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There exists a gap in consciousness, though not in fact. The sutratmic strand of energy bridges the gap, and tenuously relates Monad, Soul and personality. But the consciousness thread extends only from Soul to personality—from the involutionary sense. From the evolutionary angle (using a paradoxical phrase) there is only a very little conscious awareness existing between the Soul and the personality, from the standpoint of the personality upon the evolutionary arc of the Path of Return.

A man's whole effort is to become aware of the Soul and to transmute his consciousness into that of the Soul, whilst still preserving the consciousness of the personality. As the fusion of Soul and personality is strengthened, the creative thread becomes increasingly active, and thus the three threads steadily fuse, blend, become dominant, and the aspirant is then ready to bridge the gap and unite the Spiritual Triad and the personality, through the medium of the Soul. This involves a direct effort at divine creative work.

The clue to understanding lies perhaps in the thought that hitherto the relation between Soul and personality has been steadily carried forward, primarily by the Soul, as it stimulated the personality to effort, vision and expansion. Now—at this stage—the integrated, rapidly developing personality becomes consciously active, and (in unison with the Soul) starts building the Antahkarana— a fusion of the three threads and a projection of them into the "higher wider reaches" of the Mental plane, until the abstract mind and the lower concrete mind are related by the triple cable.

It is to this process that our studies are related; earlier experience in relation to the three threads is logically regarded as having occurred normally. The man now stands, holding the mind steady in the light; he has some knowledge of meditation, much devotion, and also recognition of the next step.

Knowledge of process gradually becomes clearer; a growing Soul contact is established; occasional flashes of intuitive perception from the Triad occur. All these recognitions are not present in the case of every disciple; some are present; some are not. I am seeking to give a general picture. Individual application and future realisation have to be worked out by the disciple in the crucible of experience.

The goal towards which the average disciple has worked in the past has been Soul contact, leading eventually to what has been called "hierarchical inclusion." The reward of the disciple's effort has been admittance into the Ashram of some Master, increased opportunity to serve in the world, and also the taking of certain initiations. The goal towards which higher disciples are working involves not only Soul contact as its primary objective (for that has to some measure been attained), but the building of the bridge from the personality to the Spiritual Triad, with consequent Monadic realisation and the opening up to the initiate of the Way to the Higher Evolution in its various branches and with its differing goals and objectives. The distinction (I said not "difference," and would have you note this) between the two ways can be seen in the following listed comparisons:

In reality, you have here the two major approaches to God or to the Divine Whole, both merging at the time of the fifth initiation in the one Way, which in itself combines all Ways. Forget not a statement which I have several times made, that the four minor Rays must merge eventually into the third Ray, and that all five must then finally merge into the second and the first Rays; bear also in mind that all these Rays or modes of Being are aspects or sub-rays of the second cosmic Ray of Love and of Fire.

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