The main objective of New Age education should be the pupil’s training to respond to the soul’s life. On the other hand, teaching depends on personality type. Therefore, all education must aim to increase soul awareness and work soul determinants in the individual’s life.

In this section, I examine the elements the soul employs on the physical plane and expresses through its personality. There are seven in all: three aspects and four attributes. They correspond to the characteristics of the seven rays. The aspects are Will or Purpose, Love/Wisdom, and Active Intelligence (rays 1, 2, and 3). The attributes are Harmony Produced Through Conflict, Concrete Knowledge, Devotion, and Order (rays 4, 5, 6, and 7).

The aspect of Will or purpose (Ray 1). The individual must develop this aspect to the point where his personality expresses his spiritual purpose. All his actions need to be directed toward his inner reality. All teaching in this aspect must guide the pupil’s will in the right direction. Points to be emphasized are the will toward the good, the will toward the beautiful, and the will to serve.

The will towards the good means seeing how creation forms a whole and understanding that all life is part of a larger living whole. When this awareness is attained, the individual develops understanding and sympathy with his fellow men regarding the difficulties in their development path. This altered attitude’s natural consequences are inoffensiveness, goodwill, and correct conduct in dealings with other people.

In one way or another, the will toward the beautiful results from the will toward the good. The individual experiences the beauty of creation in the correct context and as a single entity, as a physical expression of the vital force of we are all part. He realizes that all forms are life’s attempts to express nature and creative powers, restricted in time and space. One form gives place to another, yet life remains. The will toward the beautiful makes life strive for greater perfection and beauty in its expression.

The will to the good and the will to the beautiful are the foundation of the will to serve. When the individual realizes his position and duties within the whole, his creative powers, and how to apply them, the will to serve awakens in earnest. The pupil’s life’s driving force is his duty towards the life he is part of and the tasks he is assigned. In other words, the pupil becomes part of the plan he has been entrusted with.

The aspect of Love/wisdom (Ray 2). Love leads us into the consciousness of the whole. The first step in teaching about this aspect is the cultivation of love of self (self-consciousness), followed by the love of those around us (group-consciousness) and, eventually, love of the whole (God-consciousness). The pupil is taught that self-consciousness is only part of a larger consciousness. This process is love, which leads to wisdom. Self-consciousness is the awareness of man as an individual, which, in itself, is isolating and harmful. However, love is the path of consciousness from isolation to freedom, from embracing the self to embracing the whole.

When the pupil becomes one with his soul group, his consciousness has attained unity with the group consciousness. He then takes part consciously in the group’s work. This work is known as service, and wisdom (love in action) is employed in carrying it out. Service is a method used to expand consciousness.

The aspect of Active intelligence (Ray 3). This aspect concerns developing the spiritually aware individual’s creative powers, which come about through the correct use of the mind. The soul’s creation method consists of the following steps: 1) The soul creates the physical body. 2) The soul, bounded by its physical body, creates in time and space following its aspirations. In this way, physical reality is brought into existence and, with it, our culture. 3) Using its lower, concrete mind as a tool, the soul creates a world of symbols, filling our lives with interest, concepts, ideas, and beauty. It expresses these things in language, spoken and written, and in the form of art. All teaching concerning this aspect deals with the nature of ideas and how they originate and are expressed. It should also deal with understanding the laws governing all creative activity.

The attribute of Harmony produced through conflict (Ray 4). This attribute leads to the liberation of man and the expression of his creative powers. This attribute is concealed in every form and is the fundamental force that causes the individual’s restlessness and discontent. It makes him strive onward and develop until he finally unifies his soul. The awareness of conformity and beauty leads the individual along the road of development and back to his origin. In teaching, special attention must be given to the force that causes restlessness and discontent. This force must then be interpreted so that the pupil recognizes the cause and can deal with it sensibly.

The attribute of Concrete knowledge (Ray 5). This attribute enables man to define his concepts and generate mental images to materialize his plans and transform his ideas into reality. He carries out this work with the aid of his lower concrete mind. The pupil must be trained in the correct use of the mind. He must be brought to a fuller understanding of the underlying purpose of being and be led to work with wisdom in creative activity. Teaching concerning this attribute should be directed at training the pupil’s ability to handle ideas and receptivity to God’s plan. To build in conformity with his soul’s will and materialize that part of the plan that is his contribution to the whole.

The attribute of Devotion (Ray 6). This attribute is the product of discontent, acting with the possibility of choice. Depending on the degree of a man’s dissatisfaction and ability to see things in the correct light, he passes through many periods of temporary satisfaction. In each of these, he demonstrates devotion to a desire, a person, an idea, or a plan until he finally adapts himself to that ideal, which is the highest possible one for him. This ideal is first and foremost the soul, then the universal soul or God. Teaching and training about this attribute consist of guiding the pupil from stage to stage, from one goal to another, and finally into the embrace of his soul.

The attribute of Order (Ray 7) involves a particular order, thus bringing the individual to work under the control of a concentrated will, towards a specific goal, and under certain habitual forms. Under the influence of this attribute, the individual learns to act in a particular way in his service. Teaching and training concerning this attribute must allow the pupil to cultivate his will, intellect, decisiveness, and the technique of functioning as a soul. In this way, the foundation is laid to develop the pupil’s spiritual powers and increasingly express these powers.