fades away. Kama and heart are close allied; love and desire form one whole – one seen at night, the other in the light of day…
“When fire and love and mind submit themselves, sounding the threefold word, there comes response.
“The One enunciates a word which drowns the triple sound. God speaks. A quivering and a shaking in the form responds. The new stands forth, a man remade; the form rebuilt; the house prepared. The fires unite, and great the light that shines: the three merge with the One and through the blaze a fourfold fire is seen.”
In this pictorial writing which I have sought to convey in modern English, the sages of old embodied an idea. The Old Commentary from which these words are taken has no assignable date. Should I endeavor to tell you its age I have no means of proving the truth of my words and hence would be faced with credulity – a thing aspirants must avoid in their search for the essential and Real. I have sought in the above few phrases to give the gist of what is expressed in the Commentary, through the means of a few symbols and a cryptic text. These old Scriptures are not read in the way modern students read books. They are seen, touched and realized. The meaning is disclosed in a flash. Let me illustrate: – The words “the One enunciates the word which drowns the triple sound” are depicted by a shaft of light ending in a symbolic word in gold superimposed over three symbols in black, rose and green. Thus are the secrets guarded with care.
I felt it might be of interest to students to know this much about this ancient text book of the Adepts.
Part 2 of 2 here.
