In the initial stages of esoteric study and spiritual discipline, one’s attention is frequently centred in the thoughts of the little self: the mind and heart are more fixated in the discovery of one’s personal stage of development. There is frequent thought of one’s progress and of the identity of one’s Master. The Hierarchy (Those who have gone beyond the human condition) appears remote at this stage and the idea of making direct contact with the Kingdom of Souls is restricted to the realm of wishful thinking alone, so attached is the mind and heart to the belief in the material things of the world. Much of what is considered spiritual appears as a dreamlike figment of the imagination and a rather distant goal.
During these early stages of endeavour, one becomes aware of recurring psychic confrontations arising from one of the three aspects of the personality. Imbued with fixed habits created over lifetimes of identification with the things of the world, one faces a barrage of discordant thoughts and feelings arising as a result of deeper realisations inherent in the soul, realisations which contradict long-term beliefs and inclinations of the three-fold personality. The clash of these two conflicting titans (Soul and Personality) are truly palpable for a period of time and continue to arise until the crises are firmly resolved. The emotional, mental (and sometimes physical) anomalies that emerge in the being from time to time are comparable perhaps to a man immersed in a happy dream while sleeping at night, when suddenly he is pulled out of sleep into the waking world, realising that the intense pleasures and delights that he experienced so lucidly in his dreams are, in fact, unreal. Awakening to the truth of esoteric teaching while still immersed in day to day living is similarly painful, and at the same time, truly inspiring on a deeper level. It is this accelerating sensitivity to the deeper levels of reality which keeps the feet of the disciple firmly planted on the Path of Ascent.
The spiritual truths that are gradually imbibed in consciousness through sincere esoteric study, deep reflective thought and steady meditation practice are geared to produce in time the state of sthita-prājna: a greater steadfastness in mind through clarity of purpose. The self-propelling ‘points of crises’ experienced along the Way are truly dynamic, and act as a gauge to the witnessing consciousness of that which has been resolved and that which is still in need of resolution. These inevitable points of crises present more clearly to the habitual mind–and to the complacent bhāvana (the psychological sleep of the emotional body)–those fundamental choices of import between the real and unreal, the true and untrue, and the permanent and impermanent. They create in time that much-needed integration of the personality with the Soul, thereby transforming the heavily-conditioned and recalcitrant personality to the Love and Wisdom of the Soul.
The above stages of discipleship training are recognisable and common to all who walk the ascending Path, each upheaval being recognised as a stepping stone, and their careful handling prompting the lower mind to engage in the intelligent acts of discrimination, detachment and dispassion. Through repeated practice of these mental and emotional disciplines, the crisis of duality becomes a catalyst for the eventual alignment of the two opposing poles: personality and Soul. As one ‘keeps keeping on’ with faith in those things not yet seen, and with occasional intuitive glimpses of a higher truth, one becomes, step by step, a faithful adherent to the rigours of discipleship training, discovering in the process a changing reality which is more fully supported by the inner will to blend more fully with that reality. In this intermediate stage one is occupied with achieving a true sense of proportion and a right inner adjustment in facing the two distinct directions: the inner world of Light and formlessness and the outer world of form and relative darkness. In these two directions one learns to invoke and evoke that which is most needed in relation to the Soul.
As the deeper perceptions of life and its true purpose are perceived and more clearly valued, one continues to register a steady succession of vibratory impacts emanating from different and higher spheres of activity, those which prompt an unquestionable acceptance of the fact of the Soul, and a growing sensitivity to the existence of That within oneself Which resides on even higher levels. Attempting through conscious endeavour to hold the consciousness steady at the level of Soul while engaged in the outer world, one learns through conscious practice to express oneself through selfless service, spreading the light as best one can, despite the presence of the Dweller on the Threshold (the Dweller being that part of oneself which clings desperately to the desires of the personality). The difference at this stage, however, lies in a growing ability to distinguish more decisively between the two: the Soul and the Dweller.
Aware of the Soul, in contradistinction to the Dweller on the Threshold, one lives with the schism of duality, attempting in daily life to shift the centre of consciousness once and for all into the realm of the Soul. To aid this transformation one begins to recognise and accept as a reality the presence of a greater Will: That of the Fifth Kingdom of Souls (Those Who have gone beyond the human condition). The presence of the Hierarchy at this stage does not seem so distant as before as one begins to understand more clearly one’s connection to this Higher Kingdom. By the projection of consciousness into the realm of Higher mind (of which one is now more cognisant), a continual attempt is made to build a bridge in consciousness toward the Higher, thereby paving a way in collective allegiance with other fellow disciples, for the emergence of the Kingdom of Souls into the heart of humanity.
Under closer direction from one’s own Soul, and in closer contact with the Will of the Group Soul, the disciples at this stage focus the mind and heart on the way of Living Discipleship. The intent to fuse and merge with the group Soul becomes the clear intent in meditation. One begins to sense the true purpose at this stage of discipleship training, which is the emergence within oneself of those qualities, vibrations, and impulses which are synonymous with those emanating from a particular Ashram. As the emanations of the Group Soul begin to evoke a response in the heart and mind of the disciples, one senses that one is being led to the periphery of the centre of activity of the Ashram of which one is a part. The sphere of higher activity gradually intensifies, awakening greater potency of the same qualities within oneself and pulling one closer to the central point: the focus of all the trained ability and high-powered spiritual life of the Master at the very heart of the particular Ashram. One dares to contact the Master within the heart.
The ongoing transformation of consciousness and the matter upon which it plays, continues throughout the process of living discipleship until . . . ‘In the final stages when one is the disciple who is also the Master, one’s consciousness is absorbed into the will of the Creator; one’s attitude is one of unchanging love and one’s work is that of radiation—a radiation which evokes activity in others, initiates a response from one’s fellowmen, and which carries the Plan the next step forward in meeting the immediate need of humanity’.
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