Theos-Talk Archives (April 1998 Message tt00313)

Your clarification of the foundational Guru-chela relationship is appreciated.
Yes, our higher Self is the Guru and our lower self (who I would call the soul)
is the chela.

The special Guru-chela relationship in the outer sense, between a Spiritual
Master and his/her disciples, will only be lawful if the Guru can assist the
disciple in strengthening his/her inner relationship with the indwelling Guru.
The guru's job is to make him/herself unneeded, to take the chelas to the point
where each one can sit under his/her own wine and fig tree.

> Guru-chela relationship
>
> HPB says in her TRANSACTIONS OF THE BLAVATSKY LODGE
> (I use the ULT Edition -- my quote is between pp 66 - 76)
> that the highest principles in every man represent his link with
> the Universal Spiritual SELF of all.
>
> In other words the "Guru" is interior to his existing
> consciousness. As evidence the Voice of Conscience and Intuition
> are advanced. The moral/ethical sense we all have is also cited
> as a basis for comparing the decisions we make with an ideal --
> if we are truly interested in seeking to live an "ideal" life.
>
> The "personal (embodied mind-self)" is the "chela." The Higher
> SELF is the "Guru."
>
> This concept is for ever externalized, as we all acknowledge that
> information and ideas are picked up from others: our parents,
> teachers, friends, and through experience.
>
> If we take the idea that man is essentially a moral being and
> that the fight for recognition of this fact occurs ( as the
> BHAGAVAD GITA suggests ) in the mind of each of us -- the "War"
> between the Higher and the Lower Self -- then it is a balancing
> of decisions between our "needs" and our "wants" as Maslow would
> say, that is the growing point of our individual progress -- or
> so I would see it.
>
> Dallas