The ray on which a man's causal body is found, the egoic ray, should determine the type of meditation. Each ray necessitates a different method of approach, for the aim of all meditation is union with the divine. At this stage, it is union with the spiritual Triad, that has its lowest reflection on the mental plane. Let me illustrate briefly:

When the egoic ray is what is termed the Power Ray, the method of approach has to be by the application of the will in a dynamic form to the lower vehicles; it is largely what we term achievement by an intense focusing, a terrific one-pointedness, that inhibits all hindrances and literally forces a channel, thus driving itself into the Triad.

When the egoic ray is the second or the Love-Wisdom Ray, the path of least resistance lies along the line of expansion, of a gradual inclusion. It is not so much a driving forward as it is a gradual expanding from an inner center to include the entourage, the environment, the allied souls, and the affiliated groups of pupils under [16] some one Master, until all are included in the consciousness. Carried to the point of achievement, this expansion results in the final shattering of the causal body at the fourth Initiation. In the first instance - achievement via the Power Ray - the driving forward and the forcing upward had a like result; the opened channel admitted the downflow of force or fire from the Spirit and the causal body in time is equally destroyed.

When the egoic ray is the third or Activity-adaptability Ray, the method is somewhat different. Not so much the driving forward, not so much the gradual expansion as the systematic adaptation of all knowledge and of all means to the end in view. It is in fact the process of the utilization of the many for the use of the one; it is more the accumulation of needed material and quality for the helping of the world, and the amassing of information through love and discrimination that eventually causes the shattering of the causal body. In these "Rays of Aspect" or of divine expression, if so I may call them, the shattering is brought about by the widening of the channel, due to the driving power of will in the first case; by the expansion of the lower auric egg, the causal body, in the second ease, due to the inclusiveness of the synthetic Ray of Love and Wisdom; and by the breaking of the periphery of the causal body in the third case, due to the accumulative faculty and systematic absorption of the Adaptability Ray.

All these three different methods have the same result, and are fundamentally all forms of the one great method employed in the evolution of love or wisdom, - the goal of endeavor in this present solar system.

You have the will driving a man on to perfection, through realization of the Higher, and resulting in the service of power through love in activity. [17]

You have the wisdom or love aspect driving a man on to perfection through the realization of his oneness with all that breathes, resulting in the service of love through love in activity.

You have the activity aspect driving a man on to perfection through the utilization of all in the service of man; first by the utilization of all for himself, then by the graded steps of the utilization of all for the family, of all for those he personally loves, of all for his environing associates, and thus on and up till all is utilized in the service of humanity.

When the egoic ray is the attributive Ray of Harmony, the fourth ray, the method will be along the line of the inner realization of beauty and harmony; it causes the shattering of the causal body by the knowledge of Sound and Color and the shattering effect of Sound. It is the process that leads to the realization of the notes and tones of the solar system, the note and tone of individuals, and the endeavor to harmonize the egoic note with that of others. When the egoic note is sounded in harmony with other egos, the result is the shattering of the causal body, dissociation from the lower and the attainment of perfection. Its exponents develop along the line of music, rhythm and painting. They withdraw within in order to comprehend the life side of the form. The outer manifestation of that life side in the world is through that which we call art. The great painters and the superlative musicians are in many cases reaching their goal that way.

When the fifth ray, the Ray of Concrete Science or Knowledge is a man's ray, the method is very interesting. It takes the form of the intense application of the concrete mind to some problem for the helping of the race; it is the bending of every mental quality and the [18] controlling of the lower nature so that one supreme endeavor is made to pierce through that which hinders the downflow of the higher knowledge. It involves also the will element (as might be expected) and results in the wresting of the desired information from the source of all knowledge.

As the process is continued, the piercing of the periphery of the causal body becomes so frequent that in the end disintegration is produced and a man is set free. It is mentality driving a man on to perfection and forcing him to utilize all knowledge in the loving service of his race.

The Ray of Devotion is pre-eminently the ray of sacrifice. When it is the egoic ray the method of approach through meditation takes the form of one-pointed application, through love of some individual or ideal. A man learns to include through love of person or ideal; be bends every faculty and every effort to the contemplation of what is required, and in sacrifice for that person or ideal lays even his causal body on the flames of the altar. It is the method of divine fanaticism that counts all lost apart from the vision, and that eventually sacrifices joyously the entire personality. The causal body is destroyed through fire, and the liberated life streams upward to the Spirit in divine beatification.

When the egoic ray is the seventh or Ray of Ceremonial Law or Magic, the method is that of the glorification and comprehension of form in approach. As said earlier, the goal of all the meditation practices is approach to the divine within each one, and, through that, approach to the Deity Himself.

The method, therefore, is the bringing under law, order and rule, of every act of the life in all the three bodies, and the building within the causal body of an [19] expanding form that results in the shattering of that body. It is the building of the Shrine under certain rules into a dwelling place for the Shekinah, and when the spiritual light flames forth, the Temple of Solomon rocks, reels and disintegrates. It is the study of the law and the consequent comprehension by the man of how that law is wielded and why; it is then the definite application of that law to the body of causes so as to render it needless and thus effect its shattering. Emancipation is the result, and the man frees himself from the three worlds. Many occultists are coming in on this ray at this time to continue the liberating process. It is the method that leads a man to liberation through the understanding and the intelligent application of the law to his own life, and to the ameliorating of conditions in the body of humanity, thus making the man a server of his race.