The universitality of initiation, by Alice Bailey

"Cosmic consciousness, an emerging consciousness which is the next stage of human evolution" - Richard Maurice Bucke, "Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind".

It has been emphasised many times in the occult teachings that the process of initiation, as it is usually understood, is an abnormal and not a normal one. All progression in the realm of consciousness is naturally by a graded series of awakenings, but this would proceed much more gradually and cover a longer period of time than is the case under our present planetary conditions. This particular mode of developing the consciousness of the human family was initiated by the Hierarchy during the Atlantean root-race at the latter end of the fourth sub-race, and will persist until the middle of the next round. At that time the needed stimulus will have been imparted, and as three-fifths of the human family will then have esoterically "set their feet upon the path," and a large percentage of them will then be in process of becoming the Path itself, the more normal routine will again be resumed.
Initiation on the various planets.
The process of stimulation of the human Egos by means of graded instructions, and the application of the dynamic electrical force of the Rod is employed on three of the planets of our system at this time. It is instituted during every fourth round, and its peculiar interest lies in the fact that the emphasis for the fourth Creative Hierarchy in every fourth chain and globe during the fourth round is laid upon the fourth initiation, that of the Crucifixion. The fourth Creative Hierarchy is the great expression of the conscious
p. 95
will and sacrifice of the Solar Logos, and the great symbol of the intelligent union of spirit and matter. Hence the fourth initiation, with its presentation of these cosmic truths, and its epitomising of the purpose of this fundamental sacrifice, has a pre-eminent place.
The student needs to remind himself that the other planetary schemes, though fundamentally the same as our fourth scheme, yet have their profound differences in manifestation, due to the varying characteristics and the individual karma of the incarnating Planetary Logos or Ray. These differences affect:—

a. The initiatory process, both in its ceremonial and altruistic aspects.
b. The application of the Rod, for the type of force which it embodies, when brought into conjunction with the differentiated force of the planetary type, produces results of varying nature and degree.
c. The seasons of initiation. The Egos in incarnation on any planet will—according to ray type—be easily stimulated or not as the case may be, according to astrological conditions, and this will produce shorter or more protracted periods of development prior to or between each initiation.
d. The electrical phenomena produced on the higher planes, as more and more the human units esoterically "blaze forth." It must be remembered that the entire solar system, with all that is included therein, is expressing itself in terms of light, and that the process of initiation might therefore be regarded as one in which the different points of light (or human sparks) are stimulated, their radiance and temperature increased, and the sphere of influence of each light extended in radius.

p. 96
The three planetary schemes wherein the great experiment of initiation is being tried are the Earth, Venus, and one other. Venus was the first sphere of experiment, and the success of the endeavour and the force generated was the cause of a similar effort being made on our planet. No planet increases its store of force, and consequently its sphere of influence, without incurring obligations and affecting other schemes; the interchange of force and energy between these two planets, Earth and Venus, is continuous. A similar process has but lately been instituted on another planetary scheme, and when, in the next round, our Earth attains a point in evolution analogous to that of the Venusian scheme at the time its influence was felt by us, then we shall aid in the stimulation of still another group of planetary Egos; we shall assist in the institution of a similar procedure among the sons of men in another scheme.
In the three great planetary schemes, Neptune, Uranus, and Saturn, the method of initiation will not be employed. They will be the recipients of those who are esoterically "saved" from among the other schemes. That is to say that all those who, in any scheme, achieve the needed expansions of consciousness (such as will be achieved by the majority of the human family prior to the middle of the next great cycle, or round), will be considered "saved," whilst the remainder will be held to be failures, and will be held over for further development during later periods, or will be transferred to those planetary schemes which from the point of view of time are not so far advanced as our Earth scheme. These three major schemes are the absorbers and synthesisers of the energy of the others.
Initiation and the Devas.
The question may be asked whether the devas undergo initiation, and we might deal briefly with the point here.
p. 97
Initiation has to do with the conscious development of the self, and concerns the wisdom aspect of the One Self. It presupposes the development of the intelligence principle, and involves the apprehension by the human unit of purpose and of will, and his intelligent participation therein through love and service. The devas, with the exception of those greater devas who have in earlier cycles passed through the human kingdom and are now co-operating in the evolution of man, are not as yet self-conscious. They grow and develop through feeling and not through the power of conscious thought. Man, however, grows through expansions of self-conscious realisation, self-initiated and self-imposed. It is the line of aspiration and of conscious endeavour, and is the most difficult line of development in the solar system, for it follows not along the line of least resistance, but seeks to initiate and impose a higher rhythm. The devas follow the line of least resistance, and seek to appropriate and experience in fullest tide of feeling and sentiency the vibration of things as they are. Therefore the method for them is an ever-increasing intensity of appreciation for the feeling of the moment, and not, as in man, an ever-increasing depreciation of things as they are, or of the material aspect, which leads to an endeavour to reach out and enfold within his consciousness the subjective reality, or the things of the spirit—this in contradistinction to the objective unreality, or the things of matter. The devas seek to feel, whilst man seeks to know. For the former, then, those expansions of consciousness which we call Initiation, exist not, except in the cases of those advanced beings who, having passed through the human stage, both feel and know, and who, under the evolutionary law, expand their knowledge in ever-increasing degree.
p. 98
Cosmic influences and solar initiations.
All that can be done here in dealing with this profound subject is to enumerate briefly some of the cosmic influences which definitely affect our earth, and produce results in the consciousness of men everywhere, and which, during the process of initiation, bring about certain specific phenomena.
First and foremost is the energy or force emanating from the sun Sirius. If it might be so expressed, the energy of thought, or mind force, in its totality, reaches the solar system from a distant cosmic centre via Sirius. Sirius acts as the transmitter, or the focalising centre, whence emanate those influences which produce self-consciousness in man. During initiation, by means of the Rod of Initiation (acting as a subsidiary transmitter and as a powerful magnet) this energy is momentarily intensified, and applied to the centres of the initiate with terrific force; were it not that the Hierophant and the two sponsors of the initiate pass it primarily through their bodies, it would be more than he could stand. This increase of mind energy results in an expansion and an apprehension of the truth as it is, and is lasting in its effects. It is felt primarily in the throat centre, the great organ of creation through sound.
Another type of energy reaches man from the Pleiades, passing through the Venusian scheme to us, just as the Sirian energy passes through the Saturnian. It has a definite effect upon the causal body, and serves to stimulate the heart centre.
A third type of energy is applied to the initiate, and affects his head centre. It emanates from that one of the seven stars of the Great Bear whose ensouling life holds the same relationship to our Planetary Logos as the Ego does to a human being. This energy, therefore, is seven-fold, and differs according to a man's ray or type.
p. 99
It is not possible here to state the order of the application of these varying types of energy, nor to give the initiation during which the man contacts the different types. These facts involve the secrets of the mysteries, and no purpose is served by revealing them. Other types of force from certain of the planetary schemes, as well as from cosmic centres, are brought into play by the Initiator and transmitted through the medium of the Rod to the various centres in the initiate's three vehicles, the mental, the astral, and the etheric centres. At the fourth initiation a specialised type of force from a centre which must remain nameless is applied to a man's causal body, and is one of the causes of its final disintegration.
In thinking of this matter of the attainment of the sons of men, we must recognise that as mankind completes one unification after another, the "Heavenly Men" on intuitional levels and on spiritual levels are completed, and in their turn go to the formation of the centres in the great "Heavenly Men" of the solar system. These seven Heavenly Men, in Whose bodies each human Monad and each deva finds his place, form the seven centres in the body of the Logos. He, in His turn, forms the Heart centre (for God is Love) of a still greater Entity. The consummation of all for this solar system will be when the Logos takes His fifth initiation. When all the sons of men attain the fifth initiation, He achieves. This is a great mystery and incomprehensible to us.

Source : http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/ihas/ihas13.htm