What is Initiation?
The word Initiation and an Initiate is today a very misunderstood concept with crystallized glamour distorting the true meaning of this word. Initiation is a natural phenomenon pertaining to the Soul and it’s vehicles. It has existed since the times of antiquity. However, in the recent century the word has been mystified to the point it has lost it’s true meaning. The word Initiation has existed in Indian Spirituality since thousands of years. In Indian language Initiation is known as “Diksha or Deeksha”. Today this sacred concept has been degraded with a widespread practice of selling of Initiations and Shaktipat (spiritual empowerment) in both East and The West in return for money. Many pseudo-gurus are using a mystified version of Initiation to make money in this way today. We are not dealing with such Initiations that can be bought. We are dealing with the true Esoteric meaning of Initiation in this Article.
"The word Initiation comes from two Latin words, in, into; and ire, to go; therefore, the making of a beginning, or the entrance into something. It posits, in its widest sense, in the case we are studying, an entrance into the spiritual life, or into a fresh stage in that life. It is the first step, and the succeeding steps, upon the Path of Holiness. Literally, therefore, a man who has taken the first initiation is one who has taken the first step into the spiritual kingdom, having passed out of the definitely human kingdom into the superhuman. Just as he passed out of the animal kingdom into the human at individualisation, so he has entered upon the life of the spirit, and for the first time has the right to be called a "spiritual man" in the technical significance of the word. He is entering upon the fifth or final stage in our present fivefold evolution. Having groped his way through the Hall of Ignorance during many ages, and having gone to school in the Hall of Learning, he is now entering into the university, or the Hall of Wisdom. When he has passed through that school he will graduate with his degree as a Master of Compassion."
H. P Blavatsky defined an Initate as:
“Initiate. From the Latin Initiatus. The designation of anyone who was received into and had revealed to him the mysteries and secrets of either Masonry or Occultism. In times of antiquity, those who had been initiated into the arcane knowledge taught by the Hierophants of the Mysteries; and in our modern days those who have been initiated by the adepts of mystic lore into the mysterious knowledge, which, notwithstanding the lapse of ages, has yet a few real votaries on earth.”
This should not be misunderstood as receiving intellectual knowledge though. All Initiations are Expansions of Consciousness. This expansion happens when one becomes free from one’s small egohood and starts realizing one’s identity as the soul or the innermost self. Many Students believe Initiation is a process through which from an inferior “me” or “I”, one becomes a superior “I”. True initiation is rather the opposite. One dissolves the “I” and becomes egoless as one receives the higher initiations. Initiation is simply expansion of consciousness through which the perfection of man (includes woman) takes place.
A lot of Gurus claim these days to be able to bestow Initiations on their disciples. The word Initiation is used in different ways by different societies. In many Occult schools, being accepted as a member is termed as Initiation. However, we are not speaking of such exoteric Initiation in this article. We are dealing with Esoteric Planetary Initiation that only happens on a soul level. And, no living Guru can bestow such Initiation on anyone because it’s happens on the Higher planes of existence.
"The ceremony of initiation takes place on the three higher sub-planes of the mental plane, and on the three higher planes, according to the initiation. The five-pointed star, at the initiations on the mental plane, flashes out above the head of the initiate."
Accoirding to Esoteric Teachings there are many Initiations. The majority of average humanity are not Initiates. One becomes an Initiates when one enters the Path of Discipleship. The First few Initiations are listed below:
1. Ordinary unawakened humanity and Probationary chelas.
2. First Initiation also known as Birth of the Christ: One becomes an accepted Disciple when the first Initiation is received and one for the first time has a true realization of one’s spiritual nature. Many lives may intervene between the first initiation and the second according to Alice Bailey. A first Initiate is one who has disciplined one’s physical body and subjugares one’s lower appetites like that of sex, gluttony, desire and purifies one’s nature of character defect.
“The birth of Christ is the first initiation. It is the initiation in which you become an independent person. What does it mean to be independent? It means you become able to take care of yourself, financially, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. As you become more independent, you become more dependent on spiritual realms, but first you must experience standing on your feet. Solve your problems. Make money if you are not making enough. Do not hang on others. Face your responsibilities. This is one of the great signs of a new birth. Before, you do not care about your responsibilities and duties. You ignore this and that, even your wife, even your husband, even your children; but once the formation of Christ begins within you, you become a responsible person. You say, “Honey, what can I do for you so that we are both beautiful, our children, everybody, our group, our humanity is beautiful?”
So the first sign is independence. You do not hang on people and exploit them, manipulate them for your own sake. That is so bad. Until you find the way to be independent and guide your life for yourself, you cannot enter into a new birth experience.”
-Torkom Saraydarian
Teachings of Christ vol.1
3. Second Initiation or “baptism”: Alice A. Bailey states that at the second initiation, one gains full control of the astral body. During this initiation one’s emotional nature is brought under control and the Intellect is unfolded to a high degree. As the emotional nature is brought under control, naturally that stimulates the Intellect to a high degree. This Initiation is correlated with Baptism because in this Initiation one’s emotional nature is more or less purified. But, that doesn’t free the disciple from danger because while the veil of glamour is considerably lifted, there is new danger of the intellect:
“The period after the taking of the second Initiation is in many ways the most dangerous on the Path. . . . In nearly all cases the danger comes through pride; if there is the least tinge of pride in the man’s nature, he is in serious risk of a fall . . . and if he once starts on that line he will have a terribly hard time getting back again. Nothing but unceasing and increasing vigilance can enable him to pass through this stage successfully, and it must be his constant endeavour to kill out every trace of pride, selfishness and prejudice.”
– C.W Leadbeater
4. Third Initiation or “Transfiguration”: One who is a Third degree Initiate has expanded the consciousness to the mental plane, so the soul is in greater control of the mind now. Such an Initiate can consciously work with thoughts. According to the teachings a Third Initiate is fully Clairvoyant. And, a Third Initiate is more or less a pure individual with little or no character defects that could cause harm. A Third Initiate can be referred to as a True Initiate of the Planetary Hierarchy.
“At the third initiation, termed sometimes the Transfiguration, the entire personality is flooded with light from above. It is only after this initiation that the Monad is definitely guiding the Ego, pouring His divine life ever more into the prepared and cleansed channel, just as in the third, or Moon Chain, the Ego individualised the personality through direct contact, a method different to the individualisation as shown in this fourth chain.”
– Alice A Bailey, Initiation Human and Solar
5. Fourth Initiation or “Crucifixion”/ Arhatship: This is the Initiation when the Process of Arhatship starts. One who receives this Initiation becomes an Arhat, an enlightened being with full awakening of Kundalini. However, this initiation is not easy:
“Between the third Initiation and the fourth there is that gulf of silence, where the disciple hangs alone in the void with nothing on earth to trust to, nothing in heaven to look to, no friend whose heart can be relied upon – nay, even the vision of the Supreme blurred and dimmed. It is symbolised by the Agony in the Garden, where the human heart cries out “If it be possible, let this cup pass away”, and still the human will arises, strong in renunciation: “Nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done”.
– Annie Besant, Initiation. The Perfecting of Man
According to Alice Bailey, one who receives this Initiation suffers as Christ suffered for our sins.
“The life of the man who takes the fourth initiation, or the Crucifixion, is usually one of great sacrifice and suffering. It is the life of the man who makes the Great Renunciation, and even exoterically it is seen to be strenuous, hard, and painful. He has laid all, even his perfected personality, upon the altar of sacrifice, and stands bereft of all. All is renounced, friends, money, reputation, character, standing in the world, family, and even life itself.”
– Alice Bailey, Initiation Human and Solar
6. Fifth Initiation or “Ascension”: One who receives this Initiation becomes a Mahatma of the Planetarty Hierarchy or a Holy Master. A Fifth Initiate is a Perfected being as far as Humanity is concerned, he is a True Master who has attained full enlightenment:
“The fifth Initiation, that of the Adept [is] the final step that makes him Superman–Asekha, as the Buddhists call Him, because He has no more to learn, and has exhausted the possibilities of the human kingdom of nature; Jivanmukta, as the Hindus speak of Him, a liberated life, a free being, free not because of any separate independence, but because His will is one with the universal Will, that of the One without a second. He stands ever in the light of Nirvana, even in His waking consciousness, should He choose to remain on earth in a physical body, and when out of that body He rises still higher into the Monadic plane, beyond not merely our words but our thought.”
– C.W Leadbeater
Of course there are more Initiations after the Fifth Initiation because perfection is a process towards Infinity. Even Great Enlightened Masters are still learning from more Enlightened beings who have reached Buddhahood and beyond. However, those initiations need not be discussed here because they are beyond human comprehension and discussing them will only create vague mystical fairy tale ideas that will only be an impediment to the true understanding of Initiation.
All that being said, this article is just a short explanation of the mysteries of Initiation. For deeper Understanding a student must definitely read the book Initiation Human and Solar by Alice Bailey.
