https://spiritofmaat.com/may10/spiritual_masters.html
By Stephen Thomson
One of the great things about being alive during this time is the amount of information available about the Cosmic Masters and the role they play in the spiritual evolution of humankind. The Spiritual Masters are the one true source for learning the laws of the Universe and the return path to God. (1) Their role is to assist the planet and all of humankind in as we advance from one lifetime to the next, until we achieve self-mastery and final release from the wheel of karma. (2)
They make the path clear for us by teaching us the steps we need to take on the road to self-mastery. Like a loving parent, the Masters guide us through the tests of earthly life and remain with us between lifetimes. The more we study their teachings, as we become open and aware to their presence, the more powerful and visceral a force they become in our lives.
There is a hierarchy through which the Masters operate and influence the universe and our world. Each Master has a job to do and oversee a portion of the advancement of humankind. They direct the spiritual schools that exist in the invisible world and influence the counterparts to these halls of learning on the earth plane. For example, a Master has responsibility for the oversight of each of the organized religious institutions and spiritual disciplines. After death of our physical body, we reside between lifetimes in the range of energy that corresponds with the spiritual beliefs we held when we were alive. Our spiritual work begun on earth is continued between lifetimes under the direction of the same teacher/Master.
How we may become aware of our personal connection with the Masters will vary. In part we are dependent on our karma, the work we have done in other lifetimes and our motivation for a first-hand knowing of the Masters in this present incarnation. For some of us we will come to know the “voices” of the Master through the impulses from our higher-self. This is the voice we all have that directs us in our sense of right or wrong, as we make our way through the material world.
From a spiritual standpoint, the voice of our higher-self is our personal spiritual pacemaker. It is the urging we get to study with a spiritual teacher or to undertake certain spiritual practices, like meditation for example. The second way that we can come to know the Master’s is through direct thought transference from a Master to us. As we open the channels of communication, we can begin to receive direct answers to the spiritual questions we have been asking. Or a Master can become physically present, perceived through our psychic senses.
One day when I was in my late thirties, I was in my daily meditation period when I started to “see” two very large eyes looking at me. In my usual irreverent style, I remember asking in an abrupt manner, “who are you?” It took several months and a few more contacts before I realized what type of contact was being made for me. On an ego level there was a large dose of disbelief on my part that I could be having a connection with a Master.
Fortunately for me, this particular Master persevered through my doubts and came to me time and again until I finally learned who he was. As I have shared this story with people over the years, I met several people who had contact with the same Master. This type of up close and personal contact is what should be expected by each of us.
All of us experience the teachings of the Masters through direct transmission. Based upon our spiritual practices and soul nature, we become aware of this spiritual operation going on within us in different ways. At one level in our advancement we can believe a shift in consciousness that comes with the influx of universal knowledge is because of us. Our ego wants to be heard and can insist we are smart or superior in some way and that the source of new spiritual knowledge is somehow based solely on our actions.
Another way of experiencing the Masters is by knowledge being transmitted to us and received on a soul level. What we receive comes into our consciousness through our higher-self. This is the part of us we know to contain our truth — a truth which resonates on such a deep level that we don’t even question the validity of what we have received and know.
Over the last hundred years, there have been many Masters who have chosen earthly incarnation in order to serve humankind. Their legacy of selfless service and the content of their teachings are available for everyone. Unlike the Bible which is of questionable origin and certain editing, the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda for example, continue to exist as documentation of his life mission and message.
Through his writings we have an opportunity to study the teachings of a Master which includes the techniques he taught for enlightenment, Kriya Yoga. To begin to study the teaching of a Master, brings our lives into a place of learning the traditional knowledge handed down through the ages that brings us to the pathway of enlightenment.
There have also been people like H.P. Blavatsky and Alice Bailey who have had direct and long-term connection with a Master. In Bailey’s case, she became the scribe for a Master who described himself as the Tibetan. For many years and over through a series of books, Bailey documented the teachings that were directly transmitted to her telepathically from the Tibetan. Although there has been speculation about who the Tibetan was, many think he was the Master K.H. Blavatsky traveled to India and studied with the living Master Koot Hoomi, considered the Master of the “Second Ray of Wisdom” by the Theosophists.
What may seem as miraculous in these examples may not be that unusual at all. There will always be people who may seem “ordinary,” walking the planet with an open line of communication to the Masters. Their ego may preclude them from coming out in a public way to tell the whole world about the connection. While in other cases, it is a spiritual duty on behalf of all humankind to make people aware of these types of connection. Although we tend to think of these kinds of examples as unique and mysterious, perhaps even mystical, the truth is the Master’s are always at work on our planet.
Another example of a living Master is Babaji, who lives in the Himalayas. He is said to have conquered death and achieved the advanced state of enlightenment. (3) Those who have seen Babaji say his body appears to be that of a sixteen year old. He is said to have lived from the pre-Christian era to the present. Just saying Babaji’s name three times is said to bring a spiritual blessing.
Contact with the Spiritual Masters
The level or degree to which we aspire for contact with the Masters ultimately becomes a personal issue. Why would we desire a contact with the Masters? Most of us would welcome the chance to know the true workings of the Universe, free from the constraints and limitations of our conscious mind. Imagine being able to access the pure information that represents the Divine plan and the laws under which we operate throughout our lives and know as Cosmic Law.
Most of the emotions associated with everyday life would immediately disappear in the face of knowing the truth about our lives and the world in which we live. Perhaps there is a more important reason for the quest on this part of the path. When we evolve as individual souls, the whole universe is affected because we are interconnected with the One.
There is something very solid about knowing that there is structure and a hierarchy in the invisible world, just as on the earth plane. (4) The very idea of organization and an organized approach to our spiritual path is what mysticism is all about. Rather than feeling we are moving through the world, alone and without purpose can be an overwhelming feeling resulting in us not feeling as powerful and confident in what we are creating. If we set our minds to becoming organized in some way as we approach our path and include the idea of the Master’s and their teachings, the very thought can draw blessings to us.
Perhaps we need to examine our beliefs about the masters and what they mean in a personal way to our lives. There is one level of understanding that comes through the writings of those who have had direct contact and shared their experiences. But what do these powerful sources mean in our own lives. To call on them in any form, be that prayer or as an active part of meditation has some basis in our ego needs. This is not right or wrong. We need the ego parts of us that represents our higher-self and that energy becomes the source of our spiritual search. Are the Master’s the source of inspiration that continues our journey in times overshadowed by human experience?
Our path opens up before us based upon what we are able to conceive and receive. In other words, if we can imagine ourselves having contact with the Master’s, then we are capable of doing this. It may not be in the sequence suggested in the writings of Alice Bailey, for example, but rather within the framework of our own belief. This means calling the Master’s to us, expecting they will respond and being resolute in holding to our thoughts and beliefs. Although the spiritual formulas exist for creating and deepening this connection, our path is personal to us and the vibration of our body. And the spiritual path is about understanding the creative dynamic of who we are as an individualized expression of the Divine.
Here is a suggestion for developing your attunement with the Masters. Work with the technique every day for two weeks.
1. Begin by quieting your mind and relaxing your body.
2. Then spend some time thinking about your life and the spiritual person you aspire to be.
3. Then begin to transition your thinking away from self-centered thinking and invite the Universal energy to be present in and around you.
4. Imagine your mind opening and being receptive to the thoughts of the Masters.
5. Then move your consciousness into the energy your mind conceives as being the thought realm of the Masters.
6. Open your heart and allow the thoughts of the Masters to be present and knowable in your mind.
7. Give birth to a new relationship in your life, between you and the Masters. As you draw a “real” Master to you, he or she will show you their uniqueness, separate from anything this is you. </snip>
Footnotes
(1) Although Thomson’s article is useful, I have some minor disagreements with it. The spiritual masters are in fact only one of many sources. Avatars are another. Extraterrestrial masters are another. One may or may not include celestials or angels among “spiritual masters,” but they’re another.
(2) The author seems unaware of the 2012 scenario. The extraterrestrials here to assist us with ascension follow the direction of Earth’s ascended masters, not because they are wiser than the ETs but because humanity’s free will must be respected.
(3) Babaji Mahavatar is not a master per se, but an avatar or “descent of God into form.” A master is one who is in the process of ascending to God, but an avatar is God having descended into human form. Thus it’s not strictly accurate to say that Babaji “conquered death” or “achieved the state of enlightenment.” As an avatar, he would have entered form master of his life circumstances and already “enlightened.” But any publicity for Babaji is a good thing. See Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi for reliable material on Babaji.
On avatars, see “Avatars (Incarnations of God, Embodiments of the Divine, God-men/God-women,” at https://www.angelfire.com/space2/light11/fdl/a1.html#ava1 and following sections.
(4) On the Spiritual Hierarchy, see “Hierarchy,” https://www.angelfire.com/space2/light11 and /nmh/hierarchy1.html; “The Spiritual Hierarchy and the Galactic Federation” at https://www.angelfire.com/space2/light11/fc/galactic1.html#introduce1 and following sections; and “The Ascended Masters” at https://www.angelfire.com/space2/light11/fc/pers1.html#hier1.