Questions on Initiation

1999-9-24 16:35:00

I haven't been able to log on to SpiritWeb so I hope this goes through OK.

Glad you enjoyed my attempt at humor. They say that only the truth is funny. I think there is some "truth" in this statement. Humor seems to make us laugh when it shows us a view of truth in an unexpected way.

James! Are you serious about quitting us? Even though you do not post often I'm sure us old timers have an attachment to you. I have enjoyed all the posts that you have made and if there is any conflict I do not know about it. We invite you to stay. The best is yet to come.

Someone e-mailed me several questions about initiates and initiation so instead of giving the answer to just one I will post it to you all as I am sure this is a subject of great interest.

Question: I said earlier that an initiate is one who initiates. Therefore, you are an initiate to some degree when you start a business, a rock and roll band, or initiate an invention. How does this type of initiating correspond to the initiations as taught by DK through Alice A. Bailey and Theosophy?

Answer: As taught by the Brotherhood there are five initiations before becoming a Master and then two additional before graduating from this planet. In addition there are two more that will be taken in another solar system making nine in all. Nine is therefore called the number of initiation.

Before one reaches initiation he is called an "aspirant," if he is sincerely seeking the truth. Just to give you an idea here, the majority of members of Spiritweb in general are either just curious or aspirants to the Path. There are a handful of first degree initiates, a few second and maybe two or three above that. From the 50,000 members on this site there are probably about a hundred who think they are almost masters of the fifth degree or above but are strongly deluded. I met a guy a while back who thought he was higher than the Ancient of Days.

We will eventually cover the initiations in detail, but we have a lot of other material to go through first. If one is not sure if he is an initiate or not it is best to assume he is an aspirant and aspire to have power to serve and initiate. If one sees himself as higher than he is he will miss steps along the way that he will have to retrace in a future life.

Initiating projects of different types does not tell us for sure that you are an initiate of a certain degree. Instead they are like exercises that build your spiritual muscles that will make you strong enough to pass through the portals into the Kingdom of God.

Rick initiated this list. That is a sign that he is working in the direction of being an initiate, but it does not tell us his status. Glenys initiated the Synthesis Group. This is also a sign that she is going in the direction of initiation. Mindy, Anne and others are going the same direction. Lorraine initiated the interviewing program. In addition to this many of you are initiating projects unknown to us. Visible evidence that you are initiating something new is a sign that you are headed in the direction of the initiate. If you begin a work that affects many people this is a sign that you are an accepted initiate, but it is difficult to tell the status of an initiate without soul contact.

Question: Can the seeker pass through more than one initiation in one life?

Answer: Let us say you were a third degree initiate in your last life. That means to get to where you left off in the last life you must pass through three initiations in this one. Sometimes the disciple bungles things and does not even get to the first initiation. Other times he will make it, but because he has gone through the first three before it will not be so difficult this time. However, the next level up, the fourth will be horrendous for him. One usually does not pass through more than one new initiation in one life, but there are no limits set on anyone. Jesus passed through the fourth and fifth whereas the Christ within him passed through the sixth and started work on the seventh. Nevertheless Jesus had to relive the first, second and third initiations.

Question: What if someone like me gives you an idea and you run with it and initiate a project, are you still initiating?

Answer: Yes, if you are acting on your own INITIATive. Jesus initiated the Christian movement, but Saul who mainly promoted it was also a high initiate because he was so successful and had such an impact. No one had to tell him what to do in every detail; he just saw the need and initiated action.

Hope this helps.