*The books of Alice A. Bailey, written in cooperation with a Tibetan teacher between 1919-1949, constitute a continuation of the Ageless Wisdom--a body of esoteric teaching handed down from ancient times in a form which is always suitable to each period. Intended to precede and condition the coming era, the Alice A. Bailey writings offer an unparalleled spiritual approach to such subjects as the teaching on Shamballa and the Path of spiritual evolution; the spiritual Hierarchy; the new discipleship and training in meditation as a form of service; the teaching on the seven rays and the new psychology of the soul; the teaching on esoteric astrology; and the new world religion, which emphasizes the common thread of truth linking all the major world faiths. The final volume in this treatise on the seven rays contains the fundamental spiritual structure on which the next presentation of the Ageless Wisdom teaching will build. The book is in two parts; the first part enumerates and details the Fourteen Rules for Group Initiation.
These are the rules for disciples and initiates, paralleling on a higher turn of the spiral, the rules for applicants contained in the book "Initiation, Human and Solar". The second part of this volume is concerned with the Rays and the Initiations, those nine major expansions of consciousness through which the initiate becomes progressively liberated from the various forms of our planetary life, ultimately proceeding upon his chosen Path of development and service within the universe. One of the outstanding principles unfolded through the pages of this book is that of the growth of the group idea - group service, group responsibility and group initiation. The possibility of group initiation seems to be one of the new emerging developments of the Aquarian era; therefore, the profound value to the disciple of the Fourteen Rules for Group Initiation. These rules embody great truths in symbolic form, into which the consciousness expands with the acceptance of occult obedience, and the meeting of all requirements on the Path of Initiation in a group penetrating together towards the centre of an ashram, and into the heart and will of the presiding Master.
Because "the way to the innermost sanctum is the way of outer service", and because initiation is the effect of an increasing capacity to intuit the Plan, to register ashramic purpose and to act accordingly, "these rules are in reality great Formulas of Approach ...approach to a specific section of the Path and not approach to the Initiator. I would have you reflect on this distinction. The initiate is becoming increasingly aware of the dynamics of the Science of the Service of the Plan. This distinctive realisation can only come when his fused and blended personality and soul expression of will has disappeared in the blazing light of the Divine Purpose." Much of this teaching, while beyond the grasp of the average student today, is invaluable in expanding the mind to contemplate the larger patterns and processes in which the individual function may be viewed in perspective. In dealing with such abstruse matters, the author again demonstrates a marvelous capacity to relate the deepest and most profounds aspects of the Master's teaching to the life and the consciousness of the aspirant in the world today.
Since there is no separation in life, and since the aphorism "As above so below" applies in every particular throughout the cosmos, and recognisably within the solar and the planetary lives, there is great value in the clear delineation of continuity. "Revelation concerns Oneness and nothing else. The practical nature of this truth is only recognised when the disciple attempts to do two things: To realise it individually and to bring the nature of planetary unity and of non-separateness to the minds and into the lives of men everywhere."
