The Initiations

29.08.01

The Third initiation, as you know, is regarded by the Hierarchy as the first major initiation. And so often the terms ‘First’ and ‘Third’ are intermingled in my writings. In addition there is the need to distinguish between the various types of initiation as I have laid them out in Letters On Occult Meditation. Another factor that has not been clearly explored before now is the process that occurs on the three higher subplanes of the mental plane and also on the atmic plane. The initiations on these subplanes are ‘synthetic’ in the sense that they sum up the experience on a whole plane before the identity moves off the plane altogether. They are like the synthesising planets, and in fact synthesise the experience of three planes – in the case of those on the mental plane, the three-fold personality, and in the case of the atmic plane, the three-fold triad.

Just as the First, Second and Third Initiations are taken on the mental plane but have major effects upon the lower planes, so there are three initiations which take place on the higher atmic levels but have major effects on the mental, buddhic and atmic planes as a whole. There are also three which take place on the three higher subplanes of the monadic plane (this being the second system) and affect the atmic, monadic and logoic planes respectively.

Initiation essentially has to do with the transfer of identity into larger and larger spheres. During the period of the first three initiations, man knows himself to be an animal and a god; he is caught between these two realities. The First introduces him to his god-like nature, the soul. In the Second he must choose which part of his nature will dominate, the lower or the higher. At the Third he must demonstrate mastery over the lower three planes of the personality as the soul in incarnation.

 During the period of the next three initiations, man knows himself as the liberated soul or triad. He is caught between the call to serve those still caught in the lower three worlds, and the call to return to the monad. At the Fourth he sets his will to ascend.

 During the final three initiations, man knows himself to be the monad caught between his will to serve the will of the Planetary Logos in physical incarnation, and the call to return to higher realms of experience on the higher cosmic planes. At the Sixth, he makes his decision.

7     9                   5

6     8                   4

5     7  6               3

4         5               2

3         4  3           1

2             2

1             1

 There are times where I have said that entry into the Blue Lodge occurs at the Third Initiation, and other times when it occurs at the Fifth. The numbering systems vary depending upon the point of view one is taking. As a rule the more synthetic numbering is when viewing from the top down, and the more complex it looks from the bottom up. For example, from the Sirian perspective the Third Degree initiate is seen as a triangle, the Fourth as a triangle with an eye, and the Fifth as a five-pointed star (all symbolically). From the point of view of a First Degree initiate on Earth trying to understand the system, it all seems more complex – there are the four sub-initiations of the astral plane to go through before there is the development of the mental plane. It must be remembered that initiations which involve mastery of a plane while the identity is on that plane, are different from those where a lower plane is being mastered with a higher energy.

For example, the mastery of the emotional plane while the identity is on that plane (accomplished through the fulfillment of desire) is different than the mastery of the astral plane from the mental plane through the infusion of buddhi via the love petals of the lotus. Both are a type of Second Initiation. Both involve mastery of the same plane, the astral. The identity doing the mastery is different, as is the type of energy employed. All these distinctions must be taken into consideration.

 So in the past when man was focused upon the physical plane, the First Initiation was considered mastery over the five lower subplanes, from the position of identity on the physical plane. A so-called Second Initiation is taken when the five lower subplanes of the astral plane have been mastered. Much of humanity is involved in this process, as the majority of humanity came in polarised on the fourth subplane. In reality however, these first two initiations are not initiations at all from a manasic perspective. The first real initiation is the Third, and this initiation is triple, occurring on the highest three subplanes of the mental plane. These are the three initiations of manas which are in effect ‘the Third Initiation’ in its totality, referring to the mastery of the mental plane. Sometimes when I use the term ‘Third Initiation’ I am referring to the first manasic initiation, sometimes the third and sometimes to the whole three-fold process. The ‘Second’ Initiation can refer to the second manasic initiation, and on occasion the second astral initiation of the threshold. There are also occasions when the Second refers to the Fourth Initiation – the Third, as a whole, being treated as the First from the perspective of the triad. You can work out the analogies in the triad; – plane initiations taken with the identity actually polarised on the plane, versus ‘synthetic’ initiations taken on the highest subplanes of the atmic plane but affecting the whole of a triadal plane through mastery by a higher energy.