To fully understand fundamental principles involved in the new interpretation and application of the Divine Law as it affects all men, though more especially and directly those who seek to come under the Law and advance by benefiting through its activity, certain terms of expression are more or less essential to avoid even the possibility of confusion or misdirection. In nearly all of the current writings on religion, Arcane and Esoteric philosophic subjects, there is more or less vagueness and confusion in the application of certain words, for example: "mind," "spirit," "Soul."
Here is again and again a dearth of adequate expression and a need for coining words to express necessary ideas. There is no adjective or noun synonym for the words "Spiritual" and "Spirituality" by which we denote the attributes of the Individualized Soul; these words themselves, so commonly and loosely used, are confusing and misleading. According to their derivation, they signify one thing; while in common usage, they are employed to signify something far removed from their derivative significance.
The word "spirit" really and fundamentally means
"breath;" the term "Spiritualized" would therefore
signify allied to, or "filled with breath;" and Spirituality"
would mean the art or science of "becoming filled with breath."
On account of this vagueness and confusion, it was necessary to
coin and use the words Soulal and Soulality (1) to designate attributes
of the Illuminated Soul.
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(1) this might be still further simplified, by using the word
"spirit" for the breath of life and Spirit, capitalized,
for the feeling that is of the Soul, "Spiritualized"
as a synonym for Soul consciousness. A small "s" where
the word has reference to the physical self; a capital "S"
when it has reference to the Divine part of man, the Soul. Refer
to Soul Consciousness, Philosophical Publishing
Company, Quakertown, Penna.
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The word "spirit," as generally employed in this text (though not always), refers to the breath of life, to the life itself or to the life principle. It is the common possession of men, animals, and all animate beings. It is a generic rather than a specific or individual term and, as such, emphasizes the fact that the spirit of man, at the transition stage known as death, returns to the universal storehouse of spirit or life and does not continue its existence as an individuality. Consequently, the spirit of man though vital, is impersonal.
Admittedly, it is eternal in the sense that its particled elements return to the great universal garner of vital essences to be again used in other manifestations; it is eternal in the sense that although, in the Divine economy, all is subject to change and renewal of form, nothing really perishes or is lost.
The distinction between "mind" and Soul" can be best explained by pointing out their relation to each other.
It is highly important that the Neophyte should possess a clear comprehension of these terms at the very beginning of his entry on the Path toward self-evolvement. The definitions are not to be thought of as arbitrary, but as a means of making clear and definite the essential application of the terms, employed in the Interpretation of Basic Laws as they apply to man's physical, mental, and Spiritual advancement.
The purpose is not merely academic - the defining of the nomenclature of a science for the mere sake of doing so - or to satisfy a cold, exact, scientific type of mental activity, but it is meant to help clarify, for the earnest and sincere seeker, the exact meaning of fundamental terms, that he may more easily and readily be able to comprehend and apply the teachings to his own personal benefit.
One of the first distinctions to be made is this - that the mind is mortal; that, in fact, the mind has no reality, but is an operation depending entirely on the association of body, spirit, brain, and the Spirit which is not material. Lacking the cooperation of either there would be no functioning of the brain, hence no mental activity - no Mind.
To word it differently, Mind as an activity, is a dependent, not an entity. It results from the fusion of physical and Spiritual elements in the brain acting as a vehicle or mixing ground. The mind is not wholly of either the body or of the Spiritual self which may become the Soul. It is the link between them.
Mind in action, is the creative, activation principle of man's nature; the Soul is the receptive vessel until such time as it is brought into Consciousness; after which, it directs action by urges. Man employs his mind as a creative agency; as a result of mental activity, man becomes a creator; he becomes co-creator with God to the extent of his wisdom and desires. Nor alone is man a creator of his own species, but in himself he can, if he will, change character completely; he can rearrange his environment and the conditions under which he lives.
The mind, under the incentive of desire, can accomplish all of this and infinitely more, nevertheless:
The mind is not a reality. It does not have a constant existence. It can readily be compared to the electrical generator. When the generator is in operation, is active, it creates electricity - power. Gigantic as it may be, it cannot start itself, and there must be power behind it to run it in order that it may produce.
Mind is identical. The generator, i.e., the brain is there, but it cannot become active, or remain active, that is, creative, by itself. There must be a starter to produce action. A force to induce activity.
This force or incentive is desire or want (need). This need supplied, this desire satisfied, the mind ceases to function unless there is another incentive; desire or need. This desire or need may be physical-material or Spiritual.
You do not believe in God, hence not in Spiritual incentive. You believe in love or affection? That is Spiritual. There is not the slightest difference in fact between the generator for electricity and the brain.
The need is supplied and then the mind becomes dormant, until desire or need again turns on the force and it once again comes into action.
Once man realizes that consciousness of Soul is actually the result of his own creative ability, urged on by the awakened Spiritual desire; that it partakes of all that he has made of himself, he constantly becomes more watchful of thoughts, moods, desires and actions and above all, his mind will be actuated by but one supreme desire.
That desire will be in harmony with the Divine Law and component parts of it will be based on love, graciousness, and compassion - the leaven that will help it along the Path toward attainment. This mental-Spiritual attitude will be the governing factor in every Neophyte's effort, as well as of those who seek to become members of the New Order of the Ages.
A different manner of expressing the relationship between mind and Soul, is to consider mind as the realm of causation, and the consciousness of Soul as the result of the action of the mind, guided by constructive desires of a Spiritual nature. Man's thought-kingdom is his cause world. His thoughts, followed by desire, then by action, have the power to bring about any manner of changes; affect al manner of things concerned with him or his conditions, and create new environments, or change environments.
Everything about us, both good and ill, beautiful or ugly, with the exception of earth, sky, and natural field, and forest, is primarily the direct result of man's mental activity. A wise man once made the statement: "A merry heart doeth good like medicine." All are aware that much more can be accomplished when the mind, the cause world, is tempered by an atmosphere of peace, poise, and composure.
As soon as the seeker after the "truth that makes free" realizes that not alone is the Soul actually the result of his cause action, and that his character and all that concerns him corresponds to the manner of influence he permits in his own thought kingdom, he will become active in gaining a masterful control in the realm of causation.
To be able to take on's proper place in the cause or creative world, and to direct inherent forces to the welfare of both the physical and Spiritual self, will be his most natural and highest ambition. To this end will the Neophyte put forth every effort; he will give his will power a most rigorous course of training and development, and apply to his carnal nature every known means for its exaltation and idealism.
The Sacred, Arcane and Esoteric literature of all ages is replete with facts, stories, and legends that illustrate from every point of view the creative active principle of the Will of the mind, and the passive or receptive nature of the Soul in action.
The most favorite symbolic representation of almost all nations represents the mind as the architect and builder, and the Soul as the Holy of Holies in the temple "not built with hands or the sound of hammer." In this process of building, one in which all Neophytes and those seeking to become citizens of the New Age or who are in harmony with the new Cycle are engaged, the mind must take the initiative by thinking and idealization; it must execute choice, select or reject the "material" to be used.
Man, as the reflection of the Infinite Creator, possesses in lesser degrees all the powers, forces, and abilities attributed to the Father. In individual men, units of the Great All, these qualities are in various degrees of unfoldment; admittedly, they are wholly dormant in all but the few, as is so clearly indicated by the Master-Initiate in His statement: "To you, (or the few), it is given to know the secrets (revealing) of the kingdom of heaven, to others it is not so given."
Only the few have made themselves conscious of the undeveloped forces and powers inherent in themselves, hence, the many have made no effort to bring them into activity or manifestation. As an example: In one man the undeveloped talents may be in an entirely latent stage, concealed from view beneath the crust of a wholly selfish personality but, unless burned and seared by the fires of persistent wrong doing and degenerate action, they are none the less a potentiality, awaiting the unfoldment process and growth.
In another man, they may be in the incipient stages of a nucleus of goodness. In this case they indicate the presence of an active, wholesome conscience although the life as yet may be painfully entangled, fettered, and hampered by the lower personality.
Again, these qualities may have become such a dynamic, vital expression of individualized life that the Soul is conscious of its inseparable life that the Soul is conscious of its inseparable Oneness with the infinite, and may be condensed into a center of radiation - a perfect, pyramidal flame that warns the desire nature with Love, and illumines the understanding with Wisdom. In this state, the Divine qualities of love, compassion, kindness, and forgiveness, unconsciously radiate to those with whom the Initiate (for such he is) comes in contact.
In his fourfold nature - body, mind, spirit and Soul - man is an epitome of the Universe; he is a Divine Creation in miniature and consequently, has been termed the "microcosm" or "little world." He is the climax and the culmination of forces which for ages have been seeking expression. How to use his forces and express them harmoniously, is the problem confronting him. To employ them in harmony with the Divine Law and the Divine Purpose and to express them only in the service (for the welfare) of mankind - this is the ideal and he must be induced to accept it as the right, because the best, course. To exert his powers and his possibilities, in obedience to the law of constructiveness and in keeping with the correct understanding of wisdom, leads to a fuller life. To pervert his powers and to misdirect his inherent possibilities into channels of error, results in harm, and in death.
God could place no higher mark of trust on man than to give him the right of choice, the power of decision, and the ability and privilege to direct Will-power, to execute plans in accordance with his own decrees.
Every power is, in itself, good (desirable and constructive), although it admits of a two-fold expression, positive and negative.
Every law of man's nature is, in itself, good, although it admits of a two-fold functioning - constructive and upbuilding or destructive and disintegrating. The use one makes of a law determines its effects.
Every virtue admits of a corresponding vice. Every repression of a natural desire produces an eruption of evil (disharmony). Results depend on the direction a tendency takes. Every force, every possibility, placed within man's reach is intended to serve a noble purpose.
When applied in harmony with the Law of its nature, results are good; when perverted, misused or misdirected, there will be loss or destruction. It is the mission of the New Age and of the Messenger of the New Era, as it has always been of the Great Work and the August Fraternity, to teach man that he is individually responsible for bringing into manifestation all his potentialities and to obey the highest call of the Law.
One of the first and most important requirements of both the Neophytes in the August Fraternity and of those seeking the benefits the New Order of the Ages can bring, is to become conscious of the operation of the Law of right and justice. A man must choose wisely what he seeks to make of his mission in life, that there may be no waste of time or energy, and that he may direct his manifold powers into proper channels for final accomplishment.
This final accomplishment is Soul Consciousness, Illumination, and/or Occultly and Arcanely known as Initiation, more generally as Philosophic Initiation. It may include both the Spiritual and the physical, that is, the Neophyte may have chosen a special mission in life, a profession or one of the arts and have held this as an ideal for physical attainment; and in addition, he may have chosen Spiritual Consciousness, thus achieving success on both the material-physical plane and success as a Priest or Minister and a teacher-organizer. All of these things are in embryo inherent in him, the biblical "talents," and need only be aroused and developed.
It is also possible that the Neophyte's desire may be of a purely Spiritual nature of which there are many examples in the history of those who have succeeded in Supreme Initiation. The choice rests entirely with the seeker.
It cannot be too often repeated that true Initiation from the Arcane, Esoteric or Occult standpoint is a process of slow growth; the development of the talents to be brought into manifestation. Concurrently, and basically as a foundation, it is a process of purification of mind and body by means of which the elements for building the Soul into Consciousness become Christic - the Christos made manifest - in all their qualities, that both the "temple" and the "church" be a fit abiding place for the soul, that has become enveloped in the Light which comes from God. This is often spoken of as the "Anointing" in preparation for a Divine mission.
The faithful Neophyte or Aspirant, whether seeking Supreme Initiation or citizenship with all its privileges in the New Age or dispensation, will begin his efforts with pure motives and a determined purpose in the pursuit and practice of the instructions essential to his normal progress; and will gradually, perhaps imperceptibly, unfold the inherent forces of body and Soul.
The instructions given by the August Fraternity are all such as to prepare the Neophyte, by knowledge wisely used, not alone to become a master of his own life, conditions, and circumstances, but to also enable him to help his sincere but weaker brethren along the Path. Purity of motive, thought, desire, and action are essential, as much so as the righteous use of holy gifts, justice, and fair dealing in all affairs of life; likewise the feeling of kindliness and sympathy; in short, humaneness practiced but not permitting itself to be imposed upon, are a few of the "stones" to be gathered for the building of the Eternal "Temple or "Church," wherein god and the Soul, may dwell.
The goal of Occult Mastership is that the Neophyte, by gradual degrees, becomes Master of Himself, rather than that he remain under the control of a Master. All powers, all mastery, all control, all Divine ordination must come from within, from the center of man's being.
The Great Work is for man to build that center and become conscious as fully as he is of a light when turned on in a dark room. The teacher-guide, irrespective of how great an Initiate or Master he may be, (this was exemplified by the Nazarene), can do no more than instruct, guide, and protect the Neophyte along the Path. The aspirant himself must follow the Path and bring about is own Initiation. There is no subjection to another or others; instead, he will gain mastery over conditions, environments and weaknesses which have held him in bondage.
Obedience to both the letter and the Spirit of all instructions is essential, since none but those who have themselves obeyed and attained have a knowledge of the Arcane and they alone can be teachers and guides. Knowledge, Wisdom that is the result of experience, of Deific things, is a growth, an inner development; it is a step by step process which can become a reality only through faithfulness to the dictates of the Divine Law in its various applications to material, physical, and spiritual activities. The benefits are also derived from all three planes in action.
To the Aspirant who has concluded to live the true life, that which appears as an impassable barrier to Individualization of soul and the attainment of Sonship, is the memory of the past, and the regrettable acts of that period of his life. Let him take courage and listen to the words of an unknown poet:
"All the past things are past and over,
The tasks are done and the tears are shed;
Yesterday's errors let yesterdays cover;
Yesterday's wounds which smart and bled
Are Healed with the healing that night has shed."
To "let the dead bury their dead" and obey the Law in the now, is the most difficult lesson the student has to master. To give up the old and all that it held; to follow the new with all that it promises; - this leads to Life and Light and Love, the three choices things of life, Immortalized by the Immortal Randolph.
Mind, as already illustrated, is not a reality but an action of human and divine qualities. It ceases to be active with the death of body and brain. That which the Mind builds, develops or brings into existence at the behest of desire - the Soul - lives throughout eternity.
This desire, active mind building, does not alone concern itself with the entire Spiritual part of man, but also with the body and its well-being. The weakness of the body, the unease known as disease, and nerve inharmony, can be eliminated and health and strength reestablished. Even material science is now beginning to recognize this.
As a truth, Arcane, Esoteric and even Occult Science to a degree, is primarily concerned with the attainment of Soul Consciousness - the becoming of a citizen of the New Dispensation. These inculcations unfold and interpret the Divine Law and Principles underlying the culture, growth and development of all spiritual faculties and forces. Every science implies a corresponding art.
This science contains an art within itself. When applied conscientiously, consecutively, and with sincerity, it brings into manifestation the finest of all fine arts; interprets the Divine Law in all affairs of life; to the benefit of the one concerned, encouraging the delicate graces and emotions of the heart; it gives the most subtle direction of thought force; it promulgates the imaginings of consciousness; in short, all the arts of the manifested Christos in the Life of the Supreme Initiate.
Man is born potentially a creator in imitation of God, who created all things. The Master-Teacher, as did all Initiates, obeyed the Law and did "many great things." All initiates plainly taught others to follow them so that they too, if obedient to what was taught them, might do even "greater" things. Never was this more true than at present, because this promise, based on Law, (and the Law never changes), is as vital today as it was centuries ago.
It all rests upon man's decision as to whether or not he will be a success or a failure. Success in every department of life is within the grasp of every one willing to learn, to obey the Law, and make the necessary effort.
No one has ever failed who persistently, faithfully, and
conscientiously practiced and labored as he was taught.
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