the work goes steadily on. They are all in physical existence, either in dense physical bodies, such as many of the Masters employ, or in etheric bodies, such as the more exalted helpers and the Lord of the World occupy. It is of value for men to remember that They are in physical existence, and to bear in mind that They exist upon this planet with us, controlling its destinies, guiding its affairs, and leading all its evolutions on to an ultimate perfection.
The central home of this Hierarchy is at Shamballa, a centre in the Gobi desert, called in the ancient books the "White Island." It exists in etheric matter, and when the race of men on earth have developed etheric vision its location will be recognised and its reality admitted. The development of this vision is rapidly coming to pass, as may be seen from the newspapers and the current literature of the day, but the location of Shamballa will be one of the latest etheric sacred spots to be revealed as it exists in the matter of the second ether. Several of the Masters in physical bodies dwell in the Himalaya mountains, in a secluded spot called Shigatse, far from the ways of men, but the greater number are scattered all over the world, dwelling in different places in the various nations, unrecognised and unknown, yet forming each in His own place a focal point for the energy of the Lord of the World, and proving to His environment a distributor of the love and wisdom of the Deity.
The opening of the Door of Initiation.
It is not possible to touch upon the history of the Hierarchy during the long ages of its work, beyond mentioning certain outstanding events of the past, and pointing out certain eventualities. For ages after its immediate founding, the work was slow and discouraging. Thousands of years came and went, and races of men appeared and disappeared from the earth before it was possible to delegate even the work done by initiates of the first degree to the evolving sons of men. But in the middle of the fourth root-race, the Atlantean, an event occurred which necessitated a change, or innovation in the Hierarchical method. Certain of its members were called away to higher work elsewhere in the solar system, and this brought in, through necessity, a number of highly evolved units of the human family. In order to enable others to take Their place, the lesser members of the Hierarchy were all moved up a step, leaving vacancies among the minor posts. Therefore three things were decided upon in the Council Chamber of the Lord of the World.
1. To close the door through which animal men passed into the human kingdom, permitting for a time no more Monads on the higher plane to appropriate bodies. This restricted the number of the fourth, or human kingdom, to its then limitation.
2. To open another door, and permit members of the human family who were willing to undergo the necessary discipline and to make the required stupendous effort, to enter the fifth or spiritual kingdom. In this way the ranks of the Hierarchy could be filled by the members of earth's humanity who qualified. This door is called the Portal of Initiation, and still remains open upon the same terms as laid down by the Lord of the World in Atlantean days. These terms will be stated in the last chapter of this book. The door between the human and animal kingdoms will again be opened during the next great cycle, or "round" as it is called in some books, but as this is several million years away from us at this time, we are not concerned with it.
3. It was also decided to make the line of demarcation between the two forces of matter and spirit clearly defined; the inherent duality of all manifestation was emphasised, with the aim in view of teaching men how to liberate themselves from the limitations of the fourth, or human kingdom, and thus pass on into the fifth, or spiritual. The problem of good or evil, light or darkness, right or wrong, was enunciated solely for the benefit of humanity, and to enable men to cast off the fetters which imprisoned spirit, and thus achieve spiritual freedom. This problem exists not in the kingdoms below man, nor for those who transcend the human. Man has to learn through experience and pain the fact of the duality of all existence. Having thus learnt, he chooses that which concerns the fully conscious spirit aspect of divinity, and learns to centre himself in that aspect. Having thus achieved liberation he finds indeed that all is one, that spirit and matter are a unity, naught existing save that which is to be found within the consciousness of the Planetary Logos, and—in wider circles—within the consciousness of the Solar Logos.
The Hierarchy thus took advantage of the discriminative faculty of mind, which is the distinctive quality of humanity, to enable him, through the balancing of the pairs of opposites, to reach his goal, and to find his way back to the source from whence he came.
This decision led to that great struggle which distinguished the Atlantean civilisation, and which culminated in the destruction called the flood, referred to in all the Scriptures of the world. The forces of light, and the forces of darkness, were arrayed against each other, and this for the helping of humanity. The struggle still persists, and the World War through which we have just passed was a recrudescence of it. On every side in that World War two groups were to be found, those who fought for an ideal as they saw it, for the highest that they knew, and those who fought for material and selfish advantage. In the struggle of these influential idealists or materialists many were swept in who fought blindly and ignorantly, being thus overwhelmed with racial karma and disaster.
These three decisions of the Hierarchy are having, and will have a profound effect upon humanity, but the result desired is being achieved, and a rapid hastening of the evolutionary process, and a profoundly important effect upon the mind aspect in man, can already be seen.
It might here be well to point out that, working as members of that Hierarchy are a great number of beings called angels by the Christian, and devas by the oriental. Many of them have passed through the human stage long ages ago, and work now in the ranks of the great evolution parallel to the human, and which is called the deva evolution. This evolution comprises among other factors, the builders of the objective planet and the forces which produce, through those builders, every form familiar and unfamiliar. The devas who co-operate with the Hierarchical effort, concern themselves, therefore, with the form aspect, whilst the other members of the Hierarchy are occupied with the development of consciousness within the form.
The Three Departments of the Hierarchy
We have already dealt with the subject of the founding of the Hierarchy upon earth, and we saw how it came to be, touching likewise upon certain crises which have occurred, and which still affect events in the present time. In dealing with the work and aims of the personnel of the Hierarchy, it will not be possible to state what those aims have been, nor to consider in detail who the active personalities have been during the past millennia of years since the Hierarchy came into existence.
Many great Beings from planetary and solar sources, and once or twice from cosmic sources, have at times lent Their aid and dwelt briefly upon our planet. By the energy which flowed through Them, and by Their profound wisdom and experience, They stimulated earth's evolutions and brought the purposes of the Planetary Logos so much the nearer to completion. Then They passed on, and Their places were taken by those among the members of the Hierarchy Who were willing to undergo a specific training and expansion of consciousness. In turn these adepts and Masters had Their places filled by initiates, and thus constantly has there been opportunity for disciples and highly evolved men and women to pass into the ranks of the Hierarchy, and thus constantly has there been a circulation of new life and blood, and the coming in of those who belong to a particular period or age.
Some of the great names during the later periods are known to history, such as Shri Sankaracharya, Vyasa, Mahommet, Jesus of Nazareth, and Krishna, down to those lesser initiates, Paul of Tarsus, Luther, and certain of the outstanding lights in European history. Always have these men and women been agents for the carrying out of race purpose, for the bringing about of group conditions, and for the furthering of the evolution of humanity. Sometimes they have appeared as beneficent forces, bringing peace and contentment with them. More often have they come as agents of destruction,
