Every so often I return to what was the original subject of this blog which is the reality of those spiritual beings I call the Masters. I sometimes feel I have to apologise for this designation because it seems, on the one hand, old fashioned and, on the other, a bit New Agey. But I don't care about the old-fashioned accusation and, as for the word itself, it seems a reasonable term to describe someone who has mastered his lower nature and who stands in relation to the rest of humanity as a teacher and guide. Besides, they would occasionally refer to themselves by this word though that might have been because it was an accepted term for such beings at one time, and they just used what was familiar. More often, they would call themselves brothers which is also a good way to think of them. They are our brothers, albeit, of course, our elder brothers.
I return to this subject because it is something I can talk about in the field of spirituality that comes from my own experience. It has nothing to do with my thoughts or beliefs or intuitions. It is not a part of any religion I might have or system I might follow or metaphysics I might incline to. It is the result of direct personal experience. But if that were all there was to it then it would not matter to anyone else. However, I strongly believe it does have relevance for others. If we knew that there were beings who have fully realised their essential oneness with God but who were, at the same time, wholly individual, indeed more genuinely individual than anyone I have ever met in this world, and that they watched over us and tried to guide us, within the limits of spiritual law, then we might be strengthened and encouraged for the spiritual task that lies before us. If we knew what awaited us, because what they are we can be too, then the darkness we often appear to be surrounded by might not seem as impenetrable as it sometimes does. Even people with the greatest faith can doubt. Anything that helps those struggling towards the light is surely good and to be desired.
For what it's worth, I can proclaim that these Masters exist. They are among the saints who belong to the company of heaven, and they really do seek to inspire and guide us. The way they normally work is through impression to those whose minds are sensitive enough to respond to them on what might be called the spiritual plane; that is to say, the level of mind that exists above the thought-making level and to which the imagination is the earliest approach. It is what we come into contact with as we start to open ourselves up to higher, non-material reality but it also requires a degree of personal purity, honest aspiration and love of God. Anyone can study material science if they have a good enough brain. To study spiritual science is a different matter. For that you need to cleanse your being of the stains of the world, the flesh and the devil. At least, you need to be going in that direction.
The Masters do seek to impress us, or those of us who are open to higher spiritual things, but this impression does not usually take verbal form. It comes as ideas which we then have to translate into ordinary mental form ourselves. In this process, the idea can be, usually is if we're honest, contaminated to a degree. It can be affected by our prejudices and preconceptions, our already existing beliefs, our self-centredness which may put a particular slant on it and also by wishful thinking. This is just how it is and that is why we have to use our own intuition and powers of discrimination to sift through any proclaimed spiritual teaching or communication. I don't suppose much comes through in a completely pure form but that's not necessarily a bad thing since we are here to learn to understand spirituality ourselves and not just be spoon fed stuff which we consume indiscriminately.
The Masters combined wisdom and love to a high degree. They were patient but firm, loving but demanding. They expected hard work and dedication to the path. Nothing less was acceptable. I'm saying here that their love did not in any way blind them to reality as contemporary notions of love sometimes appear to do. If you wanted to be their disciple, you had to be prepared to sacrifice. That rule still applies just as it would in a monastery or for anyone under any spiritual discipline. Love must be aligned to truth or it is just personal feelings.
There is a hierarchy even in heaven. This fact alone points to the enduring reality of the individual self. If spiritual attainment were just the realisation of one's identity with God; that is to say, full identification with the uncreated part of one's being, with being itself, it could not be so. We would all be Christ, we would all be the Buddha. But that is not the case. The unfolding of consciousness does not end. There are always deeper aspects to reality and fuller unions with God. The Masters were far above anyone in this world but there were higher Masters above them who spoke to me on a few rare occasions and the difference was noticeable. The power and majesty of these beings was something I shall never forget.
It is nearly 20 years since I last spoke with the Masters but I keep them in my heart and in my mind. I do not pray to them. They do not supplant God or Christ. But I speak to them. I ask for their guidance and I think I receive it. What I do with it, how I react to it, is up to me. That is my responsibility and this is a basic law of serious spiritual work. God, either directly or through his messengers as the Masters actually told me to think of them, inspires us but we must ground that inspiration. We must manifest it in our own being and bring it through to the world to the very best of our ability. In this way, we can approach the hierarchy of heaven and start to make ourselves worthy enough to join their ranks.
For anyone struggling along the spiritual path, as hard now as it's ever been, the words I was told almost 40 years ago apply. They are words to give us comfort and strength as we journey through life in this world.
Work and love, and at the end you will join us again, triumphant.
5 comments:
Thanks for this. I can imagine, though, that having had such experiences brings its own problems, as the events recede from memory, or as memories lose their vividness and power. I have had what felt like overwhelming and life changing experiences that faded over the years.
Speaking personally; I do feel the need for personal spiritual 'validation' quite frequently - indeed, even when I may have experienced feeling connected to God in the morning, if the 'lines are dead' all afternoon and through into the evening, I already feel the loss. Or if I wake up and feel mundane and isolated for the next few hours, but late morning I am beginning to regard the day as wasted.
Naturally, we need to develop the resilience to manage for ourselves for considerable periods; on the other hand, I think we are supposed to 'miss' the divine when we are cut off from it, even for short periods.
Probably this kind of oscillation is the best basis for learning, which is 'why we are here'.
You're right, Bruce, in that having had an experience such as this in the past that has now ceased could bring a sense of loss. But if I ever feel like that I remind myself of two things. Firstly, my great good fortune of having had it in the first place, and secondly that I was told by the Masters that it would not last and it was then up to me to put into practice what I had learnt. So now I am just grateful that it ever happened.
I am also helped in not becoming too attached to the experience by the fact that the communications were greatly reduced in the last ten or so years though I don't remember the time frame exactly. But they were very frequent for the first couple of years and then gradually cut down thereafter until they amounted to just a few times a year towards the end.
Being contacted in this way is really something for a spiritual neophyte. But we have to grow up and then, as you say, we need to develop the inner strength and faith to manage for ourselves. That's what I try to do nowadays when my chief problem is regret that I am such a slow learner and still need to overcome faults that I was told about years ago. Such is human nature, I suppose!
When I was eleven or so I had a dream about a beautiful city. Much of it has faded, to the point that I can no longer recall the feeling that accompanied it; indeed, all I am left with is an image, and the conviction that there was a feeling.
Other things. A dream about a mansion (I had a confirming, similar dream). The memory of the daily conduct of those I admired. A song.
We are like men in the Sahara, who have tasted water and have heard tales of a green valley.
Hi dropit,
I think the incidents in your life you mention are important. I'm going to talk a little about this kind of thing in my next Albion Awakening post. I believe that God appears to us in these kinds of episodes, especially when we're children. The conscious memory fades over the years but the encounter remains embedded in our hearts. God will remind us of it and reveal it to us in its fullness after we die, or maybe before if we're fortunate. It's a tremendous thing that you remember as much of these dreams as you do. Too many people have completely forgotten, and I think part of the task of Christian evangelism in this day and age is to try and call back and reinvoke these deep memories of encounters with the Holy.
I look forward to your post, John. I think you're right and that we are not left comfortless though we may only be given a tiny sip of water to sustain us for a lifetime as dropit's good analogy suggests.
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