Part 1 of 2 here…
Students of occultism who have demonstrated their devotion and their mental poise, and who (to use the ancient formula of the schools of meditation) have kept the five commandments and the five rules, and have achieved right poise, can begin to use the interludes between the two aspects of physical breathing for intense activity and the use of the power of will to produce magical effects. The consciousness, focused in the brain and having participated in the work of contemplation can now proceed to the work of materializing the plan upon the physical plane by the focused energy of will, used in the silence by the conscious man. As can be seen, these breathing interludes are also two in number, after inhalation and after exhalation and the more experienced the disciple, the longer will be the interlude and the greater the opportunity therefore for focused magical work and for the utterance of those words of power which will make divine purpose to be.
It would not be right nor proper for me to enlarge here upon the work of utilizing these “midway points”, as they are called in Rule XII, which the magician seizes and which he employs in constructive work. In them he consciously uses energy, directing it as he sees fit; in them, he consciously comes in contact with those forces and lives which he can employ and command to bring to him what he requires for the furtherance of spiritual purposes and for the work of constructing those forms and organisms which may be needed; in them, he goes forward with the work of releasing the “prisoners of the planet”; and in them he becomes conscious of his fellow workers, of the group of world mystics, and of the hierarchy of souls.
In Instructions such as these, which are to be read by the general public it would be most unwise to give more explicit directions. Enough has been left unsaid to make it impossible for any but a deeply learned student to arrive at the necessary correlations which will enable him to carry forward the “work of the interludes”, in which alone magical work can be done. You might ask: Why is this so? Why are the secrets of the breath so carefully guarded? Because the efficacy of black magic is found right here. There is a point where both black and white magic employ necessarily one similar stage in the work. Certain men, with potent wills and clear and trained minds, but animated by purely selfish purpose, have learnt to use the lower of the two soul interludes – that which concerns the relation of mind and brain. Through an intense application and a knowledge of the science of the centers they have been enabled to work out their selfish plans and to impose their will and mental authority upon the “prisoners of the planet”. Thus they have wrought much harm. They have no desire to participate in the higher interlude wherein the soul is active, and the mind responsive. The intellectual activity and the responsiveness of the brain to mind impression is all that concerns them. Both white and black magicians, as you see, employ the lower interlude, and both know the significance of the physical breathing interludes. But the white magician works from the soul level out into the manifested world and seeks to carry out the divine plan, whilst the black magician works from the level of the intellect as he seeks to achieve his own separate ends. The difference is not only that of motive, but also of alignment and the radius of the consciousness and its field of expansion. Hence you will see why such extreme caution is evidenced by all true teachers, as they endeavor to teach the nature of the magical work. Only the tested and the true, only the unselfish and the pure can be given the full instructions. All can be given the information concerning the major interludes of soul-mind and mind-brain. Only a few can as yet be trusted with the significant information concerning the minor interludes, carried on in the physical body between breaths and in the brain consciousness.
One other point might be of interest before I proceed to speak of the “prisoners of the planet” and the work to be done with them.
Humanity at this time is passing through a cycle of excessive activity. For the first time in human history this activity embraces mankind on a large scale in the entire three aspects of the personality consciousness. The physical bodies, the emotional and mental states of consciousness are all in a condition of potent upheaval. This unified triple activity is increased by a cycle of equally intense planetary activity, due to the coming in of a new age, the passing of the sun into a new sign in the Zodiac and the preparation consequently going on to fit man to work easily with the new forces and energies playing upon him. At the center of human life, the integrating group of new World Servers must meet therefore a very real need. Their work must primarily be to keep such a close link with the soul of humanity – made up of all souls on their own level of being – through their own organized soul activity that there will always be those who can “work in the interludes” and so keep the plan progressing and the vision before the eyes of those who cannot as yet themselves enter into the high and secret place. They have, as I oft times have said, to learn to work subjectively, and this they must do in order to preserve – in this cycle of activity and exoteric expression – the power, latent in all, to withdraw into the center. They constitute the door, speaking symbolically. Capacities and powers can die out for lack of use; the power of divine abstraction and the faculty to find what has been called “the golden path which leads to the clear pool and from thence to the Temple of Retreat” must not be lost. This is the first work of the Group of World Mystics, and they must keep the path open and the way clear of obstructions. Otherwise white magic might temporarily die out and the selfish purposes of the form nature assume undue control. This dire event happened in Atlantean days and the then group of workers had to withdraw from all external activity and “abstract the divine mysteries, hiding them away from the curious and the unworthy.”
Now a new attempt is being made to free the “prisoners of the planet”. The Hierarchy, through the Group of World Servers now in process of formation is seeking to externalize itself, and to restore the mysteries to humanity to whom they truly belong. If the attempt is to succeed it is basically necessary that all of you who have sensed the vision or seen a part of the intended plan should rededicate yourselves to the service of humanity, should pledge yourselves to the work of aiding to the utmost of your ability (ponder those words and search out their significance) all world servers, and should sacrifice your time and give of your money to further the endeavor of the Great Ones. Rest not, above all, from your meditation work; keep the inner link; think truth at all times. The need and the opportunity are great and all possible helpers are being called to the forefront of the battle. All can be used in some way, if the true nature of sacrifice is grasped, if skill in action is developed and if work without attachment is the effort of each and all of you.
