BEING: Beyond the Soul

ARE WE READY FOR ONENESS?

Contemplating closer relationship with Shamballic oneness means using "the most potent energy and influence in the world, that of the intelligence",14 abstract intelligence, so let us forego the usual sequential perception of the soul (including the symbolic concept of initiations) and in a more synthetic context consider our options. Our training is for abstract, shamballic service—not good works with structure, form or symbol, or even creative, spiritual work within human consciousness—and our opportunity is using synthetic intelligence to help interpret the nature and direction of the higher Will for our next cycle of planetary unfoldment. Obviously we cannot reveal what we have not experienced but, fortunately, the conceptual experience of any thinker in human history is inherently available to us all.

An abstracted sense of the now (eternity) frees us from personal, dimensional and sequential thinking. This doesn’t mean we can’t use these when it suits us, it’s just that esoteric identification with monadic spirit reveals a new element of the divine will—synthetic, shamballic life which is One with still greater Life. No longer governed by conflict, we shift now from hierarchical perception and participation into shamballic freedom of Being. As we adjust our awareness to no longer take things personally, all of us willing to work as one with divine will and its planetary reflection, abstract intelligence, can do so while still in incarnation. This facilitates direct contact (within ourselves) of shamballic force unmodified by the sequential consciousness of the soul, and we see that intelligence spans and yet is greater than that of a conscious planetary interface between Shamballa and its reflection Humanity. Those who are more interested in exploring shamballic synthesis than soul consciousness form a significant planetary medium or means for shamballic impact on strictly human awareness.

Interpretive skills are critical in making the transition from ‘many souls’ to the one soul, from hierarchical consciousness to shamballic awareness.

"…[T]he work of the Hierarchy in connection with mankind falls into two parts: the work with individual human beings, in order to awaken them to soul consciousness, and then the work with them, as souls, so that (functioning on soul levels and as conscious units in the kingdom of God) they can begin to vision the objective of God Himself. This second division of their effort is only now becoming possible on a wide scale, as men begin to respond to the trend towards synthesis, and to react to the divine principle of coherence, so that (stimulated by their group relation) they can unitedly sense the vision and react to the principle of continuance".15 

The technique of excellence is inclusive identification—and our obligation to those who went before us, to each other, and to future generations is accurately interpreting the wisdom teachings in such a way that what is said includes us in, and does not count us out. We are not to decide that we aren’t ready, we are to prove that we are! This is that ‘entirely inclusive’ hierarchical way of working which we apply to better conform to the intelligence of the one soul, for only as one can we participate creatively in shamballic awareness in any significant way.

DIVINITY-101

Let’s lay our consciousness on the table and view it as a two-dimensional, interpenetrating interface unifying LIFE in its dual manifestation as spirit/matter. This interactive software or soul interface has two dynamic, symbolic ‘edges’:

The capacity for both abstraction and stimulation is inherent in the human mind so each of us is capable of working at both edges. But unless there is reason to make the effort we tend to hover comfortably near the warm, stimulating consciousness of the soul-infused personality. There is good reason for such effort. 

In this Information Age, "the Hierarchy will be more closely related to the Great Council at Shamballa, and very much more closely interrelated with humanity, so that a dual fusion will be taking place. This will bring about that integrative process which will be the quality of the New Age and will inaugurate the Aquarian phase of planetary history".16

Let’s start with basics: 

"The time has now come when a distinction must be made by esotericists between the words ‘spiritual’ and ‘divine’. They are not the same, nor do they have the same significance. The quality of spirituality is Love. The quality of divinity is Will. There is a definite distinction between the two and the mediating principle (or that which relates or unites the two qualities) is Wisdom. Of that Wisdom the Buddha was the expression in time and space; that means that there was only a relative and limited manifestation of that fusing linking principle. His great achievement, unrealized by Him, was an innate and (at that time, not now) unconscious recognition of the distinction between love and will, and an ability to express in Himself a fusing, blending energy which could and did bring together love and will, soul and Monad. At the same time (and later in full expression in Palestine) the Christ demonstrated—for the teaching of humanity—the at-one-ment of love and intelligence, of soul and personality. These are points of real importance to have in mind".17

Applying symbolic facts of life is admittedly tricky. Subtle relationships are grasped in such a way that our intelligence is gradually reconfigured (transfigured) by oneness, more or less a thought at a time. To work realistically with spiritual/divine distinctions, for example, think planetary/solar. Our current opportunity involves actively expressing in ourselves all three aspects of human intelligence, hierarchical love and shamballic will by synthesizing the duality of personality and monad (lower and higher mind) using ‘objective inclusivity’, a most efficient process. Oneness is the mental format or template we hold in mind against which we constantly measure and adjust our attitudes and conceptual understandings. And synthesis involves recognition that personality/monadic fusion already exists.

Like spirit and matter, and paraphrasing H. P. Blavatsky’s astute articulation, "Intelligence is will at its lowest point of manifestation and will is intelligence at its highest". (In two thousand years we will be saying this about time and space). Powerful (will-filled) intelligence characterizes the principle of liberated Being, the divine thinker, the true esotericist whose intelligence is entirely conditioned by ‘love eternal and light supernal’. Gradations of inclusivity fills the entire spectrum between the symbolic will and its tangible expression as intelligence. Mental gymnastics (combined with research and reflection) expand our capacity for divine abstraction of higher principles as we embrace and think through (not merely think about) energy configurations like the spiritual triad, using energy techniques like synthesis, cohesion, identification.

RECOGNIZING WHOLENESS

We all start off with an unreliable sense of wholeness and learn gradually to think conceptually (rather than in terms of ‘relative’ meaning) not only in our own language but in such symbolic languages as rays, planes, bodies, planets and so on, intuitively learning to count in twos, in threes, in sevens, in the four-and-three which appear to be three but are one, the one and the seven which are essentially one and, as our mind is organized, reconfigured and simplified, then finally—reliably—we think as one. Any type of process, division or change identifies hierarchical inclusivity.  Synthetically, wholeness IS. Inclusively, the slow, gentle stirring of rocks in a water mill in time polish to beauty the roughest stones. But in an instant, an inkling of divinity reveals our powers of right abstraction. With experience, we recognize wholeness by its synthetic (not inclusive) nature, without fancy symbolic names and with or without reverential capital letters.

To develop the abstraction we call monadic/shamballic awareness (as opposed to spiritual or soul consciousness), of necessity we work not as a group (no matter how ‘evolved’ or useful) but as one—as a single element of divine intelligence. Fragmented (exclusive) attitudes automatically expel us from hierarchical awareness of oneness. We accept each other unconditionally on the mental plane, or not. There is no rush in a timeless situation, only the needs of humanity spur us on. 

If we assume that we work as one, we do. (In the world of abstraction, as opposed to relationship, 'assumption' is an effective technique).  We transform meaning into wisdom by inclusively reformatting and refreshing all our existing human and hierarchical assumptions against the magnificent black backdrop of the Light of the whole, obtaining results not with correspondences and relationship but using our innate abstract intelligence to release in us the significance of our being in timeless planetary (monadic) and solar (shamballic) terms. 

The 'black backdrop' of wholeness is particularly useful in conceptual work.  Early Zen thinkers particularly valued yugen (the power of bleakness), a quality or aspect of what the Japanese call wabi (purposeful, deliberate restraint) which forms the basis of all Zen art and culture. Other shamballic aspects of wabi include shibui (profound simplicity) and sabi (the truth in solitude). Yugen is that poignant awareness of a rare moment, or the mental ‘lift’ of open-ended suggestion which makes nuance meaningful and synthetic awareness possible. Against the bleak aura of yugen (or a black background), even the roughest single stone is revealed as beautiful.

The profound elegance of synthetic intelligence is quite distinct from clumsier techniques of logic and reason. And quite wonderful.

The human soul (fragmented intelligence) is the first master.  In due course, we realize we are that spiritual soul (integrated, inclusive intelligence) we become that master, finally to understand that shamballic or solar awareness (synthetic intelligence) is simply the abstract mind of all masters as one. Not one of us who has ever read an Alice Bailey book, studied math, meditated, learned another language, read a political or philosophical treatise, considered the antahkarana, worked on an international project, or contemplated the implications of planetary service is without familiarity with the abstract mind.

TODAY IS DIFFERENT THAN YESTERDAY

During the process "whereby man, the trinity, becomes a duality", we roll up our mental shirtsleeves to work as ‘the soul on its own level’ (soul as a synthesis not a unity) and, with experience, to discover that all symbolic levels of abstraction are essentially one. Beyond our misinterpretations and inhibitions, there are no impeding divisions or planes, worlds or levels actually separating degrees of comprehension within the infinite vastness of the abstract mind (also known as the individual monadic or master’s mind, the higher, solar or shamballic mind, the father’s house, the will of God, ad infinitum). We can only exclude ourselves. No longer intended as hidden or veiled, these conceptual ‘worlds’ form effective teaching devices for early exploration, creating apparent, arbitrary or artificial ‘separations’ by which better to stimulate conscious awareness of oneness. No more, no less. The universal abstract mind IS.

Using an image of interfacing software to represent consciousness relating personality and monad, (or Humanity and Shamballa, depending on your scale of interest) divine abstraction will perhaps be clarified by pointing out that monad and Shamballa are a subtle form of mental hypertext. When one enters a home-page on the web or net, passing the cursor (pointer) over certain words, phrases, icons, images, or photographs alters the image of the arrow, indicating additional levels of information available in a related article. Double clicking on hypertext brings up connected information sources offering a new array of hyperlinks. Facilitating exploration, the computer language for such a linking device might be htpl (Hypertext Pulse Language) or html (Hypertext Markup Language). Multiple levels of information (or higher and lower correspondences) are connected or linked by language or, esoterically, by concept.

Please note that in deeply esoteric terms, our abstract mind, the monad, is a symbolic hypertext link to shamballic (solar) awareness and is automatic when the mind is adequately configured or open.

THE ONENESS OF BEING

"When this stage of centralization is achieved, then the group can begin to reveal the hidden mystery. All that I can tell you about that mystery is that it concerns the purpose and the reason for which our planetary Logos took incarnation and became the informing Life of our planet, the Earth; it concerns the necessity, inherent in His Own nature, to reach a point upon the cosmic ladder of evolution which makes Him—as a result—the informing Life of a sacred planet. Forget not that our planet is not yet a sacred planet, though it is close to that great transformation. The cosmic secret of this transforming process is one that Sanat Kumara [the Lord of the World who ‘knows His Own Mind, radiates the highest quality of Love, and focuses His Will in His Own high Place outside the Council Chamber of Shamballa’ symbolizes somewhat the soul-infused personality of our planetary Logos—rl] is now learning, and when That which overshadows Him during this incarnation has wrought the needed changes through a process of transformation and transmutation, then a great Transfiguration will take place and He will take His place among those empowered to work through a sacred planet.

"This process is that which implements the evolutionary process. Evolution is an effect of this hidden work, emanating from cosmic levels; only when evolution has run its course through all the multiplicity of forms, of cycles, chains and spheres, of rounds and races and of world periods, will we know something of the true nature of the hidden mystery. In the Council Chamber of Shamballa it is being dimly sensed. The Buddha and the Christ are expressing the qualities which—when more universally demonstrated—will indicate its nature, if I might so express it. They are together mobilizing the equipment upon our planet which will make the revelation of the mystery inevitable".19

Relatively few people knowingly experience ‘coming alive’ with monadic/synthetic perception while still in incarnation, and yet, today, this is our opportunity. What varies most is skill in accurately extrapolating from sequential consciousness to holistic comprehension and consciously assimilating an updated interpretation of ‘place’ in the general scheme of things. This is done purposefully as an exercise to educate the lower mind.

 "...[W]hen the underlying purpose of world events is grasped and when the hope of immortality becomes a known accepted fact...when it is seen that the growth of goodwill in the world is the normal emergence of that which is inevitable, and when all that is occurring is seen in its relation to an eternal future, there are carried to our minds implications of profound magnitude to the race...Those who respond to these ideas and who show no antagonistic reactions to these truths must be brought into relation with each other. This group is today in existence…".20

We are asked to ‘serve as the soul serves’, yet many of us conveniently ignore the fact that (although its subconscious nature is service) the soul does not serve Humanity and the soul does not serve Hierarchy. The soul (hierarchically sensitive attention aware of relationships) is focused outward from within the symbolic Council Chamber at Shamballa (from within the abstract mind), striving to interpret the immediate purpose of divine will, so to speak.

 "This Council Chamber is not a location or a place, but a state of consciousness within the all-enveloping Life".21 

Shamballa is an accessible focal point within the mind of our planetary Life, and when D.K. refers to "the Monad in its high place of waiting in Shamballa", we are reminded that "the Council Chamber at Shamballa, provides a goal for members of the Hierarchy, but not an abiding place".22  

Visualize planet Earth receiving and circulating magnetic solar energies, as it does, in the cold vicinity of the polar caps in a borealis effect. Symbolically, Shamballa is "the major receptive agent upon the planet from the angle of solar inflow, and the main distributing point of planetary energy".

The source of such inflow should interest us for the energy of the central spiritual sun (a synthesis of our sun and its planets) produces a similar influence where our planetary Logos is concerned. Like tuning forks vibrating to some news flash, systemic purpose as sound imprinted higher will is symbolically conveyed to our planetary Life, to Shamballa, and to us via the synthetic cardinal cross which ‘exists alike in universes, solar systems, planets and cells’. This periodic impulse of higher purpose guiding abstract perception of wholeness always results in a "synthesis of understanding where our Earth is concerned".

Our challenge as scattered individuals is that as a whole we constitute a new aspect of logoic consciousness able to experience progressed awareness beyond the usual confines of time, as a single, momentous event. Synthesis IS.

THE POWER OF INTERPRETIVE SUBTLETY

Between the Many and the One, between Humanity and Shamballa, absolutely everything is relative. It's all based on relationship. To be comfortable working within the relatively formless nature of higher mind, we recognize it as an agreed circumscribed context or ‘chat room’ of timeless endeavor and begin to reinterpret all we know within the more synthetic context of the Whole in a routine manner. We take our place, stabilize or focus within the context of this elegant abstraction where time, space and truth are relative not absolute. 

As we go about our daily business, absolutely nothing changes but our perspective. Our point-of-view is increasingly adjusted by new bits of recognized oneness as our intelligence is transformed by acceptance of that perspective. As we each successfully demystify our understanding, we are of increasing service (subconsciously) by our Light, by our very Being, by what we essentially are. We then are in a position to reveal not the experience itself, but the usefulness of our experience, our broader, deeper perspective, our vision for abundance in planetary living. 

Underlying all forms, all ideas and ideals—negative or positive, stimulative or abstractive, descending or ascending, subhuman or superhuman—lies will-imbued Life, Being in all its guises. Using the abstract technique of 'identification with oneness' (as opposed to relationship with oneness), we include ourselves in by superseding the lower mind, especially concerning our so-called spiritual standing. We conceptually ‘stand above’ our own fragmented humanness, not apart from it but including it, and view the world’s unfolding events. The significance of this experiential observation is called monadic or shamballic awareness, or Being.

SEE THE MOON?

We all know the Zen saying about not mistaking the pointing finger for the moon. Let us look again. Our spiritual stance or point of view should now shift from looking to where Alice Bailey's Tibetan points, to instead identifying where he stands, in order to see for ourselves what he see as he describes things in the Bailey books. If we don’t see life as he does, then we aren’t ‘standing’ where he stands and ‘looking’ where he looks. Study, adjust, and try again. This is not difficult once you get the hang of it. His perspective is the timeless significance of the greater whole. We look at what is seen ‘through his eyes’, or through the eyes of one who sees, until we can see for ourselves.

It takes practice to achieve or acquire a more universal perspective, along with our individual perspective. When we actually can see reality or life clearly for ourselves, remember that when working with significance (which is synonymous with 'divine will') we honor the ageless wisdom teachings by our impeccable accuracy.

Working eternally as one offers no change, no redemption, no becoming—only the infinite service of liberated Being. In the critical brevity of our opportunity to set the challenges for an entire Age, can we not now leave off becoming in order to BE?