The expression, "the mystic form," is almost a paradoxical remark, for the mystic - if left to himself - eliminates the form altogether. He concentrates upon the God within, brooding on that inner center of consciousness; he seeks to link that center with other centers - such as his Master, or some saint, or even with the supreme Logos Himself - and to mount by the line of life, paying no attention whatsoever to the environing sheaths. He works along the path of fire. "Our God is a consuming fire" [150] is to him a literal statement of fact, and of realized truth. He rises from fire to fire, and from graded realizations of the indwelling Fire till he touches the fire of the universe. The only form that the mystic may be said to use would be a ladder of fire or a cross of fire, by means of which he elevates his consciousness to the desired point. He concentrates on abstractions, on attributes more than on aspects, and on the life side more than the concrete. He aspires, he burns, he harmonizes, he loves and he works through devotion. He meditates by attempting to eliminate the concrete mind altogether, and aspires to leap from the plane of the emotions to that of the intuition.

He has the faults of his type, - dreamy, visionary, impractical, emotional, and lacking that quality of mind that we call discrimination. He is intuitive, prone to martyrdom and self-sacrifice. Before he can achieve and before he can take initiation he has three things to do:

• First, by meditation, to bring his whole nature under rule, and to learn to build the forms, and hence to learn their value.
• Secondly, to develop appreciation of the concrete, and to learn clearly the place within the scheme of things of the various sheaths through which the life he so much loves, has to manifest. He has to work at his mental body and bring it to the store house of facts before he can proceed much further.
• Thirdly, to learn through the intelligent study of the microcosm, his little spirit-matter system, the dual value of the macrocosm.