Theos-Talk Archives (August 1998 Message tt00137)

Aug 12th 1998

Dear Murray:

I have never found a quick answer to your question as to how to draw close
to the Masters.  But wiser ones than I have said that it should be our aim
to do that.

1.    The proximity of "Masters" is not a physical but a psychological
distance, as you seem to intuit (and as I would estimate it).

It you take into account the 7-fold divisions of Man and Kosmos you will see
that ATMA  (Spirit) and BUDDHI (Wisdom) are common -- How does the embodied
consciousness (you and me as we now are)  or Kama-Manas approach to
Atma-Buddhi ?  How does the personal self, involved in the "1000 chords of
desire" separate itself from those, and become One-centered on learning the
TRUTH of all things ?

The "bridge" is the HIGHER MANAS.  HPB defines this in the KEY rather well
and thoroughly.  I suppose you have that book for reference ?

For Kama-Manas ( or Lower manas) to contact the Master ( Atma-Buddhi) it has
to fist grasp the idea that that Master is interior.  It has been called the
HIGHER SELF.  Next, as I see it, it has to embody as practice in daily life,
the ethics and rules of the life of a Manasic being.  Briefly described,
this is harmlessness, compassion and brotherhood.

In other words it carves for itself out of its own material the bridge that
lads it to the ineffable which is WITHIN.

The Great Adepts whom we call Mahatmas, or Masters of Wisdom are Those who
have successfully done this work.  They are named variously as Adepts,
Brothers, Mahatmas, Masters, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, Buddhas, Dhyan Chohans,
etc... names that indicate their powers and functions -- and with which we
are not directly concerned, as our present field of work is our own
personality, which we need to study, understand and learn how to control.

We are the beginners.  Part of our progress on this great and uniform path
is learning what we are, who we are and what we can do with the potential
and actual powers we already possess.  In other words a large portion of the
work is self-initiation.

Consider the vast mass of HPB's writings.  How many of us have set to work
to actually, in this incarnation, acquire a superficial working knowledge of
what she wrote on behalf of the Adepts.  Why did she do it ?  What had the
Adepts to profit from that arduous work ?  What is our benefit?  and, what
is our responsibility ?  How do we change "superficial" interest into
convinced practice ?

These and many more ideas I derive from my studies.  I can only offer some
of these and they should only be taken as the opinions of one person and
subject to faults and therefore carefully scrutinized.

Hope this is of some help,

Dallas

> Date: Tuesday, August 11, 1998 3:39 PM
> From: "Murray Stentiford" <mas.jag@iprolink.co.nz>
> Subject: Re: theos-talk-digest V1 #356

>Hi Dallas
>
>In response to your:
>
>>Some ask if they can contact the Masters I see from recent postings.  Is
>>this not premature ?  Is it not like the freshman in college asking if the
>>President of the University will give him time to meet and handle his
>>questions -- before he or she has acquired the wisdom to know what to ask
>>and why that time is to be given to them.
>
>The literature documents the pathologies well enough, but I think that
>anybody with the problems you refer to would hardly be moving towards them
>in any sense that matters, let alone arriving.  My own original question
>was simply about *approaching* the Adepts - on closing the gap.
>
>The distance between us and them, between "your world and ours" - "quite a
>different world" - as one of them wrote, is far less physical than inner.
>Call it a psychological distance perhaps, or one of quality and scope of
>intent. It is a distance which is closed in the measure that our view
>widens beyond small concerns, our compassion kindles and our thought
>deepens - above all, perhaps, to the degree that we find the desire to be
>of value and service to other beings, rising within our being and unfolding
>into action.
>
>This is the real journey towards them, and to arrive must be to see with
>their vastness of vision, respond with their immensity of heart, and wield
>the "thunderbolt" of their thought .... and the fact that we can begin to
>conceive of them at all is perhaps the surest sign that we have what it
>takes to get there. Something to set our compasses by.
>
>Murray
>
>
>For those who want to know, the first quote (re world) is in letter 2 in
>the two main accessible editions of The Mahatma Letters. I couldn't find
>the thunderbolt one tonight but maybe somebody would like to tell us where
>it is.
>
>
>>Some ask if they can contact the Masters I see from recent postings.  Is
>>this not premature ?  Is it not like the freshman in college asking if the
>>President of the University will give him time to meet and handle his
>>questions -- before he or she has acquired the wisdom to know what to ask
>>and why that time is to be given to them.  Are any of us so important ?
We
>>may think we are important, but does that make it necessary for the
Masters
>>to arrive at our doorstep ?  And if a Master should visit us, have we the
>>knowledge to recognize one ?  Is this not one of the reasons why people
who
>>are either curious or impatient desire such contact -- and if they should
be
>>granted it, would they, like "poor Brown" (in MAHATMA LETTERS) recognize,
be
>>frightened, and turn away from the opportunity ?  Each one ought to answer
>>themselves on this subject.
>>
>>The answer is yes and no.  As we advance in knowledge and usefulness we
will
>>find that opportunities arise that give us such contacts.  Are we fitted
to
>>recognize them?  Anyone who has read MAHATMA LETTERS will recollect the
>>several conditions under which such contact may be made.  We may also be
>>sure that if our work and progress in active brotherliness continues we
will
>>attract the attention of the Wise and we will receive such "help" as we
>>deserve.  Such is the great law of assistance to all.  But it does not
>>satisfy the merely curious.
>
>
>
>
>