The Seven Rays

Wisdom Teachings
The Seven Rays
Book: The Seven Rays

The sages put much emphasis upon experiencing the Truth. Gathering information is not yet knowledge. Only when we have realised it within does it become real knowledge for us, and it no longer disappears. People who search for the Truth can easily get lost in too much information like in a dense forest. Instead of connecting with the universal consciousness and living in THAT, they carry a load of information in their mental and Buddhic planes. They may think they are knowers, but they live in concepts. Some slip into the concepts of the seven rays, others see everything through astrology or want to learn all about colours, sounds or symbols. Sciences and occult sciences are about the visible or the subtle world, but not about the Self, about THAT which is eternal and immortal. When we live as THAT I AM, we can see how millions of concepts interact kaleidoscopically. We can appreciate the immeasurable diversity of concepts and take in their essence.

Universal consciousness is greater than the radiance of the Sun. It comes down as the I AM through the cosmic Sun, the solar Sun and the planetary Sun. The triple Sun comes down through our visible Sun in the form of seven principles and reaches the Earth through the rays of the Sun. All seven rays come down through the Sun, and they all differ in their properties, sound, colour etc. In the wisdom teachings they are called the seven Sikhandins, the sons of the 10th Rudra, the visible light. Metaphorically, the Sun is called the son-in-law of Visvakarma, the great geometrician of the universe.

The Puranas allegorically narrate that Visvakarma once came to the Sun and said, “My daughter Sunya cannot live with you, you have too much light; reduce it a little.” But the Sun didn't want to know this. So, the father-in-law shaved the son-in-law's head and left only seven tufts of hair. These seven tufts of hair are the seven rays. “Now my daughter can live with you again,” he said. Thus, , the seers humorously described in a very deep allegory the cosmological process of how the all-absorbing radiance of the cosmic Sun is limited to seven rays on the planetary plane.

Our consciousness emerges as energy from the centre of the sun. In our heart there is the principle of the planetary Sun, in the Ajna there is the principle of the central Sun and in the Sahasrara there is the principle of the cosmic Sun. What we see as sunrays belongs to the optical light. There are sunrays of mental and intellectual light. The ray of the soul expresses the I Am consciousness and appears as a reflection in the ray of personality.

We ourselves are from beyond the cosmic Sun. We descended to the earth and we will ascend again as pulsating, radiant units. The more we descend into matter, the more the light is distorted and the radiance is obscured. But it is not lost. The original light is never lost.

When the original white ray of the Sun interacts with matter, it is divided into seven colours, the seven rays, like through a prism. These rays have seven properties and seven sounds, and there are ways to connect to the energies of these rays. However, the average human equipment is not sufficient enough to perceive the colours, sounds and properties. But when we ascend through constant practice to the Buddhic plane, the plane of wisdom, it becomes possible to perceive the vibrations of the rays as colours and even as sounds.

The seven rays are the main functional principles for the solar system and for the human being. Through them we are a sevenfold being. The seven centres and the seven glands of our body also correspond to them. However, not all the glands are active in the average human being. The secretion of the glands in the head occurs only with highly spiritual people. Only in a perfect person like Krishna, Christ or Buddha is there a coordinated, harmonious secretion of all the glands.

All seven qualities of the rays work within us and also work through the seven planetary principles. The planetary principles are great deva intelligences; the planets are the bodies of these principles. We do not connect with the bodies of the planets, but with the Devas who rule the planets, just as we connect with persons and not with their bodies.

The first ray of will carries within us the solar principle. Wisdom and love /second ray) are the work of the Jupiter principle. The intelligent activity (third ray) is guided by Mercury. The fourth ray of harmony comes through Venus; it manifests itself as the instinctive attraction to beauty and splendour. The fifth ray of intellect comes through the Moon and acts as the process of reflection, understanding and reaction to the inner life. Through Mars, the principle of power, comes the sixth ray of devotion. The seventh ray of rhythm comes through Saturn. It works together with the principle of the Earth (matter).

The wisdom of the seven rays was made known worldwide in the 20th century by Master Djwhal Khul. In the Vedic scriptures they are called the seven horses of the Sun chariot. It is a chariot with only one wheel that never stops and never goes astray. The chariot is pulled by one horse that appears as seven horses.

• In the Vedas the horse is a symbol of fire and life force. The horse and the sunbeam are called Ashva. Ashva means 'not shva'. Shva means past or future. Ashva is the awareness focused on the present. The sunbeam gives awareness and life. The names of the seven rays, the seven horses of the Sun, are in Sanskrit: 1. Sushumna, 2. Harikesa, 3. Viswakarma, 4. Viswatrayarchas, 5. Sannadha, 6. Sarva¬vasu, 7. Swaraj. Master Djwhal Khul translated the names of the rays very aptly in terms of their qualities.

• The first ray of will is Sushumna. Sushumna is the central, radiant bluish-white column within us, which moves from Sahasrara, the head centre, to Muladhara, the base centre, and through which the will is transmitted.

• The second ray is Harikesa, love and wisdom. They help us to realize our oneness with all life. Wise people include, they do not exclude. They tolerate, forgive, and are kind to all life.

• The third ray is Viswakarma, intelligent activity. Viswakarma helps us to grow by using everything we have for service in an intelligent way. If this ray is not used in service, people become commercial and exploit others.

• The fourth ray is called Viswatrayarchas, harmony. It helps us to detach from gross forms and to realize the inner beauty of the outer form by working with sound, colour and rhythm.

• The fifth ray, Sannaddha, or concrete knowledge, helps us to apply our mind intensively to a problem in order to find solutions to seemingly insurmountable problems and thus help life.

• The sixth ray is Sarvavasu, the path of devotion. A concentrated commitment to an ideal leads to self-sacrifice. In this way we burn away all our impurities and reach a pure state of experience.

• The seventh ray is called Swaraj, the path of independence and liberation through rhythm and the ceremonial magic associated with it. Swaraj means 'to rule oneself'. We are kings of our kingdom and not slaves of anyone or anything.

Cosmically the seven rays come through the seven stars of the Great Bear; on earth their energy is represented by the Seven Seers and by the seven great Masters and their seven ashrams. Depending on the predominant energy of our soul quality, we are being prepared for an Ashram that suits us.

However, there is lateral and a vertical grouping. On one plane we can belong to one Ashram and on the other plane to another Ashram. In the end there is the synthesis of the seven. When we have reached the Truth, we have the ability to work for each Ashram. Every Master of Wisdom is a Master of each ray. Many times, they exchange functions. We cannot categorize a Master into a certain ray. The Count of St. Germain is not only the seventh ray, but works with all the rays. All Masters work with all the rays and live in synthesis. The perception that one Master or one Ashram is more important than the other will die out eventually. The colours of the rainbow are composed very harmoniously. In the white ray, all seven rays exist.

Many people want to know the ray of their soul, their personality or their mind. The position of the Sun in the horoscope indicates the soul ray. The Ascendant indicates the personality ray and the position of the Moon indicates the mental quality. But the horoscope cannot give a direct indication of our rays; it requires observation of our life and, above all, intuition. Moreover, it is always better to follow one's own path in life than to try to discern the ray of our soul, personality or spirit. Even after we know it, it is only our work that lifts us up, not the knowledge of our ray. It is better to know the work we have to do than to know which ray we belong to.

Sources used: K.P. Kumar: Sun -That I Am. Div. seminar notes / E. Krishnamacharya: The Seven Rays. The World Teacher Trust - Dhanishta, Visakhapatnam, India