In the course of Human evolution certain important facts & issues should be noted. Believe it or not, when we as individuals come into existence each time on this plane, we actually have the propensities to achieve the most we can in terms of spirtitual evolution. The end result of spiritual evolution for us is to achieve a level of initiation (self acquired learning & the expansion of consciousenss) so that we as monads with the required experience move on te higher realms & no longer need to be reborn on this plane called earth.As Humans we naturally want to shorten this process. Most religions believe with blind faith & no proof, in a once through heavon or hell scenario. This persists even though in the Christian Bible a passage states otherwise. Lord Christ states in the book of Matthew that essentially John the Baptist is the reincarnation of Elijah The Hindu religion believes in reincarnation but with some strange twists between the Human & animal kingdoms.
Starting in the late 1800's with H.B.Blavatsky & continuing on the the Alice Bailey books, both of which claim contact & assistence with higher beings called Ascendent Masters, presented us with a much different scenario. They present us with the view that we humans can become divine beings called Monads, who are sent here to gain life experience & acquire the properties of Wisdom & love. This process requires an intermediary called a soul (solar angel, agnishvatta or Ego) from the Deva realm. It is the intermediary between what is called the lower man (animal man) & the higher Monad.The Masters claim that by following a prescribed sets of rules(Laws) the path can be shortened.These books are very hard to understand & the Baiely books have a lot of filler. Both Lord Buddha & Lord Christ figure porminently. Lord Christ is called the Master of Masters & is the head of what is called the Spiritual Hierarchy. This group consists of a number of Lords, Cohans & Masters, each conditioned by one of what are called the seven rays. There is another greater being called Lord Sanat Kumara (also Melchizedek by Christians), who is the head of the main ashram containing all the others. Who can be called our Planetary Logos.
The shortened path, it must be realized is a condensed path, which means huch more happens in a shorter period of time. The requirements for what is called the path can not be changed. We reincarnate lifetime after lifetime to pick up where we left off in the previous incarnation. We have permanent atoms which carry forth gained experience from previous lifetimes. Around the atoms are clouds related to the Karma acquired but yet to be resolved. This karma can weigh heavily on a student on the excellerated path. The folowing information is based on the books & constutues a part of what are called the Mysteries. For us as humans in this existence, two manin things concern us. Substance & consciousness. Substance is provided by what are called devas & they exist on many levels or more accurately on many different planes. They make up the atoms of all material substance, including our physical bodies & etheric sheaths. We as monads are placed in these sheaths with an intermediary (a soul) to help us as we evolve (raise our consciousness through rightly exprsessed experience) into Monads with human experience.The monad resides at a much higher level (vibration) than the small part that gets placed in to what is called the personality. The soul awaits for many lifetimes in the early stages as man is little more than an animal, the vibratory activity of his atoms of his three sheaths at the lowest level. Apart from the physical substance & much that occurs is the consequence of the interaction betqeen the Ego & its lowest manifestation the physical body or sheath. The centre of attention is the physical body & only faintly are the two subtler bodies responding. The Egoic (soul) impulse is slow & heavy & the vibration is directed to producing response between egoic consciousness & the atoms of the physical body. The physical permanent atom is more active than the other two. It is the aspect of the fire of friction (Fohat) which is fanned by the egoic breath, with a triple object in view:
A. Maintaing the Physical body
B. Increasing the resistence of the etheric Web- which is literally a fine network (sheath) of fiery threads composed of Deva substance, which spreads itself over the centers & forms an area of fairly large dimensions. It separates two bodies. The Astral & the physical bodies. This sheath is inreality an extention of the sutramatra,or life strand. As it is woven & interlaced, it becomes Vitalise with the life energy sent down from the ego. The work of the etheric elementals (devas) is consumated when the sumtrama is connected with the three centres of the physical nature within the cranium - pineal gland, the Pituitary body & the alta major centre. Occultly the most important connection is the entrance of the sutramatra into the centre at the top of the head (Crown Chakra), through which the life of the etheric body draws at the moment of death. This thread by the seventh year of life, had divided itself into three branches, reaching out to the centers. In order to function conscikously in his individual etheric body, a man has to burn through the etheric web. When a man has reached a point where he can see & sense the fourth ether, he is ready for the burning away of a portion of the etheric web, which has its location midway between the third & second sub-plane matter which compose his physical body. When this disintegration is complete, the man merges with his Astral vehicle, thereby establishing a continuity of consciousness. This disintegration can be traced on each plane, initiation by initiation till finally on the atmic level of its third sub-plane comes the final disintegration, which results in a merging with monadic consciousness.
C. Bringing certain of the lower centres (chakras) to a necessary stage of expression. The heat of the atoms of the bodies is increased during this stage & their atomic life co-ordinated while the triangle between the lower three permanent atoms (Mental Unit, Astral & Physical becomes a demonstratable fact & not a faint indication). It is during this stage that the outer row of Egoic petals is built & the 1st stage of the antahkarana is built. In working with the 1st law (Law of Economy), we must therefore note that man is first of all a victom of the impulses of the dense physical substance or of thje Brahma aspect & this acts & reacts as a member of the herd impulse & according to the requirements to fit into the herd, at the same time only doing those things that will give him or her a return on investment, what ever that investment might be.
During the second stage, govern by the law of attraction (After the 1ST Initiation) the law of Karma or Karmic influence (produced by the incresed activity of the sheaths) turn its attention to the working out of desire & its transmutation into higher aspiration.