CHELA: Beloved Master: How does a student enter the Silence?

GURU: Blessed Chela: Consciously entering the Great Silence is a positive and not a negative state of individual consciousness. Contemplation must never be confused with lethargy, nor adoration and devotion with imagery and visionary dreaming. Herein lies the training in wisdom, discrimination, balance, purity of motive and perseverance of will and purpose.  

CHELA: Beloved Master: When you say entering the Silence requires the establishment and the maintenance of a positive state of consciousness, what do you mean?

GURU: Blessed Chela: I mean that the individual must engage the cooperation of his various vehicles of expression and use them to create an individual aura of peace, purity, and tranquility. Within this personal aura, the individual must remain alert, focused in attention and in control of his concentrative powers, holding them upon the object of his devotions, whether it be the Heart of God or some divine representative of the King of Kings.  

CHELA: Beloved Master: We have been told that long periods of contemplation are dangerous and open the individual to insidious influences.

GURU: Blessed Chela: Here, discrimination must be developed. Each individual is capable of a different amount of applied contemplation according to the personal control of his thought processes, his feelings, his etheric memories and the demands of the physical vehicle. One man, consciously preparing to commune with his Maker, finds his own mental processes weaving out of the substance of thought a screen of irrelevant thoughts which make unsatisfactory his endeavor. Another man, able to concentrate his thoughts, finds the surging tide of his emotional nature re-vivifying past injustices. Still another enjoys the ever responsive sea of memories that flow from the etheric body. A man, well able to control his thoughts, feelings and memories may find the demands of cramped muscles, itching skin or other physical discomforts disturbing to his endeavors. Each chela must take personal note of his own capabilities and capacities of stilling his vehicles and then in wisdom develop the applied contemplation according to his ever increasing efficacy in the mastery and control of his vehicles.  

The vibratory action of the soul itself, the motive animating the soul toward communion with the inner self, the vibratory action and appetites of the inner bodies will determine what type of influence can play upon the individual seeking the peace of the Silence. When the heart is pure, the soul earnest and the conscious mind keenly alert to the deceptions of the ego that seek to aggrandize self through impressions of a grandiose nature, no subtle outside forces can enter the period of contemplation.  

CHELA: Beloved Master: What is the advantage of entering the Great Silence?

GURU: Blessed Chela: The advantages, and they are many, of entering the Silence could hardly be enumerated in this column. First, it is in the Silence that the soul makes acquaintanceship with its Maker. This is the primary purpose of all religious endeavor, teaching discipline, instruction, and application. Where the lower self is so blatantly active, even in professions of faith, the Great Presence cannot be felt, acknowledged, nor allowed to flow through the outer self with sufficient intensity to accomplish that union which is known as the 'second birth'. In the Silence, when the soul and consciousness are sincerely, humbly, peacefully, gently and reverently loving God, a State of Grace is established in the aura and the 'many selves'. In this State of Grace the individual soul becomes open to the benediction and blessings, the healing currents, the flashes of illumination and encouragement, the pressures of faith and conviction which nourish the individual and make real spiritual progress possible.  

Second, the conscious endeavor to control the thought and feeling nature develops individual mastery, as does the discipline of the rebellious physical garment. In the East, of course, this mastery has been developed by many thousands, but the pendulum of endeavor has swung too far in the other way, as the individuals are so 'caught up' in the ecstasy of the Silence that they have forgotten, for the most part, that the entire purpose of such contemplation and its succeeding benediction and illumination is to translate the perfection of that inner realm into the physical appearance world. The great Teacher of the East, the Lord Buddha, having passed through all the trials and tribulations of a soul endeavoring to find the heart of eternal peace, clearly manifesting the balance of The Law; after attaining 'the ultimate', he returned to bring the fruits of his application to his fellowmen.  

CHELA: Beloved Master: Does this period of contemplation suffice for personal application?

GURU: Blessed Chela: No! As I have said above, the Great Silence is entered for a purpose. Even the ascended masters who choose to animate some particular portion of the Divine Plan make conscious obeisance at the Throne of the Silence to secure both inspiration and direction and to draw the strength and power required to fulfill their new venture. The individual chela, particularly in the West, does not know the meaning of getting still. When the body is quiet, the mind is racing, even in petitions to the Lord. Yet, in order to provide the spiritual stamina for the greater services, the period of quiet contemplation of The Presence with its attendant outpouring is requisite.  

CHELA: Beloved Master: Could you give us a simple exercise or outline of such an activity as attempting to touch the 'hem of the robe' of the Silence?

GURU: Blessed Chela: Certainly.  

First: Find a place where you will be undisturbed. Constant interruptions are very injurious to the nervous system. The more beautiful, quiet and harmonious is your place of contemplation, the more will your senses cooperate with your endeavor. Frequency of aspiration in the same place also brings an atmosphere of sanctity and each successive endeavor is complemented by the energies so devoted in like manner before. That is why in cathedrals, temples and homes of saintly lifestreams, it is easier to reach the attitude of consciousness which reveals the Ever-Presence.  

Second: Place your physical body in a comfortable position. Remember in all spiritual endeavors, the more cooperation you secure from your vehicles, the easier will be your achievement. To enter the Silence, however, is a positive activity. Therefore, it is wise to sit, with spine erect, as the very position of lying prone is conductive to lethargy. This of course is subject to modification in case of illness or other circumstances where the individual cannot wisely perform his adorations in the privacy of his own sanctuary. Let me say here, discrimination and wisdom are required for the pursuit of the spiritual path and common sense, not a blind adherence to the letter of the law, is requisite to more than ordinary spiritual development. For instance, to take a specific question about contemplation in the dark. . . . Let me clarify this once and for all: to deliberately create an atmosphere of darkness and then attempt to commune with the unknown is contrary to spiritual law. However, in the course of living, good students awakening through the night hours are not always afforded sufficient privacy to create artificial light. These good people are naturally protected by the aura of their own aspiration and can well utilize the time in perfect safety when they cannot, for one reason or another, procure artificial light during application and spiritual contemplation.  

Third: Relax. Most individual are so tense they close the door to inflowing grace. Cultivate that state of 'rest in action' so essential to poised, balanced living. The use of the rhythmic breath is very conducive to alert and poised relaxation.  

Fourth: Determine within yourself what being or activity from God's Heart you desire to contemplate. Examine your motive impartially, wisely and with discrimination. If there is any desire for self seeking, for phenomena, for satisfaction of curiosity, you will defeat your purpose. The whole purpose of active contemplation is to enter the Presence of God and the Heart of His Messengers when one is propelled by divine love for them and progress of the universal scheme of creation.  

Fifth: Consciously feel yourself enveloped in God's Light, His Presence, His Love.  

Sixth: Endeavor to hold your thought processes and your feelings one-pointed in pouring forth love and blessings to God and His Universe, even five minutes of concentration may prove enough for your first endeavors.  

Seventh: Endeavor to control the demands of your physical body during this time.  

Eighth: If necessary, to provide a spiritual lever for your conscious mind and feelings, read some lovely uplifting peace of poetry or prose, or listen to an inspiring melody.  

Ninth: Have no fear of evil forces. (After donning your Mantle of Light and calling for protection.) While you are loving God, the angels and ascended host, the natural vibration of your vehicles form a wall of light around you, a magnet to draw good influences and currents toward you and a natural repellent vibration to evil of every kind.  

Tenth: Enjoy loving your Presence. When the feeling of peace fills your soul, you will know you are there. Rest in that peace and draw the currents of light and power which you will require for your endeavors in the world of form.  

Eleventh: Consciously determine within yourself to give something of your radiant peace to your fellowman.  

Twelfth: The efficacy of all spiritual exercises is determined by the rhythm of the application. Five minutes daily, at the same time, is better than two hours one day and nothing the next.

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