Steady Contemplation.
Part 1 of 4 here…
[..] Accompanying this recognition of the event by the disciples will come certain other recognitions.
1. The event is recognized as fact past all controversy. No doubt remains in the disciple’s mind.
2. There is recognized an inhibition on the disciple’s part to mention the happening to any one. Months or years may slip away before the disciple will mention it, and then only to those who are also recognized as disciples or to some fellow worker, also under the same group influence, whose right it is to know and whose right is sanctioned by the Master of the group.
3. Certain factors, governing the Master’s relation to the disciple, are gradually recognized and begin increasingly to govern the disciple’s life.
- He recognizes that his points of contact with his Master are governed by group emergency and need, and deal with his group service. It gradually dawns on him that his Master is only interested in him insofar as his ego can be used in service, through the personality on the physical plane. He begins to realize that his Master works with his soul and that it is his ego, therefore, which is en rapport with the Master and not the personal self. His problem, therefore, becomes increasingly clear and this is the problem of all disciples. It is to keep the channel of communication open between the soul and the brain, via the mind, so that when the Master seeks to communicate, He can do so at once and easily. Sometimes a Master has to wait weeks before He can get His disciple’s ear, for the channel upward is closed and the soul is not en rapport with the brain. This is especially true of the early stages of discipleship.
- He finds that it is he who shuts the door in the majority of cases through lower psychism, physical disability, and lack of mind control, and he therefore discovers that he has to work constantly and ceaselessly with his lower self.
- He finds that one of the first things he has to do is to learn to discriminate between:
- His own soul’s vibration.
- The vibration of the group of disciples with whom he is associated.
- The vibration of the Master.
All three are different and it is easy to confuse them, especially at first. It is a safe rule for aspirants to assume when they contact a high vibration and stimulus, that it is their own soul contacting them, the Master in the heart, and not run off with the idea (so flattering to their pride and personality) that the Master is endeavoring to reach them.
- He finds also that it is not the habit of the Masters to flatter or to make promises to their disciples. They are too busy and too wise, nor do They trouble Themselves to tell Their disciples that they are destined for high office, or that they are Their intermediaries and that the Hierarchy is depending upon them. Ambition, love of power, and the self-sufficiency which characterizes many mental types test out the struggling aspirant, and he gets from his personality all that he needs in that line. These qualities delude him and lead him astray, forcing him onto a pedestal from which eventually he must descend. The Masters say nothing to feed pride in Their disciples, nor do They speak words to them which could foster in Their chelas the spirit of separateness.
- The disciple soon finds also that the Masters are not easily accessible. They are busy men, ill able to spare even a few moments in which to communicate with the disciple, and only in emergencies, in the case of a beginner on the Path of Discipleship, do the Masters expend the necessary energy with which to get en rapport. With old and tried disciples, the contacts are more frequent, being more easily achieved and bearing more rapid results. It should be remembered, however, that the newer the disciple the more he demands attention and considers he should have it. The old and more experienced servers seek to fulfil their obligations and carry forward their work with as little contact with the Masters as possible. They seek to save the Master’s time and frequently consider an interview with the Master as demonstrating failure on their part, and producing, therefore, regret that they have had to take the Master’s precious time, and force Him to use His energy in order to safeguard the work from error and the disciple perhaps from harm. The aim of every high disciple is to carry out his work and be en rapport with the spiritual force center which is his group, and thus in steady touch with the Master, without interviews and phenomenal contacts. Many only expect to contact their Master once a year, usually at the time of the full moon in May.
- He finds also that the relationship between Master and disciple is governed by law and that there are definite stages of contact and grades in the desired rapport. These can be enumerated, but cannot be enlarged upon.
1. The stage wherein a disciple is contacted by the Master through another chela on the physical plane. This is the stage of “Little Chelaship”.
2. The stage wherein a higher disciple directs the chela from the egoic level. This is the stage called a “Chela in the Light”.
3. The stage wherein, according to necessity, the Master contacts the chela through:
a. A vivid dream experience.
b. symbolic teaching.
c. using of a thought form of the Master.
d. A contact in meditation.
e. A definite, remembered interview in the Master’s Ashram.
This is definitely the stage of Accepted Disciple.
4. The stage wherein, having shown his wisdom in work, and his appreciation of the Master’s problem, the disciple is taught how (in emergencies) to attract the Master’s attention and thus draw on His strength and knowledge and advice. This is an instantaneous happening, and practically takes none of the Master’s time. This stage has the peculiar name of “a chela on the Thread, or Sutratma.”
5. The stage wherein he is permitted to know the method whereby he may set up a vibration and a call which will entitle him to an interview with the Master. This is only permitted to those trusted chelas who can be depended upon not to use the knowledge for anything except the need of the work; no personality reason or distress would prompt them to use it. At this stage the disciple is called “one within the aura.”
6. The stage wherein the disciple can get his Master’s ear at any time. He is in close touch always. This is the stage wherein a chela is being definitely prepared for an immediate initiation or, having taken initiation, is being given specialized work to do in collaboration with his – . At this stage he is described as “one within his Master’s heart.”
There is a later stage of a still closer identification, where there is a blending of the Lights, but there is no adequate paraphrase of the terms used to cover the name. The six stages above mentioned have been paraphrased for occidental understanding and must in no way be considered as translations of the ancient terms.
Such are some of the teachings concerning disciples and their recognitions and it is valuable for aspirants to ponder them. It should be realized that though good character, high ethics, sound morality and spiritual aspiration are basic and unalterable requirements, yet more is needed if the right to enter the Master’s Ashram is to be granted.
To be admitted to the privilege of being an outpost of His consciousness requires an unselfishness and a self-surrender for which few are prepared; to be drawn within His aura so that the disciple’s aura forms an integral part of the group aura presupposes a purity which few can cultivate; to have the ear of the Master and to earn the right to contact Him at will necessitates a sensitiveness and a fine discrimination which few would care to purchase at the price. Yet a door stands wide open to all who care to come, and no earnest, sincere soul, who meets the requirements, ever receives a rebuff.
There is no question at this time that those who are in any way advanced in evolution are having that evolution hastened as never before in the history of the world. The crisis is so grave and the need of the world so great, that those who can contact the inner side of life, who can even in a small way sense the vibrations of the senior disciples and the Elder Brothers of the race, and who can bring down the ideals, as known on the higher planes, are being very carefully, forcefully, yet strenuously trained. It is necessary that they should be enabled to act accurately and adequately as transmitters and interpreters.
I would like to point out certain factors and methods which should be borne in mind in connection with inspirational writing and mediumship, and which have a bearing on the writing of such books as The Secret Doctrine, the Scriptures of the world and those transmitted volumes which potently affect the thought of the race. The interpretation of the process arises from many causes; the status of the writers can be over-estimated or not sufficiently appreciated; the terms used by the transmitter being dependent upon his educational status may also be incorrect or give rise to misinterpretation. It is necessary, therefore, that some understanding of the process should be found.
Some transmitters work entirely on astral levels and their work is necessarily part of the great illusion. They are unconscious mediums and are unable to check the source from whence the teachings come; if they claim to know that source, they are frequently in error. Some receive teaching from discarnate entities of no higher evolution, and frequently of lower, than themselves. Some are simply abstracting the content of their own subconsciousnesses, and hence we have the beautiful platitudes, couched in Christian phraseology, and tinctured by the mystical writings of the past, which litter the desks of disciples, working consciously on the physical plane.
Some work only on mental levels, learning, through telepathy, that which the Elder Brothers of the race and their own souls have to impart. They tap the sources of knowledge stored in the egoic consciousness. They become aware of the knowledge stored up in the brains of disciples on the same ray as themselves. Some of them, being outposts of the Master’s consciousness, become also cognizant of His thought. Some use several of the methods, either consciously or unconsciously. When they work consciously, it is then possible for them to correlate the teaching given and, under the Law of Correspondences and through the use of symbols (which they see through mental clairvoyance), to ascertain the accuracy of their teaching. Those who work unconsciously (I refer not to astral psychics), can use only trust and discrimination until they are further evolved. They must accept nothing that contradicts facts imparted through the Lodge’s great Messengers, and they must be ready to superimpose upon the modicum of knowledge which they possess a further structure of greater extent.
Each generation now should produce its seers. I like the word spelt “see-ers”, for to see is to know. The fault of all of you is that you see not; you perceive an angle, a point of vision, a partial aspect of the great fabric of truth, but all that lies hidden behind is occult to your three dimensional vision. It is necessary for those who want to act as true transmitters and intermediaries between the Knowers of the race and the “little ones” that they keep their eyes on the horizon and seek thus to extend their vision; that they hold steadily the inner realization that they already have and seek to increase its scope; that they hold on to the truth that all things are headed towards the revelation, and that the form matters not. They must seek pre-eminently to be dependable instruments, unswayed by passing storms. They must endeavor to remain free from depression, no matter what occurs; liberated from discouragement; with a keen sense of proportion; a right judgment in all things; a regulated life; a disciplined physical body and a whole-hearted devotion to humanity. Where these qualities are present, the Masters can begin to use Their destined workers; where they are absent, other instruments must be found.
Some people learn at night and regularly bring over into their physical brain consciousness the facts they need to know and the teachings they should transmit. Many methods are tried, suited to the nature of the aspirant or chela. Some have brains that act telepathically as transmitters. I deal with safer and rarer methods which utilize the mental vehicle as the intermediary between the soul and the brain, or between the teacher and the disciple. Methods of communication on the astral level, such as the ouija board, the planchette pencil, automatic writing, the direct voice and statements made by the temporarily obsessed medium are not utilized as a rule by chelas, though the direct voice has had its use at times. The higher mental methods are more advanced and surer – even if rarer.
