Initiation - 2

Wisdom Teachings
Inner Realities

Though we all seem to be one humanity, there are gradations in terms of comprehension. What one comprehends is different from what others comprehend. There is a gradual unfoldment of awareness; it enables us to gradually overcome human limitations and awaken to a higher level of consciousness. We know of the four major stages of awakening consciousness. The first stage is the minerals, the second is the plants, then the animals, and the the human. We are in the fourth plane and many believe that we have awakened to truly human consciousness. But there are techniques that help us detach from body-bound consciousness and ascend into higher realms of the being, to the next plane of consciousness.

The Masters of Wisdom describe the step to the fifth kingdom of nature, the spiritual kingdom, as initiation. Initiation is like medicine. When we are sick and take medicine, it acts upon the body so that the recovery happens faster than it normally does otherwise. Initiation hastens the progress on the path of evolution. It is a process of self-transformation that requires discipline and perseverance. But we often lack that.

To be able to start the discipline, the support of a teacher is necessary. A Master does not give his support by himself, but he respects our free will. When we invoke his presence and align ourselves with it, he provides us with some energy. His help comes from within. We also receive suggestions for acts of goodwill. As the suggestions come from within, we feel driven to put things into practice. Thus, he initiates actions to purify our personal karma. In this way, personality adjustments happen. Later, we will also gain the knowledge to face and work with other types of karma such as family karma, national karma or world karma.

There are gradations of initiates. Some of them are so high that they permeate the solar system and cosmic systems. But none of them will tell you that you went through an initiation; if others confer an initiation on us, they are doing nothing but business with us. And as long as we want to know what degree of initiation we have achieved, this is sure proof that we are still far from the door of initiation. Anyone who asks curiously about the future is not yet ready for the first initiation.

When we are less bothered about what happens to us tomorrow, but feel good about doing something that helps others, then we have stepped through the gate of the first initiation. Then, the subjective mind awakens. With the first initiation, we no longer identify with the body so much, but realize ourselves as mental beings who can think, act and plan. Later, an understanding develops where all thinking and planning has to be aligned to a higher pattern which is already existing. Gradually we tune up to nature in every activity and realize that even our mind is only a vehicle: we are the soul and we have a body. We overcome the feeling that we are the body and have a soul inside.

A large part of humanity is beginning to experience soul awareness. We develop the step from personality to soul by closing our eyes and watching the inner activity. The respiration and the pulsation are always there. Our intuitive desire to follow them leads us to the subtle pulsation. Thereby, we get into the chamber of the heart, the golden cave. When the personality is permeated by the soul, it shines like a golden temple; it is the golden body or the etheric body that is fully built at the third initiation. Through constant distinction between personality life and soul life, we anchor ourselves firmly in the soul and work in the outer life through the personality.

The effort to experience the soul is the second initiation. At this initiation, we work with the deficiencies and the dark sides of the personality to round it up. At the third initiation, we have largely gained mastery over our nature.

The journey from the second to the third initiation is very long and can be frustrating. But if we know that it takes a long time, we can also see what we can do during this time. When we start, the teacher slowly withdraws. He has given us a lot of knowledge and techniques; we then have enough strength from the past connection with him and can work with it. The teacher withdraws his support so that we mobilize the inner forces. We have to work on the second and third initiation on our own. We go through temptations, storms and battles. Many think initiations are like sweet dreams, but they always happen in deep crises. Initiation can be preceded by fear, depression or other difficulties. But the greater the difficulty, the deeper is the connection to the soul which the disciple maintains. People who go through initiations often experience that their entire personality system is shaken and realigned. Thus, the soul is made to radiate more, and then the relationship with the environment normalizes again.

With the third initiation, we have built the etheric body. We can exit the physical body, see it from the outside, and enter it again. The activity of the subjective life continues, even beyond the death of the body. With the continuity of consciousness, we experience that death does not exist. We can now be actively engaged in the work of the Divine Plan, even if this has already been possible before in some cases. We know about the work we have done in the last life and carry it on in the present life. Also, the spiritual name that persists for all lives is revealed, while the outer name changes with each life.

The third initiation is also called the first major initiation or the second birth. It is the birth of the soul consciousness and the death of the personality. Therefore, it is normal for persons who have gone through the third initiation to have no program of their own. More and more the soul penetrates. But there is still the chance that the urge for knowledge and power springs with full strength in the initiate and that he falls through his pride and selfishness. With the fourth initiation the ego dies and our individual consciousness merges with the universal consciousness.

From the second initiation to the fourth initiation, we experience much karma coming back to us and we have to deal with it without creating new karma. This is what all the initiates have experienced - it was the same with Jesus, Pythagoras and Buddha. They do not respond to attacks, but remain silent. They cannot be shaken by anything; they accept the karma as it comes and clear it. Due to their many difficulties, they are also close to us and we can recognize ourselves in their history.

The initiates use the body, but they do not live in it. They also do not think with the brain, but use the etheric brain which is associated with a much greater awareness. They act without a motive or a reason. They allow the Divine Plan to work through them. Nothing is done by them by themselves; they are fully committed to the higher system.

Their work is not recognized by their contemporaries and the society often considers them crazy. Subsequent generations admire and worship them, but they do not have the right understanding of the initiates. They see in the initiate what they want to see and not what the initiate really is. Very little of what the initiates do is perceived on the surface. Many initiates are very competent and so much happens through them. In their lifespan, they carry out a task that would actually take several hundred years for others. They are quietly working to renew society and bring in natural values. They do it in such a natural way that the people for whom it is done do not notice it or realize it until much later.

With the fifth initiation, the soul connects with the supersoul. The initiate is dedicated to planetary activity and works for the progress of all humanity. He is beyond the five elements and can also command them. The elements cooperate perfectly with him. Therefore, he is also called, as per the original understanding, master. In India, every teacher who shows the way is called a master. These are the masters of the third initiation, i.e., they have realized themselves.

The one who has gone through the fifth initiation experiences a strong consecration, and he offers himself to a very noble cause. After the fifth initiation, his consciousness permeates the solar system and, after the sixth initiation, the cosmic system. The seventh initiation goes beyond and is the foundation of everything. It leads to the Sun and connects with the Cosmic Person. Lord Maitreya and Lord Dattatreya have gone through the seventh initiation and have fully realized the connection with the Father. The seventh initiation is the highest possible one on our planet. We may speak of it, but we do not know the necessary steps.

We can only recognize initiates by what they do. We should not try to change the scheme given by an initiate thinking that we know better. The one who knows better, need not work with the teachings. The teachings continue. They enliven the soul and continue to inspire those who seek them.

Sources used: K.P. Kumar: Uranus. Notes from seminars. E. Krishnamacharya: Overseas Messages 1. The World Teacher Trust - Dhanishta, Visakhapatnam, India