At this sixth initiation the Masters Who participate in it no longer come under the jurisdiction of the Hierarchy. They have moved out from under it. Their long connection with the Hierarchy is translated to a higher center and is transferred to Shamballa, unless (as in the case of the Christ) They choose the Path of Earth Service and return to work with the evolutions upon our planet; there are many such evolutions and several kingdoms in nature besides the human, including the deva or angel evolution.

The sixth Initiation of Decision is preparatory to the true Initiation of the Resurrection, the seventh initiation. This can only be undergone when the will of the Master is completely merged in that of the planetary Logos. Between the sixth and the seventh initiations "an interim of divine fusion" takes place; an elementary and somewhat distorted picture of this critical fusion is given to us in The New Testament, where we read of the experience of the Christ in the garden of Gethsemane. There again - as in the fourth Initiation of Renunciation - the human element of suffering is emphasized, whereas in the true symbolical "garden" between the sixth and the seventh initiations there is no [723] aspect of suffering. Suffering and pain enter not into the consciousness of the Master. Where it says in The New Testament that, "angels came and ministered unto" the Christ, the correct implication is that Those Who dwell and work in Shamballa use this period to instruct the initiate who has made his decision through an expression of his divine nature and in the significance of the divine purpose; this concerns the relation of our planetary Logos to the solar system, and decision is made through the development of that higher sensitivity which leads inevitably to cosmic perception. We have no adequate word for this quality or type of sensitivity, for it is not something which we can consciously understand, nor is it a form of conscious reaction; neither is it awareness as we use that term. It has been occultly defined as something akin to "immersion in a realized state of Being," because the initiate is a conscious aspect of that of which he forms an integral part. By means of this statement you will see how impossible it is for me to explain certain things, to make clear certain unknown types of consciousness or to indicate areas of perception which lie beyond the ken even of a Master.

Revelation is a progressive matter. Disciples are not really able to understand the extensive significances of the third initiation, for instance; in like manner, even high initiates fail to comprehend that which lies plainly before Them. Disciples can, however, dimly sense the nature of the Transfiguration which characterizes them, from the hierarchical point of view, and Masters can also dimly sense the nature of the decision with which They are faced. It is this preparatory sensitivity in the disciple which produces true perception at all the various initiatory stages. This is a statement of major importance and links sensitivity, its interpretation and control, with the everyday life of the ordinary disciple. It is important because of its inclusiveness and because each stage upon the Path of Initiation has in it the germ of comprehension and an understanding (deeply hidden) of the various steps which have to be taken upon the Way of the Higher Evolution. Upon this Way [724] the Master intelligently embarks when He has made His final decision; earlier stages are simply revelatory of the Way.