‘God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change those things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.’

In this series of articles we are looking at attitudes and practices which, although they may be adopted with good intention, stand to trap the spirit of the aspirant, especially those working alone. The usual reasons for this are that the idea has been taken out of context, that there is an inadequate sense of perspective, or that the idea is anachronistic. We are all the time changing and the spiritual slant has to change too if it is to remain vital. This is becoming increasingly evident  as the Aquarian Age begins to settle in.

In line with the DK Foundation’s approach we are looking at this matter in the context of the western, post New Age landscape.

In this article and that which follows we are looking at what it means to be ourselves.

The thing I find so perplexing about the P.C. manuals that have been lavished upon by those who would have me become more self-sufficient in this area, is that even though they are written for beginners, none seems to start at a basic enough level by defining crucial words and terms. They presuppose a conversance with technical terms that I simply do not have, although I understand just about enough to know that one cannot guess or approximate. These terms describe specific functions, functions that will do what they are designed to do and nothing else. Amongst those who understand the terms there is consensus about the purpose of these functions because there is no scope for interpretation or improvisation.

This is not the case with so many of the terms circulating in spiritual circles. Here the same words and terms can mean many different things to many different people. We can usually always attach some meaning to them even though it may not be that intended in the context with which we meet it, and we can be quite unaware of this.

Yet so rarely do people define their terms. People working within specific traditions will talk to others outside the tradition as if their specialist terminology were universally applicable.

I have often pondered why this should be. Is it that they don't want to think about the terms they are using in any analytical way; either because they can’t be bothered and that they trust that the sound itself will convey the meaning? Is it rooted in a sense of the self-evident nature of the truth, in identification, or, in some basic need to reinforce identity by using certain terms regardless of whether they communicate anything to anyone else? Is it simply a lack of awareness of the problem?

Whatever the reason, it a risky business assuming anything these days. The New Age has thrown open the doors to a lot of different traditions, creating a Babel of terms, assumptions and approaches. The most that one can say is that they are all designed to move us on in some way because this is the point of spirituality.

Consider the matter of being ourselves.  Are those of us on the path involved in bringing about changing ourselves or in acquiring acceptance of who and what we are? Is feeling all right about ourselves a help or a hindrance? How can we be ourselves if we are striving to control and restrain certain characteristics?

If they look at them closely, these matters can be a source of real confusion to people. Many of my students have admitted this eventually, but most were trying to avoid thinking about such things at all, hoping that one day it would become clear. Some have been inclined to call it a paradox.

It is not a paradox: it is a matter of angles.

Firstly let us look at the nature of change itself.

Change can come about in one of three ways. It can be said to have three aspects.

If we use the terminology of astrology, we can identify these aspects as follows:

Jupiter is a second ray planet, and so those spiritual traditions  that emphasize bringing about change through expanding and adding, are usually on the second/sixth ray.  In their dealings with self and other they encourage forgiveness, acceptance, compassion and inclusiveness, devotionalism is the means of raising solar plexus (emotional) energy and opening the heart centre.  Their goal is the absorption of the lower (the personality) in the higher (the soul). As regards moving on, the negative aspect of this angle on spirituality, which encourages acceptance, is ineffectiveness and permissiveness.

Saturn in a third ray planet and the traditions which emphasis struggle, detection of personality weaknesses, and self-mastery are usually on the third/seventh ray and their means are mental disciplines to open the throat and later, the head centres, the development of discernment and the manipulation of form. The negative aspect of this angle on spirituality, which encourages a critical perspective, is intellectualism, harshness and judgment.

Vulcan is a first ray planet and the first ray does not lend itself to consolidation. It works through people and organizations that are usually short lived, that do their job of challenging existing forms and then disband. The negative aspect of this angle on spirituality, which encourages the removal of structures, is unaccountability and loss of balance.

To a person working with the second/sixth rays, being oneself means becoming the divine part of oneself, the soul.

To a person working on the third/seventh ray, being oneself means gaining control over the personality vehicle in order to become useful to the soul in accordance with the capacities of the personality.

To a person working with the first ray, being oneself means maximizing one’s vitality by eliminating constraints, to serve the purpose of life itself.

Each of us will change in consciousness in the way that we are designed and will become ourselves in accordance with the way our ray perceives that process. This is why people working with the second ray will only make so much headway with a third ray organizations and vice versa. This is why we simply waste time if the third ray argues against the assumptions and perspectives of the second, or the second against the third. It is time to recognise this state of affairs, and the analytical third ray aspirant must take the responsibility to show the way by working with this knowingness.

Fourth ray people can work with both second and third ray approaches, and, indeed some traditions combine elements of both without giving one, precedence over the other.

As a spiritual aspirant, ask yourself in what, primarily, you would place your trust?

Your answer should help you find the kind of spirituality that will enable you to become yourself, however you are going to define that.  But be aware that it may take you a long time and direct, personal experience with different traditions to be able to distinguish between the voice of the soul and the voice of memory. Your choice of route, if it is an accurate choice, will be more than comforting; it will be challenging and will serve you in a practical way in the circumstances of everyday life.

The D.K. Foundation works with on the third ray and so we help people to become themselves through organising their personalities to become both effective and soul-aligned. In this task we use the map of the natal chart.  We focus upon making the Sun the assemblage point of personality consciousness and assess how best the personality will make its contribution. We encourage challenging the patterns described by the Moon’s placement and use the Saturn problem to gain mastery and to learn discernment.

Of course, we are most attractive to those on the third, fourth and seventh ray who are focused upon soul-personality alignment. In the longer term we will not offer the kind of emotional nourishment that the second or sixth ray aspirant needs, but to all people we offer a way of clearing the ground of the clutter of conditioning so that they can see clearly who they are, what their development requires, and how best they may make a return.