Fires that Burn and Fires that Build
[These pages should be read only after reading "The Bridge of Light to the Higher Self", and its sequel, "Ideal Thoughtforms of the Mystic and the Occultist", otherwise they would not make sense. See links below.]
The mystic thoughtform for raising the consciousness:
The mystic concentrates upon the God within, brooding on that inner centre of consciousness; he seeks to link that centre with other centres – such as a Master, or some saint, or even with the Supreme Logos Himself – and to raise his consciousness through the line of life, without paying attention to the environing sheaths, i.e. his physical-etheric, astral or emotional, and mental bodies. He works along the path of fire. "Our God is a consuming fire" is to him a literal statement of fact, and of realized truth. He rises from fire to fire, and from graded realizations of the indwelling Fire till he touches the fire of the universe. The only form that the mystic may be said to use would be a ladder of fire or a cross in the sky, by means of which he elevates his consciousness to the desired point. He concentrates on abstractions, on attributes more than on aspects, and on the life side more than on the concrete; he aspires, he burns, he harmonizes, he loves and he works through devotion. He meditates by attempting to eliminate the concrete mind altogether, and aspires to leap from the plane of the emotions to that of the intuition.
He has all the faults of his type, which is being dreamy, visionary, impractical, emotional, and lacking in that quality of mind that we call discrimination. He is intuitive, prone to martyrdom and self-sacrifice. Before he can achieve and before he can take initiation, he has to do three things:
First, through meditation, bring his whole nature under rule and learn to build the thoughtforms, and hence to learn their value.
Secondly, develop appreciation of the concrete, and learn clearly the place within the scheme of things of his various bodies/sheaths through which the life he loves so much has to manifest. He has to work on his mental body/sheath and bring it to the stage of it being able to recognize facts before he can progress much further.
Thirdly, learn through intelligently studying the microcosm, i.e. his little spirit-matter system, the dual value of the macrocosm.
Instead of only knowing the fire that burns, he has to understand and work through the fire that builds, that fuses and develops form. He has, through meditation, to learn the threefold use of Fire.
The occult (thought)form for raising the consciousness:
I will now outline the course taken by the occultist, and his type of meditation, contrasting it with that of the mystic, and pointing out later how the two have to merge and their individual elements be fused into one.
Form (the concrete) is for the occultist the line of least resistance to follow, and, incidentally, in these times there will be a rapid development of occult knowledge and some true occultists will make their appearance: By the coming in of the seventh ray, the Ray of Form or Ritual, the finding of the occult path, and the assimilation of occult knowledge would be powerfully facilitated.
The occultist is at first more occupied with the form through which the Deity manifests than with the Deity Itself, and it is here that the fundamental difference between the two types is first apparent. The mystic eliminates or endeavours to transcend mind in his process of finding the Self. The occultist, through his intelligent interest in the forms that veil the Self and by employing the principle of mind on both its higher and lower levels, arrives at the same point. He recognizes the bodies/sheaths that veil that Self. He applies himself to study the laws that govern the manifested solar system. He concentrates on the objective, and, in his earlier years of study, may at times overlook the value of the subjective. He arrives eventually at the central life by the elimination, through conscious knowledge and control, of sheath after sheath. He meditates upon form (the concrete) until the form is lost sight of, and the creator of the form becomes all.
He, like the mystic, has to do three things:
1- He has to learn the law and to apply that law to himself. Rigid self-discipline is his method, and necessarily so, for the dangers threatening the occultist are not those of the mystic. Pride, selfishness and a wielding of the law from curiosity or desire for power have to be burnt out of him before the secrets of the Path can safely be entrusted to his care.
2- In meditation, he has to concentrate on the indwelling life within the form. He has to seek the inner burning fire that irradiates all forms that shelter the divine life.
3- Through the scientific study of the macrocosm, or the kingdom of God without (God Immanent), he has to reach a point where he locates the kingdom of God within.
Here, therefore, is the merging point of the mystic and the occultist. Here their paths become one.
Occult and mystic forms clairvoyantly seen:
The mystic, in his meditations, has built before him and around him an outline nebulous, inchoate, and cloudy, and in such a way that he himself forms the centre of the form. Frequently, according to the trend of his mind, the nucleus of the form may be some favourite symbol such as a cross, an altar, or even his pictured idea of one of the Great Ones. This form will be wreathed in the mists of devotion, and will pulsate with floods of colour representing aspiration, love and ardent longing. The colours will be of singular purity and clarity and will mount up until they reach a great height. The capacity of the man to aspire and love will be depicted in the density and beauty of the ascending clouds; his stability of temperament will show in the accuracy of the inner symbol or picture around which the clouds of colour circulate.
The thoughtform built by the aspirant of occult inclination, who is more dominated by mind, will be geometrical. The outlines will be clear, and apt to be rigid. The form will be more painstakingly built and the aspirant will, in his meditations, give greater care and attention to detail and accuracy. He will take pride in his manipulation of the material that goes into the building of the form. Matter of the mental plane will be more apparent and, though certain clouds of emotional matter may be added to the whole, matter of the emotional plane will be of secondary importance. The colours employed might be of equal clarity, but they will be added with specific intent, and the form will stand out clearly and not be lost in an upward surge of emotional colours as the mystic's form is apt to be.
Later, when either aspirant has reached a point of more rounded out development, and is both an occultist and a mystic, the forms built will combine both qualifications and be things of rare beauty.
"Playing with fire" in connection with the bodies or sheaths of the human being and its evolution
The physical body consists of two interlocking components – a dense, third-dimensional body of flesh and blood, which is visible to every third-dimensional being with normal sight, and an etheric or vital body, within which the physical body dwells, and which has centres of force (chakras) where the life force or energy is received (spleen) and circulated, and which has special etheric links, through the crown centre on top of the head and the heart centre, with the soul or Ego; and which also links etherically to all other forms, animate or inanimate, in its vicinity: Parts of this etheric body, as it protrudes beyond the physical, can sometimes be seen by some human beings with normal sight, but can easily be seen by all who have developed etheric sight or vision. Each human being enters into life equipped with a physical-etheric body that is the product of a previous incarnation; it is virtually the body, reproduced exactly, which the person had left behind when death severed him from physical existence. The task of every aspirant is to take that body, realize its defects and requirements, and then deliberately set in and build a new body that would prove to be more adequate to the needs of the inner spirit. This is a huge task and forms a necessary part of spiritual development; it involves time, stern discipline, self-denial and judgment or discernment. The work could spread over more than one lifetime, as it may be too great a task for one lifetime, depending on the condition of the body and on the person's inclinations and nature.
The person who undertakes the practice of occult meditation, as understood in these pages, literally "plays with fire". This has become a trite remark because of the lack of insight into its true meaning. It is, however, an absolutely correct statement of fact and not a symbolic teaching. Fire forms the basis of all – the Self is fire, the intellect is a phase of fire, and latent in the microcosmic physical bodies/sheaths/vehicles lies hid a veritable fire that can either be a destructive force, burning the tissue of the body and stimulating centres that should be latent at that point of time, or vivifying centres to awaken them when their time for awakening has come. When directed along certain prepared channels, this fire acts as a purifier and as the great connector between the lower bodies (or lower self or personality, as integrated) and the Higher Self.
In meditation, the aspirant seeks to contact the divine flame that is his Higher Self, and is thus putting himself also en rapport with the fire of the mental plane. When meditation is forced or pursued too violently before the alignment of the higher (mental) and lower bodies (physical-etheric) via the emotional (astral) body is completed, this fire may act upon the fire latent at the base of the spine (the fire called "kundalini") and may cause it to circulate too early. This will produce the disruption and destruction instead of the vivification and stimulation of the higher centres. This fire should follow a proper geometrical spiralling that is dependent on the ray of the aspirant and the key note of vibration of his higher centres. Sometimes, the fire may be aroused and may spiral correctly without the conscious knowledge of the aspirant, but on the inner planes (unconsciously) he will know.
Based on "Letters on Occult Meditation", as received and edited by Alice A. Bailey (Lucis Press), pp. 149 - 153; and pp. 102 - 103
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