The fifth conditioning quality or activity of the soul is the factor of analysis. It constitutes a law, governing humanity. [251] This must ever be remembered. Analysis, discrimination, differentiation, and the power to distinguish are divine attributes. When they produce a sense of separateness and of difference, they are then stimulating personality reactions and are consequently personally misused and misapplied. When, however, they are preserved within the sense of synthesis and used in the application of the Plan for the whole, they are soul qualities and laws and are essential to the right unfolding of divine purpose. The Plan of God comes into being through the right use of emphasis, and when we emphasize one aspect or quality, temporarily we exclude or relegate into brief abeyance another aspect or aspects. This is a major part of the activity of the law of cycles with which the Masters work. It involves, on Their part, the constant use of the faculty to analyze, and the power to discriminate.

The "seeds of difference", as they are called, are major factors used in producing the phenomenal world. The Hierarchy works with the seeds, as a gardener works with the seeds of flowers, and from these seeds the needed differentiated forms appear, producing still further distinctions. The sowing of these seeds, their care and nurturing is part of the phenomenal task of the Hierarchy, particularly at the inauguration of a New Age, as is the case today. The Masters have to understand, first of all, what is the meaning which the will of God is seeking to express in any particular world cycle. They must comprehend the significance of the [252] impulses emanating from sources higher than Their own field of expression and of dharma, and They must see to it that the seeds of the new forms are adequate to the desired intent. They must appreciate the nature of the reality which any age must reveal in the progressive unfoldment of divine purpose; and then They have the responsibility of so working that the outer reality approximates (in appearance and in quality) the inner truth. All this is made possible through an understanding of the factor or rule of analysis, regarding it as a law governing or producing soul control, both on soul levels and on the level of appearances. This is one of the major tasks of the Hierarchy, and involves the keenest type of mind control, of intuitive apprehension and of analytical desire. We would do well to ponder upon these terms.

A Master of the Wisdom appears phenomenally to be a human being. He has the physical attributes, functions, habits [253] and mechanism of the fourth kingdom in nature, but within the form, the consciousness is entirely changed. The analysis, therefore, referred to in these pages relates to a distinction in consciousness and not to a distinction in form. The symbol persists unchanged though perfected upon the outer plane, but its quality and state of awareness is as much changed as is that existing between a human being and a vegetable. This is somewhat a new thought and its implications are stupendous. It is the secret of the entire shift at this time into the world of meaning and involves a new awareness and a fresh appreciation by humanity of a greater world of values. But - and here is a point of interest - it is an awareness carried forward into a new kingdom in nature whilst remaining a part of the old. It is here that the new synthesis and fusion takes place.

These points of interest have been discussed as it is essential that some understanding of the factor of analysis within the field of synthesis should be grasped. Analysis is too often confused with separativeness. The problem is complex and difficult, but an understanding of the underlying implications will emerge as the race grows in wisdom and in knowledge. We are here concerned with the concept of the Plan as initiates have grasped it.