The Connecting Force
Let the sword be raised and lowered.
Release the Power and destroy that which hinders and divides.
Connect the lower with the higher, turning knowledge into wisdom.
Let Light and Love reveal the unity of the ONE.
Transform the sword into the Rose of God.
And thus heal and serve
—— Nancy Maehl
The Power of Love
by Kurt Abraham
The Tibetan Adept DK mentioned the importance of the “power of love.” This is not the same as the will-to-love, for the latter is more of an aspirational desire-effort to achieve, whereas the power of love is a quality or attribute of a soul level of love. He informed his students that they had “the opportunity to demonstrate to each other the scientific value and power of love, regarded as a force in nature.”
He went on the say: “Love is not a sentiment or an emotion nor is it desire or a selfish motive for right action in daily life. Love is the wielding of the force which guides the worlds and which leads to the integration, unity and inclusiveness which impels Deity itself to action. Love is a hard thing to cultivate—such is the inherent selfishness of human nature; it is a difficult thing to apply to all conditions of life and its expression will demand of you the utmost you have to give and the stamping out of your selfish personal activities.” (DINA I p10)
The points to appreciate here include the fact that love is power and that there is an esoteric science to its cultivation-utilization.
DK mentioned to another student that he had a great measure of the “understanding, identifying aspects of love” but needed more of the “power aspect of love.” Understanding others and identifying with others are qualities of the heart. Referring to the power of love, DK stated that through “love intelligently and powerfully applied”, one can “evoke right conditions in the environment.” (DINA I p180)
The intelligence of ray 3 helps one adapt to conditions and helps phrase solutions and in a reasonable manner.
The love-understanding of ray 2 helps one touch-include the heart and soul of people and the issues involved. Group well-being, the greatest good for the greatest number, is the wise and motivating factor and not a personal career move.
The power of the first aspect enables one to proceed in a purposeful, fearless, poised, persistent, and politically correct manner.
One can see that all three primary ray qualities are necessary and that each one alone has definite limitations.
DK also states: “You need the releasing power of the tide of love which is the soul…. It is the power of love intelligently to serve.” (DINA I p262)
Now that’s a statement one would do well to commit to memory:
IT IS THE POWER OF LOVE INTELLIGENTLY TO SERVE
We might add that the days of the meditative, reclusive, and studious hermit are over. In order to make changes in the environment, love-wisdom needs to be active in an intelligent way. Intelligence without wisdom can be very busy with nonessentials, or can serve a part to the detriment of the whole. Love without intelligence, on the other hand, can be an impractical idealist and get little done.
Just as personality and soul experience love in very different ways, the same can also be said of power. Personal power is far different from the power to serve and the power of love. Personal power seeks to acquire, while soul power seeks to love, heal, serve and give.
“A man looks away from the things of the personality and in service learns the power of love in its occult significance. He spends and consequently receives; he lives the life of renunciation and the wealth of the heavens pours in on him; he gives all and is full to completeness; he asks nothing for himself and is the richest man on earth.” (White Magic 117)
Master Morya in his book Supermundane Book Four makes interesting references to the power aspect of soul qualities.
There is the “power of a deep breath” whereby one receives “an influx of new energy”, which provides a link with the “Reservoir of Be-ness.” (Paragraph 817)
There is the “power of patience,” for “when the foundation rock is firm, the tower will be stable.” (Paragraph 819)
There is the “power of equilibrium,” for it is “precisely now that the world needs the Scale of Wisdom.” (Paragraph 820)
There is the “power of observation,” for this ability “opens all paths, earthly and supermundane.” (Paragraph 821)
There is the “power of vigilance,” for in “each drop of dew is reflected the whole Universe.” (Paragraph 822)
There is the power of joy, for “joy in the good, even the most ordinary, heightens one’s vibrations.” (Paragraph 823)
There is the “power of stillness,” for “stillness is a bridge to the Supermundane.” (Paragraph 824)
There is the “power of victory,” for “victory is achieved not only upon battlefields; everyone can overcome his bad habits and thus ignite the fires of the heart.” (Paragraph 825)
There is the “power of gratitude,” for “beautiful fires of the heart are ignited when the feeling of gratitude is born. Gratitude is close to love, and Cooperation is born in that blessed moment of offering.” (Paragraph 826)
There is the “power of creative labor,” for “every thinking being can participate in the great universal creativeness.” (Paragraph 827)
There is the “power of the charitable nature,” for “the essence of humanity is good.” (Paragraph 828)
Creative Interplay: Rays Two and Seven
by Andrew Nellist
The Seven Rays are subdivisions of the second Ray in our system. Rays One and Two are largely the goal of human development, and they work well through Ray Seven, which helps in bringing their expression onto the physical level. We are sevenfold beings also, qualified by one of the Rays, and developing a sense of universality. The relationship between Rays Two and Seven is important for today, and of especial interest as we enter the Age of Aquarius.
The seventh Ray blends spirit and matter, bringing the sense of higher unity while working mainly through the etheric nature. So it is that a major characteristic of seventh Ray influence is an intense practicality. One of the lessons of the Age ahead will be that spirit and matter are not opposed, but that there is only spiritual substance working through outer forms. This highlights the importance of purity of mind and motive in conditioning thought, speech and action. It is interesting in this regard that the throat centers of aspirants are generally influenced by the seventh Ray.
Ray Psychology will be distinctive of the Aquarian Age. The keynote of the seventh Ray disciple is given as “Radiatory Activity” (DN p133). Humanity will be concerned with the principle of life as it expresses through the medium of the etheric body. This is of significance in relation to spiritual healing, while there will also be increased recognition of the super-sensory faculties. Pronounced second Ray types, however, may be over sensitive and find conditions somewhat unsettling.
In the two volumes of DINA, DK deals with Ray energies in his instructions to disciples. In DINA I he gives advice to P.G.C, who is given as a second Ray soul and a seventh Ray personality (DINA I p344). The seventh Ray personality can work actively in many ways on the physical plane, “bringing together the subjective reality and the outer form”. DK says that the highest form of healing at this time is psychological, producing physical results. Psychological healing is given as a line of service also for R.S.W (DINA I p637ff), who also has Rays Two and Seven. Ray Two is given as the main healing Ray.
On the other hand, at DINA II p444, a disciple is told that there is too much of the Two-Four line of energy in their equipment, and that there is need for service by radiation and the use of the inclusive radiatory will. DK is later pleased with this student’s development along the line of second Ray energy but with seventh Ray activity, which relates spiritual energy to substance (DINA II p456ff).
Continuing his instructions to P.G.C (DINA II p574ff), it is said that the expression of the soul is the line of least resistance, for the seventh Ray gives the form on the physical plane through which the soul can express. Note that DK puts the emphasis upon contact with the soul. As an interesting side note: “any overemphasis of the energies which govern the personality lays the foundation of the form nature in the next incarnation” (DINA II p577).
The work of this disciple was concerned with developing the network of Triangles of Light. He is also advised that there are two modes of creative work: the seventh Ray creates within matter, while the second Ray is applied from the soul, working through “radiation, magnetic appeal and coherent energy”. He can use both methods effectively, “for there is a close creative reaction or impulsive interplay between the two” (DINA II p582). This gives the “seventh ray ability to link the world of form with the world of spiritual reality” (DINA II p586).
If the principle concerning Humanity under seventh Ray influence is the etheric, then in terms of world affairs economics is of concern as the field of life sustenance (DN pp133-4). The seventh Ray is important at the first initiation, and economic adjustment will be shaped by those who have undergone this spiritual awakening (RI p571). Another major effect of the seventh Ray will be to relate more closely the four kingdoms of nature, of which Humanity is a part.
On spiritual levels the seven energies are ever united, but when the seventh Ray is active in the physical world there will be more illumination with which we can work in helping world affairs. The first step in this process was the giving of the Great Invocation. When we have worked to put the spiritual principles into practice, then Christ will act as the lens through which the light can be focused for Humanity. Thus will the second Ray work effectively through the medium of the seventh:
“When the light of the seven Rays is blended with that of the seventh Ray, then light supernal can be known” (DINA II p425ff).
Reference Key and Bibliography for books by Alice Bailey:
DN: The Destiny of the Nations
DINA I: Discipleship in the New Age Vol. I
DINA II: Discipleship in the New Age Vol. II
RI: The Rays and the Initiations
BUT I VALUE THE NURSING MOTHER—THE TAO
In the ancient Chinese book Tao Te Ching many enigmatic things have been said about the Tao, the Way, such as:
—Heaven and Earth live long and endure because they do not live for themselves, therefore the sage puts his own person last, and yet it is found in the foremost place.
—The excellence of water appears in its benefiting of all things and in its occupying, without striving, the low (humble) place, which all men dislike. Hence its way is near to that of the Tao.
—We meet it and do not see its Front; we follow it and do not see its Back. When we can lay hold of the Tao of old to direct the things of the present day, and are able to know it was of old in the beginning, this is called unwinding the clue of Tao.
—Who can make the muddy water clear? Let it be still and it will gradually become clear. Who can secure the condition of rest? Let movement go on, and the condition of rest will gradually arise. They who preserve this method of Tao do not wish to be full of themselves. It is through their not being full of themselves that they can afford to seem worn and not appear new and complete.
The Beauty of the Way is that it has to be discovered by each one of us. One can refer to the Way with platitudes—such as the Way is Love, the Way is Compassion, the Way is through Humility and Service—and certainly these are pillars and guideposts. But for each of us each decade is different, each year is different, each month, each day, and even each moment. One cannot definitively say that the Way is this or that.
The Infinitude of the Way becomes uniquely present in a particular point in Time and Space. Opening up in front of the particular point in a person’s life is the Way—an elusive path ever offering opportunity for a life-more-abundant in consciousness, in meaning, in service, in purpose.
The following morning Quiet Mind meditative exercise—
the clearing of the waters, the diminution of selfhood—
facilitates the discovery of the Way for the Day.
Exercise: Discovery of the Way for the Day
Stage 1. Clear Waters; Motion at Rest
Take a deep breath and observe emotion subsiding. The morning is yet still; the day hardly begun. Rest in the stillness of the pre-day’s contemplation. Drink the still clear water of the precious morning hour. Take a deep breath; observe the inner-outer stillness. There is no hurry in the zone of timelessness.
Stage 2. Discovering the Way
Discover the Way without reaching.
There is no need to reach since the Way is here as well as everywhere.
Discover the Way without wishing.
To wish is to cloud the waters and stir up the sediment.
The unperturbed awareness of Quiet Mind is receptive to the Way.
Let the Way drop through the Heaven-to-Earth connection.
Stage 3. My Way or The Way
Let go of “my-way.” Set it aside, put it down, watch it recede into the long past and into the far away.
The assertiveness of “my-way” is a depletion of energy.
Find Strength in the passing-receding of “my-way.”
Find Strength in the Stillness of the Vault of the Universe.
In that Quiet Strength step into the All of Tao.
Receive the Blessing of Tao’s Wisdom, knowing that this Blessing is carried throughout the day. Life is a Teacher. Life itself shows the Way.
Stage 4. The Nursing Mother
It is said in the Tao Te Ching: Ordinary men look bright and intelligent, while I alone seem to be unenlightened. They look full of discrimination, while I alone seem dull and confused. I seem to be carried about as on the sea, drifting as if I had nowhere to rest. All men have their spheres of action, while I alone seem dull and incapable. I alone am different from other people, but I value the Nursing Mother—the Tao.
Throughout the day we value the Nursing Mother, the Tao.
Excerpt from
Achieving Quiet Mind: Meditative Techniques and Exercises
by Kurt Abraham
QUEEN OF HEARTS
If one is favored by the gods,
it behooves one to draw no attention.
Let others wonder long and hard.
When the GAME is nearly over,
it’s time to lay down ALL one’s cards.
If you’ve been dealt the Queen,
it’s more than luck.
Appear a bit displeased by all means,
but take this Beauty to your heart of hearts.
Watch those chasing Kings and Aces.
See thou not the royal flush
of those in the tiresome me-first rush?
Endless patience has the Queen.
And in a strange sort of way
that’s all one needs to know
favored as one might appear to be
losing battles winning wars.
Shredding old ways and worn
She moves quietly in Her Light,
visiting heart-to-heart, lending ear to ear
in middle of sparkling cosmic night.
——from Pocket of Pure Being and Other Poems
by Kurt Abraham