The 3rd Initiation,

Third Initiation

Between the second initiation and the third, our spiritual evolution is greatly speeded up. During this period we have to demonstrate that our control of the emotional vehicle is stable and that we are nonresponsive to emotional influence. Our work also proceeds on the physical level in order to bring down the knowledge gleaned by the Spiritual Intuition and use it in our daily life. Our work also proceeds on mental levels to establish the concentration and discipline needed for the achievement of the third initiation. So progress is made within all three personality vehicles, and necessarily so, for the entire personality nature is transformed by the fires of the third initiation.

In preparation for the third initiation, the focus of our attention moves from the emotional realm to the mental. This is an easy statement to make, but it consists of more than what may be seen on the surface. Our mental life as aspirants to the third initiation is more than being a scholar or genius, more than an intense preoccupation with thoughts and ideas, and more than a powerful ability to manipulate thoughtforms and create things of beauty. It consists of a mental focus that stands at a tabletop of achievement. When we hold this mental focus we look downward to the world of the personality and see the phenomena of thought, feelings, and physical forms. We look outward to the world and realize our unity with all humanity. We look inward and find group relationships and the group life — the life of the soul that has sensed its inner connection with all other souls. We look upward to the realm of the Spiritual Intuition and bring forth and manifest those concepts and ideas that are needed for the next step in human evolution. We thus plant our mental awareness firmly within the world of the soul and the soul consciousness, and from there we work — downward, outward, inward, and upward. The mind, therefore, is decentralized away from its central focus upon our little, personal self to a broader, wider, and more inclusive realm.

At the third initiation the personality and the soul are blended and fused into one functioning whole. They no longer act separately. The energies of the Spiritual Will, Spiritual Intuition, and Abstract Mind meet and blend with the personality, and they become one Whole. This alignment and integration of soul and personality make it possible for us to directly contact the highest aspect of our nature, the Monad. We come into direct contact with the energy of Spirit, or Monadic aspect of the human being. There have been, prior to the third initiation, brief moments when the energy of the Monad has made its impact upon us — rare moments of great crisis and of spiritual illumination. The energy of the Monad has, nevertheless, in these moments been filtered through the soul — the soul acting as the mediator and transmitter of the energy of the Monad. Now, at the third initiation, these moments become more frequent, and the contact may be made directly, without the intermediary of the soul nature. The three aspects of the human constitution — Monad, soul, and personality — meet together consciously for the first time. The "Light of Spirit" then obliterates the "Light of the soul," which has in its turn outshined the "light of matter" — the three lights become One.

The third initiation, then, involves the entire threefold personality nature. Prior to this initiation, we have seen that the physical nature and the emotional vehicle have been brought under a measure of control and are able to act in response to soul purpose. Now we find that the entire personality nature is affected — the concrete mind, the emotional or desire nature, and the etheric body. This has three results:

The etheric vehicle — and consequently its reflection, the physical body — becomes fully responsive to the form-making powers of the mind. We become fully responsive to group purpose and group activity.
The emotional vehicle becomes fully responsive to the Spiritual Intuition, and the illumined Light and Love of the Intuition shines forth. We become a being who constantly reveals Divine Love.
The mental vehicle becomes responsive, for the first time, to the Spiritual Will. We begin to be responsive to the "Will of God," a phrase that indicates to us the the nature of the directing Mind of our Planetary Life, of Sanat Kumara.
These three become unified, and in that unification a new consciousness may appear. The temple of the human being is built and the indwelling Spirit is now ready to take possession of that structure.

The third initiation, then, begins a whole new process in our life, the process of unification with the Spirit aspect, the Monad. The whole path of evolution up to this point has been the awakening of the forces of our personality and their unification with the soul. At the third initiation this process is completed and a newer, higher process begins.

This contact with our Spirit aspect is hesitant and weak at first. When we first contact the soul, for example, we only have a vague and uncertain idea of the nature of that consciousness. So, too, at this initiation we have only a vague and uncertain idea of the real nature of Spirit. A whole new process of unfoldment is seen dimly before us: the "Way of the Higher Evolution." Having attained a measure of enlightenment at this third initiation we begin to see the goals that lie before us that are beyond the realm of enlightenment. A new method of living, a new way of knowing, and a new power of life is unfolded before us. This Way of the Higher Evolution leads us onward into higher worlds, kingdoms, and spheres of activity — often to realms entirely outside of our Planetary Life.

At the third initiation, our Monad begins to guide and direct our soul, just as at the first initiation the soul began to firmly guide and direct our personality. The soul life has been lived to the full; the soul has passed through countless incarnations and thereby slowly and steadily learned how to control and live through and within the personality nature. The process of living incarnation after incarnation of lives has reached a culminating point; the lessons that were to be learned in the world of personality experience have all been learned. Now it becomes possible for our Monad to begin working through our soul. The work continues on a higher turn of the spiral, and new possibilities open before our awareness. The three worlds of the personality now form only a sphere of active service for our indwelling life.

It should always be remembered that the soul and the Monad are what we really are, and who we really are. We may think of ourselves as minds and feelings and forms, but this is not our true self, our real nature. Our heritage is far greater, our inner spirit is far higher than any mind can conceive. Therefore as we unfold our soul consciousness we are unfolding our own true nature. As we take the third initiation, we are unfolding a still higher and deeper aspect of our self, the Monad. The whole process is one of unfolding and revealing our own essential nature and our own inner truth. We are not, therefore, moving away from our self to a soul or a Monad. We are instead coming into our own heritage; we are moving closer and closer to knowing our own Divine Self. We always have been, we always are, and we always will be the Monad, but this remains unrecognized due to the limitations of the personality. It is up to us to take the action necessary to discover our own true nature, follow the path of initiation, and discover our inner, Monadic life.

The third degree initiate is characterized by the Divine Will. We have learned, as esoteric students, to manifest the light that is within us, and to spread that light in service. We have learned, on the path of initiation, to manifest the love of the soul in every aspect of our lives. We now come to the point where the Will and Purpose of Divinity radiate forth, and work in and through the energies of Light and Love. The personal will and the will of the soul are both submerged in the Divine Will. This is done with full understanding and with perfect freedom. The Divine Will is never imposed, but is freely chosen by those initiates who choose it and who are ready to endure that blast of Cosmic Electrical Fire.

The third degree initiate acts consciously in cooperation with the plan of the Planetary Life. We have, in the past, learned how to cooperate with an ever growing band of servers. We have learned how to work with other servers to achieve soul purpose. Still later, we learn how to cooperate with the planetary Hierarchy, the Kingdom of Souls, and take our place within the Whole. Now, the third degree initiate learns a still higher form of cooperation — a cooperation with the plan and purpose of the Planetary Life itself, as represented by the personified manifestation of that Life, Sanat Kumara. The third degree initiate consciously cooperates with the plan and purpose not only of the soul, not only of the Spiritual Hierarchy, but also with the plan and purpose that emanate from the "Council Chamber at Shamballa." There is a new and direct relationship with Shamballa, "the centre where the Will of God is known."

The third degree initiate is no longer affected by the world illusion, and sees everything in its true nature. This is the consummation of a threefold conquest of personality limitations.

The dense material form's control over our actions and feelings — that is, the force of maya — is overcome at the first initiation.
The ability of the emotional vehicle to direct and control our choices and decisions — otherwise called glamor — is overcome at the second initiation.
The tendency of the mind to lead us off into realms of imagination and fantasy — or mental illusion — is overcome at the third initiation. The force of illusion no longer blinds the eyes of the initiate, and the World of Light and Power is seen and experienced. This is not some abstract realm of the imagination, but a subjective world that, to the inner eye, is as obvious as the physical world is to our physical eyes.
Prior to the third initiation we proceeded blindly; we took the existence and nature of the inner spiritual realities on faith and inner conviction. We relied upon the Intuition of our heart, the word of our Master, and the wisdom teachings of the ages for our knowledge and understanding. We aspired to some day see these things for ourselves. At the third initiation all this process is over. The scales fall from our eyes. Our inner vision is awakened and knowledge, faith, and belief are replaced by direct experience. Knowledge is gained directly from Intuitional apprehension; there is no more need to read books or study — the mental vehicle no longer needs to be built up or strengthened. For the third degree initiate, the Spiritual Intuition — the mind that perceives Reality — is fully active and can be used at will. The hidden world that lies behind all outer appearances is known and perceived. This is a clear, grounded vision that is seen with the eyes and heard with the ears — the subjective world of the soul becomes just as definite and objective as the physical world. The third degree initiate moves in a World of Light where thoughts and ideas are seen as the outer manifestation rather than the physical universe.

The third degree initiate has transcended "time" as we understand it. Prior to the third initiation we are focussed within our personality life, which is intensely preoccupied with the past. Past achievements, problems, and events are what preoccupy our personality nature. The soul, in its turn, is preoccupied with the future and the possibilities that lie ahead. The third degree initiate, however, has received a touch of the awareness of Monad. Then the past and the future are resolved into the Eternal Now. No longer preoccupied with the concerns of the personality, and no longer swept up by the forward-looking consciousness of the soul, the initiate always lives in what we would call a timeless realm — though it is only timeless from the standpoint of our limited consciousness.

We, in our personality consciousness, imagine that we have a soul, that other people have souls, and that there are millions and billions of individual souls in the world. From the angle of the personality this is quite true and accurate, but from the angle of the indwelling Spirit there is only one soul, only one consciousness, and only one Divine Awareness that pervades all things. For the third degree initiate, there is no longer any sense of "my soul and thy soul," but rather an all-pervading unity is sensed and known, and the sense of separateness is banished forever.

The third degree initiate is therefore relatively unconcerned with the happenings and affairs of the personality. We find, at this point, an all-engrossing focus upon the subjective worlds and the events and happenings that concern the Spiritual Hierarchy itself, as well as energies emanating from that still higher kingdom of nature, Shamballa.

After the third initiation progress is rapid, and the fourth initiation — often called the Crucifixion — looms ahead. At the fourth initiation all personality limitations are overcome, and all sorrow, sadness, and doubt are set aside. Having fully expressed our true soul nature, we demonstrate the qualities of Spiritual Will, Spiritual Intuition, and Abstract Mind. These three aspects of the Spiritual Soul blend and unite with the three aspects of the personality — mind, emotions, and body. The result is the liberation of the lower self completely out of the limitations of matter into joy, peace, and bliss.

After that, the fifth initiation, the Resurrection, is taken and the Being that was once a struggling aspirant is now a Master of the Wisdom, a Lord of Compassion, who works endlessly in the service of all life.

With the third initiation we have already moved out of the realm of knowledge of all except the most advanced students, and it does not profit us to consider the later initiations in any detail. Until we have done the work needed to achieve the first three initiations and have blended soul and personality, there is no need to aspire to the world of Spirit and Monad. Anything we might say about these things would only add more meaningless words to the pile that has already been built up by those who have speculated upon these matters. When the words "Spirit," "Being," "Life," "Divinity," and "Monad" begin to have some practical meaning in our lives, then and only then will it be time to move forward.

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In long ages past, the Spiritual Hierarchy assisted in raising the animal-men of the time to the human state. Today, they assist humanity in making a still higher ascent, out of the human kingdom into the Kingdom of Souls.

Knowing this, we come to understand the influence of the Spiritual Hierarchy and the Masters on the path of initiation. For there to be an initiation, there must be an initiator. We do not somehow initiate ourselves without any outside influence or assistance; initiation is made possible by the inflow of energy from the Spiritual Hierarchy, by the active aid of the Masters, and by the power of the One Who conveys initiation.

For the first and second initiations, the Initiator is the individual Who holds the office of the Christ, that Being Who is the Master of the Masters and the Head of the Spiritual Hierarchy. It is the Christ's influence, blessing, and outpouring of energy that so stimulates the indwelling soul that the initiation can take place.

For the third and later initiations, the Initiator is the Lord of the World, Sanat Kumara, the King of Shamballa. Sanat Kumara is the One Initiator, the Wielder of the Rod of Fire, and the First Hierophant. Sanat Kumara expresses the Will of the Planetary Life, and brings it down for the benefit of the initiate, as well as for the benefit of all evolution upon our planet. Each one of us who takes initiation adds to the light that shines forth from our little globe. Each ascent toward Reality brings all nature a little closer to expressing Divine Love. Sanat Kumara guides and guards all life, raising all beings upon this planet upward toward union with the Divine Will.

At the third initiation there is a sign of approval that radiates outward from Sanat Kumara to the initiate. This sign is the flashing forth of the image of a star. This has been well expressed in the following verse:

There is a peace that passeth understanding; it abides in the hearts of those who live in the Eternal. There is a power which maketh all things new. It lives and moves in those who know the Self as One. May that peace brood over us; that power uplift us, till we stand where the One Initiator is invoked, till we see His star shine forth.