The Antahkarana
Alice A. Bailey uses the word Antahkarana 347 times and Antaskarana 47. These both describe the same thing but are merely variations of spelling that appear in various writings.
The antahkarana is basically a connecting bridge between the higher and the lower. But higher and lower what may be the question.
Actually, it is the higher and lower of most any two realms of consciousness. The Bailey writings use it in association with linking the lower kingdoms with the human, the human (which is the fourth kingdom) with the Spiritual Hierarchy (which is the fifth kingdom) and then the Hierarchy with Shamballa (the sixth and seventh kingdoms. The antahkarana even extends to being a connective link between the disciples of the world who he calls The New Group of World Servers who are a link between humanity and the Spiritual Hierarchy.
“This New Group of World Servers is an aspect of the world antahkarana… and has produced a descent from the Hierarchy which meets and merges with the energies of the ascending group reflection.” Discipleship in the New Age, Vol 2, Page 204.
The antahkarana even applies to planetary links such as the Earth and Venus:
“Again, in a planetary sense – (the antahkarana) is a channel being built by collective man on this planet to its primary, Venus.” Esoteric Astrology, Page 684.
The antahkarana is often called a bridge and even a “rainbow bridge.” Why is the rainbow brought into the picture? Because the differentiation of the seven colors, or seven rays, must be synthesized into the one great white light for the bridge to be perfected.
The ultimate antahkarana, as far as we are concerned, is the building of the rainbow bridge between human entities and their monads, in other words, connecting us with our original Source.
“This “radiant rainbow bridge” unites the illumined personality, focused in the mind body, motivated by the love of the soul, with the Monad or with the One Life, and thus enables the divine manifesting Son of God to express the significance of the words: God is Love and God is a consuming Fire. This fire, energized by love, has burnt out all personality qualities, leaving only a purified instrument, colored by the soul ray and no longer necessitating the existence of a soul body. The personality has by this time completely Absorbed the soul, or to put it perhaps more accurately, both soul and personality have been fused and blended into one instrument for the use of the One Life.” The Rays and the Initiations, Page 262
Before this happens, one must first build several bridges in between such as between the emotional self and the mind.
“When man is polarized in his mental body, he begins to bridge the antahkarana. A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, Page 1160
The next step up is the bridge between the lower and higher mind as the antahkarana is described as “The path, or bridge, between higher and lower mind, serving as a medium of communication between the two.” Initiation Human and Solar, Page 215.
The soul dwells on the plane of the higher mind so this tells us that one of the aspects of the antahkarana is creating a bridge between the personality and the soul making soul contact possible.
Basically, one can say that the antahkarana is the scientific means of establishing soul contact and more.
The next step up uses the higher mind as the starting point for a bridge to still higher consciousness:
“The higher mind (being the lowest aspect of the Spiritual Triad) can be regarded as a door admitting the consciousness of the soul-infused personality into a higher realm of contact and awareness.” Discipleship in the New Age, Vol 2, Page 194
This higher contact involves access to the full Spiritual Trad: The antahkarana “is the link between the three higher worlds of spiritual being (Spiritual Triad) and the three lower worlds of human endeavor and experience.” (Physical, astral and lower mind) Discipleship in the New Age, Vol 1, Pages 70-71
So, what is the Spiritual Triad? A link to the Spiritual Triad means you have access to the three higher planes DK calls atma-buddhi-manas. Atma is the sixth plane up from the physical, buddhi is the fifth and manas is the fourth. Atma is the realm of spiritual will and the source of divine ideas, buddhi to the true intuition and manas to the higher mind.
“There is no initiation for the disciple until he has begun consciously to build the antahkarana, thus bringing the Spiritual Triad and the mind as the highest aspect in the three worlds into a close relationship; later, he brings his physical brain into a position of a recording agent upon the physical plane, thus again demonstrating a clear alignment and a direct channel from the Spiritual Triad straight through to the brain via the antahkarana which has linked the higher mind and the lower.” Rays and Initiations, Page 442
Finally, when the disciple has established the antahkarana linking the Spiritual Triad to the lower personality he or she can take the final step in accessing the monad, the originating Source.
It may be helpful to note that most of the time in the Bailey writings, when the antahkarana is written, it is referring to the link between the lower self and the Spiritual Triad. The reader can pretty much assume this is the case unless the text indicates otherwise.
The whole process may be summed up as follows:
“It might be said that the whole goal of normal evolution is to bring humanity to the point where a direct line of contact is established between the personality and the Spiritual Triad, via the soul – or rather, through the medium of using the soul consciousness to achieve this awareness.” Rays & the Initiations,” Page 498
“Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.” – Chuang Tzu
June 5, 2025
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