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9. When the directing Agent in the head, deliberately and by an act of the will, raises the accumulated energies at the Base of the Spine, he draws them into the magnetic field of the centers up the spine and blends them with the dual energy emanating from the spleen. The spinal tract with its five centers then awakens into activity, and finally all the forces are gathered together into one fused and blended stream of energy. Three things then happen:

10. The kundalini fire is raised and immediately burns away all the Etheric webs which are the protective barriers, separating the various centers.

11. The Etheric body intensifies its vitality, and the physical body is consequently powerfully vitalised, galvanised, and energised.

12. The entire aura is coordinated and illumined, and the Soul can then, at will, withdraw from its physical vehicle in full waking consciousness, or stay in it as an incarnated Son of God, Whose consciousness is complete on the Physical plane, the Astral plane, and on the mental levels, as well as in the three aspects of lower mind, Causal consciousness and nirvanic realisation. This process finds its consummation at the third initiation.

In the life of the aspirant, the power to cause this tremendous happening is dependent upon the carrying forward of the inner subjective and Spiritual work previously described as the "building of the bridge on the Mental plane" between the above mentioned three aspects.

THE ANTAHKARANA

The human Soul (in contradistinction to the Soul as it functions in its own kingdom, free from the limitations of human life) is imprisoned by and subject to the control of the lower energies for the major part of its experience. Then, upon the Path of Probation, the dual energy of the Soul begins to be increasingly active, and the man seeks consciously to use his mind, and to express love-wisdom on the Physical plane. This is a simple statement of the objective of all aspirants. When the five energies are beginning to be used consciously and wisely in service, a rhythm is then set up between the personality and the Soul. It is as if a magnetic field were then established, and these two vibrating and magnetic units, or grouped energies, begin to swing into each others field of influence. In the early stages, this happens only occasionally and rarely. Later it occurs more constantly, and thus a path of contact is established which eventually becomes the line of least resistance, "the way of familiar approach", as it is sometimes esoterically called. Thus the first half of the "bridge", the Antahkarana, is constructed. By the time the third initiation is undergone, this way is completed, and the initiate can "pass to higher worlds at will, leaving the lower worlds far behind; or he can come again and pass upon the way that leads from dark to light, from light to dark, and from the under, lower worlds into the realms of light".

It is with the work of the "bridge-builders" that we are concerned. First, let it be stated that the real building of the Antahkarana only takes place when the disciple is beginning to be definitely focused upon mental levels, and when therefore his mind is intelligently and consciously functioning. He must begin at this stage to have some more exact idea than has hitherto been the case as to the distinctions existing between the Thinker, the apparatus of thought, and thought itself, beginning with its dual esoteric function which is:

1. The recognition of, and receptivity to, Ideas.
2. The creative faculty of conscious thought-form building.

This necessarily involves a strong mental attitude and a reorientation of the mind to reality. As the disciple begins to focus himself on the Mental plane (and this is the prime intent of the meditation work) he starts working in mental matter and trains himself in the powers and uses of thought. He achieves a measure of mind control; he can turn the searchlight of the mind in two directions—into the world of human endeavor, and into the world of Soul activity. Just as the Soul makes a way for itself by projecting itself in a thread or stream of energy into the three worlds, so the disciple begins consciously to project himself into the higher worlds. His energy goes forth, through the medium of the controlled and directed mind, into the world of higher Spiritual mind and into the realm of the intuition. A reciprocal activity is thus set up.

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