Worship

Wisdom Teachings
The Basics

The universal consciousness permeates and flows through everything and it is also within us. This consciousness is the background of all our activities, no matter what we do. It is like a screen upon which all sorts of films run. In the morning when we awaken, we project ourselves into the outer life, with the one consciousness as the basis. In everyday life, however, we quickly forget that we came out of the background and thus fall into a state of not being aware or of ignorance. Meditation, prayer, ritual and worship were given as a means to prevent this. They help us to consciously hold the thread of awareness and remind ourselves of the origin.

These exercises are necessary until the connection has become a strong habit. Initiates continue with their exercises even when they no longer need them because they are an example for others to follow. If we are in constant connection with the background awareness, we experience joy and connectedness. In an invocation given by Master EK it says: “May we live in the awareness of the background; may we transact light in terms of joy”.

Prayer connects us with the one consciousness; through worship we dive into it and through meditation we live as a part of it. We can ask God to give us something because He is the Giver. Many ask for material things from the Divine, starting with daily bread, but these requests never come to an end. It is better to offer ourselves through worship to the Divine, out of love and devotion, without any expectation. The Divine knows what is best for us. We can also ask to receive the power and strength needed for growth of consciousness. It is very effective when we offer ourselves to a Master or a deity before going to sleep; then we unconsciously live in their presence and slowly become more enlightened. We can also imagine a golden hue or a soothing blue surrounding us while at sleep. Thus, many adjustments happen in the emotional and mental planes.

As soon as we awaken, we should immediately reconnect with the universal consciousness. Through meditation, worship and prayer we strengthen and renew this effort. In this way we build a bridge between the unconscious and conscious planes. The wisdom teachings recommend starting the day with the worship of the Divine in order to align our mind correctly and to receive the right thoughts. It is important to cleanse the body first. Water not only cleanses physically, it also gives us freshness and life. When the body, mind and senses are purified, we are ready to align to the Divine. If we have not purified ourselves physically, emotionally and mentally and invoke the Light, the invocation does not help us.

A sporadic worship or an emotional ritual do not help us either. It must happen on a rhythmic and regular basis; the whole universe is built on rhythm. When we regularly chant OM or another mantra with reverence, it protects us, directs us in the right way and illumines our mind. Through regular worship we remain connected to the Divine, even when we go through problems and times of crisis. All prayers and meditations end in worship. With this worship the energy descends more and more into our form, comes into all glands so that they can function well, and we receive the will, the knowledge and the ability to act.

For thousands of years the Cosmic Person together with the Cosmic Mother have been worshipped for the inner cleansing and alignment and for this purpose the mantra SRI RAM is used in particular. The sound “R” is the seed sound of the cosmic fire and RAM is the name of the sun god. Sri is the name of the Mother in all her aspects; it means power, wisdom and knowledge. The essential quality of the Cosmic Person is pervasion and percolation as awareness.

This principle of percolation is THAT I AM. It is also called Virat Purusha, Vishnu, Cosmic Christ, Adam Kadmon etc. Since most ancient times the Cosmic Person has been worshipped through the sun. The Cosmic Person permeates through the triple sun as the fourth one. The sun was regarded as an image of God, not as God himself, but as a representation of truth. People used to worship the sun to regain the lost brilliance and brightness of consciousness. As much as the individual soul is reinforced from the universal soul via the sun, so much the individual soul fulfils its plan on earth through the personality. Through time, the understanding and worship of the spiritual sun was lost. They are now being reintroduced through the teachings of Hierarchy for all humanity. With all worship we should remember that we only worship the Cosmic Person.

The Lord or the Master is not pleased when we just worship him and do nothing for our fellow beings. He is pleased when we work for the creatures of Creation, because the Creation is his child, and in so far as we work for his children, he is happy. If we do good work with our capabilities but without worshipping the Divine, we might fall into pride. Worship means that we accept an instance that is above everything and gives us everything and we show gratitude to it. Thus, we become modest and humble and then we are filled by the work.

When we honour a mediator of the Divine, it does us good, but it is dangerous for the mediator if he himself is not in the light. Through a form we worship the One who stands behind the form. A true channel of the Lord does not appropriate praise for himself; but he does not feel embarrassed when someone worships him because he knows whom people actually worship. A true Master gives all respect and all worship that is shown quietly to the One for whom it is meant. He always remains a simple channel for the Lord to act in objectivity, and for people an opportunity to come into communion with the Lord.

The Divine or the devas do not need anything from us, neither gold nor valuables, but they are pleased when we worship them. The use of flowers during worship attracts devas and they become active in the ambience where we worship. They can aid in our worship. If we have a special place in our house for devotion and worship and constantly do prayers there, the Master will give us his presence there. It is therefore good to have an altar / shrine room where we set light and fragrance and, if possible, a picture of the Master.

Prayer and worship should not be emotional in nature. But most people are very emotional till date. Usually our thoughts are also quite turbulent. This affects our actions and can lead to problems and even diseases. Through devotion and worship our senses are made to converge and our mind is gathered together. Aligned senses and a gathered mind are like a chariot with five horses running in the same direction. The plan of work is contained in a gathered mind. The sixth ray gives veneration to service. Devotion and worship enable a work to be done consistently and with deep interest.

Devotion should not be confused with emotion. When Master Djwhal Khul said, “The sixth ray is disappearing,” he did not mean the sixth ray as a whole, but its emotional part. In a person who performs service with veneration, there is also a constant rhythm of work. As a consequence, worship leads to the seventh ray.

Some people like silence and quietude, but they do not like worship and devotion. Many people believe that they have outgrown them. There is also much revolt against rituals, as their meaning often remains hidden and as a result, they seem dead and useless. But when we realize that worship and rituals are a constructive force, cooperation becomes possible. The Master does not like that we do not like certain things. He will see that we would like to pray, chant and do worship and learn to do it. It will not be forced upon us, but the corrections will be made from within. Disinclination is a weakness and a limitation. The Master ensures that we do not have such dislikes. Prayers and meditations supplement, support and promote each other. A well composed mixture of prayer, worship and contemplation makes us more complete.

Master EK brought back the worship of deities together with Master CVV Yoga. It does wonders and it can make our lives splendorous. Our life may be very spiritual but not splendorous. The splendour comes from the Deva intelligences. The moment we recognize the higher intelligences through worship and connect with them, they start working through us. They support us without wanting anything from us. However, if we do worship without knowing what we are doing, this connection is not established.

A true inner worship is followed by silence. We are then so deeply engaged inside for a long time that our senses and our attention are folded into us. However, if we begin to speak immediately after a long ritual or worship, it means that we were not engaged inside and that there was no meditation on the light within. As far as worship progresses, silence and quietude manifest.

Sources used: K.P. Kumar: From the Teacher’s Pen. Notes from seminars. / E. Krishnamacharya: The Mandra Scripture. The World Teacher Trust - Dhanishta, Visakhapatnam, India