AM-142 DISCIPLESHIP (10)

Quite a lot has been outlined so far about the stages of discipleship and the relationship of the disciple to their teacher. Prerequisites to discipleship have also been outlined. We will start this presentation by recapping some of these requirements before focusing in detail on key requirements and activities a disciple must perform.

Let us start by stating that discipleship is a personal relationship between the disciple and their teacher, which no outsider, no matter how lofty, may know anything about. Once accepted, the disciple is given the necessary instructions to further their endeavours. As has been repeatedly stated, no one is hiring disciples. However, when a monad reaches perspective, also known as conceptual thinking (47:5), the highest level of imagination (48:2) and the lowest level of causal consciousness (47:3), they still have to demonstrate they are a fit tool before they are even considered. 

You should all know by now that the requirements for discipleship have been tightened but how tight that requirement has gotten has not been spoken of so far. Today, to be a full disciple, the candidate has to have acquired both Causal (47:1) and Unity (46:5) consciousness. This is seriously raising the bar. A stepping stone to this has been spoken of. Group formation, group training and group initiation, under the tutelage of a 46-self, who themselves are the disciples of the master.

Humanity can not solve its own problems. To transition from ignorance to wisdom first requires the seeker to realise they need help, which they receive after they show their dedication to others through service and a relinquishing of their sense of self-importance. Belief is no longer enough. Everything must be examined and only accepted if there are sufficient grounds. Avoidance of curiosity in other people’s private lives and an ability to remain silent are considered essential. 

Passage through the 4th Kingdom of Nature is vital for the formation of our individuality. This may be surrendered into a group consciousness when the 5th Kingdom is entered, but the monad must avail themselves of all there is to know that the 4th Kingdom can teach them. These lessons are described in the Labours of Hercules. There is also the minor issue of paying off all the karma you have acquired before you are able to enter the 5th Kingdom. No easy task. Laurency points out that perfection is not required for discipleship, but whatever is lacking must be easily acquirable. He goes on to state that the two greatest shortcomings are the lack of courage to dare and psychologically misjudging people. To dare is to find the courage to break from your past, your personal interests and habits. To be prepared to sacrifice all for the one essential thing, unity. Self-identification should cease. The envelopes of incarnation are henceforth just tools to achieve an objective. They are respected and not tortured but they are not focused upon and admired.

The list of attributes a disciple need is control of emotional energies, purposefulness, love and understanding, unselfishness, insight into the law and obedience to the law. Alongside these, the disciple must have foresight as to where to apply their energies to make the best contribution. The application of energies must be underpinned by a desire to do no harm. This is governed by the precepts of entering their neighbour’s hearts and perceiving their woes; helping them with good thoughts and blending with their neighbour’s soul; knowing that you are one, forever. Aspirants need to appreciate the value of patients with themselves and others. Bad qualities, acquired through innumerable incarnations need to be replaced by exactly the opposite qualities. This effort must be extended to help others achieve this goal as well.

True impersonality is not possible until the disciple has reached the 5th Kingdom (46). Before this happens, impersonality is often misconstrued as aloofness. To work oneself towards the goal of impersonality, the aspirant must liberate themselves from emotional attractions and repulsions, likes and dislikes and other pairs of opposites of similar ilk.

It can not be repeated enough that the greatest abilities are acquired through meditation. Laurency says the correct esoteric mediation consists of visualisation and the use of creative imagination for the acquisition of qualities and abilities. If these qualities are not meditated upon daily, they will not be acquired. As already mentioned, before an aspirant becomes a disciple, they must find their soul group. This group remains intact until the monad becomes a 45-self.

Now let’s look at the conditionalities that must be complied with before discipleship becomes a possibility. The first of these is the ability to be silent. This does not just refer to being curious about other people’s lives and gossiping about them, it means something deeper. A disciple has the ability to unintentionally read the thoughts and feelings of others. These must be discarded from their consciousness and memory. The esoteric expression “to be silent” has several meanings. The most important is to know when, where and who to speak to. This is based on judgment and the capacity of the other party to understand. Laurency points out that the Freemasons choose to keep silent about their order and the Theosophists chattered a lot.

The next conditionality is self-criticism. If someone thinks they are ready to become a disciple, they are not. This shows heightened self-esteem and a lack of self-criticism. Nobody is worthy to become a disciple. New recruits are surprised as they feel they are unprepared. Indeed they are a burden to their teacher and other disciples. If accepted, the candidate has been under scrutiny for several incarnations and gone through many tests to measure their responses. The gap between the start of the journey and acceptance into the Planetary Hierarchy is a large one, requiring great purposefulness and a strong desire to serve Humanity.

The desire to serve is another conditionality. A very important one, if not the most important. Remember, knowledge is not ability and study is not wisdom. One must learn to apply the consciousnesses and energies acquired. It is a misconception to think that one must acquire casual consciousness and contact with the Hierarchy before one is able to serve. The first objective is to acquire non-separateness and community with all. The objective is everyone’s development, not that of the disciple’s. Nobody enters the 5th Kingdom alone, you must bring thousands with you.

Another important ability is a sense of proportion. What concerns a disciple need not concern an aspirant. A disciple is a human being first and foremost, therefore right relations with others are paramount. The disciple is not a person apart. They are a lighthouse on the shore that shines a beam towards the horizon so that all who look know where they have to journey. Understanding, moderation, sobriety and balance are the disciple’s creed.

We know to become a disciple you have to focus your monad in the permanent mental molecule (47:5) and be conscious in your 47:5 sub envelope. Reaching the highest levels of emotionality, 48:2 & 3, is not enough. Here the monad is still liable to drown in oceans of unfocused consciousness. The aspirant should acquire common sense and the judgment this entails. They seek their own truth and accept no paper-popes. There is no such thing as the “Word of God”. In this manner, the aspirant becomes a fully functional persona. This means that the aspirant, the 1st-self, is dominant in their mental, emotional and physical envelopes. This is the jumping-off point to being spontaneously focused in your lowest casual sub-division, 47:3, in the knowledge petal. Aspirants to discipleship should ask themselves, “how do I think in my heart”? They must jettison their attachment to the physical and emotional worlds with all that this results in. Once your guardian angel sees that you wish nothing more than to serve Humanity, they will step in and help their charge acquire the missing elements that make up their three lowest envelopes. This does not mean you sit back and wait for a call from on high. A determined, intense and dynamic approach to life is necessary.

If you prefer to focus on your three lowest envelopes, discipleship is not for you, yet. When nothing physical, emotional or mental, fascinates, entices, attracts or attaches themselves to you; when you cease to live for yourself and start living for others, then you are ready to tread the path of discipleship. Humanity’s envelopes are easily activated from without or impulses from their subconscious. These impulses are from old incarnations and are full of illusions and fictions, foolishness and ignorance. Therefore another prerequisite for discipleship is “thought control”. The self has to observe their thoughts and feelings and realise them for what they are, emanations from their envelopes and not themselves. These often oppose the monad’s intentions. If these vibrations are stronger than the monad’s, then they become slaves to their envelopes. The self’s work on their innate tendencies, often from previous incarnations, is difficult. How often do you hear the refrain, “my envelopes desire chocolate but I do not”. The objective is to make your envelopes your obedient tool after you have just one more piece.