“We shall have a practical method of analysis whereby we can arrive at a right understanding of ourselves as ensouling entities, and at a wiser comprehension of our fellow men. We can then deal more intelligently with ourselves, with our children and with our friends and associates. We shall find ourselves able to co-operate more wisely with the Plan as it is seeking at any particular time.”

Alice A Bailey

One of the ways to help us understand our strengths as well as weaknesses and realize our character to an extent is to get equipped with the knowledge of the seven rays. According to Holy Master DK, the knowledge of the seven rays can enable all the true servers to work with greater skill and effectiveness in their chosen field of activity.

Every person belongs to a certain ray that decides his/her attitude, perspective towards life and therefore his/her actions in life. One of the factors that causes misunderstandings and arguments among people is lack of such knowledge.

Different people get different interpretations about the same issue, all of which might be correct simultaneously. The reason behind such diverse conclusions is looking at the subject matter from different perspectives and the knowledge of the seven rays can solve such miscommunications, as it will broaden our understanding about people.

In this series the aim is to discuss about different rays in detail and describe the virtues, vices and qualities relayed to each ray. May this knowledge help us understand the people around us and enable us to work in harmony and peace.

Ray One – Ray of Will Or Power

Ray One is known as the ray of power. Though it is needed for sustenance and success, power alone, without wisdom and love, will result in destruction and disintegration. When however the three characteristics are united, it becomes a creative and governing ray. Those on this ray have strong will power for either good or evil, for the former when the will is directed by wisdom and made selfless by love.  Ray one man will always “come to the front” in his own line. He may be a burglar or the judge who condemns him, but in either case he will be at the head of his profession. He is the born leader in any and every public career, one to trust and lean on; one to defend the weak and put down oppression, fearless of consequences and utterly indifferent to comment. On the other hand, an unmodified first ray can produce a man of unrelenting cruelty and hardness of nature.

The first ray man often has strong feeling and affection but he does not readily express it; he will love strong contrasts and masses of color, but will rarely be an artist; he will delight in great orchestral effects and crashing choruses and if modified by the fourth, sixth or seventh rays, may be a great composer; but not otherwise; and there is a type of this ray which is tone deaf, and another which is color-blind to the more delicate colors. Such a man will distinguish red and yellow, but will hopelessly confuse blue, green and violet.

The literary work of ray one man will be strong and trenchant, but will care little for style or finish in his writings. Perhaps examples of this type would be: Luther Carlyle and Walt Whitman. It is said that in attempting the cure of disease the best method for the first ray man would be to draw health and strength from the great fount of universal life by his will power, and then pour it throughout the patient. This of course pre-supposes knowledge of his part of occult methods.

The characteristic method of approaching the great quest on this ray would be by sheer force of will. Such a man as it were, takes the kingdom of heaven “by violence.” We have seen that the born leader belongs to this ray, wholly or in part. It makes the able commander-in-chief, such as Napoleon or Kitchener. Napoleon was first and fourth rays and Kitchener was first and seventh; the seventh ray giving him the remarkable power of organization.

Souls on this ray are spoken of occultly as “crashing their way into incarnation.” They appropriate dynamically that which they require. They brook no hindrance in the satisfaction of their desires. They stand alone in a proud isolation, glorifying in their strength, their ruthlessness. These qualities have to be transmuted into that intelligent use of power, which make them powerful factors in the Plan, and magnetic centers of force, gathering workers and forces around them. An illustration of this can be seen the work of Master Morya, who is the center, the magnetic attractive center, of Ll esoteric groups, conferring on them by His power, the capacity to destroy that which is undesirable in the life of the disciples. Forget not that the work of stimulating, that which is needed, is one of the major tasks of a Master and the power of discipline to destroy, that which limits him, is greatly needed. Souls of this ray, as they come into incarnation through desire, grasp. This expresses the nature of the force demonstration employed. There is measure of violence in their technique. They eventually “take the kingdom of heaven by force.”

The outstanding quality of ray one is loneliness, isolation, and the ability to stand alone and unmoved.

The Ray of Dynamic Intensity!

It is easy for ray one people to resist the tendency to identify themselves with others. To have true understanding, involves an increased ability to love all beings and yet, at the same time, to preserve personality detachment. This detachment can be easily founded on an inability to love, in a selfish concern for one’s own comfort – physical, mental or spiritual and above all, emotional. First ray people dread emotion and despise it, but sometimes they have to swing into an emotional condition before they can use emotional sensitivity in the right manner.

First ray people belong to what is called the “Destroyer Ray” and the power of the first aspect, which is the power to bring to an end, flows through them. They have a tendency to destroy as to build, through a wrong direction of energy, through over-emphasis of energy in some particular direction, or through misuse of energy in work with themselves or others. Many ray one people have the tendency to pride themselves on this and hide behind a plea that, being upon ray one, a disruptive tendency is unavoidable. Such is not the case. Builders, such as second ray people always are, have to learn to destroy, when prompted by group love and acting under the impulse of group love and utilizing the power of attachment in a detached manner. Both groups, builders and destroyers, must ever work from the standpoint of reality, from the inner nucleus of truth and must ” take their stand at the center”.

The will of Deity colored the stream energy of the units which we call by the name of the “Ray of Will or Power,” ray one, and the impact of that stream on the matter of space insured that the hidden purpose of Deity would inevitably and eventually be revealed. It is a ray of such dynamic intensity that we call it the ray of the Destroyer. It is not yet functioning actively. It will come into full play only when the time comes for the purpose to be safely revealed. Its units of energy in manifestation in the human kingdom are very few. As said earlier, there is not a true first ray type in incarnation as yet. It’s main potency to be found in the mineral kingdom, and the key to the mystery of the first ray is to be found in radium.

Special thanks goes to Mr. Prakash Balgopal of Pranic Healing Middle East for providing the information.

References

1. Bailey, A. A. (1995). The Seven Rays of Life. Lucis Publishing Companies.
2. Bailey, A. A. (1971). Esoteric Psychology: A Treatise on the Seven Rays (Vol. Vol. 1). Lucis Publishing Company.
3. Bailey, A. A. (1973). A Treatise on Cosmic Fire. Lucis Publishing Company.