1syllables or words of virtue, which he must intone until he reaches a determined state; after which there is imposed on him, if he so prefers, a life of absolute celibacy, during which his discipline undergoes marked changes in consonance with his progress; it is during this period that meditation begins, as an aid towards the true Raja Yoga.
2That lapse past, the Hierarchs gradually confer on him the great Initiations known as the Parthiva, Vayu, Agni, Chandra, Aditya and Yoga Devi DIKSHAS.
3These initiations go on increasing his capacity to realise the Divinity, or the Self, in himself.
4Care is taken of his diet and other conditions, so as to constitute his various bodies, dense and subtle, of matter adequate to the rhythm of intense meditation and of Yoga; during these courses the disciple is given unguents and elixirs that enable him to contend with the strain these disciplines have caused in his organism.
5Often his training is carried out in secret Yogashramas, or chapels situated in the seclusion of the forests or hills, far beyond the ordinary reach of men.
6In time the disciple comes to be a Raja Yogi and, cooperating with the Hierarchs in the work of raising humanity, rises to the level of the Adepts and even to higher states.
7It must be noted here that the seven great Initiations of which we have spoken are imparted only by Bhagavan Narayana — known also as Kumara and Dakshinamurthy — representing respectively the aspects of Maha Vishnu, Maha Brahma and Maha Siva.
8Although in the outer world the act of initiation may be executed by some person duly authorised to do so, each individual initiation, when it takes place, is directly imparted under the immediate superintendence of Bhagavan Narayana in one of the three great aspects mentioned above; for obvious reasons, the physical presence of the disciple is often dispensed with on certain great occasions.
9The disciplinary methods imposed by the Hierarchs of the Suddha Dharma Mandalam provide what is needed for a well-oriented though gradual advance along a sure way, and thus guard against the danger of forced development; such discipline, which facilitates a sure development, is the true Raja Yoga, and is imparted to the aspirant in conformity with the unaltered base of the ancient system, whose secret is in the exclusive custody of the Hierarchs of the Suddha Dharma Mandalam; to their prudence it is left, entirely and finally, to determine how much of the practice of the discipline may be entrusted to an aspirant.
10Only they can initiate the aspirant into its mystery, and none but they can guide the disciple surely and rightly; and though progress depends on his zeal and effort, the help of the Hierarchs remains indispensable, for only they can reveal the dangers and the manner of avoiding them.
11Besides conferring the initiations and formulating the special disciplines, rites and the investiture of the mystic syllables for each particular type of men, the Hierarchs facilitate the realisation of the Divinity in man by revealing the ancient science whose custody was entrusted to them.
12This they do by placing certain occult scriptures of their own within reach of men who can be trusted, or by explaining, through commentaries or otherwise, the esoteric meaning of the scriptures already existing.
13(To be continued) OM S. S. S.
14By copy: Jehel, 30-9-43.
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Our translation, period-faithful. Citable as our translation, never as the source.