previous Index next 
previous Index next When the soul expresses itself in the dense material world via its personality or human, that personality exists on three different planes, that of form, astral, mind, and where there is no restriction to the flow of energy from the soul, then the fire of Life or Love can clearly be seen surrounding the body of form.
When the consciousness of the personality seeks actively to display this Fire on all three planes, that personality is said to be in service to the soul. This act of service is not restrictive, but rather increases the capacity of the personality to respond to life ,with the knowledge and purpose gained and a definitely enhanced individual purpose.
Where the soul/personality relationship is weak, the life form expressed will not function with clear purpose, and the potential of that life or personality is lost.
As individuals and collectively as the human kingdom this act of service to the soul is a requirement of natural growth. The force of Love cannot be expressed by a soul/personality bond if one or either do not work together.
Thus for a personality/human to be of service to soul, an effort at purity has to be attempted on each of the three planes of existence, - form, astral, mind.
For most this is definitely not an easy task as the habits gained over many lifetimes have to be overcome. Some habits are easily identifiable and will change without a great deal of effort. Others are far deeper and the overcoming of the restrictions of these and the recognising of them from the point of view of one who begins the path is almost impossible, but as with ail effort, each small step is the most important. Then when the larger and seemingly more complex restrictions or habits are reached, the tools for their resolve will be at hand.
So when one who walks the Path attempts this act of service the goal is the aspiration to express the force of Love, the fire of soul, more clearly and strongly. This is the first requirement.
The next is to seek the path which will lead towards the purity of the three bodies of personality expression.
Avoid extremes, these only produce problems and in the long run weaken resolve. The reason meat intake should be considered is that it carries for the personality who seeks, an energy that is somewhat restricting. Food from the plant kingdom is of greater benefit in this respect than that obtained from the animal kingdom. A slow but steady change has far greater results than a fanatic approach.
For some who follow the understanding and application of vegetarianism, the act of not eating meat is more important than the reason for not doing so, and the result is that nothing is achieved. The middle path avoids extremes, does not appear to produce great results, but in the end is the only way.
Exercise is also an obvious requirement, but: one that is often ignored, as is correct sleep and rest. A body that is lacking in these areas - food; exercise, rest, - cannot respond to increases in energy that occur when a personality/soul bond is being attempted. The middle way avoiding all extremes, has to be located, understood, and responded to by the one who seeks purity of form.
There are certainly many other areas where form purity has to be addressed, but these cannot be approached unless these first three are understood and attempted. How often do we eat foods that are really of no benefit, force our bodies to go without sleep, or put off even basic exercise?
Growth in consciousness cannot safely occur in a form-body which is treated casually.
Undeveloped and not working in service with the soul, the appearance in a personality is one of self interest, great fluctuations of emotional energy, self pity, etc. But when the path of service is approached the energy which had previously been one of self interest becomes one of unified Love, emotional fluctuations of fear, desire anger, etc., give way to the energy of Love which comes from the soul. And that aspect of Love which the soul/personality expresses is lived in the form body by both.
The stilling of the emotions is not an easy task as we all know, but begins when we take each fear, anger, desire, and guide them like a lost child towards the expression of Love which is our purpose.
Each soul/personality bond has a range of characteristics of consciousness which are unique and in locating these abilities and restrictions a key to the purpose of that person can be found. This key will show how the astral plane for that personality can be approached.
Here an awareness of astrology is useful - both Western and Chinese. A rough guide to the emotional restrictions and possibilities can be developed and this understanding used It is however a guide only and not to be used as an absolute. Approach each area of imbalance quietly, with love and with the aspiration to bring this body too into service with the soul.
Be calm, be gentle.
Colours, flowers, plants, perfume, all help when used with intent to calm an astral body. There are people who through the inner sight, voice, or touch can suggest ways of helping those with an uncontrolled emotional or astral body. In the future they will be many and highly skilled, but at present this is not the case and discernment has to be used to identify those that have this ability, and those who think they have but definitely do not. The latter create problems
It is the plane of creative ideas, abstract thought and intuition where the direction of thought of the soul blends with the mind of the personality, which then in turn filters down to the brain and becomes the directed activity of that person. The wisdom of the soul becomes the wisdom of the personality; the two become consciously one.
This is the next step for the human kingdom. The consciousness of the soul being expressed through its personality. The marriage of soul and personality. This is the act of service, a natural event of great beauty.
For the majority of people at present, the awareness of this requirement of growth is either non-existent or only poorly understood as the education necessary for this understanding has been seemingly not needed or difficult to obtain. But for all species such as the human kingdom it is a natural event which needs to be understood and responded to. Where this does not occur the species dies. The soul withdraws.
The mind needs to develop the strength and ability to comprehend and respond to the greater Laws of Life.
Purity on this plane, at least the first steps, is simply using that natural ability. Developing creative thought, abstract thought, and intuitive ability, are the first tools. However once again it is not an easy task to use something that has been dormant for so long, but with steady effort progress is always made.
The brain which is a rather wonderful tool, is also extremely delicate, and when drugs are introduced to the body, there is an inevitable response within the brain. These can be introduced with good intent, as in the area of medicine, or casually out of desire; in this case they range from drinks to designer drugs. These produce a result which increases the difficulty of the mind to filter information to the brain, lowering its ability to respond in the way it was intended to and distorting information already held. Also causing lasting damage.
Drugs, although producing a limited effect of well being, create damage and for one who would walk the Path of Life, should be regarded with great caution.
There are many foods that assist the brain in its function and are worthy of use. The information for this is freely available.
So to seek the needed balance within the triangle of form, astral, mind, which makes up the personality, with the aspiration to increase the souls ability to express itself naturally - the energy of Love and Wisdom - find the most obvious abilities and restrictions we each have and slowly but steadily build and develop for the chosen path.
In doing this carefully and steadily the centres of energy within the etheric body develop naturally.
All proceeds safely.When the personality seeks to be consciously of service to the soul - by so doing increasing the fire of Love on all the planes of its expression - and has made or begun attempts at reaching purity on these planes, the next step to actively developing the soul/personality bond is meditation.
Meditation is simply the focusing of the mind towards the soul with the intent to listen and respond to the energy of Love and the clearness of Wisdom from that plane. It is not greatly difficult, and has been used by members of the human kingdom who have chosen to act in service to the soul, for many thousands of years.
It is a requirement for the growth of consciousness for all developing species, such as the human kingdom, and is common to other worlds and planes of existence beyond the earth and the soul.
It is the principal means of transferring the energy of Fire or Love through Wisdom via the consciousness. It is the basis of communication of soul to personality, or soul to soul. The energy correctly used in meditation brings not only great understanding but also Love-the Bread of Life.
It enhances all the three planes of the personality, and develops the etheric body safely. It brings life. The only requirement is that it is approached with sensibility, and that which it offers is not forced.
In the beginning the approach by the personality to the soul through meditation, follows a general path, but as advances are made more specific forms are used, these being designed to suit that particular energy of Love being developed by a soul-personality bond. These meditations are given to one who walks this Path by a Master-who understands more completely these needs and watches with great understanding and Love. In the West however, this level of meditation is not yet common, its more general use lies in the future.
What is outlined here is an approach for one who begins and if followed carefully will bring results, perhaps not apparent for sometime, as the initial results may be out of sight of the one who seeks, but always enhancing the bond, and carrying with it no endangerment.
This is an attribute of the mind, developed in some, which offers an opportunity of communication between the soul and personality through pictures or symbols.
Many races have used this method in the past, those who seek visions, those who see pictures of activity, those who see activity with the consciousness but not the eyes. All carrying the complete and deep understanding of what has been seen. An awareness of life on a greater scale. This ability is developed by creative visualisation.
A good exercise for developing this ability is to choose an object, a leaf, flower, picture, etc., look carefully at it, attempting to see clearly all its detail, colour, shape, texture, then to close the eyes and re- create the same object. Open the eyes to look, then close and repeat the same exercise. Do this quietly, no more than ten minutes or so.
Another exercise is to sit quietly and with the eyes closed create a simple scene looking at colours and shapes, not letting that which has been created become too complex and returning to aspects of it at will. For these exercises sit quietly, without noise or distraction, not for long lengths of time, and whenever you wish.
There are many other ways of developing this ability that are well written about and are worth looking at.
This is another method of soul/personality contact, but rather than developing a picture, a concept is the aim. Here again sit quietly, comfortably, alert but relaxed, breath deeply for a short period, still the emotions and any interruptive thoughts and then place the word or thought being used as a seed, into the front of the mind. Then hold that steady and gently. In silence.
Initially even holding an idea without other concepts or desires interrupting may not' only be very difficult, but also tiring. if this is so do not force yourself: Go quietly. Stop and attempt again later, damage can occur if this is not done. Use common sense always. nothing is gained from forcing the mind into areas it is not ready to respond to.
However if there is no difficulty in using seed thought, do so, but for definitely no more than twenty minutes. Where this is done successfully, the soul can respond to the personality by developing the idea or concept in areas which are new to the personality, but being able to be used in their life.
There are many people who use this method in their daily lives on subjects that appear to be more mundane, without realising they are developing the soul/personality bond, but finding new ways of considering and approaching problems. Some have developed advanced ability of meditation without any concept of soul, accepting however the ideas filtering through as being worthy of application.
A personality when meditating in this way aims at the formation of thoughts, at the bringing down to the concrete levels of the mental plane of abstract ideas and intuitions. This is meditation with seed. A good seed thought to begin with is - God is Love.
With both of these approaches to the soul and with all other forms of meditation, aspiration, concentration, and determination are necessary virtues but if used without discrimination and a sense of time, damage to the personality will occur. Common sense is needed.
Know yourself- Proceed slowly and with caution - Study effects - Realise that eternity is long and that which is slowly built lasts for ever - Aim at regularity - Psychic phenomena are no indication of a successful following of meditation.
This is the beginning of the Path.
previous Index next