THE GURU AND THE CHELA

By the Ascended Master Kuthumi

CHELA: Beloved Master: I ask forgiveness if this question seems presumptuous. However, it often seems that, in the widening of the consciousness of the students to include the knowledge of the Masters, individual attention upon the Presence of God is neglected.

GURU: Blessed chela: Truly this is a fact, a stage of spiritual development, an initiation upon the Path that leads toward mastery. The individual might be likened to a child who, early in life, does not even cognize the parent nor solicitous guardians. Then comes recognition of the forms of the loving parents, followed by the years of leaning upon them. Later comes the maturity when the individual begins to draw and rely upon his own intelligence and directions.

The mass of mankind does not cognize the watchful Beings who have foresworn the bliss of Higher Realms in order to care for them. Mankind, always a slave to form, when it finds an Individualized Presence tends to lean upon it. Later comes the maturity when the individual begins to work in the spiritual army of the King of Kings.

CHELA: Beloved Master: In order to understand the work of the Spiritual Hierarchy, we are taught to turn our attention toward certain Masters and this naturally builds an affinity of spirit. Is this not a good endeavor?

GURU: Blessed chela: Yes, it is a most praiseworthy endeavor indeed. The state of Consciousness of the student is the primary point of importance in this association. As the beloved Saint Germain has said, "in the Ascended Master Realm the individual 'I Am' Presence and all the Ascended Masters, Angels, Devas and Cosmic Powers are ONE." It is only the human mind that insists upon the doctrine of separateness and the distinction of form.

CHELA: Beloved Master: What is the correct attitude of consciousness for an earnest student to take in endeavoring to draw close to the Masters but yet to develop individual maturity and grace?

GURU: Blessed chela: Every Being who has attained perfection represents the sum total of millions of years of the use of life energy to develop some virtue, talent, power, grace and expression of the Godhead. Such a one is, like the Sun in the Heavens, a focus for that momentum of good drawn, remember, from the ONE SOURCE. These Beings are really "living batteries" of already God-qualified life. Proximity to their Presence allows the individual to absorb that quality, even as one absorbs the heat and comfort from the radiator.

Some there be who, through spiritual pride, would prefer to shiver in the icy winds of the mountain heights until they can generate the heat to comfort them, through their own endeavors. Others take advantage of the proximity to already generated heat and comfort provided by the fueled flames in the hostelries which welcome pilgrims who pursue some quest. Thus it is with man. Some men avail themselves of the faith, courage, strength, confidence, healing essence and illuminating power of those who have accumulated those stores of qualified life. Others insist upon generating these qualities themselves and shiver in the winds of uncertainty, while their more humble brothers proceed upward on the Path, in the warmth of the Presence of their Elder Brothers and Sisters.

The cultivation of the Presence and association with the Masters must be to kindle the fires of one's own spiritual nature, not to find another to do one's personal work. Many seek the Master as a "leaning post." Many seek him to satisfy personal curiosity and doubt. To these, he cannot come because it would deter the individual development by drawing the attention to the form of the Master. Even Jesus affirmed this principle when he said, "If I do not go, the Comforter will not come."

CHELA: Beloved Master: Seeking the Master in order to develop one's own reason for being is, then, a safe passport into Their Presence?

GURU: Blessed chela: It is the only passport into their Presence. Worship of form, no matter how sincere, does not develop the individual spirit spark. It tends, on the contrary, to detract from concentration upon the one from whom we, ourselves, receive life, intelligence and the power to do every good and perfect thing.

CHELA: Beloved Master: What is the doctrine of "The Middle Way" in regard to this subject we are discussing?

GURU: Blessed chela: The doctrine of "The Middle Way," which is of course the teaching of our Lord Buddha, lies within the following principles:

First: The individual is a focus of God's Intelligence, directed into the Universe to fulfill some portion of the Divine Plan. From within himself, he must learn to draw forth the self-mastery, discrimination, balance, wisdom, love and power in order to fulfill that Plan. If he becomes enamoured of any form or being which distracts him from this individual endeavor to sublimate his human nature and expand his Divine nature, he must stop and re-orient himself with attention upon the One Source. Then he may proceed in the company of those who, by like concentration upon the One, have achieved.

Second: He must realize that all qualities of thought and feeling are contagious. It is wise to cultivate the Presence and Fellowship of those who have become that which he desires to be.

The smoldering sparks of faith and aspiration kindle into flame when the individual consciousness becomes part of the consciousness of any God-free Being. Because of the negative nature of the thoughts and feelings of the mass of mankind, unless the student has a positive current into which he may tie his aspiring soul, he is likely to be engulfed in the "hopelessness" which is the effluvia of the race.

Third: A daily period of introspection before sleep is wise. Has your service for the Master and your spiritual communion with the Master made you more like HIM in nature that day? Have you come closer to a realization of your own Divinity? Have the works done in his name been done in his Nature? Has the mankind among whom you have moved seen and felt his Presence because of your activity in their midst that day? Has your personal attitude endeared mankind to us, because you are our only representatives in the world of form? Have your thoughts, feelings and spoken words expressed, as nearly as you know how, what we would think, feel and say in the same circumstances? If you are sincere, you need no mentor but yourself. Spasmodic, irregular periods of contemplation, communion and introspection are not efficacious. A steady, rhythmic personal examination, in which there is no taint of self-condemnation nor self-pity, will result in an assimilation of the Master who is your pattern. The mortifications, the censures of self are merely weapons of conscience to alleviate known wrong. A new life, built on the nature of God, is proof of sincerity of spiritual purpose.