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1. "The 2nd Initiation forms the crisis in the control of the astral body. Just as at The 1st Initiation the control of the dense physical body has been demonstrated, so here the control of the astral is similarly demonstrated. The sacrifice and death of desire has been the goal of endeavor. Desire itself has become dominated by The Ego (Higher Self), and only that is longed for which is for the good of the whole and in the line of the will of The Ego and of The Master."
"The astral elemental is controlled. The emotional body becomes pure and limpid, and the lower nature is rapidly dying. At this time, The Ego grips afresh the 2 lower vehicles (physical and emotional) and bends them to his will. The aspiration and longing to serve, love, and progress become so strong that rapid developement is usually to be seen. This accounts for the fact that this Initiation and The 3rd frequently, though not invariably, follow each other in one single life."
"The labor to control the vehicles is slow and hard, but in the interim between the first 3 Initiations some definite point in the evolution of each of the 3 lower vehicles has to be attained and held before the further expansion of the channel can be safely permitted."
2. "In order to take The 2nd Initiation, The Disciple must demonstrate emotional control. He realizes also that He must have some knowledge of those spiritual energies which will dissipate glamor (illusion, duality, etc.), plus an understanding of the technique whereby illumination from the mind, as the transmitting agent of The Light of The Soul, can dispel these glamors and thus 'clarify the atmosphere' in the technical sense."
"I might emphasize that as yet (on The Path) no Initiate demonstrates complete control during the intermediate period between any Initiation and the next Higher Initiation. The intermediate period is regarded as a cycle of perfecting. That which is being left behind and subordinated to the higher realization is slowly dominated by energies which are to be released into the consciousness of The Initiate at The Initiation for which He is being prepared. This interim period is always one of great difficulty."
"The Initiatory Process between The 1st and 2nd Initiations is for many the worst time of distress, difficulty, realization of problems, and the constant effort to 'clear Himself' to which The Disciple is at any time subjected. The storm aroused by his emotional nature, the dark clouds and mists in which He constantly walks and which He has created throughout the entire cycle of incarnated living have all to be cleared away in order that The Initiate can say that, for Him, The Astral Plane no longer exists and that all that remains of that ancient and potent aspect of his being is aspiration, a sensitive response to all forms of divine life and a form through which the lowest aspect of divine love, goodwill, can flow without impediment."
3. "This 2nd Initiation, as now undergone, is to some extent one of the most difficult. It involves purification, but it is purification by fire, symbolically understood. The occult 'application of fire to water' produces certain most serious and devastating results. The water, under the action of fire, is resolved into steam, and The Initiate is immersed in the fogs and miasmas, the glamors, and the mists thus caused. Out of this fog and out of the glamors The Initiate must emerge."
4. "What lies ahead of The Initiate Who has entered the purificatory fire? Facing Him is a great transition from an emotional-aspirational focus to an intelligent-thinking focus. He has, theoretically at least, cast off the control of the astral body and nature. Much still remains to be done. Old desires, ancient astral reactions, and habitual emotions are still powerful, but He has developed a new attitude to them and a new perspective to the astral body."
"That which He now loves and longs for, desires and plans for, lies in another and Higher Dimension. He has, through his willingness to pass through The 2nd Initiation, struck the first blow at his innate selfishness and has demonstrated his determination to think in wider and more inclusive terms. The group begins to mean more to Him than Himself."
"At The 2nd Initiation, He is granted a vision of a higher focus, and his place in the larger whole begins slowly to reveal itself. A new creativity and a new focus become his immediate goals, and for Him life can never again be the same. The old physical attitudes and desires may still at times assume control. Selfishness may continue to play a potent part in his life expression, but underlying these and subordinating them will be found a deep dissatisfaction about things as they are and an agonizing realization of failure. It is at this point that The Disciple begins to learn the uses of failure and to know certain fundamental distinctions between that which is natural and objective and that which is supernatural and subjective."
5. "The 3 keynotes for The 2nd Initiation are: dedication, glamor, devotion -- dedication resulting in glamor, which is dissipated by devotion."
6. "The longest period between Initiations is that to be found between The 1st and The 2nd Initiations. Many, many long lives can elapse between Them. This is a truth which must be faced, but it should also be remembered that it is by no means the hardest period. The hardest period for the sensitive, feeling aspirant is to be found between The 2nd and The 3rd Initiations."
"It is a period of intense suffering, of the penalty of applying factors of glamor and illusion, of pronounced involvement in situations which, for a long time, remain unclarified, and of a steady moving forward as best the beleaguered Aspirant can under the influence of right direction and spiritual determination. This He has usually to do in the dark, working under the action of the logical and understanding mind but seldom under the influence of inspiration. Nonetheless, the good work goes on."
"The emotions are brought under control, and necessarily the factor of the mind assumes an increasingly right importance. Light, flickering and as yet uncertain and unpredictable, pours occasionally in from The Soul via the mind, adding frequently to the complications but producing eventually the needed control which will lead to and result in freedom."
7. "At this Initiation, should the ordinary course be followed, The Throat Center (5th Chakra) is vivified. This causes a capacity to turn to account in The Master's Service and for the helping of Man the attainments of the lower mind. It imparts the ability to give forth and utter that which is helpful, possibly in the spoken word but surely in service of some kind. A vision is accorded of the world's need, and a further portion of The Plan is shown. The work, then, to be done prior to the taking of The 3rd Initiation is the complete submerging of the personal point of view in the need of the whole. It entails the complete domination of the concrete mind by The Ego (The Soul)."
8. "The 2nd Initiation is a profoundly difficult One to take. For those upon The 1st and 2nd Rays of Aspect (Divine Will and Love-Wisdom), it is probably the most difficult of them all."
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