Dynamic Symbols II
The Vortex and the Path to Liberation

Part 7

Words of Power and the Vortex

WORDS OF POWER ARE AN IMPORTANT extension of the science of mantras—enunciated sound with spiritual intent. These words of power exist on all levels from the macrocosmic creation of our solar system to the microcosm of the humble disciple who attempts to verbally approximate some interior state of sound that is not yet known subjectively. In the third of the six stages of building the antahkarana bridge the student is given a word of power to enunciate on the high mental plane. It is this word of power enunciated through an act of will that drives the dual rays of the personality and soul and their unique coloring up onto triadic levels.

The next quote by the Tibetan outlines some key insights into the creation and use of words of power. It is particularly important to our discussion about the vortex form which these words of power will assume in their different qualities, potencies, and dynamics. The enunciated word of power must be clothed in some type of divine or sacred geometry or symbolic form. It is this divine form that qualifies and characterizes the dual vortex-vacuum dynamic that we have expanded upon in Dynamic Symbols 2.

Words of Power and Great Words

Excerpts from: Alice A. Bailey. Initiation Human and Solar. pp. 155-160.

1. "All the Words of Power are rooted in the Great Word committed to the Solar Logos at the dawn of manifestation. 
   
   
2. All the Words of Power are permutations or expansions of the three basic sounds, and increase in length as the planes are involved, until the sentences and speech of the finite unit, man, in their myriad differentiations are arrived at. 
   
   
3. Therefore, on the path of return, speech becomes ever more brief, words are more sparingly used, and the time eventually comes when the adept employs formulas of words only as required to carry out specific purposes along two lines: 
   
   
   1. Definite creative processes.
   2. Specific direction of energy.
   
   This, of course, on the planes in the three worlds. 
   
   
4. The aspirant, therefore, has mainly three things to do when preparing for initiation: 
   
   
   1. To control every activity of his threefold lower nature. This involves the application of intelligent energy to every atom of his three sheaths—physical, astral, and mental. It is literally the shining forth of the Brahma, or third aspect, of the inner God.
   2. To control his speech every minute of every day. This is a statement easily made, but most difficult to make practical. He who achieves it is rapidly nearing emancipation. This applies not to the reticence, the moroseness, the silence, and the voicelessness which often distinguishes natures but little evolved, and which are in reality an inarticulate condition. It refers to the controlled use of words to effect certain ends, and the retention of speech energy when not needed,— a very different matter. It involves a realization of cycles; of times and of seasons; it supposes a knowledge of the power of sound, and of the effects produced through the spoken word; it involves an apprehension of the building forces of nature and their due manipulation, and is based on an ability to wield mental matter, and to set it in motion, in order to produce results in physical matter, consonant with the clearly defined purpose of the inner God. It is the shining forth of the second aspect of the Self, the Vishnu, or form-building aspect, which is the prime characteristic of the Ego on its own plane. It would be well to ponder on this.
   3. To meditate, and thus arrive at the purpose of the Ego. By thus meditating the first aspect comes steadily into greater prominence, and the conscious will of the inner God can make itself felt on the physical plane.
5. Every Great Word includes within itself its differentiations, its expansions and permutations, and by its utterance the initiate sets in motion the lesser, through the vibration of the greater. Hence the terrific responsibility and the magnitude of the results achieved. Each Word is committed to the initiate orally and visually. It is spoken to him first in the form of seven syllables, each of which he has to memorize as a separate Word. Then he is shown how to blend these seven so as to make a threefold sound and thus produce more united and far reaching results. Finally the three are blended into one Word which is committed to him. The seven words which form the Great Word at any initiation are communicated to the initiate by the initiates of equal rank with his own. This group divides itself into seven groups, according to subray or ray formation, and each group then chants one word in rapid rotation. Simultaneously, the colors and symbols of the various sounds pass in front of him, so that he hears and sees that which is committed to him. The more advanced group around the throne of office (the three Departmental Heads at the first two initiations, and the Pratyeka Buddhas at the final ones) chant then for him the triple Word which blends the seven, and again he sees it before his inner eye. Finally the Initiator sounds it forth, and the initiate becomes aware within himself, in practical experience, of the one great sound, and knows in one particular center what its vibration is. As is well known, every center is connected with some plane, scheme, ray, and other septenary divisions, and thus the significance of its inner reaction will be apparent. 
   
   
6. The Masters and initiates, in their work of aiding the evolution of the three worlds, concern themselves principally with the seven syllables of the Word of their degree or initiated grade. The three Words which blend the seven are seldom used except under the direct sanction of one of the departmental heads (according to the syllable involved each Word is directly connected with the triple AUM, and therefore with the Brahma, Vishnu, or Shiva aspect, of which the three Heads are the Planetary representatives). 
   
   When any initiate desires to use, for evolutionary purposes, the entire Word as a unit, the sanction of the assembled Lodge has to be gained, for such a Word affects the matter of an entire plane within a planetary scheme, and consequently the matter of those planes which are subsidiary to the one involved. For instance, an initiate of the third degree, in sounding the Word of his degree, affects the matter of the lower mental subplanes, and subsequently the matter of the astral and physical planes. An initiate of the second degree similarly affects the astral plane, and subsequently the physical. Far reaching results are thus achieved, and the work of many is thus affected. 
   
   
7. Every Word, differentiated or synthesized, affects the deva kingdoms, and hence the form-building aspects of manifestation. No sound is ever made without producing a corresponding response in deva substance, and driving multitudes of tiny lives to take specific forms. These forms persist and carry out their functions just as long as the sound which caused them is prolonged, and the specific will-energy of the one who initiated the sound is directed towards the living form. This is equally true of a Solar Logos enunciating the AUM, and thus producing the solar system; of a Planetary Logos sounding his planetary Word, and producing a planetary scheme; of an adept producing results for the helping of humanity on the physical plane; and of an ordinary human being, who—in much differentiated diversified speech—expresses an inner purpose or state of mind, and thus builds a form or vehicle in deva substance. The majority of human beings as yet build unconsciously, and the form constructed is either of a beneficent or maleficent agency, according to the underlying motive or purpose of the man, and will carry out his will as long as its term of being persists. 
   
   
8. Every Word sounded is distinguished by:
   a. A specific colour.
   b. A particular tone.
   c. A special form.
   d. A degree of energy or activity.
   e. The nature of the ensouling life, self-conscious, conscious, or unconscious, God, man, or deva.
   The student, again, will find this equally true of a solar system, of a planetary scheme, of a human being, of a thought form ensouled by an elemental life, and of the atom of the physicist or chemist. In the knowledge of these facts, and in their conscious realization, may be known the true occultist. The Solar Logos sounded forth a Word, the form of our solar system came into being, its color being blue and its note a particular cosmic musical tone. Its degree of activity is of a specific mathematical notation beyond the grasp of the human mind at this stage of development; and the nature of its great ensouling Life, that of the triple Logos, is active, intelligent Love. 
   
   
9. The Great Word of our solar system keys in, if it might be so expressed, with other Words, and is but one Word of the sevenfold Word, known to that great Existence who stands in the same relation to the Solar Logos as the latter does to the Planetary Logos. The sacred Words of seven solar systems (of which ours is but one) make up this septenary sound, which vibrates at this time in the cosmic spheres.

In these nine statements are very cursorily summed up the major truths anent the creative processes in the solar system."

(IHS 155-160)
Alice A. Bailey's Initiation Human and Solar online

All words of power or group formulas given out by the Tibetan to his students are approximations students will use until they are able to ascertain these truths directly. At that point the formulas, words of power, and summarizing propositions will be "self-ascertained" and modified according to one's unique ray make-up and polarization.

There are passages in the Tibetan's works where he says different things about the use of sound, and it is necessary to understand the context in which he is making the statements. Referring to soul levels, he says this in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire:

"Each Identity concerned proceeds to sound a WORD. This sound expands into a mantram and the solar angels vibrate in response. There is a point of interest to be noted here. 

a. The first aspect works through a Word of Power.
b The second aspect works through mantric combinations.
c. The third aspect works through mathematical formulas.

Having sounded the Word the first aspect, represented by the electric fire at the centre of the lotus, sinks back into quiescence, and becomes an abstraction as far as the self-conscious unit is concerned. The work has been begun, the necessary vibration has been set up, and the whole process then proceeds under law. The solar angels have begun their activity, and until their work has reached a very high stage, the Spirit aspect must become, in the causal body, an analogy to the Silent Watcher. As the solar Angels continue sounding out the mantram which is the basis of their work, the lunar Pitris respond to certain sounds in that mantram (not to all by any means at first) and gather out of those sounds the formula under which their work must proceed. So the Word is the basis of the mantram, and the mantram is the basis of the formula. 

At each incarnation, finer forms are required, and the formulas therefore grow more complicated, and the sounds on which they are based become more numerous. In time, the formulas are completed, and the lunar Pitris respond no more to the sounds or mantrams chanted on the mental plane. This is indicative of the stage of perfection, and shows that the three worlds have no more a downward pull for the jiva concerned."

(CF:771-72)
Read more in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire

When the Tibetan's statements about words of power are gathered together, they reveal that words of power also relate to other areas of divine expression—i.e., the spiritual hierarchy, the level of the soul, and even personality levels in which the initiate speaks verbally from some deeper level of alignment in his esoteric statements.

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Figure 7-1
The Great Invocation

The different stanzas of the Great Invocation are great mantric formulas or words of power and are enunciated first on inner planes by the Christ or Bodhisattva before they are grounded in the world of humanity by a corresponding verbal and mental use on physical levels. Members of the Hierarchy swell the power of the mantra by passing it through their bodies of flame. The Tibetan also states that he had to first enunciate a great word of power before he could begin to coalesce the necessary energy to initiate his advanced group work with which we are all so intimately involved as students and disciples.

When the Christ overshadowed Master Jesus to carry out His high purpose, many of the statements that he enunciated verbally on the physical plane were words of power that came from a deep and divine source. The purpose of the science of invocation and spiritual contact is to create a direct and unimpeded line of descent from the highest interior levels of sound and energy right down to the most mundane and exoteric though the spoken word. This is why an initiate or master on the physical plane can be said to "occultly save the lesser lives" he has come to serve. It is because of the unbroken continuity of this sound. A Master can enunciate a word of power that is first and foremost a cosmic principle and later becomes a proclamation on the form side that can help build a bridge for those who can listen and be attentive to the greater revelation within. This bridge is essentially a radiation or auric vibration of the inner vortex of the initiate's life.

When a high initiate or master of wisdom speaks on the physical plane, his words will "be like fire" and have the potential to awaken the latent seeds of love that exist within all of humanity and all living organisms. There is much controversy surrounding the identity and name of "the one for whom the whole word waits" and why he has failed to manifest externally or publicly at this time. Perhaps the whole concept of avatars and the externalization of the Hierarchy needs to be reinterpreted in the light of a greater group dynamic or occult event in which many will participate simultaneously. If humanity is destined to become the savior of the planet, we must emphasize the power of the group when we think of the doctrine of avatars, and not just an individual person however advanced.

The consciousness thread which is attached to the head, the life thread which is attached to the heart are the dual threads which when conjoined with the thread of creative activity make up the completed rainbow bridge. When seen in their more esoteric and expanded context they are essentially threads of projected light that create the dual-vortex-sphere. There are seven levels of the vortex sphere, one for each of the rays and one for each of the planes. All seven of these different levels of creative life will be connected by these energy currents or threads. Eventually these threads merge into the One life.

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Figure 7-2
Shamballa: The All-Seeing Eye

There are three parts to every rotating and cylindrical life on the inner planes, which reflect the three aspects of deity: (1) the first aspect which is the initiating Will hidden at the center; (2) the second aspect which is the consciousness aspect, the divine builder, or the light-bearing intermediary; and (3) the third aspect which is the chalice-crucible-container that supplies the form to hold the other two aspects temporarily in time and space. All three of these interconnected aspects go into the creation, sustaining, and eventual dissolution of all occult spherical forms on the inner planes.

The various types of triangular geometric shapes and polyhedral forms that are presented in Dynamic Symbols Part 2 are very important for the advanced disciple to study, because they are the mediating link between the second and third aspects or principles, and if properly constructed according to certain occult standards become an invocative bridge that can direct the student towards intuitive realms.

A properly constructed symbol that is first rendered on the high mental plane and later infused with the soul's warmth and inner light can contain both the second and third divine aspects in some variation. Any sound—be it the OM, words of power, or some mantra—enunciated on the high mental plane with prolonged intention will galvanize these three principles into a spherical or toroidal form.

On soul levels we find there are seven egoic color-groups with their unique notes. When one's unique soul note is known and blended with the personality note, these two blended energies can be further driven by the use of the meditator's will up onto triadic levels through the use of their unique "word of power".

A "word of power" is an interior enunciation by the disciple within the meditative state. The three upper triadic notes—atma, buddhi and manas—must eventually become blended with the three lower notes of the personality. This "word of power" used by the disciple at this point to project his fused personality and soul rays up onto triadic levels should not be confused with the great "words of power" that are used by Cosmic or Solar entities to initiate some type of advanced work at the beginning or end of some major cycle.

Looking from above down and following the descent of spiritual energy and sound into the material realms we see that the seven egoic notes or words will eventually descend into sacred languages such as Sensa, becoming even further diminished in potency and power as they fragment into a multiplicity of sounds.

One day color and sound, expressed or enunciated in a new way, will be the most important component in communication on the physical plane. Why is that so? Because color and sound are the closest approximations to the seven ray lives or groupings as they exist on their own planes. (Read the descriptions of the Celestial Artisans in The Urantia Book.)

The sounding of the Om on the correct note, the use of "ray words of power", and the use of ray mantras, although occupying somewhat different places in the hierarchy of invocative work, all have one common goal—to link the meditator, the invoking agent, via the creation of a dual-vortex-vacuum first to the soul and later to the upper triad and One monadic life.

It must be kept in mind that all of these seemingly diverse principles that we have outlined in Dynamic Symbols 2 are intimately connected through the matrix of sound and light and do not actually occupy such separate places as may first appear by an analysis of the lower mind. Nor should we think that these geometric shapes we have discussed are actual physical things, as we understand the term, but rather geometric patterns of exquisite inner light and beauty that are moving and shifting all the time.

The idea of something being "formless" is a relative statement used by members of the human kingdom when they attempt to describe those levels of revelation that are simply unknown or outside their field of reference and sensitivity. All seven subplanes of the cosmic physical plane must be composed of some type of lighted substance however ethereal, transparent or radiatory.

The Tibetan suggests to those who have the eyes to see that even Shamballa situated on the high logoic plane still retains some type of form however tenuous:

"It is a world of pure energy, of light and of directed force; it can be seen as streams and centers of force, all forming a pattern of consummate beauty, all potently invocative of the world of the soul and of the world of phenomena; it therefore constitutes in a very real sense the world of causes and of initiation."  (DNA2:293)

"Purpose itself is but energy released within confines of the Council Chamber, there it must take shape. Behind it looms that which has brought it into being." (The fourth point of revelation.)  (DNA2:348)

Figure 7-3 below gives some idea of this hierarchy of interconnected sound. The cone-shaped images to the left of this chart are modified from a chart taken from The Rays and the Initiations, and on the right side there are some generic ideas about how they might relate to the three spiritual principles (AUM) as sound and the different initiations. The right side of this chart, which outlines the dynamics of sound, should be taken only as an approximation.

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Figure 7-3

Figure 7-4 What this "word of power" might look like as "linking light" or the "bridging radiance".  Click to enlarge.

"...you mentally utter this sound or word of power and visually attempt to see it performing the esoteric miracle of bridge building..." (R&I:514)

THE PICTURE ABOVE IS AN ATTEMPT TO VISUALIZE this great sound—the first ray word of power—as it might be seen or heard on the inner planes vibrating (Figure 7-4). The image may help to stimulate the creative imagination of the occult student, who will then pursue this highly arcane process or science under more internal and subjective conditions. If students have some visual image upon which to focus they can more easily transfer this highly arcane and esoteric science up onto the higher subplanes of the mental plane.

The red elongated shafts coming down in a diagonal direction are actual pictures of a blast of sound coming out of the throat of the percussion instrument the trumpet. These physical sound waves have been converted into a visible image through sensitive recording equipment. Any enunciated sound, either on the physical or on the mental planes, creates waves or vibrational frequencies that undulate in electrical and magnetic waves. These waves will conform to the shape of the note or the key sound in which they are enunciated.

It is interesting to see that the image of the trumpet blast looks very similar to a sword, a symbol often associated with the first ray and its method of work, which is destroying old forms or clearing a path for the second and third rays to initiate their building work.

The trumpet symbology occurs in a quote by the Tibetan that clarifies this advanced first ray work and its relationship to sacrifice and the mystery of fire:

"It deals with the purposes and plans of the Silent Watchers over the three planes—the five, and the seven; it deals with the dynamic force of the great Destroying Angels on all the planes, who will eventually—through the manipulation of the three forms of energy—bring to an end all that is. These angels are a mysterious group of fohatic Lives Who sound forth the trumpets of destruction, and by means of the notes sounded produce that shattering which will set loose the energy of forms." (CF:882-83)   (Read more in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire)

Click to enlarge.
Figure 7-5
Cross-section of a dual vortex looking from above down.

From this image of a first ray alignment we can see the law of analogy, correspondence, or sympathetic vibration working out. Like attracts like, and the greater responds to the demands of the lesser. The meditator through the science of color and sound "projects" a "linking light" or "bridging radiance" through the third stage of building the antahkarana with a clear understanding of the different principles involved in this unique ray technique. What is outlined here can equally apply to the other six rays and their unique words of power.

The true sound signatures of this word of power or agent of the will would obviously be vastly greater in potency and magnitude. Different wave frequencies or vibrations in various geometric designs, colors, and sounds might be seen issuing forth from the throat of the spiritual trumpet depending on the ray invoked or enunciated.

Visually we might see this esoteric process as a dual vortex. One vortex would be positioned on the bottom of the rotating sphere or toroid and another on the top, producing something similar to the image in Figure 7-5, when visualized looking down. When the two meet and blend communication between the lesser and greater is consummated. These vortices are the symbology behind the long horn of the unicorn we have outlined and explained in Dynamic Symbols Part I Appendix IV titled "Trumpeted Words". What is the long horn of the unicorn but a symbol of rotary spiral-cyclic motion that climaxes in a searing point of piercing Will? It is an inner trumpet out of the throat of which issues forth the sounds of God's hidden Purpose, not language as we understand it, but pure first subplane devic fire. Although we have placed particular emphasis on the first ray trumpet sound form, the trumpet shape also relates to one or other ends of the dual vortex. Therefore the vortex trumpet design can be generally associated with any of the seven rays.

The Tibetan further elaborates on this science of invocation-evocation through the esoteric use of sound, light and the creation of a vortex in the follow excerpt. This same principle can be applied to the individual or the group.

"Gradually the antahkarana is built and in this way the 'greater Light and the lesser light' are consciously related. A path of light and energy is established or created between these two divine aspects. As time goes on, there appears in the egoic group what is technically known as the 'linking light' or the 'bridging radiance' . . . 

"The point of light shines forth. It waxes and it wanes. The point becomes a line through the starting of a vortex and from the centre of the whirling force; there comes a voice—invocative and clear. 

"The One Who sits in silent work, alone and unafraid (because the part is not alone and the group is unafraid) looks down, catches the light, reflects the whirling force and hears the voice." (DNA1:714-15)

This initiating thread or bolt of fohatic will symbolized by the black disk in the center of the illustration above, Figure 7-5, is impulsed from the first aspect of deity. When this abstract and abstruse force impacts the grosser and heavier substance of the third divine aspect a spherical life is formed. The second aspect of deity or the love principle is the radiance and the light-sound found at the heart of all occult organisms.

The vacuum is the intermediate zone symbolized by the black disk that is forming at the center of this image and is situated midway between the invocative agent and the life or force it is attempting to contact and evoke. Each ray will exhibit its own predominate color and sound signatures during this magical act of alignment, as we have attempted to demonstrate in our preceding image of the trumpet blast.

A spiritual vacuum is created when a ray mantram or word of power is enunciated on the high mental plane and is analogous to an expanding atom, shell, or bubble that is open at each end by a vortex.

We are told by the Tibetan that nature abhors a vacuum and into the vacuum some type of force or energy descends or rushes, widening and strengthening the communication between the two entities. This technique is the apotheosis of bridge-building and will require a clear point of focus by the personality in its image-making capacity.

The dual vortices and subsequent vacuum break down barriers through the rotary and spiral-cyclic motion of its expanding walls. It expands into wider concentric circles or bands until a mature sphere of some type is created.

When the vacuum is formed between the personality ray and the soul ray and later the dual rays of the personality and soul ray and the one monadic life, liberation takes place. The intermediary or soul is no longer needed and the man escapes the prison house of matter. This we know is the result of 3 secondary vortices or vacuums created between the lower triad of the personality—the concrete mind, astral body and physical–etheric—and the upper triad—atma, buddhi manas. Eventually these 3 lesser vortices fuse and become the great dual vortex between the "spirit", the one monadic life, and the integrated and fused personality, "matter".

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Figure 7-7

This work is the epitome of alignment and is referred to as the completed "rainbow bridge", because it is built out of all the seven rays and their respective ray colors.

Under other conditions we are told by the Tibetan that the white magician can also create a sphere or barrier composed of atoms that can repel as well as insulate. A vacuum formation can create a barrier or wall between different entities that must be separated during advanced initiatory experiences. This is done out of the safety of the participants in these advanced rituals and not out of any desire to be separative or non-inclusive. The door of initiation is electrical in nature and only those units of the human kingdom who vibrate in unison with this door are allowed entry; all others are repelled.

Sound and light are the key agencies of all this advanced work and how all facets of the divine from the highest to the lowest are connected.

As any ray life descends to the next lower level or plane it travels as an enunciated sound. On the great path of return these sounds become more powerful and expansive as the disciple is able to raise his or her consciousness. The greater always includes the lesser but the lesser is unable to comprehend the greater. These initiatory sounds, mantrams and various words of power are held in secret by the various grades of spiritual and hierarchical workers and only shared with those who have made certain levels of progress and passed certain tests. These tests relate to the assimilation of energy in its different types and grades.

Click to see larger image. Figure 7-8

The Marriage of Shiva and Shakti

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO CLARIFY THE GREAT REVELATION that awaits humanity when in group formation we undergo the great lifting out of the tomb of matter and face for the first time the awesome kundalini fire. This is the experience that awaits all disciples who have purified the lower form, aligned with the soul, and let the principle of love dominate their lives. It is an act or event of Identification, though the word is inadequate to describe this great expansion of the "Will-Life".

Suddenly slow and rhythmic expansions of consciousness are replaced with an explosion of light that literally projects the initiate forward into realms for which there are no adequate descriptions to qualify the stupendous moment wherein one's whole nature shrinks or contracts before the awesome spectacle of the first aspect of deity. This event destroys for all times the last vestiges of man's attachment to the physical world and connects the highest and lowest centers into one burning expression of fire that then becomes lost in pure silence or the darkness of laya that exists prior to all form life. This is the culminating meaning of the seventh ray word of power, "the highest and the lowest meet."

No one can say they have understood the true meaning of the Seventh Ray Lord until they have first lifted the great serpent power from the base of the spine center to the crown or thousand-petalled lotus. This is the seventh heaven, the seventh seal or gate so often spoken of in vague and cryptic terms by different mystical and metaphysical writers. All occult training in its different departments and grades is a prelude to this awesome lifting, the divine consummation wherein Shakti the great feminine principle fuses with Shiva to rule as one over all creation from their secret abode of electric fire.

Robert Oppenheimer, the famous nuclear physicist, helped recognize and was responsible for the first release historically of kundalini fire in the mineral kingdom. Upon first viewing the great thermo-nuclear explosion of fire and light in the first atomic bomb at White Sands, Nevada, he quoted the Bhagavad-gita when Krishna reveals his true form to Arjuna, blazing with the light of "a thousand suns all risen at once" and says: "Behold, I am Time, the mighty destroyer of worlds, come forth here to annihilate the worlds." (See our Bhagavad-gita link page, for translations and resources online.)

The next statements are important from several points of view: 1) They reflect on the physical plane the powerful transformation that awaits all advanced disciples and initiates who have prepared themselves for this great serpent uprising. 2) What James N. Rose and Robert Oppenheimer say about symbols and their inner significance echoes one of our themes regarding the power of symbolic language and how visual symbols can have a reality on a higher plane of existence.

"When asked some years after viewing the first atomic bomb explosion, he recalled that as he "saw" the billowing glowing atomic cloud of radiation he was in fact seeing the second and third derivatives (factors of mathematical Calculus equations) vanish infinitesimally. His physical eyes were looking at one reality while his mind was appreciating another perception just as conceptually real. Oppenheimer's remark points up the vitality that words and symbols have on their own, separate yet still connected via the realm of physical experience. Symbols may stand in for physical reality but they are experienced on their own and carry as much weight and importance as material things; especially when we accept and enact the involved associations. From The Integrity Papers by James N. Rose titled "The Wisdom of Robert Oppenheimer".  (See the Conceptual Institute website.)

The key phrase in this paragraph is "when we accept and enact the involved associations." "Energy follows thought." Visualization and the picture-making faculty are required in every alignment or meditational form we practice, and invite us to "enact the involved associations" and build the necessary bridges from one body, one sphere, plane, or ray to another.

Here is a quote by DK clarifying the law of correspondence and how, by creating links or bridges from one divine principle to another, a wider and more expanded view can be grasped.

"We must resign ourselves to the fact that the only way in which we can find the clue to the mystery of the rays, systems, and hierarchies, lies in the study of the law of correspondences or analogy. It is the one thread by which we can find our way through the labyrinth, and the one ray of light that shines through the darkness of the surrounding ignorance." (IHS:6)

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Figure 7-9

Identification: The Divine Breath

• 10.   Father-Mother spin a Web, whose upper end is fastened to Spirit, the Light of the One Darkness, and the lower one to its shadowy end, Matter; and this Web is the Universe, spun out of the Two Substances made in One, which is Svabhavat.



• 11.   It expands when the Breath of Fire is upon it; it contracts when the Breath of the Mother touches it. Then the Sons dissociate and scatter, to return into their Mother's Bosom, at the end of the Great Day, and re-become one with her. When it is cooling, it becomes radiant. Its Sons expand and contract through their own Selves and Hearts; they embrace Infinitude.

H.P.Blavatsky. Secret Doctrine I, Stanzas of Dyzan, Stanza III. SD1.pdf
Flipping books, archive.org: SD1, SD2, SD3, SD Index

THE SCIENCE OF THE BREATH IS THE SCIENCE OF LAYA YOGA and the supreme technique whereby man is taught to control all the inner forces of his different bodies and sheathes. There are many levels of pranayama. The first operates through the seventh ray charging and distributing the etheric forces throughout man's tiny system; the last operates through the first ray and has to do with awakening the great and powerful kundalini fire. The divine word of power is carried forward on the fire breath of God, and is the one all-pervading sound that peals forth through the logoic plane.

When the disciple has done the preliminary work of soul infusion he will learn the technique whereby he will fan the fires of matter until they become combustible. Then the first and seventh rays will fuse and the indwelling spirit returns to its source. Only when the disciple can "stand in spiritual being" will he understand the occult terms of divine indifference, identification, and isolated unity. Only when his "eye is single" will his body and his whole being be filled with light supernal.

When the individual breath of one's personal existence is relinquished and one submits to the divine breath—or the divine breath takes over—all the veils are rent and the serpent power will rise in all its glory burning out the last of the hindering veils. All "directional sounds" which constitute one or other of the seven cosmic paths of return for humanity will first be found in the personality ray and the soul ray. It is only when the greater light of spirit and the lesser light of matter merge that all can be known.

When one's individual breath is relinquished to the greater breath of the group life, then breath as we understand the term will cease, the monad will absorb the spark, and silence will finally reign supreme. Only those initiates who have learned the technique of "occult breath" and "occult obedience" can know their existence has always dwelt in another place outside of both time and space. Only then can we speak the liberating "words of power" that will free the prisoners of the planet and set ablaze in all human hearts the desire for inner growth and spiritual realization. In this regard the Tibetan has said:

"The will and the breath, my brother, are occultly synonymous terms. In this statement you have the clue to the ending of maya. God is the ONE WHO can withdraw and, in withdrawing, dispel, dissipate and devitalize all that has been created—using those words in their fullest significance."  (GWP:245)

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Figure 7-10

Dynamic Symbols II
The Vortex and the Path to Liberation

Part 7

Words of Power and the Vortex

WORDS OF POWER ARE AN IMPORTANT extension of the science of mantras—enunciated sound with spiritual intent. These words of power exist on all levels from the macrocosmic creation of our solar system to the microcosm of the humble disciple who attempts to verbally approximate some interior state of sound that is not yet known subjectively. In the third of the six stages of building the antahkarana bridge the student is given a word of power to enunciate on the high mental plane. It is this word of power enunciated through an act of will that drives the dual rays of the personality and soul and their unique coloring up onto triadic levels.

The next quote by the Tibetan outlines some key insights into the creation and use of words of power. It is particularly important to our discussion about the vortex form which these words of power will assume in their different qualities, potencies, and dynamics. The enunciated word of power must be clothed in some type of divine or sacred geometry or symbolic form. It is this divine form that qualifies and characterizes the dual vortex-vacuum dynamic that we have expanded upon in Dynamic Symbols 2.

Words of Power and Great Words

Excerpts from: Alice A. Bailey. Initiation Human and Solar. pp. 155-160.

1. "All the Words of Power are rooted in the Great Word committed to the Solar Logos at the dawn of manifestation. 
   
   
2. All the Words of Power are permutations or expansions of the three basic sounds, and increase in length as the planes are involved, until the sentences and speech of the finite unit, man, in their myriad differentiations are arrived at. 
   
   
3. Therefore, on the path of return, speech becomes ever more brief, words are more sparingly used, and the time eventually comes when the adept employs formulas of words only as required to carry out specific purposes along two lines: 
   
   
   1. Definite creative processes.
   2. Specific direction of energy.
   
   This, of course, on the planes in the three worlds. 
   
   
4. The aspirant, therefore, has mainly three things to do when preparing for initiation: 
   
   
   1. To control every activity of his threefold lower nature. This involves the application of intelligent energy to every atom of his three sheaths—physical, astral, and mental. It is literally the shining forth of the Brahma, or third aspect, of the inner God.
   2. To control his speech every minute of every day. This is a statement easily made, but most difficult to make practical. He who achieves it is rapidly nearing emancipation. This applies not to the reticence, the moroseness, the silence, and the voicelessness which often distinguishes natures but little evolved, and which are in reality an inarticulate condition. It refers to the controlled use of words to effect certain ends, and the retention of speech energy when not needed,— a very different matter. It involves a realization of cycles; of times and of seasons; it supposes a knowledge of the power of sound, and of the effects produced through the spoken word; it involves an apprehension of the building forces of nature and their due manipulation, and is based on an ability to wield mental matter, and to set it in motion, in order to produce results in physical matter, consonant with the clearly defined purpose of the inner God. It is the shining forth of the second aspect of the Self, the Vishnu, or form-building aspect, which is the prime characteristic of the Ego on its own plane. It would be well to ponder on this.
   3. To meditate, and thus arrive at the purpose of the Ego. By thus meditating the first aspect comes steadily into greater prominence, and the conscious will of the inner God can make itself felt on the physical plane.
5. Every Great Word includes within itself its differentiations, its expansions and permutations, and by its utterance the initiate sets in motion the lesser, through the vibration of the greater. Hence the terrific responsibility and the magnitude of the results achieved. Each Word is committed to the initiate orally and visually. It is spoken to him first in the form of seven syllables, each of which he has to memorize as a separate Word. Then he is shown how to blend these seven so as to make a threefold sound and thus produce more united and far reaching results. Finally the three are blended into one Word which is committed to him. The seven words which form the Great Word at any initiation are communicated to the initiate by the initiates of equal rank with his own. This group divides itself into seven groups, according to subray or ray formation, and each group then chants one word in rapid rotation. Simultaneously, the colors and symbols of the various sounds pass in front of him, so that he hears and sees that which is committed to him. The more advanced group around the throne of office (the three Departmental Heads at the first two initiations, and the Pratyeka Buddhas at the final ones) chant then for him the triple Word which blends the seven, and again he sees it before his inner eye. Finally the Initiator sounds it forth, and the initiate becomes aware within himself, in practical experience, of the one great sound, and knows in one particular center what its vibration is. As is well known, every center is connected with some plane, scheme, ray, and other septenary divisions, and thus the significance of its inner reaction will be apparent. 
   
   
6. The Masters and initiates, in their work of aiding the evolution of the three worlds, concern themselves principally with the seven syllables of the Word of their degree or initiated grade. The three Words which blend the seven are seldom used except under the direct sanction of one of the departmental heads (according to the syllable involved each Word is directly connected with the triple AUM, and therefore with the Brahma, Vishnu, or Shiva aspect, of which the three Heads are the Planetary representatives). 
   
   When any initiate desires to use, for evolutionary purposes, the entire Word as a unit, the sanction of the assembled Lodge has to be gained, for such a Word affects the matter of an entire plane within a planetary scheme, and consequently the matter of those planes which are subsidiary to the one involved. For instance, an initiate of the third degree, in sounding the Word of his degree, affects the matter of the lower mental subplanes, and subsequently the matter of the astral and physical planes. An initiate of the second degree similarly affects the astral plane, and subsequently the physical. Far reaching results are thus achieved, and the work of many is thus affected. 
   
   
7. Every Word, differentiated or synthesized, affects the deva kingdoms, and hence the form-building aspects of manifestation. No sound is ever made without producing a corresponding response in deva substance, and driving multitudes of tiny lives to take specific forms. These forms persist and carry out their functions just as long as the sound which caused them is prolonged, and the specific will-energy of the one who initiated the sound is directed towards the living form. This is equally true of a Solar Logos enunciating the AUM, and thus producing the solar system; of a Planetary Logos sounding his planetary Word, and producing a planetary scheme; of an adept producing results for the helping of humanity on the physical plane; and of an ordinary human being, who—in much differentiated diversified speech—expresses an inner purpose or state of mind, and thus builds a form or vehicle in deva substance. The majority of human beings as yet build unconsciously, and the form constructed is either of a beneficent or maleficent agency, according to the underlying motive or purpose of the man, and will carry out his will as long as its term of being persists. 
   
   
8. Every Word sounded is distinguished by:
   a. A specific colour.
   b. A particular tone.
   c. A special form.
   d. A degree of energy or activity.
   e. The nature of the ensouling life, self-conscious, conscious, or unconscious, God, man, or deva.
   The student, again, will find this equally true of a solar system, of a planetary scheme, of a human being, of a thought form ensouled by an elemental life, and of the atom of the physicist or chemist. In the knowledge of these facts, and in their conscious realization, may be known the true occultist. The Solar Logos sounded forth a Word, the form of our solar system came into being, its color being blue and its note a particular cosmic musical tone. Its degree of activity is of a specific mathematical notation beyond the grasp of the human mind at this stage of development; and the nature of its great ensouling Life, that of the triple Logos, is active, intelligent Love. 
   
   
9. The Great Word of our solar system keys in, if it might be so expressed, with other Words, and is but one Word of the sevenfold Word, known to that great Existence who stands in the same relation to the Solar Logos as the latter does to the Planetary Logos. The sacred Words of seven solar systems (of which ours is but one) make up this septenary sound, which vibrates at this time in the cosmic spheres.

In these nine statements are very cursorily summed up the major truths anent the creative processes in the solar system."

(IHS 155-160)
Alice A. Bailey's Initiation Human and Solar online

All words of power or group formulas given out by the Tibetan to his students are approximations students will use until they are able to ascertain these truths directly. At that point the formulas, words of power, and summarizing propositions will be "self-ascertained" and modified according to one's unique ray make-up and polarization.

There are passages in the Tibetan's works where he says different things about the use of sound, and it is necessary to understand the context in which he is making the statements. Referring to soul levels, he says this in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire:

"Each Identity concerned proceeds to sound a WORD. This sound expands into a mantram and the solar angels vibrate in response. There is a point of interest to be noted here. 

a. The first aspect works through a Word of Power.
b The second aspect works through mantric combinations.
c. The third aspect works through mathematical formulas.

Having sounded the Word the first aspect, represented by the electric fire at the centre of the lotus, sinks back into quiescence, and becomes an abstraction as far as the self-conscious unit is concerned. The work has been begun, the necessary vibration has been set up, and the whole process then proceeds under law. The solar angels have begun their activity, and until their work has reached a very high stage, the Spirit aspect must become, in the causal body, an analogy to the Silent Watcher. As the solar Angels continue sounding out the mantram which is the basis of their work, the lunar Pitris respond to certain sounds in that mantram (not to all by any means at first) and gather out of those sounds the formula under which their work must proceed. So the Word is the basis of the mantram, and the mantram is the basis of the formula. 

At each incarnation, finer forms are required, and the formulas therefore grow more complicated, and the sounds on which they are based become more numerous. In time, the formulas are completed, and the lunar Pitris respond no more to the sounds or mantrams chanted on the mental plane. This is indicative of the stage of perfection, and shows that the three worlds have no more a downward pull for the jiva concerned."

(CF:771-72)
Read more in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire

When the Tibetan's statements about words of power are gathered together, they reveal that words of power also relate to other areas of divine expression—i.e., the spiritual hierarchy, the level of the soul, and even personality levels in which the initiate speaks verbally from some deeper level of alignment in his esoteric statements.

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Figure 7-1
The Great Invocation

The different stanzas of the Great Invocation are great mantric formulas or words of power and are enunciated first on inner planes by the Christ or Bodhisattva before they are grounded in the world of humanity by a corresponding verbal and mental use on physical levels. Members of the Hierarchy swell the power of the mantra by passing it through their bodies of flame. The Tibetan also states that he had to first enunciate a great word of power before he could begin to coalesce the necessary energy to initiate his advanced group work with which we are all so intimately involved as students and disciples.

When the Christ overshadowed Master Jesus to carry out His high purpose, many of the statements that he enunciated verbally on the physical plane were words of power that came from a deep and divine source. The purpose of the science of invocation and spiritual contact is to create a direct and unimpeded line of descent from the highest interior levels of sound and energy right down to the most mundane and exoteric though the spoken word. This is why an initiate or master on the physical plane can be said to "occultly save the lesser lives" he has come to serve. It is because of the unbroken continuity of this sound. A Master can enunciate a word of power that is first and foremost a cosmic principle and later becomes a proclamation on the form side that can help build a bridge for those who can listen and be attentive to the greater revelation within. This bridge is essentially a radiation or auric vibration of the inner vortex of the initiate's life.

When a high initiate or master of wisdom speaks on the physical plane, his words will "be like fire" and have the potential to awaken the latent seeds of love that exist within all of humanity and all living organisms. There is much controversy surrounding the identity and name of "the one for whom the whole word waits" and why he has failed to manifest externally or publicly at this time. Perhaps the whole concept of avatars and the externalization of the Hierarchy needs to be reinterpreted in the light of a greater group dynamic or occult event in which many will participate simultaneously. If humanity is destined to become the savior of the planet, we must emphasize the power of the group when we think of the doctrine of avatars, and not just an individual person however advanced.

The consciousness thread which is attached to the head, the life thread which is attached to the heart are the dual threads which when conjoined with the thread of creative activity make up the completed rainbow bridge. When seen in their more esoteric and expanded context they are essentially threads of projected light that create the dual-vortex-sphere. There are seven levels of the vortex sphere, one for each of the rays and one for each of the planes. All seven of these different levels of creative life will be connected by these energy currents or threads. Eventually these threads merge into the One life.

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Figure 7-2
Shamballa: The All-Seeing Eye

There are three parts to every rotating and cylindrical life on the inner planes, which reflect the three aspects of deity: (1) the first aspect which is the initiating Will hidden at the center; (2) the second aspect which is the consciousness aspect, the divine builder, or the light-bearing intermediary; and (3) the third aspect which is the chalice-crucible-container that supplies the form to hold the other two aspects temporarily in time and space. All three of these interconnected aspects go into the creation, sustaining, and eventual dissolution of all occult spherical forms on the inner planes.

The various types of triangular geometric shapes and polyhedral forms that are presented in Dynamic Symbols Part 2 are very important for the advanced disciple to study, because they are the mediating link between the second and third aspects or principles, and if properly constructed according to certain occult standards become an invocative bridge that can direct the student towards intuitive realms.

A properly constructed symbol that is first rendered on the high mental plane and later infused with the soul's warmth and inner light can contain both the second and third divine aspects in some variation. Any sound—be it the OM, words of power, or some mantra—enunciated on the high mental plane with prolonged intention will galvanize these three principles into a spherical or toroidal form.

On soul levels we find there are seven egoic color-groups with their unique notes. When one's unique soul note is known and blended with the personality note, these two blended energies can be further driven by the use of the meditator's will up onto triadic levels through the use of their unique "word of power".

A "word of power" is an interior enunciation by the disciple within the meditative state. The three upper triadic notes—atma, buddhi and manas—must eventually become blended with the three lower notes of the personality. This "word of power" used by the disciple at this point to project his fused personality and soul rays up onto triadic levels should not be confused with the great "words of power" that are used by Cosmic or Solar entities to initiate some type of advanced work at the beginning or end of some major cycle.

Looking from above down and following the descent of spiritual energy and sound into the material realms we see that the seven egoic notes or words will eventually descend into sacred languages such as Sensa, becoming even further diminished in potency and power as they fragment into a multiplicity of sounds.

One day color and sound, expressed or enunciated in a new way, will be the most important component in communication on the physical plane. Why is that so? Because color and sound are the closest approximations to the seven ray lives or groupings as they exist on their own planes. (Read the descriptions of the Celestial Artisans in The Urantia Book.)

The sounding of the Om on the correct note, the use of "ray words of power", and the use of ray mantras, although occupying somewhat different places in the hierarchy of invocative work, all have one common goal—to link the meditator, the invoking agent, via the creation of a dual-vortex-vacuum first to the soul and later to the upper triad and One monadic life.

It must be kept in mind that all of these seemingly diverse principles that we have outlined in Dynamic Symbols 2 are intimately connected through the matrix of sound and light and do not actually occupy such separate places as may first appear by an analysis of the lower mind. Nor should we think that these geometric shapes we have discussed are actual physical things, as we understand the term, but rather geometric patterns of exquisite inner light and beauty that are moving and shifting all the time.

The idea of something being "formless" is a relative statement used by members of the human kingdom when they attempt to describe those levels of revelation that are simply unknown or outside their field of reference and sensitivity. All seven subplanes of the cosmic physical plane must be composed of some type of lighted substance however ethereal, transparent or radiatory.

The Tibetan suggests to those who have the eyes to see that even Shamballa situated on the high logoic plane still retains some type of form however tenuous:

"It is a world of pure energy, of light and of directed force; it can be seen as streams and centers of force, all forming a pattern of consummate beauty, all potently invocative of the world of the soul and of the world of phenomena; it therefore constitutes in a very real sense the world of causes and of initiation."  (DNA2:293)

"Purpose itself is but energy released within confines of the Council Chamber, there it must take shape. Behind it looms that which has brought it into being." (The fourth point of revelation.)  (DNA2:348)

Figure 7-3 below gives some idea of this hierarchy of interconnected sound. The cone-shaped images to the left of this chart are modified from a chart taken from The Rays and the Initiations, and on the right side there are some generic ideas about how they might relate to the three spiritual principles (AUM) as sound and the different initiations. The right side of this chart, which outlines the dynamics of sound, should be taken only as an approximation.

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Figure 7-3

Figure 7-4 What this "word of power" might look like as "linking light" or the "bridging radiance".  Click to enlarge.

"...you mentally utter this sound or word of power and visually attempt to see it performing the esoteric miracle of bridge building..." (R&I:514)

THE PICTURE ABOVE IS AN ATTEMPT TO VISUALIZE this great sound—the first ray word of power—as it might be seen or heard on the inner planes vibrating (Figure 7-4). The image may help to stimulate the creative imagination of the occult student, who will then pursue this highly arcane process or science under more internal and subjective conditions. If students have some visual image upon which to focus they can more easily transfer this highly arcane and esoteric science up onto the higher subplanes of the mental plane.

The red elongated shafts coming down in a diagonal direction are actual pictures of a blast of sound coming out of the throat of the percussion instrument the trumpet. These physical sound waves have been converted into a visible image through sensitive recording equipment. Any enunciated sound, either on the physical or on the mental planes, creates waves or vibrational frequencies that undulate in electrical and magnetic waves. These waves will conform to the shape of the note or the key sound in which they are enunciated.

It is interesting to see that the image of the trumpet blast looks very similar to a sword, a symbol often associated with the first ray and its method of work, which is destroying old forms or clearing a path for the second and third rays to initiate their building work.

The trumpet symbology occurs in a quote by the Tibetan that clarifies this advanced first ray work and its relationship to sacrifice and the mystery of fire:

"It deals with the purposes and plans of the Silent Watchers over the three planes—the five, and the seven; it deals with the dynamic force of the great Destroying Angels on all the planes, who will eventually—through the manipulation of the three forms of energy—bring to an end all that is. These angels are a mysterious group of fohatic Lives Who sound forth the trumpets of destruction, and by means of the notes sounded produce that shattering which will set loose the energy of forms." (CF:882-83)   (Read more in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire)

Click to enlarge.
Figure 7-5
Cross-section of a dual vortex looking from above down.

From this image of a first ray alignment we can see the law of analogy, correspondence, or sympathetic vibration working out. Like attracts like, and the greater responds to the demands of the lesser. The meditator through the science of color and sound "projects" a "linking light" or "bridging radiance" through the third stage of building the antahkarana with a clear understanding of the different principles involved in this unique ray technique. What is outlined here can equally apply to the other six rays and their unique words of power.

The true sound signatures of this word of power or agent of the will would obviously be vastly greater in potency and magnitude. Different wave frequencies or vibrations in various geometric designs, colors, and sounds might be seen issuing forth from the throat of the spiritual trumpet depending on the ray invoked or enunciated.

Visually we might see this esoteric process as a dual vortex. One vortex would be positioned on the bottom of the rotating sphere or toroid and another on the top, producing something similar to the image in Figure 7-5, when visualized looking down. When the two meet and blend communication between the lesser and greater is consummated. These vortices are the symbology behind the long horn of the unicorn we have outlined and explained in Dynamic Symbols Part I Appendix IV titled "Trumpeted Words". What is the long horn of the unicorn but a symbol of rotary spiral-cyclic motion that climaxes in a searing point of piercing Will? It is an inner trumpet out of the throat of which issues forth the sounds of God's hidden Purpose, not language as we understand it, but pure first subplane devic fire. Although we have placed particular emphasis on the first ray trumpet sound form, the trumpet shape also relates to one or other ends of the dual vortex. Therefore the vortex trumpet design can be generally associated with any of the seven rays.

The Tibetan further elaborates on this science of invocation-evocation through the esoteric use of sound, light and the creation of a vortex in the follow excerpt. This same principle can be applied to the individual or the group.

"Gradually the antahkarana is built and in this way the 'greater Light and the lesser light' are consciously related. A path of light and energy is established or created between these two divine aspects. As time goes on, there appears in the egoic group what is technically known as the 'linking light' or the 'bridging radiance' . . . 

"The point of light shines forth. It waxes and it wanes. The point becomes a line through the starting of a vortex and from the centre of the whirling force; there comes a voice—invocative and clear. 

"The One Who sits in silent work, alone and unafraid (because the part is not alone and the group is unafraid) looks down, catches the light, reflects the whirling force and hears the voice." (DNA1:714-15)

This initiating thread or bolt of fohatic will symbolized by the black disk in the center of the illustration above, Figure 7-5, is impulsed from the first aspect of deity. When this abstract and abstruse force impacts the grosser and heavier substance of the third divine aspect a spherical life is formed. The second aspect of deity or the love principle is the radiance and the light-sound found at the heart of all occult organisms.

The vacuum is the intermediate zone symbolized by the black disk that is forming at the center of this image and is situated midway between the invocative agent and the life or force it is attempting to contact and evoke. Each ray will exhibit its own predominate color and sound signatures during this magical act of alignment, as we have attempted to demonstrate in our preceding image of the trumpet blast.

A spiritual vacuum is created when a ray mantram or word of power is enunciated on the high mental plane and is analogous to an expanding atom, shell, or bubble that is open at each end by a vortex.

We are told by the Tibetan that nature abhors a vacuum and into the vacuum some type of force or energy descends or rushes, widening and strengthening the communication between the two entities. This technique is the apotheosis of bridge-building and will require a clear point of focus by the personality in its image-making capacity.

The dual vortices and subsequent vacuum break down barriers through the rotary and spiral-cyclic motion of its expanding walls. It expands into wider concentric circles or bands until a mature sphere of some type is created.

When the vacuum is formed between the personality ray and the soul ray and later the dual rays of the personality and soul ray and the one monadic life, liberation takes place. The intermediary or soul is no longer needed and the man escapes the prison house of matter. This we know is the result of 3 secondary vortices or vacuums created between the lower triad of the personality—the concrete mind, astral body and physical–etheric—and the upper triad—atma, buddhi manas. Eventually these 3 lesser vortices fuse and become the great dual vortex between the "spirit", the one monadic life, and the integrated and fused personality, "matter".

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Figure 7-7

This work is the epitome of alignment and is referred to as the completed "rainbow bridge", because it is built out of all the seven rays and their respective ray colors.

Under other conditions we are told by the Tibetan that the white magician can also create a sphere or barrier composed of atoms that can repel as well as insulate. A vacuum formation can create a barrier or wall between different entities that must be separated during advanced initiatory experiences. This is done out of the safety of the participants in these advanced rituals and not out of any desire to be separative or non-inclusive. The door of initiation is electrical in nature and only those units of the human kingdom who vibrate in unison with this door are allowed entry; all others are repelled.

Sound and light are the key agencies of all this advanced work and how all facets of the divine from the highest to the lowest are connected.

As any ray life descends to the next lower level or plane it travels as an enunciated sound. On the great path of return these sounds become more powerful and expansive as the disciple is able to raise his or her consciousness. The greater always includes the lesser but the lesser is unable to comprehend the greater. These initiatory sounds, mantrams and various words of power are held in secret by the various grades of spiritual and hierarchical workers and only shared with those who have made certain levels of progress and passed certain tests. These tests relate to the assimilation of energy in its different types and grades.

Click to see larger image. Figure 7-8

The Marriage of Shiva and Shakti

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO CLARIFY THE GREAT REVELATION that awaits humanity when in group formation we undergo the great lifting out of the tomb of matter and face for the first time the awesome kundalini fire. This is the experience that awaits all disciples who have purified the lower form, aligned with the soul, and let the principle of love dominate their lives. It is an act or event of Identification, though the word is inadequate to describe this great expansion of the "Will-Life".

Suddenly slow and rhythmic expansions of consciousness are replaced with an explosion of light that literally projects the initiate forward into realms for which there are no adequate descriptions to qualify the stupendous moment wherein one's whole nature shrinks or contracts before the awesome spectacle of the first aspect of deity. This event destroys for all times the last vestiges of man's attachment to the physical world and connects the highest and lowest centers into one burning expression of fire that then becomes lost in pure silence or the darkness of laya that exists prior to all form life. This is the culminating meaning of the seventh ray word of power, "the highest and the lowest meet."

No one can say they have understood the true meaning of the Seventh Ray Lord until they have first lifted the great serpent power from the base of the spine center to the crown or thousand-petalled lotus. This is the seventh heaven, the seventh seal or gate so often spoken of in vague and cryptic terms by different mystical and metaphysical writers. All occult training in its different departments and grades is a prelude to this awesome lifting, the divine consummation wherein Shakti the great feminine principle fuses with Shiva to rule as one over all creation from their secret abode of electric fire.

Robert Oppenheimer, the famous nuclear physicist, helped recognize and was responsible for the first release historically of kundalini fire in the mineral kingdom. Upon first viewing the great thermo-nuclear explosion of fire and light in the first atomic bomb at White Sands, Nevada, he quoted the Bhagavad-gita when Krishna reveals his true form to Arjuna, blazing with the light of "a thousand suns all risen at once" and says: "Behold, I am Time, the mighty destroyer of worlds, come forth here to annihilate the worlds." (See our Bhagavad-gita link page, for translations and resources online.)

The next statements are important from several points of view: 1) They reflect on the physical plane the powerful transformation that awaits all advanced disciples and initiates who have prepared themselves for this great serpent uprising. 2) What James N. Rose and Robert Oppenheimer say about symbols and their inner significance echoes one of our themes regarding the power of symbolic language and how visual symbols can have a reality on a higher plane of existence.

"When asked some years after viewing the first atomic bomb explosion, he recalled that as he "saw" the billowing glowing atomic cloud of radiation he was in fact seeing the second and third derivatives (factors of mathematical Calculus equations) vanish infinitesimally. His physical eyes were looking at one reality while his mind was appreciating another perception just as conceptually real. Oppenheimer's remark points up the vitality that words and symbols have on their own, separate yet still connected via the realm of physical experience. Symbols may stand in for physical reality but they are experienced on their own and carry as much weight and importance as material things; especially when we accept and enact the involved associations. From The Integrity Papers by James N. Rose titled "The Wisdom of Robert Oppenheimer".  (See the Conceptual Institute website.)

The key phrase in this paragraph is "when we accept and enact the involved associations." "Energy follows thought." Visualization and the picture-making faculty are required in every alignment or meditational form we practice, and invite us to "enact the involved associations" and build the necessary bridges from one body, one sphere, plane, or ray to another.

Here is a quote by DK clarifying the law of correspondence and how, by creating links or bridges from one divine principle to another, a wider and more expanded view can be grasped.

"We must resign ourselves to the fact that the only way in which we can find the clue to the mystery of the rays, systems, and hierarchies, lies in the study of the law of correspondences or analogy. It is the one thread by which we can find our way through the labyrinth, and the one ray of light that shines through the darkness of the surrounding ignorance." (IHS:6)

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Figure 7-9

Identification: The Divine Breath

• 10.   Father-Mother spin a Web, whose upper end is fastened to Spirit, the Light of the One Darkness, and the lower one to its shadowy end, Matter; and this Web is the Universe, spun out of the Two Substances made in One, which is Svabhavat.



• 11.   It expands when the Breath of Fire is upon it; it contracts when the Breath of the Mother touches it. Then the Sons dissociate and scatter, to return into their Mother's Bosom, at the end of the Great Day, and re-become one with her. When it is cooling, it becomes radiant. Its Sons expand and contract through their own Selves and Hearts; they embrace Infinitude.

H.P.Blavatsky. Secret Doctrine I, Stanzas of Dyzan, Stanza III. SD1.pdf
Flipping books, archive.org: SD1, SD2, SD3, SD Index

THE SCIENCE OF THE BREATH IS THE SCIENCE OF LAYA YOGA and the supreme technique whereby man is taught to control all the inner forces of his different bodies and sheathes. There are many levels of pranayama. The first operates through the seventh ray charging and distributing the etheric forces throughout man's tiny system; the last operates through the first ray and has to do with awakening the great and powerful kundalini fire. The divine word of power is carried forward on the fire breath of God, and is the one all-pervading sound that peals forth through the logoic plane.

When the disciple has done the preliminary work of soul infusion he will learn the technique whereby he will fan the fires of matter until they become combustible. Then the first and seventh rays will fuse and the indwelling spirit returns to its source. Only when the disciple can "stand in spiritual being" will he understand the occult terms of divine indifference, identification, and isolated unity. Only when his "eye is single" will his body and his whole being be filled with light supernal.

When the individual breath of one's personal existence is relinquished and one submits to the divine breath—or the divine breath takes over—all the veils are rent and the serpent power will rise in all its glory burning out the last of the hindering veils. All "directional sounds" which constitute one or other of the seven cosmic paths of return for humanity will first be found in the personality ray and the soul ray. It is only when the greater light of spirit and the lesser light of matter merge that all can be known.

When one's individual breath is relinquished to the greater breath of the group life, then breath as we understand the term will cease, the monad will absorb the spark, and silence will finally reign supreme. Only those initiates who have learned the technique of "occult breath" and "occult obedience" can know their existence has always dwelt in another place outside of both time and space. Only then can we speak the liberating "words of power" that will free the prisoners of the planet and set ablaze in all human hearts the desire for inner growth and spiritual realization. In this regard the Tibetan has said:

"The will and the breath, my brother, are occultly synonymous terms. In this statement you have the clue to the ending of maya. God is the ONE WHO can withdraw and, in withdrawing, dispel, dissipate and devitalize all that has been created—using those words in their fullest significance."  (GWP:245)

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