SECTION TWO - PERSONAL INSTRUCTIONS TO DISCIPLES (Continued) - PART 8
Direct knowledge of your fellowmen, so that you understand them and can prepare yourself for fuller service in your next life cycle. The way to that is through love, plus mental study of esoteric psychology which you can gain through a study of A Treatise on the Seven Rays.
Direct knowledge of the inner group of workers with whom you are affiliated. These include your Tibetan brother, your teacher and your friend, and they include your co-disciples. I would ask you to endeavour to get in touch with them through meditation and by going out to them in love and an attitude of helpfulness. You could do much for F.C. D. from the quiet of your room. I might add, that he is seeking to help you physically and to strengthen you with life (where'er you live that life). Seek also to be in touch with him. May I add that my blessing and my thought rest constantly upon you.
NOTE: It is apparent from his first instruction that the Tibetan knew from the start that K.E.S. had only a few years to live. In his last instruction he uses the phrase "where'er you live that life." K.E.S. died a few months later.
To O-L. R. D.
August 1935
MY BROTHER:
You have for some years been actively and consciously working at your spiritual unfoldment. Prior to this, your life tendency was towards the light, with intervals of forgetfulness and engrossment in the things of every day existence. There was, in these earlier times, but little of steadfast, coordinated purpose. Now your insistence upon making the transition out of the lower into the higher life, and your pledge to your soul that you will recognise no impediment or handicap, has been noted. Assistance, therefore, will be given to you, and I shall be glad, through suggestion and watchful cooperation, to aid you on your way. I would remind you at this point also that, under the laws of the New Age, such assistance is given only to those who have transcended selfish aspiration and have lost sight of their own progress in the desire to serve. The Law of Service, as you know, is the governing law of the future and embodies the new technique. In past ages, it was the service of one's own soul (with the emphasis upon one's own individual salvation) which engrossed the attention of the aspirant. Naught else was considered. Then came the period wherein the service of the Master and also of one's own soul was considered of dominant interest; the Master was served and duty to Him emphasised because thereby the salvation of the individual was aided. Now a new note is sounding forth—the note of growth through the service of the race, and through a cultivated self-forgetfulness.
[552]
You are in this group of my disciples, as are all the others, in order to study a mode of service for which you are well adapted—the service and art of healing. All that occurs in your life, my brother, and all preparation that you may make for future lives and all that you seek to do should, for the future, be made subservient to that basic idea of service through healing.
The best way in which you can develop the needed understanding and technique is through meditation. To you, the way of meditation is of no profound difficulty. In earlier lives you established the line of approach. You can orient yourself easily upon that way. For you, however, there must come (during the next two years) the mastering of the technique whereby:
1. You learn to utilize the meditation period in order to bring about an intense focussing upon the subject of healing, its laws and methods.
2. You master the technique whereby you can project your thought consciously in such a manner that healing can take place where and when needed.
In the one case, you train yourself to be a "point of contact" for the healing forces of the planet. In the other, you train yourself to be a "channel of distribution." Ponder on these two objectives, but expect not yet to be able to reach them. In the work of the disciple, the time element counts not. Growth, deep rooted and established, is the goal, and growth, if sound and good, is slow.
In connection with your own character development, seek to bring about two things:
1. A decentralisation and self-forgetfulness which will offset and negate that spiritual diffidence and dissatisfaction with yourself that does colour much of your thought.
2. A tenderness which will grow out of an increasing capacity to identify yourself with other people and their problems.
Life has held for you much of difficulty during the past three months; many adjustments, inner and outer, have been required. Detachment has been the lesson which you are learning [553] and indicates to you the way of release. Like all disciples, in training on the Path of Accepted Discipleship or preparing to be so trained, much has had to be broken in your life in order to establish the new rhythms. This process is still to be continued and for it you must be prepared. You have, however, adequate light and sufficient strength to enable you to tread the way of the disciple. You can count upon yourself and upon your own divinity.
I commend to you the careful keeping of your spiritual diary. In writing in it, day by day, do so with the recollection that your ability to express spiritual thoughts must be used for the helping of others. "The heart knoweth its own development. The onlooker tastes the fruit thereof." This thought, of ancient import, will mean much to you. Ponder on it.
I suggest the following meditation and breathing exercises.... It may take a little while to accustom yourself to it but, given time, you should get real benefit therefrom....
Then, focussing yourself in the head and remembering that you are the soul, do your meditation work with an in creased intensity and purity of purpose. Give about fifteen minutes to this work.
Then, give fifteen minutes to a close pondering upon the thoughts of healing. You could, if you so choose, pick out certain key thoughts from my words and make them the subject of your close attention. Upon them make and keep notes.
Then, give five minutes to some definite work in helping someone to a greater light and freedom, remembering that healing can be on all planes.
I would ask you to go slowly and do all this work most thoughtfully.
March 1936
BROTHER OF MINE:
In establishing, as I do, a close and more enduring contact each time I communicate with one of my disciples, I feel that until later in the year there is little need to change your work. You have been relatively so short a time in the group, and there has not been time, therefore, for the meditation, which I assigned [554] you at my last communication, to perform its intended function. Your grasp of teaching is so quick and so intuitive, and your mind processes are so apt rapidly to grip essentials, that it is vitally necessary that there should always supervene in your case a time for quiet reflection for the assimilation of the recognised truths, and for their incorporation into the daily life.
This group is today, for the first time, a completed group unit. The time for fusion and for blending and for the permanent establishing of a correct inter-relation must be prolonged, however. I definitely ask you to hold the group in the strength of your love and thus aid its progress forward....
Particularly, however, do I ask you to take peculiar care and interest in connection with the Full Moon Contact for the establishing of a rapid and easy rapport at this sacred time, not only with me, but with your co-disciples. This will do more to release this group and to align them with myself and with what I represent than any other one thing. It will aid in blending them together in the bond of understanding. In this particular work you can help materially, my brother and my friend of olden time, because of your natural "facility in contact," regarded as a service that you can render to the group.
Go forward with strength, love and understanding and let not the lower reasoning mind deter you from anticipating and expecting great things. You have strength and power and a dynamic will, my brother and friend. These are divine assets. As you yourself well realise, you hinder their divine expression through a failure to love enough. Be not hard, but learn in tenderness to walk with others. Thereby all that you have becomes constructive. Give loving strength.
September 1936
MY BROTHER AND FRIEND OF LONG AGO:
Will you take the following ideas into your consciousness and ponder on them during the coming six months, seeking earnestly their subjective value and their objective realisation:
1st month—The Way of Love is the lighted Way.
2nd month—The will-to-power must be galvanised by love.
3rd month—Each pilgrim on the Way is worn and tired. [555] All are sincere. Forget this not.
4th month—Each life crisis can lead to extended vision or to a separating wall.
5th month—The time is short. Only the thoughts which blend and fuse can last. The isolated Way is dark.
6th month—Let the radiance of the heart lead thee to peace. Desire earnestly the loving, radiant heart which showers peace and healing strength on others.
I would ask you, my brother, to study all that I have said in my various writings on the relation of the head centre and the heart centre, and on the relation of will and love. Write then a paper for the helping of your fellow servers.
February 1937
MY BROTHER AND MY FRIEND:
The past six months have produced in you a definite orientation towards your next expansion of consciousness, and of this you are yourself aware. It is this state of awareness which is of great importance to you. It would also be of value to you if you could—clearly and in words—express what you believe (in your highest and deepest moments) is the next step which lies immediately ahead of you. As a soul, functioning through a personality, what is the next recognition or realisation which your soul seeks to have your brain consciousness register? To aid you in doing this, permit me to formulate three questions which may be of assistance in this effort to express clearly something perhaps only dimly sensed:
1. What exactly is the vision, as I see it, in connection with my immediate unfoldment?
2. What will be the practical outcome in my daily, outer life of the materialising of this vision?
3. What will be the quality of the experience when I have made it fact in my mind and brain consciousness?
You see, my brother, you are essentially the occultist, being a first ray soul and working through a fifth ray personality. This is a combination of great value but it carries with it its limitations because it is entirely along one major line of energy, [556] 1-3-5-7, and this is intensified by the fact that your mental body is on the third ray and your physical body is on the first. This last force type utilised by you in the physical body runs counter to the usual rule but with disciples the rule is not unchangeable. You will see, therefore, how the line of the will or power energy, intelligently applied, dominates your equipment in this life. Your astral body is on the sixth ray; this constitutes your "door of entrance" to the major ray of the solar system, and to the Heart of God and of your fellowmen. In your next incarnation, you will need to balance this condition, and the balancing will only take place as is desired, if the impetus for it originates through the potency of the love which your astral body can succeed in expressing in this incarnation. Therefore, for the remainder of your present life, the right unfoldment and the achieved control of the love nature, as your sentient astral body can express it, is of paramount importance. It is essential for your rapid integration into the hierarchy of souls and servers.
You have done much of mind preparation and of personality coordination. Your fifth ray personality makes the reception of illumination easy, for your intellect and your intuition could be put en rapport with facility. You have achieved much that others are still struggling to achieve. It is your astral body now that should receive the largest measure of your attention and then through it the world of true being will open out before you and you will add to knowledge, wisdom, and to intelligent understanding, its practical but mystical aspect, the vision which is motivated by love. It is your astral body which presents you with your major problem.
As we train disciples, we seek to develop in the occultist mystical awareness and, in the mystic, practical occult knowledge. Your vision can be on high levels, and that is where you, as a soul, must consciously walk. That vision must, however, be brought down to a lower level of consciousness. The area of your natural being which is as yet the most inhibited, is that of emotional reaction. Be not afraid of emotional devastation, my brother. Some disciples might ask me what I mean by that. I need not explain to you, for you will recognise that whereof I speak. I enlarge not here upon the hidden significance which is apparent to you.
[557]
It interested me to see that you discerned the seed thought which was intended to arouse your resistance. It was, for you, the most important of them all. The idea is not negative, as you suppose. The personalities of the "weary pilgrims on the Way" are indeed tired and worn. Humanity today is very weary. The vehicles have been used for many cycles and their potency (in a positive sense) is wearing out, which is the approaching goal. For long cycles, the soul has been negative in its effect upon the personality, and the personal equipment has been the positive expression of the spiritual man. Then that lower aggregation of forces begins to wear down; its vibration weakens and, because much of the consciousness is still identified with the body nature, the disciple is conscious of fatigue, pain, distress and a deep weariness. It has been the "personality fatigue" of the human race which partially was responsible for the excessive misery complex, the sense of inferiority, and the pining-for-release psychology of the Christian presentation of truth.
As still further progress is made, the joy of the soul begins to pour through the worn and weary vehicles, and gradually the positive nature of the soul takes hold. When this is strong enough and the man is sufficiently decentralised, it is the soul quality which will persist in spite of physical limitations, and the inner sense of weariness will then be carefully negated and consciously and intelligently transmuted. There will be the recognition of personality distress but also a planned effort to transcend it. This process of "divine imposition" gradually brings in the healing force and thus perfect health in some life is the reward of the initiate's effort to live as a soul and not to feel as a personality. It is this divine pouring in of the soul's quality of life which is the true key to self-induced healing.
Will you remember, what I have elsewhere pointed out, that:
1. Happiness is the goal of personality desire and its most desired sentient reaction.
2. Joy is the quality of soul life and that quality can be imposed upon the personality, thereby superseding happiness and imparting the gift of truth.
[558]
3. Bliss is the nature of the spiritual Being and is, in its turn and in due time, imposed upon the rhythm of the soul. It is the gift of synthesis.
You see clearly from the angle of mental observation, acutely and intelligently applied. Now learn to feel as clearly that which you see, both the good and that which is not so good, and love steadily in both directions. As yet, you love not where you criticise. This you must learn to do and that love will shed new light on that which you perceive and you will learn to feel. Life will then open up before you in new rhythms of service and of usefulness.
It is not my request that the three questions I put to you earlier in this instruction should be answered by you for any eye but yours and mine to see. Should you, however, care to answer them in such form that they may be of service to your group brothers, that is entirely your own affair.
Another hint I give you and a suggestion which only you will understand. There are three people that you should take to your heart and love. As yet you love them not. One loves you not. Two seek your love. Learn to love all three, not theoretically from a high, cold, mental altitude, but down on the planes of earth; love them with your heart. Life will then change for you. And, furthermore, my brother, love them not in obedience to my hint or through a display of the magnanimous spirit, or as the result of intellectual reasoning, but because you love. Two out of these three have much to give to you, and can lead you with them along the Way. I mention not their names, nor have I told anyone who they are. It is your own affair, not mine, nor theirs, but yours.
I give you now three phrases upon which to meditate during the next six months. During the first three months will you meditate upon them within the head consciousness, and during the last three months will you repeat the meditation but this time within the heart and seek to feel their significance. Thus will realisation come.
Phrase I.
Like a golden butterfly, which flies towards the sun, I find myself poised upon the lotus petal of the earth. [559] Held by the breath of love I hover. I stay a little moment and then I fly into the golden pathway which leads into the sun.
Phrase II.
There is no darkness and no fog. There is no night nor day. There are no storms nor peace; no rest, nor strife. Only the changeless love of God, which works towards good.
Phrase III.
Down from the mountain top I come, bringing the light of love, the love of God. Into the chalice of all forms I meet, I pour this love which light confers, this love which life sustains. I see the love of life divine pour through the form, my own and others. It heals and soothes. Thus is the task performed. Thus is a man of earth transformed into a Son of God.
In summarising the ray qualities with which you have to deal in fitting yourself for progress in world service, they might be stated to be as follows:
1. The soul ray—the Ray of Will or Power.
2. The personality ray—the Ray of Concrete Science.
3. The ray of the mental body—the Ray of Intelligent Activity.
4. The ray of the astral body—the Ray of Devotion.
5. The ray of the physical body—the Ray of Will or Power.
For your reassurance and that of your co-disciples, I would like to point out that the group work of healing can be started, if the group continues with its work of integration and grows in love and understanding. Continue with the group meditation and with the work of the Full Moon Approach, paying close attention to the latter. Learn the way into the Ashram of the second ray through the open (though secret) door of your own heart.
NOTE: In the March 1936 instruction, the Tibetan told the disciple that he needed to learn "in tenderness to walk with others." This he failed to learn and temporarily at least his work in the Ashram is in abeyance.
[560]
To S. R. D.
August 1936
MY BROTHER OF OLDEN TIME:
One of the things which is strongest in your consciousness is the realisation of our ancient link and tie. You have known for years that such a tie exists. You have oft wondered of what use it is to you. You have reached middle life and more without having discovered to what purpose is this realisation or what you can do to be of definite service, for, my brother, you must (for the remainder of your life) be of greater service than heretofore. If you are a disciple, you must bear in mind that you are such because of a capacity to serve and not because of any karmic links. You and L.R.U. are karmically related to me and, therefore, karmically related to each other. Unless such a relation works out in service to your fellowmen, it is of no use. It is service to be rendered selflessly and with sacrifice that is your lesson, as it is hers also.
It is not for me to tell you how to serve or in what field it is to be rendered. I have watched you grope your way into increased usefulness during the past three years, and I know well your determination that naught shall stop you. Remember, my brother, that we are oft hindered by the unexpected, and not by that which we anticipated.
If you should feel in months to come, a lessening of contact with me, be not deceived by the illusion. This recognition will in reality be based upon a deepening mental grasp of truth, and upon a lessening of attention to astral sensitivity. That, it is essential that you outgrow. You are over-sensitive astrally, and you need increased polarisation upon the mental plane. This will lead to two things:
1. A firmer grasp upon the lower self by the soul, so that your soul will mean more to you.
2. A deeper integration into your group of kindred souls, with a consequent grasp of group contacts and less interest in the personality, plus less interest in your teacher, the Tibetan. I, your Tibetan brother, am interested in the group but not in the individual. This is the first lesson [561] which I seek to teach you. Work strenuously at contacting your fellow disciples. Think far less of me and of your relation to me. Speak not of me to anyone at any time for a year. But at the time of the full moon, seek to contact, establish and strengthen your link in relation:
a. To your group brothers.
b. To L.R.U.
c. Karmically with myself.
Then for the remainder of the month, and until the next full moon, ponder on the group work and not on the Tibetan. I fancy, my brother, that you will promptly see the wisdom of this.
You are naturally a teacher, and a teacher in training; you can teach and should teach. Seize every opportunity so to teach and to gather together those who can thus be served. Choose quality and not quantity, and teach from the angle of knowledge, carefully thought out in meditation. In this sentence, I give you the clue to your meditation work....
After your meditation, say the following obligation:
"I play my part with stern resolve, with earnest aspiration; I look above; I help below: I dream not, nor I rest; I toil; I serve; I reap; I pray; I mount the cross; I tread the Way; I tread upon the work I do; I mount upon my slain self; I forego peace; I forfeit rest, and in the stress of pain, I lose myself and find my Self, and enter into peace."
For your seed thoughts for the next few months, will you use the following?
1st month—The mind reveals the Real.
2nd month—The Light is dual. It shows forth that which is not seen. It sheds its rays upon the daily way.
3rd month—All that is, shows forth some seed idea.
4th month—A thought of God, some real idea, must reveal itself within my heart.
5th month—The world must be saved by ideas.
You will note, my brother, what is my objective in this initial training to which I ask you to subject yourself. Let memake it clear to you. I seek to see you polarised more definitely upon the mental plane. I seek to see you less committed to the attitude of the devotee, and more impersonal, more free to serve for the sake of service and not to serve because of your devotion to a teacher, a cause or a belief. Is not this also in line with your deepest and highest idea?
March 1937
MY BROTHER AND MY FRIEND:
The lessons of true humility and reticence are not as easy to learn as might appear, particularly when the inferiority complex is as strong in you as is the case. It is so easy to confound a natural self-depreciation with true spiritual humility, but you are learning fast.
One thing I seek to point out to you: humility must always accompany a spiritual self-respect which forbids a disciple to stand anywhere upon the Path, except in his rightful place. The fact is that discipleship warrants recognition. There is no false pride in knowing that one is a disciple. This I point out to you and to all disciples. Recognition of status, however, is purely a personal matter; it should be faced and accepted and then followed bysilence. What is, therefore, the lesson I seek today to give to you and which I preface by the above words?
Simply this: Recognising your link, and knowing that your ancient aspiration is bearing, and will bear, fruit. Take your eyes off yourself, take them off the personalities of your co-disciples, and take them away even from me, your friend and teacher of several lives, and forget everything but the need of those you daily meet. Then serve. Shut the door upon each thought of self, and upon those reactions which may be engendered by your group brothers; shut them also upon those devotional aspirations which you direct so oft to me, and cast them from you. Then with a tender heart of love and pity, serve all you meet, knowing that "each heart hides its own bitterness." This constitutes your major lesson on the Path at this time, my brother—the lesson of utter self-forgetfulness. Forget the past and all that it brought to you of pain and of joy; forget the personal self and all that it has to give or what it withholds; forget that which you said or has been said anent [563] you and your ways, and seek simply to serve. Serve with a joyous heart and equilibrium.
One of your great limitations is over-sensitivity. Your outer shell needs hardening; you must learn to tune out and to leave unrecognised that which might disturb your life of service. The proverb runs: "They say. What do they say? Let them say." For you this holds much truth. Disciples waste so much time in distress over the words, thoughts and deeds of other disciples and thus time is lost that could be more constructively employed. Do you not know that the minutes mount into hours, as the disciple wrestles with himself in order to regain equilibrium? Ask A.A.B. She knows the meaning of those lost hours and can help you there. Remember, also, brother of old, that all suffering along the lines of super-sensitivity indicates self-centredness, and this in turn militates against the needed inclusiveness which will eventually make this group work successful in service. I point this out, because you have had to wrestle along these lines during the past six months; your major weakness is this sensitivity, which leads to an undue focussing upon the little self.
I would ask you to continue your study along the lines indicated in my last communication, and for the next six months to deal with the theme of illumination through ideas. You are beginning to grasp a little the significance of ideas. Now consider what these ideas can do for you, illumining your mind and enriching, therefore, your service. All that you learn must be related to service. Therein lies your particular lesson. You have equipment; you have adequate outlook; you have a mind which can be illumined; you can teach and you can serve. With this you have not yet adequately begun. You must learn to serve as a soul, and not as a high grade personality. Herein I give you a hint, and you care enough, I know, to take it. As to your meditation, carry forward as before. I make no change in any way.
September 1937
MY BROTHER:
Only a brief word this time, but it will suffice.
Release the hidden beauty which lies in real self-forgetfulness, [564] and let your devotion (tried and proved) and your sincerity stabilise your group. Be not preoccupied with the non-essentials of personal living. Be generous of yourself and time, and give to your group brothers with a clear impersonality which asks nothing for the separated self. This is not yet the case.
January 1938
BROTHER OF OLD:
During the next few months of quiet study and preparation, I would ask you to take the ideas, cited below, into your meditation and to reflect deeply upon them, making them in this way distinctive characteristics of your life. I have a definite purpose in mind as I give them to you.
1st month—The present embodies all the past. The future depends upon the clear seeing of the immediate vision.
2nd month—Forget the past and press anew into the glory of the Coming One.
3rd month—Let silence reign as the result of a heart free from self-questioning, and not the result of the shutting of a door.
4th month—Let humility and strength be your gift to others.
5th month—Certain treasures are too valuable and frail to be exposed to others' sight. Keep them within the locked seclusion of thy heart.
6th month—Give of thine uttermost on every plane, and give again. And thus, in giving, gain.
June 1938
MY BROTHER:
There is little that anyone can do when tests and deep distress and anxiety overwhelm a disciple except to stand by in love, send healing thoughts and evoke the inner strength of the soul that the vehicles can be used. You have before you some weeks and months of selfless service. Give of the service with no thought of self and in a spirit of joy; give of your [565] strength and love with no self-reference in your heart or words and no thought in your mind of the little self. I give you no set study work at this time, but I will give you some new seed thoughts and would ask you to ponder upon them in deep reflection. Then each month will you embody the results of these reflections in a paper which can be very brief but which will be your elucidation of the intended idea? Did you notice, my brother, the value and the significance of the seed thought I gave you for the sixth month? It gave you the key for your immediate service.
First month . . . Let the song of the soul be sounded forth by me, and the clear high notes bring peace and joy to others. My word today is Joy.
Second month . . . Let the quality of the soul be seen in me, the quality of love. It is a love which visions not the little forms of self, but the One Self in all. My quality today is self Forgetfulness.
Third month . . . Let the word of my soul go forth in strength to others. That word for me, in this short period of my life, is Understanding.
Fourth month . . . Let the vision of my mind be clear and sure; its outline true and real. That vision is one of mankind's need, of suffering and of pain, for it is there in all the world. The key for me today is Service.
Fifth month . . . Let the glory of the Lord Who is my life, be seen. That glory is the glory of the One. Distinction and all differences fade away. The word that is for me the meaning of that life is Identification.
Sixth month . . . Let the actions of the soul be the motives of my daily life. I am that soul and unto that I dedicate myself. That soul is one in all my fellowmen and I am one with them. The keynote of the action of the soul isSacrifice.
[566]
A real understanding of the purpose of these thoughts will cause basic transformations in your life and attitudes, leading to a new ability to serve.
In connection with your rays, my brother, it is of interest to you to know, as I have earlier told you, that your soul ray is the second and your personality ray is the sixth, both these rays being along the one line of 2.4.6. It is necessary that there should be some conscious and definite rounding out. This over-balance is accentuated also by the fact that your mental body is upon the fourth ray, thus completing the direct representation of this line of divine energy. As you will naturally see, this complicates your problem considerably, because the line of least resistance, when it is as powerful as it is in your case, becomes a definite hindrance.
Like a few others in my group, your astral body is not found upon the usual rays. These are normally either the sixth or the second, but you have a first ray astral body and the focus of your personality power is found in your emotional nature. This is a residue of a sixth ray personality in your last incarnation, which was one of great potency and wilfully actuated by what I might call the will aspect of devotion. I know that you will comprehend that to which I refer.
Your physical body helps in the balancing of your predominantly second ray nature, for it is upon the third ray and, as you know, the first and third rays are along the same major line of force. The astral and physical bodies being so closely allied, accounts for the dominance of your devotional will in your physical expression. Ponder upon the above and later, we will deal with your problem more definitely. Your rays, therefore, are:
1. The soul ray—the second Ray of Love-Wisdom.
2. The personality ray—the sixth Ray of Devotion.
3. The ray of the mental body—the fourth Ray of Harmony through Conflict.
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.
[567]
January 1939
BROTHER OF MINE:
One of the things which you have done in this group of disciples is to act as a stable, loving, integrating force. This you have steadily done during the past months and your group brothers should be aware of it. Continue with this integrating work.
Once in the recent history of the group who compose part of my Ashram I gave a certain injunction to a brother. I told him to go forward with his group work in forgetfulness of me. I forbade him to take me into his mind or to ponder upon me as his friend, his teacher and his brother on the Way. His pondering upon me and the offering of his devotion as a result in no way affected the facts. I was his brother, his teacher and his friend. It was a hard saying, and he suffered much in the effort to meet my requirements. Why did I give to him this suggestion, amounting almost to a command? Because his loving estimation of me and his belief that I was in constant touch with him was becoming a detriment to independent spiritual life, his own life as a soul; his devotion to service was based on his devotion to me and he spent much time studying my words, and not enough time in serving humanity; or, if he served, he did so because I expected it and it pleased him to please me. This situation could not go on without serious danger to his progress on the Path.
He forgot three things: First, that his soul and my soul were one soul and that (on the soul plane) we were equals. The difference between us was one of capacity for soul expression in the three worlds. Ponder on this thought. Secondly, that I am much occupied with world work and, with the exception of the time of the Full Moon Approaches I cannot and do not occupy myself with any of you, as individuals. I am not seeking to get in touch with you, except once a month and then only with the group as a whole. I am not engaged ever in speaking words of wisdom and of cheer to any of you, except in one or two cases of dire need and difficulty, such as have not arisen in connection with any of you lately. Thirdly, that there is a potent thoughtform of me upon the astral plane, built by the thousands who have read my many words, and whose thoughts [568] at such times are turned towards me in gratitude or criticism, in devotion or dislike. Thoughts, brother of mine, are things; they are creative, creating and created entities, and every time anyone sees this thoughtform of me and responds to it, he increases its strength and power. From its magnetic aura, my disciples and followers must free themselves, for it is but man's thought of me, and not I myself. It can side-track and delude you; it can speak good words of mediocre cheer and encouragement, but they are not my words, and this I would have you bear in mind. Your sixth ray personality and your first ray astral body make you prone to this beautiful yet deceptive force, flowing from an illusory form.
So, my brother and my friend, I would ask you to concentrate on three things during the next few months and to leave me out of the picture altogether, except at the time of the Full Moon Approach, which is a group activity lasting five days, as you know. These three things are:
1. An effort to achieve a deepened and a more direct contact with your soul through a focussed alignment and the understanding and effective use of your fourth ray mental body.
2. The development of a greater spirit of service and upon a wider scale. Your service at present is vertical and concerns those who are with you upon the upward way—your group brothers, your personal friends, and yourself. For you serve yourself unduly, my brother, and at your stage of unfoldment this should not be. You render to yourself too much service, too much thought, too much care and too many things. Your service should become horizontal and expandingly inclusive, for the hour of the world's emergency is upon us and who can meet that need but those who know! And you, my brother, know!
3. The attainment of a mental polarisation is also essential. This (on account of your having a third ray physical body) will be greatly facilitated by the institution of certain physical disciplines. See to it, however, that they are real disciplines and hurt you in their application and are not simply the elimination of those things which it hurts you not to give up.
I would have you do the group meditation but, prior to doing it, will you ponder very deeply upon the following[569] thoughts (six in number) which I have chosen for you—which my brother, I repeat, I have chosen for you. If you will do this, when the work starts in the autumn you will bring to that field of service a better equipped instrument, particularly if you apply the results of your meditation in a practical way, seeking to get the point of view of the soul as to your daily life.
First month............ The purification of astral desire.
Second month....... The purification of the physical body.
Third month........... The means whereby the brain can be rendered sensitive to the higher impression.
Fourth month......... The elimination of those habits which tend to cloud the mind and render the man insensitive to the higher contact.
Fifth month............ The nature of purification, from the angle of vision of the disciple.
Sixth month........... The formulation of those disciplines which will aid in purification.
If you will do this faithfully, in six months it will be apparent to you why I have stressed this aspect of training in your life and work.
July 1939
MY BROTHER:
You have been through deep waters during the past year, and the lesson of decentralisation is hard to learn—particularly for you, after years of self-centred life. In order to aid you in this task and to teach you that you are not the focal point of your small world, you have had to learn to walk alone. To you, it seems hard but can you not grasp the thought that the loving care and constant consideration of those connected with you, or with any person, can emphasise unwittingly your selfishness and make it hard to free yourself from the enveloping net of sensuous life—the life which lays its emphasis upon material possessions? You stand alone now and like it not. Yes, for the first time in this incarnation your soul has made what I have called "the effort to call you to the horizontal life." It is now a possibility to you, whereas hitherto you have had the vertical [570] life of spiritual aspiration and the self-centred life of personal comfort. The way of considered unselfishness lies open to you—a way you never yet have gone. By that I mean, my brother, that you have never served with a completely sacrificial spirit. You have done kind things and made small sacrifices but you have never yet served as a soul—possessing nothing and asking nothing for the separated self. This is your lesson in the coming year—the lesson of a life given to service, to distribution, to out-going, to self-forgetting, to the life of full surrender, of discipline and of relinquishment.
I could not put this to you so baldly, crudely and so definitely, did I not know your deep inner love, your true consecration and your developed devotion. I could not count upon your acceptance of your soul's demand, did I not realise that the way of the soul and the fulfilment of your soul's obligation and the shouldering of the responsibility of our service is for you subjectively paramount, even if it has to be made objectively apparent. It is of vital moment to you. It constitutes your highest aspiration. But I count upon your understanding and upon your acceptance and endeavour to meet the need and to serve, not only on the subtler planes and levels of awareness, but on the outer plane of tangible, material, physical living.
I would ask you to give five minutes each day, prior to the group meditation, to meditation upon one of the following terms or phrases:
Relinquishment Silence
Discipline Horizontal living
Self-effacement Freedom from self-pity
These six phrases should form the theme of your personal meditation.
You have much to give, my brother and my friend. You have a deep and vital knowledge of spiritual and esoteric truth and can, therefore, serve upon the mental plane. You have a growing love and understanding and a devotion that has carried you through to the very portal of life itself. You can, therefore, serve. You have served with efficiency upon the [571] astral plane. You have also much to give upon the physical plane when you have mastered the science of detachment, and the discipline of relinquishment. This I have told you before, but your perspective remains as yet distorted. But you are on your way to achievement and spiritual success, and for that you should raise your heart with thankfulness.
NOTE: The perspective of this disciple apparently still remains distorted. She is not actively working in the Ashram. She still is an aspirant and fails to take that decisive step which transforms an aspirant into a disciple.
TO H. S. D.
March 1934
Have you ever thought, my brother, how enthusiasm, being of an astral nature, can blur the vision? This is the first question which I seek to put before you as you join my group of disciples. The second question is: Are you willing to submit to as intensive a psychologising in your own case as that to which you seek to subject others? Your answer to both these questions will be, I know, in the affirmative, for of your intense sincerity and your one-pointed devotion there is never any question. I have sought to find an approach to you that will in no way be open to misinterpretation by your over-active, lower mind. I have asked myself the question: Can this brother be so trained that the field of subjective realisation can take the place of exterior and objective analysis? In these words I give you a clue to your whole endeavour for your first year of work with me.
You have much to give this group of disciples but it is not that which you think you have to give. The thing of beauty and of wonder which is your real contribution lies as yet deeply hidden; only a close attention to my imparted instructions, a humble willingness to readjust your own preconceived ideas will lead you into that lighted realm where the path of true service for you will appear.
[572]
All groups of disciples, seeking to work together under the guidance of a Master, have their own peculiar problems. The formative first years hold in them those testing difficulties which will try the mettle of the group, and put the endurance and the faith of the group members to a more than adequate trial. Many among your co-disciples present peculiar difficulties to me—a teacher on the second ray—because of the powerful development of the critical faculty in some of the members. (NOTE: During this world crisis the Tibetan has been caring for the disciples in the groups of several other Masters so as to release these Masters for different and more important work. A.A.B.) From this critical attitude, one or two are singularly free; the rest of you are too prone to view things externally, from the angle of the outer detail and from the standpoint of the non-essential. This acts as a real deterrent to progress. I, therefore, beg you to reserve opinion as to my techniques and objectives until you know more about them! I ask you to subject that which I have to give you to due trial, and not to analysis, for at least one year.
First, brother of mine, let me readjust your ideas as to yourself. You are a sixth ray soul, functioning through a first ray personality. In telling you this, I indicate to you your group contribution and likewise your individual problem. Your personality polarisation is predominantly mental. For you, one-pointedness both in soul matters and personality relationships is the line of least resistance; you have a one-pointed approach to problems, conditions, and situations which in many cases constitutes a one-pointed attack. I say this not from a spirit of criticism, for it is the right use of this faculty and its re-orientation which will land you before the Portal of Initiation. This I hold before you with deliberation and not as an inducement to progress or even as an encouragement but as a prophecy of a probability. You are on the Path of Discipleship. Opportunity stands before you and the Way can be trodden by you with assurance. Have no fears, my brother. Take your eyes off your personality with its dominating first ray will and your tendency to mental dominance (as you yourself have termed it) and focus your attention upon your soul problem which is to transfer your consciousness off the sixth [573] ray on to the second ray before any major initiation can take place.
My problem is, therefore, to aid you to do this—as easily and as intelligently as possible. The secret of success lies for you, in an effort to shift your focus of attention out of the head and into the heart. This, incidentally, may aid the head condition of which you complain. Your monadic ray is the second ray and hence your soul, being on a minor ray, must transfer to that line. As you know, the sequence of activity is ever the transfer of the fourth and sixth rays on to the second and the third, of the fifth and the seventh rays on to the first ray.
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