Radical and Evolutionary Awakening - Jon Eden Khan
*This article was originally published in The Esoteric Quarterly journey, summer 2013.
Abstract
In a recent book, Bruce Lyon explores the two major forms of awakening that have been cultivated in the wisdom traditions of the East and West. The first is radical awakening, which involves awakening to Absolute Reality. The second is evolutionary awakening, which involves awakening to ever-wider spheres of the relative, evolving cosmos. This article explores these two forms of awakening and discusses their integration and contribution to the Trans-Himalayan tradition. It considers how both forms have manifest in the first and second phase of the teachings, and what their synthesis might look like in the third phase. I also consider how the Shamballa Impacts are contributing to the emergence of these two forms of awakening on unprecedented scales, before finally looking at the implications of these impacts for the Trans-Himalayan community.
Introduction
In Occult Cosmology, Bruce Lyon makes the distinction between two fundamental forms of awakening: radical awakening and evolutionary awakening.[1] The combination of these two forms of awakening is increasingly central to the newest and most synthetic forms of spirituality emerging today, from Ken Wilber’s distinction between growth through states and structures;[2] Adi Da’s teaching on Transcendentalist and Emanationist paths;[3] Andrew Cohen’s focus on Being and Becoming in his Evolutionary Enlightenment teachings;[4] Thomas Hubl’s focus on Silence and Movement;[5] and Aisha Salem’s description of the difference between the realization of Truth and Life.[6] In certain passages of Djwhal Khul’s teaching with Alice Bailey, he refers to these two forms of awakening in terms of identification (radical awakening) and initiation (evolutionary awakening). I will return to how these terms show up in Djwhal Khul’s teaching with Alice Bailey later, but first, here is how Bruce Lyon defines these two forms of awakening:
Evolutionary awakening refers to the process of initiation wherein a self-conscious individual gradually and sequentially experiences themselves through transformation becoming identified with subtler and more inclusive levels of identity. Radical awakening occurs when the self-conscious individual suddenly and radically experiences themselves as the One Life.[7]
As is pointed to in this quote, radical awakening is awakening to and as Absolute Reality that transcends, includes and is arising as the entire multi-plane cosmos. This type of realization has been cultivated in various radical awakening lineages such as Dzogchen, Mahamudra, Zen, Vedanta, and Kashmir Shaivism, for instance.
Evolutionary awakening refers to the shifts of a relative self’s level of polarization that take place within the seven sub-planes of the cosmic physical plane, from personality to soul to monad, and then into wider and deeper spheres of incarnation along the cosmic paths. This form of growth also includes various other lines of unfoldment too, such as an individual’s cultivation of relationship with communities of beings operating in all kingdoms; access to more and more planes of experience; and the unfoldment of forms of intelligence on each plane.
Something I wish to address in this article is how until recently the differentiation between these two forms of awakening seems to have been poorly understood in the Trans-Himalayan community. Indeed, it seems to me that this has produced a number of areas of confusion for students when comparing the Trans-Himalayan teachings to those of other traditions, particularly the Eastern traditions. It is my hope that this article may contribute to the continued clarification of the “Great Path of Awakening” both theoretically, in terms of how it is understood and presented in the global spiritual field, and in terms of its embodied expression by awake, powerful, loving and creative beings and groups in the world. Thus may the Trans-Himalayan community as a whole continue to act as both a repository of some of the most profound esoteric wisdom available, and as a growing field for today and tomorrow’s initiates.
Radical and Evolutionary Awakening as described in the Trans-Himalayan Tradition
To understand these two forms of awakening, and how they have been encapsulated in the previous Trans-Himalayan teachings, we need to consider the distinction between Absolute and Relative Reality. This distinction was one that was first most fully explored by the great Buddhist philosopher, Nagarjuna, in his Two Truths doctrine that forms a core teaching of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. That doctrine states that all Reality has two fundamental truths to it. The first is an Absolute, unchanging, eternal, omnipresent Truth. The second is a Relative, changing, evolving, and impermanent truth.
Absolute Truth is that which relates to the Absolute Reality that transcends, includes and arises as the entire cosmos. Relative Truth relates to the recognition that the entire cosmos is real, but only relatively so, as there is no part of it which can be proven to be permanent, unchanging, and independently existent. In Buddhist philosophy, Absolute Truth is the basis for understanding the doctrine of Emptiness, which relates both to the absence of any permanent and inherent existence to anything in the relative cosmos, and to the primordial, unmanifest Ground of Being out of which the entire cosmos arises. Relative Truth is the basis for understanding the doctrine of Dependent Origination, which considers the whole relative cosmos to be composed of interconnected, mutually interdependent, only relatively real entities.
In the Trans-Himalayan teachings, Absolute Reality is described as the Boundless Immutable Principle, which is pointed to in the First Fundamental of the Secret Doctrine.[8] For clarity, it serves to note that in this article and in accordance with both the teaching and my own experience, I use the terms Boundless Immutable Principle, the One Life, Infinite Awake Presence, and Absolute Reality, as synonymous.
Just as is the case in some of the most profound Wisdom Traditions, in the Trans-Himalayan teachings, this Absolute Reality is understood to have both a Consciousness, or Awareness, aspect, and an Energy, or Life-force aspect. Ultimately, these two are nondual, or not two, yet in order to understand our current topic more clearly; it can help to differentiate them.
The Consciousness aspect should not be understood as equivalent to the subtle, loving and yet still dualistic consciousness that is often spoken of in relation to the soul. Rather, it is unbounded, selfless, centerless, objectless, primordial, timeless, infinite Consciousness. In the Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky described it by saying,
We call absolute consciousness “unconsciousness,” because it seems to us that it must necessarily be so, just as we call the Absolute, “Darkness,” because to our finite understanding it appears quite impenetrable…[9]
And,
In the occult teachings, the Unknown and the Unknowable MOVER, or the Self-Existing, is the absolute divine Essence. And thus being Absolute Consciousness, and Absolute Motion—to the limited senses of those who describe this indescribable—it is unconsciousness and immovableness.[10]
And the same in Djwhal Khul’s teachings with Alice Bailey:
…the Absolute is consciousness in its fullest expression, though at the stage of human existence the Absolute must be regarded as unconsciousness.[11]
This Consciousness aspect of Absolute Reality is known by many names in the radical awakening lineages. In Dzogchen, it is described as the Natural State, Rigpa, and Primordial Awareness; In Zen, it is the unborn Buddha-Nature; in Kashmir Shaivism, it is personified as Shiva; and in Vedanta, it is described as Brahman.
The Energy or Life-force aspect of the Absolute is the Absolute Motion that Blavatsky describes. This is the “Great Breath”[12] or Perfect Life-force expression of Absolute Consciousness that arises, uncoils and becomes the active dynamic Energy of Pure Life at the cyclically recurring birth of the universe, and that is retracted into passivity at its dissolution. This Life-force of Absolute Reality is “The Perfect Dynamic Energy of the Lion,” to quote the title of a Dzogchen Tantra, and it is the Para-Shakti of the Indian nondual lineages. It arises as the incarnating and supremely awakened entity, or One Universal Monad, Logos, or Life, of the universe. This Universal Monad is the One that is the radiation of the Absolute Zero of Boundless Awareness-Space, and together, the Infinite Awake Presence and dynamic Life; Non-Being and Being; Emptiness and Form—the perfect 10—they are the nondual Absolute Reality, the Boundless Immutable Principle or One Life of the Trans-Himalayan teachings.
The Trans-Himalayan scholar and teacher, Michael Robbins, has suggested that it is the will toward deliberate Self-Perception that arises within this One Universal Monad, to which there is nothing external, that allows a process of what he calls, “emanative-Self-division.”[13] By this process, the One Universal Monad progressively, and willfully (an important point—it is as if the One wills to become the many and yet remain, in synthesis, as One) divides Itself through emanation (so that it remains never really not Itself) and thus reflects Itself. This Self-emanation allows the One Universal Monad to “ray forth” the galactic monads that incarnate through entire galaxies, which themselves emanate super-constellational monads, which incarnate through systems of constellations, which themselves emanate constellational, solar, planetary and intra-planetary monads, which all incarnate through their respective fields, until and beyond that “point” at which we have what is understood as a “human monadic essence.” The One Universal Monad then has the opportunity to express itself on the seven sub-planes of the cosmic physical plane through the three primary levels of polarization—the human personality, the soul, and the monad.[14]
We can vision this in the symbol of the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden—a divine tree whose roots and trunk periodically grow out of the rich, black soil of the Ground of Infinite Awake Presence as an overflowing of its pure fertility. That trunk—the One Universal Monad or Life—then begins to separate into scaffold branches, from which lateral branches grow outwards, from which stems extend, and upon which grow untold numbers of leaves. There is no part of this tree that is more “tree” than another, and it doesn’t make sense to ask if there is any part of it more connected to the Ground of Infinite Awake Presence from which it has sprouted. And yet still, the leaves would have a journey of many stages to trace their source back to the trunk.
Radical awakening then relates to our awakening to the ever-present Source, Ground, and essential True Nature of the entire cosmos as the living matrix of the Absolute Reality of the Boundless Immutable Principle—the Infinite Awake Presence that transcends, includes and arises as the entire cosmos.
Evolutionary awakening relates to the stage by stage process whereby a particular stream of emanation of the One Universal Life or Monad, identified as a human personality, for instance, progressively re-traces that emanated stream of its own relative identity, from personality to soul to monad to a particular planetary Logos, a solar Logos, a constellational Logos, a galactic Logos, a universal Logos….
Again, here is Bruce Lyon describing these two forms of awakening in detail,
The lesser self is always contained in the greater self and “self-transformation” involves the sequential shifting of identity into the larger sphere through the process of initiation. The personality self is contained within the ring-pass-not of the lower three planes and within the time ring-pass-not of the physical incarnation. The soul expresses through five planes and its cycle in time is through many thousands of incarnations. The monad is relatively immortal from the perspective of the personality—“lasting” for a manvantara. We can see, however, that a monad is also an evolving self if it is understood in terms of reference to a particular level of “identification.” For example, a “human monad” or an “Earth Chain monad” has reference to a spark of the one flame that is “identified” with a particular sphere of life within the One Life. It could be said that a “self-realized” human monad in the Earth Scheme is one that recognizes their identification with the identity of the Planetary Logos. By “identification,” we mean something like “direct participation in the life of.” We know too that a human monad (or the essence of the monad) will take one of the cosmic paths and pass into other spheres of awareness and identity. What we understand by the human monad then is a far vaster being than what we understand by the human soul, but it is still an “evolving self.” The evolution now takes place “in life” rather than strictly “in consciousness,” but it is an evolution nonetheless. The monad experiences itself as the “One,” however, that One keeps getting bigger until it is the solar, galactic and universal identities expressing through greater and greater time and space ring-pass-nots. The human personality was always the monad whether or not it realized this to be the case. Similarly, the human monad has always been the One Universal Life even though that realization occurs in the experience of progressive identification.
There is a second “self” that begins to make its presence felt when the experience of the monad begins to become a reality in human awareness, however, and this is the non-evolving “absolute” self. The evolving self lives embedded in the world of becoming—within the manifest universe. The absolute self is neither confined to the manifest universe nor excluded from it. It neither evolves nor realizes itself. It is beyond all definition and all duality. It is what the Ageless Wisdom calls the One Boundless Immutable Principle.[16]
The Marriage of Trans-Himalayan and Integral
To help us understand the Truth of these two forms of awakening, Bruce Lyon provides us with both a vertical and horizontal definition of spirit and matter.[17] He makes the point that spirit and matter, when viewed dualistically, can be understood in both a horizontal (radical) and vertical (evolutionary) sense.
Horizontally, spirit is the Infinite Awake Presence that is the unborn and ever-present root of all subjectivity, and matter is its eternal Life-Force arising as the entire cosmos. Vertically, within the relative universe, spirit is the pure energy found on the subtlest planes (systemic or cosmic), and matter is the most solidified expression of that energy in gross form. Spirit or pure energy, which is found on the subtlest planes, is the One Universal Monad that we are in the deepest cosmic root of our identification, and that is revealed in ever wider and more inclusive forms as identification is shifted into the monad and beyond.
These two approaches to understanding the spirit/matter duality can be seen in the diagram below. On the left, (A) depicts spirit, soul and matter defined in evolutionary or vertical terms, where soul exists on a subtler plane of energy/matter than personality, and spirit on a subtler plane than soul. On the right, (B) adds a horizontal definition, where instead of spirit and soul existing in a subtler frequency of energy-matter on the continuum of the planes, they are actually transcendent to the entire spectrum of manifestation on all planes, dense or subtle.
Figure 2. Diagram showing the vertical-evolutionary and horizontal-radical approaches to understanding the spirit, soul, and matter trinity.[18]
Interestingly, (B) gives us two trinities. One is horizontal, relating to radical awakening and the Absolute Reality that transcends the entire cosmos, and one is vertical, relating to evolutionary awakening and existing within the manifest cosmos, on progressively subtle planes.
One approach that has integrated and synthesized a considerable depth of wisdom on both the radical and evolutionary forms of awakening, and that is able to shed light on the two directions of movement shown in the above diagram—vertical and horizontal—is Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory.[19] Integral Theory is what could be described as a meta-framework, or a model for integrating the perspectives offered by theorists, scientists and philosophers across disciplines, across the globe, and pre-modern, modern and post-modern eras, into a coherent whole. Described by some as a “Theory of Everything,” it works according to the injunction that all perspectives are true but partial, and is composed of five core elements. These are quadrants, levels, lines, states, and types. For those unfamiliar with these, they are described in an endnote.[20]
The two elements of Integral Theory that have most relevance here are states and levels (levels are also known in Integral Theory as “structures.”) In Integral Theory, spiritual awakening is understood to involve awareness re-tracing its source horizontally, from right to left in the above diagram (B), from gross to subtle to causal states. Conversely, the vertical movement involves the shifting of consciousness into ever higher and more inclusive levels, or structures of consciousness. These two movements should not be confused. The horizontal movement relates to the recognition of the true nature of awareness, or the seer. This process involves the continued release of awareness from the structures through which it operates (e.g. the body, thought, personality, time, individual consciousness…), until it is recognised as transcending, including and arising as the entire cosmos. The vertical movement involves the unfoldment of more and more inclusive and all-embracing lenses through which the seer, or awareness, can view and understand the world.
When attempting to understand the difference between radical and evolutionary awakening as they appear in the Trans-Himalayan teaching, the differentiation offered by Integral Theory between states and levels is important. Often, Trans-Himalayan students familiar with the Integral use of the terms gross, subtle, causal, and nondual, understand them as equivalent to the vertical trinity in the figure above (B), of matter, soul and spirit. However, I suggest that this is incorrect and that the former terms more accurately have specific reference to the horizontal categorization in the above figure. According to this reasoning, rather than having relation to components of the relative evolutionary cosmos (monads, souls, personalities…), the terms, gross, subtle, causal and nondual, refer to states or phases of Absolute Reality’s involution into the entire spectrum of cosmic manifest form through all planes. From this perspective, they are states of Absolute Reality rather than levels of the relative self.
The wisdom traditions describe to us how this process of involution—the horizontal movement in the figure above, from left to right in (B)—can be thought of using at least two different scales. First, it can be conceived from a macrocosmic scale. From this orientation, one can conceive of the process by which the entire cosmos is created. Nondual Absolute Reality first externalizes as the causal state. This is the Primordial Unmanifest, Pure Emptiness, Non-Being, Absolute Darkness, and the Void— which is described in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire as the First Cosmic Logos.[21] This causal formlessness is still beyond time and beyond space. It could even be said that the causal state is pre-time and pre-space. Causal formlessness, which is Infinite Unmanifest Being resting as pure potentiality and intention, then itself externalizes into the subtle state. This subtle state is composed of infinite energy, sound, light, vibration and rays. This is the Second Cosmic Logos.[22] Subtle Reality then externalizes further into the gross state, which is composed of all universal gross forms and objects, at which point the Big Bang explodes into existence. This is the Third Cosmic Logos.[23] (Models of involution, like the one just provided, are commonly found within esoteric traditions of both the East and West.)
The second way to conceive of involution is on a moment-to-moment basis. From this perspective, one can perceive involution in every single instant as spontaneously present. In each moment, nondual Absolute Reality remains unmoved as the Infinite Awake Presence that is the One Life. In the very same instant, the Infinite Awake Presence emanates as causal formlessness. Simultaneously, it is present as the energy, light, rays, sound and vibration of the subtle state. And equally, it is spontaneously present as all gross form. From this perspective, there is no sequential involutionary movement into form but rather the spontaneously present existence of all three phases of nondual Absolute Reality all at once.
Figure 3. The three states of water (H2O): solid, liquid and gas.[24]
When first becoming familiar with the phases of involution, it can be helpful to liken the process to the movement of water (H20) through state-phase shifts from gas, to liquid, to solid. In this sense, nondual Absolute Reality (H20) can be seen as manifesting from causal (gas), to subtle (liquid), to gross states (solid). As described above, this process can be seen as sequential or all at once. All phases of relative creation, whether gas, liquid or solid, are equally water. In a similar way, all phases of creation (causal, subtle, and gross) are equally the nondual One Life, or Boundless Immutable Principle of Absolute Reality.
From the perspective of state-phases, radical awakening is the process by which awareness recognizes itself as water rather than identifying as a specific state or phase of creation. Radical awakening, therefore, involves the Infinite Awake Presence that is nondual Absolute Reality and the true nature of awareness, recognizing itself as such through all three states of Reality—boundless, empty, formless awareness (causal), infinite living light-energy (subtle), and all cosmic form (gross). Those familiar with Buddhist philosophy will recognize these as the three great spheres of being, or buddha-bodies—the dharmakaya, sambogakaya and nirmanakaya, respectively, whose ultimate indivisible unity is known as the svabhavikakaya.[25] From this root-perspective, all of Reality is revealed as an infinite matrix of the One Life.
Within these state-phases, the evolutionary planes (the cosmic physical plane, the cosmic astral, cosmic mental, etc.) compose the gross state of Reality, and thus the process of evolutionary awakening occurs within the infinite form expression of the Absolute. Therefore, rather than the gross state being equated to just the systemic physical plane, all the planes, systemic, cosmic and beyond ad infinitum, can be understood to embody the gross state of the Absolute. Deeper still, since ultimately, from a nondual perspective, there is nothing but the Absolute Reality of the One Life, all of its state-phases—gross, subtle, causal, and nondual—are present on every plane. This means that radical awakening is available to all beings regardless of their stage of evolutionary awakening.
The Detail
The lack of explicit differentiation about these two forms of awakening in the Trans-Himalayan teaching prior to Bruce Lyon’s recent contribution has resulted in some points of confusion about the nature of the Path. These though, when clarified, paint a profound picture both for the wonder of the cosmos we inhabit, and the contribution the Trans-Himalayan teachings can make to the world. To my mind, the principle areas of needed clarification have been around the relation of the monad to Absolute Reality; the degree to which radical awakening, described at times by Djwhal Khul in terms of identification, is dependent upon a high stage of initiation; and how radical awakening and evolutionary awakening, or identification and initiation, differentially unfold in such advanced stages of development as the cosmic paths.
The lack of clarity about these matters is understandable. In his work with Alice Bailey, Djwhal Khul does not explicitly differentiate between identification (radical awakening—the horizontal movement in the diagram above) as experienced through an evolutionary shift of the self’s center of gravity into the monad, and as it might be opened to from other depths of the self, such as the personality or soul. Students could therefore be forgiven for confusing the monad with the non-evolving Absolute Reality, with the adjunct assumption that whenever other spiritual traditions speak of awakening to Absolute Reality, they are speaking of a shift of consciousness into the monad.
As understandable as this is, any in-depth exploration of the teachings of the radical awakening lineages such as Dzogchen, Mahamudra, Zen, Vedanta, or Kashmir Shaivism, for instance, will demonstrate that such a position cannot explain the data. Specifically, if we look to the great teachers, sages and siddhas of the above named radical awakening traditions, one can easily find examples of beings understood to be fully radically awake, i.e., stable, persistent abiding in the nondual state regardless of the level of evolutionary attainment. Examples here might include Ramana Maharshi, the great Dzogchen philosopher-siddha, Longchen Rabjam, or contemporary teachers such as Adyashanti or Ken Wilber, for instance. And yet these are not beings we would not normally understand to be fully monadically polarised. If they were, then the sheer intensity and power of their presence and energy would be equivalent to that of Chohans, and beings operating within Shamballa. While the presence and energy of such radical awakening realizers was and is certainly powerful, the presence we would expect from a monadically polarised being would be of several levels of magnitude beyond this.
This dissociation leaves us in with an interesting asymmetry: monadic polarization does entail radical awakening to and as Absolute Reality, but radical awakening to and as Absolute Reality does not necessarily involve monadic polarization. This asymmetry serves as the basis for the needed differentiation between radical and evolutionary awakening, as highlighted in Bruce Lyon’s recent work, and also here. But it also calls us not to stop there. Rather, we are called to go deeper into the relationship between these two forms of awakening in order to understand the asymmetry, and why it is that they seem to converge into one in some places, and not in others.
One way to understand this is to explore the relationship between the states previously described (gross, subtle, causal, nondual) and the evolutionary planes (systemic, cosmic, etc.). If we do this, we can see that on each subtler plane of the cosmic physical plane (and indeed of all cosmic planes), the Absolute Reality of the unchanging One Life is less and less veiled. This means that as a being shifts their polarization into subtler and subtler planes through evolutionary awakening along the path of initiation, radical awakening is more and more naturally opened up. This is owing to the fact that increasingly for such a being, the planes upon which they are polarized are so subtle that the True Nature of Absolute Reality is nakedly disclosed.
A model for how this can be represented can be seen above, where on the most subtle three planes of the cosmic physical plane (the logoic, monadic and higher atmic), the nondual and causal states are most nakedly exposed. Thus, the community of Shamballa abides ever in the glory of the nondual Great Perfection and the causal unmanifest void from which the subtle state emerges.
Djwhal Khul points to the causal state’s relation to the monadic planes when he describes spirit in terms of “pure darkness,” and also when he describes “That ‘unknown impenetrable Void, the utter darkness of negation’ which Those Who are in the Council Chamber of the Lord of the World and Who are focused in Shamballa face when the time comes for Them to ‘negate’ our planetary life-expression and experience altogether.”[26] These are the levels that the Master Morya refers to as those of “the Lion of the Desert,” which is another fitting appellation of the causal state.
The naked revelation of the nondual State of Absolute Reality as it pervades the higher monadic planes is encapsulated in Djwhal Khul’s words when he speaks of the realized “omnipresence of divinity within all forms”[27] that comes with monadic contact. It is clear that full radical awakening has been established through penetration from the causal into the nondual when the material cosmos (dense and subtle) is reintegrated into the realization. In the causal state, there is no form. Indeed, all form has dropped away, leaving only boundless, empty, unmanifest Being. This is the Emptiness or Void described in the esoteric traditions, the realization of which involves the total falling away of the entire manifest cosmos. It is for this reason that paths that lead a practitioner only up to causal realization often describe the manifest cosmos as an illusion or apparition. With the shift deeper into the nondual, however, the manifest cosmos arises again, but now instead of being considered something antithetical to the deepest realization of Reality; it is innately recognized as not other than the energy expression of the Infinite Awake Presence. That Infinite Awake Presence is still recognized as transcendent and not limited to the manifest cosmos, but it is now seen to include and actually arise as the manifest cosmos as well.
On the soul planes (the lower atmic, buddhic and higher mental), the subtle state is most pervasive, making these planes ones pervaded by forms of variously colored light, sound and rays. Thus, the planes upon which Hierarchy primarily operate at this time are predominantly colored by Absolute Reality’s subtle state. Djwhal Khul points to this when he describes the “clear cold light,” the blended light of the triad, which pervades the levels upon which the Ashrams operate.
And on the three most dense planes (the lower mental, astral, and physical-etheric), the gross state of Absolute Reality is most prominent to our vision, hence the materialistic focus and orientation of perception of so many human beings whose center of self-gravity resides on these planes.
These points have deep implications for the way we understand the types of consciousness exhibited by the various aspects of our nature—monadic, soul, and personality—on their respective planes. Specifically, with this perspective in place, it can be seen that the monad remains ever awake to and as nondual the Absolute Reality of the One Life, and the Primordial Emptiness of causal formlessness. It can also be seen that the soul, owing to the perpetual shining of the subtle state of the Absolute on the soul planes, is ever enveloped in Light-Energy, and need only glance into the true nature of its own awareness for full radical awakening to break forth. Additionally, it becomes clear that though radical awakening remains available to all selves operating on the personality planes, the prevalence in vision of the gross state of Absolute Reality tends to obscure the ever-present Truth of the One Life. This is clarified in the below figure.
Figure 4. Diagram showing the correspondence between the evolutionary levels of our being and the radical states of Absolute Reality.
The Relationship between Radical and Evolutionary Awakening on the Path
These points also have compelling implications for how the radical and evolutionary awakening processes can be understood to interact on the path. For example, owing to the nondual and causal states being most nakedly pervasive on the highest three planes of the cosmic physical plane, an evolutionary shift of one’s center of gravity into the monad (clear light altitude above) necessarily entails stabilized causal into nondual radical awakening as the Absolute Reality of the Boundless Immutable Principle.
Similarly, since the subtle state shines so pervasively on the soul planes (indigo-ultraviolet altitude above), we can see that a shift of one’s center of gravity into the soul necessarily entails an opening of awareness into at least the subtle state—an infinite field of light, sound and energy.
And owing to the fact that the gross state of the Absolute is most prevalent to our vision on the personality planes (infrared-turquoise altitude above), those who’s center of gravity is rooted here, which is the majority of humanity, will have awareness of this, largely in its physical plane expression—the physical universe. However, since its subtle, causal and nondual levels are not so obvious to relative vision on the personality planes as they are on soul and monadic planes, the majority of human beings will not experience the continuous recognition of the One Life through all phases—gross, subtle, causal and nondual.
However, this is not to say that in order to radically awaken to nondual Absolute Reality one needs to be an initiate of a high degree of initiation first, i.e., to have shifted the self’s polarization from personality to soul to monad. As the radical awakening traditions such as Dzogchen, Mahamudra, Zen, Vedanta, Kashmir Shaivism, and Bon teach, radical awakening to and as the Absolute Reality of the Boundless Immutable Principle—Infinite Awake Presence and its dynamic Life-force—is ever-available to all beings on the personality planes. And in terms of its sudden and gradual realization, it is a testament to the truth that radical awakening requires no further evolutionary awakening than a stable sense of self, and that the radical awakening traditions have successfully taught this path for millennia, without any attempt to shift people’s center of gravity in the self any higher than the levels of personality.
This allows us to begin to consider why Djwhal Khul, in his work with Alice Bailey, normally associates identification with an advanced stage of initiation. To my mind, the reason lies in the distinction between radical awakening experienced as a temporary peak experience, and as a stabilized stage of development. While anyone, regardless of their level of evolutionary awakening, or their place on the path of initiation, can have a temporary experience of radical awakening to Absolute Reality, simply because it is the realization of Reality as it truly is, I would propose that abiding radical awakening is something that does not begin to stabilize naturally until after the third initiation. This explains why Djwhal Khul normally associates the third initiation with the first point on the path when identification starts to naturally stabilize—something that is fully consummated at the fourth initiation. This also points to why radical awakening seems to open up and become stabilized with comparative ease for some individuals and not for others.[28]
When exploring Djwhal Khul’s use of the term, identification, it is important to be clear that it has both Absolute and Relative definitions. The Absolute definition, which is what is being pointed to here, is the full and stabilized radical awakening of the initiate to the Reality of the Boundless Immutable Principle that transcends, includes and arises as the entire cosmos. The relative definition of identification relates to the series of identifications that begin to occur once the initiate’s locus of identity begins to shift into the monad and beyond to the cosmic paths. This series of identifications involve a monad’s identification with and transmission of the Will and Purpose of various scales of Logoi (planetary, solar, constellational, galactic) within whose bodies it finds its place. While this series of identifications involves extraordinary levels of cosmic development and expressions of cosmic service that express over vast cycles of time, they are still occurring within the changing, evolving universe, and thus must still be defined as relative. The Absolute dimension of identification with and as the Absolute Reality of the Boundless Immutable Principle is considered as such because it involves awakening to the Reality that is changeless through and beyond the entirety of all time and space.
The idea that radical awakening opens up naturally in the higher initiations (after the third) begins to explain why Djwhal Khul does not clearly differentiate between the Absolute and Relative definitions of identification. Instead, he uses the word in reference to both radical awakening to the Absolute Reality of the One Life, and to the advanced stages of evolutionary awakening that come online once the center of gravity for the relative self has shifted into the monad. The human monadic essence shares its ultimate identity with the One Universal Monad, as an emanation of its Self. The evolutionary Path of Return that becomes accessible then can be understood as the path along which these “lines” of emanation are retraced and the monadic essence progressively recognizes that it IS, and has always been, the One, on greater and greater scales. But simultaneously, from a radical perspective, once the relative self’s polarization has shifted into the monad, every single stage of that path is enfolded and saturated with radical Wakefulness to the Absolute Reality of the One Life.
Furthermore, it serves to note that just as evolutionary awakening into deeper and deeper levels of polarization (personality to soul to monad) necessarily evokes radical awakening to deeper and deeper states (gross to subtle to causal to nondual), so is the reverse also true. Radical awakening, as it is stabilized, opens the door and lubricates the path of evolutionary awakening. That is, radical awakening opens the possibility along the line of evolutionary awakening for shifts of selfhood into deeper and deeper levels of spontaneously arising creativity, love, and power in the unfoldment of cosmic Purpose. As this unfolds, and the Infinite Awake Presence of the One Life realizes itself through a human being, their relative sense of self dissolves into clear light—an empty sky through which patterns of energy, rays of light, and bolts of lightning naturally arise through the apparent form of “a Master.”
Figure 5. A Tibetan Buddhist representation of the Dzogchen master, Padmasambhava, having attained rainbow body.[29]
The capacity of radical awakening, as it becomes stabilized, to naturally evoke shifts in evolutionary awakening, is a phenomenon attested to in the Tibetan teaching on the rainbow body. In the Dzogchen lineages of both the Buddhist and Bon traditions of Tibet, which are explicitly radical awakening lineages, there are descriptions of advanced practitioners who, upon bodily death, literally transform the physical elements of the body into light. This phenomenon, known in Tibetan as jalus, is often referred to in English as the cultivation of a rainbow body, due to the sudden appearance of rainbows in the vicinity of the Master’s body at the moment of, and immediately following, death. Upon attainment of the rainbow body, it is said that these beings are no longer restricted by time and space, and can appear and disappear on the physical plane at will. Here is the Dzogchen Master, Chogyal Namkai Norbu:
When a person has that realization of Rainbow Body then their physical body slowly disappears and other people cannot see it. It seems as if that person has disappeared, but in the real sense, he/she is alive and continuing their activities actively in the Rainbow Body. They can continue doing benefit, being active in the Rainbow Body for centuries and centuries, just like Guru Padmasambhava.[30]
In the occurrences when a Master attains rainbow body it is reported that his or her physical body dissolves (or shrinks), sometimes leaving no trace of its once physical existence. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, a lineage Master in the Tibetan Bon tradition, describes this occurrence in the following way: “The realized Dzogchen practitioner, no longer deluded by apparent substantiality or dualism such as mind and matter, releases the energy of the elements that compose the physical body at the time of death.”[31]
It is said that the rainbow body phenomena occurs as a result of the fact that the practitioner’s stabilization in the Infinite Awake Presence of the One Life as the base of all Reality has matured so fully that it begins to affect the physical body. According to this perspective, the experiential knowing of Absolute Reality is so well established that it penetrates all the way down to the physical cells and atoms of the body. From this perspective, the attainment of a rainbow body is also a sign of the full cultivation of the buddha bodies (nirmanakaya, sambhogakaya and dharmakaya). At this level of realization, all bodies (physical, emotional, mental, soul, triadic, and monadic) arise and are known directly as a dynamic energy-expression of the One Life.
Over the past century, there have been several well-documented cases of both men and women who have attained the rainbow body. The list of Masters includes Shardza Tashi Gyalten (1935), Kenchen Tsewang Rigdzin (who reportedly transformed into rainbow body and disappeared alive in 1958), Ayu Khandro (1953), and Khenpo A-chos (1998), just to name a few of the more recent accounts within the Tibetan tradition. One of the most interesting reports received from the students of these Masters is that the teacher is often said to reappear, reconstituting him or herself in the form of a light body to offer final teachings. The founding of the Dzogchen lineage itself is understood to have been initiated in this way. According to the tradition, Garab Dorje returned in a body of light after his death to give his student, Manjusurimitra, a final set of instructions on how to perfect radical awakening according to the Dzogchen view.
The transference of a fully awakened human being into a body of pure light has a basis in many other traditions too, such as the Tamil Siddha tradition, Taoism, Christianity, and many other lineages. According to the Trans-Himalayan cosmology, it could be posited that the attainment of the rainbow body corresponds to the passing of an advanced initiate through stages of development subsequent to the fourth initiation. The evolutionary momentum of that development leading into and beyond this point stems from the natural flow of unfoldments that occur with stabilized radical awakening.
The fourth initiation involves the individual’s full stability in radical awakening to and as the Absolute Reality of the Boundless Immutable Principle; their stabilized polarization in buddhi whilst opening more and more fully to the monadic; full transition into Hierarchy; plane access increasingly opened to all seven sub-planes of the cosmic physical plane, and the being’s transcendence of concrete mind so as to operate fully through the intuitive wisdom-intelligence of the buddhic plane. Correspondingly, in the Trans-Himalayan teachings it is understood that subsequent to the fourth initiation and into the fifth, the initiate gains the capacity, should they choose, to manifest at will on the physical-etheric, astral and mental planes through a mayavirupa, or body of light. Here is Djwhal Khul:
He [the initiate] can work through a physical body (with its subtler sheaths) or not, as he sees fit. He realizes that he, as an individual, no longer needs a physical body or an astral consciousness, and that the mind is only a service instrument. The body in which he now functions is a body of light which has its own type of substance. The Master, however, can build a body through which He can approach His incoming disciples and those who have not taken the higher initiations; He will normally build this body in semblance of the human form, doing so instantaneously and by an act of the will, when required. The majority of the Masters who are definitely working with humanity either preserve the old body in which They took the fifth initiation, or else They build the “mayavirupa” or body of maya, of physical substance. This body will appear in the original form in which They took initiation. This I personally did in reference to the first case; i.e., preserving the body in which I took initiation. This the Master K.H. did in creating a body which was made in the form in which He took the fifth initiation.[32]
So, it seems that while radical and evolutionary awakening need to be differentiated in order to understand the key contributions of the different spiritual traditions, and also the path itself, in the advanced stages of one tradition, the advanced stages of the other are naturally made more available and more likely. As has been shown, evolutionary awakening into the monadic planes necessarily evokes radical awakening to and as the Absolute Reality of the One Life. And equally, it seems fair to posit that radical awakening has an electrifying affect on all aspects of development along the line of evolutionary awakening.
This means that as an initiate stabilizes realization of the Infinite Awake Presence of the One Life as the ever-present Base of their awareness, heart and body, the capacity for the unfolding of ever-deeper levels of polarization intensifies. From personality to soul to monad and beyond, the egg-shell of their relative identity will continue to crack open and reveal the path of monadic emanation along which line they came in. Additionally, such stabilization will allow the opening up of their relationship with other SELF-reflections of the Absolute on progressively celestial levels. It will involve their naturally arising penetration into progressively subtler planes of experience into the cosmos. And it will evoke the rippling forth of deeper developmental expressions of cosmic intelligence and creativity. In the words of Bruce Lyon, “Radical awakening is like pouring gasoline on all the other fires.”
Radical and Evolutionary Awakening on the Cosmic Paths
The cosmic paths embody one of the most profound points of teaching contained in the Trans-Himalayan cannon. They testify to the wonder of the evolutionary journey into cosmos. In the words of the Master Morya, “The endlessness of the path is so very beautiful!”[33]
Radical awakening is awakening to that which is the Ultimate Base of all Reality on all cosmic planes. The cosmic paths embody those trails of evolutionary unfoldment on which the scale of the relative cosmos that is integrated into that realization is steadily increased. To understand this, it can be noted that while radical awakening is awakening to Reality beyond the entire spectrum of time and space in the manifest universe (on all levels), that awakening still happens within time and space. That is, it occurs within some particular plane of vibrational energy-matter, and at some point in the history of the evolutionary process. For a Master on Earth, the plane on which it occurs is the cosmic physical plane (on any of its seven sub-frequencies), and so the extent of the manifest universe that is able to be revealed as the nondual One Life extends only to the cosmic physical plane. In the words of Djwhal Khul with Alice Bailey:
When the student realizes that the great universal Oneness which he associates with monadic consciousness, is only the registration of impressions localized (and therefore limited) and defined within the etheric levels of the cosmic physical plane, he can perhaps grasp the implications of the wonder which will be revealed to the initiate who can transcend the entire cosmic physical plane (our seven planes of the human, superhuman and the divine worlds) and function upon another cosmic level. This is what the treading of the Way of the Higher Evolution enables a Master eventually to do.[34]
This is a crucial point. Radical awakening involves awakening to the nondual nature of as much of the manifest cosmos that one has access to. As the path of evolutionary awakening continues to unfold, and the kernel of relative self is abstracted and retraced ever deeper into the cosmic planes, the scale of the manifest cosmos that the Master is able to integrate into the realization of nonduality progressively expands. It is important to note here that the nature of radical awakening—to the awakened state—does not change, ever. Whatever the level of polarization of initiation, it is awakening to and as the Infinite Awake Presence enfolding all. But, as the periphery of the cosmic physical plane is pierced, there unfold more and more cosmic energy-fields through which the Master is able to integrate their radical realization of nondual Absolute Reality.
Implications for the Trans-Himalayan Tradition
Having explored how the differentiation expresses through Trans-Himalayan cosmology and the path, I now want to focus on its possible consequences for the Trans-Himalayan tradition. As we look to the forms of wisdom that have been most especially cultivated on Earth during the last few thousand years, it can be seen that the wisdom on radical awakening to Absolute Reality has been primarily the contribution of the East. It can also be seen that the wisdom on evolution has been primarily the contribution of the West. The latter is the case, whether we are speaking of the Western esoteric tradition, where such teachers as Plotinus offered profound teachings on the evolutionary Great Chain of Being, or the Western scientific tradition on evolution.
It is interesting to note that this radical/evolutionary division has qualified the first and second phases of the Trans-Himalayan teachings.[35] The first phase of the Trans-Himalayan teachings, which expressed primarily through the Theosophical Society, offer a cosmology and wisdom on the arising of “Absolute Reality as cosmic Form” that are no doubt as profound as anything found in the other Eastern radical awakening traditions. The teachings of the second phase, as presented through such servers as Alice Bailey, Lucille Cedercrans and Helena Roerich, were far more explorative of evolutionary awakening.
Indeed, the tension that arose between the Eastern emphasis of the early Theosophical teachings, and the Western Christian emphasis of Alice Bailey’s work with Djwhal Khul, can be explained, in part, by this differential emphasis. And so too can the inconsistencies that present themselves in the models of the constitution of the human being that are offered in first two phases of the Trans-Himalayan teachings. For instance, in the Theosophical presentation, the deepest level of a human being’s nature is understood to be atman, and the model used is very much in keeping with the Vedantic presentation of the increasingly subtle koshas, or sheaths, at the core of which the Infinite Awake Presence of the Atman resides. However, in the model offered in the Bailey teachings, the atman is relegated to atma, the subtlest level of the triad, and very explicitly a particular layer of our evolving, continually unfolding being. The deepest level of our nature is described as the monad, which is differentiated from atma, and even then, the monad is presented as an ultimately growing and evolving being. In light of this, I would argue that in the Theosophical presentation, the model offered is much more radically oriented, while in the Bailey teachings (and those of Cedercrans and Roerich too), the emphasis is more evolutionary.
Furthermore, I would suggest that this differentiation of emphasis is no coincidence, and that it is actually expressive of a fundamental point of integration between radical and evolutionary perspectives, and the Eastern and Western forms of wisdom, which the Trans-Himalayan teachings are intended to pioneer. Indeed, both the first and second phases have not just integrated and synthesized wisdom from the different lineages and domains of human activity (radical and evolutionary, East and West), but as a transmission from Hierarchy concerning the evolutionary process as it expresses across all planes and throughout the cosmos, the Trans-Himalayan teaching stands as a bridge between kingdoms too. In the words of Bruce Lyon,
To understand the [Trans-Himalayan] teaching it must be realized that the teaching IS ITSELF that which it seeks to teach. It is a relationship, both vertical and horizontal, within the consciousness of humanity. Its purpose is to bring together different spheres of awareness within the mental life of mankind and to bring the mind of man into relationship with both the super and sub-human kingdoms. When this has been achieved the teaching is complete.[36]
As is described by Djwhal Khul in his work with Alice Bailey, the Trans-Himalayan teaching still has a third phase of expression to come, which is forecast to emerge around the year, 2025.[37] I propose that this third phase teaching will involve the ultimate synthesis of these radical and evolutionary perspectives in a manner that may then open a space for their respective forms of awakening to spread increasingly through humanity as a whole.
As is in keeping with the group-centered nature of the Aquarian Age that is presently dawning, as well as previous proposals by Bruce Lyon,[38] I envision that the third phase of the Trans-Himalayan teachings will not be transmitted again to a single individual initiate, but to a group initiate. Furthermore, I would suggest that this group initiate will not be composed of individuals all drawn from the Trans-Himalayan community, but of individuals from many traditions who have entered into spheres of radical and evolutionary awakening that have taken them beyond their traditions into identification with Absolute Reality and the one humanity. Only such a group would be able to represent, in the cultures and lineages they have grown to transcend and include, a synthesis of Eastern, Western, and other global perspectives.
Developmentally, such a group would likely be composed of beings who are both radically awake to and as the One Life, and evolutionary awakened to the personality, soul and monadic levels of their being. Their radical awakening would allow them to represent the divine nature of Reality that is no less present in humanity than any other kingdom. And their evolutionary awakening would simultaneously preserve the dignity of humanity’s place in the great chain of being by allowing us to more deeply serve the divine Purpose emanating from Shamballa. As such, my sense is that radical awakening to and as the Boundless Immutable Principle will serve as the basis of the third phase teaching, in terms of the state of awareness that it is transmitted from, the state in which it is received, and in terms of it’s mysteries forming a foundational pillar of content. Additionally, from an evolutionary perspective, such a group will have as its focus the revelation of the mysteries related to the monadic level of our being, the cosmic Purpose of Earth and the Life aspect as it expresses through the universe, on all planes and through all kingdoms.
The emergence of a trans-lineage group initiate that is able to receive the third phase teachings continues to be deeply empowered by the Shamballa Impacts.[39] As a result of these Shamballa Impacts, and as can be seen from a glance at the present world condition, the Fire of Truth and the Force of Awakening that flows from this center of planetary power has begun to impact humanity globally. This is occurring both within and outside of the wisdom traditions, cleaving through all obscurations to identification with and as the One Life of Absolute Reality, resulting in profound unfoldments within humanity along both the lines of radical and evolutionary awakening.
In relation to radical awakening, the Shamballa Impacts are expressing in radical, nondual awakening breaking forth globally on an unprecedented scale. In terms of evolutionary awakening, humanity is penetrating into ever deeper levels of monadic identity. More groups are learning to open up mature multidimensional relationships with the subtle planes (e.g. Hierarchy and Shamballa). The resurgence of shamanic forms of spirituality, as an expression of the incoming 7th Ray, is facilitating humanity’s penetration into new planes of experience. Many other groups are evoking the emergence of new forms of wisdom-centered intelligence. Neuroscientific research studying advanced meditators is documenting the emergence of new levels of neurobiological complexity sufficient to support the incarnation of these deeper levels of consciousness on the physical plane.[40] There is also an increase in earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions as the inner fires of the body of the Earth are increasingly stimulated.
Implications for the Trans-Himalayan Community
As 2025 approaches, I propose that it is likely that these phenomena will not only continue, but also intensify. And as this process unfolds, the Trans-Himalayan community will have a great deal to offer to the world, in terms of its increasing ability to serve as profound repository of both radical and evolutionary wisdom.
There is more to the Trans-Himalayan community’s role, however, than simply holding this wisdom. According to Djwhal Khul, 2025 is the year in which the Hierarchy will determine if and when their full Externalization can commence.[41] While the Externalization will surely involve a descending movement of consciousness and energy—expressed as humanity’s open recognition of certain Hierarchical members—it will continue to involve an ascending movement of human beings through the first, second, third, fourth and fifth initiations so that they too might serve as a the living presence of Hierarchy in the world.[42] As the chalice into which some of the most profound teachings on this process have been poured, the Trans-Himalayan community bears the responsibility not simply to remain faithful custodians of the wisdom it has been given, but to deepen into those spheres of awakening, identification, and integration that in truth, are the basis of mastery and whole new levels of service capacity.
If the global Trans-Himalayan community truly is to contribute to the Externalization of the Hierarchy in the fullest way possible, it is vital that it integrates and embodies a deep experiential understanding of both of these forms of awakening on mental, emotional, etheric and physical levels. In the radical sense, disciples are called to open to ever-present identification with the One Life’s own spontaneously arising mastery, and both die into and live from that place. In the evolutionary sense, the community must continue to unfold, in the fire of its own experience, the deepest expression of what humanity truly is, in addition to the cosmic destiny that is seeking to express through the Earth. In wondrous recognition of the Great Perfection of the One Life as it is radically ever-present and complete, moment-to-moment, and humble visioning of the evolutionary path that lay before us, I dedicate this article to humanity’s collective awakening.
[1] Bruce P. Lyon, Occult Cosmology (Palmerston North, NZ: Whitestone Publishing, 2010), 48.
[2] Ken Wilber, Integral Spirituality (Boston, MA: Integral Books, 2006), 3-4.
[3] Adi Da, The Knee of Listening (Middletown, CA: Dawn Horse Press, 2004 Revised and updated edition), 50.
[4] Andrew Cohen, Evolutionary Enlightenment: A New Path to Spiritual Awakening (New York, NY: SelectBooks, Inc.), 59.
[5] http://www.beamsandstruts.com/essays/item/934-inner-ecology-thomas-hubl-on-the-shadow (accessed May 14, 2013).
[6] http://aishasalem.com/en/ (accessed May 14, 2013).
[7] Lyon, Occult Cosmology, 55.
[8] Helena P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine (London, UK: Theosophical Publishing House, 1928), 42.
[9] Ibid., 86.
[10] Ibid., 86.
[11] Alice A. Bailey, Initiation: Human and Solar (New York, NY: Lucis Publishing House, 1922), 92.
[12] Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine, 39.
[13] Michael D. Robbins, On the Monad, (Jersey City Heights, NJ: University of the Seven Rays Publishing House, 2004), 38.
[14] This point necessarily entails the differentiation between the monadic essence and the monadic sheath it expresses through on the monadic plane.
[15] http://silasstoddard.com/Tree-of-Life (accessed June 22, 2013)
[16] Lyon, Occult Cosmology, 46.
[17] Ibid., 50.
[18] Lyon, Occult Cosmology, 50.
[19] It is important to note that Integral Theory has also synthesised a profound depth of wisdom in relation to evolutionary awakening, or what Wilber describes as development through structure-stages.
[20] The quadrants are based in the position that when considering any question from any subject (e.g. psychology, politics, economics, culture, spirituality, etc.), at least four different perspectives need to be taken into account. These are the interior and exterior perspectives of the individual and the collective.
Levels refers to the understanding that reality can be enacted from various different levels of consciousness, and that our perspectives will be coloured according to what level we are operating through. In the Trans-Himalayan teaching this finds its correspondence in the model of the planes and the various levels of our being (personality, soul, monad) that operate on progressively subtler levels.
Lines refers to the understanding that whether we are considering individuals or collectives, there are many different lines of development that unfold through the levels (or planes). For an individual, for instance, we might speak of a cognitive line of development, an emotional line, a psycho-sexual line, a social intelligence line, and so on.
The category of states refers to gross, subtle, causal and nondual states that are prevalent in almost all religious and spiritual traditions. Whereas the quadrants, levels, lines and types relate to the changing and evolving relative reality of the cosmos (evolutionary awakening – a vertical movement in the diagram above), states relate to the phases whereby the Absolute Reality that transcends and includes all the planes, comes into manifestation. As such, the states relate to radical awakening and will be discussed further below.
According to both Integral Theory, these states are clearly differentiated from levels of consciousness, and the first three of them (gross, subtle, and causal) can be seen as basic variations on the human sleep cycle. In a twenty-four hour period, no matter what level of consciousness we may have as our center of gravity (our plane of polarisation in Trans-Himalayan terminology), we move through states of waking (gross), dreaming (subtle), to deep sleep (causal). According to Integral Theory, and this is a crucial point for the current article, so also is it the case that no matter what level of consciousness development a human being may be operating from as their general center of gravity, we all have access to gross, subtle, causal and nondual states. This means that all human beings can experience radical awakening, at least as a temporary peak experience.
Lastly, types refer to the understanding that both individuals and collectives may express differently according to their typology. In the Trans-Himalayan teachings, this might be understood according to the Seven Ray teaching, which tells us that all individuals and groups are coloured by a particular combination of Rays.
[21] Alice A. Bailey, A Treatise on Cosmic Fire (New York, NY: Lucis Publishing House, 1925), 3.
[22] Ibid., 3.
[23] Ibid., 3.
[24] http://www.xda-wallpapers.com/file/7657/750x488/16:9/water-liquid-solid-gas_21243.jpg (accessed June 22, 2013)
[25] The dharmakaya, sambogakaya and nirmanakaya form the trikaya, or three buddha-bodies that are understood within multiple streams of Buddhist philosophy as both the three great spheres of being that encompass all Reality, and as the attained state of being of a realised buddha. Their nondual indivisibility as one single Absolute Reality is known in some Buddhist lineages as the svabhavikakaya.
[26] Ibid., 199.
[27] Bailey, The Rays and Initiations, 40.
[28] Ramana Maharishi is a good example of an individual whose radical awakening at the age of 16 seemed to spontaneously occur and stabilize virtually effortlessly.
[29] http://www.rainbowbody.net/Shabkar.htm (accessed June 22, 2013) (
[30] Transcription of an oral teaching in Barcelona, Spain. Oct 3, 2010, by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu.
[31] Tenzin Wangyal, Healing with Form, Energy, and Light (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2002), 141.
[32] Bailey, The Rays and Initiations, 705.
[33] Helena I. Roerich, Infinity (New York, NY: Agni Yoga Society), stanza 357.
[34] Bailey, The Rays and Initiations, 363-364.
[35] Djwhal Khul has described that his teaching through The Trans-Himalayan tradition is intended to have three primary phases of expression. The first phase ran from 1885-1890 and was given primarily through Helena Blavatsky. The second phase ran from 1919-1949, and was given through Alice Bailey, though significant contributions also came through Helena Roerich, and Lucille Cedercrans. The third phase is projected to emerge around the 2025, though some within the tradition understand that Bruce Lyon’s work embodies an initial expression of this.
[36] Lyon, Occult Cosmology, 12-13.
[37] Alice A. Bailey, Discipleship in the New Age Volume 1 (New York, NY: Lucis Publishing House, 1944), 778.
[38] Lyon, Occult Cosmology, 322.
[39] In the Trans-Himalayan teachings it is taught that the crown, heart and throat chakras of the planetary Logos of the Earth are embodied in the communities of Shamballa, Hierarchy and Humanity, respectively. Additionally, it is understood that at the present time of planetary evolution, there is an activation of the planetary chakras occurring. As a result of this, now not just the cosmic love-wisdom transmitted by Hierarchy, but the cosmic Will, Purpose and monadic Life of the planetary Logos of the Earth, held in Shamballa, are being released into humanity for the first time.
[40] Farb et al. (2007) found that mindfulness practitioners (with mindfulness understood according to the Vipassana position of cultivated meta-awareness rather than the Tibetan definition of mindfulness as related to concentration) were shown to have differentiated the regions of the brain that process immediate self-referential experience from those that support more narrative-based forms of self-reference (i.e. self-beliefs and self-construct born of life-experience over time), whereas non-mindfulness practitioners had not. This demonstrates that for the majority of human beings, awareness remains confused with thought, self, time and individuation, but that through spiritual practice and the neuroplasticity of the brain, this confusion can be remedied, and the freedom and well-being of awakening stabilized. See: Farb, N. A., Segal, Z. V., Mayberg, H., Bean, J., McKeon, D., Fatima, Z., et al. (2007). Attending to the present: Mindfulness meditation reveals distinct neural modes of self-reference. SCAN, 2, 313-322. doi:10.1093/scan/nsm030
[41] Alice A. Bailey, Externalisation of the Hierarchy (New York, NY: Lucis Publishing House, 1957), 530.
[42] Ibid., 529.