We ended the last presentation by starting to look at the six aspects of the basic building techniques to construct a “Rainbow Bridge” and their esoteric and creative significance. Number one on the list was “Intention”. This was a process similar to the way our logos created our solar system. First, you create a ring-pass-not of energy in your mental envelope. Then you focus that energy and hold it in a state of tension. Think of this as mixing the paint before you start creating a picture. You have to get the correct hue to paint with and five steps were outlined on how you go about doing this. Now you are ready to start painting but before you do, you have to visualise what you are going to paint. So, step two is called:
2. Visualisation: So far, in step one, we have been talking about a process that has been occurring in the Mental envelope. Creative imagination has not, to any great extent, been called into action yet. Think of the disciple focused in their mind, neither looking ups to their Causal envelope nor down to their Emotional envelope. Up and down is a figurative way of thinking about the process. Energy has been gathered in a ring-pass-not and this reservoir is sufficient to take the next step. Using our picture analogy, before you paint a picture, you sketch a cartoon. Leonardo da Vinci’s cartoon of The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and John the Baptist is one of the most famous creations in art and it is not even a finished product. Where does this creative potential come from to sketch this blueprint? It comes from the Emotional envelope. Take note, all you mentally focused individuals, who think you are well shot of all your emotional distortions. Don’t write the envelope off just yet. You need it to build your Antahkarana.
Imagination is seated in the Emotional envelope, sometimes called the Sensitive Vehicle. We are not talking about the base emotional thoughts you are used to, but the highest possible realms of imagination. This imagination is the lowest aspect of intuition, don’t forget this. Think of this sensitivity as being one end of a pole, the other end being attached to the Unity (46) envelope, on the 2nd triad. You can see the close relationship between these two planes when you see that one plane is represented directly over the other in our diagram of a triad. There is a method for the presentation of the triad in this format. Once the disciple has refined their imaginative faculties sufficiently, they become responsive to impressions from the Unity World, as well as intuitive impulses from their causal envelope. The quality and accuracy present in the blueprint under construction, is going to be determined by the responsiveness of the Emotional envelope, (48), to the Unity envelope, (46).
You have a pool of energy sitting in the Emotional envelope, but the bridge to be constructed has to start from the Mental envelope. There is, therefore, a need to step up the vibration of this emotional energy so that it affects the pool of energy in the mental ring-pass-not. What is being described here has great esoteric significance. The creative activity of the imagination, located on Plane 48, is the first organising influence to work upon the energy gathered in the ring-pass-not on Plane-47, in the Mental envelope. Here you have accumulated energy, held in a state of tension by the “Intention” of the disciple, started in step 1.
We have a point of tension in the Mental envelope. Below this, we have creative imagination in the Emotional envelope. This creative energy is at the highest levels possible to be found on Plane-48. This energy needs to be drawn up into a relationship with the energy, which remember is substance as well, held in the ring-pass-not in the Mental envelope. This happens through the process of “Visualisation” and the tension of the substance on the metal plane becomes more potent. What determines the strength and beauty of the Rainbow Bridge is largely dependent on the clarity of the visualisation process in the envelope below. It can be summarised that Visualisation is a process whereby creative imagination is rendered active and becomes responsive to and attracted by the point of tension created on the mental plane.
Where have we got to so far? We have the disciple occupied with two energies so far. One is quiescent and held within a ring-pass-not. This energy is at a point of extreme tension. The other energy is active, picture-forming, outgoing and responsive to the mind of the bridge-builder. It was mentioned earlier that there was a need for the services of the Emotional envelope if the disciple wished to proceed further along its evolutionary path. Note here that the second aspect of the Divine Trinity is the form-building aspect and by the Law of Analogy, it is the second aspect of the personality, the emotional body and the second aspect of the Spiritual Triad, which are becoming creatively active. This also happens to be the second stage of the process of building the Antahkarana. Do you see the numerical significance here? The disciple has to work slowly and methodically, picturing the eventual outcome and why the process is happening in the first place. The disciple needs to be aware of all the stages that need to be completed and what the results of this work are going to be. There has to also be an appreciation of the materials that need to be used in the construction process. This is why a “cartoon” is sketched out first. Visualisation envisages the whole process and it is by this means that a rapport is set up between the Unity envelope (46) and the Emotional envelope (48).
Where have we got to so far? We have the impression of the Unity envelope (46) on the Emotional envelope (48). We have tension created in the ring-pas-not, in the mental (47) envelope. This is where the energy/substance is held and is the point of projection of the to-be-constructed Antahkarana. We have engaged the creative processes of the emotional envelope. These are three processes going on simultaneously. When the disciple has trained themselves to be consciously aware of these processes, they go ahead almost automatically. This is the power of visualisation and what it brings to the party. A current of force is set up between the Unity (46) and Emotional (48) envelopes. To get from the Unity (46) to the Emotional (48) envelope, the current has to pass through the Mental envelope (47). It is here that the reservoir of force is held. The current passing through it produces an interior activity in the ring-pass-not and an organisation of the substance present. This steadily builds in potency until a third stage is reached and the work passes out of the phase of subjectivity into that of object reality. This objectivity is viewed from the point of the monad.
That is quite enough for today. Ponder what has been discussed. It is significant and lies at the heart of the whole process of bridge construction. The paint has been mixed. The cartoon has been drawn, so a blueprint has been fashioned that reveals the final end product. A current is now circulating through three adjacent envelopes. It appears on the triad diagram that there is a short-circuit from the Unity envelope (46), through the Mental envelope (47:4-7), to the Emotional envelope (48). This is not the case. Remember, the Causal Envelope (47:1-3) is just an extension of the mental envelope and this whole process of bridge construction is about uniting the two halves of this envelope so that they function as a single unit and allow the monad to move its focus into the 2nd triad structure. We are now ready to move onto step 3, this stage is known as “Projection”. See you at the next presentation.