There is an ancient saying among the Masters of our Spiritual Hierarchy: "Even an Arhat can fall". This may seem surprising to many since an Arhat is a 4th degree Initiate, only one degree below that of a Perfected Master of Wisdom.

The Purpose of the evolutionary process we call "life" is to spiritualize matter. This is done in the first place by spiritualzing the matter of our bodies, physical, astral-emotional and mental, by a gradual process of soul-infusion. The higher vibration of the sub-atomic energy (light) of the soul gradually replaces the atomic energy of the three lower bodies. By the time the 4th Initiation is taken, three quarters of these bodies are now sub-atomic, one quarter remaining atomic.

Thus even at that high level of evolution, an Arhat can be subject to some level of the 'pull' of matter and so can 'fall'. Only the perfected Masters of the fifth and higher Initiations are free entirely of the 'pull' of matter. This 'fall' is very rare but can, and occasionally does, happen.

In the painting, the white upward spiral represents the long, slow upward climb to perfection. The 'fall' is represented by the helter-skelter tumble of the black downward spiral. (Painted in 1965)