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Discipleship in the New Age II - Teachings on Initiation - Part II |
Two things must now happen: the imparted theories which have
guided the disciple's thinking hitherto must become practical experiences, and there must
be such a shift in consciousness that the present vision must become the past experience
and a new and deeper and entirely different recognition must take the place of the old
goals. Here comes, consequently, a complete test-out of past hierarchical methods and
modes of work. Has what the past has given proved an adequate preparation for that which
will be the methods and propositions of the future? Have the foundations of truth been so
securely settled that the coming superstructure will be based on such a sound reality that
it can stand the impact of the new incoming solar and cosmic forces? Will the past work of
the Hierarchy stand? Such are the problems with which the initiate-teachers are today
faced. Just as the attitudes of the disciple to daily living and to world happenings are totally unlike that of the average man because he is living increasingly in the world of meaning, so the initiate-disciple develops an attitude to living processes and to world events which is based on character (necessarily), interpreted in the world of meaning but to them he brings a different light to bear and a motivation - based on newly acquired knowledge and understanding - which is entirely different to the two previous conditions. The four lines of teaching are taken for granted; the initiates supposed to have grasped and mastered all of it in some experimental and experiential measure. Now the new formulas of life must control; they are life formulas, not [256] soul formulas. New knowledge must supersede the old and it will not concern that which has hitherto been regarded as the ultimate goal. An illustration of this is the fact that to the esotericist of the past little was known of the seven Rays and the seven ray types, and naught had been given out anent Shamballa. Now the world of instructed disciples is slowly awakening to these newer values and truths and to the sevenfold source of life expression; the Will of God is going to take shape consciously in the minds of men in the future in such a manner that the old truths will condition and control as never before, but will drop automatically below the threshold of consciousness and the new emerging values and recognitions will take their place in the surface consciousness of all disciples - and their name will be Legion.
Here also I gave you a hint in stating that true humility is based on fact, on vision and on time pressures.
Have you ever thought, my brother, that one reason why you have not as yet contacted me freely in your waking consciousness and talked with me face to face may be due to the fact that the "circle" is for you only as yet a theory? Until the circle of your brothers is a fact in your everyday awareness and of prime importance in your daily life, it is not possible for you to arrive at contact with the "Point." The disciple starts on the periphery of the Master's circle and works towards the center; he is apt, however, to reverse this procedure in his consciousness. I have stated that initiation is essentially a process of revelation. For the disciple who is being prepared to take an initiation the emphasis is necessarily laid upon recognition - the intelligent recognition of what is to be revealed. This requires on his part a definite emergence from the world of glamor so that there can be a clear perception of the new vision; a new light is thrown upon old and well-known truths so that their significance is extraordinarily [258] changed, and in that changing the plan or purpose of Deity takes on an entirely fresh meaning. The inexperienced neophyte is constantly receiving revelations and recording what he regards as most unusual intuitions. All that is really happening, however, is that he is becoming aware of soul knowledge, whereas for the initiate the intuition is ever the revelation of the purpose of Shamballa and the working out, both from the short range and the long range angle, of the divine Plan. The revelation which is accorded at initiation is given to the soul, recorded by the "mind held steady in the light" and then later - with greater or less rapidity - transferred to the brain. You can see, therefore, the true intention of the system of Raja Yoga as it trains the mind to be receptive eventually to the Spiritual Triad. You can also see why for centuries the emphasis of the Teachers of the Ageless Wisdom has been upon the necessity for discrimination, particularly where the probationary disciple is concerned. |
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