2010-2-21 03:56:00
An ashram is normally seen as being composed of a Master or teacher and his students, but it is more far reaching than that. An ashram can be seen as a circle of influence or inclusion where energies circulate from the center to the periphery. The circulation of energy links disciples to their masters or teachers. There are inner and outer connections to the ashram. The inner are those who consciously meet as individuals and the outer is composed of those under the influence of the ashram. They are linked to it and receive telepathic instruction and feedback.
[End Of Definition]
Here are comments from Ruth and another student, along with some quotes from Djwhal Khul [DK] through Alice A. Bailey (AAB).
The student writes:
"A while back when I was doing some research on the topic of Ashrams for the post I made at:
"http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Keysters/message/44254
"I came across a definition -- or translation from Sanskrit of the word Ashram -- which was simply, 'temple'.
"Most definitions essentially state that the Ashram is a kind of classroom -- or center around which a Master gathers his students (disciples) and gives instruction(s).
"During this round of research I tried to dig a bit deeper in order to get a wider understanding of what a -- or these Ashrams are, or are about; how they work, etc.
"First, I found that there are seven groups or Ashrams within the Hierarchy, and 42 subsidiary Ashrams -- which in total make 49 Ashrams (corresponding to the 49 'fires') -- all of which are not yet functioning.
"It is through these 49 ashramic fires -- that the God Of Fire (Agni) seeks to make himself known.
"There is a definite relationship and/or correspondence between the Ray of the individual (and their conscious awareness of, and response to that Ray) and the Ashram to which he/she is associated with.
"Most of the direction of the Ashrams is directed at the manifestation of the Hierarchy upon the physical plane where they and Mankind can continue to work to bring The Plan to a fullness.
"I discovered that the/a Ashram actually radiates or projects 'an energy.' And that the disciple must learn to differentiate impressions (communications) from the Ashram from other communications; i.e., group impressions, soul impressions, impressions from The Master (of the Ashram), and from the Spiritual Triad via the antahkarana, etc.
"Also, the Ashram appears to be a distributive function of an impressing force used to communicate messages, impressions, and teachings from The Hierarchy to Humanity.
"That first, the disciple must become sensitive to the impressions from the Hierarchy in order to become part of an Ashram.
"Also after doing research on this topic, I think that what AAB/DK teaches about the various aspects of an Ashram, that what JJ teaches is both in line with what AAB/DK teaches, but also makes sense in light of what is taught by AAB/DK. This will make more sense if you read through the quotes below.
"While the following quotes have less to do with the/a definition of what an Ashram is, and more as to how they work, or how one becomes a member, I thought to go ahead and post them, because the topic of Ashrams does come up here at The Keys, AND because the New Age community seems to really focus on this aspect, and to support my comments in the previous paragraph about The Molecular Relationship as taught by JJ.
This student also researched and provided the following quotes from the works & writings of AAB/DK:
[Begin Quotes]
"Just at present, owing to the great need in the world, a slightly different policy is being pursued. An intensified training is being given to some disciples by some Masters who have not hitherto taken pupils, The press of work on the Masters who do take disciples being so great, they have delegated some of their most promising pupils to some other Masters, drafting them into small groups for a brief period. The experiment is being tried of intensifying the teaching, and of subjecting disciples, not initiates, to the frequent strong vibration of a Master. It involves risk, but, if the experiment proves successful, will tend to the greater assisting of the race."
("Initiation, Human and Solar," Chap 7, pgs 70-71, by Alice A. Bailey [AAB])
"A Master's Ashram has in it disciples and initiates of all degrees, but no probationary disciples at all."
("The Rays and the Initiations," Pt 1, Pg 98, by AAB)
"From the angle of the old teaching, the Ashram of the Master and the focus of the Hierarchy were on the higher levels of the mental plane. Today, that is not so. They are on the plane of spiritual love, of the intuition and of buddhi. The Hierarchy is both retreating towards the higher center of Shamballa, and at the same time advancing towards the lower center, Humanity. Both these activities have been made possible by man himself; the growing intuitive perception of humanity, in its higher brackets, enables him to function upon the Path of Discipleship and on higher levels than ever before. This the Hierarchy recognizes. The growing aspiration of the masses is also drawing the Masters closer to humanity than ever before. This is an instance of the ability of the initiate consciousness to function on initiate levels and also in the three worlds simultaneously."
("The Rays and the Initiations," Pt 1, pgs 119-120 by AAB)
"The true disciple does not need vegetarianism or any of the physical disciplines, for the reason that none of the fleshly appetites have any control over him. His problem lies elsewhere, and it is a waste of his time and energy to keep his eye focused on 'doing the right things physically,' because he does them automatically and his spiritual habits offset all the lower physical tendencies; automatically these developed habits enable him to surmount the appeal of those desires which work out in the fulfillment of lower desire. No one is accepted into the circle of the Ashram (which is the technical name given to the status of those who are on the eve of initiation or who are being prepared for initiation) whose physical appetites are in any danger of controlling him. This is a statement of fact. This applies particularly and specifically to those preparing for the first initiation. Those preparing for the second initiation have to demonstrate their freedom from the slavery of ideas, from a fanatical reaction to any truth or spiritual leader, and from the control of their aspiration which - through the intensity of its application - would sacrifice time, people and life itself to the call of the Initiator - or rather, to be correct, to what they believe to be His call."
("The Rays and the Initiations," Pt 1, pg 127 by AAB)
"In this coming cycle we shall see the first stages of the great spiritual fusion towards which all evolution tends; it will take the form of the externalization of the Ashram, so that the Hierarchy (or the center where the love of God is known and the purpose of Sanat Kumara is formulated into the Plan) and Humanity will meet on the physical plane and occult know each other. Two centers then will be 'visible in the light' - the Hierarchy and Humanity. When these two centers can work in full cooperation, then Shamballa will take form and will no longer be found existing only in cosmic etheric substance, as is now the case."
("The Rays and the Initiations," Pt 2, pg 383 by AAB)
"Glibly the neophyte talks of identifying himself with others, and eagerly he endeavors, to ascertain his group and merge with it; yet in so doing the constant concept of duality is ever present - himself and all other selves, himself and the group, himself and the group energy which he may now wield. Yet this is not so in reality. Where true identity is achieved, there is no sense of this and that; where the merging is complete, there is no recognition of individual activity within the group, because the will of the merged soul is identical with that of the group and automatic in its working; where true unity is present, the individual applicant becomes only a channel for the group will and activity, and this with no effort of his own but simply as a spontaneous reaction.
"I have emphasized the above because in the rule for disciples and initiates, this will be found to be still more the case and the results are brought about by a conscious use of the will which is divine synthesis in action; also, the group referred to is not the Ashram of some particular Master, but that of all Ashrams as they in their entirety reflect the purpose of Shamballa and work out the Plan within the active sphere of the hierarchical consciousness.
"Ashrams of the Masters are to be found on every level of consciousness in the threefold world of the Spiritual Triad. Some Masters pre-eminently occupy themselves with the mind aspect within all forms, and therefore their Ashrams are conditioned by the manasic consciousness; they are the Ashrams of those initiates who have taken the fourth initiation but who are not yet Masters.
"The Ashrams of the Masters (to be found on all the rays) Who work in particular with humanity, are mostly to be found upon the buddhic levels of the triadal consciousness."
("The Rays and the Initiations," Pt 1, pgs 168-169 by AAB)
"Each Ashram [...] expresses ray quality in its purest and most essential form."
("The Rays and the Initiations," Pt 2, pg 387 by AAB)
"I venture to predict that you will discover that it is not divine love of humanity that has enabled you to find your way into the outer group of some Ashram but desire for development, for achievement and for liberation. The first step, therefore, is to recognize this and hence the injunction so oft misunderstood: Kill out desire. This has to be the first destructive activity of the disciple. It is not what the disciple seeks, or wants or desires which should condition him and drive him to what we might call 'ashramic acquiescence, ' but the all-impelling motive of world need. So the disciple begins to rid himself of desire by a process of attrition. He does not positively fight desire with a view to its elimination; he does not seek to transmute it (as should the probationary disciple), but he ceases to give it any recognition; he fails to provide it with the needed stimulation of attention, for as ever, energy follows thought; he is preoccupied with world need and with the service he can render, and - almost inadvertently, as it were - desire dies of attrition."
("The Rays and the Initiations," Pt 1, pg 211 by AAB)
"The entire technique of training disciples for initiation and of absorbing them into the various Ashrams which constitute the great Ashram of the Lord of the World has been altered. The Masters are no longer concerned with an individual, here or there, who endeavors to go forward on the Path, who evidences capacity and who is apparently ready for what has been called 'the evocation of the initiate consciousness. ' It is becoming obvious to the Hierarchy that with the arrival of the Aquarian Age, group preparation, group initiation and group acceptance must and will supersede the older methods. These older methods, built around the direct relationship between a Master and a disciple, reached their highest point of usefulness early in the Piscean Age. For nearly two thousand years these methods have proved so successful that the intensity of humanity's response is such that hundreds are now ready 'for absorption.' This readiness and success present a difficulty and pose a problem for the Masters, necessitating a reorganization of Their plans and a readjustment of Their techniques.
"Not only has the individual approach to the Hierarchy been superseded by a group approach, but it is now found to be possible to make a certain measure of the training objective and exoteric. Hence the establishment of the New Group of World Servers."
("The Rays and the Initiations," Pt 1, pg 239 by AAB)
"The objective of the strictly human evolution in this planetary cycle is sight, culminating in that spiritual perception which is the major gift of the soul to the personality when contact is made; this conveys the sense of attractive love, indicates the nature of things, reveals the world of meaning, and gives the great gift of light, knowledge and ultimate illumination. Such are the goals for the mystic, the aspirant and the pledged disciple. The greatest physical gift is that of sight, and it is the same upon a higher turn of the spiral within the world of the soul. When the disciple has achieved a measure of vision and is 'in sight' of his goal, he can then be admitted to an Ashram wherein the nature of revelation can be made known to him. Men are apt to confuse vision and revelation, and I seek to clarify your minds somewhat on this matter; therefore, the preceding sentence is of major importance. Aspirants are prone to think that the goal towards which they move is that of soul contact, with a secondary goal of hierarchical position, and a third goal of service. This, however, is not correct."
("The Rays and the Initiations," Pt 1, pg 298 by AAB)
"The goal towards which the average disciple has worked in the past has been soul contact, leading eventually to what has been called 'hierarchical inclusion.' The reward of the disciple's effort has been admittance into the Ashram of some Master, increased opportunity to serve in the world, and also the taking of certain initiations. The goal towards which higher disciples are working involves not only soul contact as its primary objective (for that has to some measure been attained), but the building of the bridge from the personality to the Spiritual Triad, with consequent monadic realization and the opening up to the initiate of the Way to the Higher Evolution in its various branches and with its differing goals and objectives."
("The Rays and the Initiations," Pt 2, pg 459 by AAB)
"The Ashram has its own objectives, intentions and inner techniques which are unconnected with the disciple's life and his service in the three worlds. The work of the disciple in preparation for initiation is not basically concerned with his daily world service, though there would be no initiation for him if that life of service were lacking. His life of service is, in reality, an expression of the particular initiation for which he is being prepared."
("The Rays and the Initiations," Pt 2, pg 548 by AAB)
"It might be said that that which holds the Hierarchy together, and that which produces a coherent Ashram, is the revelation, received in the light which that revelation produced and which leads to realization."
("The Rays and the Initiations," Pt 2, pg 653 by AAB)
Ruth writes:
"Ashram equals the aspects of group consciousness and/or point of focus, attention, and the Son."
Ruth also provided the following definition from "Souledout.Com."
"Ashram: A centre to which the Master gathers aspirants and disciples for personal instruction and where nothing of the personality is allowed to enter. The state of consciousness of a spiritual group."
http://souledout.org/souledoutglossary.html
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