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| Autobiography of Alice A. Bailey - Appendix - The Books |
| The Books The first book published was Initiation, Human and Solar. This was the result of her first effort to do this kind of work. It laid the foundation of all the succeeding books. Since then A.A.B. has written for me for nearly twenty-five years. The books have gone out in line with a deep underlying purpose which it may interest you to know about and they have received a worldwide recognition. Initiation, Human and Solar was intended to bring the fact of the Hierarchy to public attention. This had been done by H.P.B. by inference and statement but not in any sequential form. The [246] Theosophical Society had taught the fact of the Masters, though H.P.B. (in her communications to the Esoteric Section) stated that she bitterly regretted so doing. This teaching was misinterpreted by the later theosophical leaders and they made certain basic mistakes. The Masters Whom they portrayed were characterized by an impossible infallibility because the Masters are Themselves evolving. The teaching given endorsed an engrossing interest in self-development and an intense focusing on personal unfoldment and liberation. The people who were indicated as initiates and senior disciples were entirely mediocre people with no influence outside the Theosophical Society itself. Complete devotion to the Masters was also emphasized - devotion to Their personalities, and these Masters were also shown as interfering with the organization life of the various occult groups which claimed to be working under Their direction. They were made responsible for the mistakes of the leaders of the groups who took refuge under such statements as: The Master has instructed me to say, etc., the Master wants the following work to be done, or the Master wants the membership to do thus and so. Those who obeyed were regarded as good members; those who refused to be interested and obedient were looked upon as renegades. The freedom of the individual was constantly infringed and the weaknesses and ambitions of the leaders were alibied. Knowing all this well, A.A.B. refused to be a party to any such constantly recurring activity, for such is the history of practically all the known occult groups which attract the attention of the public. Even had I wanted to work in such a way (which no one affiliated with the Hierarchy ever does), I would have found no collaboration from her. Letters on Occult Meditation followed next. These indicated a somewhat new approach to meditation, based not on devotion to the Masters but on a recognition of the soul in each person. This was succeeded by A Treatise on Cosmic Fire. This book was an expansion of the teaching given in The Secret Doctrine on the three fires - electric fire, solar fire and Are by friction - and it was an awaited sequence. It also presented the psychological key to The Secret Doctrine and is intended to offer study to disciples and initiates at the close of this century and the beginning of the next century, up until 2025 A.D. A.A.B. later felt that it would be of value to me and to the work if she wrote certain books, useful to students, apart from transcribing [247] my writings and taking down my notes, rendering them into the thought-provoking English which together we have developed as a medium for transmission of the ideas which it is my Dharma to make public. The average psychic and medium is not usually of a high grade intelligence, and A.A.B. desired to prove (for the aiding of the work of the future) that one could do definitely psychic work and be of a real intelligence. She has, therefore, written four books which are entirely her own production:
She has also written one book in collaboration with me, entitled Light of the Soul, in it I give the English paraphrase of the Sanskrit Sutras of Patanjali and she contributes the commentary, referring to me occasionally for reassurance as to meaning. Then followed A Treatise on White Magic. This was written years ago and as it was written it went out, chapter by chapter, to the senior students of the Arcane School as reading matter only. It is the first book ever given out upon the training and control of the astral or emotional body. Many occult books have been written on the subject of the physical body and its purification and upon the etheric or vital body. Most of them have been compilations of other books, both ancient or modern. This book of mine, however, is intended to train the modern aspirant in the control of his astral body, by the aid of the mind as that mind is, in its turn, illumined by the soul. The next book undertaken was A Treatise on the Seven Rays. It is a long book, not yet completed. It is taking shape in four volumes, two of which are already published, one is ready for publication and the final volume is in process of writing. Volumes one and two deal with the seven rays and their seven psychological types and thus lay the foundation for the new psychology for which modern psychology, materialistic as it may be, has laid a sound basis. Volume three is entirely given over to the subject of esoteric astrology and forms a unit in itself. It is intended to launch the new astrology which is founded on the soul and not on the personality. Orthodox astrology sets up a chart which gives the fate and destiny of the personality [248] and when that personality is little evolved or is only of an average development, it can be and often is amazingly correct. It is not so correct, however, in the case of highly developed people, aspirants, disciples and initiates who are beginning to control their stars and consequently their actions; the events and the happenings in their lives then become unpredictable. The new and future astrology endeavors to give the key to the horoscope of the soul, as it is conditioned by the soul ray and not by the personality ray. Enough has been given by me to enable astrologers, who are interested and of the new inclination, to work out the future from the angle of this new approach. Astrology is a fundamental and most necessary science. A.A.B. knows nothing about astrology; she cannot even set up a chart nor could she tell you the names of the planets and the houses which they rule. I am, therefore, entirely responsible for all that appears in this and all my books, except, as before explained, the one book, The Light of the Soul. The fourth volume deals with the subject of healing, and with the bridging by the antahkarana of the gap which exists between the Monad and the personality. It also gives the Fourteen Rules which those in training for initiation have to master. (NOTE: It was later decided by the Tibetan and A.A.B. to publish these Rules as a separate volume. They will therefore shortly appear as Volume V of the Treatise on the Seven Rays. - Foster Bailey.) Again, I would call your attention to this last theme, reminding you that A.A.B. has never made the slightest claim, either privately or publicly, to be an initiate, nor will she. She knows it is against the occult law and has seen too many people of no particular spiritual focus or intellectual capacity make these claims and the consequent harm which has ensued, lowering the idea of the Hierarchy and the nature of adeptship in the eyes of the watching public. I am, therefore, entirely responsible for the Fourteen Rules and their elucidation and application. A.A.B. has never claimed to be more than a working disciple, occupied with world work (which no one can deny) and has reiterated again and again that the word "disciple" is the legitimate and non-controversial word (as well as the truthful word) to be used for all grades of workers in the Hierarchy from the probationary disciple, loosely affiliated with certain disciples in that Hierarchy, up to and including the Christ Himself, the Master of all the Masters and the Teacher alike of Angels and of men. She has steadily set herself, with my full [249] approval, against the unwholesome curiosity as to status and title which is a blight on so many occult groups, leading to the full tide of competition, jealousy, criticism and claim-making which distinguishes the majority of the occult groups, which renders futile so many of the publications and which hinders the general public from receiving the teaching in its purity and simplicity. Status and title, place and position count for nothing. It is the teaching that counts - its truth and its intuitive appeal. This should be constantly borne in mind. The accepted disciples of a Master who arrive at recognition of Him from within themselves - a recognition which can then be corroborated by their fellow disciples and used by the Master Himself as a factual condition - know their Master, accept teaching from Him and among themselves speak of Him as He is to them but not to the outside world. The books have, therefore, been going out steadily for years and when A Treatise on the Seven Rays is completed, a short book on glamor is ready for the press and a book on the discipleship in the new age is in the hands of the public, the work of A.A.B. for me will be over. She can then resume her work in the Ashram of her own Master - the work of a disciple. |
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