Customer Reviews

The Rays and the Initiations {A Treatise on the Seven Rays, Vol. V)

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Out of the many volumes of Alice Bailey books, there are a few that truly are written at a higher level, and whose contents will endure long into the future. "Treatise on Cosmic Fire" is one of those, being exhaustively profound all through. "The Rays and the Initiations" is another, whose information is valuable in a profound way. The book offers many esoteric catechisms and allegories that are intrinsically valuable to anyone seriously into meditation and contemplation. The "14 rules for initiation" given in the early volume "Initiation Human and Solar" are reproduced at a "higher consciousness" level. Whether the casual observer needs to believe this is beside the point. The wisdom and esoteric knowledge hinted at in this book makes it stand out as a valuable tool.

The descriptions and implied definition of initiation is non-sectarian and considers the person as a soul, who passes through many incarnations in order to "stand at the portal" to participation in a permanent and elevated awareness of life. I've had complaints from readers of AAB that she was at times antisemitist, talking of Aryans and all that! I think that the intention of the author was not racist, and that the reader should seek to view it that way.

Intitiation is a testing experience, and many of the pitfalls and potential hazards are described here. It seems that true seekers of illumination risk their sanity at many points along the way. However, just reaching the "door" to this experience is triumph in itself.

There is emphasis in this book on "group awareness". This is due to the time coming when there is inner awakening of the disciple to the group of sisters and brothers. These are not literally our siblings, but the inner family with whom we share our spiritual journey in service to the planet and its living creatures.

There is also a very practical large section on building the link between lower and higher self. This link is known as the "rainbow bridge" in some books, or, as here, is called the Antahkarana. Many meditation techniques use this sort of idea to reach higher awareness.

Finally, its worth adding that AAB books can get rather heavy, especially if you try to read them as you would a novel. However, this book has a lot going for it spiritually (I think at least) and the purely interested intellectual reader may find there is lots to try put into a perspective.

A detailed explanation of the universal forces which affect everyone and everything, and which can be manipulated for good, that's what I've learned from this work of DK and Alice Bailey. Clearly enumerated and explained are the rules for disciples and initiates, a must for anyone who is serious about serving mankind. Words of power affecting these forces, called "rays" in Alice Bailey's books, are divulged to the attentive reader, who wishes to follow the path of the chela, or student of the Masters, whose fields of activity are also shared with the readers. This book is a MUST for all industrious servers of mankind.

This book might be considered Bailey's masterpiece, where her desire to merge theosophy, with Christianity is most perfectly presented. Of all her books, this is one which nobody unfamiliar with her other work, should read first. It's 800 pages of some of the most dense, enlightening, bewildering, and suggestive spiritual writing from a modern writer. Section one deals with just what group Initiation is, and tries to help the aspirant discover what the options are with our personal initiations, and how that fits with the initiation of groups, including the 14 rules which govern this. Naturally these rules apply to the individual as well. For me, the real revelation of this book, was how much the life of Jesus Christ was the perfect representation of a perfect initiate. Christ's birth displays the FIRST initiation (birth), his baptism his second initiation (beginning of service), his transfiguration is the THIRD initiation (or, the first initiation from the viewpoint of the Cosmic Christ), his fourth initiation was CRUCIFIXION, or as she puts it, RENUNCIATION. The fifth initiation is REVELATION, and the sixth initiation is DECISION. (each ray type, picks a path of service which ultimately leads us to our spiritual destiny.) And, the seventh initiation is RESURRECTION. The book attempts to show the grown of consciousness, and conscience, as the initiations transpire. The 8th and 9th initiation is explained, but vaguely, for it has little to do with humanity's spiritual evolution, at this point.

This book helped deepen my understanding of the Bible, to say the very least. Many of Jesus' more enigmatic comments, or behaviors, are clarified thru mediation on what is either in this book, or implied between the lines. For instance, many of the mysteries in THE APOCALYPSE, could be made clear with this book, since the RAY TYPES are related to the seven stars the Cosmic Christ holds in his hands, and the RAY GROUPS correspond to the SEVEN CHURCHES IN ASIA, which also suggest the seven torches before the Throne. Naturally, GROUP INITIATION is the spiritual growth of the true, inner hirarchy of the Churches. Like all books by Baily, she uses mirrors, and curtains to shield us from truths too arcane, while planting those mustard seeds of spiritual potential, to enable us to open our Intuition, inviting ourselves towards ever more inclusive vision. In fact, the purpose of group and personal initiation is to see THE BIG PICTURE, the immortal vision of the Divine plan of redemption for this earth.

No 800 page book can be explained here, especially this book. Nor can THE RAYS AND INITIATIONS embrue one with occult power, to STORM THE GATES OF HEAVEN, and usurp the Divine spirit. Hopefully, these pages confuse the curious searching self empowerment, while clarifying those undergoing the crisis of initiation. At those times, a few hints and insights from someone further on the path, are always welcome. If your desire is to learn more about esoteric Christianity, that could also be realized thru Baily's words. If you desire the golden path to Divine union, no book can open that door. That is a decision no human makes, but flows from the Grace of the Father, thru his firstborn. However, I think that paradoxical, enigmatic hints concernng the great union, might be implied in passages tucked away inside. Of course, if your egoic will is set on occult knowledge, you'll be sidetracked with the confusing science of ray types, and how they relate to energies coming to earth from the GREAT WHITE LOUGE in Sirius, along with difficult comments on spiritual triangularity. Most of that information has little to do with the daily path we tread as disciples. But again, Bailey wrote this so that obscurity and clarity would work hand in hand, just as the devil tempts and deceives us, to employ when WE wish, that angelic power and knowledge we already have available to us, but only when GOD wishes their use. So much of this book involves the interrelationship of the rays, and how the groups that have formed from the rays also interact. Our whole planet is undergoing the same crisis of initiation, which the individual does, when he/she passes a door of initiation. There is enough spiritual wisdom here, to last a lifetime. As you learn more thru your intuitive connection with your ray group master, and Christ, more is revealed in your reading materials. The spiritually minded remember, that only thru cooperative group work, can humanity pass the great initiation it is faced with at present. We all want the SAME THING...the return of the CHRIST, and the founding of the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ON EARTH. When will that come? When are we ready for it? I recommend this book to anyone familiar with Bailey's work, to some extent. Knowing the New Testament, especially the Gospels and Revelations, is important as well. The communion of Saints IS group work, and baptism IS initiation, and the rays ARE the inner light. But words can mean nothing, unless their symbolism is smashed, and truth replaces outgrown conceptions. This book isn't Iconoclastic. Perhaps its greatest use, is to help us learn what symbolism we NEED, in order to grow past our limitations caused by the crystalization of our spiritual imagery. We live during a time of dynamic growth, and spiritual renewal, with a new spiritual language in co-evolution. Bailey did something VERY important here. Jesus said, "How can i teach you of Heavenly things, when you do not understand the earthly things of which I speak?" If you use this book with RIGHT INTENTION, you might learn some of this new spiritual language, a language that for some, shall elucidate the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven, that sleeps in the hearts of ALL HUMANITY, and awakens now in many. May divine LIGHT stream into the minds of all mankind, and may divine LOVE stream into the hearts of all mankind, and bring us CHRIST' return, and may the WILL OF GOD master our little wills, so that LIGHT, and LOVE, and WILL accomplish the great work of God...establishing the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ON EARTH. Can I get an AMEN?

This review is intended as a general comment on the entire Alice Bailey teaching, and not just one book. What follows represents my current evaluation of the books, an evaluation that has evolved and changed over many years, following my personal experience studying the books. In the 1960s and 70s I had extensive contact with some of Bailey's co-workers who knew her, and her teaching, well and I had help from them in understanding her teaching. My current views on the Alice Bailey teaching would not please them, but I have tried to be careful and not to be unkind. However, there is just no avoiding the conclusion that while the books are somewhat interesting, they are very defective as a guide to life which is the purpose for which they are intended.


The Alice Bailey books are complex and difficult. Many good things, and even some great ideas, are to be found in them. On occasion, in the past, I have recommended them to people searching for an esoteric vision of the Christian teaching. I would no longer recommend them to anyone. There are many serious problems with the Bailey books, and there there are far better spiritual teachings to be found elsewhere.

The problems of the books include:

1. Alice Bailey, and her (frequently over-enthusiastic) followers insist that her books are a universal teaching for the New Age. But they are actually a neo-Gnostic Christian teaching dressed up with with some Theosophical Society terminology and some terminology derived from the mysticism of India. Behind the facade of that terminology, the strongly Christian orientation of her youth (she was a missionary in India), comes through in all her books, but now strongly influenced by Gnosticism. For instance, this short quote from `Rays and the Initiations' p.637: "The decision anent the Jews is one of hierarchical importance, owing to the karmic relation of the Christ to the Jewish race, to the fact that they repudiated Him as the Messiah and are still doing so, and of the interpretive nature of the Jewish problem as far as the whole of humanity is concerned."

But if you are sympathetic to Christian Gnosticism (repudiated, for good reason, by every Christian denomination I know of), you might find Bailey's books an interesting experiment in neo-Gnosticism.

2. Despite the claims that the books were dictated telepathically to Bailey, who was living in NJ, by a Tibetan lama called Djwal Khul, who was in Tibet; there is no Buddhism to be found in the twenty-four books that Bailey wrote. That discrepancy leaves a core claim of the books, i.e. their origin, totally unsupported.

If you want to spend years studying a series of esoteric books which make claims of fact that are not rationally supported by anything, these books are for you. And because of the nature of the books it will take you years.

3.The ideas found in the books are difficult to understand because in addition to the dry writing style, her ideas are peculiar. It is quite likely they have virtually no relation to any ideas with which you are familiar; unless you are familiar with the of Theosophical Society writings of Helena Blavatsky, particularly with `The Secret Doctrine'. There is a certain similarity to the Blavatsky books. However, the Theosophical Society has publicly repudiated Bailey, and in fact Bailey was kicked out of the Theosophical Society at the time she started to write her books. There are many long passages, sometimes continuing for dozens of pages, which are incomprehensible. One of her closest co-workers (who I knew personally) admitted that neither he nor anyone else can explain the meaning of many of those passages. For me, this brings to mind the comment that Robert Browning made about one of his early poems, "When I wrote it only God and I knew what it meant, now only God knows."

(parenthetically: The account of the so-called Masters of the Ancient Wisdom' which are central to support virtually all of Alice Bailey's claims, originated with Helena Blavatsky. K. Paul Johnson has shown in his scholarly study of Blavatsky, called `The Masters Revealed', that Blavatsky's account of a Hierarchy of Masters' is a fantasy. Djwal Khul is no more a reality than Gandalf in the "Lord of the Rings", but Gandalf is probably a better model for ethical living.)

But if you enjoy being puzzled by long dry passages, that may not have any meaning at all, you might find Alice Bailey's books just what you are looking for.

4. If you do buy an Alice Bailey book, and get confused trying to understand what it means (if anything) , there is help available. You will find in all the books a message directing you to contact the Arcane School, an organization founded by Alice Bailey as a way to promote her teaching. There are now also a number of other groups giving such help, including the School for Esoteric Studies, and the University of the Seven Rays. You will find that the people at the Arcane School, and the other groups, are very nice, very helpful, even well educated; and you will probably like them. They will be anxious to help you. But if you express doubts about anything that is contained in the books, no matter how problematic that content is, or how absurd it seems; you will be told (nicely at first) that you are wrong and that what you think is an incorrect, or absurd, statement are actually the words of the Master Djwhal Khul, who has an understanding that is above human understanding. In other words, they consider the content of the books divinely inspired, and that every statement, in every sentence, is correct and can not be questioned. So although it is called a New Age teaching, it is actually completely authoritarian and fundamentalist at its heart.

That is the inverse of what the New Age claims to be, but if what you are looking for is fundamentalism and authoritarianism in New Age dress, the Alice Bailey teaching may be just what you want.

5. There are also the well known accusations of Alice Bailey's antisemitism. Sorry to say that those accusations are not only true, but that her antisemitism is woven through the books in such a way that they become an integral part of her teaching. Also, since every statement in the books is considered the divinely inspired word of the Master, you are not allowed to question claims such as, for example, Bailey's view that Jews brought a force she calls "cosmic evil" to this world from another world where they previously existed, and that Jews are the exponents of "materialism" and "separatism" on this planet. In fact, these views are very similar to what Hyam Maccoby describes as the view of many Gnostic sects, "that the Jews are representatives of cosmic evil, the people of the Devil."

If you are a person who dislikes Jews, combined with an interest occult books, the Alice Bailey books may offer just the combination of those that you have been looking for.

But if, instead, you are a person who is looking for a good teaching, a teaching which is a Way to become a better person and live a more ethical life, a teaching which is a Path that will make it possible to contribute positively to the world, and which is based on a systematic teaching; what I would suggest is to study the writings of those great individuals who were living examples of their philosophy and their religion as a way of life. Such writings can be found in the schools of Greek or Roman philosophy, in the writings of the great Christian theologians and philosophers, and in the books from similarly helpful teachers that are found in Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism, and Judaism. Why waste time on the absurdities of the Alice Bailey cult writings when there are so many better options?

This book is difficult to read but is a hive of information and a must as a reference book for anybody who is seriously on the path.

SEEK NOFURTHER....THE SUMMATION OF ALL AAB...DON'T BE PUT OFF BY A FEW PARAGRAGHS OF POLITICALLY INCORRECT COMMENTS...RE, ZIONISM...NEW WORLD RELIGION...THERE ARE THOUSASNDS OF PAGES OF BEAUTICAL AND COMPASSIONATE WRITING..WITHOUT BIZZARO STUFF...HIERARCHY...SHARE INTERNATIONAL...BIG PICTURE WITH A HEART....ALSO CONSIDER HELENA ROERICH BOOKS....IT DO MAKETH SENSE...LOVE Y'ALL

This book has invoked ultraelectronic impacts (spiritual experiences) resulting in changes in brain chemistry, for me. I come back to it again and again in understanding my inner psychological development in terms of a relationship to a greater whole. Although the emphasis is externally on groups, this emphasis is merely to point out that every individual is part of a group and progresses as a function of a group. I have bought 7 copies of the book, selling it when it drives me crazy (this is a good sign of energetic working with the ideas contained, even if one is disgusted). The same telepathic dictator wrote this book as wrote The Course in Miracles (he predicts his future telepathic dictation in this book). The more I recommend this book the less work I have to do relating to people.