The Four Kumaras, Representitive as the "Holy
Four" the Root Cube or Quaternary: JPC.
The mystery of the "Holy Four" may be somewhat clarified
from the standpoint of energy and evolution: DK.
It has been stated that one hundred and four Kumaras
came from Venus to the Earth; literally the figure is one hundred and five, when the synthesizing Unit, the Lord of the World
Himself, is counted as one. There remain still with Him the three Buddhas of Activity.
I would call attention to the dual significance of
that name, "Buddha of Activity," bearing out, as it does, the reality of the fact that Entities at Their stage of evolution
are active love-wisdom and embody in Themselves the two aspects.
The three Buddhas of activity have a correspondence
to the three persons of the Trinity. These Entities are divided into three groups of thirty-five each, and in Themselves embody
the three major centers of the planetary Logos, those three groups which we know as the "three departments," for it should
be emphasized that each department forms a center:
35 x 3 = 105 Kumaras. JC.
The Head center - The Ruling Department
The Heart
center - The Teaching Department
The Throat center - The Mahachohan's Department. This center synthesizes the lesser four,
just as. the third Ray synthesizes the minor four.
These Kumaras (or Their present substitutes)
can also be divided into the seven groups which correspond to the seven Rays, and are in Themselves the life of the center
for which They stand. Fifteen, therefore, of these Entities (again the ten and the five) form a center in the body of the
planetary Logos, and the three Kumaras about Whom we are told (Who in Themselves are fivefold, making the fifteen) are the
entifying Lives of the particular center which is involved in the coming Initiation of the Heavenly Man. TCF 388.
The three Agents of the Divine Triplicity Who are known,
esoterically and in the East as the three Kumaras, or the three Buddhas of Activity. What do these names and these great Individualities
mean to you and to average humanity? Nothing at all and this is necessarily so. They remain but names and possible hypothetical
expressions of divinity until after the third initiation when the conscious recognition of the Monad becomes possible; then
Forces and Energies, personified for us in these great and stupendous Lives, can be demonstrated as having true existence.
EXT 159.
The function of the three Kumaras, or the three Buddhas
of Activity at initiation is interesting. They are three aspects of the one aspect, and the pupils of Sanat Kumara. Though
their functions are many and varied, and concern primarily the forces and energies of nature, and the direction of the building
agencies, they have a vital connection with the applicant for initiation, inasmuch as they each embody the force or energy
of one or other of the three higher subplanes of the mental plane.
Therefore at the third initiation one of these Kumaras
transmits to the causal body of the initiate that energy which destroys third subplane matter, and thus brings about part
of the destruction of the vehicle; at the fourth initiation another Buddha transmits second plane force, and at the fifth,
first subplane force is similarly passed into the remaining atoms of the causal vehicle, producing the final liberation.
The work done by the second Kumara, with second subplane
force, is in this solar system the most important in connection with the egoic body, and produces its complete dissipation,
whereas the final application causes the atoms themselves (which formed that body) to disperse. During the initiation ceremony,
when the initiate stands before the Lord of the World, these three great Beings form a triangle, within whose lines of force
the initiate finds himself. IHS 108.
The Lipika Lords or the Lords of Karma are associated
with this work. Three of Them are closely connected with Karma as it concerns one or other of the three great Rays, or the
three fires, while the fourth Lipika Lord synthesizes the work of his three Brothers and attends to the uniform blending and
merging of the three fires. On our planet, the Earth, They find Their points of contact through the three "Buddhas of Activity,"
(the correspondence should be noted here) and the fourth Kumara, the Lord of the World. TCF 74.
A striking instance of this can be seen in the case
of the Kumaras, Who, under certain planetary forces, and through the formation of a systemic triangle, gave the impulse to
the third kingdom which produced the fourth by bringing it into conjunction with the fifth.
These Kumaras, Sanat Kumara and His three pupils, having
achieved the highest initiation possible in the last great cycle, but having as yet (from Their standpoint) another step to
take, offered Themselves to the planetary Logos of Their Ray as "focal points" for His force, so that thereby He might hasten
and perfect His plans on Earth within the cycle of manifestation.
They have demonstrated three out of the four methods.
They are over-shadowed by the planetary Logos, and He works directly as the Initiator (in relation to man) through Sanat Kumara,
and with the three kingdoms in nature through the three Buddhas of Activity, - Sanat Kumara, being thus concerned directly
with the ego on the mental plane, and His three Pupils being concerned with the other three types of consciousness, of which
man is the summation. TCF 725.
The first Kumara is in a mysterious sense the energy
which produces self-consciousness in the human family. The three other kumaras, or the three Buddhas of Activity, act as similar
focal points for the energy which animates the three lower kingdoms, and which produces their differing grades of consciousness.
It is not possible to express this great mystery more
clearly but if the student couples these few hints with those earlier given in the Secret Doctrine, the mystery of the "Holy
Four" may be somewhat clarified from the standpoint of energy and evolution. TCF 728.
This relates to the sacred Science of the Numerals:
so sacred, indeed, and so important in the study of Occultism that the subject can hardly be skimmed, even in such a large
work as the present. It is on the Hierarchies and correct numbers of these Beings invisible (to us) except upon very rare
occasions, that the mystery of the whole Universe is built.
The Kumaras, for instance, are called the "Four" though
in reality are seven in number, because Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatana and Sanat-Kumara are the chief Vaidhatra (their patronymic
name), as they spring from the "four-fold mystery." To make the whole clearer we have to turn for our illustrations to tenets
more familiar to some of our readers, namely, the Brahminical. The 4, represented in the Occult numerals by the Tetraktis,
the Sacred or Perfect Square. SD1 89.
The Exoteric four are: Sanat-Kumara, Sananda, Sanaka,
and Sanatana; and the esoteric three are:
Sana, Kapila, and Sanat-sujata. Special attention is once more drawn to this
class of Dhyan Chohans,
for herein lies the mystery of generation and heredity hinted at in Book I. SD1 457.
Associated with them are the three esoteric Kumaras,
mentioned in the Secret Doctrine, (S. D., I, 493) Who represent the three other Logoi. TCF 412.
The three Buddhas of Activity change from time to time,
and become in turn exoteric or esoteric as the case may be. Only the King persists steadily and watchfully in active physical
incarnation. IHS 40.
These three, called the "Buddha's of Activity,"...with
our planetary Logos, make the sum total of the logoic Quaternary. TCF 412.
The "Sacred Animals" are found in the Bible as well
as in the Kabala, and they have their meaning (a very profound one, too) on the page of the origins of Life. In the Sepher
Jezirah it is stated that "God engraved in the Holy Four the throne of his glory, the Ophanim (Wheels or the World-Spheres),
the Seraphim, the Sacred Animals, and the ministering angels, and from these three (the Air, Water, and Fire or Ether) he
formed his habitation." Thus was the world made "through three Seraphim --Sepher, Saphar, and Sipur," or "through Number,
Numbers, and Numbered." With the astronomical key these "Sacred Animals" become the signs of the Zodiac. SD1 92.
As explained, the "sacred animals" and the Flames or
"Sparks" within the "Holy Four" refer to the prototypes of all that is found in the Universe in the Divine Thought, in the
ROOT, which is the perfect cube, or the foundation of the Kosmos collectively and individually. SD1 442.
They include therefore, in their meaning, his goal
and objective and the process whereby he attains:
"The Holy Four descend from out the heavenly places
and venture forth towards the sphere of Earth. From the fourth great plane they thus control the battle. "The Lord of Harmony,
Who sits on high, pours all His life and force throughout the field of conflict. He sees the end from the beginning nor stays
His hand though deep and full the pain and agony. Peace must be the goal. Beauty must be achieved. He cannot then arrest the
life and stop its flow.
"The Middle Four, rested now from the earlier campaign,
gird on their armor and hide themselves behind the outer form. They leave the fourth great sphere of harmony and pass on to
the plane of mind. There they fortify the temple of the Lord, illumine it with light and glory, and then they turn their eyes
towards the Earth. "The Lower Four take form between the lives that are not human and the three groups of lives which dwell
beneath the threshold. They seek to link and blend, to bridge and fuse. Mankind now lives. The higher and the middle four
meet in the lower four upon the fourth great globe.
"The battle now proceeds. When the three groups of
manifested fours can see each other in the light, and later blend their forces, the goal will be achieved. "In the fourth
globe of action and in the major cycle of the fourth expression will this fusion be completed. The lower four, merged in the
middle four, will leave the triple world of conflict, and find their dwelling place, whilst in the form, within the fourth
sphere whence came forth the higher governing four. Thus will the government be established; the glory seen; the rule of the
hierarchy demonstrated.
"In the fourth race (the Atlantean - A.A.B.) the conflict
was begun, and consciousness was born. In the fifth race (the Aryan - A.A.B.) the crisis of the battle will be seen, and then
the lower four and the middle four will begin to unite their forces. In the sixth race, the dust of battle dies away. The
lower four, the middle four and the higher four will chant in unison the glory of their Lord, the beauty of the love of God,
the wonder of the brotherhood of man. This is their paean."
Esoterically speaking (and not speaking symbolically,
for there is a distinction between these two forms which students would do well to note), when the lines of forces are adjusted
and there is free interplay of energies and a straight aligned channel between the various aspects of divinity, then there
is achievement and beauty. This is the theme of the above symbolical and ancient formulation of truth, which is in the nature
of a symbolical prophecy. The same idea has been expressed in a still more ancient and terse statement which has to be understood
and reduced to a mantric formula when the fourth initiation is taken: "When the forces of the four, three times repeated,
become the four, then the Life of... reveals Itself in beauty." EP1 356.
The three Buddhas of Activity change from time to time,
and become in turn exoteric or esoteric as the case may be. Only the King persists steadily and watchfully in active physical
incarnation. IHS 40.
The Triangle of Energy to which we give the name the
"Three Buddhas of Activity." They are therefore closely connected with the third aspect of divinity. They are essentially
the "eye within the Triangle" - a most familiar symbol to many today. They are the expression, in activity, of the "All-Seeing
Eye" RI 180.
Let the threefold mode of working with that which is
dynamic carry the group together towards the Higher Three. This injunction holds in it information which is somewhat new to
the modern initiate, functioning in a physical body; it is difficult for him to grasp even a modicum of its significance.
To convey any faintest hint of its meaning is incomparably difficult for me where disciples such as you are concerned. All
I can do is to fall back upon the Law of Analogy, by means of which the microcosm can arrive at a glimmer of understanding
of the more obvious aspects of the Macrocosm.
First, let me make reference to the words "the Higher
Three"; let me see if I cannot somewhat clarify the entire complex idea. The words "Higher Three" refer to the three Buddhas
of Activity Who still remain actively cooperating with the Lord of the World. They are, as you have been told, close to Sanat
Kumara and came with Him when He decided to take incarnation through the medium of our planet Earth. It is difficult to understand
Their mysterious and peculiar functions.
They do not belong to this solar system at all; They
have passed through the human stage in such far distant and remote world cycles that the experience is no longer a part of
Their consciousness; They act as advisors to Sanat Kumara where His initial purpose is concerned, and that is why the words
"the will of God holds sway" occur in this rule. It is Their supreme task to see that, in the Council Chamber of Shamballa,
that purpose is ever held steadily within the "area of preparation" (I know not how else to word it) of that Council. They
function, in a peculiar sense, as linking intermediaries between the Logos of our solar system and the informing Life of the
constellation Libra; They relate these two great centers of energy to our planetary Logos. RI 269.
Nowhere has the impression been conveyed that the three
Kumaras, associated with Him, are three other planetary Logoi. This is in no way the case. These three, called the "Buddha's
of Activity," are but the vicegerents upon our planet of those three planetary Logoi, Who, with our planetary Logos, make
the sum total of the logoic Quaternary.
Associated with them are the three esoteric Kumaras,
mentioned in the Secret Doctrine, (S. D., I, 493) Who represent the three other Logoi. TCF 412.
The three Buddhas of Activity change from time to time,
and become in turn exoteric or esoteric as the case may be. Only the King persists steadily and watchfully in active physical
incarnation. IHS 40.
In the last solar system They were the planetary Logoi
of three planets in which the mind principle reached its highest stage of development; They embody in Themselves in a most
peculiar manner the wisdom aspect of the second ray, as it expresses itself primarily through what has been called in the
Bhagavad Gita "skill in action." Hence Their name, the Buddhas of Activity.
Sanat Kumara has now moved one step ahead of Them upon
the great cosmic ladder of evolution, for an aspect of the Law of Sacrifice has conditioned Them. However, within the planetary
consciousness and among Those Who work out the divine purposes, there are none Who approach the Eternal Youth and these three
Buddhas in point of Evolution. RI 269.
The three Buddhas of Activity are to the planetary
Logos (to give you another definition) what the Spiritual Triad is to the dedicated personality of the initiated disciple,
for such is the spiritual status of the planetary Logos. RI 273.
These three Buddhas are the creative Agents of the
planetary Logos and are Wielders of the Law of Evolution. RI 587.
They work out Their plans - these four Great Lives
- through the medium of the Lords of the Seven Rays. Under the Law of Analogy, They are to Sanat Kumara what the three mind
aspects upon the mental plane are to the disciple and the initiate. They represent in action: The concrete or lower mind of
the planetary Logos, That energy which we call the soul and which the disciple calls "the Son of Mind," The higher or abstract
mind, but all this from cosmic levels and with cosmic implications. It was Their activity which (after evolution had run a
long course) brought about the act of individualization and thus brought the human kingdom into existence. In a mysterious
sense, therefore, it might be said that the three Buddhas of Activity are responsible for:
The Act of Individualization. The work of the particular
Buddha responsible at the time for this major activity, has been temporarily quiescent since Lemurian days. He works, when
active, through the seventh ray and draws the needed energy from two constellations: Cancer and Gemini.
The Act of Initiation. I would call your attention
to the word act; I am not here referring to process. His work only begins at the third initiation when the planetary Logos
is the Initiator. At that initiation, the will aspect begins to function. The Buddha behind the initiatory process is extremely
active at this time; He works through the Christ and the Lord of the second ray, drawing the needed energy from the constellations
Capricorn and Aquarius.
The Act of Identification. This involves what has been
called a "moment of opening-up," during which the initiate sees that which lies within the cosmic intent and begins to function
not only as a planetary unit but as a cosmic focal point. The Buddha of Activity, responsible for this type of planetary activity,
works with the Lord of the first ray and functions as an outpost of the consciousness of the informing life of Aries and of
Leo. His work is only now beginning to assume importance. RI 269.
You will note that I have here indicated the existence
of five triangles: That existing in the interplay of the energies of the three Buddhas of Activity Who create a triangle,
closely related to the planet Saturn. The triangle of the three rays through whom the three Buddhas work. The three planets
which are connected with the three Lords of the three rays and by means of which They express Their impelling energy.
Two interlaced triangles, created by the six constellations from which the three Buddhas of Activity draw Their needed
energy and to which They are uniquely related through Their individual karma. These two interlaced triangles are the cause
of the six-pointed star, so familiar among the many occult symbols.
From the Law of Analogy, another
exceedingly important triangle is found in the human body and (esoterically considered) is related to the subject under consideration:
The ajna center, embodying the directing energy of that body of activity which we call the personality.
The throat center, which is peculiarly active today
in all human beings; this testifies to the success of the creative work of the Buddhas of Activity. This, in its turn, has
a small symbolic triangle of its own, to which I would call attention: the thyroid gland and the parathyroid.
The center at the base of the spine. This is galvanized
into activity at a certain stage of the evolutionary process, by energy emanating from the Buddhas of Activity Who are the
least active at this particular time. It is an energy pouring towards the fourth kingdom but not directed towards any individual.
These great Lives work through major groups. Their potency is such that it would otherwise prove destructive.
The purpose of Deity is necessarily embodied in a mental proposition; it is through this mental proposition that the three
Buddhas of Activity implement Their work. I can put it no clearer. RI 270.
The four
Maharajahs, the lesser Lipika Lords who apply past karma and work it out in the present. TCF 112.
The four
holy ones and their armies (hosts)” are the “four Maharajahs” or great Kings of the Dhyan-Chohans, the Devas
who preside, each over one of the four cardinal points. They are the Regents
or Angels who rule over the Cosmical Forces of North, South, East and West, Forces having each a distinct occult property. These BEINGS are also connected with Karma, as the latter needs physical and material
agents to carry out her decrees, such as the four kinds of winds, for instance, professedly admitted by Science to have their
respective evil and beneficent influences upon the health of Mankind and every living thing.
The four
celestial beings are precisely this - they are the protectors of mankind and also the Agents of Karma on Earth, whereas the
Lipika are concerned with Humanity’s hereafter. At the same time they are the four living creatures “who have
the likeness of a man” of Ezekiel’s visions, called by the translators of the Bible, “Cherubim,” “Seraphim,”
etc.; and by the Occultists, “the winged Globes,” the “Fiery Wheels,” and in the Hindu Pantheon by
a number of different names. All these Gandharvas, the “Sweet Songsters,”
the Asuras, Kinnaras, and Nagas, are the allegorical descriptions of the “four Maharajahs.” SD1 126.
From the
point of view of the totality of the rays and planes there is no north, south, east nor west. But at this point comes a correspondence
and a point of real interest, though also of complexity. By means of this very interaction, the work of the four Maharajahs
or Lords of Karma, is made possible; the quaternary and all sumtotals of four can be seen as one of the basic combinations
of matter, produced by the dual revolutions of planes and rays. TCF 153.
The work
of the four Maharajahs who apportion karma within the ring-pass-not will reach its culminating point during the fourth round.
TCF 407.
The four
Maharajahs (the Lords of Karma) and are the focal points for karmic influence in connection with man. The four Maharajahs
are the dispensers of karma to the Heavenly Men, and thus to the cells, centers, and organs of His body necessarily; but the
whole system works through graded representatives. TCF 468.
They preside
over the attractive forces, and distribute them justly. They enter, pass to the center of the sphere and there (if I may so
express it) locate, and set up the "Holy Temple of Divine Justice," sending out to the four quarters of the circle the four
Maharajahs, their representatives. TCF 1183.