(A.A. Bailey, Telepathy and the Etheric Vehicle, pp. 109-123, 1950 — SECTION ONE, TEACHING ON TELEPATHY, <XIV>.)

"The word telepathy has been used primarily to cover the many phases of mental contact and the exchange of thought without the use of the spoken or written word or sign. However, what is thus understood in this modern usage does not cover the higher aspects of "relationship within the Universal Mind." The third aspect, that of intelligence, is involved when interpretation of contact occurs; the second aspect, that of love-wisdom, is the factor which makes the higher impression possible, and this it does whilst that aspect is developing or in process of coming into functioning activity. During this developing process, only straight telepathy is possible and this is of two kinds:

1. Sympathetic telepathy or immediate understanding, awareness of events, apprehensions of happenings, and identification with personality reactions. This is all connected with the solar plexus activity of the personality and this—when the love nature or second aspect is unfolded or unfolding—becomes the "seed or germ" of the intuitive faculty. The entire process is, therefore, astral-buddhic and involves the lower aspects of the Universal Mind as an agent.

2. Mental telepathy or the interplay of transmitted thought. Though this is a constant phenomenon among advanced intellectual people, it is still scarcely recognised, its laws and modes of expression are as yet unknown, and the best minds and interpreters on subjective levels still confuse it with solar plexus reactions. It is a relatively new and unexplored science, but the range of its activities is not astral and, therefore, related to the solar plexus centre, for the substance in which this science is carried forward is not astral substance but mental substance, and therefore another vehicle is involved and employed, that of the mental body. It is the "seed or germ" of higher contacts and of impressions coming from levels higher than the buddhic or intuitional plane. It is related to the higher aspect of the Universal Mind, to the intelligent Will. In both cases, the lower aspect of love (emotional and sensitive astral response) and the pure love of the soul are involved.

Astral, sympathetic sensitivity is fallible and frequently erroneous in its conjectures and interpretations. The higher telepathy—also a form of sensitivity, and which is as an entering door or concept—becomes eventually infallible; in its earlier stages (where methods of interpretation and of deduction are concerned) it may prove frequently at fault.

Straight mental telepathy is one of the highest demonstrations of the personality; it is in the nature of a bridging faculty, for it is one of the major steps towards the higher impression; it always presupposes a relatively high stage of mental development, and that is one reason why it is not yet regarded as a reputable, proved and provable capacity of the human being. In this case, the mind is truly "the slayer of the Real," and the sources and modes of subjective knowledge still remain in a dark area of the human consciousness. The normal processes of evolution will, however, prove incontrovertibly the existence of faculties which make the higher spiritual and subjective impressions possible, and eventually normal.

This "Supreme Science of Contact" can be—as already explained—broken up into the following phases which are all progressively developed from each other. Forget not the inevitable continuity which is the outstanding characteristic of the evolutionary process.

1. Astral sensitive awareness. This is based upon the reactions of the solar plexus, and the entire process is carried forward upon the astral plane and with astral substance. This, in its highest form, becomes the factor which later makes intuitive awareness and intuitive sensitivity possible; then the process is carried forward in buddhic substance. Aspirants are, at one stage of their development, strongly astral-buddhic in nature. This should be remembered.

2. Mental telepathy. This involves naturally two minds or several minds, and the process is carried forward in the substance of the mental plane. It is the factor which makes possible the activity which we call "impression." This impression comes largely from certain aspects of the mental plane, suchas:

a. The soul of the telepathic individual, using the knowledge petals of the egoic lotus—a high form of mental intelligence.

b. The abstract mind, so called. This aspect of mental substance is largely used by the Hierarchy in order to reach the minds of disciples. It is only within the last few centuries that the Hierarchy has shifted the focus of its living attention on to the buddhic plane and away from the mental plane. This has become possible because the aspirants of the world are now sensitive to contacts which are founded upon an astral-buddhic consciousness but which are strictly carried on within mental substance. This necessarily involves the three aspects of the mind, found therein: the concrete mind, the Son of Mind, and the abstract sensitivity or reaction. This involves (on the physical plane) an activity of the pituitary body (as you can readily see) and also the use of the ajna centre.

3. The occult Science of Impression. This becomes possible when the other two forms of telepathic rapport are present and are developing to a certain point of accuracy. It is dependent also upon the construction of the antahkarana and upon the steady orientation of the aspirant or disciple toward the Spiritual Triad; it also becomes possible when the abstract mind is developed and sensitive, and can thus become the seed or germ of the spiritual Will; this will involve responsiveness to divine purpose. The higher aspect of this abstract mind is the atmic plane. It is useful to realise the substantial nature of these two levels of consciousness. It is within the substance of the atmic plane that the activity is set up which can impress the abstract mind, which then becomes the seat of the consciousness of the spiritual man; at the same time, he remains in active possession and use of his personality and continues to employ the concrete mind; astral sensitivity, however, then begins to fall below the threshold of consciousness and thus joins the great array of instincts and of instinctual reactions of which the human being is possessed and which admit him into the life and conditioned awareness of all that exists in the three worlds, including the three subhuman kingdoms of nature. It is with these subliminated and controlled instincts that those Masters and disciples work whose task it is to oversee the evolution of the forms of life in the subhuman kingdoms.

The higher forms of mental telepathy, involving the soul and the abstract mind are concerned solely with the divine Plan—as the Hierarchy works it out in the three worlds. The Science of Impression is concerned, therefore, primarily, with the divine Purpose as Shamballa is working it out, and also with those higher aspects of hierarchical work which are not concerned with work in the three worlds. This is a point upon which I would ask you to ponder.

Today, owing to the curious evolutionary stage reached in the human kingdom, an intermediate aspect of the three above forms of impression has been instituted; it is like an interim period between full human expression and the full expression of the kingdom of souls. This we call:

4. The Science of Invocation and Evocation. This science can and does use the unintelligent urges and the higher (yet inchoate) longings of the masses of men in an invocative form; it does so in order to bridge the gap existing in consciousness between the life of the ordinary man, the life of the integrated personality and the life of the soul. Through the use of this invocative demand—oft speechless and not consciously expressed—the disciples of the world can focus; they can employ it and thus generate an energy which will be strong enough to make a true impact and a definite impression upon Beings and Lives found on levels higher than those in the three worlds. This impact evokes a reaction from these higher Beings, and then a spiritual and intelligent interplay is set up which is of great value in promoting an added stimulus and an increased vitalisation of the normal and usually slow evolutionary process. This is happening today in an acute form and accounts for much that is taking place in the world of human affairs at this time. The spreading stimulation is of a very intense nature. The invocative cry of humanity is not only the voiceless appeal which the hierarchical workers are everywhere mobilising, but it finds expression also in all the plans and schemes, the formulated platforms, and the many groups and organisations which are dedicated to the betterment of human living.

Certain basic concepts underlie every phase of the Science of Contact, and without them there would be no basis for any effort to master this science. Please grasp this fact. There are three which must always be borne in mind:

1. The medium through which the thought currents or impressions (from no matter what source) must pass in order to make an impact upon the human brain is the planetary etheric body. This is fundamental in its implications. This etheric vehicle makes all relationships possible, because the individual etheric body is an integral part of the vital body of the planet. This vital body is the medium also of all instinctual reactions, such as an animal will evidence when danger is around. The closer that this etheric body is interwoven (if I may use such a word) with the dense physical vehicle, the clearer will be the instinctual reaction—as in the illustration which I have given and which is based upon millennia of such reactions; the greater also will be the sensitivity and the more aptitude will there be for telepathic contact and recognition of the higher impressions. It might also be added that the etheric body of a disciple or even of an advanced person can be so handled and dealt with that it can reject much that might otherwise impinge upon it, pass through it or use it as a channel. This training is automatic; evidence of it can also be seen in the ability which the human mechanism possesses to tune out all contacts and impressions that it may not need, to which it is so accustomed that they do not even register, and all that it deems undesirable or not fit for consideration. The reason that true telepathic contact between minds is not more prevalent is due to the fact that few people think with an adequate clarity or with the energy required; they do not create true, concise or powerful thoughtforms or—if they do—these thoughtforms are not correctly directed towards the intended objective. When a man is a disciple and deliberately seeks to be impressed by his soul, by the Master or by the Spiritual Triad, the task of the impressing agent is relatively simple; all the disciple has to do is to develop right receptivity, plus an intuitive intelligence which will enable him to make correct interpretations, and to recognise also the source of the communication or impression.

This brings us to the second basic concept:

2. Sensitivity to impression involves the engendering of a magnetic aura upon which the highest impressions can play. This I dealt with (in some measure) in the preceding section. It should be borne in mind that the potency of the magnetic aura which envelops all human beings is to be found at present in four areas of substance; these four areas are close to four major centres. When the individual is strictly low grade and is predominantly animal in nature, then the majority of impacting impressions will reach him automatically through the sacral centre; such impacting impressions (as you can well imagine) will be heavy and yet dynamic; they will have reference to all that concerns his physical being, his physical appetites, and his physical comfort or discomfort. There are however, today, relatively few persons in proportion to the planetary population who use the sacral centre as the major registering organ. The magnetic aura (when this is the case) is relatively small; all the tendencies of this tiny aura are downward in nature, and all impressions (which cannot possibly come from a higher source than the man himself) work down through the aura of the sacral centre. Most of the impressions are therefore purely instinctual in nature and little or no thought is involved; there is evidence, however, of what can be understood as aspiration even if it is not what a true aspirant might regard as spiritual in nature.

The average, though still unthinking, human being works through his astral body and, because he is there polarised, works through his solar plexus centre—etherically and primarily. All impressions find entrance into the aura via the area around that part of the etheric vehicle. It is through this major centre that the ordinary medium works, receiving impressions and communications from astral entities or from the animated astral forms to be found in the glamours created by humanity.

Forget not, nevertheless, that true aspiration is essentially an astral product or reaction; all aspirants—in the early stages of their slow re-orientation—work through the solar plexus centre, and thus only gradually focus the lower energies there, prior to their transmutation and elevation to the higher centre, the heart centre. There are certain disciples who work deliberately upon the astral plane, under instruction from the Master of their Ashram, in order to reach such neophytes and thus to impress them with the knowledge and the subtle information needed for their progress. No Master works in this manner, and the Masters have therefore to use certain of Their disciples in this service. Such disciples direct the desired impression to the solar plexus area of the magnetic aura. This magnetic aura has another point of entry in the region of the throat centre, utilising it as the recipient of higher impressions. This centre or area of energy is largely used and vitally activated by those who are the creative workers of the world; they have necessarily made a direct contact with the soul and are therefore wide open to those intuitive ideas which are the source of their creative work. According to the success they have in such creative production, and according to the beauty of their work, will be the impression they thereby convey to other men. Curiously enough, the new and peculiar forms of art which delight some people and which outrage the sense of beauty in others are largely solar plexus creations and are therefore not of a truly high order. In a few of them—a very few—the throat centre is involved.

The magnetic aura around the head is that which is truly sensitive to the highest impressions and is the point of entry to the head centre. Upon this I need not enlarge; all that I have taught you is related to the awakening of this highest centre, prior to the aspirant's becoming a member of the Kingdom of God. The ajna centre is not involved and it will remain for several more centuries the agent of directed impression and not the objective of such impressions.

The next key-thought which is of importance is found in the words:

3. "The Plan is the dynamic substance, providing the content of the reservoir upon which the impressing agent can draw and to which the recipient of the impression must become sensitive."
This sentence requires probably a quite serious readjustment in the thinking of most students. The concept of the Plan as Substance will assuredly be new to them, and new perhaps also to you. It is nevertheless a concept which they must endeavour to grasp. Let me phrase it somewhat differently: The Plan constitutes or is composed of the substance in which the Members of the Hierarchy consistently work. Let us take this important concept and break it up into its component parts for the sake of clarity. I am strongly emphasising these words because this concept is of an importance almost beyond human comprehension, and because its understanding may revise and re-vitalise your entire approach to the Plan, and you will therefore be enabled to work in a fresh and in an entirely new manner:

1. The Plan IS substance. It is essentially substantial energy. And energy is substance and nothing else.

2. The substance (which is the Plan) is dynamic in nature, and is therefore impregnated with the energy of WILL.

3. The Plan constitutes a reservoir of energised substance, held in solution by the WILL of Sanat Kumara and embodying His intangible purpose (intangible to us but not intangible to Him).

4. It is this planetary Substance upon which the "impressing agents" must draw—the Nirmanakayas, the Members of the Hierarchy and the working disciples of the world, plus all spiritual sensitives of a certain degree.

5. Recipients of the desired impression must become sensitive to this substantial energy.

This entire proposition can be referred back to the originating Thinker Who brought our manifested world into being, and Who sequentially and under the Law of Evolution is bringing to fruition the objective of His thinking. In the larger and wider sense, it is that sum total of the ocean of energies in which "we live and move and have our being." This is the sevenfold body of the planetary Logos.

The Impressing Agents of the Divine Will.

We are not here, however, considering the larger Whole, but we are dealing with a specific and focussed area of the planetary consciousness. This is found midway between the highest plane whereon the Council Chamber of the Great Lord is found and the three planes which form the active arena for hierarchical work—the three levels of consciousness of the Spiritual Triad. This "focussed area" has been precipitated by the Agents of the divine Will; They know the ultimate purpose of Sanat Kumara and hold it steadfastly in view, making it available to those Masters of the Wisdom Who can act as the "impressing Agents of Sanat Kumara's Will." These are the Manu, the Christ, and the Mahachohan, the Lord of Civilisation.

It might be said here that the three Buddhas of Activity are the prime impressing Agents and that the three Great Lords are the "impressed Recipients" at an exceedingly high level; this is the atmic level of awareness, which is the area energised by the divine Will.

When dealing with the fifth Point of Revelation.{*} I said that it concerned itself with the highest aspect of the Will—with that which produces the highest synthesis, the final synthesis. The planetary Purpose is the eventual synthesis of the initial thought of the planetary Logos, and to this thought we give always the unmeaning name of "GLORY"; this stands for all that we can conceive of the divine purpose; it is, for us, a "blaze of glory." The human mind is at this stage (in time and space) unable to register any aspect of the Purpose; all that we can do is to cooperate with the efforts of the Hierarchy to activate those things and events which will make the manifestation of the Purpose eventually possible. This purpose will constitute the ultimate revelation to the final root-race of men; it therefore lies a very long way ahead of our present point in evolution.

I will here make a statement which will probably convey nothing to the intelligence of the average disciple, but which may constitute a fruitful seed thought to the initiate who may read these words:

The Purpose of Sanat Kumara is created at present by the synthesis which the nature of the final seven Paths reveals. It is adapted in time and space to human intelligence by the presented Plan, and—in theglory of consummation—the completed Plan will reveal the Purpose on all the seven planes of evolution. Then evolution, as formulated and imposed by the Hierarchy, will end and a greater dynamic expansion will take its place.

You will note that all along the lines of teaching there comes an eventual merging and blending, and that, at a certain point in the development of consciousness, the many lines of spiritual approach become the few lines of conscious spiritual awareness. So it is in relation to the detail of the evolutionary process, with the formulation of the hierarchical Plan, and with the recognition of the Purpose. Speaking practically (and that is always of major importance), it might be said that evolution controls the form of the Purpose; the Plan concerns the hierarchical recognition of the Purpose, whilst the Purpose is the synthetic Thought which pours into the supernal consciousness of the Lord of the World along the seven Paths of which the Masters become aware at a certain very high initiation.

The seven great energies flow into our manifested world along the lines of the seven Paths; these are not the direct energies of the seven Rays, because these concern consciousness in a most specific manner; they are the substantial energies of material expression and their origin concerns a great mystery. These two lines of energy—material energy and the energy of consciousness—when brought together by divine Purpose, constitute the essential dualism of our manifested life.

All that we are able to recognise of that Purpose is the hierarchical Plan, and this only disciples and advanced aspirants can judge and recognise. This Plan is based upon knowledge of divine guidance in the Past, the recognition of progress out of that Past into the Present, plus the effort to become sensitive to the right emergence of that Plan (embodying ever an aspect of the Purpose) in the immediate Future. The Purpose is related to the Past, the Present and the Future; the Agents of the Plan are impressed from Shamballa, via the Nirmanakayas; the process is then repeated, and advanced humanity become the recipients, the sensitive recipients, of the Plan as transmitted to them by the impressing Agents, the Masters, working through the New Group of World Servers. This group is the lower correspondence of the Nirmanakayas, the recipients of impression from Shamballa. See you, therefore, the beauty and the synthesis, the inter-dependence and the cooperative interplay which is demonstrated right through the chain of Hierarchy from the very highest Agent to the very lowest recipient of divine impression.

The key to all this is energy. Energy is substance, and this substance is qualified by divine dynamic WILL. There is much to be learnt anent the Will. Will as dynamic energy is not yet understood in its true sense by human beings. Mankind usually recognises will as fixed determination; this is in reality their individual effort to impress substance (personal or environing) with their own self-will or with their well-intended effort to conform to what they believe to be the will of God, speaking symbolically. But men know nothing yet of the process of working with dynamic energised substance, for it basically impresses them and uses them as they become aware of the Plan and thus come under the influence of the Spiritual Triad. They are used and not using that which is available for the furtherance of the Plan—the dynamic energy of the divine Will. This dynamic Will cannot become available nor can disciples truly work with the Plan until the antahkarana is to some measure adequately constructed, though not yet perfected.

It becomes of service, therefore, for the aspirant and the disciple to know the nature of the Agents Who can locate their magnetic aura and impress upon it Their understanding of the Plan; these Agents may be accepted disciples or initiates and Masters; then the aspirant or disciple must find those to whom he can personally act as an impressing agent. He has consequently to study himself as a recipient and also as an agent, as a responsive factor and also as an originating and impressing factor. This might be regarded as the scientific approach to the spiritual life, and it is of value because the necessity of service is implicit in the necessity for receptivity; all is, therefore, related to Invocation and Evocation.

It is in our next basic theme, the nature of the etheric body, that we shall find again the higher relationships and the interdependence of many allied factors. This interdependence emerges acutely the higher one progresses into the scheme of correspondences. Eventually, a point of fusion is reached." [123]

———————
{*} Discipleship in the New Age, Vol. II.

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