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Discipleship in the New Age I - Personal Instructions to Disciples - J.A.C.
To J. A. C. December 1937 MY BROTHER: In dealing with first ray egos, such as yourself or with those souls who are working through first ray personalities, I am faced always with the initial difficulty of their "isolated independence." It is not easy for such first ray types to cooperate, to fall into line with group suggestion, with group rhythm or group discipline, or with united synchronized activity which is the announced goal of all groups of disciples. Frequently the inner attitude is at one with the main purpose and ideals but the outer expression, the physical man, remains unadaptable and basically unwilling to conform. Were it not for your second ray personality, you would find it hard to work in my Ashram, but it is this second ray quality of yours - strongly marked and the product of a long series of incarnations in a second ray vehicle - which can make you, if you so desire, one of the focal points for the work which I plan to have this band of disciples do. It will take several years to bring about the adaptation of the group members to each other so that effective work can be made possible, to produce that inner synthesis and unified effort which will enable me to give these disciples in training some definite task to perform - work which may affect the governing forces of the world in subtle and unrecognized ways. These we can later elaborate when the required synthesis and understanding is achieved. Strive not to understand what mean by this work as yet. There is much to do and much to study and explain before the work can come to fruition. There are many groups, working under the Masters, who have been in training for years, fitting themselves for the task to be done. Slowly and gradually, the new concepts and the new technique of civilization and of group work - suitable for the New Age - are emerging in the consciousness of the disciples in the world. As for you, brother of mine, you are entering a phase in your life cycle in which you may become - if you so wish - the true sannyasin, the one who (freed from the more active tasks of the younger man who is starting out into the field of his life [137] activity) can use the experience gained, the hard won knowledge assembled and the wisdom garnered in active service of the Hierarchy and of humanity. You can now live for the sake of others and find in our work the reward, interest and compensation for all the struggle of the past. To serve has long been your aim for you have loved your fellowmen and have struggled to retain this love for humanity in the face of disillusionment, disgust at the general world selfishness and a tendency (strongly marked in you, my brother) to feel the futility of things and the uselessness of effort when confronting the present world debacle and the weight of human pessimism. Against this you must struggle. I shall be glad to have your cooperation in this difficult work we are planning to do together. I would ask you right at the beginning for your voluntary acquiescence in the suggestions I shall make to you, at any rate until you see more clearly whither I am seeking to lead my disciples and get a more definite picture of the work which it is possible to do. I do not think that at the end of a few years you will regret temporarily falling in with my plans for the group. In connection with my disciples, complete frankness is an essential and the good points and the weaknesses must be recognized with equal readiness. Among those whom I have been training for some time there is no attempt to hide anything from each other. They themselves would be the first to tell you of the importance, the difficulty and the value of setting up this frank relation. It is necessary that from the start of your association with my group that you should aim at a similar clarity of vision where they are concerned and they will have the same attitude towards you. One of the things which has handicapped you all your life and which has held you back from a possibly fuller world service has been a pronounced inferiority complex. This tendency, though it has not negated achievement in your personality life and activities, has nevertheless held you back and inhibited the free inner movement of your soul, and has prevented that joy in living which should be the hall mark of the disciple. Your sensitivity is great and your grasp of world affairs and world conditions is necessarily somewhat deeper than that of [138] the average citizen. Yet the very depth of your vision and knowledge make you prone to feel your individual smallness and unimportance. This is coupled, as I remarked earlier, with a sense of futility where making any major impression upon environing conditions is concerned. It is in connection with this that your personality battle must be waged. I call you, therefore, to the task of achieving a closer soul contact. This will negate the sense of inferiority. I call you also to a cultivated joyousness which will end in releasing you to fuller service. Will you work on these two points and follow my suggestions for the space of one year and thus aid the group whilst helping yourself? To help you in this connection I am giving you a very simple meditation - so simple that you may be tempted to doubt its efficacy. I can, however, assure you that if you will follow it carefully for a few months or until I myself suggest a change that you will be surprised at what changes within your consciousness this very simple formula will bring about... Keep a pencil and paper beside you as you meditate and note down your thoughts and ideas as they come to you... I am working to key you up for future work. NOTE: There was no real response to the invitation to work in the Tibetan's group and though interest was evidenced in the papers, the work undertaken did not go beyond studying them.
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