Now the question is, with so many Masters to choose from, alive or dead, famous or private, how do we choose, and should we give-up hope of working personally with a real Master?
Maybe, hoping to work one-on-one is merely the ego's desire for attention. What do you think?
THE Masters are absolutely impersonal and universal in their state of consciousness; but they can for their spiritual purpose limit the scope of their work and also allow their manifested personality to become the centre of the aspirations of their disciples. They use personal relationships as well-defined channels to pass on their help to those aspirants who get connected with them. The Masters are always on the look out for those who need and deserve their help and the faintest gleams of spiritual yearnings are not overlooked by them.
22 comments:
If you look at the Master and not see God, then he is an obstruction.
There are no true or false Masters. Only Slaves.
Beware!
But if the Master is a true representative and is normally in a higher state of consciousness, the love we feel for them is the love for God.
Siegfried,
A popular example of Master and disciple is that of Jesus and his disciples. I don't quite think his disciples were slaves.
My opinion
I think there have been authentic masters, and that they were self-taught, taught by closely listening to what the universe told them.
Job 12: "But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee."
Sometimes wanting a master can be the mind's excuse for not stopping its chattering and getting to work without being under a master.
My own mind loves to chatter instead of listening for the unmistakable voice of the "what-ever-it-is."
Zhuangzi said "I can't teach my son this skill because my mouth cannot make words for it."
A quote for you:
Know assuredly that just as thou firmly believest that the Word of God, exalted be His glory, endureth for ever, thou must, likewise, believe with undoubting faith that its meaning can never be exhausted. They who are its appointed interpreters, they whose hearts are the repositories of its secrets, are, however, the only ones who can comprehend its manifold wisdom. Whoso, while reading the Sacred Scriptures, is tempted to choose therefrom whatever may suit him with which to challenge the authority of the Representative of God among men, is, indeed, as one dead, though to outward seeming he may walk and converse with his neighbors, and share with them their food and their drink.
Oh, would that the world could believe Me! Were all the things that lie enshrined within the heart of Baha, and which the Lord, His God, the Lord of all names, hath taught Him, to be unveiled to mankind, every man on earth would be dumbfounded.
How great the multitude of truths which the garment of words can never contain! How vast the number of such verities as no expression can adequately describe, whose significance can never be unfolded, and to which not even the remotest allusions can be made! How manifold are the truths which must remain unuttered until the appointed time is come! Even as it hath been said: "Not everything that a man knoweth can be disclosed, nor can everything that he can disclose be regarded as timely, nor can every timely utterance be considered as suited to the capacity of those who hear it."
Of these truths some can be disclosed only to the extent of the capacity of the repositories of the light of Our knowledge, and the recipients of Our hidden grace. We beseech God to strengthen thee with His power, and enable thee to recognize Him Who is the Source of all knowledge, that thou mayest detach thyself from all human learning, for, "what would it profit any man to strive after learning when he hath already found and recognized Him Who is the Object of all knowledge?" Cleave to the Root of Knowledge, and to Him Who is the Fountain thereof, that thou mayest find thyself independent of all who claim to be well versed in human learning, and whose claim no clear proof, nor the testimony of any enlightening book, can support.
Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 176
~ Alex from Our Evolution
Hi Raymond,
I just don't know what work to do without a teacher.
I think a teacher's value lies in their ability to help bring out what the student already has within them. The best example I can give is a college math professor. (I majored in math in college so this is an example I know from experience.) I had within myself the potential necessary to learn math, and with the professor's help I realized my potential and became quite skilled at it.
Hi Sophia
"I think a teacher's value lies in their ability to help bring out what the student already has within them."
I may not be a good student or teacher. But what I teach is what some of the daoists taught--
My opinion:
is that every person can find the wisdom of the universe by watching themselves unfold and interact with the world in each moment. In other words I would say what best be "brought out of you" is your innate ability to go forward without a teacher.
I teach that you, and everyone else, has a direct line to the underlying wisdom of the universe. I teach that if you, for example, sit in a chair for an hour each day with nothing to entertain yourself but yourself, you will within weeks begin to start receiving everything you need to know, lesson by lesson.
Your teacher will be every being who you encounter, including your cats, (which, by the way, you need to be away from in that hour.) Your teacher will be your inner ability to integrate everything you experience.
I know that sounds too easy. But, on the other hand, it is nearly impossible to sit in that chair for an hour every day as if your life depended on it.
Another perspective- Spirituality can be a dangerous thing. What you find out may turn your life upside down. And your relationships. Perhaps you are wise not to move forward until you find a teacher, which might take more years than any of us is given.
A last idea- Emotionally beg the universe for all the teaching and teachers you need. But remember what they say about being careful what you pray for.
May your inner wisdom tell you what, and perhaps everything, that you should ignore in what I have written above.
ciao,
Raymond
We don't choose the Master; The Master chooses us...An Indian saying goes, "When the aspirant is ready, the guru appears." Meher Baba says "I am closer to you than your own breath." So I'd say sure..it's possible to work personally with the Master. Baba also said "Remember Me and I am with you and My love will guide you."
"Don't cling or hold on to anything. Harmonize with actuality, with things just as they are."
-- Ajahn Chah
No Master can teach you That!
... the best way is not to think about it at all. Simply forget it.
-- A. Chah
Don't be enlightened. Be!
Don't seek.
Find.
That!
Why I don't believe in Jesus.
Make friends not enemies.
Avoid stubborn wisdom.
Be crazy!
Thank you, Alex, for sharing this verse with us. It's a poetic description of our inability as humans to comprehend the infinite and indescribable nature of the Divine.
Hi Raymond,
You're right about finding wisdom in the simple unfolding of ourselves. I guess I'm in too big a hurry and my hunger is insatiable. Not knowing how much time I have in this life I feel like I need to soak in as much as I can as quickly as I can before I perish. But really my need is not a suffering, it's a pleasure. From a very young age I've enjoyed learning, it's just that now, instead of learning school subjects, I'm learning Universal subjects. As a teacher in school taught me the school subjects, I imagine a spiritual teacher can teach me more about the Universe. At the same time, I know there is no teacher as wise or knowledgeable as the Universe itself, but maybe a teacher can channel that wisdom and interpret it into the limited vocabulary we have. Of course I try to do the best I can at interpreting it for myself, but it's always more fun to have a partner, someone with which to bounce ideas back and forth with. I guess we're all doing that here on this blog. :)
Last night, I begged the Universe for some things. In a way I suppose it is just like praying. But I know whatever I get in response to my begging/prayer will be just what the Universe thinks I need.
Thank you for your friendship and input.
Hi Dennis,
This reminds me of a verse by Rumi:
"And He is with you, with you in your search; when you seek Him look for Him in your looking closer to you than yourself to yourself."
About the readiness.... I've seen various versions of that statement, like, "When the student is ready, the Master appears." In the Kybalion there are two similar verses: "Where fall the footsteps of the Master, the ears of those ready for his Teaching open wide." And.... "When the ears of the student are ready to hear, then cometh the lips to fill them with Wisdom."
Some questions are, how does one get ready, and is the only way one knows they are ready is when they are chosen?
Thanks for stopping by, Dennis.
Perhaps your hypothetical teacher will teach you to give up learning in order to make room for being.
Hi Sophia
My personal opinion is that you know how to do this stuff better than you think you do; and that is a good thing. Virtually everything you say shows that you are clearly on the path. Even the complaining is right on target.
I think a good koan is the one I say to myself: I have to do whatever it takes to make progress so that I can find out that I, and everyone else, is perfect already.
Your dream work is also quite excellent, a shortcut to the divine.
I think we do need teachers, and the ones we need turn up for the lesson we need, if we demand from the universe that they show up.
Here's my favorite one from Meister Eckhart:
"Do not imagine that God is like a carpenter who works or not, just as he pleases, suiting his own convenience. It is not so with God, for when he finds you ready he must act, and pour into you, just as when the air is clear and pure the sun must pour into it and may not hold back. Surely , it would be a very great defect in God if he did not do a great work, and anoint you with great good, once he found you empty and innocent."
ciao,
Raymond
Mossy,
I cannot think of a life without learning.
Hi Raymond,
As time goes on I become more and more confident in my spiritual strength. But I certainly could not have made any growth if it hasn't been for the friendships I've made along the way.
I think the spiritual journey is one made through teamwork.
Thanks for the quote.
Post a Comment