SECTION ONE - TALKS TO DISCIPLES - PART 4
Above and beyond your personal compensation (which some of you know already to be your group relation and its persistence) will be the building of an aspect of the mechanism of contact and of approach which can be known and seen by Us from the other side of life, but which has to be largely taken on faith by you. It might be regarded as the mechanism of inspiration, for—in the last analysis—it is individual and world inspiration which is the goal of all our work. This mechanism is a subjective fact, and is slowly built as disciples aspire and serve and obey. It is an individual mechanism, and a group mechanism, and will eventually form part of the mechanism of humanity, viewing it as a whole and as the fourth kingdom in nature. This kingdom is destined to act as a transmitter of force, of energy and life and of inspiration to the three subhuman kingdoms. It is this mechanism which [73] will constitute the bridge between the fourth and fifth kingdoms. It is the individual and the group antahkarana.
I am going to change your full moon work a little. Proceed as heretofore, but as you stand with me before the "open window"' and prior to the attempt to hear me speak the words which I may have for you, imagine yourselves as bathed in a vivid butter-coloured living light which is pouring through the open window and enveloping the group. Note, as this happens, which centre responds or registers the vibration and stimulation or any phenomena of any kind, and then record this upon your monthly reports. I am also going to change the words spoken and am choosing phrases which will convey a pictorial connotation to your minds; in this way the power of visualisation will be evoked and aid you in registering what I say. Here are the phrases among which I shall choose one for each full moon contact.
1. The golden lotus of the heart. 7. The triangle of fire.
2. The burning ground of fiery red. 8. The golden way to God.
3. The mountain top, bathed in the morning sunrise. 9. The ocean and the rocky shore.
4. The uplifted hand. 10. The silver torch.
5. The equal four-armed cross. 11. The iridescent cube.
6. The open door. 12. The burning bush.
I shall picture these to you and name them in your hearing. Note whether you can both see and hear.
My blessing rests upon you and together we go forward into the future.
June 1946
MY BROTHERS:
The papers which I am at this time sending out to you are perhaps the most important which you have ever received. [74] This is so—not from the teaching angle—but from the angle of the Ashram with which you are affiliated.
I would like to start by emphasising the fact of your affiliation, because it is a subjective relation with which nothing can permanently interfere. There may come these interludes (where neophytes are concerned) when the relationship seems severed, and others wherein the disciple appears to be making no progress at all and has nothing to contribute to the life of the Ashram. But—in the turning of the wheel of life—lessons are learnt, and usefulness returns.
I would like to ask you to read this with care, with detachment, with undimmed aspiration, and with the realisation that this present life is but a minute in the life of the soul. This life is, however, of major importance in the life of some of you; it is of focussing importance in the life of a few; it is of testing importance for some.
I have now definitely decided to disband the New Seed Group. My experiment in reorganising the earlier groups into one large group has not succeeded. I have told you frequently that the Hierarchy itself does not know what decisions humanity will make in world affairs, or if mankind will profit from proffered opportunity. Equally so, the Master of an Ashram does not know what "disciples on the periphery" of an Ashram will do, because their training and testing is only in process. He does know what the accepted disciple, admitted freely into ashramic intimacy, will do in any given circumstance, because he has been tested and tried and the Master knows that there are certain things which he will not do.
This experiment with the New Seed Group has lasted five years. The earlier experiment with the groups lasted ten years. These experiments were undertaken in the most difficult period of the world's history and during a particular time of stress and strain. Of this I am not unmindful.
I am disbanding this group exoterically on four counts:
1. (Deleted by A.A.B.)
2. In spite of many years of work with me, the group is not yet integrated and has produced no particular spiritual[75] enterprise. I have indicated many spiritual enterprises which called for your full measure of enthusiasm, time, money and interest. Many of you in this group are doing less for the Triangle work, the Goodwill work and the distribution of the Invocation than the average School student, and it is you to whom I should look for aid in what I am attempting to do. Why not aid me where I have asked for aid? Why search for something unique and special and different from that of the rest of the students?
The spiritual enterprise into which I hoped to see you all throw yourselves was the work I have outlined, the distribution of the Problems of Humanity, the spread of the Invocation, the Triangles and the Goodwill work. I amnot interested in some particularly occult work which you will evolve in meditation or in discussion. F.C.D. is entering upon his life work along the lines of my enterprises; it will be a hard one, growing out of the Problems, presented by me to you. Forget not that these Problems were part of your instructions released for the general public. I have no criticism of F.C.D., who has come through deep waters to heights from which he can do most effective work. I am happy to be associated with him and have asked the Master K.H. to leave him a little longer in my group. I have no criticism of J.W.K-P., who has handled a profoundly difficult task for me with beauty, understanding, judgment and courtesy.
3. My next reason for disbanding the group is the failure in occult obedience of many of you. Voluntarily and willingly you joined the groups for training, discipline and expansion. This involved the following of certain suggestions, meditations and instructions. For years, quite a number of you have done absolutely nothing about your personal instructions. I refer here not only to exoteric exactitude but (above all else) to esoteric understanding. When, my brothers, I assign meditation work and make suggestion over the years, I have a definite purpose in view and a plan worked out [76] which is adapted to the particular student. When the work is not done, I—owing to the freewill of the disciple—am helpless.
4. Another reason upon which I must very briefly touch, and which is a factor in my decision, is A.A.B.'s integrity in the work. Among some of you, if what I write is agreeable to you, expresses your own ideas and is in line with your group thinking, then it is I who write it. When what I dictate runs counter to the ideas of the disciples, or places a finger on a weakness, or makes a statement which runs counter to the lower mind, then it is written by A.A.B. This situation has existed for some time.
For these main reasons, and because I seek no further to burden A.A.B. with your personal instructions, I am closing this aspect of my work. A.A.B. has much to do for me in finishing the Instructions as outlined. Her own Master (and mine) also requests that she no longer do this work, and with Him I am in full agreement. A.A.B. has also to conclude the Ashram papers [iv]* and finish the papers on Healing. [v]** Then her task for me will be accomplished.
D.E.I. is no longer in this group, and for this life and probably the next, he will be learning the lessons of adaptability, of impersonality and renunciation. He made one serious and irretrievable move prior to the outbreak of the war, and he did this against the advice of senior disciples and of his own inner monitor.
I would here again remind you that the inner link remains unbroken. You are still members—each and all of you—on the periphery of my Ashram. Nothing can alter this. Some of you warrant no criticism from me and are not responsible for what has happened.
Let me reiterate: The ashramic link remains unbroken, but the outer relation is ended for this incarnation. You can still reach me individually, if you fulfil the requirements and seek to serve the Plan outlined to you by me.
With this general letter I am sending very full personal [77] instructions—the last you will receive from me this life on the outer plane. I would ask you to read with extreme care what I have to say and suggest, because of the effect it may have on your outer life of service.
I use not words lightly. A.A.B. has taken me down with accuracy during these many years, including the past nine years of illness. She has never been too ill to take my dictation and send it out to you and to the world exactly as I gave it. Please read not only your own instructions but those given to the other members of the group, and you will then understand more clearly the reasons for the disbanding of this group. The personal instructions will be full and concise and will give you enough work, coupled with all your previous instructions over the years, to occupy your attention for the remainder of your lives and lead you into a closer association with the Ashram. You have the instructions, covering many years and given to each of you, preserved for you in Discipleship in the New Age (Vol. I). You have much intensified and concentrated individual teaching, much indication of opportunity and of the work which you are individually asked to do, a great deal of help in dealing with personality limitations, and much inspiration.
Read now my personal instructions to you in the light of our long personal relations. We have worked together for many years and I know you all well. I have told you that in the light of the Ashram there is naught concealed. These instructions are bridging instructions which will suffice until the day comes when you will step into a closer relation and will have overcome the personality to such an extent that there will be no fear of your making any serious mistakes; you can then be depended upon, as are all true accepted serving disciples.
The teaching—along special lines—of the New Age presentation of esoteric truth, necessary in preparation for initiation, will continue; it is essential that the second volume of Discipleship in the New Age should reach the public. This new teaching (or rather this new sequence of teaching) in its timed presentation consists, as you already know, of six themes or subjects:
[78]
Instruction on Meditation.
Teaching on Initiation.
Training in Telepathy.
Teaching anent the Etheric Body.
The Problems of Humanity.
The Externalisation of the Ashrams.
You will continue to receive these papers, not as an affiliated member of my Ashram, but only as an intelligent, trained aspirant who is privileged to be used in building up the needed thoughtforms anent the correct aspects of the teaching so that the seed or germ may be truly implanted in the human consciousness and thus truly grow and influence the coming age. Forget this not.
March 1947
MY BROTHERS:
You will by now have recovered from the shock of the cessation of our outer communication. As you may well realise (or do you?), my inner relation to you remains an entirely private and individual matter, known only to the aspiring disciple and myself. Such it must remain for this immediate life cycle. The strength of your radiance, your potential as a light bearer, and your ability to serve your fellowmen will demonstrate to your co-disciples in my Ashram or on its periphery the fact of that relationship; it will prove that you, the personality, the soul, and the Master of the Ashram, are in contact. The supreme Master, the Christ, said when last on Earth: "By their fruits ye shall know them." In so saying, He indicated a definite line of guidance for all of us.
A Master has to know and gauge the disciple by the work which he does in the furthering of the Plan, and not by the disciple's reaction to his aspiration. The attentive world has also to gauge the existent phase of divine expression in the disciple's daily life. By what else can the onlooker gauge it? The disciple is therefore under constant dual investigation; to this test, he must perforce himself add a third: his own position as the Observer. He is thus exposed to criticism and [79] judgment from three angles, and upon this fact I would ask you carefully to ponder.
A review at night along these three lines would be of value to all disciples, using the imagination as far as possible as an instrument of spiritual perception; learn to "imagine," as far as you can, how a Master would view your day's endeavour, how your watching environment would have reacted to your life and words, and how you yourself regard the day's accomplishments. I would recommend this to all disciples and all of you in training for my Ashram; and what I have here suggested might well be used also by the Arcane School for the senior students.
March 1948
MY BROTHERS:
Another year has gone by and it is again time for me to extend the teaching already given still a little further. You are still functioning as a group with closely interrelated links with the Ashram, with me and with each other. The situation is not, however, the same as it was last year, and there are certain differences and distinctions. These are due to the reorganisation which has gone on within the Hierarchy itself, necessitated by the imminent reappearance of the Christ. This has produced certain basic changes.
As you know, I have for years (with the assistance of A.A.B.) been endeavouring to help and aid many disciples who belong to other Ashrams than the second ray Ashram of K.H. or my own. I have given to them the basic teaching which they would have received from their own Masters and—because my Ashram is a second ray Ashram—they have had an imperative stimulus given to their love nature, and their sense of universality has been developed, in order to fit them for the work of the coming cycle. In the cycle now so near at hand, the Lord of Love will seek to organise the new era along the new or Aquarian lines. In the series of papers on the externalisation of the Ashrams or of the Hierarchy, [vi]* we are in reality considering the goal or supreme expression of [80] the teaching given to many disciples anent that great event—teaching intended to evoke their intelligent cooperation.
In your preceding series of instructions I dealt specifically with the Return of the Christ, and that message was sent out on a large scale to the general public. Since then I have written two other papers, entitled: The Work of the Christ and The Teaching of the Christ. These have been added to the original instruction anent Christ's reappearance, so as to reach a larger public than just this handful of disciples. These instructions are now available to all of you in book form, entitled The Reappearance of the Christ.
The point which I am seeking to make is that this book is primarily your contribution to the effort which the Hierarchy is making to reach and arouse men everywhere to the imminence and the inevitability of Christ's emergence; it is in the nature of a seal set upon your faithfulness and steadfast faith over the years in which we have worked together. More important still, you have (as a group) provided the pool of thought that could be stirred into activity, and thus make possible the giving out of this terrific proclamation—for that is what it is. Thus you have served and helped at this critical time—critical not only among men and in connection with world affairs but critical also in the Hierarchy itself.
In your thinking, reflection and activities carried on henceforth, this major, presented hierarchical intention must constitute the very groundwork of your life pattern. As members of an Ashram, you are part and parcel of the present crisis within the Hierarchy, and you cannot avoid it.
One of the effects of the reorientation is that four or five of you will be working more actively, and eventually more consciously, in the Ashram of your own Master and less actively in mine; you must remember, however, that the link is by no means severed. Another effect is that several disciples from other Ashrams will be working in my group, and one of the Master K.H.'s disciples is now to function as senior disciple in my Ashram, because A.A.B. is no longer available in that capacity as she has been since 1932; she resumed her own activities in the Ashram of the Master K.H. over three [81] years ago. The completion of my books is practically all that she is now doing for me.
This reorientation and this "outward movement" of the Hierarchy requires the assuming of a certain attitude on the part of all of us, and the development of certain mental habits, which I will proceed to discuss with you as part of the usual first theme in all these instructions, that of meditation.
January 1949
MY BROTHERS:
This new year of 1949 is a peculiarly momentous one from the angle of spiritual values. Last year was one of decision—as public affairs have demonstrated—decisions which were not always sound and which infringed the principle of right human relations. It was a year of decision for the Hierarchy as well as for many world leaders, both secular and spiritual. The disciples of the world were under great and peculiar strain, many of them working off and handling severe personal karma, and some of them descending into the very depths of realisation—depths where world iniquity and world sorrow confronted them and world issues were made very clear to them. It was therefore a year of peculiar testing and trial, and the more advanced the disciple the greater has been his problem, involving as it has done both personal and world problems. The load upon them has been heavy.
To this condition the members of the New Seed Group and those affiliated with them and with my Ashram have been no exception. This new year holds in it great potentialities for expansion and growth and for the progress of all movements, particularly those oriented to the work of the spiritual Hierarchy of our planet. The inflowing force isbeneficently potent and the destructive forces which have prevailed during the last few years are not so dynamic. This should be a year of moving forward and of expansion (implemented and directed by the Hierarchy). The spiritual vortex of force which is moving nearer to manifestation will [82] make possible certain moves and will clear away some (though not all) of those forces which have held back the proposed expansion and which have limited the work that disciples all over the world have sought to do. Every disciple has been tested; unsuspected weaknesses have emerged and characteristics which should be straightened out have come to the surface; a few—a very few—have fallen by the way, but a large majority have passed the test.
Weaknesses of motivation, of purpose, of technique and of personality faults have been exposed and recognised by truly earnest disciples; this has been necessary, for the incoming energies will render excessive the weaknesses (if they are recognised for what they are) and will enhance the contribution to world service of those disciples who can stand the strain and face themselves with truth and sincerity.
The call is going out from every Ashram to all workers to close their ranks and to stand together in the closest comradeship of loyalty and understanding; the challenge is for them to subject themselves (and by that I mean their personalities) to a drastically applied self-discipline, to a purifying process, and to effect those reforms within their own natures which will make them more effective instruments in service. I am impressing the minds of those members of my Ashram of whom you have never heard with these same ideas in connection with the work that they may be doing for the Hierarchy.
It was the knowledge of this coming inflow and opportunity for increased usefulness which prompted A.A.B. to put through the reorganisation of the Arcane School, to close its ranks and to deepen the proposed trend of the teaching and thus to take those steps which will make the work more effective and potent. She has also taken and will in the near future take the needed steps for the effective functioning of the Arcane School after she passes to the inner side of service.
The organising and work of the Arcane School is the spiritual project of A.A.B. and with it I have nothing whatsoever to do, nor shall I ever in the future guide or take any part in the affairs of the Arcane School. That is the task of those whom A.A.B. will choose to carry on. It is a living organism [83] which will grow of its own inherent potentialities and under the spiritual inspiration of the energy coming from the Ashram of the Master K.H. in which A.A.B. is a worker and disciple.
I seek now to make a few comments anent the work for which A.A.B. has been responsible and for which F.B. will be responsible when she passes over.
During the years in which I have been in touch with all of you, much world work has been started, and the influence of the group of workers whom A.A.B. and F.B. have gathered around them has spread all over the world. I refer here to what they stand for internationally and—as a result of the spread of the teaching for which I am responsible—to the change which has been wrought in the general consciousness. That is far greater than you know. The world-wide spiritual ferment which has been consequently set up has been due to two main causes:
1. The Arcane School as members have adhered to it in every land and have each in turn become distributors of light.
2. The publication and distribution of my books everywhere; they are far more widely read than you have any idea.
Out of the apprehension of truth by many thousands in many lands and the need for it to be put to practical use in these days of dire world need, two other modes of work were initiated: the Triangles and the Goodwill work. There is here no need for me to go into details anent these two spiritual enterprises. You know them well, though only a few of you have been truly interested or thrown yourselves, heart and soul, into assisting.
The Arcane School is not one of my activities or enterprises, and has never been. In view of the condition of esoteric schools (so called) in the world, when A.A.B. organised the Arcane School she deliberately refused to let me have anything to do with it, and I fully concurred in her decision. The extent of my connection with the School lies in the fact [84] that I outlined for her the degrees of the School, and once or twice—in my instructions used in the Disciples Degree—I appealed to the students for cooperation in some matter. Forget not that these instructions were not School instructions, but were the early form of my books and went out unchanged to the general public. Also, it has only been within the last five years that any correspondence course for the School has been arranged around one or other of my books.
The policy of the School, its principles, curriculum and techniques, have been entirely those of A.A.B., working in conjunction with F.B. and after consultation with one or two senior students living in or around New York or in Europe.
There has necessarily been questioning among senior students and in this group as to what will happen when A.A.B. passes on. The past record of this group in effective and steady work would not incite A.A.B. to have much confidence in your leadership. You have shown no organised group ability to take a piece of work embodying some one or other of my suggested spiritual enterprises and effectively work together for its furtherance. What have you done as a group to aid the Triangle work or the Goodwill work, or to throw yourselves successfully behind the work of the School? There are many outside the New Seed Group who have done a more consecrated and selfless task than have you, though there are a few exceptions. But, my brothers, out of fifty-one, how few!!
When A.A.B. passes on she will leave the Arcane School and, with my full approval, all the other activities in the hands of F.B. She will leave also, in the departments, dedicated men who will continue to assume, as far as in them lies, the direction of the work, in consultation with F.B.
There will be no need whatsoever for any reorganisation. Why should there be? A.A.B. has been interested in and has initiated, with F.B., all departments. She has never been a worker in any of them, which may be a new idea to you. When she finishes her job there is no gap in any department. So why reorganisation? The work will go on with the same workers, and new ones will be added as need arises. Young workers must be chosen who may not see things as all of [85] you see them, and in that lies the hope of the work's persistence, for most of you are too old for the work of reconstruction and too crystallised; you can, however, form a strong foundation and give courage to the young ones. Most of you are too anxious to see the old methods and modes of work perpetuated. I and A.A.B. are more interested in seeing that the need of the youth of the world is met. The principles of the Ageless Wisdom must be preserved, but all outworn forms must go.
The success and growth of the work will depend upon the smooth transition which can be made between the past and the coming new world; it will be dependent upon the determination of the workers to continue with what they are doing, to renew their dedication and above all, their vision; to eliminate all desire for prominence in the work and all ambition, and with a will to meet the need in the new ways, with the expanded truths and with no dogmatism.
I am looking for no new "stenographers" to take the place of A.A.B. and shall dictate to none of you. You have masses of undigested material with which to work, and enough teaching to express and make available to the public for twenty-five years to come. You have enough information from me to enable you to make your individual contact with me if you follow the rules and live the outer life of a disciple.
It is the books which bring people into the various phases of the work; you can aid in keeping them in constant circulation, and you can also hold together subjectively so that the relation of the group to the Ashram is still preserved and externalisation later can still be possible. Those are the two major undertakings with which I present you; and these with your intensified individual approach and the work of the Triangles and Goodwill, will provide you with much to do.
Throw yourselves behind those who have made themselves responsible—under F.B.—for the Triangles and Goodwill work. Make their work possible and avoid interference; they will make mistakes, and these you will be prompt to note; your sole duty is to stand by. Mistakes do not matter if clarity of vision, spiritual persistence and love accompany them. Keep the personnel of the work as far as possible masculine [86] and put no sixth ray people in positions of influence; they know not how to cooperate and are frequently points of dissension and dislike.
You see, my brothers, I am making no startling plans for handling the work in the event of the death of A.A.B. I suggest no changes. I would like to see the work left in the hands of those who are already doing it; I suggest the addition of young people to the group of workers as need arises and place occurs. I suggest that the work be kept fluid, as A.A.B. has always kept it.
Above all else, remember that the work of the Triangles, the Goodwill work and the Arcane School is that of anorganism and not an organisation, and it will grow through its own inherent life and not through planning. If this is borne in mind, you will see where some of you have been in error, both in criticism and in planning the future of the various aspects of the work. The work will go on in the strength of its own inherent life; it will be damaged by planning, interference and organisation. Let the work alone, giving it assiduous attention and meeting its needs as they arise. The Triangle work and the Goodwill work are in the hands of young people who must be strengthened, trusted and encouraged. The Invocation work, tied in with the Goodwill work, the Triangles and the School, is moving steadily forward and is the responsibility of all three. If rightly handled, its distribution will be automatic, mechanical and momentous.
The various phases of the work will proceed as desired if all talk of executive heads, of assumed responsibility, and of the need for the New Seed Group is ended. The thought of reorganisation must be dropped; it would immediately disrupt the present smoothly working organism. A transition carried forward without any change or difficulty will greatly reassure all groups. Young people should be found and trained—trained in the principles. There should be no doctrinal teaching given. If it is, inevitably the School will die. The new truths are being fast recognised, but it is youth which is recognising them. Those who have for twenty years absorbed a system of thought are apt to be so absorbed by it [87] that it is hard for them to recognise the new and vital incoming truth, and the sad part is that they are often sure they do. The new truths are overshadowing us today; if the Invocation means anything, it is what must be expected.
The principles to be emphasised are:
1. The Arcane School trains disciples. Its curriculum is therefore eliminative. Its standard cannot be lowered. It is not a school for probationers. It will consequently always remain relatively small.
2. It is a school for adults wherein occult obedience is developed. This is not obedience to man-made rules or school obediences, but involves soul obedience.
3. This is a school wherein belief in the Hierarchy is scientifically taught, not as a doctrine but as an existent and provable natural kingdom; the rules of the Ashram and the dual life of the disciple are emphasised.
4. This is a school wherein the student is taught that "the souls of men are one."
5. No claim for place or power is made, and the claim of being an initiate is never heard. The Headquarters Group and the workers in the School are there because of spiritual inclination.
6. The Arcane School is non-sectarian, non-political and international in its thinking. Service is its keynote. Its members can work in any sect and in any political party, provided they remember that all paths lead to God and that "the One Humanity" governs all their thinking.
7. The fundamental doctrines of the Ageless Wisdom, recognised all over the world and as expounded in my books, constitute the foundational teaching of the Arcane School. This is so, not because they are my books but because they are part of the continuity of the Ageless Wisdom and constitute the latest emanation of the Ageless Wisdom issued by the Hierarchy. They must not be permitted to become a Bible of a sect, as has been the case with The Secret Doctrine and the [88] Theosophical Society. This incidentally has been a profound disappointment to the Hierarchy. A.A.B. must not be turned into an occult authority. Those connected with the Great White Lodge favour no Bibles or authorities—only the freedom of the human soul. The teaching matters, not the source or the form.
Let me reiterate for the sake of clarity: None of you has any responsibility for the Arcane School or for the service activities though you can work helpfully, with humbleness and pure motive in any or all of them, under the direction of A.A.B. or of those into whose hands she has put responsibility.... It is in these relationships that you will develop the humility and pure motives which are the outstanding hallmarks of the disciple.
One thing I would however like you clearly to grasp and that is the pattern which underlies the various aspects of the work now in process of expansion. A brief diagram should make the relationship clear, and these relationships are factual today:
THE SPIRITUAL HIERARCHY OF THE PLANET
working through
/
THE NEW GROUP OF WORLD SERVERS
using many agencies, among them
/
THE ARCANE SCHOOL
working through
/
THE SERVICE ACTIVITIES
the Triangles, the Goodwill work, the Invocation work
allied with
/
THE LUCIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
The energy of the New Group of World Servers could be likened to the antahkarana which connects humanity with the Hierarchy and provides a channel of contact with the Ashrams of the Masters. The Arcane School can be considered [Page 89] as one of the results of the activity of the New Group of World Servers. There are many others scattered all over the world. The same holds true of the Service Activities. No esoteric group is soundly handled and correctly motivated unless the spiritual energies which are available to it and the knowledge and the wisdom unfolded find expression in definite service. The service activities are, therefore, an expression of the livingness of the Arcane School and that relationship must be valued and preserved.
As disciples, your place is in the senior ranks of the New Group of World Servers and your responsibility, as a group, is to aid a phase of the work to be done which is strictly the project of the Hierarchy as a whole. I ask you to throw your efforts into the work of preparation for the reappearance of the Christ, to further in all possible ways the distribution both of the pamphlet so entitled and the book which deals with His reappearance. The world must be flooded with the information and through the hope and expectancy thus engendered may move forward into greater light, better human relations and a newer happiness. The results of your activities along this line should enhance the usefulness of the service activities of the Arcane School and swell the ranks of those who are working on mental levels in the Triangles and for right human relations through the medium of the Goodwill work.
Begin, my brothers, to do your own work, leaving others to shoulder their assigned responsibilities and waste no time in interfering in any phase of work which does not call for your attention. You are in my Ashram. The Arcane School is not a project of my Ashram and is, therefore, no responsibility of yours. It has been the means of giving you a greatly needed esoteric training and will continue to do so if you so desire, but the work of the Christ (to which all Ashrams are pledged) calls for your cooperation; it is this responsibility which I lay upon your shoulders.
That the years may see developed in all of you a firmer dedication, a self-sacrificing service and a deepened humility, is the hope and prayer of your friend, collaborator and Master.
[90]
March 1949
MY BROTHERS:
I have no group instructions for you now. Nor shall I have again. When the instructions on the designated themes are completed, I will write an instruction upon group work which will close all that I have to say on the subject in the two volumes of the book Discipleship in the New Age. The major intention of this book is to awaken the aspirational public to the opportunity for training which is theirs if they so choose; it should make them think with greater clarity of the Hierarchy and its functions; much good may come of sending forth its teachings and a new era in the field of spiritual instructions may result. My present objective is now to help A.A.B. conclude the important teaching which I have—with her aid—been giving to the group over a long period of years; it will then be available to the general public, after certain specific deletions, about which she knows and which are similar to those in the first volume. You have had more, much more, than you can assimilate; of the original group of students only a few are left; of the more than fifty original members who have been affiliated with my Ashram, only sixteen remain, and of these only eight are truly active; and of these eight, two are causing me some questioning.
You might at this point appropriately ask the following questions: Wherein lies the fault, and was there error in the choices I made? Where does the blame lie for what—on the surface—appears to be such an outstanding failure? It may perhaps interest you to have some of the reasons presented to you:
1. A Master, in choosing the personnel of His Ashram, is Himself governed by certain unavoidable factors:
a. The fact that the aspiration and the development of a disciple (usually stimulated by some senior disciple) has enabled him in thought and consciousness to reach the periphery of the Ashram; sometimes the spiritual forcing process brings him to that [91] point prematurely. The disciple is, however, there; the next move is (as you say) up to the Master; He must then give the disciple the opportunity to move closer, if the capacity for such a step lies in him.
b. The fact of karmic relationship. Many of those who have been given the opportunity to work with me have had some relationship with me over past lives and—because of certain activities—have warranted the opportunity to work in a still closer relationship. This they prove by working off karma. Such were H.S.D. and S.S.P., neither of whom has completely failed.
c. The fact of the need—existent in the world today—for workers. The Masters are perforce driven to use people to carry out certain phases of the exoteric work of service for which they may be fitted but for which they, from other angles, are not ready. Such a one was W.D.B.
All these factors necessarily governed my choice, for I too (even though I may be a Master) am controlled by esoteric Law and must proffer opportunity. Among those chosen there has been much failure, but because consecration and devotion to either the Hierarchy or Humanity are still to be found in them, the affiliation with my Ashram still persists, even though in so few cases can permission to move closer be granted; they are not yet ready to reach a "more enlightened ashramic position," as it is called.
2. Affiliation with an Ashram subjects the aspirant to intensified stimulation; in many cases it proved impossible for some chelas to handle it. Spiritual energy pouring into the personality, via the aspirant's own soul, fostered the emergence of that which was good but also of that which could not be taken closer into the Ashram itself. The undesirable qualities had to be eliminated. (Such were S.C.P. and L.U.T.) This stimulation cannot be avoided and is one of the tests of an accepted disciple's fitness for "ashramic sharing." Perfection [92] is not looked for or expected, but certain personality faults of pride, temper and an undisciplined nature must at least be controlled.
3. A dislike of criticism eliminated others from the group. They could not stand the exposure of their faults, either to themselves or to the group. They knew certain tendencies existed but not how serious they were; when I attempted to help them along these lines, resentment only was evoked. In many cases (as I have elsewhere told you) the position was taken that praise, commendation and interesting personal instructions were written by me, but should any criticism be involved—then A.A.B. was responsible. This was never once the case. In fact, several times I have modified my criticism (or analysis, as I prefer to call it), and once or twice eliminated it altogether at the request of A.A.B., who knows the Western mind better perhaps than I do. (Such members were I.S.G-L. and D.E.I.)
4. Several of the students did not spiritually appreciate the opportunity with which they were faced. It was in reality a case of non-recognition, of which they were practically unconscious; they remain in this condition, awaiting another incarnation. (L.D.N-C. was a striking instance of this attitude; another was J.A.C. though he would greatly like to be reinstated. This is not possible; however, had the tenure of life by A.A.B. been better, it might have been accomplished. Another of these types was B.S.D.)
5. Certain other students regarded "occult obedience" as an infringement of their freewill, as did D.A.O. Quite a number of you simply suffered from inertia, and though pleased and excited over the material received from me, in the group or personal instructions, were too lazy to avail yourselves to the full of that which was given, and consistently failed to comply with my requests.
It is valuable to note a most significant point of interest: All those who passed through the gates of death passed to a [93] definitely closer relationship; they had earned this reward and have availed themselves of that which I had taught them. They are, as you know, C.D.P., K.E.S., D.P.R. Two others are today rapidly fitting themselves to follow these three disciples into the Ashram. They are: B.S.W., who was temporarily side-tracked for a few years prior to his death, and G.S.S., whose personality vehicles could not carry the stimulation which reached her via the group. This sensitivity to undue stimulation is a matter easily rectified now; it does not constitute a fault, but only a karmic liability.
I have taken the time to say these things so as to make clear to you certain reasons for what may look to you as failure. I am greatly pleased with the work being done by some of the eight members who remain truly active. Two of you have fought through great tests and are today very much better servers. They are D.H.B. and R.S.U. One of you, R.S.W., is in danger of side-tracking her activities but will, I believe, come through the test; it will take her two more years to fight through to clarity of vision. To the other eight remaining of the original group I have no comment to make but that of encouragement. They are holding steady, but have enough teaching whereon to work and can take no more stimulation. The majority of them will not be kept waiting for admission to a definitely more positive penetrating in the Ashram when they pass through the gates of death. H.S.D. for the remainder of her life should work at the attainment of a quiet spirit, and she should also stand by A.A.B. as long as A.A.B. needs her. L.D.O. must attain to a broader point of view in place of her limited approach to humanity's problems; she must give up her assurance that the palliatives and solutions which she suggests are completely right. F.C.D. is doing well, but he is an old and trained disciple, and about him no anxiety has been needed. The same is true of J.W.K-P.
I have not, as you will note, covered the whole ground. I have, however, indicated enough to show my reasons why there is so poor an exoteric showing of a truly esoteric, inner movement—an inner movement which remains intact even though the outer form does not hold together, owing to the weaknesses of its members and the pressure of daily life upon [94] the outer group. All of you—from the first admitted to the last who joined the group—are still within my aura or within the aura of the greater Ashram of the Master K.H., and will, I am confident, remain so. I would remind you also that there are many members of my Ashram of whom you know nothing and who came into my Ashram without the help of A.A.B. You are not the group of major importance. Forget not these other co-disciples. Some day, when you have established continuity of consciousness, you will know them, for you will consciously meet with them within the ring-pass-not of my Ashram. You will know also and discover the reasons for the experiment with these outer groups which is now being tried by the Hierarchy, if you will read with care the teaching upon the externalisation of the Ashram of Sanat Kumara, the Hierarchy.
August-September, 1949
BROTHERS, AS OF OLD:
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