| had become buried. In the wisdom teachings, transformation is the process by which the human being becomes a spiritual being. It involves a metamorphosis that begins when the soul in incarnation awakens to its spiritual essence, after lifetimes of immersion in matter, and discovers the spiritual Path of Return. Along the way, the individual who was identified with the outer persona—the body, emotions, and mind—gradually becomes identified with the soul, the inner spiritual being. Toward the end of this transformative path, the light of the soul is revealed through the mask of the persona.
It has taken millions of years for humanity to reach this moment in evolution, when countless souls are becoming aware of their higher nature. Our journey as a species began deep in the mists of time, when sparks of the Godhead were immersed in material substance for the purpose of evolving consciousness. The friction between the opposite poles of our being—spirit and matter—has resulted in the endless struggles that continue to form the content of most human lives. Over time, however, as a result of eons of suffering through physical plane experience, and finally learning from that experience, this friction produces light.
In our time of accelerated evolution, the path of ordinary human living is drawing to a close for many people around the world. Growing numbers of individuals are awakening to the reality that they are more than physical beings with emotions and minds. As the popular catchphrase goes, they're recognizing that they are 'spiritual beings having a human experience.' Inevitably, awakening leads to the path of transformation, by means of which the beauty, power, and light inherent in the spiritual Self—the Soul—is gradually revealed.
Consciousness Evolves in Stages
Technically speaking, the process of transformation occurs in three stages, according to the ageless wisdom. The terms used to describe these progressive stages of unfoldment are: transmutation, transformation, and transfiguration. Lifetimes are required to complete the metamorphosis that culminates at the stage of transfiguration, when the light of the Soul pours down upon the outer persona and changes it—permanently.
Those who have approached that advanced stage on the Path portray the process as an often harrowing one—light-years apart from popular notions of the spiritual path. Descriptions of the quest in advertisements for books, workshops and conferences often make it sound like an exciting travel adventure that can be luxuriously comfortable and pleasurable. “In actuality,” as we wrote in When the Soul Awakens, “the spiritual path is never pleasant or comfortable, though joy is surely among its ultimate rewards.” The passage continues:
Unlike a cruise, which picks us up and drops us off at the same place with our personalities intact, the spiritual path transfigures the very nature of our being. By treading the path we become an entirely different being from the personality with which we were identified at the start, undergoing a metamorphosis that is, by its very nature, often painful.
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What makes the process painful is the “task” at its core: blending spirit and matter. To forge unity out of this exteme polarity, the part of us that is of a material nature must be purified and refined so that it may blend with that which is spiritual. The soul, the divine spark immersed in matter, is a 'unit of consciousness' that incarnates in a threefold form (body, emotions and mind)—or personality—in order to gain awareness through material plane experience. Eventually, a mysterious spiritual alchemy occurs by means of which the lower self or persona (sometimes called the human soul) becomes vaguely aware of its higher counterpart—the higher Self (also called the spiritual soul, the soul on its own plane). When this awareness reaches a kindling point, awakening occurs. Not long thereafter, a seeker of light is born.
Until the moment of awakening, which is often experienced through an opening of the heart and consequent sensing of the oneness of life, the human soul is imprisoned by the matrix of material forces in which it dwells. The personality is identified with the world of material form and its consciousness is immersed in material living. At that stage of awareness, the individual's life is typically governed by a combination of instinct, selfish desire, personal ambition and greed.
On the path of transformation, these material forces are transmuted into spiritual energies such as wisdom, love, and higher purpose. What occurs is an extremely subtle process that is reflected in the subtleties of language prevalent in the wisdom teachings. In this language, a distinction is made between energies and forces. The word energy generally refers to that which is formless—spiritual substance that flows freely. The word force refers to energy encased in matter and limited by form.
Transmutation
Transmutation is the first phase of the transformative journey. It marks the start of the process in which material forces are elevated through the power of the mind, in the goal of transmuting them into spiritual energies. At this early stage in the life of the spiritual aspirant, the soul is not yet fully conscious of itself on its own plane but has become aware of spiritual realities. The personality is still largely identified with its physical body, emotions and mind, but has become sufficiently integrated and coordinated to begin the task of transmuting force into energy.
Material force is charged or 'stepped up' into soul energy through the mind and will. At this stage, the aspirant learns to concentrate the mind to affect the subtle forces of the threefold personality: the mind itself, the astral or emotional body, and the vital energy body that underlies the physical form. The power of focused thought is used to lift the emotional forces of the desire nature (anchored in the subtle center or chakra that is the solar plexus) to the heart center. In the heart center, the force of personal desire is transmuted into the magnetic energy of spiritual love. Altruists, idealists, people who work for the greater good of humanity exemplify the transmutation of the force of the desire nature into the energy of love.
Creative people embody another facet of transmutation: the lifting up of procreative forces (located in the sacral or sexual chakra) into the creative energies associated with the throat chakra. Individuals working in this way are often engaged in some form of communication, broadly defined. They may be artists, musicians, writers, philosophers, or even scientists. Through their chosen vocation or avocation, they actively transmute the “raw material force” of sexuality into creative expression in the world—often in the goal of enriching the lives of others. Throughout the ages, creative geniuses have wrestled with their lower natures, struggling to utilize the vital forces of their personalities in service to the world.
Transformation
When the mind can successfully direct the forces of its persona, and the lower forces have been sufficiently transmuted into higher energies, transmutation gives way to transformation. This second phase of the journey involves the unification of personality force and soul energy into a smoothly functioning unit. By its end, the personality is imbued with the soul’s energy to the point that the outer persona is transformed into a vehicle for the soul's expression in the world.
This phase begins as the individual awakens more fully to the reality of the soul. He or she begins to recognize the spiritual self as a unique “entity”—distinct from the personality that is immersed in the material world. This is the juncture of the path where a sense of duality emerges. The human soul experiences life primarily as a personality with various outer identities: teacher or lawyer, artist or activist, mother or father, husband or wife. But at the same time, the boundless, spiritual identity of the true Self begins to break through into conscious awareness.
At this stage there is a growing sense of living in two dimensions or having two aspects of self—a worldly persona playing its own unique roles plus a higher Self slowly learning to attune to a higher plane of reality. During this phase, as the 'two selves' come into closer relationship with each other, there is a gradual shift in the focus of consciousness from the outer world of form to the inner world of spiritual meaning. With this change in orientation there comes, as a result of great struggle and surrender, a parallel shift in identity—from the personality to the Soul.
In the early stages of the shift, the seeker experiences great conflict between these two aspects of self. The soul struggles to control the lower nature, which fights to maintain dominion over itself and its habitual ways of living life. The selfish motives and drives of the persona, with its deep-rooted attachments to the material world, are not easily yielded to the higher aspect of Self. Thus the seeker is pulled in two directions—towards the unfamiliar realm of spirit and towards the comfortable and still attractive realm of matter. The challenge is learning to tread the Middle Way—on “the narrow razor-edged path” that leads between “the two great lines of force”—as the personality is increasingly exposed to the transforming light of the soul.
Technically, the name of this stage of the journey, which follows upon the path of aspiration, is the path of discipleship. The phase of aspiring to live a spiritual life, which involves transmuting lower forces into higher energies, gives way to a conscious commitment to a life of intense self-discipline and active service in the world.
On the discipleship path, spiritual disciplines become established as habits of daily living. The soul slowly takes control of the outer form, increasingly directing the disciple and transforming the life from within. Under the transformative influence of the soul, the personality begins to display divine qualities such as inclusive love, wisdom, and compassion. The individual learns to stand in spiritual being, aligned with the “higher angels" of her or his nature, increasingly committed to serving the greater good. He or she becomes aware of the soul's purpose for a given lifetime and firmly committed to fulfilling that higher purpose.
We are told that this phase of the journey—the conscious pursuit of self-perfection—takes lifetimes. The individual passes through inner “battlefields” and “burning grounds” to eliminate the self-centered tendencies of the separative personality. Ultimately, through the processes of self-purification, the disciple comes to recognize the One Soul in all souls. Divine qualities seeded in the human being at the start of our evolutionary journey begin to manifest in the life of the conscious soul. Inner beauty, truth, wisdom and light, largely veiled by the mask of the persona for lifetimes, are increasingly revealed. The downpouring light of the soul transforms the persona into an instrument for divine expression. The human being is transformed into a soul-infused personality whose life is directed from within by the Self.
Transfiguration
During the first stage of the transformative journey—transmutation—it is the mind that plays a major role as the agent for lifting force into energy. In the second stage, transformation, the soul emerges into consciousness—purifying and taking control of the outer form. In the third and final stage, transfiguration, the spirit completes the process that began with the soul’s awakening. By this point the soul has won the struggle to control the personality, thus resolving duality into unity. When this has been achieved, the soul-infused personality stands visibly transfigured before the world, a radiant Being of Light.
The best-known exemplars of transfiguration have come to us through the legends of world religions: the Buddha, emerging visibly illumined from his six-day meditation under the Boddhi Tree; Moses on Mount Sinai, surrounded by blazing light as he received the Ten Commandments; Jesus, appearing to his disciples on Mount Tabor as a transfigured being of light.
According to the Ageless Wisdom, the experience of transfiguration awaits all souls who embark upon the path of transformation. It marks the first true initiation of the human being into the spiritual kingdom—the Kingdom of Souls. It is the stage on the path of conscious evolution when the Life of the Spirit is revealed directly through the outer self in the world of form. The Tibetan master, Djwhal Khul, describes transfiguration in these words:
The personality is irradiated by the full light of the soul and the three personality vehicles are completely transcended; they have become simply forms through which spiritual love may flow out into the world of men in the salvaging task of creation.
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