We now have passed from the mere1 usual and worldly relations of teacher and pupil to that which we will call the Lodge2 for the nonce.
This Lodge is not to be taken up in the pincers of criticism and analyzed3 or fixed4. It is at once everywhere and nowhere. It contains within its boundaries all real Masters, students, guides, and Gurus, of whatever race or creed5 or no creed. Of it has been said:
"Beyond the Hall of Learning is the Lodge. It is the whole body of Sages7 in all the world. It cannot be described even by those who are in it, but the student is not prohibited from imagining what it is like."
So therefore at any time any one of its real teachers or disciples9 will gladly help any other teacher or disciple10. But we are not to conclude that, because all are trying to spread truth and to teach the world, we, who call ourselves chela-aspirants or known chelas of any certain person whom we call Guru, can place ourselves at the same moment under the direct tutelage of more than one Guru.
Each man who determines in himself that he will enter the Path, has a Guru. But the time between that determination and the hour when he will really know The Master may be long indeed; in some cases it is very short.
We must now occupy a moment in some consideration of divisions.
Just as the merest private in the army has a general who guides the whole but whom he cannot reach except through the others who are officers, so in this order we find divisions of Gurus as well as divisions of disciples.
There is the Great Guru, who is such to many who never know Him or see Him. Then there are others who know Him, and who are Gurus to a number of chelas, and so on until we may imagine a chela who may be a known Guru to another chela below him.
Then, again, there may be chelas who are acting12 as Guru—unacknowledged, because pro8 tempore in function—to one or more other chelas.
Now he who makes the resolution above-mentioned, does thereby13 make a bond that rests in the highest Law. It is not a thing to be lightly done, because its consequences are of a serious nature. Not serious in the way of disasters or awful torments14 or such, but serious in respect to the clearness and brilliancy of those rays of Truth which we wish to reach us.
We have thereby in a sense—its degree determined15 by the sincerity16 and power of our motive—taken ourselves out of the common, vast, moving herd17 of men who are living—as to this—like dumb animals, and have knocked at a door. If we have reverenced18 our teacher we will now revere19 our unknown Guru. We must stand interiorly in a faithful attitude. We must have an abiding20, settled faith that nothing may shake. For it is to mighty21 Karma we have appealed, and as the Guru is Karma in the sense that He never acts against Karma, we must not lose faith for an instant. For it is this faith that clears up the air there, and that enables us to get help from all quarters.
Then perhaps this determinant or postulant or neophyte22 decides for himself that he will for the time take as teacher or guide some other chela whose teachings commend themselves. It is not necessary that any out-spoken words should pass between these two.
But having done this, even in thought, he should then apply himself diligently23 to the doctrine24 of that teacher, not changing until he really finds he has another teacher or has gone to another class. For if he takes up one merely to dispute and disagree—whether outwardly or mentally, he is thereby in danger of totally obscuring his own mind.
If he finds himself not clearly understanding, then he should with faith try to understand, for if he by love and faith vibrates into the higher meaning of his teacher, his mind is thereby raised, and thus greater progress is gained.
We now come to the possible case of an aspirant11 of that royal and kingly faith who in some way has really found a person who has advanced far upon the Path. To this person he has applied25 and said: "May I be accepted, and may I be a chela of either thee or some other?"
That person applied to then perhaps says: "Not to me; but I refer you to some other of the same class as yourself, and give you to him to be his chela: serve him." With this the aspirant goes, say to the one designated, and deliberately26 both agree to it.
Here is a case where the real Master has recommended the aspirant to a co-worker who perchance is some grade higher than our neophyte, and the latter is now in a different position from the many others who are silently striving and working, and learning from any and all teachers, but having no specialized27 Guru for themselves. This neophyte and his "little guru" are connected by a clear and sacred bond, or else both are mere lying children, playing and unworthy of attention. If the "little guru" is true to his trust, he occupies his mind and heart with it, and is to consider that the chela represents Humanity to him for the time.
We postulated29 that this "little guru" was in advance of the chela. It must then happen that he says that which is sometimes not clear to his chela. This will all the more be so if his chela is new to the matter. But the chela has deliberately taken that guru, and must try to understand the doctrine of that teacher.
The proper function of the Guru is to readjust, and not to pour in vast masses of knowledge expressed in clear and easily comprehended terms. The latter would be a piece of nonsense, however agreeable, and not any whit30 above what any well-written book would do for its reader.
The faith and love which exist between them act69 as a stimulus31 to both, and as a purifier to the mind of the chela.
But if the chela, after a while, meets another person who seems to know as much as his "little guru," and to express it in very easy terms, and the chela determines to take him as a teacher, he commits an error. He may listen to his teaching and admire and profit by it, but the moment he mentally determines and then in words asks the other to be his teacher, he begins to rupture32 the bond that was just established, and possibly may lose altogether the benefit of both. Not necessarily, however; but certainly, if he acquaints not his "little guru" with the fact of the new adoption33 of teacher, there will be much confusion in that realm of being wherein both do their real "work"; and when he does acquaint his "little guru" with the fact of the newly-acquired teacher, that older guru will retire.
None of this is meant for those minds which do not regard these matters as sacred. A Guru is a sacred being in that sense. Not, of course, in a general sense—yet even if so regarded when worthy28 it is better for the chela,—but in all that pertains34 to the spiritual and real life. To the high-strung soul this is a matter of adoption; a most sacred and valuable thing, not lightly taken up or lightly dropped. For the Guru becomes for the time the spiritual Father of the chela; that one who is destined35 to bring him into life or to pass him on to Him who will do so.
So as the Guru is the adjuster in reality, the chela does not—except where the Guru is known to be a great Sage6 or where the chela does it by nature—give slavish attention to every word. He hears the word and endeavors to assimilate the meaning underneath36; and if he cannot understand he lays it aside for a better time, while he presently endeavors to understand what he can. And if even—as is often so in India—he cannot understand at all, he is satisfied to be near the70 Guru and do what may properly be done for him; for even then his abiding faith will eventually clear his mind, of which there are many examples, and regarding which how appropriate is the line:
"They also serve who only stand and wait."
Z.
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1
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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analyzed
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| v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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sages
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| n.圣人( sage的名词复数 )；智者；哲人；鼠尾草（可用作调料） | |
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pro
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| n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者 | |
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disciples
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| n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
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disciple
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| n.信徒，门徒，追随者 | |
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aspirant
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| n.热望者；adj.渴望的 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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13
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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torments
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| （肉体或精神上的）折磨，痛苦( torment的名词复数 )； 造成痛苦的事物[人] | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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reverenced
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| v.尊敬，崇敬( reverence的过去式和过去分词 )；敬礼 | |
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revere
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| vt.尊崇，崇敬，敬畏 | |
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abiding
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| adj.永久的，持久的，不变的 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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neophyte
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| n.新信徒；开始者 | |
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diligently
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| ad.industriously;carefully | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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specialized
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| adj.专门的，专业化的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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postulated
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| v.假定，假设( postulate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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whit
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| n.一点，丝毫 | |
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stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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rupture
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| n.破裂；(关系的)决裂；v.(使)破裂 | |
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33
adoption
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| n.采用，采纳，通过；收养 | |
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34
pertains
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| 关于( pertain的第三人称单数 )； 有关； 存在； 适用 | |
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35
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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36
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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