Rules of the Road

By Celeste Jamerson

The Pilgrim in the Aquarian Ages

In the Aquarian Age, the emphasis will be on group work. In At the Feet of the Master, Alcyone says that the Disciple must strive primarily to help others: “He who is on the Path exists not for himself, but for others; he has forgotten himself, in order that he may serve them.”

In DK’s writing, the emphasis is firmly on the group: “Love divine attracts the seeker on the Way,” and “the Word goes forth: ‘I tread the Way of Love. I love the Plan. Unto that Plan, I surrender all I have. Unto the Whole, I give my heart’s deep love. I serve the Plan; I serve the Whole with love and understanding.’

DK tells his disciple that there is strength in numbers: “My brother, we travel not alone. For you, again, group love, group understanding, group happiness and group work are essential to progress, real happiness and good physical health.”

In the Aquarian Age, progress will be measured in terms of the group. This is called the Law of Group Progress, and it is characterized by Inclusiveness and the Love of Synthesis. It is embodied in the New Groups and especially the New Group of World Servers. The members of the New Group of World Servers must have the heart center awakened and be in the process of awakening the head centre as well. They must manifest their spiritual progress in a form of creative activity for the benefit of others, in a field such as philanthropy, the arts, literature, philosophy, or science.

Glamour and the Sixth Ray

The Rules of the Road are six in number. The number six is associated with the Sixth Ray of Devotion, and its disciples are involved in dissipating Glamour, to which they have succumbed in the past. However, these disciples are in the process of moving from the Sixth Ray to the Second Ray. DK says that the disciple who is working to dissipate Glamour needs to show Love along the lines of Ray Two, rather than Ray Six. The mystic must also be an occultist, blending mysticism and occultism, and demonstrating freedom from Glamour.

Glamour is dissipated by means of the Technique of Light. The Pilgrim walks the Path in the light of day, and he walks towards the light. The ancient prayer says:

Lead us, O Lord, from death to Immortality; 

From darkness to Light;

From the unreal to the Real.

THE RULES OF THE ROAD

1. The Road is trodden in the full light of day, thrown upon the Path by Those Who know and lead. Naught can then be hidden, and at each turn upon that Road a man must face himself.

2. Upon the Road the hidden stands revealed. Each sees and knows the villainy of each. And yet there is, with that great revelation, no turning back, no spurning of each other, no shakiness upon the Road. The Road goes forward into day.

3. Upon that Road one wanders not alone. There is no rush, no hurry. And yet there is no time to lose. Each pilgrim, knowing this, presses his footsteps forward, and finds himself surrounded by his fellowmen. Some move ahead; he follows after. Some move behind; he sets the pace. He travels not alone.

4. Three things the Pilgrim must avoid. The wearing of a hood, a veil which hides his face from others; the carrying of a water pot which only holds enough for his own wants; the shouldering of a staff without a crook to hold.

5. Each Pilgrim on the Road must carry with him what he needs: a pot of fire, to warm his fellowmen; a lamp, to cast its rays upon his heart and show his fellowmen the nature of his hidden life; a purse of gold, which he scatters not upon the Road, but shares with others; a sealed vase, wherein he carries all his aspiration to cast before the feet of Him Who waits to greet him at the gate—a sealed vase.

6. The Pilgrim, as he walks upon the Road, must have the open ear, the giving hand, the silent tongue, the chastened heart, the golden voice, the rapid foot, and the open eye which sees the light. He knows he travels not alone. (DINA I 583-584)

Rule 1

With the metaphor of light, DK immediately makes it apparent that applicants must work on the mental, rather than the astral, plane. The “lighted way” is the “illumined bridge” or antahkarana:

The “lighted way” . . . comes into being between the personality and the spiritual Triad, via the soul body, just as the soul came into definite contact with the brain via the mind. . . . [The lighted way] is built through meditation; it is constructed through the constant effort to draw forth the intuition, through subservience and obedience to the Plan (which begins to be recognised as soon as the intuition and the mind are en rapport) and through conscious incorporation into the group in service and for purposes of assimilation into the whole.

The light turns up all weaknesses and glamours, which the applicant must face. DK uses the Technique of Light for dissipating glamour. In this technique, the light of the brain is joined with the light of the mind and the light of the soul and then turned upon the glamour on the astral plane in order to dissipate it.

The way of light is indicated by the Masters and the disciples that have preceded us, but we must do our part. Ultimately, the light is found within oneself. In Light on the Path, Mabel Collins writes: “within you is the light of the world -- the only light that can be shed upon the Path. If you are unable to perceive it within you, it is useless to look for it elsewhere.”

Rule 2

The Pilgrim needs to “learn to look intelligently into the hearts of men,” including his own. This should be:

. . . from an absolutely impersonal point of view, otherwise your sight is colored.

Therefore impersonality must first be understood.

Intelligence is impartial: no man is your enemy: no man is your friend. All alike are your teachers. Your enemy becomes a mystery that must be solved, even though it take ages: for man must be understood. Your friend becomes a part of yourself, an extension of yourself, a riddle hard to read. Only one thing is more difficult to know -- your own heart. Not until the bonds of personality are loosed, can that profound mystery of self begin to be seen. Not till you stand aside from it will it in any way reveal itself to your understanding.”

The light often reveals unpleasant truths:

When you have found the beginning of the way the star of your soul will show its light; and by that light you will perceive how great is the darkness in which it burns. Mind, heart, brain, all are obscure and dark until the first great battle has been won. Be not appalled and terrified by this sight; keep your eyes fixed on the small light and it will grow.

The Disciples who are working to dispel Glamour and transfer from the sixth to the second ray must:

love their fellowmen . . . [but] not as the sixth ray person loves them, with an isolating devotion, but as the second ray person loves – with an all round appreciation of humanity, an understanding heart, plus a critical mind, which loves steadily in spite of error seen, with a clear sighted perception of the assets and the debits of an individual or a race.

One must distinguish between the lower and the higher self. Although one knows one’s weaknesses, which are revealed by the light of day, one must realize one’s higher nature and therefore have confidence in one’s ability to tread the Path.

You must trust yourself. You say you know yourself too well? If you feel so, you do not know yourself; you know only the weak outer husk, which has fallen often into the mire. But you- the real you- you are a spark of God's own fire, and God, who is Almighty, is in you, and because of that there is nothing that you cannot do if you will. Say to yourself: "What man has done, man can do. I am a man, yet also God in man; I can do this thing, and I will." For your will must be like tempered steel, if you would tread the Path.

The Disciple has decided on the Path, and there is no turning back:

One-pointedness means, too, that nothing shall ever turn you, even for a moment, from the Path upon which you have entered. No temptations, no worldly pleasures, no worldly affections even, must ever draw you aside. For you yourself must become one with the Path; it must be so much part of your nature that you follow it without needing to think of it, and cannot turn aside. You, the Monad, have decided it; to break away from it would be to break away from yourself.

All stand revealed for the world to see. Disidentify from the lower nature.

Rule 3

In the Third Rule, the Pilgrim springs into greater Activity, which one may associate with the Third Ray and with the Third Aspect of Divinity. The Third Ray is associated with the quality of balance. Speaking of Ray Three, the other six ray lords chant, “Let the two paths converge. Balance thepairs of opposites and let the path appear between the two. God and the Path and Man are one.”

On the path, balance and discrimination are required of the Disciple.

Cooperative and non-competitive spirit. Everyone is united in a common call. We are companions on the one road. As the light within grow stronger, we find our sense of responsibility grows stronger.

Rule 4

Compared to Rules 1-3, Rules 4-6 contain greater detail, consisting of lists of items for the Pilgrim to carry and characteristics which are desired in the Pilgrim himself.

Rule Four gives a list of three items for the Pilgrim to avoid carrying. Implicit in the final two of these items, however, the water pot and the staff, is the opposite instruction of what type of water pot and staff he should in fact be carrying.

The Veil The Pilgrim must not hide himself from others by means of a veil over his face. As quoted above, DK said that secrecy regarding one’s own personality life and motives was not desirable.

The Water Pot In Rule Four, the pilgrim is directly instructed to share his water with others. DK makes the point that “esoterically, the developed Aquarian puts all he has into his water pot, storing it there for service and giving it freely on demand to meet a need.”56 According to DK, sharing will be an important principle of the Aquarian Age:

The great spiritual achievement and evolutionary event of [the Aquarian Age] will be the communion and human relationships established among all peoples, enabling men everywhere to sit down together in the Presence of the Christ and share the bread and wine (symbols of nourishment). Preparations for that shared feast (symbolically speaking) are on their way, and those preparations are being made by the masses of men themselves, as they fight and struggle and legislate for the economic sustenance of their nations, and as the theme of food occupies the attention of legislators everywhere. This sharing, beginning on the physical plane, will prove equally true of all human relations and this will be the great gift of the Aquarian Age to humanity.

Although this nourishment may be physical, it is often of a spiritual nature:

To feed the poor is a good and noble and useful work; yet to feed their souls is nobler and more useful than to feed their bodies. Any rich man can feed the body, but only those who know can feed the soul. If you know, it is your duty to help others to know.

The Staff A staff without a crook would be in the shape of the number one, and would be used to help the traveler walk long distances, and for self-defense if needed. A staff with a crook can be used in addition to gather sheep.

Secretiveness and manipulation have no place on a path where collectively knowledge is freely given. Since the eyes are the windows of the soul, why would one desire to veil this light?

Rule 5

The Pot of Fire

Here the pot of fire corresponds to the love aspect. Fire is part of the symbolism of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Meister Eckhart wrote that “on the Cross [Jesus’] Heart burnt like a fire and a furnace from which the flame burst forth on all sides. So was he inflamed on the Cross by his fire of love for the whole world.”

In the Rules of the Road, it is specified that this fire is to be used to warm one’s fellowman.

For the applicant for initiation, selfless is of paramount importance.

Interestingly, the language used in this rule is reminiscent of that in Rule One for Applicants and its explanation in Initiation, Human and Solar: "Let the disciple search within the heart's deep cave. If there the fire burns bright, warming his brother yet heating not himself, the hour has come for making application to stand before the door.

When love for all beings, irrespective of who they may be, is beginning to be a realised fact in the heart of a disciple, and yet nevertheless love for himself exists not, then comes [Page 193] the indication that he is nearing the Portal of Initiation, and may make the necessary preliminary pledges. These are necessitated before his Master hands in his name as a candidate for initiation. If he cares not for the suffering and pain of the lower self, if it is immaterial to him whether happiness comes his way or not, if the sole purpose of his life is to serve and save the world, and if his brother's need is for him of greater moment than his own, then is the fire of love irradiating his being, and the world can warm itself at his feet. This love has to be a practical, tested manifestation, and not just a theory, nor simply an impractical ideal and a pleasing sentiment. It is something that has grown in the trials and tests of life, so that the primary impulse of the life is towards self-sacrifice and the immolation of the lower nature."

The Lamp

The lamp illuminates the heart, revealing the nature of one’s inner life, which may be of help to others. In Rule One, it was written, “naught can then be hidden.” Jesus said that “there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.” He goes on to say: “What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.”

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says:

"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick: and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

The Purse of Gold

The purse of gold is to be shared with others, not scattered upon the road in selfish or wasteful expenditure. In its highest aspect, gold represents spiritual energy. In Alchemy, the metal gold is associated with the sun. In the meditation for obtaining money for the Hierarchy, the meditator is instructed to visualize money as a golden stream of light flowing out of the control of the forces of materialism and into the hands of the forces of light.

The Vase

Although the Disciple has shone a light on his own heart for others to see, his aspirations are sealed up in the vase and saved to be thrown at the feet of the Master at Initiation.

When one reaches the Gate of Initiation, a new cycle will begin:

"When after ages of struggle and many victories the final battle is won, the final secret demanded, then you are prepared for a further path. When the final secret of this great lesson is told, in it is opened the mystery of the new way -- a path which leads out of all human experience, and which is utterly beyond human perception or imagination."

Rule 6

Seven Attributes of the Pilgrim

In this, the Sixth Rule of the Road, the six becomes the perfected seven as we are given seven attributes which are required of the Pilgrim: “the open ear, the giving hand, the silent tongue, the chastened heart, the golden voice, the rapid foot, and the open eye which sees the light.”

These seven characteristics form a pattern of which the “chastened heart” is the center (heart). If we arrange the other attributes in pairs around the chastened heart running from inside to outside, we have the "silent tongue” and the “golden voice;” the “giving hand” and the “rapid foot;” and the “open ear” and the “open eye which sees the light.”

All of these seven attributes are tied, directly or indirectly, to the heart, throat or ajna centers in man. 

As man awakens on the physical plane and approaches the Probationary Path, he uses the senses for the identification of the self and its vehicles. As man awakens on the astral plane and approaches the first initiation, he learns to use the senses to discriminate between the Self and the not-self. As man awakens upon the mental plane, he begins to identify with the Self in all of creation rather than the veiling forms.

The Open Ear

The open ear indicates listening and receptiveness to the needs of others: “to be able to hear is to have opened the doors of the soul.”

DK gives a five-fold process in the development of hearing:

a. On the physical plane [man] finds his own note.

b. On the astral plane he finds his brother’s note; through identity of emotion he comes to the recognition of his brother’s identity.

c. On the mental plane he begins to find his group note.

d. On the buddhic plane, or the plane of wisdom, he begins to find the note of his planetary Logos.

e. On the atmic, or spiritual, plane the note logoic begins to sound within his consciousness.

The Giving Hand

The giving hand signifies generosity. As the higher centers become activated, the emphasis moves from the lower to the upper centers, one develops group consciousness, and one becomes more giving.

Rule 12 of the Rules for Applicants states, “let the disciple learn the use of the hand in service.” DK states that the occult meaning of this instruction concerns “the utilisation of the chakras (or centres) in the palms of the hands” in:

a. Healing bodily ills.

b. Blessing, and thus curing emotional ills.

c. Raised in prayer, or the use of the centres of the hands during meditation in the manipulation of mental matter and currents.

The Silent Tongue

Man educates himself through discrimination, which involves duality, to differentiate between the Self and the not-self. Eventually this helps him to develop intuition, which involves unity, and helps the Self to recognize itself in all forms and to contact other selves. The five levels of taste are physical taste on the physical plane, imagination on the astral plane, discrimination on the mental plane, intuition on the buddhic plane, and perfection on the atmic plane. 

Secrecy is a familiar concept to students of the occult:

"It is well to get used even now to thinking carefully before speaking; for when you reach Initiation you must watch every word, lest you should tell what must not be told. Much common talk is unnecessary and foolish; when it is gossip, it is wicked. So be accustomed to listen rather than to talk; do not offer opinions unless directly asked for them. One statement of the Qualifications gives them thus; to know, to dare, to will, and to be silent; and the last of the four is the hardest of them all."

DK says that one may not share secrets with those at a lower level in the Ashram who are not yet ready for them at their stage of development. In the Rules for Applicants, when outside the circle of the Ashram, disciples are enjoined to “preserve strict silence concerning themselves, their occult work or knowledge, the affairs of those associated with them, and the work of their occult group.”

According to DK, idle talk can get in the way of reflection and the disciple’s work:

"A great deal of present right activity is hindered by the speech interplay between disciples, and much time is lost through wordy discussion of the work and activities of other disciples. Humanity, as a whole, needs silence at this time as never before; it needs time in which to reflect, and the opportunity to sense the universal rhythm. Modern disciples, if they are to do their work as desired and to cooperate with the Plan correctly, need that inner reflective quiet which in no way

negates intense outer activity but which does release them from wordy criticisms, feverish discussions, and constant preoccupation with the dharma[,] the motives and the methods of their fellow disciples."

The Chastened Heart

Saint Paul says, “The Lord loveth those whom he chasteneth.” Although chasten can mean to punish, other meanings include “to restrain: moderate,” and “to refine: purify.”

When the lower nature is purified, one can then serve humanity with a greater, purer, more inclusive love:

"This love [for humanity] has to be a practical, tested manifestation, and not just a theory, nor simply an impractical ideal and a pleasing sentiment. It is something that has grown in the trials and tests of life, so that the primary impulse of the life is towards self-sacrifice and the immolation of the lower nature."

The Golden Voice

After the voice has been purified through silence, one learns to use the voice more wisely. Says Alcyone:

"Never wish to shine, or to appear clever; have no desire to speak. It is well to speak little; better still to say nothing, unless you are quite sure that what you wish to say is true, kind and helpful. Before speaking think carefully whether what you are going to say has those three qualities; if it has not, do not say it." ~ Alcyone, At the Feet of the Master, part II – Desirelessness.

The Rapid Foot

The Open Eye Which Sees the Light

According to Light on the Path, “to be able to see is to have attained perception.”

In addition, sight gives the “recognition of totality, the synthesis of all, the realisation of the One in Many, the first Logos.” This involves the Law of Synthesis, whereby man recognizes the “the essential unity of all manifestation by the means of sight.” Sight corresponds with the mental subplane of the physical, astral, mental, buddhic and atmic planes. On the planes, the different levels of sight are: physical sight on the physical plane, clairvoyance on the astral plane, higher clairvoyance on the mental plane, divine vision on the buddhic plane, and realization on the atmic plane.

In the Sixth Rule, the open ear and the open eye are paired. In The Voice of the Silence, the Master says: “Unless thou hearest, thou canst not see,” and “unless thou seest thou canst not hear.”166 The disciple is urged to:

Merge into one sense thy senses, if thou would’st be secure against the foe. ‘Tis by that sense alone which lies concealed within the hollow of thy brain, that the

steep path which leadeth to thy Master may be disclosed before thy Soul’s dim eyes.

DK writes that “each of [the] senses, after having reached a certain point [of development], begins to synthesise with the others in such a way that it is almost impossible to know where one begins and the other ends.”

Christ said, “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.”169 This single eye is taken to be the third eye or “Eye of Shiva.” Shiva stands for the first logoic aspect. According to DK, Shiva symbolizes: “a. The Will aspect, b. The Spirit aspect, c. The Father in Heaven, d. The directing purpose, e. Conscious energy, [and] f. Dynamic intent,” and that these descriptions in turn characterize the third eye.

The interaction between the thousand-petalled lotus and the awakened pineal gland leads to the development of the third eye. The third eye “is the director of energy or force, and thus an instrument of the will or Spirit; it is responsive only to that will as controlled by the Son-aspect, the revealer of the love-wisdom nature of gods and man, and it is therefore the sign of the white magician.”

When the third eye is developed, the initiate “can direct and control the energy of matter, see all things in the Eternal Now, and therefore be in touch with causes more than with effects, read the akashic records, and see clairvoyantly. Therefore, its possessor can control the builders [devas] of low degree.”

In time and in the three worlds, the senses help the Thinker to relate to various aspect of the not-self. When a man has become highly evolved, however, he will have “transcended time (as known in the three worlds), and [will be able] therefore [to] look at the three lower planes from the standpoint of the Eternal Now.” At that point, he will have “superseded the senses by full active consciousness. “ At that point, “he knows, and needs not the senses to guide him any longer to knowledge.”

At the end of the Rules, it is stated that the Pilgrim “knows he travels not alone.” Although it was stated in Rule Three that “he travels not alone,” in this final Rule, the Pilgrim is now fully cognizant of that fact.

With this knowledge comes greater responsibility. One’s life is not lived in a vacuum, and one’s actions and thoughts have consequences, with a greater possibility of affecting others. Therefore, one’s thoughts must be controlled, and one’s actions weighed with care and deliberation.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the goal of the Path is seen to be the Path itself:

"I play my part with stern resolve, with earnest aspiration; I look above, I help below; I dream not, nor I rest; I toil; I serve; I reap; I pray; I am the Cross; I am the Way; I tread upon the work I do; I mount upon my slain self; I kill desire, and I strive, forgetting all reward. I forego peace; I forfeit rest, and in the stress of pain I lose myself and find Myself and enter into peace." ~ 178 Bailey, Initiation, Human and Solar, 213