Today's quote of JJ - "Seekers complain of loneliness and dark night of the soul. Both are illusions. You are never alone and the inner light is ever shining bright to those who look" inspired me to write this post on the phrase in Christian and Occidental mysticism - "dark night of the soul" when the man stands pendant between heaven and earth and then cries:
"Where is the one God Who has forsaken me?
He is nowhere to be seen and all other gods have gone.
I stand alone, bereft yet unafraid. I see the dark of form;
I see the dark of distant spirit. And all the light of soul seems gone."
Then comes the cry triumphant: "I know I am the Light of God. There is naught else."
We shall look at this phrase from 3 viewpoints - A. Initiations B. Astrology C. Personal instructions of DK to his group.
A. First viewpoint :
Rule I (for those ready for group initiation - For Disciples and Initiates who have taken their 1st Initiation): Within the fire of mind, focussed within the head's clear light, let the group stand. The burning ground has done its work. The clear cold light shines forth and cold it is and yet the heat—evoked by the group love—permits the warmth of energetic moving out. Behind the group there stands the Door. Before them opens out the Way. Together let the band of brothers onward move—out of the fire, into the cold, and toward a newer tension.
DK explains "Behind the group there stands the Door. Before them opens out the Way." as -
I would like for a moment to refer here to the door symbology as the initiate begins to grasp the inner meaning of those simple words. For long the teaching, given in the clear cold light, anent the door and the emphasis put upon the presentation of the door lying ahead of the aspirant has been made familiar, but that has been working with the lower aspects of the symbolism, even if aspirants did not realize it; they have been taught the fact of the light in the head, which is the personality correspondence to the clear cold light to which I refer. At the very center of that light, as many aspirants know theoretically or factually by inconstant experience, is a center or point of dark indigo blue - midnight blue. Note the significance of this in view of what I have been saying anent the "dark night," the midnight hour, the zero hour in the life of the soul. That center is in reality an opening, a door leading somewhere, a way of escape, a place through which the soul imprisoned in the body can emerge and pass into higher states of consciousness, untrammeled by form limitations; it has also been called "the funnel or the channel for the sound"; it has been named the "trumpet through which the escaping AUM can pass." The ability to use this door or channel is brought about by the practice of alignment.
The "clear cold light" is the light of pure reason, of infallible intuitive perception and its unremitting, intensive and revealing light constitutes a major test in its effects. The initiate discovers the depths of evil, and at the same time is enticed forward by the heights of a growing sense of divinity. The clear cold light reveals:
The omnipresence of God throughout nature, and therefore throughout the entire personality life of the initiate or of the initiate group. The scales fall from the eyes, bringing about - paradoxically - the "dark night of the soul" and the sense of being alone and bereft of all help. This led (in the case of the Christ, for instance) to that appalling moment in the Garden of Gethsemane, and which was consummated on the Cross, when the will of personality-soul clashed with the divine will of the Monad. The revelation to the initiate of the ages of severance from the Central Reality, and of all its attendant implications, descends upon the one who is attempting to stand "in isolated Unity," as Patanjali (to quote him a second time) calls the experience. (The Light of the Soul, Book IV, Sutras 24, Page 420 and Sutra 34)
The omnipresence of divinity within all forms pours in upon the consciousness of the initiate, and the mystery of time, space and electricity stands revealed. The major effect of this revelation (prior to the third initiation) is to bring to the disciple a realization of the "great heresy of separateness," as it focuses in him, the separated fully conscious individual - aware of his past, conscious now of his ray and its conditioning power, focused in his own aspiration, and yet part of the great whole of nature. From that moment onward he knows that divinity is all there is, and this he learns through the revelation of the inherent separativeness of the form life, through the processes of "the dark night of the soul" and its culminating lesson of the significance of isolation and the freeing process which brings about the merging into unity through the emission of the sound, the cry, the invocation, such as the cry of the Christ upon the Cross symbolized. His exact words have not been transmitted to us. They vary for each ray, but all bring about the recognition of divine merging, in which all separating veils are "rent from the top to the bottom" (as The New Testament expresses it).
Blindness is esoterically speaking, the place of learning and is related to the eye, throat and heart doctrine. It is not related to the dim vision, the sensing of half truths and the groupings of the aspirant in the process of learning about himself, or as he visions the goal and seeks to walk the Path. That is a familiar condition and one to which all beginners are subjected and which they cannot avoid for it is inherent in their natures. Occult blindness is spiritually induced and "blacks out" the glory and the promised attainment and reward. The disciple is thrown back upon himself. All he can see is his problem, his tiny field of experience, and his - to him - feeble and limited equipment. It is to this stage that the prophet Isaiah refers when he speaks of giving to the struggling aspirant "the treasures of darkness." The beauty of the immediate, the glory of the present opportunity and the need to focus upon the task and service of the moment are the rewards of moving forward into the apparently impenetrable darkness. For the initiate, this blindness is still more esoteric; there remains for him absolutely no light whatsoever - no earth light nor any light within the three worlds at all. There is only blackness. To this the mystic has given the name "the dark night of the soul." The true dark night (of which the mystic's dark night is only a dim reflection, to speak paradoxically) marks a very exalted state of Being and stage of development. It was into the blackness and darkness that Christ penetrated as He over-shadowed one of His Masters, the Master Jesus upon the Cross. This will strike a new note for many, and can only now be revealed. It is concerned with the facility with which a Master participates in the experience, subjectively realized, of the disciples whom He has prepared for initiation. It relates also to the still higher identification of the Christ with those initiates who are taking the fourth and fifth initiations, such as the Master Jesus in the experience referred to above. Christ is no longer the Initiator, but stands to the initiate as the Master does to the disciple. It is a curious phase of "identical participation," which evokes no reaction from the Master or the Master of the Masters, the Christ, except in so far as it enables the divine Participator Himself to face another area of darkness, veiling and hiding a still more supernal glory. The above paragraph is far beyond the comprehension of the average student, but will be comprehended by those whose eyes are open to be blinded.
Christ's life alternated between the crowd whom He loved and the silence of the solitary places. First He is to be found in the daily life of the family experience, where the intimacies of personalities can so sadly imprison the soul; thence He passed into the solitary desert and was alone. He returned, and His public life began, until the publicity and noise and clamor of this were succeeded by the deep and interior silence of the Cross, where, forsaken of all, He went through the deep dark night of the soul - utterly alone. Yet it is in these moments of complete silence, when the soul is thrown back upon itself and there is no one to help, no hand to aid and no voice to strengthen, that those revelations come and that clear insight is developed which enable a Savior to emerge for the helping of the world.
B. Second viewpoint (The Astro - Psychology of "Dark Night of the soul")
On the wheel turning anticlockwise (Aries to Pisces, via Taurus) Applies to The Disciple and Initiate.
1. Aries - The Light of Life Itself. This is the dim point of light found at the center of the cycle of manifestation, faint and flickering. It is the "searchlight of the Logos, seeking that which can be used" for divine expression.
2. Taurus - The penetrating Light of the Path. This is a beam of light, streaming forth from the point in Aries, and revealing the area of light control.
3. Gemini - The Light of Interplay. This is a line of light beams, revealing that which opposes or the basic duality of manifestation, the relationship of spirit and of form. It is the conscious light of that relationship.
4. Cancer - The Light within the form. This is the diffused light of substance itself, the "dark light" of matter, referred to in The Secret Doctrine. It is the light awaiting the stimulation coming from the soul light.
5. Leo - The Light of the Soul. A reflected point of light logoic, or divine. The light diffused in Cancer focuses and reveals eventually a point.
6. Virgo - The blended dual Light. Two lights are seen - bright and strong, the light of form; one faint and dim, the light of God. This light is distinguished by a waxing of one and the waning of the other. It differs from the light in Gemini.
7. Libra - The Light that moves to rest. This is the light that oscillates until a point of balance is achieved. It is the light which is distinguished by a moving up and down.
8. Scorpio - The Light of Day. This is the place where three lights meet - the light of form, the light of soul, and the light of life. They meet; they blend; they rise.
9. Sagittarius - A beam of directed, focused Light. In this the point of light becomes the beam, revealing a greater light ahead and illumining the way to the center of the light.
10. Capricorn - The Light of Initiation. This is the light which clears the way to the mountain top, and produces transfiguration, thus revealing the rising sun.
11. Aquarius - The Light that shines on Earth, across the sea. This is the light which ever shines within the dark and cleansing with its healing rays that which must be purified until the dark has gone.
12. Pisces - The Light of the World. This is the light, revealing the light of life itself. It ends for ever the darkness of matter.
In the Words given for Cancer sign, the Word of the soul indicates the objective of the Cancer experience and the purpose for which incarnation has been taken: "I build a lighted house and therein dwell." The temporary method of the personality is also clearly given when we are told that the Word proclaimed by the soul as it takes incarnation is "Let isolation be the rule and yet—the crowd exists." This sign can carry deep meaning to all. You are in process of incarnation; you are following your chosen way. Is the house you are building yet lit? Is it a lighted house, or is it a dark prison? If it is a lighted house, you will attract to its light and warmth all who are around you and the magnetic pull of your soul, whose nature is light and love, will save many. If you are still an isolated soul, you will have to pass through the horrors of a more complete isolation and loneliness, treading alone the dark way of the soul. Yet this isolation, this loneliness and this separation in the dark night are all part of the Great Illusion. It is, however, an illusion into which the whole of humanity is now precipitated in preparation for unity, freedom and release. Some are lost in the illusion and know not what is reality and truth. Others walk free in the world of illusion for the purposes of saving and lifting their brothers, and if you cannot do this, you will have to learn so to walk.
C. Third viewpoint (Personal Instructions of DK to his molecules/groups)
Above all, I would say: Seek to recover the fervor of your earlier, spiritual aspiration and self-discipline. If you have never lost it (though many disciples have) seek to force that energy of inspiration to work out in an effective display of definite action upon the physical plane. How, you ask, my brothers? By increasing the radiance of your light in the world through love and meditation, so that others may turn to you as to a beacon light in the dark night of life which seems in this century to have descended upon humanity; seek to love more than you have ever believed was possible, so that others - frozen and chilled by life circumstance and the present horror of human existence - may turn to you for warmth and comforting. What I and all who are affiliated with the Hierarchy seek to do at this time of desperate crisis is to find those who are dependable points of living energy and through them pour out the love, the strength and the light which the world needs and must have if this storm is to be weathered. I ask you to render this service to me and to humanity. I ask nothing spectacular; it will, however, require a strenuous effort of your souls if you are to respond adequately; I ask nothing impossible; I would remind you that the apathy of the physical body and brain, the inertia of the feeling nature and the sense of futility of the mind when confronted with large issues will seem to hinder you.
Three of the original members (C.A.C., S.C.P., and W.O.I.) could not stand the spiritual pressure, and their personalities forced their withdrawal (probably for this incarnation) from the group work. The tests of discipleship are severe, as you well know, and only the pure heart, true love and mental activity can serve to pull the disciple through them; this is always possible, however, where these exist and where there is also a determined orientation towards the light. It is this determined orientation which has enabled W.D.S. to stand steady through his tests. There is a stage of discipleship which is described as that of "light fluctuation."
The Stanzas for Disciples, which I have at times quoted to you, speak of this stage as follows:
"In and out of the light, as a moth around a candle, flicker the sparks. These sparks are men, awakened to the light, but men who know not that the greater Light puts out their little light and draws the sparks unto itself. They cannot face the light. They fear its utter truth. They come; they go; again do they return, only again to leave." Hold these brothers, who still remain your group brothers though temporarily in pralaya, warmly in your hearts. Hold them in love. Seek not to bring them aid or draw them back again within the circle of your service. They are at the point where their own souls alone and I, their Master, know the right timing of approach.
Finally, my brothers, one parting word as I close this instruction. The world tension increases and will increase; anxiety grows and there is no sign of its immediate lessening; the darkest hour of human life is upon us and it frequently brings to the earnest disciple the experience - terrible yet beautiful - to which has been given the name of the "dark night of the soul." This dark night takes different forms and different degrees of intensity, according to the ray, the type and the point in evolution of the disciple. From it you cannot escape. But one error emerges if careful thought is given to this dark night as pictured by the mystics down the ages. Their emphasis has, in the past, been laid upon the suffering which the personality experiences and the agony through which the personality goes. But in reality and from the angle of the facts, that is not the true dark night. The real "dark night" is that of the soul as it participates in the pain of humanity as a whole, in the agony of humanity's separation from God (a separation based upon illusion but not on actuality) and upon the desperation of humanity's reaching forth towards what appears to be an unresponsive God. Personality pain, agony and desperation are very different things and are not concerned with the totality of pain and suffering to which mankind is subjected. I would therefore ask you to steel your souls to endurance, knowing that the Hierarchy Stands; I would ask you to love blindly and unchanging in spite of all that may happen, knowing that Love Stands unmoved amid the wreckage of all around and eternally loves; I would ask you to put your hand into that of the Master and move forward with him and in the strength of your group, irradiated by the life and light of the Hierarchy; I would ask you to be a strong hand in the dark to your fellowmen because you are affiliated with the Hierarchy and the love and strength of the Hierarchy can flow through you, if you so permit.
I would remind you in this time of trial that I, your Master, love and guard you, for your soul and my soul are one soul. Be not unduly disturbed. There is no light or dark to the soul but only existence and love. Rest back on that. There is no separation but only identification with the heart of all love; the more you love the more love can reach out through you to others. The chains of love unite the world of men and the world of forms and they constitute the great chain of Hierarchy. The spiritual effort you are asked to make is that of developing yourself into a vibrant and powerful center of that fundamental, universal Love.
I will end this post with a paragraph from personal instructions to one of the disciples who emerged victorious from the "Dark Night of Soul" :
"There comes a time in the training of any disciple when he must stand alone and feel sometimes that he has been deserted by his Master and by the other members of the Ashram. It is the higher and occult correspondence of the mystical experience of the true mystic and to which he has given the name of "the dark night of the soul." All this is nevertheless only a part of the great illusion and has to be overcome and dissipated. When this victory has been achieved and there has been evidenced the willingness to work alone and apparently with no ashramic direction - except a general knowledge of the Plan - then the disciple has demonstrated that he can be trusted; he becomes available for a higher rating and more responsibility can be placed upon him - if not in this life then in the next."
- DK to Francisco Brualla (I.A.P. - Inclusiveness, Assurance Power in Service) Disciple in the political submolecule who Founded branch of Lucis Trust in South America.
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