It will be necessary for us to introduce the subject on a wide basis and to link the individual with the general, and this may (at the first) seem too vast a theme, too speculative a presentation and too misty and vague an outline. But this situation cannot be avoided, for the argument - as must be the case in all truly occult work - must be considered from the universal to the particular, from the cosmic to the individual. Men are, as yet, too interested in the particular and the individual to find it easy to apply the same interest to the greater Whole in which they "live and move and have their being," nor do they at this time (as a general rule) possess that inner mechanism of thought and that intuitive perception of truth which will enable them easily to grasp the significance of that which underlies the symbolism of words, or to see clearly the subjective [xxiv] outline under the objective form. But the effort to understand carries its own reward, and the attempt to grasp and comprehend the Soul - cosmic, universal, planetary and individual - leads inevitably to an unfoldment of the mental apparatus (with a subsequent development of the, as yet, quiescent brain cells) which must eventually produce a coordination of the thinking faculty, and resultant illumination.

The nature of our septenary universe must be considered, and the relation of the threefold human being to the divine Trinity must be noted. A general idea of the entire symbolic picture is of value. Each student, as he takes up the study of the rays, must steadily bear in mind that he himself - as a human unit - finds his place on one or other of these rays. The problem thus produced is a very real one. The physical body may be responsive to one type of ray force, whilst the personality as a whole may vibrate in unison with another. The ego or soul may find itself upon still a third type of ray, thus responding to another type of ray energy. The question of the monadic ray brings in still another factor in many cases, but this can only be implied and not really elucidated. As I have oft told you, it is only the initiate of the third initiation who can come in touch with his monadic ray, or his highest life aspect, and the humble aspirant cannot as yet ascertain whether he is a monad of Power, of Love or of Intelligent Activity.

In concluding, I ask for your sincere cooperation in the work which we are undertaking. It may be of more general and public value than any other of my writings. I shall seek to make this treatise upon the soul relatively brief. I shall seek to express these abstract truths in such a way that the general public, with its profound interest in the soul, may be intrigued and won to a deeper consideration of what is as yet a veiled surmise. The Aquarian Age will see the fact of the soul demonstrated. This is an attempt, carried forward in the difficulties [xxv] of a transition period which lacks even the needed terminology, to aid that demonstration.

THE TIBETAN.