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To All Who Would Know that They Might Do:
You have heard it said that faith without works is dead.1 Many gather knowledge as fleece that they accumulate but never use. Better is he who gathers small knowledge and applies it, than he who gathers much without application.
We have garnered the fruit of much striving - as my beloved brother, Master Morya, has said. Yet the pathway to God-realization need not be one of struggle, nor should it be pursued with a sense of struggle. The striving to which the master referred is the outreach of the soul as it engages in eternal combat with material sense - as the light penetrates the darkness and the darkness comprehends it not.
We would develop in the initiate the realization of the God-intent. It is not what man has intended but what God has intended that must be given preeminence. Notwithstanding, the accent in human affairs has been on the human consciousness which, oddly enough, has expected and thus realized a sense of struggle. Yet, because their attention is centered in the world, the children of mammon are often wiser in their own generation than the children of light.2 They know where they are going, what their objectives are, and how they will achieve them.
Therefore, we have found that frequently the children of the light have less knowledge about the realities of the kingdom of God than the world possesses about its own realm. And so you see that although our realization of reality may be correct, the transmission of that realization to those in embodiment whom we dearly love is often interfered with by the conflict of their human desires. The fact that they do not see these desires for what they are - the mirage of duality - does not prevent them from being used to oppose the manifestation of the light within their consciousness.
Yet, I think that a man without desire is one whose fires are not only banked but also nearly gone out. Desire need not be suppressed but tethered by a higher vision to a higher goal. Men must learn the glorious system of reactivating the fires of their beings and redirecting them Godward. Thus the energy of the soul is used to create the need and the motive for an infusion of that love which refuses to take no for an answer, which will not be stymied in its desire for God-realization.
Individuals are often moved away from God by the life patterns of others. This may occur as the result of an incorrect assessment of another's motives or as some act or thought is made known to them concerning another. It does not seem to matter that this information may be the distortion of an untutored mind or common gossip that has been bandied about. Humanity is ever searching for excuses, and these are easy to come by. We know that the glaring light of true reality is being bypassed daily; meanwhile, the slightest stirring is amplified into personal discontent.
Now, when the search for God-reality becomes strenuous, one must remember, in the face of all opposing argument, that reality does exist, even though one has not yet attained it. Man may not know it when he finds it, he may come by it in snatches, he may realize it only in part; but he should understand that the reality he seeks is the same reality which the saints have already apprehended. This reality God wants to bring to him, and this reality desires to bring him to God.
It is not enough to be rightly motivated. Action must follow - action that does not allow the intrusion of fear, of doubt, of distress, or even of excess wonder to dissipate its oneness with reality. Following action, the soul pauses and literally drinks in the beauty of God. The soul has often yearned, in the very midst of denial, for the great stream of God-reality to flow. Now the stream is moving, and the heart is glad - a childlike attitude, perhaps, but let no one shun it; for it is the beginning of the birth of the kingdom within.
Sophistication may seem sweet to those who have yearned for maturity, but its manifestation is dual: there is an earthly sophistication and there is a heavenly sophistication. Men often mistake one for the other, for they do not have the gift of discernment. As men begin to enter into the kingdom of heaven, a childlike attitude is called for, although they may already possess a sophisticated understanding of cosmic law. By a like token, a certain maturity is necessary in dealing with the world; therefore, the sophisticated or worldly-wise need not fear to retain the awareness they possess.
Do they feel weak in a spiritual way? Then let them be strengthened. Do they feel weak in a material way? Then let them be strengthened. And if, perchance, they are strong and knowing in a material way, yet find themselves making a weak beginning spiritually, this fact need not distress them; for the greatest of gifts is that of discernment. Therefore, in order to receive that gift, let them break upon their hearts and heads the sweet oil of devotion; let them understand the radiant gain that is always made by a childlike attitude of adoration for the Creator.
Be unafraid to love God sincerely. Be unafraid to be childlike, for the trust you bear him will also bear fruit in your own life. And if the world has turned your sweet innocence to cynicism, remember that he will receive you not as the world has received you, but with the love that only the Father-Mother can bestow.
Patience is a virtue of the first degree. When possessed, it indicates to everyone your recognition of the great depths of truth that are of necessity caught in the strands of duality. Patience is God's love expressed through you that prayerfully attends the flowering of every Christly virtue within the minds and hearts of all people.
One day life will not be dual, it will be single; and in singleness of vision men will clearly perceive the wonder of God-delight. They will establish in themselves that firm direction that cannot be moved. They will recognize the sincerity of purpose. Then the grades not passed will be taken over by the devotees who failed to learn the lessons of cosmic truth while their consciousness remained in duality. With delight and gladness in their single-eyed vision, they will go back to do that which was left undone in the previous cycle. Thus should men understand that true progress, being the nature of God, is implemented through obedience to his laws.
The question is always: Is one ready? Is one worthy? Does one possess the attributes of God? Is the balance of life manifest within? Does this balance eschew evil but cleave unto good?
Are you ready to admit that all are not on the same rung of the ladder? Are you ready to begin right where you are and not from some imagined height to which in reality you have not yet attained? Do your expectations of your fellowmen indicate a tolerance that is wedded to the God-ideal? Then be not quick to reject their humble offering when they have given their all, and at the same time be not too proud to recognize their attainment when it is above your own. Understand the need, from the depth of the heart, to spread a garment of love as a haven for the souls of men, and to strengthen your own realization of the living God by reaching out to them. Reach out for their souls, not for their bodies or for their minds - these will follow; for how can the soul be drawn unto God by a great magnet, as it were, and the bodies and minds not follow?
Be patient, understand the need to strive not with a sense of struggle, but with the sense of yielding to the great cosmic pressures of the inner light of true knowledge. Man has often studied to show himself approved unto God,3 yet he has not always received cosmic approval; for he has neglected the first principles of cosmic love: he has poured love over himself while ignoring the flow of love as it applied to others. The result is an inward dearth of the soul which he will not admit; and so, in the sense of unreality, he remains self-deceived.
Let man not hesitate to fall upon the rock and be broken, lest the rock fall upon him and grind him to powder.4 Let man not fail to receive the reward of the Christ for true humility. Thus, the covering garment of the Lord shall establish forever the fruit of true striving; and the soul shall stand ready to pass through initiation after initiation, separating truth from error, strand by strand, and human fallacy from the cosmic gleanings that alone further the advance of the soul.
We have often thought as to how greater progress may be made, but we do not measure progress as man does. The valid considerations are always the real; and as we dedicate ourselves to the spiritual advancement of each student, it follows that regeneration shall be of prime consideration. We would rekindle, we would reactivate, we would, when necessary, sternly discipline. But, above all, we urge each student to keep on keeping on until at last, as his eyes open with childlike wonder to behold the glorious truth of being, he sees that God has in store for him those wondrous delights of the cosmic nature that remain serene and immovable but are often overlooked.
Each man may gather these delights until they are secure within the control of his own domain. It is not enough that God wills it so, he himself should also understand the practical aspects of living the cosmic life. He must make the determination that the heavenly glow shall be a part of himself, flowing freely from within. No borrowing of another's light is his, but the joy of cosmic achievement born unto himself.
Each man must be willing to share this light with his brother and not to fear that he will thusly dissipate it; for no one can permanently retain a gift that he has not first earned and then shared. "Freely ye have received, freely give."5
One day, out of the nobility of self-effort, more and more devotees will come to us - a caravan of souls, Christ-illumined, Christ-loving, and understanding him. Then the fruit of God-endeavor will replace all outer action, and the manifestation of the cosmic life will begin. Not a vapid or vanishing condition, but one that is alive and made permanent by the infinite love that has stored so much of himself in time but is still waiting to convey the gift of eternity to all.
Will you follow me in the path of regeneration?