The Initiations of the Soul
One of the most powerful aspects of the Trans-Himalayan tradition’s understanding of the path is its model of the initiations of the soul. I have consistently witnessed this model massively impact and accelerate people’s path when it is broken down for them.
The piece below is a rough exploration of this model. It is in rough note form, so please excuse any lack of style.
* Note: what it doesn’t fully include is how as the Aquarian Age unfolds and the Life-force is released increasingly into humanity, identification - waking up as the divine life force at the core and beyond the whole cosmic evolutionary process - will become the foundational experience that then has catalytic affect on the unfolding initiations of the soul. With the experience of identification spreading like a wildfire through humanity, the Age of Aquarius will result in the transmission of monadic life through humanity as a whole, leading in the next centuries to humanity's self-recognition as a single divine being of cosmic origin and significance. We are a cosmic avatar, not yet aware of that fact. For now, it will be groups composed of increasingly conscious souls that open to and transmit the Life force into humanity. This is the work of Shamballa School.
How the Path of Soul Initiation Works (over lifetimes)
The being starts as an un-integrated personality focussed in one aspect of the personality more than others: body, emotion or mind.
This phase of the path entails learning in the school of the regular world matrix. The individual basically is learning to coordinate their physical, emotional and mental nature.
This involves regular life successes and crises, eventually leading to increased integration of the personality. Mind, emotion and body increasingly function as a single, integrated unit.
This leads to some kind of core personality crisis that calls forth a deeper search – the search for soul (or that which is conceived to be the authentic self) begins – This is the 1st initiation
The deeper search that has now been instigated brings in soul energy through exploration of that which is “authentic”, and the personality grows.
This generally involves a number of lifestyle changes – diet, exercise, maybe yoga, entheogens, possible interest in radical awakening.
This continues for some time, with the focus on self-development and the journey of one’s connection to the sacred in life deepening – the individual can be exploring this through the path of the heart, mind or body.
This leads eventually to a crisis of motivation – of love. The question arises, “What am I actually here for? What is the motivation at the core of my life? Is it about me, or all of us?”
This is a crisis of whether one is on the path of self-development for oneself or for everyone. As this crisis is successfully navigated, one eventually takes the bodhisattva soul vow as the influx of soul light increases pressure on the core personal wound, leading to a crisis of choice between personality and soul. This phase of the path requires incredible vulnerability of the soul to see itself. It also requires a burst of monadic will (the divine will of the spirit) to break the hold of the emotional body on the incarnated soul and give the soul the strength to make a final commitment to love over personal desire – This is the 2nd initiation
Entering the 2nd initiation activates the need for cleaning up – bodywork, shadow work, emotional work, sexual work, purpose work, soul work, men’s / women’s work, community building, interest in radical awakening, transitioning out of regular world matrix into one’s mission on a whole new level – to clean up to fit oneself for service.
Soul connection and expression deepens and deepens until there is the 1st true dark night of the soul. This involves a realisation of the personality’s patterns that are masking the soul (until this is realised the individual is operating in what Bruce Lyon calls the “spiritual imposter”). Navigating this dark night this requires incredible vulnerability to for the soul to see itself, but that seeing allows a shift of identity deeper into soul – this process continues to clarify and cleanse the being, allowing the level of identity to increasingly shift into the soul.
While this is unfolding, soul expression in service / purpose is found and committed to and deepens over time – emotional, embodiment and shadow work continue – soul expression accelerates.
Commitment to soul purpose opens the door to the life-force of spirit (the monad) this can be through the crown, heart or base and through with a connection to either its more masculine (God) or feminine expression (Goddess).
The extremity of the soul in service / to live in alignment with love, calls forth the life-force of spirit more and more strongly. Between the 2nd and 3rd initiations the life-force starts to flash forth occasionally as a peak experience, initially without much control but as the 3rd initiation is approached, more and more it can be invoked at will. This dramatically accelerates the individual’s path and leads eventually to the mountain top experience where the the lightning of spirit is irreversibly anchored in the individual’s experience stably – This is the 3rd initiation
The 3rd initiation empowers the soul’s ability to start to really land in the body.
The flow of monadic will (atmic will) down into the base chakra in the body and / the rise of kundalini energy from the base – results in the activation of the sutratma / sushumna (the channel of spirit-life in the body) and the fiery flow of the spirit-current through the system increasingly clears it of blockages, and the presence of the life-force of spirit through the heart is activated.
As this unfolds, the soul and body integrate and start to fuse (inner marriage / sacred union) and the Life-force starts to transmit through their meeting point at the heart. The individual starts to transmit Life in their environment.
As a result, monadic energy + radical awakening to the Absolute starts to come online more and more naturally, and the soul’s consciousness is expanded so it starts to really grasp the evolutionary Plan in a natural way.
With this, the soul realises itself as a beginner in Hierarchy – a great chain of increasingly awakened lives all participating in the unfolding evolution of matter, consciousness and life on Earth.
As this unfolds, the soul’s love increasingly integrates the sacred nature of consciousness, matter, animal, masculine and feminine, and opens to the monadic life of spirit that is their root.
The soul’s expression of purpose matures as the initiate becomes a world server. Eventually, the soul’s expression of purpose starts to push the boundaries of what the regular world can hold (the soul’s expression become controversial).
As this unfolds, the soul’s core identity is increasingly penetrated and perforated by the dark light of spirit - the One, and this leads eventually to a crisis – the 2nd dark night of the soul – of what one is willing to stand and burn for. One eventually choses spirit, the one identity and one’s radical expression of it in the world – This is the 4th initiation
As a result of this, the soul’s contribution of service to the world and the evolutionary Plan is fulfilled and left behind, though still empowered through transmission from distance and without much effort.
Over time, the influx of the dark light of monadic spirit increases pressure on the soul wound, leading to a crisis of choice between soul and spirit. This again requires incredible vulnerability of the soul to see itself, just like the dark night of the 2nd initiation, but this time it is the soul seeing the subtle soul-level wounding that has it leave the Great Perfection of spirit, rather than the personal wounding it saw at the 2nd initiation.