One point anent the taking of the first three major initiations, I would like to refer to at this point. It is that they have always to be taken when in a physical body and upon the physical plane, thus demonstrating initiate consciousness through both mind and brain. This is a point not oft emphasized and sometimes contradicted.

I would like also to point out with all the clarity and power at my disposal, the very deep necessity for humility and its constantly recurring expression. I refer not to an inferiority complex but to that adjusted sense of right proportion which equips its possessor with a balanced point of view as to himself, his responsibilities and his life work. This, when present, will enable him to view himself dispassionately and his presented opportunities with equal dispassion. Undoubtedly all disciples, you among them, have speculated upon your status and standing upon the Path and upon the status of your co-disciples. That is, after all, both natural and human. Some of you are too humble in the personal sense and not in the sense of true humility. By that I mean that you are so afraid of pride and bombast and an over-estimation of your capacities that you are untrue to the realities and belittle the power of your souls. R.S.U. is a case in point and needs to walk humbly in the spiritual life which involves a correct recognition of place and opportunity and not this constant emphasis upon her inability to measure up. She owes it to my group of disciples and to me to see herself as she truly is - a disciple in preparation for a certain initiation and with much wisdom at her disposal. W.D.S. suffers from an inferiority complex which drives him to an exterior enforcement of his personality upon others and expresses itself in a subtle, spiritual jealousy of those who impress themselves upon his consciousness as his spiritual superiors. He needs to accept himself as he is, to be glad that there are those who guarantee to him the possibility of future [96] unfoldment, because they have already achieved more than he has, and then to forget about himself as he accepts discipleship and finds himself so busy in true service that he has no time for ceaseless comparisons with others.

True humility is based on fact, on vision and on time pressures. Here I give you a hint and would ask you to think deeply on these three foundations of a major personality attitude which must be held and demonstrated before each initiation. I would remind you that there must always be humility in the presence of true vision.

This experiment which I am undertaking has its dangers. The disciples in a Master's Ashram upon the inner planes know somewhat the status of their co-disciples, but they do not always carry this knowledge through into the brain consciousness. This is very largely a protective factor because they could not be trusted to handle the knowledge correctly upon the physical plane. They might be super-critical of a fellow disciple who was, temporarily, not living up to his initiation objective; they might be subtly jealous or unduly self-depreciative; they might treat the disciple who is ahead of them upon the Path of Initiation as someone superior and set apart and thereby complicate his problem and his effort; they might lose a sense of proportion as to initiation itself, as to its processes and its states, and this through too close an approach to, or a misunderstanding of, another struggling initiate-disciple. The pitfalls are many and I tell you to beware. Attend to your own life and your own business. Speculate not as to the status of the other disciples in my group who are your close cooperators and co-sharers in my experiment. Cultivate the humility which is based on understanding and vision and so serve the world, your fellow disciples and serve me also - as the major point of your contact with the Hierarchy.