Let me give you one simple illustration: War is, factually, a great explosion of energies and forces, generated on the inner planes where the esotericist ought to be working (but is seldom to be found), and finding its dire and catastrophic expression upon the physical plane. This is indicated today by the constant use of the terms "Forces of Light" and "Forces of Evil." When the inner, esoteric and predisposing causes of war are discovered through esoteric research, then war and wars will come to an end. This is in the nature of truly esoteric work, but is scorned by present day esotericists who regard themselves as spiritually [64] superior to such affairs and - in their ivory tower - concentrate on their own development, plus a little philosophy.

One point should here be stated: Esotericism is not in any way of a mystical and vague nature. It is a science - essentially the science of the soul of all things - and has its own terminology, experiments, deductions and laws. When I say "soul," I refer to the animating consciousness found throughout nature and on those levels which lie outside the territory usually called nature. Students are apt to forget that every level of awareness, from the highest to the lowest, is an aspect of the cosmic physical plane, and is therefore (from the angle of evolutionary process) material in nature, and (from the angle or point of view of certain divine Observers) definitely tangible and formed of creative substance. The esotericist is dealing with substance all the time; he is concerned with that living, vibrant substance of which the worlds are made and which - inherited as it is from a previous solar system - is colored by past events, and is (as has been said) "already tinged with karma." It should also be noted that just as the physical plane, so familiar to us, is not regarded as a principle by the esoteric student, so the cosmic physical plane (from the standpoint of the cosmic lives) is likewise "not a principle." I give you here much food for thought.

It might be stated that the esotericist is occupied in discovering and working with those principles which energize each level of the cosmic physical plane and which are, in reality, aspects of the qualified life energy which is working in and through unprincipled substance. His task is to shift the focus of his attention away from the substance-form side of existence and to become aware of that which has been the source of form production on any specific level. It is his task to develop within himself the needed responsiveness and sensitivity to the quality of the life dominating any form until he arrives eventually at the quality of the ONE LIFE [65] which animates the planet and within Whose activity we live and move and have our being.

To do this, he must first of all discover the nature of his own qualified energies (and here the nature of the governing rays enters in) which are expressing themselves through his three lower vehicles of manifestation, and later through his integrated personality. Having arrived at a measure of this knowledge and having oriented himself towards the qualified life aspect, he begins to develop the subtle, inner mechanism through which contact can be made with the more general and universal aspects. He learns to differentiate between the quality or karmic predispositions of the "unprincipled" substance of which his form and all forms are made, and the qualified principles which are seeking expression through those forms and, incidentally, to redeem, salvage and purify them so that the substance of the next solar system will be of a higher order than that of the present one, and consequently more responsive to the will aspect of the Logos.

Viewed from this angle, esotericism is the science of redemption, and of this all World Saviors are the everlasting symbol and exponents. It was to redeem substance and its forms that the planetary Logos came into manifestation, and the entire Hierarchy with its great Leader, the Christ (the present world Symbol), might be regarded as a hierarchy of redeemers, skilled in the science of redemption. Once They have mastered this science, They can then pass on to the Science of Life and deal with the energies which will eventually hold and use the qualified, redeemed and then principled substance and forms. It is the redemption of unprincipled substance, its creative restoration and spiritual integration, which is Their goal; the fruits of Their labor will be seen in the third and final solar system. Their activity will produce a great spiritual and planetary fusion, of which the fusion of personality and soul (at a certain point upon [66] the path of evolution) is the symbol in the microcosmic sense. You can see by this the close relation between the work of the individual aspirant or disciple as he redeems, salvages and purifies his threefold body of manifestation and the work of the planetary Logos as He performs a similar task in connection with the "three periodical vehicles" through which He works: His personality vehicle, His soul expression and His monadic aspect.