ESOTERIC TENETS
Master and disciple relationships (2)
by Aart Jurriaanse

In the past when in the East the disciple worked under direct instructions of a Master, implicit obedience was exacted, and the Master literally assumed full responsibility for the destiny of his pupil. Since then the position has, however, been radically changed; the disciple now works from the mental level and with his free will he retains full responsibility for all his personal decisions and actions. The Master is merely responsible for offering opportunity and the more profound versions of the Truth, but nothing more. Under such circumstances no teacher could exact blind obedience. What the Master does expect, however, if the disciple wishes to work under his guidance, is that his instructions must then -- of the disciple's own free will -- be accurately followed, or otherwise such collaboration becomes futile.

More and more groups will inconspicuously make their appearance all over the world, whose members will be better prepared for collaborating with the Masters. There are in fact already more of these actively functioning disciples than is generally known.

These groups will only be able to effect regular contact with a Master if amongst their members they happen to include an advanced disciple who is favoured with a highly developed sensitivity to impression, and who can then serve as a channel through which the Master can pass his telepathic communications.

Should such a channel not be available, then each individual disciple will have to depend on:

(a) Soul communication with the Master during the hours of sleep, or
(b) Communication during the disciple's periods of meditation, provided the student has developed the ability to lift himself to egoic levels. If the disciple does not succeed in providing these conditions through self-effort, the Master will remain inaccessible.

This self-preparation can only be achieved in the course of time, and through persistent efforts at purifying the lower vehicles by regular and painstaking meditation, and dedicated service. But once the disciple has purified and equipped himself, and has thus reached an adequate inner vibration, then nothing can restrain him, and the portals to the higher life will automatically open up before him.

It is man's own soul which will guide and introduce him to the Master, and it is only on soul levels that communication between these two worlds of being can take place. The disciple should therefore endeavour to ensure that the connection between soul and brain, via the mind, is well established and remains unobstructed. The Master's work is often frustrated because the channels of contact are sometimes closed for prolonged periods through lack of rapport between soul and personality.

During their early stages of approach to the Masters, disciples will find that the Masters are extremely busy and that they are not readily accessible to attend to trifling matters relating to the personality -- for problems which the disciple should be able to solve by his own efforts and with the light supplied by his own soul. Older and tried disciples have far more ready access to the Master, but they pride themselves on not wasting the Master's time with trivial affairs, and will only go to him for major decisions concerning their service activities on behalf of others.

It should be thoroughly understood by the student that the Masters are not concerned with the personality aspects of individuals. Their only interest is to acquire useful channels through which they can work and direct their energies for the benefit of mankind as a whole. A disciple will therefore enter a Master's group in the first instance because he already has acquired the capacity to render some service and not because he is to receive some cultural training for self advancement. But it stands to reason that in the course of his service he will gain experience and thus gradually he will be shaped into an ever more effective instrument in the hands of the Master.

There are instances where disciples receive specific training, but again this will only be done to better qualify them for the expression of some aspect of the Plan.

A disciple is weighed by the motives which impel him. The Master is not impressed by the worker's status amongst men, or the influence he wields in worldly circles by means of qualities of the personality, but merely in his subjective attributes and the motives which prompt his activities. It is only when selfless love, understanding and goodwill arouse him to altruistic service, that he is recognized and brought to the attention of the Master.

Aart Jurriaanse, wrote a number of compilations from the books of Alice A. Bailey. Among these are: Of Life and other worlds; Prophecies; Ponder on this; Serving Humanity; The Soul; The Quality of Life; and he is also the author of Bridges which is a Commentary on these teachings.   

Directory of articles by Aart Jurriaanse

“I choose to identify with the underprivileged. I choose to identify with
the poor. I choose to give my life for those who have been left out of
the sunlight of opportunity. I choose to live for and with those who find
themselves seeing life as a long and desolate corridor with no exit
sign. This is the way I’m going. If it means suffering a little bit, I’m
going that way. If it means sacrificing, I’m going that way. If it means
dying for them, I’m going that way, because I heard a voice saying, Do
something for others.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

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