June 9, 1999
Three Qualities of a Disciple
I asked the group to name what they believe to be three qualities or characteristics that are looked for by the higher lives in an accepted disciple.
Rick brings up an interesting point. We are all motivated by benefits to self in one way or another. One of the main differences between the light and dark brotherhoods is that the Dark Brothers are deceived as to what is in the best interest of self in the long run. They believe that by ignoring the whole and concentrating on self only that the self will have maximum benefit. On the other hand, the Brotherhood of Light believe that the greatest long term benefit to self comes from losing sight of self for the good of the whole.
Contrary to popular belief even Jesus was motivated by self as illustrated in the scriptures:
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith: who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross…” Hebrews 12:2
Thus even the Master was motivated by joy, a great benefit to self.
I am enjoying your lists of qualities and characteristics of possible disciples. You have named some, but have missed several of the most important.
Hint: How about talent and ability? What do you suppose is looked for there?
The closest someone came to the second characteristic is open mindedness. One also has to have a good handle on maya and glamour as John pointed out. Without this characteristic the disciple will be reluctant to backtrack when he has made a mistake or take a wrong turn.
Then there is a third one I do not believe was mentioned. It is a trait that belongs to one who is amplifying his power of decision and is able to work without a lot of supervision.
Take a stab at these discovering these three and I will elaborate more fully soon.
June 11, 1999
Xavier mentioned a quality that is definitely in the top ten which is purity of intent.
Now most people believe their intent is pure, but in reality many have blind spots preventing them from seeing their wrong motive.
How can we acquire pure intent and how will we know when we have arrived there?
I’ve always liked the quote of Tennyson: “My strength is as the strength of ten because my heart is pure.”
Do you think there is some truth to the words of this poet?
I would have to say that all your answers about the qualities of a disciple are in the right direction, but there is one that really stands out in my mind:
Alex: “I discovered three new mysteries of the universe and found Madona’s naked body hidden in the arrangement all at the same time.”
I must admit that Brian went a step further:
“If you stare at Alex’s message long enough, you can see a perfect rendering of a disciple. Funny thing is, the disciple is dancing in a field of marshmallows, and is wearing pink fuzzy bunny slippers.”
Getting back to reality here, I have tabulated your answers and arranged them below. Even if you have read all the posts, I think it would be worthwhile to read these again.
Glenys complained that she could only answer three, but I didn’t say you couldn’t name more than three which some of you rebels went ahead and did.
Here are her answers:
(1) A strong commitment to serving humanity at the expense of fulfilling one’s own desires/needs ie a group rather than individual consciousness.
(2) A single-minded dedication to the Path of Light and the implementation of the Plan for mankind
(3) A certain level of Soul Contact and Christ Consciousness so that one can be considered to be reliable, intelligent and sensitive to the promptings of the Soul.
These are from Samu:
(1) The unwavering desire to always strive for the highest good perceived for all, willingness to face the possible ‘outer difference’ it may bring with it.
(2) Always trying to see the biggest picture perceivable, making the decision for oneself to grow in order for the whole to become more advanced.
(3) Fearlessness
Here are some other answers:
- Steadfast and loyal, faithful no matter what to the Brotherhood of Light.
- Willing, humble and wise enough to put Spirit in the driver’s seat of one’s life (rather than ego, the physical senses, the intellect, the emotions etc.)
- The ability, desire and motivation to seek out answers where there seem to be none. Not resting until your soul tells you that you have found the truth.
- Willingness to Accept the Truth when it is presented.
- Willingness to Serve.
- Ability to follow through – completion.
- Willingness to extend beyond their ‘Comfort Zone’
- Surrendering to the will of the Divine.
- The ability to let go of outdated beliefs and thought patterns.
- Faithful…..At least on a personal level, a disciple would never swerve from what he believes to be true, even when the “cock crows 3 times”
- Free circulation of emotions and feelings
- Freedom of thought and action
- Happy friendly social life
- Doing something that brings light and evolution to the whole.
- An accepted disciple needs to be full of it!
- By it, I mean….Love, Joy and Peace! Full of Love! Full of Joy! Full of Peace!
- The ability to remain humble when faced with either success or disappointment.
- Being both a student and a teacher.
- A true desire to help others with selflessness.
- A BURNING DESIRE to serve
- Also, patience, kindliness, charity, sincerity, courage, tolerance, discrimination, love and all the noble traits are enhanced through soul contact.
- Overcoming Maya and glamor.
- GOOD KARMA or a reasonably balanced account is very important, because you can’t help to increase the system if you tend to need more help than you give.
That last one was especially good by Rick. Few would have thought of it.
Other responses brought up these qualities:
Balance
Being a living example.
Brilliance
Commitment
Compassion
Consistency of reasoning
Courage
Creative Expression
Creativity
Debate Skills
Diligence
Discernment
Endurance
Faith
Fearlessness
Helper
Honesty
Hope
Humility
Illusion
Intelligence
Intrepidity
Knowingness
Lack of Judgment
Love
Love and be loved
Loving
Non Conformity
Openness
Patience
People Skills
Pure Intent
Purity-of-heart
Responsibility
Right action
Right speech
Right thought
Self discipline
Sincerity
Soul Contact
Teaching ability
Trustworthy
Unconditional love
Vision
So have we left any out? If you think we have go ahead and post them and I’ll give my two cents worth in an upcoming post.
Question: What is THE first thing the Masters look for in a working disciple?
Why is the answer not Love?
June 12, 1999
The Response on Love
The first primary quality that is absolutely necessary in the working disciple is soul contact, and several of you have successfully named this.
The reason that love is not first on the list is that when one obtains this contact through the soul then we can be assured that the quality of love exists and is manifest in the person as more than an idealistic theory, but as a working principle.
We would say that love is the seed and soul contact is the plant. The plant is visible evidence that the seed was real and alive.
Unfortunately, there are many who teach love out the yin yang, (see Philo in the book) but the seed is dead and never sprouts up and grows into the plant of soul contact. True love is a living , moving, growing entity.
Almost everyone you talk to believes they love truly and understand the feelings of love. Indeed there is a universal sense of its direction. But the obstacles to its fullness becoming manifest are legion indeed.
There are many who describe love in numerous ways and definitions, but is there some criteria by which we can tell for sure that the power of love is really growing and manifesting in any one individual?
There is, and when I give it to you your soul will verify the truth of this principle which is this:
“He who truly loves will be loved in return.”
In other words, love gathers love to itself.
Have you ever known a person who uses love about every other word, yet is loveless in his own life and it seems as if everyone can’t wait to escape his presence?
On the other hand, have you known others who use the word sparingly, but you find yourself magnetically attracted to him (or her) because you “love” being with or near him?
The person in first example has a lack of love and talks about it more to fill the vacuum than to manifest it.
The second example is manifesting living love and has no vacuum to fill and does not have to present a sales pitch on the virtues of love.
Now the Dark Brothers can appear through illusion to be this second example, but it will be the power of glamour and not love as the attractive (but temporary) force.
Nevertheless, the fact that love sent forth is finding a response in others is physical evidence that love is truly present with the sender.
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