6. Its dense physical externalization is the thymus gland. Of this gland little is known at present, though much will be learned as investigators accept and experiment with the hypotheses which the occult sciences present, and as the heart center develops and the thymus gland is returned to adult functioning activity. This is not as yet the case. The nature of its secretion is not yet established, and the effects of this gland are better known from their psychological angle than from the physical. Modern psychology, when allied to medicine, recognizes that this gland when over-active will produce the irresponsible and amoral person. As the race of men learns the nature of responsibility we shall have [160] the first indications of soul alignment, of personality decentralization and of group awareness, and then - paralleling this development - we shall find the thymus gland becoming correctly active. At present, the general imbalance of the endocrine system militates against the safe and full functioning of the thymus gland in the adult. There is as yet an unrecognized relation existing between the pineal gland and the thymus gland, as well as between both of these and the center at the base of the spine. As the Spiritual Triad becomes active through the medium of the personality, these three centers and their three externalizations will work in synthesis, governing and directing the whole man. As the pineal gland is returned to full adult functioning (as is not the case with adult man) the divine will-to-good will make itself felt and divine purpose be achieved; when the thymus gland similarly becomes active in the adult, goodwill will become apparent and the divine plan will begin to work out. This is the first step towards love, right human relations and peace. This goodwill is already making its presence felt in the world today, indicating the coming into activity of the heart center, and proving that the heart center in the head is beginning to unfold as a result of the growing activity of the heart center up the spine.
7. It is the organ of fusion, just as the head center is the organ of synthesis. As the heart center becomes active, the individual aspirant is slowly drawn into an increasingly closer relation to his soul, and then two expansions of consciousness take place which are interpreted by him as events or happenings: [161]
   1. He is drawn into the Ashram of one of the Masters, according to his soul ray, and becomes an accepted disciple in the technical sense. The Master is Himself the heart center of the Ashram and He can now reach His disciple, via the soul, because that disciple, through alignment and contact, has put his heart into close rapport with the soul. He then becomes responsive to the heart of all things which, as far as humanity is at present concerned, is the Hierarchy.
   2. He is drawn into close service relationship with humanity. His growing sense of responsibility, due to heart activity, leads him to serve and work. Eventually he too becomes the heart of a group or of an organization - small at first but becoming worldwide as his spiritual power develops and he thinks in terms of the group and of humanity. These two relationships on his part are reciprocal. Thus the love aspect of divinity becomes active in the three worlds, and love is anchored on earth and takes the place of emotion, of desire and of the material aspects of feeling. Note that phrase.
8. In the early stages of unfoldment, of both the individual and the race, the inverted heart lotus with its twelve petals reaches downwards towards the solar plexus center. This last center, since Atlantean days, has been reversed, and its petals are now reaching upwards towards the next center up the spine, the heart center, owing to the slowly mounting energies from the solar plexus center which are seeking to escape from the "prison of the lower regions" through a process of transmutation. [162]

To this constant movement of the centers and to the constant inflow of energies we can trace much of the discomfort of humanity in its various bodies; it is the inability of the centers to respond or to unfold which in many cases produces disease and difficulty; it is the unbalanced unfoldment of the centers, their arrested development and their lack of response which creates problems in other cases; it is their premature unfoldment and their over-activity which in other cases brings about danger; it is the failure of the physical mechanism to measure up to the inner unfoldment which causes so much trouble. Thus again you can see the complexity of the subject. The stage of theory is a simple one, except in so far as it sets forces in motion which eventually lead to difficulty. The stage of reaction to response and of adjustment to the theory also institutes a cycle of intense difficulty and complexity, because it leads to a cycle of experiment and experience during which the disciple learns much and suffers much. Then as experience is gained, the stage of spiritual expression supervenes and freedom from danger and emancipation from difficulty and liberation from disease takes place. Simplicity is restored. [163]