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SECTION TWO - PERSONAL INSTRUCTIONS TO DISCIPLES (Continued) - Part 9

We will, therefore, begin with a meditation which should aid you in this shift of focus. Before giving it to you, may I ask you to eliminate out of your consciousness all elements of hurry and thus begin to deal with that excessive tension which wears out your physical body and makes your impact upon your co-disciples (whenever you contact them) so unduly forceful. There is no hurry. There is no need to emphasise speed in your life. Relaxation is for you a needed attribute, but it has to be achieved through an attitude of mind rather than through relaxation exercises; these are apt to focus the attention upon the physical body and produce—owing to your mental polarisation—an increased inflow of energy. Energy follows thought. There is much time for growth both here and in other states of being.... Carry forward your meditation in the heart and not in the head, watching carefully for any physiological effects of an undesirable nature; report them should any occur.

After the breathing exercise which I have given you, please do the following meditation work:

1. Sound the Sacred Word, the O.M., audibly, breathing it forth from the head to the heart.

2. Then visualize a golden sun, slowly rising above the horizon. See yourself standing before it and slowly being absorbed into its beams. Then imagine yourself acting as a lens or transmission point through which the "light of that radiant Sun which is the light of Love" may pour forth upon all whom you contact.

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3. Meditate upon the following words:

1st and 2nd months—The light of love.

3rd and 4th months—The power of loving understanding.

4. Insert at this point any intercessory work or service idealism which you may care to do.

5. Close with a dedication of yourself and of all that you are and have, to the work of service and primarily to the service of the New Group of World Servers.

You will ask what your service is to be. That, my brother, will grow out of your meditation. It is not for me to tell you what activity your personality must follow; it is your own soul which must so do. Some of it you already know, and to that I may refer. As far as in you lies, stand firmly in your endeavour to aid the New Group of World Servers. That should be the prime effort for many years to come of all true aspirants in all esoteric schools. Their help is needed by us.

I give you no exercises to follow other than the outlined breathing exercise nor shall I deal specifically with your physical condition. The transfer of your focus out of the head into the heart is the best way to aid your general health and relieve the condition in the head which is causing you concern. Remember again that energy follows thought; this can have a bad effect, producing undue tension, or a good effect, producing a release of energy in various directions where it can best be of service. Remember also, that with you I must go slowly, both because of your inner psychological hurry and your outer tension. Study well the keynotes of your life; this will aid your soul growth, and lead to perseverance unto the end.

July 1935

MY BROTHER:

A very definite process of re-organisation has gone forward in your life, under the direction of your soul. This has brought about three events in your life:

1. A shift in your attention from certain focal points (well known to you) to others of wider import.

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2. A re-orientation of your entire life to the soul and to work in my group of disciples.

3. A re-arrangement of the energies of the subtle bodies, producing a temporary discomfort but of real and lasting value.

This process has been far from easy and I have sought three times during the past four months definitely to help you. I wonder if you were aware of my vibration and my thought when these points of contact were brought about by me?

Seek to develop sensitivity to my vibration during the next few months, particularly at the time of the Full Moon. There were two paragraphs in the last instruction I gave you which I again call to your attention. They summarise your opportunity and your problem. Please study them and ponder deeply on their implications. When the task is clearly outlined and the problem squarely faced, it is easier then to work intelligently and constructively.

Your work for quite a time is to continue with the re-focussing, re-alignment and inner re-organisation. Forget not my earlier injunction to go slowly.

January 1936

BROTHER OF OLD:

The pressure of the times is very great and yet, at the same time, great need for care prevails. I want first of all to point out to you where your major risk lies and I use the word "risk" with intention. You realise it for yourself, I know, but re-emphasis on my part will not prove unavailing.

Your physical body is very frail and, therefore, you have to handle force and spiritual energy with especial care; where there is a weak and delicate outer shell, the inner subtler bodies can become too dominant; as force flows in, these subtler bodies become more vital. Much force flows through you at this time. Do not infer from this remark that you contact and attract more force than do your co-disciples, for such is not the case. But your physical equipment is of such a nature that it constitutes a real problem.

The consequent influence and potency of the inner bodies—particularly the mental body with its critical faculties—is over-strong [576] in expression upon the physical plane. This, I realise quite well, you yourself know.

One of the problems that faces every Master (teaching a group of disciples such as this) is how to lead them on to the next step when much that He can say to them is simply an emphasising of what they—as most intelligent aspirants—already know. There is little that I can tell you personally at this time. You have so much knowledge and you do realise that your major problem is the right handling of force.

Perhaps I shall help you the most if I beg you not to handle force so powerfully. Learn to approach yourself and your life problems, your work as a disciple, your relationship with my group of disciples and with all that come your way, with less intensity. You consciously handle yourself so powerfully and with such violence that you are constantly shattering yourself and constantly tearing down the contacts you make, the work you do and the bridges which you establish between yourself and others. This again you know.

Will you understand me, my brother, and believe me when I tell you that, for you, the achievement of an inner stillness is the way out of all your problems? Your intensely active mind which moves from personalities to the Plan, from the New Group of World Servers to the details of everyday life and which is never quiet for one moment from its thoughtform-making activities, must learn to rest quietly in the light. It must learn simply to reflect, both in the sense of quiet thought and in the sense of a quiet radiance. Then your thoughts will harmonise and blend; then your plans will be constructive and free from self; then you will become a centre of peace and a point of radiant energy which will bring people together and act as a coherent force.

Let, therefore, your effort for the next few months be the attainment of this inner quiet. This will in no way affect or change the goal of your work; it will not negate in any way the methods in which you seek to help my work. It will, however, affect the quality and the rhythm of what you seek to do and save you much time which is at present spent in constant rebuilding.

Guard yourself at the time of the full moon each month and particularly at the time of the May Full Moon from over-stimulation, [577] yet evade not contact with that spiritual energy. Preserve yourself from over-intensity and thus gain a truer sense of proportion. The Hierarchy waits with patience the fruition of its efforts, after doing all that can be done on all planes. This constant attention and watchful waiting must be emulated by all disciples. Dwell constantly in the House of Quiet, my brother, yet lessen not your service. It is all a question of inner orientation and of attitude; it is not a question of outer exoteric activity. That may remain the same or even quicken and become more potent, but the quality and the actuating living principle may be higher, more loving, closer to the centre and, therefore, more still.

The only exercise that I give you at this time is as follows:

1. A simple breathing exercise....

2. Then, sit in perfect inner silence and quiet for fifteen minutes, not negatively drifting into a semi-tranced condition, but actively becoming aware of that inner centre of stillness and of peace where joy and bliss have their home.

3. When you feel that all your bodies are quieted and that you have "come home to the place of silent, holy rest," then dedicate yourself to the service of the Plan, placing yourself at the disposal of those who serve that Plan.

4. Then say: "Asking nothing for the separated self, I pour forth love." Hold in mind:

a. Your immediate family circle.

b. Your fellow disciples and group brothers.

c. The New Group of World Servers.

d. Humanity.

5. Close with the Benediction.

My blessing rests upon you, my brother, and may the peace which passes understanding reward all your efforts.

June 1936

MY BROTHER:

Focus the will upon the immediate duty and be not lost in the mazes of possibility. Of your own free will, you undertook to work in my group of disciples and to cooperate with the [578] workers who are endeavouring to carry forward the tasks assigned to them. You pledged yourself in two moments of devotion and of real understanding to cooperate with the task of the New Group of World Servers. Let not the beauty of that which might be done, lead you to forget that which has been begun; otherwise you may land yourself in the world of illusion and consequent futility. You have much to give, so give of your richness of understanding. When group work is successful, it is because the equipment of the group is enhanced by that which each individual has to give. The energy of the unit is absorbed by the entire group and the group output in service is thereby increased. The group is then enabled to shift to a higher plane of service and of consciousness. Ponder on this.

January 1937

MY BROTHER AND CHOSEN FRIEND:

I have watched you with care and understanding during the past year. I know what you have undergone and the measure of your difficulties and problems. These you faced, as usual, with courage. The past lies behind you and though I looked at you with anxiety till a few weeks ago, I no longer do so. You can and will become an integrating force in this group.

A great process of transmutation of the lower energies has been going on in you, carried forward, as always, via the solar plexus centre—that great clearing house of the personality. This has been for you a culminating crisis in your life, esoterically speaking, though its effects may produce exoteric happenings. These latter are (are they not?) of small moment compared to the inner happenings.

There were moments when the situation was critical. At three such moments, during the past year, I definitely intervened and interposed my help, though you, of course, knew it not. Can I, at this point, convey to you a lesson which all accepted disciples have to learn? Such intervention by a watching Teacher or Master is something which should seldom happen and something which all conscious disciples seek to avoid; something which they never expect and which they never demand. [579] Conscious discipleship is only now opening before you as a result of this experience and during the unconscious stage we do occasionally help. This I did.

I would ask you to regard the process of such a definite re-orientation and transmutation as now closed—probably for this entire life. You have come through to a measure of release and are freed for service in a sense that was before not possible. Now I ask you to take several months of complete quiet, giving the solar plexus time to relax, and your brain and mind time to adjust themselves to the newer rhythms. Make no plans but follow the lines of service as they open up and as needs come to your attention. I need not ask you to stand by my work and by the things which I am attempting to do in the world, for this I know you will do. Your soul demands it of your personality and will find you ever ready.

Below are six seed thoughts which I have chosen for your consideration. Will you give them fifteen minutes of quiet thought each day?

1st month—I am a bird of song. Those in the high air can hear my song. My fellow pilgrims feel my joy.

2nd month—I am the lotus of the heart. The perfume of the heart must fill the air around me and rest my fellowmen.

3rd month—I am a pool of quiet. Naught must destroy that peace, for all around me need that peace and quiet that the restful waters give.

4th month—I am a steadfast hill whereon the breeze of God blows free. The weary pilgrims on the Way find cool strength and tonic life upon that hill.

5th month—I am a voice that calls and carries cheer because I see the vision.

6th month—All that I am and all I have belongs to others, not myself.

The work that you are now planning and about which you have spoken to me will suffice for your work for the next few months.

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July 1937

BROTHER OF MINE:

Let us have a talk today upon the difficulties of the Way and thus seek to discover what are the hindrances and the problems which you have to face. A great deal of the difficulty, incident upon the intense fluidity of your mind, is based on the fact that you are transferring off the sixth ray on to the second; thus, in this egoic shift, there is a transference of energy. You are passing through an interim period. One or two of my other disciples are also occupied with the same task but they have nearly completed that task. The effect upon some of them is largely physical and also upon the heart centre. With you, the effect has been felt in the mental body and in the throat centre. The physical condition which troubles you has not originated in connection with this shift.

One interesting fact emerges and I would like to call your attention to it. Your affiliation with this group of disciples and, therefore, with myself has been due to the urge of your soul for contact with a powerful second ray vibration, so as to enable you to make the needed change with greater rapidity and ease. It is of a major usefulness to you to bring about this necessary stabilisation within a second ray centre. Will you ponder upon the implications of this statement and will you endeavour to realise the need and call of your soul for such a stabilisation and the urgent demand of your personality for the quiet which streams forth from a second ray group. For you, there is no real achievement in this life unless you learn this mental quiet and that peaceful activity which comes from loving truly as a soul, from a complete refraining from all tortuous questions, from stabilising yourself for future work, communion and expression within your own group centre and from an eradication of all criticism such as your over-active mind presents with constancy.

This mental unrest (if I may call it so, my brother, without unduly hurting you) is frequently intensified by the fact that your mental body, like your personality, is upon the first ray. The implications, attendant upon this fact, will be immediately apparent to you. Let us look at your problem as it is: First, there must be recognised a crisis in the soul life when the energy is shifting out of a minor ray focus into that of a major ray [581] centre. Your personality being on the first ray, is normally and dynamically one-pointed and automatically self-centred; this condition is not eased by the fact that the integrated personality force flows through a first ray mental body. This inevitably produces the accompanying characteristics of an intense centralisation (I did not say a selfish one, my brother) and an active assurance, a full fledged ambition (often of an entirely right nature, but occasionally not so right) and a power to analyse and oft to criticise others, their personalities and their tasks. The new vibration to which your soul is leading you (that of expansion and inclusiveness, plus the power to synthesise and to understand) is, in some of its phases, over-powerful for you and its reactions are as yet unorganised by you. It leads you to a definite (and often almost uncontrollable) tendency to identify yourself with every imaginable point of view, to see all around a question though seldom to the heart of it, and to touch momentarily this, that and the other attitude of thought and emotion. These reactions do not stay long enough to enable you to understand truly. You contact people on the periphery of their consciousness, but not often at their heart or their life.

Will you accept this diagnosis, my brother and my friend? You know my keen desire to see you stabilised for the remainder of this life, thus losing no time and definitely achieving constructive results within your group and within the centre to which your soul has directed you. These constructive results will reach fruition if you focus your forces within a second ray vibratory centre, for this will aid the shift of energies with which your soul is at present engaged. This second ray vibratory centre may be my group of disciples, with which you are at present related; it may be any other group, organisation or school of thought; it may be objective to you now or simply subjective and unrealised. If your soul is to make the needed shift in this life, it is essential that you focus yourself and remain relatively static within your chosen centre for a long time. Otherwise your soul will be forced to postpone the needed shift until the next life. It is interesting, is it not, to see the reason for the happenings within the periphery of one's consciousness, to realise the clear light which is sometimes thrown in this way upon mistakes and know what it is that one has to do.

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Your mind is ever a questioning mind. It is my duty always to throw you back upon your own questions and see to it that you reply to them yourself. I would ask you to realise the wide scope which your fertile, over-active mind brings to every question, and the wide range of incidental and related questions which it asks. I would not bring this matter to your notice if I did not realise that such an inclusive mind, developed to the point which yours has reached, is a valuable asset, making you both sensitive and inclusive—in the highest sense of those words. Such a mind is a basic requirement for all disciples and for all candidates for the Path of Discipleship. But such a mind needs most definitely controlling, wisely correlating with a stable centre and confining within limits.

My brother, let simplicity be your guide and one-pointed love your major objective. Choose a field of service which has its defined limits—for all disciples are limited and cannot cover a planetary range in their thoughts. Then work—mentally and physically—within these limits. The completion of some self-appointed task within the field of karmic limitations and of environment where your destiny has cast you is all that is required of you. What are you accomplishing at this time? There is just a certain span of years ahead of you at the age which you have now reached, and you have a frail body. Let your service lie within the field of contact where you find yourself and reach not out over the entire planet. Is there any greater or more important matter than to fulfil your task and carry it to completion before you pass over to the other side and to do it in the place where you are and with your chosen comrades?

Believe me when I assure you that I am not seeking to evade any questions which you may ask but, if I can awaken you to the realisation of the necessity for "spiritual limitation" (as it is esoterically called when defining the career of a disciple within the limits of his task), and bring to your attention the need for achieving the goal you set yourself when you started to work with me, I shall have aided you much. I feel sure that you will grasp the wisdom of these remarks.

Your astral body is upon the sixth ray and here again lies for you a problem. Upon it I need not enlarge, beyond reminding you that a sixth ray astral body (where a disciple is concerned) predicates intense adherence to a line of thought, [583] to an idea, a group, a person or an attitude or to a preconceived notion. These may be right or wrong but the tendency to adherence is powerfully present and can be a great asset or a major hindrance. In any case—again for a disciple—any idée fixe (beyond that of a right spiritual orientation) can be a deterrent to progress, if fanatically motivated.

Your physical body is upon the seventh ray and this makes for integration and for efficiency. Your rays can, therefore, be stated to be:

1. The soul ray—the second Ray of Love-Wisdom.

2. The personality ray—the first Ray of Power.

3. The ray of the mind—the first Ray of Power.

4. The ray of the astral body—the sixth Ray of Devotion.

5. The ray of the physical body—the seventh Ray of Ceremonial Order.

You know so much that you will easily see how this forms a very rich combination of energies and aggregation of forces, presenting a definite opportunity and also certain very definite problems.

For you the group meditation is essential; it will serve to aid your soul in its life task and to integrate you into the second ray sphere of influence, which will be of real use. My brother, we travel not alone. For you, again, group love, group understanding, group happiness and group work are essential to progress, real happiness and good physical health. In group work and contact comes relief from inner tension, through the sharing of force. You have a frail body and carry much force. Disperse it among your brothers.

I would beg you to apply yourself to the five days of the Full Moon Contact, making the weeks between each full moon simply preparatory to the work to be done on those five days. Will you also take the Rules of the Road (which you will find attached to this instruction) and study them. They have helped many people.

THE RULES OF THE ROAD

1. The Road is trodden in the full light of day, thrown upon the Path by Those Who know and lead. Naught [584] can then be hidden, and at each turn upon that Road a man must face himself.

2. Upon the Road the hidden stands revealed. Each sees and knows the villainy of each. And yet there is, with that great revelation, no turning back, no spurning of each other, no shakiness upon the Road. The Road goes forward into day.

3. Upon that Road one wanders not alone. There is no rush, no hurry. And yet there is no time to lose. Each pilgrim, knowing this, presses his footsteps forward, and finds himself surrounded by his fellowmen. Some move ahead; he follows after. Some move behind; he sets the pace. He travels not alone.

4. Three things the Pilgrim must avoid. The wearing of a hood, a veil which hides his face from others; the carrying of a water pot which only holds enough for his own wants; the shouldering of a staff without a crook to hold.

5. Each Pilgrim on the Road must carry with him what he needs: a pot of fire, to warm his fellowmen; a lamp, to cast its rays upon his heart and show his fellowmen the nature of his hidden life; a purse of gold, which he scatters not upon the Road, but shares with others; a sealed vase, wherein he carries all his aspiration to cast before the feet of Him Who waits to greet him at the gate—a sealed vase.

6. The Pilgrim, as he walks upon the Road, must have the open ear, the giving hand, the silent tongue, the chastened heart, the golden voice, the rapid foot, and the open eye which sees the light. He knows he travels not alone.

January 1938

MY BROTHER:

If you can hold steadily to the point which you have reached during the past few months, if you can begin to utilise the second ray soul force which you have at last succeeded in contacting and if you can stabilise the work accomplished within yourself, you will find yourself entering upon a period of fruitful service.

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I would call to your attention some words out of an instruction I earlier gave you wherein I pointed out the necessity for you to seek stabilisation within a second ray centre. How does this stabilisation come? Through steady identification with the desired vibration. One of the main uses of group work is the effect of group vibration upon the individual's vibration. It tones it down when necessary, stimulates it and facilitates its emergence in cases such as yours. Where the soul ray is on a particular line, it is peculiarly valuable for the personality to subject itself to group vibration and contact wherein the pressure exerted and the vibration contacted will be the same as the hidden or emerging soul ray.

That is an aspect of group activity which is little apprehended. You need most definitely the vibration of a second ray group at this time. It matters not what group you choose but it does matter that in some second ray group you aid yourself by forcing the emergence of your second ray characteristics. This is not suggested because you, as an individual, are of such importance or that second ray groups exist in order to help people like you. They do not. But the work of the Builders is being called for on every side today and second ray aspirants are needed to direct this work and to strengthen the hands of the Builders. Ponder on this.

What is it that, up to date, has prevented your sincere desire to serve from coming to fruition? My brother, you have as yet done no service that will carry over into the future because it has been done at the sacrifice of yourself, that has involved the sacrifice of your time, your personal interests, and your personal desires, based upon your personal qualities. You have looked on at the service of others and wondered why and how they chose to serve in the various ways they did; you have suggested service to others and have at times made it possible for them to serve; you have talked to groups on service and yet with no results, adequate to the force expended. Why has this been so? Because all the time you were not giving of yourself in love, but only of that which was exterior to yourself. And why, my brother (to continue with the questions) has this been so? Wherein lies your difficulty—a difficulty you can now face because you have established a soul rapport and the light and love of the soul are pouring in on you.

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The difficulty lies in the fact that you have a first ray personality and a first ray mental body and the two are so closely associated that you are the victim (or have been, shall we say, for all this can now be altered) of this combination of two first ray responsive aspects. It might be of interest if you studied with me for a moment how these first ray vehicles affect your demonstration in the world. Let us study them together. Your first ray mind has tended to bring about in you the following conditions:

1. A sense (sometimes unrealised) of separativeness. Where you have been non-separative, it has been because you have forced yourself to cooperate, and yet you were, all the time, conscious of it. Cooperation and human contacts are easy for you in theory, but difficult in fact, and would have been hitherto impossible had it not been for your sixth ray emotional body and the steady beat of your loving soul—now emerging into control.

2. A tendency to criticise. Need I enlarge upon this? I think not, for I realise that it is dawning upon your consciousness that you have wasted quite a number of years in criticising your co-disciples and your earnest fellow-workers, and this you are now pledged to end. Twice in the last few months, I have noted your earnest efforts at the elimination of criticism.

3. A great facility for over-activity. You have a mind body which is in a constant state of fever, with (symbolically speaking, of course) periods of violent activity, amounting almost to delirium. As I have earlier pointed out to you, you are so over-active and your mind ranges so widely here, there and everywhere, that you fail in understanding and in true perception. There has been no time for you to comprehend anything before you are off again in a widely different direction.

This must end, my brother. Out of the many possible lines of activity which lie open before you, will you choose two and adhere to them even when the novelty palls and you hanker to traverse new fields? Forget not that the Hierarchy stands. So stand also and give your time to two fields of service in which you choose to cooperate. Let one of them be a second ray group [587] with which you choose to cast your lot and let the other be in the outer world where some humanitarian effort claims your attention. Give, if you can, sixty per cent of your time to the group effort, for that is where you belong; waste not time in deciding which group it shall be. I refer here—when mentioning these percentages—to the time, strength and interest which you make available. I refer not to the time that is taken up by your home interests, obligations and duties. Give, then, the remaining forty per cent of your time to the outer activity in the world.

Your first ray personality does two things to you: It isolates you in your own mind from your associates and you need to learn the necessity for identification with those who are your co-workers. That means not only identification with the group objective or identification with the major principles of the group but it means also identification with the successes, the failures, the difficulties and the problems. This is not, therefore, the cooperation of the outsider who comes in to help, but the cooperation of one who is so closely associated with the problems and with those who are handling them that there is no sense of being apart, no critical reaction and no superior observation.

Your first ray personality, plus your first ray mind, evokes in you a love of power and a desire for that pleasurable sensation which comes from speech which evokes acquiescence. This serves to place you "in the seat of the superior person," as the Chinese call it. You will usually find, my brother, that it is easy to gather around you many little people, of relatively futile accomplishment (from the angle of world service) but that the finer minds have no time for such acquiescence; they proceed upon their way, leaving you to follow after and to catch up with them eventually. This tendency is, however, rapidly ending in you and in joyful association (coloured by your love, glorified by the group successes and learning from mistakes) you will walk in the future with your brothers in the Way.

I would like to point out two things also: First, your sixth ray astral body—sensitive, finely organised and motivated by high aspiration—is swept into dramatic, over-emphasised action very frequently because it reacts to the violent impact of your first ray personality and mind. Let this end. Train your emotions [588] to respond to your second ray soul and for a period at least eliminate the mind from astral control. Can you do this? If you can, you will balance and round out your nature, for the dominating factors will then be:

1. The soul, working through the astral body and controlling your heart light.

2. The personality, working through the mind and controlling all group relations, making them intelligent and presenting to the soul and heart the service of a mind and brain, attuned to the loving, intelligent impulses of the group life.

The second thing I would like to say to you is that it is not my intention to refer again to your personality problems and to your character difficulties. With a disciple, as intelligently motivated as you are, and with a love nature as deep and sane and sweet as yours, further comment is unnecessary. I am hoping that in my coming communications with you, I shall be able to confine myself to the development in you of those qualities which will make you a real healer and able to work in a group of healers. My blessing rests upon you, my brother, in a new way and I am approaching you with joy in my heart.

As regards the work I would have you do, my suggestion is that you concentrate upon the work of the Full Moon Approaches. For you, the time of each full moon is one of real importance; if you prepare yourself for it as you should and as you can, you will produce in yourself certain definite results of which you will become gradually aware.

September 1938

BROTHER OF MINE:

I am neither suspending you nor asking for your resignation from my group. I may do so later. I have two simple questions to ask you: Why are you working in this group? Why do you retain your membership in it? The reasons which prompt me to ask you these two questions are as follows:

For several years and more, you have consistently taken the position that one of my disciples has failed to measure up to his opportunities and that my entire group of disciples has not [589] given the service which was demanded of it. You have so stated to a number of people and have also asserted that my work—as indicated by me in my various pamphlets and books—has not been properly done either by the group or by those who have pledged themselves to do it. You have criticised openly all that has been attempted and have steadily belittled and openly under-rated the work that has been done. You have misunderstood the attitude of my entire group. You have not helped in any way constructively. You have interjected a spirit of criticism everywhere.

Why is this? There are two reasons, my brother, and I care enough about your unfoldment to tell you with frankness what they are. One is that your fluid, uncontrolled, lower mind reverts with facility to criticism, to the formulating of group plans which are impossible of accomplishment, changing such plans at frequent intervals and using speech as a means of spreading distrust and criticism. Secondly, you are mentally and spiritually ambitious and yet you do not have the personal magnetism or the executive ability which would enable you to form your own group. It is easier to undermine another group.

I would like, therefore, to put to you one or two questions in the effort to enable you to clarify your own mind, and upon your reaction to what I shall say and upon your replies to the questions which I shall put to you—I will take whatever action may seem desirable. You can reply to those questions either by word of mouth (and I shall hear) or in writing. If you do not feel able to do so, I shall have to take it as an indication that you do not feel that you belong to my group of disciples and that you desire no part in the group activity. For this I shall be sorry but I cannot hold up the work of this group any longer because of you. The questions which I seek to put to you are the following:

1 and 2. The two previous questions in the first paragraph of this communication.

3. If you feel that the work which is now being carried forward is not in line with my will and is not of real usefulness (being of the old age and not in tune with the new intent) why do you not start your own group and demonstrate how a group should be run?

[590] You are full of plans and of ideas which you lay before many people but, my brother, nothing happens. The disciples in my group are facing great difficulties owing to the world condition and are rendering faithful service. I am not dissatisfied. Your choice is clear and well defined. You can either cooperate happily with this group in the work which is now being attempted and give all the help of which you are capable or you can gather together your own group and thus demonstrate your own idea.

4. Do you really desire to organise a group and feel that you can do so? Do you clearly understand what should be done?

5. Can you train yourself to overcome a critical spirit? I would remind you that habit is potent and that you are facing your life task and your major problem. You are adequate to the task, but only if you become truly convinced of the need.

6. Can you begin to concern yourself with constructive work which will meet the present need around you? You have talked much. Can you now begin to work?

Of your sincerity and of your good intentions, there is no question. But work is done by action and not by talking. It is done by helping the people in your immediate horizon and meeting their immediate need. It is not done by the laying of vast plans which fail of accomplishment because they are based on no sound foundation. I would ask you to become constructively useful and to cease functioning so destructively and negatively.

Until I know what you decide is right for you and until I have your attitude in relation to the above questions, I shall not again communicate with you. This will leave your mind free to think with quietude. The question of where your work lies is a matter for your own decision.

December 1938

BROTHER OF MINE:

I have not the time to write to you as fully as I had intended. I have tried for days to spare some time but found I had none to spare. We who work on the other side of the veil [591] have always to take into consideration the fact that those with whom we are associated are limited by the time equation and, in our relations with them, have to work from this angle of limitation. I have, however, a few minutes to spare this morning and I will speak to you briefly.

Your replies to the questions have been scanned by me and as I read between the lines (more than from what you say) I sense in you a definite change of heart which is leading rapidly to a different mental attitude—a more stabilised, a more serene and yet a more focussed service of the mind. Forget not that the mind, in your case, can be a major directing factor of the emotional life and of your physical plane activities. Of your soul purpose there has never been any doubt nor of your devotion to me, your teacher and your friend. But you have worked always in that area or that layer of mental substance wherein the tendency to criticism and to the belief (sometimes unrealised) that your personality views were right and of importance, can so easily cause illusion. From this you are rapidly freeing yourself. It is right that you should receive this encouragement from me.

I welcome you back, therefore, into the service of the Plan, into that immediate service which will call for that concentrated effort and enterprise which will take all the time, interest, strength and purpose of that group of disciples which is working under my direct supervision.

The details of the Plan have in them the seeds of world salvage and can—if rightly and wisely furthered—produce lasting world effects; these details must be worked out; they can and must vary as they meet the need of different nations and circumstances but the forming of a central world party and the organising of the men and women of goodwill calls for a supreme effort.

March 1939

MY BROTHER AND MY FRIEND:

This is one of several instructions which I have written you within the space of this year. That in itself should indicate not only potentiality (for which all of us connected with the Hierarchy invariably look) but it indicates also achievement; [592] we have no time to waste with those who are making no progress or who are not determined to face the Angel of the Presence or to cope with the illumination and revelation which then takes place—an illumination of the life of the soul and a revelation of the need and the limitations of the personality.

Your problem is relatively simple and your service twofold. You need a simplicity of speech and of outlook—free from the tendency to criticise and to judge, plus a willingness to serve wherever the need is greatest. That is your problem. You have already set in to solve it and you have grasped its implications subjectively. You are now beginning to work out the solution objectively. Those who have erred in any spiritual direction are always potent when changed. Your service basically is as follows: to stand by me and the work I am attempting to do in the world (and fortunately for you this too is your heart's desire), and to express this by definite work. This work falls into two categories: First of all, the giving of unchanging cooperation with those who are working in my group and under my direction and, secondly, to express your own soul in carrying revelation to small groups. This will entail less individual work and more work with small groups of people. Find these small groups and raise their vibration by brief and potent contacts, making each hour spent with them to count and to be of value, and leaving them with a wider outlook and a more sure horizon. Then pass on.

Cooperation, movement, dynamic effort and then withdrawing—such is your future task under my plan. This you must do in collaboration with others, with the new groups which have the new psychological outlook and a right technique of meditation. It is group work that the world needs at this time and an increasing fusion of souls and of the units in the various groups which are coloured by the attitude that will distinguish the coming civilisation. I think you comprehend well what I mean and what I am asking; you have already made a beginning along this somewhat peculiar line. The duty of a hierarchical Observer (such as myself) is only to indicate—after the fact, thus not infringing the freewill of the person—that the action taken is in line with soul intent. This is ever in line with hierarchical intent. This, I therefore, do.

[593]

April 1940

MY FRIEND AND MY BROTHER:

I would have a word with you today, after a silence lasting many months. In this time you have adjusted yourself to the life of the soul and you have dedicated yourself anew to world service and to me. This has been registered by me and I have not been unmindful. Your inner contact with your soul and with me has been strengthened and the light enhanced.

A disciple, at your stage of development, has two major lessons to learn. Particularly is this so when he has the combination of rays which is yours. He has to learn, first of all, to stand completely alone (though only apparently so and only for a temporary space of time), detached from contact with the Master. Sometimes even his own soul seems silent. But this is all illusion. Circumstances are staged to bring this condition about and if they are not so staged by the disciple's own soul, then the Master acts to bring the circumstance about. The disciple must be thrown upon his own resources. This stage of stabilisation now lies behind you and in time to come you must demonstrate that steady calm for this life, that "poised position at the centre" which is the gift of your immediate past experience.

The second thing which you have to learn is the control of the fluid map-making, plan-formulating mind. This one thing nearly brought disaster to you. The danger is now, however, past. You are aware of this and will cautiously guard against it. When a disciple first comes into a Master's group (as you came into mine) the inflow of energy is so great that the mind is frequently aroused to such an intense activity that it gets temporarily out of calm control. Too much is seen at once; too much is sensed and grasped; possibilities and plans, modes and methods of teaching and of service, and potentialities (hitherto unrealised) pour unhindered and simultaneously into the disciple's consciousness. When this takes place, there follows a period of serious instability, of fluidity of thought and undertaking, of violent experimentation and of what I might term a spiritual riot. This must eventually come to an end before the disciple can enter into his real service. This resumed stability took place with you because you are fundamentally [594] stable and sound and because—at such periods—a Master's group supports and protects the one who is passing through the experience of over-stimulation. The protective work done in the Ashram of a Master is something little realised by the average disciple. Whilst this type of experience is going on, the outer group of a Master's disciples proves of little service; it simply stimulates the mind, providing outlets for the blind rioting consciousness. Hence your withdrawal was right and sound but need no longer be continued.

Of one thing I am sure, brother of old, and that is that you will understand whereof I speak. The period of strain and stress now lies behind you. Your place in my inner group is assured. Your work in the outer group is opening up and what I have here told you is only the corroboration of your own inner intuition.

Two things lie ahead of you: Learning to work upon the outer plane in group association with your co-disciples and with those whom they will gather around them in coming years, and, also the strengthening of the inner rhythm of the soul as it conditions the outer life into a calm and increasing service and cooperation with my determined plans. These, all of you who are my chosen disciples, can work out together.

It is this together which so oft proves difficult to our workers. It is group work which we desire and not the domination of a person in a group or the control of two or three people. This means slower work but a more widespread influence. It is safer and more fruitful in the long run. The group work entails many things and many developments within the group consciousness. One of these is the finding of the level of service, so that what is done is a group effort. It will then prove successful, for it will be based on group conviction and on group understanding. Another is that the disciples, working under one Master, become an extension of His Ashram upon the outer plane.

Another thing which it is important you should grasp is your special field of service and the conditions under which you should carry on your work. Your physical vehicle must be guarded and any intensity must be avoided. That is a definite injunction from me. Esoterically speaking, your contribution [595] is meditation, and aiding in the meditative life of the group; exoterically speaking, it lies in conference (with any of my disciples whom you may happen to know) about the new cycle of work which is unfolding, about the group purposes, objectives, principles and policies. This is group service and must be carried forward together.

I am writing thus fully to you because a life, rich in service and fulfilment, can open up for you, provided that you establish and hold happy human relations with your chosen fellow workers, a deep and constant humility and an urgent faith. This, I know is your soul's desire and it is also mine for you.

I understand and trust you, disciple of mine. I have little time, in these days of world agony, to give to the particular training of any of you. I only offer opportunity.

NOTE: It will be apparent from the above instruction that the disciple was temporarily suspended from active work in the group until certain lessons had been learned. Re-instatement followed.

To L. T. S-K.

January 1932

BROTHER OF MINE:

There is no hurry attached to the work done by the members of a Master's group. The earnest desire to progress can hinder as well as help. The intuition is a growth, primarily, in sensitivity and in an inner response to the soul. This must be cultivated with care, and no attention should be paid to the factor of time.

I have three things to say to you, brother of old, and two things to suggest; your response to these will guarantee your success.