SECTION TWO - PERSONAL INSTRUCTIONS TO DISCIPLES - PART 13
Much of your present difficulty is based on the fact that your personality ray is, as you know, that of the first Ray of Will or Power. This gives you a sense of centralisation, of uniqueness and aloneness. It makes the man who is conditioned by it "isolated." It makes his attitude to his work one of an unconscious separativeness. It is the line of least resistance for you to be separated off from your co-workers or—when urged to identification by your second ray soul—the response is one of going out to them with the inner distinction ever clearly held. I am not here referring to any pride, brother of mine, but to the absorbing, assimilating, isolating characteristics of the first ray nature. It is the great first ray Lord (to use an illuminating simile) Who, at the end of the age, absorbs all things into Himself and thereby brings about the final and needed destruction of the form nature. This is a right and good use of His first ray qualities. But first ray personalities can also do this type of work, that of absorbing, but this time with destructive results; in their case the task is unnecessary and wrong.
I call you to a careful supervision of your first ray personality and to a greater demonstration of your second ray, inclusive, loving soul. Ponder on this, for a successful understanding and a consequent application of my words will greatly facilitate your usefulness and your power to bring a response of love and cooperation from your co-workers which at present could be decidedly better than it is. You do not mind my frank speaking, do you, my brother? I deal thus with all my trusted disciples, of whom you are one.
It will be of use to you if I also indicate to you the rays of your personality vehicles; then you will have a complete picture of the forces with which you have to work; or should I say with which I have to work as I seek, through you, to work out certain aspects of the Plan?
Your mental body is not on one of the usual rays, but is strongly second ray in its nature, and is, therefore, responsive to your second ray soul force. This is an asset but also a liability, for the sharpening of the mind which is the result of the effect of the usual fourth or fifth ray forces (the usual effects) is lacking. There is a lack of precision, of clear cut decision in you. Theoretically, my brother, this condition leads you—again theoretically—to be too nice, too kind, too appreciative, but not in reality. Fortunately (though unfortunately at times) this is offset by your first ray personality which nips your second ray mental reactions in the bud and re-asserts isolation for inclusiveness and understanding. Yet, if you once grasp the implications of this first ray personality and the difficulties engendered thereby in your group relations, you can most easily put the matter straight, for your second ray soul can come in, in full tide, via your second ray mental body. Your task is not, therefore, difficult and you have no cause for discouragement.
Your astral body is on the first ray and again (as do many aspirants nearing the end of the Path of Probation or at the beginning of the Path of Discipleship) you follow not the normal procedure but complicate your problem by having a powerful astral body on the same ray as the personality. Being where you are, however, upon the Path, your soul planned this procedure in this manner so as to bring to the surface as many of the hindering qualities as possible—hindering, I mean, to group effectiveness and group cohesion.
If I were asked what, at this time, constitutes your major group problem, I would phrase it thus: Learn to work with your equals as harmoniously and selflessly as you can. In your own department you do work this way with those who are subordinate or inferior to you in development. You, my brother, are afraid of your equals. You want to be the one alone as your first ray powerful personality (focussed naturally in your first ray astral body) would normally incline you. It is not easy for you to be one among the many—all equal, all working as one, all engrossed with the one work. This you must learn to do, or else you hinder the group.
Your physical body is on the third Ray of Active Intelligence. This was the factor which brought you originally into the business field and has, therefore, inclined you to field work, and organisation work. You will, from all the above, notice the lack of balance in your rays:
1. The soul ray—the second Ray of Love-Wisdom.
2. The personality ray—the first Ray of Will or Power.
3. The ray of the mind—the second Ray of Love-Wisdom.
4. The ray of the astral body—the first Ray of Will or Power.
5. The ray of the physical body—the third Ray of Active Intelligence.
You would profit much if you studied carefully the rays which are, at this time, lacking in your equipment. The forces of the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th rays are not present. All your rays are major rays of aspect. The rays of attribute are lacking and hence your problem and your immense opportunity. What saves the situation for you is that in a previous life, you worked through a fourth ray personality. Harmony through Conflict is, with you, a deep-seated desire and a basic determination. You have inherited it and in it your present life is rooted.
One of the best ways in which you can learn to solve your problem is to train yourself to be—as are all true hierarchical workers—the one in the background, and not the one at the centre. You will still be the one, for you are still a personality, but you can learn to work silently and through love, and carry all forward from the background. You will then gradually become a hidden force, galvanising others into activity and pushing them forward in their work, offering them their needed opportunity and training, but in complete self-forgetfulness.
To aid you and in order to evoke your second ray quality of soul and mind, I would suggest the following meditation. This should be run through rapidly and dynamically, prior to the group meditation.... Assume always the position of the "one behind the scenes" and say dynamically and with due intent:
"I am the one who never stands alone. Those days of isolation lie behind. I stand alone when trial comes, for I am strong and need not drain the strength of others. I stand alone when blame descends, for I am true and know what I should do. I thereby shield the weak and leave them free. But in this work, I have no self but am the Self—the Self which knows itself to be the Self in all. And thus I do my work—alone, yet not alone, and thus—for aye—I stand."
Then proceed with the group meditation. Forget not also that I have given you detachment for one of your keynotes. Ponder more deeply upon its meaning. The future holds much of opportunity and of service for you, for the group, for your chosen co-workers. It holds no scope for service for any isolated person. Together must the work be done.
December 1938
BROTHER OF OLD:
I gave you a long instruction the last time I communicated with you. This, therefore, will be brief. I will not change your special meditation at this time and would ask you to continue with it. It has done much for you, and through the interior work which you have accomplished in yourself and through the process of definitely forcing yourself to serve where needed (and not so much from the angle of where you yourself wanted to serve), you have aided many and gained much strength yourself. The great need for all of you in this group at this time is consciously to relate yourselves to each other in an increasingly close union. The building of the group antahkarana as a part of a great life thread can only thus be carried forward effectively. See, therefore, that this group identification goes on with all the cooperation which you can render.
I think also that you will have grasped more clearly than ever before the reasons I had in mind when I gave you the three key words—will, detachment, and strength. You needed to have these objectives held before you, did you not? Today, your detachment is far greater than ever before and this definitely tends to strengthen you. Your will nature, however, needs to be more pragmatically developed but from the angle of those interior determinations which carry a man forward along the path towards the portal of initiation. It is not will from the angle of self-assertiveness.
No man takes initiation before his interior will is developed and consecrated to the service of the Path, which is the service of humanity and of the Hierarchy. This, I think, you know. I would ask you to work along the line of the will, potently and definitely for a while, as it will serve to round out and strengthen your character.
I have for you at this time nothing but encouragement and a word of praise for a life faced and handled with humility and love.
January 1940
MY BROTHER:
A kind heart is of potent use in our service, provided that it is kept in place by a wise head and does not assume the form of a glamour. That then makes it a definite and hindering weakness. We need today disciples who are capable of seeing people truly; able to see them as they are and yet to love them and serve them just the same; we look for disciples whose hearts are awakened to group usefulness and to the place an individual mind can play in the service of humanity, and whose radiation is love but whose head is equally responsive to the individual as he is at his particular point in the evolutionary process. When the radiation is the radiation of love, the resultant words and actions can be stern without hurting. That is pre-eminently a lesson which you need to learn. Your need is also to awaken to the fact that it is one of service; those who represent us are alive and active in the work to be done but are not interested in personality modes of reaction. A loving radiation and an intelligent assessment (or do I mean appraisement, brother of mine?) of those you seek to aid will render you more effective in service to your fellowmen than anything else. I would, however, here commend you for the stability you are endeavouring to preserve. You are evidencing a purpose which the past two years have enabled you to make objective.
NOTE: W.D.S. takes his work in this group most seriously and no matter what obstacles present themselves, he continues to work in the Tibetan's group.
To D. P. R.
January 1933
BROTHER OF MINE:
For years you have been working with steadfastness and with a certain amount of ebb and flow. When an aspirant for discipleship has worked with persistency for years, his life tendency becomes oriented towards the light and this becomes a steady and fixed habit. This fact should prove a solace in moments of discouragement that all aspirants at times experience.
It is because of this steadfastness that it now becomes possible to train your intuition so that when again your path is trodden in a return incarnation, your earthly life will start with that aligned attitude which will permit of early illumination.
You are experienced in the Way and even though your physical body is no longer young, the remainder of your life expression holds much for you, if the coming years are taken joyously and with high expectancy.
You have sought with diligence to follow my directions and I think you realise that much has been achieved. You have a greater clarity of insight (a thing you needed) and a freer and more rapid detachment. Much remains, however, to be done (and this again you know). Follow the instructions given to you earlier, but when you retire to your room at the stated intervals to carry forward your ten minutes' relaxation and thoughts on life and love, begin with the following exercise....
July 1933
BROTHER OF MINE:
Forget not to love with detachment. That is your main lesson, my brother, and you have only grasped its true importance when the lengthier part of life has gone. The ties through attachment over many years hold firm and on the physical plane they must not, may not, be severed but ever within yourself they must be completely snapped. This can be done before this life episode closes, leaving you thus free in your next life cycle for service, a service to be rendered with undivided attention. This breaking can be done almost instantaneously if your first ray soul power is brought into play, or it can be accomplished more slowly if you work through the medium of your fifth ray personality force. Ponder on this.
As an exercise of needed discipline, I would suggest that three times a day—morning, high noon and evening—you sit quiet for ten minutes. Relax physically; permit no emotional distraction; refuse the entry of thought or feeling. Ponder then on the idea of Life and Love as they exist apart from form. Keep the consciousness centred as high in the head as is possible.
See the significance of all events and look upon them as symbolic indications of spiritual, mental, or emotional causes. Your life is so full of detail and of duty that the soul is oft irked thereby. Give it time to prove itself. It is not the length of time that is given to the right accomplishment of these duties that counts but the poise you bring to them, the energy you evoke in their fulfilment and the intensity of your mental application.
Let us, my brother, go forward on the Way. Let us together serve.
January 1934
BROTHER OF OLD:
Like other disciples and like all true aspirants, you have had much to discipline you lately, and many opportunities have been offered to you wherein you may demonstrate endurance. The particular group test has touched you not. It did not and would not constitute for you a test, but your test has been the holding of the attitude of steadfast endeavour in the face of circumstance, and of demonstrating not only endurance but loving detachment and joy. What happens to the personality is, in the last analysis, of small moment. The attitude assumed towards all happenings and the methods employed in handling them is that which is of moment. Skill in action is always needed, my brother, and for you in this life it must ever be the demonstration of skill in emotional reaction, and not so much the expression of efficient dealing upon the physical plane. The achievement of physical efficiency is not for you a problem. The achievement of emotional detachment and consequent right use of subjective force is still a problem to you.
There is no hurry or rush, my brother. Progress is being made and you will know the joy of eventual liberation from this limitation. One day at a time, perfectly lived, with each hour beautifully rounded out, is your sole responsibility.
Look not so much into the future with speculation or with foreboding, nor even with hope, which is but a form of optimistic speculation. Live today as your soul dictates and the future will round out itself in fruitful service. You are stronger than you anticipate and have reserves upon which you can draw. These reserves will not fail you when you call upon them, nor will I, your brother and friend, nor will your group brothers. Forget not this, but relax and rest back on the strength which is in you and which surrounds you.
I seek not to change your meditation, except to substitute a different visualisation exercise for the one now being followed.
a. Visualise yourself as standing to one side of a vast field of closed lotus buds which rest on their broad green leaves. Above you is the blue of heaven and ahead of you—across the field of buds and leaves and on the far horizon—is a golden gate, with the two halves of its door closed.
b. Then picture yourself as watching the slow opening of the buds, until little by little, the field changes from green to gold, and all that can be seen is a mass of golden flowers, wide open in the sun.
c. Then imagine yourself, my brother, putting a foot upon the field and finding, instead of the mud and water which had been anticipated, a firm Path which appears before you as you advance, dividing the field into two halves, and leading straight to the golden gates.
d. As you advance along this path, imagine the two halves of the gate slowly opening as you go forward in confidence, looking at the gate and not at your feet.
What you see within that portal and what interpretation you give to this symbolic work is for you to discover. You may ask: Of what use is this particular type of meditation to me? Two main uses, my brother. First, it trains you in the use of the creative imagination (which is an aspect of the intuition) and, secondly, it lifts you out of the rut of heavy mundane work with which you are of necessity so constantly occupied and brings to you refreshment and realisation of the subjective world. Leave care and worry behind you as you walk through your field of lotuses and for a few minutes each morning, centre your consciousness outside your personality life. The effect upon your daily life and service if you can really accomplish this exercise will be far more potent than you can possibly anticipate.
June 1934
BROTHER OF MINE:
The buffeting of life has tried you in the past six months, and thereby you have grown in understanding. For you, the intent of this buffeting process has not been to make you sweeter or more able to withstand. These are for you but subsidiary effects. Your intended lesson is Detachment and, as you free yourself from the clinging chains of attachment to place or person, your intuitive perception will thereby be released, and you will see in terms of reality and not in terms of form—no matter how high or purified.
You may perhaps ask in this connection: What is my main usefulness to this group of disciples, should I gain this released perspective? You think ever in terms of service, my brother, which was one of the reasons (apart from karmic suitability) prompting my choice of you for work in this group. My answer may surprise you, for I give it in terms which are somewhat unusual. Your main usefulness consists in the potency of your aura—that field of magnetic life which surrounds everyone on all sides, and which in your case is of unusual extent. Little is known as yet anent the aura. I would define it simply as the sum total of the attractive forces in the field of individual activity. It is through the aura that an individual effect makes itself felt in a man's surroundings. My message, therefore, to you is to use your auric influence more intelligently, to become more spiritually effective and less personally attractive. I speak in symbols and ask for understanding. Ponder on this, my brother, for your field of usefulness will grow as you detach yourself from forms, no matter how dear or how ancient the rhythm by which they hold you. Turn, instead, outwards in the effort to aid your fellowmen. Aid people by using what you are, which must express itself through the medium of the aura.
Preserve your meditation as hitherto, but change the colour of your field of lotuses from yellow to a deep and vibrant rose. This will serve to stimulate the astral aura. This constitutes the third use or purpose of this meditation. The other two uses, I indicated in my last instruction.
August 1934
BROTHER OF MINE:
May I at this time indicate to you two things, my brother, knowing that, as an old and experienced aspirant, you seek ever to see life truly as it is?
First, in each life there is reached what I might call a definite high water mark of achievement, and the age at which this is reached varies almost infinitely. When it is reached, there is then a settled tendency towards crystallisation, towards a recognition of the life's thoughtform (this being the sum total of all the formulated ideas which have governed progress) and a gradual slipping under the dominance of that thoughtform. This inhibits further progress. When the high water mark is reached after the age of 55-70, the difficulty is much increased by a perfectly normal physical inertia. So much of the life at that time is occupied with the processes of keeping in such physical condition that there may be the accomplishment of the needed duties of a full life. This high water mark has been reached for you in the ordinary sense and under the law of normal development. It can constitute for you exactly what it is, and you need feel no shame over your accomplishment for it has been good. Your life purpose has been rightly oriented and in the next life you will reap the results of your life-long discipline.
But for you, as a soul and as a disciple under training, there need be no arresting of the process of development. The high water mark of your life cycle (in the broader and wider sense) will not be reached yet for many lives and, therefore, there need be for you no interlude of inertia and no demonstration of a static condition. You may go on from point to point upon the Way, both now and hereafter. The decision and effort must come from you, my brother, and it lies entirely in your hands. Go forward along the Way in the full vigour of your soul life, which is that of a mature and experienced aspirant. The power of your first ray soul can galvanise the personality into continued action and aspiration, into continued mental control; for you, therefore, there need be no cessation of activity and no settling back into inertia until the final activity of transition engrosses the dual attention of your soul and your personality, and the final detachment takes place. But to transcend the normal high water mark, there will be necessitated the imposition of that inner pressure which will refuse to let the tired body and mind rest back upon the past. There is needed the incentive of a focussed will that plays its dynamic energy through the lower threefold man; there is required that purified, discriminative mind which (in the interests of the soul) will separate the essential from the non-essential and so enable you to enrich your service through the wise elimination of those factors which produce a useless dissipation of your energy and the use of your time for that which is negligible in results.
I know you will realise the reason for my remarks and that you will face this issue in the light of your soul and for the good of those who look to you for inspiration. As I told you earlier in your training, spiritual effectiveness is your goal and towards this all your effort should be bent. This will not negate the use of worldly wisdom and the right fulfilment of your many obligations, but it will aid you in the process of selection which is your main and self-chosen training ground.
I seek today to change your meditation work entirely. The focus given by the visualisation work and exercise with colour and form has done much in the work of inner adjustment. I seek now to speed up the rhythm of your life so that a fuller tide of will and purpose may dynamically pour through you.
You may feel surprised at what I am setting you to do, and at my apparent omission to give you a set form at which to work. That I will do after you yourself have worked for a while at the problem.
Much has for ages been said and written anent the practice of the Presence of God and today one of the interesting events of the time is the emergence of various "techniques" for achieving the realisation of this Presence, of inspiration, of light and of contact.
I will put to you three questions, and in their answering, we will find indication of the meditation to be given to you later.
1. What do you understand by the thought of the Presence? Of Whom and what is this Presence?
2. What is it that prevents contact with that Presence and hinders you from standing in its light?
3. Can you draw up a technique of meditation which will be for you the way into the Presence?
Answer these three questions and realise that for you the contact with that Presence—consciously and with understanding of the process—is the goal for the remainder of your life experience in this particular body. I seek for no mystical understanding. That type of theoretical understanding is the heritage of most aspirants. They have the vision of this contact. I seek a definite comprehension and I give you the clue to the work in the following sentences which (if subjected to due thought) may induce revelation.
"Duality is visioned by the seer. He sees the Presence. He sees, and seeing knows that he exists and likewise that which is seen.
"The knower blends the two in one. He sees the Presence as himself. He merges with its light. Behind the Presence gleams that awful radiance which shrouds the One and Only. Before the Presence stands the aspirant. Within the Presence, through the merging process, is peace, is union, the end of fear, the end of difference, joy, love and light."
Your meditation, therefore, is to be along these lines. The form you can draw up yourself during the next few months. The theme will emerge in your consciousness if you move slowly, ponder deeply and feel no sense of pressure. Revelation will come through quiet thought and daily brooding.
May I close this message to you with the simple words: Please be happy, my brother.
February 1935
MY BROTHER:
There has been in your mind much thought in these past months anent the practice of the Presence. This is well, for that is the objective that I had in mind for you.
It is said that "thoughts are things" and produce tangible results. It is also said that "as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he" and that, therefore, these tangible thought manifestations definitely produce effects in him. In these ancient platitudes lie, for you, much instruction, much light and understanding and the clue to your immediate problem. What is the situation, my brother? You, a soul in incarnation, are consciously aware of the fact—subjectively and ofttimes dimly sensed—of your real Self, of the solar Angel, who is the Angel of the Presence. Your problem is to deepen this realisation, and to know yourself to be the Angel, standing between you, the physical plane man, and the Presence. It might elucidate matters if we considered for a moment what reality is represented by that word Presence.
The mystic is ever aware of duality; of the lower man and the indwelling soul; of the tired disciple and the Angel; of the little self and the real Self; of human life expression and of spiritual life expression. Many other qualities stand for the same expression of reality. But, behind them all looms—immanent, stupendous, and glorious—that of which these dualities are but the aspects: the Presence, immanent yet transcendent, of Deity. In the nature of this One, all dualities are absorbed and all distinctions and differences lose their meaning.
When you are told to develop the consciousness of the Presence, it indicates, first of all, that you are at this time somewhat aware of the Angel and can now begin to respond, dimly and faintly, to that great Whole which lies behind the subjective world of being, as that world lies behind the physical, tangible world of everyday life.
A symbol of this can be seen in the knowledge that the entire planet lies outside of the room in which you are pondering my words and is only separated from you by the window and the extent of your conscious awareness. The outer universe of the planet, the solar system and the starry heavens, lies revealed to you through that sheet of glass which reveals, if clean and unveiled, but which acts as a barrier to vision, if soiled or hidden by a blind. This and your ability to project yourself into the immensity of the universe, governs the extent of your knowledge at any given time. Think this out, my brother, and look through the window of the mind to that Light which reveals the Angel which, in its turn, veils and hides the vast unknown, yet alive and vibrant, Deity.
This practice of the Presence can be dealt with in so many different ways and there are many techniques of contact. For you, the practice should connote simplicity, peace, and joy. Cultivate simplicity of thought and remember that bewilderment and undue concern as to conditions and people and a puzzled attitude towards life indicate mind activity but not soul understanding. It is soul activity towards which you should strive.
You are a sannyasin and as such must work towards an increasing release from ties of any kind, though (and herein lies a subtle distinction) not from release from environing conditions and responsibilities. What is required is an inner attitude of complete abandon to the will of your soul which is the Will of God, as far as any individual is concerned. This release will give you much that I have waited to see expressed in your life.
To assist you in the continuance of the theme upon which you have been engaged in the past months, I am going to ask you to ponder over and answer the following questions. You have a life tendency to over-emphasise detail and points of procedure with meticulous care and so sometimes lose sight of the synthesis of the whole. The questions are:
1. To recognise the Presence, I must stand free and unattached. To what and to whom am I now attached in such a way that I am prevented from clear vision and closer approach?
2. To recognise the Presence, I must function as the solar Angel. Can I, at this time, discriminate between myself and that solar Angel?
3. To recognise the Presence means that I am preparing to pass, as a solar Angel, through the gate, on to the Path of Initiation. Can I, in view of this, state clearly to myself what are my major assets and my major weaknesses?
4. Can I define clearly within myself what I understand by
a. Myself, the disciple.
b. Myself, the Angel.
c. The Presence.
The first three questions can be answered or not in writing exactly as you choose; you may find them too personal and confidential to commit to writing. If you find this to be so, then on the first day on which the Sun moves northward, answer these questions in my presence and to me, your brother and your teacher. Deal with them clearly and with truth, voicing your answers aloud so that you can hear your voice, and thus pay adequate attention to your position and attitude. The fourth and fifth questions please answer in writing and elucidate as clearly as may be.
5. Elucidate the following phrases, taken from a very ancient writing. I suggest that you ponder them with care.
"Before the throne of God, the angel, with all the other angels, stood and cried: `Lord of my life, grant me the strength to tread the path of revelation; to cross the sea of dark illusion, and face the lighted way of earth.' God said: `Go forth and far away.'
"Before the gate which opens on the lighted way to peace, the angel stood alone and said: `Lord of my life, the way of revelation is the way of manifested life: the path of dark illusion leads to the light which scatters every shadow. I seek to tread the lighted way which leads back to thy Presence. As yet that way is dark. What shall I do?' God said, `Draw near and enter into thine own light, and in that light, see Light.'
"Before the gateway of each newborn day, which holds within its sealed hours ordered responsibility, each morn I stand. I cry aloud: `Lord of my life, how can I do the duty of this day yet seek detachment? Meet every need yet free myself from ties and bonds?' God said: `The sun draws near and vivifies the earth. Naught can it take from out the earth. Live likewise. Give and ask naught!'"
Brother of mine, gather around you afresh those who are seeking thus the lighted Way and learn to give them of your wisdom and to share with them that which you possess. This is for you a duty in the coming months. This will not be easy for you but will further the detaching process. Begin with those you have at hand and those who know and love you and together set ajar the door to which seekers may find their way and, through your rendered service, may find their way, perchance, to us.
February 1936
MY BROTHER:
You have had a year of strain and of much anxiety. But you have grown much thereby and there is a greater measure of freedom to be seen in you subjectively than ever before. You are learning to detach yourself from people and from the clinging hands of those demanding presences who are to be found clamouring for your attention in their lives. This freedom must increase as you endeavour to meet perfectly the need of those around you, yet at the same time you must go on with increasing power detaching yourself from their inner hold upon you. They must fail to reach you in the inner fortress of your soul. There you must learn to stand, detached and unafraid.
I cannot too strongly urge this detachment on you and beg you to live henceforth more bravely the life of the sannyasin. Two years ago I could not have spoken thus, for you would not have understood; but you have advanced far since those days, my brother, and are beginning to enter into the realm of freedom, e'en though your freedom is as yet but relative and incomplete.
Brother of mine, gather around you afresh those who are seeking thus the lighted Way and learn to give them of your wisdom and to share with them that which you possess. This is for you a duty in the coming months. This will not be easy for you but will further the detaching process. Begin with those you have at hand and those who know and love you and together set ajar the door to which seekers may find their way and, through your rendered service, may find their way, perchance, to us.
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