2001-8-4 02:25:00
Initiation. We should briefly mention this word because it's going to come up more and more and we're going to have a lesson on it later. Concerning
initiations, the Tibetan says when a person mentally knows his higher self as well feels it then he is ready for initiation. So, the initiations come
after a person has some sort of a soul impulse that he consciously receives. There are seven initiations that are taken on this planet Earth. Then two
others are taken on other planets.
Initiations are set up by the Hierarchy as a type of recognition by them for achievement that the disciple has made. DK says initiations would take place
even if this initiation system hadn't been set up. It's like you go so long with the company and you get a gold watch for recognition of 30 years. Well,
you've still served the 30 years anyway whether you get the gold watch or not.
Initiations are a form of recognition by the Hierarchy. Sometimes they occur in waking consciousness, sometimes when physically asleep and sometimes after
death in the spirit. As a person approaches initiation he will sense a coming spiritual change and often be endowed with greater spiritual power that will
require months of adjustment.
I have written about initiation with a little different slant from DK. I have stated that an initiate is one who initiates. By using this definition I seek
to give the core principle behind that which drives one toward becoming an initiate of the Hierarchy. Many people initiate causes before they have any
recognized initiation by the Masters, but that self-motivating power to initiate is an essential ingredient in achieving any of the seven initiations.
So, if I talk about a certain person being an initiate because he initiates, I am not suggesting he is an initiate of any degree as suggested by DK. I am
suggesting though that he is incorporating an essential ingredient that will allow him to climb the difficult mountain of Hierarchical initiations.
An initiate in principle then, is merely one who initiates, who starts things, who begins things. The greater the initiations, the greater the projects.
Initiations are centered around initiating things in your own life, and initiating projects for higher purposes. If we took time to cover this subject it
would take more time than we have so we will examine this subject in more detail later.
The Tibetan, who mentally communicated through Alice A Bailey, has two nicknames by people who study him. Most commonly he's called the Tibetan and they also
call Him DK, as His real name is Djwhal Kuhl. A lot of people who read his writings call him DK. He suggests or assumes the following about the student.
One: He assumes that you are sincere in your aspiration and are determined to go forward no matter what the reaction of the lower self may be. To really
appreciate the word that He's given out, the person has to have this attitude. When you are determined to go forward, no matter what the reaction of the
lower self may be you are a true aspirant. So, when a person does reach this stage where he contacts the higher self, and he's determined to go forward,
what is the natural reaction of the lower self?
Audience:
"Resistance?"
JJ:
Resistance and what else?
Audience:
"Fears?"
JJ:
Why is this? My life is going to change, my friends will change. I may lose something. All these fears run through the lower self. He says the student who's ready for what I'm about to give out will have a determination to go forward no matter what the lower self feels. He advises to not to look upon our lower selves as our true selves but have the viewpoint of the observer. Like you're watching a play and your lower self is one of the players and you let it go through its fears and its feelings and experience them but you have the determination to go ahead with the play no matter what happens to the actor (the lower self).
Audience:
"How about physical illnesses? Could that be something that your lower self might react with?"
JJ:
Right, often when the lower self resists the impulses of the soul, physical illness appears. Physical illness is caused by resistance to impulses sent down to the soul.
Audience:
"Is the rest of the class sick? It just occurred to me that last week the class was full and now everybody is sick. Even my mother wasn't even here last week because she got sick. Maybe the concept of the class did it. Several people said they had very strange dreams, like nightmares. It's like they get close to this class and there's some resistance."
JJ:
There is a possibility that this class has something to do with this. If something we said spoke to their soul and there is resistance to that something from
the lower nature then this could cause a physical disturbance. Whenever one is offered higher light and truth he has to earn the privilege to receive it by
overriding every objection the lower self will bring up.
Now, before you achieve this soul contact, your soul still sends out impulses but you don't recognize them consciously. But when we get sick, it's a resistance
to the higher self filtered down to the personality. When we find ourselves in full cooperation with the soul and all higher contacts, then we are free, also
free from illness and free to travel in all the three worlds. Wouldn't that be fun to be able to do that? To have complete freedom, perfect health and freedom
to keep your form or shape you want, 25 years old all the time if you want, and freedom to go in the physical world or buzz over to the astral world or mental
worlds.
One thing that Masters do not have complete freedom in is they are limited in how much they can help the human kingdom. There's a rule that we have to progress
by our own efforts. So when they begin working with us, it's very frustrating for them. They have all this advanced knowledge and they know what we're supposed
to be doing but they can't tell us most of the time. They have to wait very patiently.
DK says this is one of the things we must all learn is patience. When you become a Master, you have to exercise sublime patience in working again with humanity,
because for one thing, you can only contact many of them on a cyclic turn. Then when you do contact them, they often get the message all screwed up. So He says
this is where the Masters have their limitations -- in working with us.
Audience:
"And they learned when they contacted us from the Hierarchy that they can give us too much too soon and they can't do that again."
JJ:
Yes, and he says one more thing here. Only those who can differentiate between the lower self and the higher self can work intelligently. It's really
impossible to differentiate for sure until the higher self is contacted. If I said one of these glasses is lemon juice and you've never tasted lemon, and you
taste the two glasses of substance, you wouldn't know which one to guess to be lemon. But once you've tasted it you can tell the difference between lemon and
orange. Until the higher self is contacted consciously, it's hard to differentiate between the two
DK quotes the writings of Patanjali where he says, "The experience of the pairs of opposites comes from the inability of the soul to distinguish between the
personal self and spirit." Remember that spirit is above the soul. The spirit is the higher self to the soul. The soul receives from the spirit and channels
down to us. The objective forms exist for the use and experience of the spiritual man.
By meditation upon this, arises intuitive perception of the spiritual man. "This discerning quality is fostered by a recollected attitude of mind and careful
attention to the method of the constant review of the life." So, this is important, that we constantly review our lives. Our lives go in cycles. We should
review every evening and say to ourselves "what was it that I learned today that my soul is trying to impress upon me?" We should also review months, years and
series of years and project into the future based on what we have learned in the past. Our experiences are always trying to tell us something.
The second thing DK assumes about you is that you've progressed far enough to develop a true sense of values. In other words, you're basically a decent
person. If somebody needs some help, you're willing to help them out. You have a certain amount of love for your fellow man. You try to do unto others as
others would do unto you. These are the basic principles that everybody learns in Sunday School. Be a fairly decent person. This is an important point in
understanding the teachings of the Masters.
DK says you should not be kept back by circumstance and the happenings of the personality. A lot of things happen in the personality, signs, for instance.
Somebody might say, "something happened. This clock fell off this countertop. That means I'm not supposed to go to this class tonight." These are personality
things. We should have it set in our mind what we should do and not let those circumstances detract us from the will of the soul.
Next, he says that a steady and regular progression is better than a spasmodic, rushing forward. This is still under item two. Like the tortoise and the hare.
The tortoise wins the race but the hare fools around because he's so confident that he makes spasmodic efforts but he loses at the end. He says the true
disciple, when he's going to study, will study on a regular basis, continuing without giving up, getting a little more down each day which amounts to a lot
over a long period of time. The beginner along the path will get all enthused, buy about a thousand dollars worth of books, bring them home, read like crazy
for two weeks then give up and you don't hear anything more from him until another lifetime. It's important that we realize that a small amount of effort
every day is much more important than spasmodic, glorious sprints.
The third thing DK assumes about us is that you will take this course seriously and apply yourself to the principles. He says, "In accordance with this idea,
organizing the mind is an all day affair." By organizing the mind he means organizing what you're going to do so mental energy is not deviated from your purpose.
In other words, as each day goes on, you have all sorts of things pulling at you to take your mental energy away from this or that or whatever. Even with this
class, which could be very important for some of your progression, you will find that a lot of things will be tugging at you to bring up excuses for you not
to attend. In other words, things appear to take your mind away from this objective to complete it. We must, He says, organize our mind so our thoughts have
given up energy to the things we want to create.
In addition, DK gives a clue as to what the Masters look for in a disciple. They do not seek anyone who measures up so much to a certain standard, but they are
after those who are seeking to measure up. Intention and effort are considered as the two main requisites for disciples. Remember the words "intention" and
"effort."
Intention and effort are the two main requisites. In most of the world, what would devotees think would be the requisite to being a disciple when we'd be
called upon to do some work for the Master? Being the perfect individual, never having told a lie or always having pure thoughts, never reading Playboy, etc.
But DK says that's not so important.
He says the important thing is that you're seeking, that you want to measure up, you want to be a disciple. You're willing, you have an intention to do it
and you are making an absolute effort to do it -- this is what counts. The fact, for instance, that you are attending a class that takes you along toward
discipleship shows you are making an effort. So you have one of the qualifications right there that the Masters look for. So you might be contacted soon.
(chuckles)
Audience:
"Could you read number three again, take this part seriously and?"
JJ:
He assumes that you'll take this course seriously and apply yourself. Not just learn, but also apply what is learned. I believe that if anyone does take
this course seriously and applies all of the principles, that you will have some type of a contact through the soul with the Hierarchy, because there aren't
too many people who really do that.
Now, one more thing you need. In addition to intention and effort, you need the power of persistence. Don't give up. We're always tempted to give up because
we go through those periods where we kind of lose the soul energy, we wonder, we get discouraged, taxes are due tomorrow and lots of things like that. So we
have to be persistent even though the personality world is in a shambles. Even though the kids are crying and screaming and the husband is displeased or
whatever happens we have to have that persistence toward achieving that discipleship and recognition of the Masters.
Okay, the fourth thing DK assumes about the student: He says, at first, he is more interested in training the student from the standpoint of his character
rather than the actual use of magical work. I guess it isn't so much what he assumes about you as what he's going to do with you. He's more interested right
now in preparing you for the magical work. He's interested in developing your character. The Masters want to make sure your character is sound rather than
teaching you parlor tricks that many think comes with magic because, if your character is not sound and you achieve the power of the soul, it would be
misused. That's why all the world scriptures, for instance, put a lot of emphasis on developing the character.
All the Commandments in the Bible, the Koran, the eastern scriptures, are all teachings on developing good character. The safest way to use the soul energy
is through character development. DK says, "I see I must first interest your minds." This is like going back to Sunday school if I start talking about
character. It sounds like I'm going back to old age stuff to new age people. First of all the teacher needs to make sure he keeps your mind stimulated so
you'll listen to some of these elementary things that you are not yet doing completely. The character must be developed.
DK goes on to say that when the magic of the soul is grasped, the soul steadily dominates the personality then he finds, number one, he can trust the soul
and two can carry his progress to fruition unhampered by thoughts of time and space and ignorance of the career of the soul. It's an interesting statement,
the "career of the soul." Did you ever think of your soul as having a career? It does and the soul is very interested in its career. It merely wants us to
help it along and to trust it so it can accomplish its aims as well as us accomplishing ours.
Questions:
Is it important to examine our past, including past lives when possible, to have more mastery over our present and future?
Do the higher lives only work with spiritual teachings, meditation, etc., or do they also work with other areas of human endeavor?
What is the difference between white and black magic?
-- End Of Lesson Two, Part 26 --
Go To:
Next Lesson
Previous Lesson
Lessons In White Magic (Index)
Copyright 2001 by J.J. Dewey, All Rights Reserved