The Aspirant

Wisdom Teachings
Essences of the Teachings

The spiritual Hierarchy requires people who are well-suited to cooperate. No big study program is needed for this. The first step is to turn inward. We do not need to do many things outside or study heaps of wisdom concepts but we should develop the urge to search for the soul. Wisdom concepts relate to the objectivity. Information about the inner centres and the subtle body does not bring fulfilment. Only the practice of regularly turning inward leads to transformation.

This aspiration cannot be casual. We should develop a taste for it. In the course of time, a deep interest in the inner life arises and an intense craving for the spirit. This deep interest in the inner life is called aspiration. It becomes the only priority; all other aspects of life are kept moderate. Thus, the fire that transforms us is developed. The Masters say, fiery aspiration is not a pastime but a profession.

Only when all other life activities subordinate to this need, we become a spiritual aspirant. In other words, the domestic, economic, and social activities are subordinated to this aspiration. However, avoiding the world is not recommended. We should not avoid to marry, to raise a family or to pursue a profession, for they are the means to be in society and render services. We should attend to all these demands in a moderate manner; then we will also find time for inner work.

Constant fiery aspiration is also called the second initiation. The first initiation is only the touch of the divine, that is, we are more oriented to the divine. With the fiery aspiration life passes through two channels: while we work in the outer world, we constantly have the inner intention of aligning to the light and developing inner awareness. This fire is not enthusiasm but a will to align the life to the soul and the soul to the super-soul. This alignment brings the divine qualities of Will, Love and Light into our lives, and this way we can express them in our daily life.

Many people describe themselves as spiritual aspirants; however, they have only a lukewarm approach towards the path – in a very casual way, they are mainly occupied with trivialities. They are like curious visitors but are not like real participants. They don’t really get involved in the process of transformation. Fiery aspiration is a self-generated force to walk the path to the Light - the path to the spirit, to the truth - with courage and determination.

If we decide to seek the truth, the related path opens up. We may encounter books relating to our path, and receive instructions on how we should go forward. Occult books are also living things; they can lead us like a teacher can lead us; the books can also lead us to the teacher. When we are on the path, our eyes and ears become attentive. Vigilance and patience are two important things for aspirants on the path.

Aspirants are those who build the bridge between the personality and the soul. The personality is the vehicle we use for a while. Every life we have a different personality; sometimes it is male and sometimes female. We incarnate in different countries; we have different occupations. Each time there is a different role; its purpose is to gain experience and to experience pleasure. In various personalities, the soul remains the same just like we do not change when we change our clothes. The soul needs the personality to act on earth. It can, however, withdraw into its home and remember that it is not just the personality.

As souls we are pulsating beings of light and have a field of light where we stay when we keep a small part of our consciousness focused towards the light. The pulsating light is the I AM. This part magnetizes us slowly so that we stay in relation with it even when we move in the outer world.

The positive approach of an aspirant is to be receptive to the soul all the time - not to the affairs of the personality, the views and opinions of other people, or to the rapidly changing emotions. If we are open to the soul, and strongly invoke its presence through intense meditation, then this magnetization happens.

If we begin to embark on the path, much karma comes back to us. Seeming injustice towards us is just a settling of old scores. In addition to this, many unnecessary activities also hold us caught in the objectivity and prevent us from our spiritual exercises. We should simplify our objective lives by working on the fulfilling the obligations and having no additional activities in the world. The process of clearing the personal karma continues until the fourth initiation. We have to face the challenges without creating new consequences. Aspirants go through many personal crises before they are fit to become disciples. Likewise, disciples go through deep crises before they become masters. Without intense effort no grand things happen in life.

Behind each seeming crisis hides the divine. If we face the crisis and remain in the awareness of the divine, the crisis will dissolve and God's gift to further progress will appear. When we mainly think of our problems, we break the connection. In a crisis, the connection needs to be even stronger so that the necessary force can be supplied. The more we trust and abide by the thought of the Hierarchy, the easier we can overcome the problems. However, we cannot believe an aspirant who claims to have the connection with the Hierarchy or with a Master of Wisdom. Those who have the connection are silent on it. Only emotional aspirants brag about it.

On the path there is no missionary work of conversion; this is a violent act of great ignorance. The true teachers are not eager to spread the word. Everyone has to find the way for themselves; we are attracted by the inner impulse. If we earnestly yearn, then nature ensures that we meet with someone who is ahead of us on the way. The degree of our sincerity decides whether we meet a true teacher or a false teacher. Even if we are with a false teacher but have genuine aspiration, it will slowly lead us away from the false teacher to the right teacher. The secret is the inner sincerity. Helping others in their sincere search for a way also supports us to progress ourselves as well. Cooperation, sharing and serving the whole are the seed thoughts for the vertical development.

An essential measure of our aspiration is how we use the speech. As long as we lie even in seemingly insignificant situations, we build a wall between us and our soul. Even unconscious lying is a dangerous habit that destroys our aspiration.

We can strengthen the power of our aspiration by staying alone in nature from time to time. The closeness to nature normalizes our energies. Also aspirants are highly recommended to make a pilgrimage from time to time. The difference with another trip lies in the orientation: when we travel with a longing for the divine, it is a pilgrimage; it is not just a trip geared towards entertainment, comfort and food. The days should be organized in a way that we do not miss the regular prayers and other spiritual exercises. Bathing in holy rivers and sacred waterfalls also strengthens the will to connect with the divine. Particularly favourable for these trips are the temperate periods of spring and autumn, where we do not have to protect ourselves against extremities of nature like heavy rain, snow or heat.

Once we decided to follow the path, we are linked to the eternal chain of knowers. The fulfilled ones work consciously, the semi-fulfilled ones collaborate unconsciously but they do not come out of the path. Sometimes we may temporarily go astray, but then we quickly can find the way back.

Love and compassion made the Masters of Wisdom stay in the orbit of the earth. They stand by us and help us in a way that we can also ascend as they did. Therefore, they are our role models. Their sacrifice is the basic inspiration we hold on to. They offered their work to the community, and in this offering they transcended from the mundane to the super-mundane existence. We all wish to enter into the super-mundane plane of existence. We cherish it, we aspire for it, we dream of it, and we have many imaginations about it. But we need to take the fundamental steps to build a bridge to the super-mundane and walk over this bridge. We can experience the ascent by offering ourselves to the work which the Great Ones have conceived for the planet. Working in the spirit of offering to the environment is the fundamental quality that enables us to attain the status of an aspirant.

K. Parvathi Kumar: The Teachings of Sanat Kumara / Notes from seminars. The World Teacher Trust - Dhanishta, Visakhapatnam, India