Nicholas Roerich Museum - Star of the Morning

Ten Esoteric Cycles/Stages – Part III (Cycle of Maturation & Cycle of Integration)

(HZ: Please note that this ten-part series is just a review of Alice A Bailey’s Esoteric Works in respect to this ten cycles and stages review with a few additions plus some experiential heuristic observations and as a rule does not contain reified source impressions received during meditation.)

The Cycles of Maturation, Cycles of Integration, and Psycho-Synthesis Model

Re-appropriation of the physical sheath. This takes place between the fourth and seventh year, when the soul, hitherto overshadowing, takes possession of the physical vehicle
A crisis during adolescence, wherein the soul appropriates the astral vehicle. This crisis is not recognised by the general public and is only dimly sensed, from its evidenced temporary abnormalities, by the average psychologist. They do not recognise the cause but only the effects.
A similar crisis between the twenty-first and twenty-fifth years, wherein the mind vehicle is appropriated. The man should then begin to respond to egoic influences, and in the case of the advanced man, he frequently does.
A crisis between the thirty-fifth and forty-second years, wherein conscious contact with the soul is established; the threefold personality then begins to respond, as a unit, to soul impulse.
For the remaining years of life, there should be an increasingly strong relationship between the soul and its vehicles, leading to another crisis between the fifty-sixth or the sixty-third years. According to that crisis will depend the future usefulness of the person and whether the ego continues to use the vehicles on into old age, or whether there is a gradual withdrawal of the indwelling entity.(Bailey, Esoteric Psychology II, 1942, pp. 52-53)

An impulsed incarnation or sub-cycle of the cycle of evolution is under the law of karma where each ray related collective group soul unit’s impulse was to manifest as a group to address some planetary plan related purpose or idea whose time has come. The group soul incarnational impulse followed an earlier related monadic impulse. Their sheaths are built and conditioned towards carrying out this purpose mission in general but based upon the principle of limitation under the law of karma. During a sub-cycle of evolution the incarnating unit re-creates its vehicles; and during the cycles of maturation they are regenerated under the unifying forces evoked by the cycles of integration to the point where they can be re-appropriated by the soul unit and re-orientated to the group soul’s purpose and over time more and more personality goals become renounced and substituted for the group soul’s goals. For the advanced human being there is certain ray and karma qualified goals linked to the larger ray soul group purpose and karma. This purpose awareness comes through more sharply at each of the sequential crisis points related to vehicle re-appropriation under the cycle of maturation closely related to the transits of Saturn to the natal Saturn position in the Natal Chart. Due to the presenting of opportunity influences of Saturn’s creating points of crisis there is a quasi-clear new soul vision direction one can potentially acquiesce to even if it is only a symbolic nascent direction. Each vehicle re-appropriation is the result of this nascent conscious point of fusion between the soul and personality at whatever biological age or some sheath which is being re-appropriated. The re-appropriation process is the transmitting of some qualitative energy of the group soul, or first aspect of the soul as these are equivalent, into the related sheath chakra producing the awakening of a particular sub-aspect, principle, or sheath identity into a new qualitative directional will intent.

It has come to my attention that these sets of sheath re-appropriation crises are due to one or other of seven constellations making a triangle of relationship with themselves and within themselves or representing one aspect particular of the three-fold aspects of the sheath being appropriated. This means that according to the soul’s response potential they will respond to one major aspect more than the others and one of the three sub-aspects more than the others or a combination thereof. It has been given that seven of the zodiacal constellations are related to the unfoldment of other types of life forms more than the human Creative Hierarchy. Also given is that the seven constellations are responsible for the unfoldment of the seven principles demonstrated by the seven scared planets which reflect the seven solar systems related to this system. Each sheath is considered an expression opportunity of a principle.

The five non-scared planets is given as being related to the unfoldment of the human Creative Hierarchy and likewise condition the lower five subplane substance aspects or the qualified matter aspect of the human unit’s five lower plane related sheaths or third aspect sheath principles of the cosmic physical plane. The second aspect or qualitative consciousness aspect principles must express through these. Thus, the conditioning source for the type and quality of the energy impacting the personality centres is inferred. As the five non-scared planets. These inferred sheath related constellations are Leo (Sun), Cancer (Moon), Scorpio (Mars), Pisces (Pluto) and Capricorn (Earth). The seven principles and of the life expression or activity of five planes. In this 7 + 5 is to be found the clue to the mystery of the seven and the five zodiacal constellations.

As to the reason for the seven-year cyclical nature of these crisis points defining the cycle of maturation impacts is due to the transit aspects influences of Saturn and Uranus to their natal positions. Uranus appears to work through Saturn or the involutionary impulses coming through Uranus to Saturn which uses these to condition and evolve substance to meet the intent of these impulses. It is given that the rays cycle in and out of the lower planes based upon different numerological factors. One could correctly surmise that one of the cycles of the seven rays is based upon the number seven or multiples of the number seven. Meaning different levels of some Ray Live(s) cycle every seven or forty-nine, or fourteen, or twenty-one, seventy or four-hundred ninety, seven hundred, seven thousand, or seventy-thousand years et.al. The seventh ray cycle is given by A.A.B. as having these seven-year related period lengths. Thus, Uranus ruled by the seventh ray and is the underlying conditioning force for all involutionary and evolutionary impulses which would include those of the four seasonal stages.

Interestingly, is that Uranus takes eighty-four years to travel around the sun or twelve times seven thus for every one of the cycles of Jupiter back to the natal position, Uranus’s cycles around the sun equal seven cycles of Jupiter. This is important in that Uranus is the distributor of the electrical or fohatic influences from the Pleiades and is thus the transmitter of the influences of the twelve creative Hierarchies which is discussed later It is inferred that every seven years Uranus makes one symbolic pass through each of the twelve creative Hierarchies seven sub-planes or sub-aspects one at a time thus after seven twelve year cycles of Jupiter it will have symbolically passed through all seven sub-planes or sub-aspects of all twelve creative Hierarchies. Each creative Hierarchy also has three major aspects and seven minor aspects or principles. Furthermore, in a harmonic perspective dimensionally this is happening in the symbolic and in the Now. The second creative Hierarchy ruled by Jupiter also transmits the hierarchical influence pattern of the seven higher creative Hierarchies to be expressed in the lower five creative Hierarchies on the five lower third aspect planes.

The Moon veiling Uranus also rules the seventh creative Hierarchy or the elemental lives or atomic lives that compose the sheaths built out of the bodies of the lunar lives of the sixth creative Hierarchy. Furthermore, all the constellations conditioning the permanent atoms, as given by A.A.B. have Uranus as one of its ruling planets on one level or another as predicated earlier in respect to the greater planetary, systemic or cosmic Man’s incarnation response to one of the major three Ray conditioned aspects per the quote below:

Aries—is connected with soul intention, the vibratory activity of which (under impulse from the Monad) initiates the successive involutionary periods which produce appearance upon the physical plane.
Libra—is related to the mental unit and, as we saw when studying the sign Libra, produces eventually a balance between the pairs of opposites. This is brought about upon the astral plane. It is the attainment of this balance which produces the reversal of the mode of passing around the zodiacal wheel and it takes place when integration has occurred, and the man is focussed upon the mental plane. He can, then, through right use of the mind, discriminate between the pairs of opposites and find the narrow razor-edged path which passes between them and keep his balance upon it.
Leo—is connected with the astral permanent atom, for the reason that desire or the power to go forth and occultly touch that which is desired is the basis of all sense of awareness or responsiveness and the underlying cause of progress or evolutionary movement forward; it is the keynote of the man who has achieved that true “self-centred” attitude which makes him an individual. Later, as responsiveness grows and the world of small affairs is converted into the world of ever larger values and reality, the desires change into aspiration and finally into spiritual will, purpose and intent.
Aquarius—is eventually connected with the physical permanent atom which is, as you know, upon the etheric level. It is this individual web which is the medium of relationship to the whole. The universal consciousness of Aquarius becomes expressive just in so far as the individual etheric body is in conscious relation with the etheric body of humanity, the solar system and—of course—the planet. EA, pp. 302-303

Uranus is the hierarchical ruler of Aries; the esoteric ruler of Libra; whereas Uranus, veiling the Sun is the hierarchical ruler of Leo; and it is both the exoteric ruler and the hierarchical ruler veiled by the Moon of Aquarius. This is more than co-incidence. Thus, each of the three lower sheaths in their recreation cycle are conditioned respectively by Aquarius (Moon veiling Uranus), Leo (Sun veiling Uranus), and Libra (Uranus). Thus, one might conjecture that these constellations conditions the matter aspect of the sheaths and at the least one other of these planetary rulers would appear to be included in the conditioning triangle providing the transmitted energies at the time of re-appropriation creating a point of crisis along with Uranus and Saturn. It might seem reasonable that it would be the hierarchical ruler conditioning the Saturnian crisis points in the re-appropriation of the sheaths. Aspirants should look at those signs Aquarius, Leo, Libra on their natal house cusps to see if these qualify the sheath related directional vision acquiesced to during these crisis points respectfully of the etheric, astral, and mental sheaths.

Agni or the logoic Personality aspect is the ultimate source for the incarnational impulses moving through the solar system and likewise associated with Aries producing the original impulse to manifest through the Monad.

In respect to Uranus’s influences, the soul appropriates or re-appropriates the etheric body around the age of five and is co-incident with a sextile of transiting Saturn with natal Saturn. At seven years, Saturn is square natal Saturn and transiting Uranus is sextile to natal Uranus. Exoteric Saturn appears to contrast the appropriation of past karma at these maturational crisis points with the plan related impulses proffered by Uranus if one acquiesced to them through dis-identification with those forms presently using and only then does esoteric Saturn appear to proffer opportunity to move towards the development and expression of these plan contingents envisioned by the soul.

There is a law that reflects this acquiescing by the personality to the soul’s vision and is given as: Law of Sacrifice which is ever followed by the Law of Re-Appropriation in the spiritual sense. In hindsight, under this law the larger group soul provides a more conducive environment to develop and demonstrate those plan related contingencies related to the soul’s vision under esoteric Saturn’s influences. All aspirants can verify the veracity of this law.

Saturn takes 28 years to circle the Sun, and the synodic cycle of Saturn brings about a crisis opportunity event every seven years. At age seven there is an opening square of Saturn in natal position to transiting Saturn. At age 14 there is a transitioning Saturn opposition point to the natal Saturn. At age 21 there is an transitioning Saturn closing square to the natal Saturn; and at age 28-29 there is the Saturn return back to its original natal position so the more karmic or form forces opposing one’s ascension the more dramatic the crisis at the period of re-appropriation as one attempts to circulate the energy received by the soul. The rule is that whenever we ascend, we must do so through the karmic forms co-created or in other words bring these karmic qualitative forces down into our awareness and overcome them thorough transmutation. Furthermore, at age five when the soul normally re-appropriates the etheric sheath transiting Saturn is making a sextile to natal Saturn and at age ten it is making a trine to natal Saturn. Libra, ruled esoterically by Uranus and hierarchically by Saturn very much influences the involutionary and evolutionary form impulses coming in and going out from Aries (hierarchically ruled by Uranus) as Uranus is the veiled ruler of the first creative Hierarchy reflecting the cosmic mind impulses to the Logoic Brain conditioned by Saturn or His Vital Aires which is ruled by Libra basically. Thus, this is why the initiate is ruled by Uranus after moving onto the Cardinal cross where exoteric Saturn has no more causative influences but only expresses the influences from Uranus. Uranus also rules the involutionary process through Aries and Uranus through Saturn of from the cosmic Mind to the cosmic Brain through the gateway of the first creative Hierarchy into the second and third hierarchies of the greater Builders.

The response of the personality related lives to this new qualitative energy impact on the centre or centres is the cause of one’s awakening and subjective experiences at each of the cycles or crises of sheath re-appropriation by the soul. One’s conscious memory of a new qualified direction during each maturational crisis point is basically contingent upon one’s point in evolution. These cycles of major dimensional sheath re-appropriation by the soul on re-ascending through a re-created vehicle happen normally around the ages of 4-7 (etheric body), 11-14 (astral body), 21-25 (mental body), 35-42 (personality-causal), and ages 56-63 (soul and its triadal vehicles per potential expression) per theory. Actually there is a sheath re-appropriated every seven years but is only those aligned to the odd rays that become more apparent to the personality consciousness or the rays, 1, 3, 5, and 7. The quote suggests it happens towards the end of the various seven-year cycles after the sheaths are built and coordinated which is the case. The odd rays are the concrete rays where the abstract rays are rays 2, 4, and 6. This is discussed in section VI. There will be no memory of these events unless the personality responds to the inflow of energy from the soul and awakens and the acknowledged goal is consciously acquiesced to. Therefore, they are considered crisis points in one’s life as the energy from the soul in respect to an advanced man is quite intense due to their increased sensitivity from earlier evolutionary successes. The outcome will be some increase in the soul’s control over the sheath along the new directional intent. From the personality’s perspective it will involve a change in attitude and behavior in some radical way according to those experiencing these shifts.

The quote below captures the corresponding five maturational crisis points for this “round” in relationship to the planetary Logos’ process of re-creation, regenerating, re-orientation, and renunciation under His sub-cycle of evolution or incarnation.

The following tabulation shows the re-appropriation s marking the five racial crises:

In the Lemurian civilization the appropriation of the physical body, with its five senses.
In the Atlantean civilization the appropriation of the astral body.
In the present Aryan world the appropriation of the mental body, with consequent intellectual unfoldment.
In the coming race conscious appropriation and integration of the threefold personality.
In the final race the expression, in fullest measure, of the soul and its vehicles, plus some measure of spiritual manifestation.

Here, therefore, we have five points of crisis in the life of the individual, in conjunction with the whole, with the first stage (called individualisation) in Lemuria, the third stage in our race, and a final stage at the end of the age. These stages are carried forward over so long a period of time, and are so closely interrelated, that one stage and period makes possible that of another, and only the analytical mind sees or seeks differentiation. The reflection of this fivefold experience in any individual life takes place in the following order in the life of the average intelligent aspirant, who responds to, and takes advantage of the civilisation and education of the present time. (Bailey, Esoteric Psychology II, 1942, pp. 51-52)

As given, human units recapitulate their existing level of evolutionary principle expression potential within the age range of 21 to 25 or the third crisis of re-appropriation basically after the first two cycles of Jupiter. The cycles of Jupiter are important as they advance another set of esoteric stages discussed below – cycles of integration. This is just a general norm so in actual experience this age could be extended a few years on each side of age 21 to 25 contingent upon karma and vicissitudes of planetary life. This rule will assist those in determining whether a planetary integration had taken place in an earlier life or not. If one had taken an initiation in an earlier life, they would be consciously aware of being on or getting back on the path before within the age period of 21 to 25 depending upon their degree of evolutionary advancement in general. If a more advance disciple this would be indicated even earlier such after the first Jupiter return at age 12 or even age 5 contingent upon the type of experiences. The determining factors in respect to evolutionary advancement is the unfoldment state of the chakras when they earlier passed out of their previous incarnation. The more advanced the more chakras, and thus vehicles, are correspondingly awakened and unfolded into an expanded consciousness functionality early in the maturational process and on the final stages of the path of evolution the processes of initiation produce the chakra unfoldment in their higher dimensionality above the three-dimensional corresponding to the various planes. One sheath or another will normally be more advanced or have more functional consciousness than the others indicating a monad ray predisposition. The goal is an even balanced unfoldment of the various sheaths in terms of sub-plane matter built into them and their functionality. This is later undertaken more consciously once the aspirant is on the path. The theory and experience related to the cycle of maturation will be expanded upon as the various esoteric cycles are unveiled.

Interestingly, each cycle of re-appropriation involves an energy release by the group soul (Uranus to Saturn) representing a soul crisis and all soul and personality crisis are due to a set of energy and force impacts from two or more sources under the science of triangles theoretical model presented in Esoteric Astrology by A.A.B. It could be inferred that quaternary Aries-Libra-Leo-Aquarius to Uranus-Saturn-Earth is the source for the sheath re-appropriation impulses that produce the crisis points? How do the seven constellations representing the unfoldment of the principles and sub-principles fit in the sheath development? This is not addressed herein but the key is to remember that the second major systemic evolution processes is not yet completed.

The Cycle of Integration & the Four Forms Introduced

The words, covering the process in every case, are Alignment, Crisis, Light, Revelation, Integration. Under the heading of each ray we shall have therefore:

The formula of integration.
Its dual application of destruction and rebuilding, with a brief indication of the process and the result.
The final stage of the process wherein the man
Brings the three bodies into alignment.
Passes through a crisis of evocation, thus, as the Bhagavad Gita says, becoming “manifest through the magical power of the soul”.
Enters into a phase of light, wherein the man sees clearly the next step to be taken.
Receives the revelation of the Plan and of what he has to do in connection with it.
Integrates the three bodies into one synthetic whole, and is therefore ready for the Technique of Fusion, which is suited to his ray type. EP II, pp.347-348

A cycle of integration set of stages will be shown to be the basis of a major instrument or method used by the seven rays to progress the purpose of their Lives or the One Life. It is method or inter-relationship of Ray Lives that is the basis for the development and synthesis of the three major periodic vehicles or aspects. It can be demonstrated that it is composed of seven stages – alignment, crisis, light, revelation, integration, transition, and assimilation and each is conditioned progressively by a different ray influence.

A new cycle of sequential integration stages – alignment, crisis, light, revelation, integration, transition, and assimilation can also be brought on just by reading something which produces an internal new realization of an unrealized real need and thus a new motivational impulse and alignment identification with the source. Thus, this realization invoking impulse would still be somewhat highly charged with karmic form implications and one’s response to this new information does require an identification with some new direction of form re-creation to a large extent to effect a desired change. This produces the necessary “crisis” of identification which is also a beginning reification of obstruction karma based upon the invocating of a desired new pattern of identity. This new pattern of identity and karma recreation takes some time to fully manifest. Thus, within the cycle of integration as opposed to an overall cycle of evolution the processes of re-creation, re-generation, re-orientation, and renunciation leading to a transition into a greater freedom or livingness and eventual assimilation carries one into newness but not necessarily into a new level of inclusive consciousness but only of new activities within the confines of the existing level of inclusiveness of self-identity.

Under the cycle of maturation there can also be seen to be a cycle of integration invoked by Aries impulses. This impulse was shown to be the point when the soul re-appropriates the personality sheaths, if there is an acquiesce to the new direction response by the personality to this directional soul motivational energy stimulating crisis point, linked to form related events, then there followed shortly after a karmic freeing by Saturn. This is a freeing in time from old form identifications and a freeing in space permitting movement into a new environment correlated to the purposes and karma of the soul the personality has acquiesced too. This “freeing in space” can be seen as the personality’s acceptance of the guidance and or karma in a group sense. The freeing process appeared to happen under the Law of Karma and the Law of Sacrifice as earlier introduced as the Law of Sacrifice which is ever followed by the Law of Re-Appropriation in the spiritual sense. It would be useful for each to ascertain their own directional “freeing” under the Law of Re-appropriation in the spiritual sense especially at the time of their own sheath re-appropriation, especially if an aspirant, as they would more likely acquiesce which is required to free oneself up for new opportunities. Furthermore, any re-appropriation of a sheath evokes the Law of re-appropriation in the spiritual sense if the Law of Sacrifice is acquiesced too. All of this takes place after the recreation cycle of a sheath maturation. If one responds to the appropriated new direction desired by the soul than the regeneration cycle can be entered, and this is first conditioned by Cancer as will be discussed later. Cancer nurtures the form and enlightens it so to attract better what it needs to flourish. It expresses as does all influences the Law of Compassion, one of the overriding cosmic laws under the Law of Freedom.

To reiterate, each cycle of re-appropriation or inflow of energy from the soul into the centers, with a corresponding awakening and correct response to such from the personality, invokes the Law of Sacrifice which is ever followed by the Law of Re-Appropriation in the spiritual sense. Thus, it is easy to see that the subjective causative egoic group effects or pattern produces on the outer physical plane various egoic group karmic circumstances. The fruits of relinquishing are highlighted here which can be perceived also as the individual in a state of free will sacrifices the greater to the lessor. This also implies that this does not happen unless it is a conscious act by the personality to invoke further group karma and this is gladly consciously invoked so to redeem itself to easier move forward on its path towards happiness, joy and bliss in a more spiritual or expanded inclusive sense as that is what spirituality entails which is the aspiring for something greater than oneself in the moment.

Whatever we relinquish in a personality form sense we gain in impersonality and individually as well as in planetary or group integration as the lessor identity is replaced for the greater identity so these can also be used in service to others seeking similar advances in happiness, joy, and bliss. The soul does in fact appropriate the sheath and the consciousness is shifted as the karmic forms are transmuted into free energy and outer karmic or environmental circumstances reflect this freeing up of subjective environmental circumstances. We invoke it and are thus becoming masters of our own destiny in respect to the servicing of the Plan which is the real intent behind this process. This is a major planetary integrating process. And at the fourth initiation the many acquired gifts and treasures over the human soul’s span of root races that were gained or acquired by the Son of Mind, as a means of incentive, are again relinquished back to the group and ashram for its use to permit a full integration into the One Life.

Every cycle of planetary integration or a major initiation can be broken out into a corresponding set of integration stages. Every cycle of planetary integration is a process of seven lessor cycles. Those who are aware of the five lessor revelations, plus the stages of transition and assimilation, between each major revelation associated to some major initiation. The following names are only examples of points of revelation names provided by A.A.B. associated to some initiation or integration in a planetary sense. The following is an example associated with the major cycles of integration, as provided by Master D.K., but each initiation has their own sub-set of revelations that can be discovered from a personality brain consciousness point of view but these are difficult to discern and rarely cognized at the time of the revelation given the amount of new awareness’s manifesting. One can also get a sense of these sub-revelations symbolically within a cycle of planetary integration as correlations with a cycle of re-appropriation also associated with each sheath appropriated basically every seven years during the maturational cycle depending upon one’s point in evolution. For those students of A.A.B. the following correlation will be meaningful when they realize the sequential intent of the revelations and their relationships to the seven stages of discipleship and the seven planetary, solar, and cosmic initiations.

Alignment – Energy follows thought and the eye directs that energy
Crisis – The Will is fundamentally an expression of the Law of Sacrifice
Light – the Monad is to the planetary Logos what the third eye is to man
Revelation – Purpose itself is but an energy, released within the confines of the Council Chamber; there it must take shape.
Integration – When the light of the seven Rays is blended with the seventh Ray, then Light Supernal can be known.
Transition to a greater Life – Transition from cyclic Living into Life itself of Spirit released from form or abstraction and liberation from form identification
Assimilation – into the expanding Unknown or Whole enhanced through the Blending of the Greater Lights.

The theory and experience related to the cycle of integration will be expanded upon as the various esoteric cycles are unveiled. The points of revelation, other than the first, will not be covered in general but addressed in the chapters on initiation.

Each of us are responsible for the development of only four types of form each life as these forms permit our individual life personification. They capture the purposeful qualitative intent and expression of our incarnated material existence. They also capture our potential service potential to the larger environmental wholes – subjectively and objectively. It is basically these four forms that are re-created, re-generated, re-orientated, and renounced cycle after cycle by the indwelling life unit. These four form types are as follows:

The form of our aspiration, devotion, or ideology.
The form of our persona we express this ideology through.
The form of our inner and outer environment we require express in to mirror this new self-image to determine the needed direction in life.
The form that embodies our life path, karmic path and spiritual path This path is required to both balance out the development of our causal body field which depicts our overall potential in terms of capacities, abilities, gifts, and skills; but also, to meet the larger group karmic balance purpose reflecting a stage in the path to dharmic expression by the spirit or monad under the Law of Destiny.

There is a distinction between the existing forms or desired forms and the ideal forms. The ideal forms are those needed to express the soul’s and later the spirit’s ideal purpose in any one related ideal incarnation. It is these four forms that express the likelihood of success in any one period of one’s life. The ideal form is not an absolute but a process of recreation, regeneration, reorientation, and renunciation along a logical sequential process leading to the ideal meeting of the intended ideal purpose.

This section will introduce our working relationship between the following concepts: form, self, not-self, Self, path, fourfold-form.

This work will attempt to correct our sense of understanding of ourselves in terms of our human constitution as a set of forms. Although these forms represent ourselves and our expression, they are not ourselves and this relationship classically is portrayed usually as the Self versus the Not-Self and evolve over time together and can to be defined as the perceived self.

It is not our intent to go deeply into this causative paradigm between the Self and not-self producing the perceiving self-consciousness but to explain some of the intents and purposes of form life that is the perceived self or at least makes up its apparent characteristics in time and space. We should, over time, build-on the necessary understanding needed to portray and reify our lives as the steady production of self-forms necessary to depict our desire-will or intent to create. In other words, we are responsible to build our life path, or spiritual path, or karmic path as these are basically all the same.

The effort here is to define the not-self as a set of definitional forms enlivened by the Self producing our characteristic awareness or consciousness which we, as the self, are responsible for creating and sustaining. This reflects our own individual evolution of the not-self and self with its four-fold personality bodies of expression along with their inherent matter, substance, and consciousness. “In Him we live and move and have our being” is another way of expressing this basic truth of our Self-expressing through the self and not-self composed of the matter, substance and consciousness inherent within the Constitution of God on one level or another. It is in this way we do achieve a relative enlightenment and spiritual identity over time and likewise reach an ever advancing plateau of understanding among our many aspects of selves and overtime sequence our evolution of forms according to a pattern we believe we apperceived in heaven (so-to-speak) that symbolizes our individual and mutual group destiny.

It would be good to realize that this journey is far along for most of us and many forms/selves (or paths) have created the present form (path) for each of us as this form/self now provides a perceived perspective by which we may proceed in our chosen destinies. This chosen destiny or journey is likewise an avenue of planned escape from our present surroundings to move forward into our more desired future. This desired future requires us to assist others and be assisted by others in helping to delivery us to our chosen destinations and thus each together moving in a planned response with each other.

A generic way of understanding both our personal and group life, or the patterns of our life, is through the interaction of forms—qualified and quantified to explain and predict phenomena. We also recognize that all forms have some energy or force expression—kinetic or potential to affect us concretely or abstractly and in this way achieve a degree of potential power over us and others and in the end limit or expand our freedom of movement either consciously or unconsciously; and in this way we also achieve limited control over ourselves, our environment, and our spirituality through their manipulation or not. Again, it is this way we move through matter, substance, and consciousness to perfect ourselves. In Him (the One Self or Self) we live and move and have our being.

All form life, as we can recognize it, is vibration (of matter/substance) and the result of this vibration is eventual form building and destroying. We perceive this in terms of the type and nature of form appearances and the quality of those appearances as these impacts us in some way in terms of function. Under the evolutionary process forms develop. Through right direction in space of the form, its orientation, and its qualified vibration the purpose of the form or self is fulfilled. Each form correlates to the caretaking of the intent of the self while embodied in form and reflects its efforts at creating its life based upon the life plan held.

There are endless ways to classify forms but for our purposes we will focus on just four interrelated forms that all other forms will be considered as subsets of these in respect to our personality lives. These four forms can be perceived as containing all that we find dear concretely and abstractly and are responsible for understanding and responding to in the creation of our lives and nothing falls outside of them once you understand their truer meaning and usefulness. We will call this four-fold form the evolving form of the self that is itself a combination and outcome of the interrelationship of the Self and the not-self.

It is these four forms which constitute our daily focus consciously or unconsciously and we are either victimized or victimize others because of their particular degree of ‘perfection’ and characteristics. Our apparent task is the continuous ‘perfection’ of this four-fold form for the explicit desire for happiness (in some form or another). It is this happiness that prevents us from taking life seriously until it runs out and provides motivation to create again thus perfecting our happiness form. At each stage of livingness, we create this form in our own liking attempting to correct it.

It seems from life experience that the immediate task at hand is to unfold our life potential as human beings. These tasks appear to be many from a worldly point of view but not so. Be assured there are but few compared to what we have accomplished to date. What are these tasks? In the simplest terms there are four particular ones we will explore and discuss throughout this set of exercises. Although in appearance they appear to be simple, but the test is in their correct life presentation.

The four tasks can be defined as the personal self’s correct embodiment of four particular creative forms:
The form of our correct aspiration, devotion, or ideology.
The form of our correct persona we express this ideology through.
The form of our correct inner and outer environment we require express in to mirror this new self-image to determine the needed direction in life.

The form of our correct life path, karmic path and spiritual path required to balance out the development of our causal body field which depicts our overall potential in terms of capacities, abilities, gifts, and skills

Form of Devotion:

As an example, the form of devotion or ideology represents an abstract idea identified and desired and aspired too in some way. Every person has that which they devote themselves to, what they live for, what they get out of bed for each day. This form expresses that much insight, understanding, love, wisdom, or truth that that person can grasp and identify with and thus embody. It may be purely material, focused on the body, a desire for wealth, land, and possession of some kind. The person focuses all there will on achieving that which they desire. The form may be built on sentient feeling–a love for relationships, for friends, for family. To this they devote their energy and their lives—physically and psychically. More abstract still may be the quest of their passions—for philosophy, science, creative arts, or religion. To these he sacrifices all other pursuits, and thus, the form of the devotion expands. At each level or stage of abstraction, the vibration measures up to the task and the form then is destroyed from the inside as the person seeks more life, more happiness, or more purposefulness. Life after life, more forms are created more and more rapidly as progress is made. With each new form created, embodied, and destroyed, the abstraction becomes greater and more inclusive. intentional Ideal after ideal, relationship after relationship, dream after dream is left behind in the quest for more life, more purpose, and more awareness. All this time the soul body is being built through one’s created karmic, life, spiritual path seeking greater happiness, joy and/or bliss.

Form of the Persona:

The form of the persona can be defined as the set of personal and relationship variables which we call values, qualities, characteristics, expressions, instincts, natures, virtues, skills, talents, abilities and gifts a person identifies with, pursues and/or embodies and thus desires or has desired through self-will or external conditioning. Over time each person evolves by conditioned circumstances, free choice, knowledge and understanding some qualitative aspect of themselves that proffers them a way to survive in the world or environment where they find themselves and express their desired motivations. It is important to notice that each individual develops over time these extensions of themselves in the three worlds of mental, emotional, and vital expression as they participate in events from various life situations (home, work, relationships, parenting, etc) and later in the higher worlds.

The nature of a human being can be defined as a construct of societal ideas, ideals, and idols. As they come into the world at any one point in time historically, they are provided with a working persona in miniature and as some believe their personality sheath substance is related to earlier incarnations based upon some formula we will not discuss. The ideal persona is always being strived towards by each once that ideal is perceived consciously or unconsciously through choice or behavioral conditioning as it is believed such will provide a greater point of happiness in general.

In many ways the ideal persona is characterized by all those virtues, values, characteristics, etc. held in respect or desired by the individual involved and furthermore they are not able to see any other immediate combination that would work for them and daring life to try to change them. In a way it takes at least two “entities” to create a persona desire/will and a pre-existing formula of personality sheath expression. With these two existences a new qualified conscious persona is created—again the trinity of will, consciousness, and active form intelligence. There are many other ways of looking at this, but the idea is the same—something is created that we use to express ourselves through in the environment we find ourselves in—spiritually, mentally, emotionally, vitally, and physically.

Form of the Environment:

The form of the environment, subjective and objective, is also an abstract concept as it implies all possible levels and variations of inter-related societal institutions, beliefs, places, people and things both subjective and objective. It is only a matter of time where it will come to you the part you are playing in life and therefore the ideal environment where you can play. It would be good to look at ways of seeing yourself doing this as there are many variations in meeting the ideal but only one at any one time given the imperfections of substance and our ability to apperceive its qualitative expression. Substance itself is mostly a qualitative expression where societal institutions, beliefs, people, places, and things are mere symbolic representations of this qualitative environment. Again, the inner and outer both symbolize the soul in expression.

Form of our Life Path, Karmic Path and Spiritual Path – Form of the Causal Body:

The form responsible for the unfolding and expression of our spiritual potential is the egoic lotus or soul body. It represents the objective principle of the third aspect of the second aspect similar to the personality’s physical body being the objective expression of the third aspect of the third aspect.

Another word sometimes used instead of soul body or egoic lotus per a soul when referencing a life in a manifested physical body is the casual body. The physical body is given to be a direct reflection of the causal body. It is a descriptive point of view that there is an underlying cause for one’s present karmic opportunities to carry out their present life purpose through. It is reflective of the principle of limitation. The causal body is symbolic for the nature of one’s present pathway through life. It reflects the way we move into form and out of form according to our present soul and/or personality nature as choices made previously in context to the larger group. It is a patternistic path of preference and can be understood as our dweller pattern or preferred way of doing things life to life to accomplish happiness and joy plus the karmic necessity of it. In respect to matter and form, it is also a karmic path, a life path, a career path, a destiny path, a path of hope and of promise, a path of knowledge and of wisdom, a path of love and understanding, path of self-awareness; for all, it is a path of unfoldment of creative potential, thus spiritual for us. Potential for what—for more life however qualified.

In the context to the human creative hierarchy all of these cycles and stages discussed herein is focussed on one thing and that is the ultimate purpose-plan expression of the individual Christ consciousness by unfolding the potential innate within the three periodic vehicles of the personality, soul and monad which is basically achieved by the unfolding of the three-fold egoic lotus or its set of permanent atoms, petals, and jewel points in this second aspect solar system unfolding the divine Psyche or expressive Quality of Deity.

A.A.B. presented seven rules for inducing soul control and eventual Christ expression through form qualifications.

“The seven rules are of supreme importance, for they embody the key ideas which will reveal Deity in operation as the Soul of all things; They will reveal the nature and method of activity of the Cosmic Christ, and will indicate the governing qualitative tendencies which determine the psychical life of all forms. It must never be forgotten that the rays are the seven major expressions of the divine quality as it limits (and it does so limit) the purposes of Deity. God Himself hews to a pattern, set for Him in a still more distant vision. This purpose or defined will is conditioned by His instinctual quality or psyche, in just the same way as the life purpose of a human being is both limited and conditioned by the psychological equipment with which he enters into manifestation.”

The seven rules for inducing soul control are quoted from Esoteric Psychology II and are self-explanatory to probationary disciples so no discussion is required. It is significant I point out that if the fruits of these rules as stated are not self-demonstrating and thus self-evident than that particular rule is not being correctly evoked. The demonstration of the eight means of yoga will remedy that. Also, if one is correctly re-creating their four forms then the fruit of these seven rules for inducing soul control will be demonstrated to the degree the four forms reflect the soul’s intent.

The Seven Rules Quoted

The seven factors or “Rules for Inducing Soul Control” are:—

The tendency, innate and ineradicable, to blend and synthesise.

This is a law or rule of life itself.

This tendency results, on the form side, in destruction and wreckage, with its accompaniments of pain and sorrow. On the life side, it results in release, liberation and subsequent expansion.

This tendency is the basic cause of all initiation—individual, racial, planetary and systemic.

It is the result of an act of the will, and is caused by the impulsion of the sensed and innate purpose of God. However (and this is a point oft forgotten) this tendency is motivated by the recognition of the planetary Logos, that His plan is conditioned in its turn, and is an integral part of a still larger plan—that of the solar Deity. God, the solar Logos, is likewise conditioned by a still higher life purpose.

The quality of the hidden vision.

This quality, on the form side, produces physical sight, astral illusion and concrete knowledge. On the life side it produces illumination. This includes the widespread illumination reflected by our planet in the heavens, as well as that which makes an individual man a light-bearer, and which will eventually enable humanity, (as a whole) to constitute a station of light upon earth.

This quality is the basic cause of all sensory perception and is the instinctive urge to consciousness itself, in all its many phases. With this quality the Hierarchy has to work, intensifying it and giving it magnetic power.

c It is the high result of desire, which is itself intrinsically founded on the will to form a plan and a purpose.

The instinct to formulate a plan.

This instinct governs all activity which, in process of evolution, divides itself into instinctual activity, intelligent activity, intuitional or purposive activity, and illumined activity, as far as mankind is concerned.

This includes that department of the Hierarchy which works with humanity. The higher phases of planned activity are many and diverse, and are all synthesised under the third ray activity, at present focussed in the seventh ray.

Viewed from the form side, this faculty of planning leads to separative and selfish activity. Viewed from the life side, it leads to a blended cooperation which swings each unit of energy in every form, in all its subjective and unified aspects, into the task of unification. This is potently taking place in the world today. It is the tendency to at-one-ment which leads the human being, first of all, to the development of an integrated personality, and then to the submergence of that personality in the good of the greater whole.

This constitutes the basic cause of evolution itself—individual, planetary and systemic.

This instinct is the result of the development of manas, or mind, and the emergence of the intelligence. It is the peculiar quality or instinctual nature through the means of which humanity empresses the first Ray of Willed Intent, fostered by desire, and transmuted into intelligent activity.

The urge to creative life, through the divine faculty of imagination. This urge is, as can easily be seen, closely connected with the fourth Ray of Harmony, producing unity and beauty, won through conflict.

This, on the form side, leads to warfare, struggle and the building of forms which must later be destroyed. On the life side, it leads to quality, vibratory radiance and the revelation upon earth of the world of meaning.

It is therefore the basic cause of that subtle essence or revelation which is seeking expression through every form in each kingdom in nature. There seems to be no better term by which to express this hidden wonder which must be revealed than the revelation of meaning. This is beginning to happen today.

It is the result of the ability—sometimes adequate and sometimes inadequate—of the inner consciousness to reveal its measure of control by the Plan, and its response to the larger intent. It is upon this response that the Members of the Hierarchy are today counting, as They endeavor to bring the hidden meaning to the fore in the consciousness of man.

The factor of analysis. This factor may surprise those who suffer from the misuse of the power to discriminate, to analyse and to criticise.

It is, however, a basic, divine quality, producing wise participation in the Plan and skill in action.

On the form side, it manifests as the tendency to separate, divide and to place in contradictory positions. On the life side, it leads to that understanding which tends to identification, through the wider choice and comprehension.

It is the basic cause and impulse which will lead to the eventual appearance of the kingdom in nature, higher than the human, which is strictly that of the soul, and will produce the manifestation upon earth of the fifth kingdom in nature, that of the kingdom of gods. This phrase should be noted.

It is the result of the active work of the sons of God, the sons of mind, and is the part which they are contributing to the total planetary contribution, as part of the great systemic Plan. The Hierarchy itself is the outer and inner manifestation of the sacrifice of the divine Manasaputras (as They are called in The Secret Doctrine), and its members respond to Their sensed vision of the Plan for the whole. The Hierarchy is essentially the germ or nucleus of the fifth kingdom in nature.

The quality, innate in man, to idealise. This is founded upon the success of the Plan itself.

This Plan sought originally to awaken in man the following responses:—right desire, right vision and right creative activity, based upon right interpretation of ideals. This triplicity of purpose merits thoughtful consideration.

On the form side, this has worked out as material desire, leading eventually to cruelty and frequently to an extreme sadistic expression. On the life side, it has led to sacrifice, one pointed purpose, progress on the path, and devotion.

It is the basic cause of all organisation and of cooperation. The ideal before the Hierarchy is the realised Plan. This is brought to humanity in the form of ideas, which become, in time, ideals—to be desired and fought for. In order to materialise these ideals, the trend to organise comes into being.

It is the result—curiously enough—of the work of a peculiar group of world workers, who are recognised by humanity under the name of World Saviours. These are the Founders of those forms through which the divine ideas become the ideals of the masses, in all realms of human thought. Every great world leader is necessarily a “suffering Saviour.”

The seventh rule or controlling force with which the Hierarchy works is the interplay of the great dualities.

Through the activity engendered by this interplay, and through the results achieved (producing always a third factor), the whole manifested world is swept into line with the divine Purpose. This does not become apparent to the man who is immersed in the detail of life, but could we see the planetary life as it can be seen by the Masters Themselves, we would note the pattern emerging in all its beauty, and the structure of God’s thought for the universe appearing today in clearer outline and greater synthesis and beauty of detail than ever before.

On the form side, this produces the sense of being imprisoned by the time factor, the victim of speed, and the implacable forces of all life activity, as they play upon the imprisoned human being. On the life side, it results in rhythmic living and conscious adaptation of energy to the immediate purpose and goal.

It is necessarily the basic cause of the appearance and the disappearance of forms, human and humanly constructed.

It is the result of at-one-ments wrought out on the physical plane, thus producing the lower unifications, just as the at-one-ments wrought out hitherto in the human consciousness, have produced unification with the soul. The higher at-one-ments, hitherto effected on the plane of mind, have to be expressed eventually on the plane of physical life. EP II, pp. 220-225

The Psycho-Synthesis Model Introduced (Example of a Cycle of Integration)

There are other simple models we can use to analyze the underlying causes for psychological events within a cycle of integration under the Law of Sacrifice to better assist us in more accurately understanding of what we are observing in our unfoldment process and also explaining it theoretically. One such model is the Psycho-Synthesis model founded by Roberto Assagioli who was a student of Esoteric Psychology and a student of the A.W.T. as well as one of the members of Master D.K.’s experimental discipleship groups. It appears that he founded Psychosynthesis based upon the stages of a cycle of integration which can be correlated to the seven stages of the Law of Groups. The stages of a cycle of integration are alignment (ray 4), crisis (ray 2), light (ray 6), revelation (ray 1), integration (ray 7), transition into a greater life (ray 3), and assimilation (ray 5). The cycle of integration’s stages reflects a similar sequence of integration as provided by the seven laws of the soul under the cycle of evolution or rays 4, 2, 6, 1, 7, 3, and 5. Both the cycle of integration and the cycle of influences of the seven laws of the soul can be seen to be conditioned by a sequence of the seven rays. In other words, the soul in form evolves through a series of stages linked to the seven-fold influence of the seven rays as they qualify wills of the soul and reflected in the personality and monad. Thus, substance or the not-self (matter) and the Self (consciousness) evolve simultaneously evolving likewise indirectly of the personality and the spirit sheaths.

The Psycho-Synthesis cycle of integration (or the recreation, regeneration, reorientation, and renunciation of the four form types) begins with an individual who is identified with the not-self and is in a state of denial and conflict. And due to this conflict, at some point there is a new source within their environment that captures their attention and desire pulling them into a new will-alignment and life desire direction which can be considered a new alignment phase (with a new potential form of devotion) which leads to them to acknowledging of (a required) new behavior (new potential form of persona to be expressed in a recreated environment) or circumstances to meet that desire, the second part of the alignment phase. The next stage is the accepting of these new wants and circumstances which cannot yet be demonstrated to meet the new desire intent leading to a crisis phase of existing identification and understanding of their present wanting sense of self. Next, they need to understand how to “define and coordinate the new required needs” or wants to represent the light phase which represents the stage of acquiescing. If the light was invocative enough it led to the revelation stage of recognition of not-self and a new vision which indicated the “new direction” (new potential karmic path or causal body development refinement) that would eventually produce the “new activity” producing eventual integration and a new more inclusive instinct.

The table below captures the basic stages of integration of spirit, soul and personality at any level of crisis and thus opportunity for a re-polarization and fusion of the new with the old. The seven laws of the captures the complete cycle of evolution from individualization to adeptship and beyond to Buddhahood. The stages of the integration cycle cover the period of an initiation or of seven initiations likewise.

Integration Stages	Psycho-Synthesis	Laws of the Soul
Alignment	New Source of Will-Force forced upon one normally from Group Environmental Recognized	Law of Sacrifice
Crisis	Acknowledging of (a required) new behavior or Self-identity to meet that group need –Crisis of Identity	Law of Magnetic Impulse
Light	Define & Accepting of these new wants and group needs – Light on New Type of Identity forms needing created	Law of Service
Revelation	Define and coordinate new forms to meet new group needs – Revelation on process to acquire new identity	Law of Repulse
Integration	New more inclusive forms of expression potential created to identify with. Integrate with new Identity through affiliation.	Law of Group Progress
Transition to Greater Life Opportunities & New Sense of Self	Transition to an embodiment of new identity & experiences through new forms created earlier.	Law of Expansive Response
Consciousness Expansion in Inclusiveness	Assimilation Phase or Cycle leading to Form Destruction and Re-creation	Law of Etheric Union

Please keep in mind that the analogy given related to the seven Laws of the Soul does not in any way reflect their true operation upon the plane of the soul. The Laws of Soul demonstrated at various levels on the plane of the soul do reflect on the nature and quality of the four forms created under the Law of Nature and Karma.

Awakening represents the new acknowledged behavior required taking one out of denial and identification with some form consciousness or present not-self status. The integration process summarizes the underlying basic active efforts made by the soul necessary for the unfoldment of personality potential to express the new revised life purpose that the individual now desires. In effect, desire is the reason for all of our self-integrations into our inner and outer individual and group environments and experiences. Whether or not it leads to expansion of consciousness and inclusiveness is determined by the influences of the constellations acquiesced by the soul- personality as a unit.

These four basic directional impulses of the soul embedded in form substance throughout the maturational and developmental life cycle of a person can be seen to represent the basis of a working psychological model of personality (and spiritual) maturation and development from a causative point of view. This understanding unfolds over time as one reflects upon their own personality and spiritual unfoldment event or awareness causes. This simplistic model is the basis of consciousness. The focus will be eventually focussed on meeting real needs as opposed to apparent personality fulfillment needs or better yet wants. It is only at this stage that the inner group can quicken the evolutionary process for the individual unit. The new slogan for the new Aquarian age should be – it takes a whole planet to raise a human being.

Written by HZ 2018-2023

Ten Esoteric Cycles/Stages – Part I (Cycle of Evolution)
Ten Esoteric Cycles/Stages – Part II (Recreation, Regeneration, Reorientation, and Renunciation)