Libra 2018: The Middle Way and the Razor Edged Path
Libra Keynote
“I choose the Way that leads between the two great lines of force.”
(Full Moon: September 25, 2018. 2:52 am. UT.)
Libra and the Two Great Lines of Force
The Noble Middle Way and the Razor Edged Path
The Middle Way for the Struggling Aspirant
The New Group of World Servers as the Middle Way
Libra, the Fourth Ray and the Middle Way
The Master Rákóczi and the Annual October Council
Libra and Money: Misuse of the Seventh Ray of Magic
The Hidden History of Humanity video – new subtitles available.
Libra and the Two Great Lines of Force
What is the meaning of Libra’s keynote, “I choose the Way that leads between the two great lines of force.”? How can everyone, whether they have Libra prominent in their horoscopes or not, invoke and utilise these forces when the sun traverses Libra every year?
To invoke this zodiac sign is to balance the Libran scales using the mental faculty, to walk the Middle Way between the opposites and transcend the duality of the outer world; to be at-one with the soul’s natural state. Successful sublimation of that condition contributes to greater planetary integration and unity, eventually transforming Earth into a “sacred planet” – this is partly the answer to the, “why are we here” question!
“Libra—is related to the mental unit and … produces eventually a balance between the pairs of opposites. This is brought about upon the astral plane. It is the attainment of this balance which produces the reversal of the mode of passing around the zodiacal wheel and it takes place when integration has occurred, and the [wo]man is focussed upon the mental plane. He can, then, through right use of the mind, discriminate between the pairs of opposites and find the narrow razor-edged path which passes between them and keep his balance upon it.”[1]
There is much to unpack here – themes of the astral and mental planes, “reversal of the wheel” and the Buddhist “noble middle way”:
1. Libra is related to the mental unit.
a. The “mental unit” is located on the lower mental plane – it is the personality’s equivalent of the “mental permanent atom” that resides upon the higher mental plane – the seat of the soul. Part of the goal of evolution is to build a bridge between the two – the symbol for Libra is a bridge.
The mental permanent atom is the lowest aspect of the spiritual Triad or soul, as depicted in the diagram here and below; it is associated with the astral and etheric permanent atoms – all of them repositories for experiences undergone during all incarnations – in the mental, emotional and physical bodies; they hold memories that the reincarnating soul draws upon, building-in the karmic prescription essential for the next life’s lessons.
b. Libra is an “air” sign, an element connected to the mind in traditional astrology.
c. Saturn is exalted in Libra and is one of the planets of mind. Saturn rules the throat chakra, seat of the mental body. Saturn is related to the process of building geometrical thoughtforms in mental matter. Saturn is also the hierarchical or highest ruler of Libra. Saturn is connected to long-term relationships, marriage, the law and money; it is the ruler of the third ray of active-intelligence.
d. Venus and Uranus are the exoteric and esoteric rulers of Libra. Venus rules the fifth ray of Science and is associated with the fifth plane of perception (counting from above down), the plane of manas or mind, whose upper three sub-planes are the abode of the causal body or soul. (See planes of perception chart below.)
Uranus is the soul ruler of Libra, assisting Saturn in the building of mental blueprints and the expansion of the mental body. Uranus is the ruler of the seventh ray of Organisation, Ceremonial Order or Magic – it is the ray of sacred geometry. Responding to the energies of Uranus ruling Libra, is to develop more impersonal relationships that are not dominated by emotions, but also allow their healthy expression.
2. “This is brought about upon the astral plane.”
For the aspirant and disciple upon the path, the emotional or desire body is the most difficult to control; its eventual control can only be brought about when the individual is “focussed upon the mental plane”.
“The triplicity of the pairs of opposites and of the narrow way of balance between them, the noble middle path, is the reflection on the astral plane of the activity of spirit, soul and body; of life, consciousness and form, the three aspects of divinity—all of them equally divine.”[2]
3. “Attainment of this balance produces reversal of the zodiacal wheel.”
“Reversal of the wheel” can only take place when this mental balance has been achieved and it occurs somewhere between the first and second initiations. (Not before the first initiation as some students have assumed.)
Hence, reversal represents a relatively advanced stage upon the way to the second degree initiation – the culmination of the successful control of the astral nature. Many aspirants are well developed mentally but still a long way from controlling the desire body completely. Therefore, the second degree is a quite advanced stage because the higher third degree initiation of the mental body/personality follows fairly quickly in the same lifetime or the next.
“Libra, therefore, controls the “moment of reversal of the wheel” in the life of every aspirant, for there comes a moment in the cycle of lives wherein a point of balance is reached and a relative equilibrium is attained, and over this event Libra presides.”[3]
Currently, Libra is dominant in the planetary horoscope[4] which means that significant numbers of those upon the Path have the opportunity of “reversing the wheel”. Note the word “opportunity”, not everyone makes this choice even though it may appear to be a very plain option. Libra is a sign of making choices, reaching a decision, through balancing the scales with the judicial mind, a very Saturnian description:
“It is in Libra that the balancing of the pairs of opposites must take place and reach solution through the activity of the judicial mind and the establishing of a point of equilibrium between the male and the female principles.”[5]
4. “Discriminate between the pairs of opposites and find the narrow razor-edged path.”
Discrimination is a mental faculty that is developed in the previous sign of Virgo and applied in Libra. Note that the word discriminate has “di” as its root, meaning “two”, whilst “dis” means “not of” – hence the problem of distinguishing between opposites, and being “not of” either. This is related to Libra being called “the master of no man’s land”,[6] being in the world but not of it. (John 17.)
“Discriminative knowledge … The light having been contacted, is used, and the result is that the pairs of opposites become apparent, duality is known, and the question of choice comes in. The light of God is cast upon either side of the razor edged path the aspirant is endeavouring to tread, and at first, this “noble middle” path is not so apparent as that which lies on either side. By the addition of dispassion or non-attachment to discriminative knowledge, hindrances are worn away, the veil which hides the light becomes increasingly thin until eventually the third or highest light is touched.”[7]
The Noble Middle Way and the Razor Edged Path
The Middle Way means a balanced approach to life, but it is a dynamic process – not passive or non-committal, as its title might suggest. Walking the Middle Way, means exerting continual effort and vigilance between the pairs of opposites which results in the “daily kurukshetra” or battle. Kurukshetra was the name given to the great war in the story of The Mahabharata, where Arjuna was paralysed by Libran indecision. (See “Libra: War and Peace.)
The Middle Way or Path, is the term that Gautama Buddha used to describe the character of the Noble Eightfold Path, hence the variant, “Noble Middle Way”; this path leads from the painful cycle of rebirth or samsara, to liberation or Arhatship. The religion of Buddhism itself is sometimes called “the Middle Way,” because it seeks to reconcile opposing viewpoints and maintain balance.
The Eightfold Path comprises: right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right meditation or samadhi – “meditative absorption or union”. Note the word union – the blending and balancing of opposites in Libra. Yoga means union and it is through the “kingly science” or Raja Yoga where duality is transcended and unity achieved. A few passages follow on the middle way and the razor-edged path:
“… follow the ancient way of Raja Yoga and bring in the mind as a dispelling agency and thus learn to stand in the “light” between the pairs of opposites, and through that “light” achieve freedom by treading the noble middle way.[8] Upon this “narrow, razor-edged path,” one learns to walk with discipline and discretion and with the desirelessness which one experiences in unison with one’s fellow disciples.”[9] There is a vice of detachment as well as a vice of attachment and the true servant of the Plan seeks the middle way.[10] … developing the power to pass between the pairs of opposites, unaffected by either, and thus leave them behind. … by using the mind as a distributor of the light which reveals the “middle way” – and which dissipates the glamour with its brilliance and radiance.”[11]
The Middle Way for the Struggling Aspirant
In the science of esotericism there are technical terms for stages of spiritual unfoldment – the paths of Aspiration, Probation, Discipleship and Initiation; these stages are in turn divided into other intermediary stages such as ‘chela in the light’, ‘chela on the thread’ etc. Such phases cover many lives, less or more depending upon the individual, their karma, soul ray or ashramic work; these incarnations are often fraught with conflict as the seeker veers from one opposite to the other. From one viewpoint, we are all aspirants upon the way, no matter what stage has been achieved. It is a healthy position to place oneself as a counterpoint to over-reaching too far along the path – and also in terms of recognition and co-operation with all co-workers.
“Upon the Probationary Path there comes the swing, consciously registered, between the pairs of opposites until the middle way is sighted and emerges. This activity produces the glamour of the pairs of opposites, which is of a dense and foggy nature, sometimes coloured with joy and bliss and sometimes coloured with gloom and depression as the disciple swings back and forth between the dualities.
This condition persists just as long as the emphasis is laid upon feeling—which feeling will run the gamut between a potent joyfulness as the man seeks to identify himself with the object of his devotion or aspiration, or fails to do so and therefore succumbs to the blackest despair and sense of failure.
All this is, however, astral in nature and sensuous in quality and is not of the soul at all. Aspirants remain for many years and sometimes for many lives imprisoned by this glamour. Release from the world of feeling and the polarising of the disciple in the world of the illumined mind will dissipate this glamour which is part of the great heresy of separateness.”[12]
The Tibetan Master Djwhal Khul frequently emphasises this theme of going beyond feeling, and it bears reiterating in the weird and wonderful phantasmagoria of new agey, touchy-feely – where often the emphasis is placed upon emotion and the mind is ignored or demonised as ‘without heart’. There is truth in this of course, the use of the mind has brought humanity many of its great achievements; but the mis-use of the lower mind has also created problems – a separation from nature, the alienation of feeling that has contributed to a lack of compassion. Herein lays another pair of opposites, with which the aspirant/disciple wrestles.
“… a very definite stage in the life of the aspirant, and is the cause of that unhappy sense of duality which produces distress and sorrow in the life of all disciples. It is at this point upon the Way that many very well-meaning disciples fall. Instead of standing in spiritual being and taking a firm position upon the middle way between the pairs of opposites, and thus intensifying the touch of appropriation and endeavoring to make the approach of acquiescence, they fall into the illusions of self-pity. [A major glamour of the second ray of love-wisdom.]
These prevent the process of appropriation. A furious conflict then ensues in the endeavor to change the theme of their lives, and the disciples forget that that theme is the embodiment of the Word of their souls in any particular incarnation, and that no theme—calling as it does, particular conditions into being—could provide the right and needed circumstances for full and complete development. They become so occupied with the theme that they forget the composer of that theme.”[13]
The New Group of World Servers as the Middle Way
Libra is the sign of the diplomat and the mediator, the one who seeks to keep two parties engaged. Engagement leads to marriage of two people, groups and nations. The NGWS serves in all fields of human endeavour, many not so obvious, working behind the scenes. They are a collective and most probably do not know that they are part of this group, but have an intuitive global sense of their connectedness. The NGWS is as a bridge between the Hierarchy and Humanity – a mediating group that must tread the Middle Way – in this transition between the zodiacal ages of Pisces and Aquarius.
“The New Group of World Servers holds steadily to the “Noble Middle Way” (as the Buddha called it) and seeks the decent burial of old forms, the implementation of that which is new and the restoration of that which has, in the past, proved useful and good and which could form the living germ of the new creation.”[14]
Note the term “decent burial” – a very Libran term that implies the process of staying engaged with all parties – the erring and recalcitrant or the progressives – because of their common humanity and the ideal to be united and not divided. Libra and the Middle Way is about the long term engagement of Humanity to itself. Its interesting to note that the United Nations exoteric horoscope has several planets in Libra – Venus, Neptune, Chiron and Jupiter.
The Aquarian Age as a Middle Way
When considering esoteric history,[15] we must understand where we are in time, what is the general stage of the unfoldment of human consciousness. Humanity is currently at the end of the Fifth Rootrace, transitioning into the Sixth Rootrace in the next several thousand years. As touched upon earlier, there have been certain traits over-developed in this rootrace, as there were in the previous Fourth Rootrace, Atlantis. Hence, in this new Aquarian cycle, Humanity has the opportunity to navigate between the mental excesses of the Fifth Rootrace – and the emotional distortions of Atlantis:
“The Atlantean civilisation … can be expressed by such words as animism, spiritualism, lower psychism and feeling. The sense of God, the sense of immortality, the sense of subtler inner relationships, the sense of worship and the undue sensitivity of modern man is our outstanding heritage from the civilisations which existed upon old Atlantis.
… the exact opposite is being imposed today, and in the reaction—normal, right and developing—man is laying a superstructure in which the emphasis is increasingly upon the tangible, the material, the seen, and upon that which can be proved, diagnosed, analysed, and utilised for the improving of man’s outer life and his material position upon the planet.
Both civilisations have gone too far, and in the swing of the pendulum [Libra] we shall inevitably return to a middle position, to the “noble middle path.” This middle way, utilising the best and the highest ideals which the two preceding civilisations have produced, will characterise the coming Aquarian Age and its civilisations. Such an expression of the material and the immaterial, of the seen and the unseen, of the tangible and the spiritual has ever been the goal and the objective of those who comprehend the true meaning of culture.”[16]
Libra, the Fourth Ray and the Middle Way
The fourth ray of Harmony through Conflict, also called the ray of Art and Beauty, has features in common with Libra. Libra and the 4th ray are related to the aesthetic expression of beauty and art – Libra through its ruler Venus; both are in the business of mediation; both condition Humanity at large – the 4th ray rules Humanity as a whole, whilst Libra is influencng Humanity in the planetary horoscope; both are connected to the finding of the Middle Way. In DK’s instructions to one his disciples, he pointed out the pairs of opposites of the fourth ray:
“What, my brother, are the characteristics of a fourth ray mental body? Let me list a few of them for you, leaving you to make your own application, in truthfulness and understanding.[17]
Destructive ……………………………………………………………………………. Constructive
An inner mental battle ………………………………………………………………The resolution of the pairs of opposites.
Many antagonisms ……………………………………………………………………Non-partisanship. The Middle Way.
Prejudice …………………………………………………………………………………. Tolerant understanding.
Personality unity and synthesis ………………………………………………..Group unity and synthesis.
Discord, interior and exterior ……………………………………………………Harmony within and without.
Environal problems …………………………………………………………………. Environal peace.
Imposition of the personal will …………………………………………………Expression of the will-to-love.
The Master Rákóczi and the Annual October Council
“Every October and every March, the Master R. gathers together His council of helpers, the Masters and the senior initiates in the Ashrams of the third, the fifth and the seventh rays. Though He is the Head of the third Ray of Aspect and is in control, therefore, of the two Rays of Attribute mentioned above, He does not Himself wield these forces, because He is One of the three Heads of the Hierarchy and His work cannot be confined to the activity of any one ray. He works through the Ashrams of these rays, but He Himself works primarily in cooperation with the Christ and the Manu.”[18]
Aries corresponds to March and October to Libra. It stands to reason that Master R, the Lord of Civilisation, would preside over these meetings. Aries is the first impulse and solar festival of the spiritual year, where the seeds of new plans must be sown. Libra is where there will be revealed indications of how plentiful or not the harvest has been; whether the seeds “fell on fertile or stony ground”.
This is why Libra is a sign intimately associated with karma, with the consequences of actions sown in Aries, bear their fruit in Libra; it is also why Saturn the lord of karma is exalted in Libra. Saturn also rules the third ray of active-intelligence which is the province of the third hierarchical department of The Mahachohan. All the “rays of attribute” – 4,5,6,7 fall under the aegis of the Mahachohan.
Within Hierarchical circles, Master R is known as “The Count”, alluding to the “incarnation” immediately following Francis Rákóczi – which led him to taking his post as Lord of Civilisation. Previously as Master R and fifth degree initiate, he was the head of the seventh ray ashram. Hence he has a lot of experience in wielding these ray forces and working with nations in crisis. (For example, his work as Count St. Germain around the French Revolution.)
Since World War II, Master R’s work has been exceedingly difficult in bringing in the new civilisation, working with the order-producing energy of the seventh ray. The following was written in the late 1940’s but is very appropriate today, as many problems still remain:
“The entire rhythm of international thinking has to be altered, and that constitutes a slow and arduous task; the evil personalities which, in every country, are responsible for the chaos and uncertainty, have eventually to be replaced by those who can work in cooperation with the rhythm of the seventh ray, and thus produce ordered beauty.
The task is further complicated by the fact that in the substitution of order for chaos, national cultures must be preserved and the outline of the new civilisation presented to the people. This major Ashram is therefore confronted with two elements in every land and nation: those people who hold on to the bad old things of the past, and those who work for the extreme opposite of this point of view and for that which is new. [These opposites have never been more accentuated as they are now, today.]
Under the influence of this seventh ray energy balance has to be brought about and preserved, so that the “noble middle way” of right action and of right human relations can be safely trodden. The task of the Master R. is, however, lightened by the fact that the seventh ray is now coming into activity and its potency is increasing year by year. His task is also aided by the intelligent work done by the Ashram of the English Master Who works consistently with the awakening and the arising masses.”[19]
Indeed, the power of this new seventh ray cycle which started in 1945, is becoming stronger and is starting to overcome the outgoing sixth ray, but still has a long way to go. “Evil personalities” have gone but also come back again. The English Master is behind the Labour movements and trade unions throughout the world. Today the power of the unions has been considerably eroded by big business and corporations.
The passage above, is repeated today in this “third phase of the world war” – “those people who hold on to the bad old things of the past, and those who work for the extreme opposite of this point of view and for that which is new.” We see this reflected in the creeping fascism of many Western governments – and corporations who dictate to those governments, versus the progressives who are desperately trying to birth the new ideas – people like Bernie Sanders, Jeremy Corbyn or Yanis Varoufakis. Many of the issues at stake have to do with an appalling economic inequality that has arisen, where wealth has been concentrated into the hands of the few, at the expense of the “99%”.
Libra and Money: Misuse of the Seventh Ray of Magic
The author has discussed this theme frequently in past missives that can be found here:
Libra and Money
Libra, Money and the Etheric
Libra, Money and the Old Paradigm Imploding
Uranus in Taurus: Revolution of the Monetary System
U.S. Debt: A Libran Crisis During Mercury Retrograde
Externalisation of the Third Ray Ashram
The Black Magicians of Our Age
Earlier there was a discussion about the incoming seventh ray and how Master R works with the energy of organisation, which is incidentally connected to finance. The third ray is connected to money generally – as a medium for the payment for goods and services. But the seventh ray is related to finance which deals with the management of money and how to invest it. The third and seventh rays are the rays of the magician, the one who can manipulate matter or money.
As the seventh ray has only just picked up its cyclic strength in the past 75 years, the point of least resistance is to use those forces for selfish purposes. This is also true of a new Aquarian age where the theme of co-operative groups working for a common purpose has been largely co-opted by selfishly motivated corporations. This will gradually change of course, as Humanity moves into the Aquarian Age experience over the next 2,000 years. Note that the seventh ray and Aquarius are both ruled by Uranus.
But for now, the situation is uncommonly complicated and critical, due to the third ray cabals and groups that have controlled the finances of the planet for the past few centuries; their power has become extraordinarily consolidated within the greater third ray cycle, augmented by this over-lappng seventh ray cycle; many of them are from the legions of magicians who abused power and coveted what belonged to others in the dark days of Atlantis – the crime of theft: “To procure what they coveted and felt they needed, the most highly evolved of that race began to practice magic.”[20]
Hence the world is witnessing a far more sophisticated form of corporate theft in so many areas of human activity. Today’s new magicians are in Wall Street, London and Silicon Valley – some of them well motivated, but many caught up in the glamour of greed; these corporate culture vultures are sucking the life blood out of humanity. Today we live in the new Babylon, an ancient echo of the selfishness that humans can express. Business is however, a legitimate spiritual path, it is where many souls work with a one-pointed meditative focus:
“All great capitalists, and the supreme heads of finance, or organised business, are the exponents of similar powers. They are personifications of one-pointed adherence to one line of thought, and their evolution parallels that of the mystic and the occultist. I seek most strongly to emphasise this fact. They are the ones who meditate along the line of the Mahachohan, or the Lord of Civilisation or Culture.
Supreme concentrated attention to the matter in hand makes them what they are, and in many respects they attain greater results than many a student of meditation. All they need to do is to transmute the motive underlying their work, and their achievement will then outrun that of other students. They will approach a point of synthesis, and the Probationary Path will then be trodden.”[21]
Humanity now stands at the edge of a great crisis – as to whether those who hold all the wealth and power, learn to share it or simply accumulate more. What will be the fate of these capitalists who have cornered so much of the world’s resources? The world will probably find out from about January 2020 with the conjunction of Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn.
Jeffrey D. Sachs is a world-renowned professor of economics, leader in sustainable development, senior UN advisor, bestselling author, and syndicated columnist whose monthly newspaper columns appear in more than 80 countries; he is a definite humanitarian “disciple” in the world of economics. The following is an excerpt from his recent article, “Billionaires reach for the stars while the world suffers”:
“The world economy is pumping trillions of dollars into the accounts of a few thousand people. These riches should be directed first and foremost to end the millions of needless deaths caused by extreme poverty, and to educate the hundreds of millions of children who lack schooling. The billionaires would still have enough left over to indulge their longing for mega-yachts, personal space ships, private tropical islands, and other conspicuous consumption.
… The digital age has created winner-take-all markets in information — including our personal data — and Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Sergei Brin, and others are giddily reaping the benefits. In the past dozen years, according to Forbes Magazine, the number of billionaires and their net worth have both roughly tripled, from 793 billionaires with $2.6 trillion in net worth in 2006 to around 2,200 billionaires with $9.1 trillion as of March this year.
… Nearly 200 wealthy individuals have joined the Giving Pledge over the past eight years, fewer than 10% of the billionaires. Moreover, there is no reporting or accountability of their actual giving. All in all, most of the world’s richest people have not yet joined the battle to end poverty. Yet their wealth is so vast that these few individuals could dramatically improve the lives of hundreds of millions of people … A mere 1% of the billionaires’ net worth each year would amount to around $91 billion, a sum that could ensure access to health care and education for the poorest children across the globe.”
The Hidden History of Humanity – new language subtitles available.
In just over a year, the The Hidden History of Humanity video has surpassed 4,000,000 views. It is now available subtitled in five languages: English, Italian, French, Spanish and Russian. (Please follow this link to “English and foreign subtitles”.) Please note that the book, The Hidden History of Humanity, will soon be out-of-print and will be superceded by Unveiling Genesis: Mysteries of the Rootraces and Cycles.
Phillip Lindsay © 2018.
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[1] Esoteric Astrology, Alice A. Bailey. p.302.
[2] Glamour: A World Problem, Alice A. Bailey. p.79.
[3] Esoteric Astrology, Alice A. Bailey. p.183.
[4] Esoteric Astrology, Alice A. Bailey. p.238.
[5] Esoteric Astrology, Alice A. Bailey. p.233.
[6] Esoteric Astrology, Alice A. Bailey. p.238.
[7] The Light of the Soul, Alice A. Bailey. p.316.
[8] Glamour: A World Problem, Alice A. Bailey. p.100.
[9] Glamour: A World Problem, Alice A. Bailey. p.49.
[10] Discipleship in the New Age I, Alice A. Bailey. p.158.
[11] Glamour: A World Problem, Alice A. Bailey. p.110.
[12] Glamour: A World Problem, Alice A. Bailey. p.79.
[13] Esoteric Psychology II, Alice A. Bailey. p.276.
[14] The Reappearance of the Christ, Alice A. Bailey. p.90.
[15] Unveiling Genesis: Mysteries of the Rootraces and Cycles, Phillip Lindsay.
[16] Education in the New Age, Alice A. Bailey. p.42.
[17] Discipleship in the New Age I, Alice A. Bailey. p.257.
[18] The Externalisation of the Hierarchy, Alice A. Bailey. p.668-9.
[19] The Externalisation of the Hierarchy, Alice A. Bailey. pp.668-9.
[20] Esoteric Healing, Alice A. Bailey. p.231.
[21] Letters on Occult Meditation, Alice A. Bailey. p.251.
As usual Phillip you so wonderfully address very important human/planetary issues so needfully discussed for all of us to hear and think about from your learnered DK point of view. thank you.
As an aside…I have Windows 7 and have downloaded their screen saver called “Pathways”. Each and every image is spectacular and very fitting for this Libra newsletter. Again thank you. Namaste
Thank you again! You prolific writings are a welcomed breath of fresh air in a mostly stale state of mass media. These monthly newsletters are fascinating and educational. We look forward to them monthly. You truly are a lighthouse in the storm that is our global community. We look forward to more readings and more insight. Grateful to have discovered this website and your teachings. We wish you Many blessings and abundance for this October. 🙏❤️