The Path of Evolution - Which Is Your Life

Introduction

Every high school graduate is familiar with the theory of evolution - how life started on this planet, first in a very simple single-celled form and then gradually evolved into ever more complex forms (plant as well as animal) until it culminated in the birth of the human species. In many spiritual traditions, this theory of evolution is not considered a theory, but a hard fact beyond any doubt. These traditions, however, see this evolution in slightly different terms. Here is a brief explanation of how the process of evolution applies to an individual human being, seen from a spiritual point of view, the process which eventually contributes to the evolution of the human species as a whole (Some predictions for the future evolution of the human species can be found here):

The Five Stages of Evolution

According to spiritual traditions, the evolution of life progressed through the following stages - the mineral kingdom, the vegetable kingdom, the animal kingdom and finally the human kingdom.

They also posit the existence of a fifth kingdom, one still unknown to science - the spiritual kingdom. The spiritual kingdom on earth consists of the Spiritual Hierarchy and the members of its various groups or Ashrams. If you reached this web page directly, you may want to read about the Spiritual Hierarchy before you continue further with this page.

The 777 Lives of Man

Legend says that each human being has seven hundred and seventy seven lives on earth (reincarnation is taken as a given but the number 777 should not be taken literally, it is merely a symbolic number, actually most humans experience several thousand earthly lives).

• The first 700 lives - Out of the 777 lives, the first 700 are spent living pretty much like an animal, feeding ones physical needs and appetites.
  
• The next 70 lives - The human being gets interested in his own evolution and he now enters the probationary path for the preparation of becoming a disciple of one of the masters of the Spiritual Hierarchy. In the latter part of these 70 lives, he is accepted as a disciple. He works for his spiritual development in the next few lives.
  
• The last 7 lives - Through his personal effort and the help and the guidance of his master (usually through a disciple), he starts on the journey which takes him through a series of initiations which enable him to evolve on earth and eventually free him from the need to incarnate any more. At the first initiation, the human crosses the threshold between the human and the spiritual kingdom. From this first initiation to the fifth when he achieves relative perfection (relative to existence on earth), he is said to take the remaining 7 lives (in practice they take many more than 7). He is now free of the need to incarnate (Of course he may fall on the way and take a completely different path).

Though a human does not remember his past lives, every time he incarnates he is exactly at the point in his development or evolution as he was at his death in his previous life, so none of his progress is lost.

The Path of Initiation (Sanskrit - Diksha)

This path of initiation for the evolution of an human being and eventual liberation from the cycle of birth and death, is not compulsory. Human beings can attempt to gain liberation from the need to incarnate by living normal lives without the aid of discipleship, but few opt for this path since it can take many more thousands of lifetimes.

In simple terms, a human being can be said to be made up of:

• a personality,
• a Soul (Anandamaya kosha, Atma, Karana sharira ) and
• the Spirit

His personality can be further split into four parts:

• his gross physical body (Annamaya kosha, Sthula sharira)
• his active, energy body (also called the pranic or etheric body - Pranamaya kosha, Linga sharira)
• his emotional being (also called the astral body - Manomaya kosha, lower Sukshma sharira) and
• his intellectual or mental being (Vijnanmaya kosha, higher Sukshma sharira).

At each incarnation, the previous personality is lost (ceases to exist) and the soul gains a new personality. However, its stage of development is retained. In the process of his evolution, what a human being needs to do is gain complete control over his personality, achieve conscious contact with his soul and eventually make contact with his Spirit (Atma). The goal is to achieve 'self-realization' or at-one-ment with his real Self.

For this he needs to develop in four different ways:

• physically (in action),
• emotionally,
• mentally and
• spiritually.

The various initiations mark his specific achievements in this process and the beginning of the next endeavour. These achievements apart, the path of initiation is essentially a path of service - service to humanity and cooperation with the Plan - the plan of the Great Beings who have set this process of evolution into motion.

If the point in evolution of a human being on earth is considered to be between 0 and 5 (1.0 being that of a person who has taken the first initiation) , the interested reader of this material (on the web) is probably somewhere between 0.6 to 1.2 (this is my personal estimate - I am, myself probably in the same range too). As more and more human beings in incarnation make progress along this path, the point in evolution of the human species as a whole also rises. The average point in evolution of all of humanity is said to be approximately 0.3 at the current time (1997 - according to Creme ). Again according to Creme, there are about 850,000 people living on earth who have taken the first initiation, about 240,000 who have taken the second, about 2400 who have taken the third and about 450 who have taken the fourth initiation.

The Four Ways

These are ways or methods for the physical/energetically, emotional, mental and spiritual evolution of the human being. Since these four aspects of the human have to be developed more or less in parallel, the Soul, in order to achieve a balance, may choose to utilize each of these methods in turn in different lifetimes or it may choose to use a combination of two or more of these basic methods in any one lifetime.

• The Way of Action (Karma Yoga): Physical/Active development (not to be confused with development of the physical body) is achieved through selfless action in the physical world. The less developed person (a 'young' soul), using this path, will often start with the aim to excel in his chosen vocation (which could very well be managing the household or raising children). Though he may still be interested in the rewards of his work, he strives to achieve excellence for its own sake. Strangely enough, though worldly success in his endeavors may be critical to the circumstance, it is not really necessary for his progress on the evolutionary path. As the person develops over several lifetimes, his selfish activity is transformed into selfless service to his fellow human beings. This path can be said to be the Way of the Warrior - it purifies/perfects the aspirant's energy body (Sanskrit- Pranamaya Kosha).
  
• The Way of Devotion (Bhakti Yoga): Emotional development can be achieved through the path of devotion. The less developed person starts on this path with devotion to the members of his immediate family- spouse/partner, children, parents, siblings. After several lifetimes on this path, this devotion extends to a personal God or a personal Guru and eventually becomes impersonal, embracing both the Creator and his entire Creation. This path can be said to be the Way of the Healer - it purifies/perfects the aspirant's astral/emotional body (Sanskrit- Manomaya Kosha).
  
• The Way of Knowledge (Jnana Yoga): Mental development is achieved through the path of knowledge. The less developed person will start on this path with interest in the study of physical or social sciences, but after several lifetimes on this path, he becomes inclined to study more abstract, philosophic aspects of life - the knowledge of the ultimate Reality. This knowledge of the ultimate Reality is essentially the knowledge of the Self. The faculty to be developed here is that of discernment and discrimination (viveka) in order to separate right from wrong, the true from the false, the real from the illusory. This path can be said to be the Way of the Teacher - it purifies/perfects the aspirant's mental body (Sanskrit- Vigyanamaya Kosha).
  
• The Way of Discipline and Meditation (Raja Yoga): Spiritual development is possible through this method of physical and psychological discipline with the regular practice of meditation. A beginner on this path starts with purity in thought, speech and action coupled with a tendency for austerity, prayer and study of religious or metaphysical literature. As he develops, he begins contemplation and then the practice of meditation.
  
  Patanjali's Raja Yoga specifies a very systematic set of rules and steps for this path:
  • The first step are the Yamas (restraints)
    • Ahimsa - non-violence
    • Satya - truthfulness
    • Asteya - non-stealing, non-covetousness (for other people's possessions)
    • Brahmacharya - celibacy, self-restraint (as opposed to repression) in sexuality
    • Aparigraha - non-possessiveness (no desire to accumulate things).

    Brahmcharya means remaining single and practicing strict celibacy - although some modern yogis have tried to change its meaning. The reason for celibacy is two-fold. Sexuality and involvement with persons of the opposite sex are always a distraction from your main goal of attaining perfection and liberation. The other reason applies only to male yogis (and not to female yogis). Every man has a certain amount of etheric energy (or prana). Every time a man ejaculates, he loses some of this prana (pranic as well as spiritual energy). So it is not the sex act itself, but the ejaculation (not orgasm) which retards spiritual progress. If he remains celibate this pranic energy is retained, so the best practice for a yogi is to avoid ejaculation completely (or at least minimize it). This does not apply to women (so they can have as much sex as they want). However, women lose similar prana/energy every time they menstruate. So the best spiritual condition for a woman is being pregnant or suckling a baby (this not being sexist - it is just the way it is), in that case there is no menstruation. Unnatural sexual acts (between same sex partners or opposite sex partners) are usually highly detrimental to spiritual growth (although not necessarily sinful if they do not harm anyone)

  • The second step are the Niyamas (observances)
    • Saucha - purity, cleanliness of thought, mind and body
    • Santosha - contentment,
    • Tapas - austerity/penance
    • Svadhyaya - study of the Self
    • Ishvarapranidhana - surrender to the Divine.
    
    The rest of the steps are
  • Yogic postures (asanas),
  • Breathing exercises (pranayama),
  • Withdrawal of senses (pratayahara),
  • Attention/concentration (dharana),
  • Dhyana (meditation),
  • Samadhi (blissful union with the Absolute).
  
  This path of self-discipline and meditation can be said to be the Way of the Visionary - it perfects the aspirant's causal body (Sanskrit- Anandamaya Kosha).

  Note:The use of prolonged breathing exercises or advanced forms of meditation like meditation on the chakras or kundalini yoga should always be done under the close guidance of a teacher (Guru) or can prove to be quite dangerous.

An interesting observation: Many aspirants in the Christian world have traditionally been on the path of action, those in the Hindu world on the path of devotion, while Buddhist aspirants have been on the path of knowledge. A minority in both the Hindu and Buddhist world have been on the path of meditation. But traditions are rapidly being broken and these days, the practice of meditation is growing faster in the West than in the East.

Another practice that is extremely popular in the West is Hatha Yoga - this practice of postures and exercises works mainly on the aspirant's physical body. The progress made with the physical body (unlike the other practices) is not carried over from one lifetime to another. However having a healthy, strong body is an important ingredient in making progress along any of the other paths (I myself practice this type of 'yoga' regularly). However, this should not really be your main spiritual practice. Some of its very esoteric exercises - esoteric bandhas, esoteric pranayama, kumbhaka etc should be avoided altogether. Not only could these be dangerous to your body, such practices may lead to magical or psychic abilitities which could entrap or endanger your spiritual well being.

The Probationer

This is the period in the evolution of the individual human when he sets out on the task of bringing the personality under control and sows the seed for his spiritually development. His principal task is to know himself, his weaknesses and to work on correcting them. He is known to a Master, has entered the Hall of Learning and is in the care of one of the disciples of the Master. He may not be conscious of this while awake, but he is being tutored while asleep.

The Disciple

Once accepted by a Master as his disciple, the 'pilgrim' becomes part of the Master's group. He is still under the care of one of the Master's disciple (rather than the Master himself) and now continues to work towards his first initiation. He is now on the 'razor's edge', a difficult and lonely path. Though he is working towards initiation, his goal is not initiation itself, but service to his brothers. (Making initiation the purpose of your life is a path of delusion, equivalent to making graduation rather than learning the purpose of an educational career). This service he does through writing, teaching, music, art, leadership - he becomes a helper and server of his race.

Disciples are not necessarily very religious or outwardly spiritually persons nor does discipleship involve withdrawing from the mundane world. In the final analysis, the purpose of humanity (to the extent that we know it) is to spiritualize matter on earth and this can not be achieved by withdrawal from the world, but only by engaging with it (Some lives may, of course, be spent as a hermit or monk) .After a few lifetimes, the disciple is brought by his efforts to the Portal of Initiation. A brief description of the first five major initiations follows.

An excellent guide for appropriate conduct of probationers and disciples is a book prepared by Krishnamurthy, from instructions given by his master, entitled 'At the Feet of the Master'.

The Five Initiations

• The Spiritual Birth - This is the first initiation which marks the entry of the human into the spiritual kingdom. He has at this point achieved control over his physical body, his physical appetites and desires. Note that this does not mean that he is free of physical desires, but just that he now controls them rather than they controlling him (which is the case with most of humanity at this time). The first contact with the individual Soul is made and the personality has begun to have 'an attitude of obedience to the Soul'.
  
  This initiation requires two things - the purification of the physical body and its subjugation. Purification of the body involves keeping it healthy and taking care of it through proper nutrition and exercise. A strict vegetarian diet is advisable (not so much for ethical reasons but because meat tends to retard spiritual progress at this stage. If you must eat meat, avoid red meat. If you must eat red meat, let it be kosher - prepared the muslim/jewish way. Eating fish is neutral and does not come in the way of spritiual progress). Simple forms of hatha yoga can be practised, as a form of exercise,  even by someone with a weak or ungainly body. The subjugation of the body involves controlling (not repressing or inhibiting) its appetites.
  
  The adversity and difficulty one faces in our everyday worldly life makes a good training ground for this initiation. The result (after this adversity is faced and transcended) is an attitude of goodwill and desire for service towards others. The disciple also attempts to sublimate his sexual energy and transmute it into creative urges.  He 'graduates from the Hall of Learning to the Hall of Wisdom', he is now an Initiate of the first degree.
  
  Note that though this initiation marks the control of the disciple over the physical body, the disciple on the path has been working on all four aspects of his being - physical, emotional, mental and spiritual in parallel. It is just that he has now completed to some degree, his control over one of these aspects.
  
• The Baptism - This initiation is given when the initiate has established control over his emotional body. Similar to the first, it requires the purification of the body, this time the emotional one, and subjugating it. Purification of the emotional body involves mainly the letting go of desire - said to be a 'purification by fire' . It is the rising out of the unstable, misty baptismal waters (which symbolize emotions) by the disciple using the 'fire of the mind'. This is said to be the most difficult initiation for most human beings to take since they are so deeply invested in their emotional being. The pain, rejection, humiliation and prejudices experienced in our relationships are excellent lessons in learning to transcend our emotions.
  
  Through suffering and service the emotional body is purified of greed, lust, attachment, jealousy, anger and desire. The disciple now expresses love, blessings and compassion for all living beings and the virtue of harmlessness dominates his heart.
  
  As in the case of physical appetites for the first initiation, the happenings around him can still agitate his emotional nature, so he is not completely free of his emotions, but they no longer control him nor does he take a negative attitude toward them. He remains neutral and insulated from them. He begins to think in terms of the group and dedicates himself to group consciousness and group service.
  
  The first two initiations are given by the Son - the Head of the Hierarchy currently Maitreya, the Christ.
  
• The Transfiguration - After the second initiation the journey shifts up a plane. The human is now working on his mental vehicle. The third initiation or transfiguration marks the purification of the initiate of all his three lower bodies which are flooded with light from above. The initiate now becomes a conscious Soul. This is the first, true soul initiation and is given (as are the following planetary ones) by the Father - Sanat Kumara, the Lord of the World.
  
  With control of the mental body, the initiate can create 'thoughtforms which are clear and well-defined' that are not affected by lower mind or desire. These thoughtforms are no longer disjointed, unconnected or uncorrelated as is the case with most humans. The first contact is now made with the Spirit or Monad. The initiate is 'enlighted by intuitional and atmic energy' through which true knowledge (including psychic faculties) can be attained. This stage is considered by some to be that much sought after state of 'enlightenment'
  
  Knowing my own stage in development, the description of rest of the initiations will be necessarily brief. Further information about these can be read from the source material cited at end of this page.
  
• The Great Renunciation or the Crucifixion - After the first three initiations the progress of the disciple is now very rapid. At the fourth initiation, the initiate renounces all and breaks himself off completely from the three world of human evolution- he becomes an Arhat. To quote from Bailey's book (Initiation, Human and Solar):
  "The life of the man who takes the fourth initiation, or the Crucifixion, is usually one of great sacrifice and suffering. It is the life of the man who makes the Great Renunciation, and even exoterically it is seen to be strenuous, hard and painful. He has laid all, even his perfected personality, upon the altar of sacrifice, and stands bereft of all. All is renounced, friends, money, reputation, character, standing in the world, family, and even life itself."
  
• The Revelation (often known as the Resurrection) - At this initiations, the disciple becomes an Adept - a perfect person as far as the human evolution is concerned. He is free from the need to incarnate. He may still retain his physical body (if he wishes), if he had one when he took this initiation, but he no longer incarnates as a human being.

It is interesting to note that the life of Jesus in his incarnation in Palestine demonstrated by actual enactment the five initiations from his birth at Bethlehem to his resurrection.

Though there are five major initiations before a man (or woman) achieves relative perfection and liberation, there are many other minor initiations in between which mark incremental progress in his/her development. There are also four more major initiations that can be taken in the earth system, after these first five, but they are not taken on the physical plane. The path of evolution is therefore a continuous one and does not end with perfection / liberation on earth. (Where it can eventually lead, if there is such a final end, is not known to us).

Summary:

Initiation and Religion

• For those who are not yet on the path (the first '700' years), the most apropriate religion is probably Islam. This religion, with its strict discipline. austere prescriptions and structured practices, is probably the best able to get an uneducated or uncultured person interested in spirituality and eventually get on the path. Of course any religion is better at this stage compared to not having one at all.
• For those still in the probationary period (next '70' years) either Islam or something conservative like the Catholic faith would be a good choice to follow. Hinduism as practiced in South India or Jainism would not be bad either. Secular Humanism though not a religion is also not a bad choice.
• For those working on the first initiation, Christianity is by far the best choice. The Christian emphasis on service and charitable works is exactly what karma yoga is all about. Even non-believers with socialistic ideals can make a lot of progress at this stage.
• For those working on the second initiation, Hinduism (particularly the Vaishnava or Bhakti traditions) or Christianity or Sufism are good religions.
• For those working on the third initiation, Buddhism or Hinduism (particularly Shaivism) or a monastic life of any religion are good choices.
• For those working on the fourth initiation, Buddhism or Hinduism (particularly Advaita philosophy) or a monastic life of any religion are best.
• Those past the fourth initiation do not need a religion (although they may have one).

Initiation and Enlightenment

Eastern gurus 'selling' spiritual traditions or mysticism to westerners, often hold forth the carrot of 'enlightenment'. What they fail to mention is that though the third initiation, where the personality is completely conquered, can be considered to be achieving 'enlightenment', even for advanced human beings this is not achievable in one lifetime (and true enlightenment which is only reached at the fifth initiation is further away still). Even so, the path of evolution has to be trodden at every level and stage, even if this is to be achieved in a later life.

However, at each initiation (as well as the minor ones in between), the aspirant is presented with a revelatory vision - a vision of 'reality'. This moment of clarity enables him to see things as they really are and also see more clearly the way ahead. So though true, lasting enlightenment maybe many lives ahead, an enlightening, mind expanding experience is possible in any lifetime.

Initiation and Ray Structure

Just as the physical body has a genetic code that determines its makeup and capabilities, the three lower vehicles, the personality as a whole as well as the Soul itself has a code or structure that determines its virtues/vices, strengths/weaknesses, possibilities and tendencies. Each of these five aspects of a human has a structure which can be one of seven 'rays'. The three lower vehicles (physical, emotional, mental) and the personality are changed every lifetimes so their ray may change at each lifetime, while the ray of the individual Soul remains constant during all of its lives on earth. Here is a table of the rays and their characteristics (from Bailey/Creme):

The Seven Rays
	Ray	Virtues	Vices
1	Will or Power	Strength, courage, vision, fearlessness, steadfastness, leadership	Pride, ambition, obstinacy, willfulness, anger, aloofness, destructiveness, arrogance
2	Love / Wisdom	Patience, endurance, intuition, wisdom, tact, faithfulness, serene temper	Coldness, indifference, selfishness, contempt for mental limitations (in others), self-pity, fearfulness, self-satisfaction
3	Creative Intelligence	Abstract thinking, sincerity, clear intellect, caution, philosophic viewpoint	Intellectual pride, inaccuracy in detail, absent-mindedness, critical, impractical, deviousness
4	Harmony through Conflict, Beauty or Art	Strong affections, generosity, devotion, quickness of mind	Self-centredness, worrying, lack of moral courage, strong passions, extravagance
5	Concrete Knowledge or Science	Accuracy, justice (without mercy), perseverance, common-sense, keen intellect	Critical, materialistic, narrowness, prejudice, unforgiving, lack of sympathy
6	Abstract Idealism or Devotion	Devotion, single-mindedness, love, tenderness, loyalty, reverence, idealism	Selfish and jealous love, overbearing, sectarian, fanaticism, emotional response, violence
7	Ceremonial Magic (Ritual) or Practical Art	Strength, perseverance, courage, curtsy, meticulousness, self-reliance, thoughtfulness, creativity	Formalism, bigotry, poor judgment, arrogance, superstition, secretiveness

It is a good idea to try and understand one's own ray structure (remember there are 5 different 'parts' and each may have a different ray structure). This knowledge provides one with an insight into one's strengths and limitations and often determines which initiations are the easier (or more difficult) to gain and what practices may need to be followed to control the lower vehicles.

Just as an example, the following was the ray structure of Mahatma Gandhi (according to Creme's information):

Soul Ray - 2  (Ray of Love-Wisdom)
Personality Ray - 2
Mental vehicle Ray - 6 (Ray of Abstract Idealism and Devotion)
Emotional vehicle Ray - 2
Physical body Ray - 3 (Ray of Creative Intelligence)

The article, Mahatma Gandhi: a ray biography by Peter Liefhebber has a wonderful analysis of this ray structure and how it manifested itself in Gandhi's life. Again, according to Creme's information Gandhi was a second degree initiate.

The Ray structure of people (or as some have called them, the seven human temperaments) also provide a logical explanation for the origin of the hindu caste system which however, has been perverted over time.

Initiation and Karma

Karma is basically the Law of Cause and Effect governing our existence. Every thought, every word and every action is a cause that will lead to effects - in other words it is not fate, but our own thoughts and actions that effect are current and future lives. Though this is well accepted in the West as expressed in the phrase 'as you sow, so shall you reap', it is nor realized that this also extends across lifetimes.

On the other hand, some traditions in the east (particularly among the Jains), advocate the 'working-out' of karma as the way to liberation, going so far as to recommend 'non-action' as a means for avoiding creating more karma (good or bad). A far better way to achieve liberation or salvation is to follow the path of initiation and letting karma take care of itself (right action will naturally not create any new bad karma). Though karma will no doubt influence the circumstances and  difficulties one encounters on this path, the service to humanity that is required for attaining initiation is the best means of working out of karma.

One other point may be added, though the poor circumstances of other people may be present because of their karma, it does not imply that they 'deserve' it. It is often your dharma (duty) as a fellow human, to save them from this bad karma. If you choose to be the instrument (whether by commission or omission) of this circumstance, then that itself may be adding to your own karmic burden. Also, the circumstances may be caused by group (national or tribal) karma rather than individual karma in which case the suffering person is 'innocent'.

Initiation and Group Consciousness

A fairly recent development in the path of evolution has been the possibility of group initiation. There are many candidates on earth at this time who are ready to take the first initiation so the Hierarchy is said to have adopted a policy of group training and group admission. So in the future, initiation will become a effort for whole groups rather than just individuals. These groups have been formed on a higher plane and disciples already belong to a spiritual group. However, it is not easy to recognize and find your group on the physical plane, so forming a group on the physical plane will often not succeed.

Though group initiation will be a reality in the future, even now, initiation is not for those who walk alone. To quote from Alice Bailey: 

Only the man who holds his brother's hand can see the Door in truth; only the man, surrounded by the many who are one, can enter by that Door which shuts itself upon the man who seeks to enter it alone.

The Door here is the Portal of Initiation. So fellow traveller, my request to you:

Hold my hand and walk the path with me, together we can try crossing the threshold safely to the other side.

After Perfection

Once a human being has taken all five initiations, he is free of the need to be reborn on Earth. He is then given the choice of taking one of seven paths for further evolution:

• The Path of Earth Service.
• The Path of Magnetic Work.
• The Path of Training for Planetary Logoi.
• The Path to Sirius.
• The Ray Path.
• The Path the Logos Himself Is On.
• The Path of Absolute Sonship.

Sources

My sources are mainly the writings of Alice A. Bailey, Benjamin Creme and Torkom Saraydarian. Their books have been published by Lucis Trust ( The books), Share International and T.S.G Publishing Foundation.

Created: December 28, 1997