The Necessity of Purity.
Condensation next ensues. The fire and waters meet, the form swells and grows. Let the magician set his form upon the proper path.
“This rule is very briefly summed up in the injunction: Let desire and mind be so pure and so equally apportioned and the created form so justly balanced that it cannot be attracted towards the destructive or ‘left-hand’ path.”
The reasons for this brevity may be stated to be due to the extreme simplicity of this rule in the consciousness of the man who knows, and its extreme complexity from the standpoint of the casual reader. Only the simplest and most practical of its significances is there given but perhaps a few of the deeper meanings can be imparted.
It is interesting to note that as progress is made upon the path, the forms in which truth can be given become more and more simple, whilst the meaning grasped becomes more and more wide and inclusive, and hence involves (on analysis) more and more complexity. Finally, resort is had to symbols and the cosmic plan is grasped through the presentation of geometrical forms to the inner eye of the aspirant.
The cardinal point emphasized in this rule is purity and, in the last analysis, purity is largely a question of motive. If the incentive to action of any kind in the three worlds is based on personality desire and brought about by the applied use of the mind, then impurity characterizes that action. If the impulse emanates from the Dweller in the form, it is then subordinated and controlled by the Dweller to the desired end. Then the characteristic is purity within the group limitations, for absolute purity only exists when entire freedom from control has been brought about. The soul is group conscious and group controlled, and (until the causal body has been overcome and liberation from its control achieved) the real significance of purity will not be comprehended. Suffice it to say that there is a close connotation between impurity and limitation of any kind, physical, emotional and mental.
But absolute purity need not here be considered by the aspirant. No one in the esoteric groups of the world has yet achieved the fifth initiation, wherein the meaning will enter the consciousness in a blaze of intensest realization. For the majority, physical and emotional purity are the objectives, and primarily therefore liberation from emotional control and desire. Hence the constant, e’en though badly worded injunction in many of the esoteric books, “Kill out desire”. Perhaps a more just rendering for the immediate present would be “reorient desire” or “redirect desire”, for a constant process of reorientation of the entire desire nature so that it eventually becomes a habitual state of mind is the clue to all the transmutation processes, and to effective magical work.
As progress on the Path is made the thought processes of the aspirant become more potent, and the thought-forms – created with definite purpose and in the meditation work – become more effective in the bringing about of results. It will be apparent therefore that in magical work (which has ever to be wrought out on the physical plane) there will always exist the tendency towards the “left-hand path” until soul consciousness is permanently established, and purity of motive has become a habit of the mind.
May I remind all who read that the establishing and stabilizing of right habits is, for the aspirant to discipleship, a prime requisite. Those who are working in the field of planetary evolution are looking for dependable instruments, and this cannot be too emphatically impressed upon all of you. People whose emotional moods and feelings run riot or who lack physical control cannot be counted upon in an emergency by Those who are seeking helpers. People whose minds are clouded or whose inability to hold the mind “steady in the light” is inherent, are unsuitable workers in the high places of world endeavor. This remark need deter no one in these groups from pushing forward, for the recognition of a defect is a preliminary step towards its overcoming. These groups are in training and this must be borne in mind or else discouragement is apt to ensue when the ideal is enunciated. World need and opportunity go hand in hand at this time. The Great Ones, Who stand as a wall between humanity and planetary Karma are, we are told, hard pressed at this time, and I assure you that this is but an inadequate statement of the case.
The thoughts of men since the middle of the Atlantean period have steadily been attracted toward the destructive or left-hand path, because selfishness has been the motive, and self-interest the dominant factor. Part of the work of the Christ when He came 2000 years ago was to offset this tendency by the inculcation, through example and precept, of sacrifice and unselfishness, and the martyr spirit (tinctured as it oft was by hysteria and a heavenly self-interest) was one of the results of this endeavor. Seen from the standpoint of the Hierarchy, the effort has been successful, for the Christian spirit stands for reorientation to heavenly things. Hence purity of motive and the instinct for service, which latter keynote is new from the standpoint of the past eternities.
In spite of this, however, the tendency to selfish interest is the most potent factor in the world at this time, and hence the critical situation existing between the Hierarchy of Light and the hierarchy controlling the left-hand path, or the path of control by form and desire.
Let there be no discouragement, however, for the spiritual thought, resulting in magical work, of one brother of pure intent is of far greater potency than that of many brothers who follow the tendencies of the personality. Though every true aspirant as he grasps the magnitude of the Plan and surveys the forces arrayed against him may be overcome by the apparent futility of his effort and the seeming smallness of the part he plays, let him remember that there is a steadily growing group of those similar to him and that this is a group effort. Under the Law the Great Ones work through Their disciples in all countries and never before have there been so many endeavoring to fit themselves for this function of being “Transmitters of the Purpose,” and never before has there existed such a strong inner integrity and subjective relation between workers in all fields in all parts of the world. For the first time in history is there a coherent group for the Masters to use. Heretofore, there have been lonely isolated workers or tiny detached groups, and this has greatly hampered the work. Now this is changed.
I want to charge you all to realize this and to work to substantiate this group integrity and to develop the power to recognize all such workers everywhere under any name or organization and to cooperate with them when so recognized. This is no easy thing to do. It presupposes the following:
- An inner sensitiveness to the Plan.
- An ability to recognize principles, governing conduct and administration.
- A capacity to overlook the non-essentials and to emphasize the essentials.
- A submergence of personal ambition and interest in the furthering of the group ideals and
- A steady preservation of the inner contact through meditation and the overlooking and non-emphasis of personality reactions.
These are basic prerequisites and should receive the attention of workers and students in all groups.
It would be of value if each student would link up every day at five o’clock by an act of the will with this rapidly integrating group of servers, mystics and brothers. To this end it might be wise to commit to memory the following brief dedication to be said silently at that hour with the attention focused in the head:
“May the Power of the one Life pour through the group of all true servers.
“May the Love of the One Soul characterize the lives of all who seek to aid the Great Ones.
“May I fulfill my part in the One work through self-forgetfulness, harmlessness and right speech.”
Then carry the thought forward from the rapidly forming group of world-servers to the Great Ones who stand back of our world evolution.
This can be done in a few seconds of time wherever one may be and in whatever company, and will not only aid in the magical work of the forces of light, but will serve to stabilize the individual, to increase his group consciousness, and to teach him the process of carrying forward interior subjective activities in the face of and in spite of outer exoteric functioning.
