2000-5-21 06:17:00
I received this e-mail and thought that the list may benefit from my answer. This person writes: "Is depression an attack from the dark brotherhood? If so, I am being attacked, even though I know I can over come it and how I can overcome it... it is so strong at the moment, I don't feel right about asking you about this... you are our leader, and because I am depressed and felt I shouldn't talk to you about it, is why I am talking to you about it... is there a way to ensure that depression doesn't return??"
Djwahl Khul talked about this in words so well-written that I cannot improve upon them. Here is what he said: "I think I gave you earlier practically all that I can as yet impart anent the Brothers of Darkness, as they are sometimes termed. I only want at this point to lay emphasis upon the fact that no danger need be feared by the average student from this source. It is only as discipleship is approached and a man stands out ahead of his fellows as an instrument of the White Brotherhood that he attracts the attention of those who seek to withstand. When through application to meditation, and power and activity in service, a man has developed his vehicles to a point of real achievement, then his vibrations set in motion matters of a specific kind, and he learns to work with that matter, to manipulate the fluids, and to control the builders. In so doing he encroaches on the domain of those who work with the forces of involution and thus he may bring attack upon himself. This attack may be directed against any of his three vehicles and may be of different kinds. Let me briefly point out some of the methods employed against a disciple which are the ones which alone concern the student of these letters:
"{A} Definite attack on the physical body. All kinds of means are employed to hinder the usefulness of the disciple through disease or the crippling of his physical body. Not all accidents are the result of karma, for the disciple has usually surmounted a good deal of that type of karma and is thus comparatively free from that source of hindrance in active work.
"{B} Glamour is another method used, or the casting over the disciple of a cloud of emotional or mental matter which suffices to hide the real, and to temporarily obscure that which is true. The study of the cases wherein glamour has been employed is exceedingly revealing and demonstrates how hard it is for even an advanced disciple always to discriminate between the real and the false, the true and the untrue. Glamour may be either on the emotional or mental levels but is usually on the former. One form employed is to cast over the disciple the shadows of the thought of weakness or discouragement or criticism to which he may at intervals give way. Thus cast, they loom in undue proportion and the unwary disciple, not realizing that he is but seeing the gigantic outlines of his own momentary and passing thoughts, gives way to discouragement, aye even to despair, and becomes of little use to the Great Ones. Another form is to throw into his mental aura suggestions and ideas purporting to come from his own Master but which are but subtle suggestions that hinder and help not. It takes a wise disciple always to discriminate between the voice of his real Teacher and the false whispers of the masquerading one, and even high initiates have been temporarily misled.
"Many and subtle are the means used to deceive and thereby curtail the effective output of the worker in the field of the world. Wisely therefore have all aspirants been enjoined to study and work at the development of viveka [Sanskrit "discrimination"] or that discrimination which safeguards from deception. If this quality is laboriously built in and cultivated in all events, big and little, in the daily life, the risks of being led astray will be nullified. The very first step in the path of occultism......is the discrimination between the real and the unreal, between substance and phenomenon, between the Self and the Not-self, between spirit and matter.
"{C} A third method frequently employed is to envelop the disciple in a thick cloud of darkness, to surround him with an impenetrable night and fog through which he stumbles and often falls. It may take the form of a black cloud of emotional matter, of some dark emotion that seems to imperil all stable vibration and plunges the bewildered student into a blackness of despair; he feels that all is departing from him; he is a prey to varied and dismal emotions; he deems himself forsaken of all; he considers that all past effort has been futile and that naught remains but to die. At such times he needs much the gift of viveka, and to earnestly weigh up and calmly reason out the matter. He should at these times remind himself that the darkness hides naught from the God within, and that the stable centre of consciousness remains there, untouched by aught that may betide. He should persevere until the end, the end of what? The end of the enveloping cloud, the point where it merges itself into sunlight; he should pass through its length and out into the daylight, realizing that nothing can at any time reach to and hurt the inner consciousness. God is within, no matter what transpires without. We are so apt to look out at environing circumstances, whether physical, astral or mental, and to forget that the inmost centre of the heart hides our points of contact with the Universal Logos."
JJ:
Of course, not all depression is caused by the Dark Brothers, but it is true that when one begins the path of true service that depression will be a weapon that they will use to discourage fledging disciples.
It is also important to not cultivate the "devil under every rock" syndrome. Many beginning aspirants who are not producing enough results to attract the attention of the dark ones will tend to blame every problem they have on the dark forces. Such persons will often escape from their own responsibilities for achievement by a "devil made me do it" attitude.
Nevertheless, the day will come that all servers will become effective enough to attract attention of the great ones on the left and the right. When this time comes the disciple must learn to neutralize the dark forces and the obstacles in the path.
From my own experience with both forces I sense that there is a divine purpose in allowing the Dark Brothers to wreck havoc on us as we attempt to serve. Just as gold must pass through the refiner's fire before it reaches its highest purity and value, even so must the disciple pass through every obstacle that can be thrown in his way on the path of service.
The beginner sees service as an act of sacrifice on his part, as if he is doing a favor for God and the Masters of Wisdom; but then after lifetimes of struggle, he begins to realize that true service is a prize and a privilege to obtain. When the Dark Powers are neutralized and he finally can serve without impediment then his attitude takes a 180 degree shift. Service is no longer a gift he is giving to the world through sacrifice, but a joy and a sublime gift that God has given to him as well as others with whom he associates.
Each step and increase in power to service is a gift from God, but to receive the gift one has to develop a capacity to retain the gift. If one does not have the capacity to retain the gift the gift is held in reserve until the power to correctly use it is retained. The Dark Ones unwittingly help the servants to obtain the discipline and steadiness of mind necessary to obtain the status of a working disciple.
In the meantime, dealing with depression which is either self-caused or sent from the Dark Brothers is a real item for the worker in the light to deal with. If the depression is not because of an attack and yet the person is fairly evolved, the cause is usually a resistance of some kind. What kind of resistance? A resistance to the impressions sent from the soul or a resistance to hearing the words of the soul itself.
Why would one resist hearing the words of the soul? Because of fear. Fear of what? Fear that the soul will direct you in paths that you are not prepared to take.
The seeker must become as a little child in this matter and be open to all things and have a willingness to learn any new truth, even if it diametrically opposes that which he has held dear for many years. Then when the truths of the Holy Spirit do distil upon his consciousness, he must not resist, but follow. If he does not follow, depression is likely to result for he will not be able to completely set aside the feelings from his innermost being that he is not living up to the highest of which he is capable.
In the case of receiving and handling a negative charge from the Dark Brothers, the solution is somewhat different. An extremely important part of the solution is to learn the difference between negativity caused from our own making, and negativity that is sent to us to neutralize us. There is a definite difference in the sensation of the two. The only way to consistently recognize negativity imposed from outside is to learn to not identify with your own emotion.
In my book, The Immortal, we were taught that we are not our bodies, or our emotions, and we are not even our minds. These are all vehicles for our use. Just as a car we drive is not us, but a vehicle for our use, so are our feelings. Depression is thus possible because we identify too strongly with our vehicles, in particular our emotional selves.
When the wise disciple fully understands that he is not his feelings, he can then enjoy the positive ones, but detach himself from the negative ones. As he goes through the negative, he realizes the experience is like being in a secure ship passing through a storm; and the storm will soon end. In the meantime, he can retreat into his secure, warm, dry cabin and sip on a glass of wine until the storm passes. After the dark storm passes (and it always does), the pilgrim can go out on the deck, and enjoy the sun and fresh tropical breeze. The disciple learns to enjoy the good and neutralize the bad.
As the servant becomes adept at neutralizing dark forces so they have no negative effect upon him personally, another problem develops. When the Dark Brothers see that that attacks on the disciple are ineffective, they will then attempt to get to him by attacking either his loved ones or other workers in the light with whom he is associated. They do this by channeling the negative energy either directly at the designated persons, or sending it to the disciple and reflecting it off his aura into other people who are in his consciousness.
It's a little like the plot of a bad movie where the bad guy threatens the life of the hero if he does not do what they say. The hero then says "Do what you want to me, but I won't cooperate." The bad guy then grabs a loved one and says "Do what I say or the girl gets it." In the movies this always gets to the hero; he disarms and cooperates until an opportunity to escape presents itself.
This is not an exact correspondence, for the disciple must never disarm or cooperate. What then is the solution? When such an attack comes, the disciple must learn to recognize it for what it is and tune into the vibratory signatures of loved ones or fellow workers. He will either recognize who the target(s) of the attack are with higher psychism or through clues that will present themselves.
When he then discovers the person(s) who is affected, the disciple must work with him or her with the utmost of patience, love and communication to neutralize any negative effects. How that neutralization is to take place is varied and cannot be covered in full here. It may vary from saving a life to a mere communication or prayers to drive the force back into its rightful place.
There is a piece of good news. The Dark Brothers cannot attack consistently with power, but must build up negativity through their own meditation and send it forth when the correct window is open. Generally this involves intervals of from three to six months.
They will often time their attacks to present themselves shortly after the servant has received an endowment of positive force from the Brotherhood of Light. The timing of the attack is very consistently three days after the endowment. Such an attack is geared to discourage the disciple from following the revelation or inspiration received. But the wise servant will ignore the negative and follow the positive even as he sails through the fiercest of storms.
Part of the purpose of the Song of the 144,000 is to assist all workers in the light in neutralizing these negative attacks when they come as well as preparing a conduit to channel protective energy to others in the circle of service.
Copyright 2000 by J.J. Dewey, All Rights Reserved