Alice Bailey - Letters on Occult Meditation

LETTERS ON OCCULT MEDITATIONRECEIVED AND EDITEDBYALICE A. BAILEYCOPYRIGHT © 1950 BY LUCIS TRUSTCOPYRIGHT © RENEWED 1978 BY LUCIS TRUSTDedicated to The Tibetan Teacher whowrote these lettersandauthorised their publicationForewordFOREWORDThe following letters were received during the period included within the dates, May16th, 1920, and October 20th, 1920, with the exception of the two letters which werereceived in 1919. With the consent of their author they have been gathered together for publication.They are published in full as received, with the exception of certain parts which havea purely personal application, those having reference to a certain occult school, andthose of a prophetic or esoteric nature, which may not now be communicated.It is hoped that those who read these letters will endeavour to do two things:1. Read always with an open mind, remembering that the truth is a many-sideddiamond, and that its different aspects will appear at different times, as those whoguide the race see a need which must be met. Many books on meditation have beenwritten, some too abstruse and some too superficial to satisfy the average educatedman. The writer of these letters has apparently attempted to supply the need of a brief yet scientific exposition of a rationale of meditation, emphasising the goalimmediately ahead and the intermediate stages.2. Judge of the letters on their merits and not upon claims put forth on behalf of thewriter. For this reason he has chosen to preserve his anonymity and has requested therecipient of the letters to publish them under his pseudonym.If the subject matter of the letters is of value it will call forth a response from thereaders and serve to help some onward towards the goal, and prove to many theinspiration and aid it already has to a few.

ALICE A. BAILEY. New York, 1922.The constitution of man (See Figure), as considered in the following pages, is basically threefold, as followsI.The Monad, or pure Spirit, the Father in Heaven.This aspect reflects the three aspects of the Godhead:1.Will or PowerThe Father 2.Love-WisdomThe Son3.Active IntelligenceThe Holy Spiritand is only contacted at the final initiations, when man is nearing the end of his journey and is perfected.The Monad reflects itself again inII.The Ego, Higher Self, or Individuality.This aspect is potentially :— 1. Spiritual WillAtma2. IntuitionBuddic, Love-Wisdom, the Christ principle.3. Higher or abstract MindHigher Manas.The Ego begins to make its power felt in advanced men, and increasingly on theProbationary Path until by the third initiation the control of the lower self by thehigher is perfected, and the highest aspect begins to make its energy felt.The Ego reflects itself inIII.The Personality, or lower self, physical plane man.This aspect is also threefold1.A mental bodylower manas.2.An emotinal bodyastral body.3.A physical bodythe dense physical and the etheric body.The aim of meditation is therefore to bring man to the realisation of the Egoic aspectand to bring the lower nature under its control. This is the immediate goal for theaverage man.LETTER I - THE ALIGNMENT OF THE EGO WITH THE PERSONALITY

LETTER ITHE ALIGNMENT OF THE EGO WITH THE PERSONALITY.1—The Aligning of the three lower bodies.2—Aligning with the Causal Body.3—The Method of Alignment.4—Macrocosmic and Microcosmic Alignment.[Page 1]LETTER IALIGNMENT OF THE EGO WITH THE PERSONALITY.Sunday, May 16, 1920.It is in the aligning of the three vehicles, the physical, the emotional, and the lower mind body, within the causal periphery, and their stabilising there by an effort of thewill, that the real work of the Ego or Higher Self in any particular incarnation can beaccomplished. The great thinkers of the race, the true exponents of lower mind, arefundamentally those whose three lower bodies are aligned; that is to say those whosemental body holds the other two in circumspect alignment. The mental body, then, isin direct communication, unobstructed and free from interference, straight through tothe physical brain.When the alignment is fourfold and when the three above-mentioned bodies arealigned with the body of the Higher Self, the causal or egoic body, and held steadywithin its circumference, then the great leaders of the race,—those who emotionallyand intellectually sway mankind, can be seen working; then the inspirational writersand dreamers can bring down their inspirations and dreams; and then the syntheticand abstract thinkers [Page 2] can transfer their conceptions to the world of form. Itis, right through, a question of an unimpeded channel. Study, therefore, in thisconnection and when time permits, physical co-ordination; then to physical co-ordination add emotional stability, and you have the two vehicles functioning as one.When the co-ordination extends to the mental body, the threefold lower man isreaching his apotheosis, and has rung most of the changes in the world of form.Later comes co-ordination perfected with the Higher Self, the channel of communication reaching in line direct,—via an unimpeded funnel, if so I mightexpress it,—to the physical brain consciousness. Heretofore it has only been direct atrare intervals. The four lesser brain centres are functioning at high vibration in theman of a highly co-ordinated personality; when the Ego is nearing alignment with thelower bodies, the pineal gland and the pituitary body are in process of development;and when they are functioning with correlation (which eventuates by the time thethird Initiation is taken), then the third, or alta major centre, intensifies its hitherto