HOW TO REACH MASTERS


  The great and peaceful ones live regenerating the world like the coming of the spring; having crossed the ocean of embodied existence themselves, they freely aid all others who seek to cross it. The very essence and inherent will of Mahatmas is to remove the suffering of others, just as the ambrosia-rayed moon of itself cools the earth heated by the intense rays of the sun.
Shankaracharya

  The existence of Soul, which is, in fact, the Real man, leads us to accept the fact of its unfoldment. The growth of the Soul naturally leads us to the fact of the existence of the Masters-Mahatmas, Great Souls, who unveil the Glory of Greater Souls in ever-ascending scale - the ladder above, as also the ladder of souls descending which has its base in the lower kingdoms of nature. Then comes the realization of Brotherhood of all Souls.

  In the work-a-day world of commerce, business, profit, pain, many forget the Soul vision; a few earnestly materialize that vision, and often they enquire about the Great Souls so that they may feel Their nearness. Masters are essential facts in our soul-evolution, and unless the conviction is born in us that without Their aid and intermediation we as human souls cannot realize our identity with the Universal Soul, we do not make practical effort at hastening our evolution.

  Many are the questions asked about the Masters. It is often forgotten that we cannot find Them by merely asking about Them, nor by geographically travelling to where They live in Their physical bodies. They must be found by an altogether different process. Nor are They to be found by the comparative study of philosophy, religion, and science, which takes us into the intellectual world, for Their habitat is not the intellectual world, either. But we can purify our intellectual nature and control our desires, and if we consecrate this body of ours so that it becomes a Temple of the Living God we are, then we shall be able to know the Masters.

  Complete self-abnegation is necessary - the giving of ourselves to the Masters who exist and who live in a world of Their own - the world of Spirit. The method is that of Self-Realization. Therefore, all our studies, all that we do, all our life must be put in its entirety at the feet of the Masters that They may make use of it, as They alone know how to do. Do not think that because we have weaknesses and demerits we cannot be made use of. Masters are great alchemists. They know how to transform seeming evils into powers for good. So, we must offer Them not what we have but - all we are. People are willing to give part or the whole of what they have, but there are very few who are courageous enough to give themselves to the Masters. Fearlessness is required. That fearlessness comes when we believe ourselves to be immortal, and not mortal, not as people coming and going, living and dying, but as gods in the making - gods who are unfolding their powers slowly and steadily, but - surely.

  When we have gained an unshakable belief in our own powers, then we shall have that first necessary virtue - fearlessness. At the present moment, mentally, morally, and physically, we are all afraid of what may come to us from without. That is so because the warrior within has not been recognized. When we see ourselves as gods, willing to fight all evil, then we will not be afraid of what comes from without, but remain steady in the midst of great storms. Therefore, we must believe in ourselves, not in someone else; we must know ourselves, and remember that knowledge comes from within, that peace and power abide within. It is the Inner Power that we need - the Power that "fears no more the heat of the sun, nor the furious winter's rages."

  Those who have lived according to the teachings of Theosophy have realized some of the glories of the divine life of the Masters; and they living by the power of the Masters are able to bring others the sunshine of peace and strength and wisdom so that minds become illuminated, hearts purified, and we know - if only for a moment - that we are immortals of the world of souls.

  We are to study the teachings of Theosophy while trying to live the life, thus making continuous, not spasmodic, effort at every hour of the day to keep the Masters and Their Messengers alive in our minds till we ourselves become disciples possessed of the ardour of the Messenger. Such is the high destiny that awaits every son of man. But it means acting like a man, by the control of our lower nature and the showing forth of the glory of the higher. That serious attempt makes it possible for the Masters to show Themselves to us; but They will come into our life on the one condition - that we fit ourselves to be able to reveal this Life to others. For unless we have made ourselves channels for Their Life in order to help others we cannot touch that Life for ourselves. One quality of the Masters' Life is its power of motion, its capacity to move on and on. If we do not become channels through which the Life can pass on to others, then that Life cannot flow into us; if it did it would break us. The Masters are the Masters of Compassion, and They give the gift of Their Life to enrich and not to disturb our existence. And They speak to us through all men; They also speak to others through us. As we walk the streets, as we greet our friends, as we do our common task and go our daily rounds, as we read, as we write, as we speak, They act through us, if we will only let Them.

  The Masters Themselves are channels of Divine Power inherent in that Sourceless Source named in Ancient India Maha Vishnu. Our own spiritual strength and bliss flow therefrom. They are Great Souls as we are lesser souls - but both are souls. To live as souls, to help as souls, to toil as souls, to serve as souls other souls, is to recognize the Soul of Souls in all places and at all times. Thus rivers and streams and oceans reveal the splendour of the Soul; flowering shrub speaks its own message as the giant mountain its; small and great lose themselves in the identity of the One Spirit. The peace and power of realization arise in the knowledge that Masters live and work and help by the Way of that Love which is Compassion.

Living The Life

B. P. Wadia

  The degree of success or failure are the landmarks the Masters have to follow, as they will constitute the barriers placed with your own hands between yourselves and those whom you have asked to be your teachers. The nearer you approach to the goal contemplated - the shorter the distance between the student and the Master.
Mahatma K. H.