4. Definite and sustained effort to sense the Presence throughout the Universe in all forms and in all presentations of truth. This could be expressed in the words: "the effort to isolate the germ or seed of divinity which has brought all forms into being." I would point out that this is not the attainment of a loving attitude and a sentimental approach to all people and circumstances. That is the mystical way and though not intended to be negated in the disciple's life, is not used at this time in the process of effective approach. It is the effort primarily to see in the light which the Angel radiates the point of light behind all phenomenal appearances. This is, therefore, the transference of the mystical vision to the higher levels of awareness. It is not the vision of the soul but the vision or the spiritual sensing of that which the light of the soul can aid in revealing. The flickering soul light in the personal self has enabled the disciple to see the vision of the soul and in that light to reach union with the soul, even if only temporarily. Now the greater light of the soul becomes focused like a radiant sun and it reveals in its turn a still more stupendous vision - that of the Presence, of which the Angel is the guarantee and promise. As the light of the Moon is the guarantee that the light of the Sun exists, so the light of the Sun is the guarantee, did you but know it, of a still greater light. [181]
5. Then, having sensed the Presence - not theoretically but in vibrating response to its Existence - there next comes the stage of the ascertaining of the Purpose. Hope of identification with the purpose lies too far ahead even for the average initiate, under the status of Master. With that unattainable stage (for us) we are not concerned. But we are concerned with the effort to achieve an understanding of that which through the medium of form is seeking to embody the high purpose at any particular point in the evolutionary cycle. This is possible and has been achieved down the ages by those who have rightly approached and duly reflected upon the Way of the Higher Evolution. This Way is revealed to the disciple, e'en though it may not concern the intuitive message which he may bring back from his high adventure.
6. He then carries some world problem, some design which his mind has evolved or his heart desired for the helping of humanity into what is esoterically called "the triple light of the intuition." This light is formed by the blending of the light of the personal self, focused in the mind, the light of the soul, focused in the Angel, and the universal light which the Presence emits; this, when done with facility through concentration and long practice, will produce two results:
   1. There will suddenly dawn upon the disciple's waiting mind (which still remains the agent of reception) the answer to his problem, the clue to what is needed to bring relief to humanity, the information desired which, when applied, will unlock some door in the realm of science, psychology or religion. This door, when opened, will bring relief or release to many. As before I have told you, the intuition is never concerned [182] with individual problems or enquiries, as so many self-centered aspirants think. It is purely impersonal and only applicable to humanity in a synthetic sense.
   2. The "intruding agent of light" (as the Old Commentary calls these adventuring intuitives) is recognized as one to whom can be entrusted some revelation, some new impartation of truth, some significant expansion from a seed of truth already given to the race. He then sees a vision, hears a voice, registers a message, or - highest form of all - he becomes a channel of power and light to the world, a conscious Embodiment of divinity, or a Custodian of a divine principle. These forms constitute true revelation, imparted or embodied; they are still rare but will increasingly be developed in humanity.
7. The next few stages are called, in preparation for the revelation:
   1. The relinquishing of the Higher Way.
   2. The return to the Angel, or a refocusing in the soul.
   3. A pause or interlude for constructive thinking, under the influence of the Angel.
   4. The turning of the mind to the formulation of those forms of thought which must embody the revelation.
   5. Then again a pause which is called "the pause preceding presentation."
8. The presentation of the revelation or of the imparted truth and its precipitation into the world of illusion comes next. In that world of illusion, it undergoes the "fiery ordeal" wherein "some of the fire within that which is revealed wings its way back to the source from whence it came; some of it serves to destroy the revealer, [183] and some to burn those who recognize the revelation." This is a phase of Agni Yoga which, as you can see, is only for those who can penetrate beyond the Angel into the place "where fire dwelleth," and where God, the Presence, functions as a consuming fire and waits for the hour of total revelation. This is a symbolic rendering of a great truth. In the case of the individual initiate, the third initiation, the Transfiguration, marks the consummation of the process. Only glory then is seen: only the voice of the Presence is heard and union with the past, the present and the future is reached.
9. The succumbing of the revelation to the prevailing illusion, its descent into the world of glamor, and its subsequent disappearance as a revelation and its emergence as a doctrine. But, in the meantime, humanity has been helped and led forward; the intuitives continue to work and the inflow of that which is to be revealed never ceases.

This basic technique underlies both primary and secondary revelations. In the case of the first, the time cycle is long; in the second, the time cycle is short. A very good instance of this process is demonstrated by one of the secondary points of revelation in connection with the teaching which emanated from the Hierarchy (the Custodian of secondary revelations, as Shamballa is of primary) fifty years ago and which took the form of The Secret Doctrine. H. P. B. was the "penetrating, sensing, appropriating intuitive." The revelation she conveyed followed the accustomed routine of all secondary revelation from the Source to the outer plane. There the minds of men, veiled by illusion and clouded by glamor, formulated it into an inelastic doctrine, recognizing no further revelation and holding steadily - many of the theosophical groups - that The Secret Doctrine was a final [184] revelation and that naught must be recognized but that book and naught deemed correct but their interpretations of that book. If they are correct, then evolutionary revelation is ended and the plight of humanity is hard indeed.

Even the neophyte upon the way of the intuition can begin to develop in himself the power to recognize that which the lower mind cannot give him. Some thought of revealing potency, to be used for the helping of the many, may drop into his mind; some new light upon an old, old truth may penetrate, releasing the truth from the trammels of orthodoxy, thus illumining his consciousness. This he must use for all and not for himself alone. Little by little, he learns the way into the world of the intuition; day by day, and year by year, he becomes more sensitive to divine Ideas and more apt in appropriating them wisely for the use of his fellowmen.

The hope of the world and the dispelling of illusion lies in the development of intuitives and their conscious training. There are many natural intuitives whose work is a blend of the higher psychism with flashes of true intuition. There must be the training of the exact intuitive. Paralleling their intuitive response and their effort to precipitate their intuition into the world of human thought, there must also be the steady development of the human mind so that it can grasp and apprehend what is projected, and in this too lies the hope of the race.