Monday, April 25, 2016

FAITH, DEVOTION, BHAKTI (Seekers’ Lesson 1)


FAITH, DEVOTION, BHAKTI (Seekers’ Lesson 1)

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Magandang araw sa inyo! Good day to you all!

For this moment’s reflection, I’d focus on the faith element in the Path. A Seeker is someone else who should have filled up shis (his/her) ‘glass of faith’ and need not over-focus on faith-centered works. Just like when one needs medication, the moment that the ailment had healed, one must take off from the medication right away or else face deleterious consequences of overdose and over-exposure to the medication.

So is it with faith. Faith is the central affective (emotions, feelings) element in the soul, it makes one a ‘believer’ at the minimum, and is definitely needed to ascend the heights. But faith alone isn’t enough. There are the cognitive, intuitive, nirvanic and higher elements in the Self that must also be given attention. Let us presume that the Seeker has the faith element well built up, and will need not demonstrate overtly that s/he believes in God and the transcendent reality.

There are two things to note here by the Seeker. It concerns devotion: the ‘externalization’ of faith. One, constantly check out on your devotion to your ‘significant Others’. And, two, practice some form of Bhakti. Devotion to the ‘significant Other’ (loved one, boss, fellow, etc) and devotion to God Almighty are very much intertwined. To say that one can show utmost devotion to God while showing bitterness, apathy and sociopathy to fellows is non-sense. They must co-condition each other. Failing to observe this synergy, one will flounder in the path.

Devotion to the ‘Significant Others’

Based on the observation of sociologists, the complex web of social relations we call ‘society’ cannot be possible without devotion manifested at the micro-level: the level of ‘in-groups’. In these groups we perform roles of great diversity, roles that shift as we move on from one situation to another. We encounter our ‘significant others’ in these groups, and they comprise the base of our ‘lifeworld’ (lebenswelt).

During the early heydays of the founding of sociology, the intellectual giants Weber, Durkheim, Simmel, Mannheim, Cooley, G.H. Mead, Sorokin and Schutz went down to brass tacks right away, designed the methods that will uncover the veils of reality at the micro-level, see what forces make society possible at that level, and assess the human condition within the templates of that reality. Their finding was a homogenous one: devotion is the most singular, powerful force that cements social bonds, and the social bonds in return produce norms that, in return, make institutions and society possible.

So, Noble Seeker, it all boils down to devotion. With high devotion, social order; with low to negative devotion, social chaos. Systems of representations form a rubric from out of devotion, notably: norms, prescriptions and proscriptions, values, laws, sanction systems, etc. When forces are operative that will tend to bring devotion down, crisis results (see Weber, Durkheim, Sorokin). Weber observed ‘dehumanization’ within the context of a rationalized, bureaucratized order; Durkheim, that of ‘anomie’ as community solidarity self-destructs, giving way to an ‘organic solidarity’ in urbanized settings; and Sorokin, the ‘crisis of our times’ due to excessive sensate values. Earlier than them, Marx elaborated on the problem of ‘alienation’ as the most central human predicament.

Since those studies of the sociological founders were released, the human predicament had deteriorated to greater extremes, madness seems to have become dominant, giving rise to the thesis about the failure of Reason or the Enlightenment as the root cause. There had since been the greater clamor to build more community, to create more social harmony, and so on. With the presence of an increasing number of Lightworkers, we are glad to note that the values aimed at affecting community are penetrating deep down the private sphere where the social bond is embedded.

So, Noble Seeker, the world context is quite better now for alternative paradigms. Please check out constantly on your devotion to your ‘significant others’. Check out whether you are a harmonizer or a destroyer of bonds most often. If there is a ‘critical mass’ of antipathy or sociopathy in you, chances are that you are suffering from personality disorder condition. Your emotional self is badly ailing and damaged, and cannot function to the fullest. So damaged is it that you cannot function socially as well, since your emotional self is the foundation of your ‘social self’.

And if your emotional-social selves are damaged, there is no way that energy from Above can flow to you fully. You aren’t capable of interconnecting with your fellows, of demonstrating an interface of your ‘heart chakras’, you experience alienation and anomie, and you could become a factor in damaging the ecology of any organization or group. If people with badly damaged emotional-social selves would come together, they could only seal social bonds through compulsion, fear and intimidation, and the result is mafia groups or totalitarian groups.

My thesis is that you can only best approach the Almighty God via devotion if you likewise can demonstrate devotion to your ‘significant others’. And that devotion must be a balanced, harmonic devotion, not the forced devotion of mafias and totalitarian groups. If you as Seeker has got some balancing to do on your emotional-social aspects, than please do so soon enough. Secure the help of a clinical psychologist at least, or a good psycho-social counselor who can help you do the self-assessment and modify your behavior towards greater balance accordingly.

Sustain high levels of goodwill with your ‘significant others’ at all times. You may have some fiery quarrels with people on personal and professional grounds, and the conflict can bruise your bonds. Take some time to heal the bond, but as soon as the negative energy of the conflict is extinguished, re-establish goodwill. At the minimum, pray for the persons involved, express in thought and heart that you have forgiven them. Even if you won’t see the same persons again, or decide to cut off links with them, decide just the same to maintain goodwill. That clearly done, you will contribute to firming up the loose soils of the fractured societal bonds, and become a true Lightworker in the process.

Devotion to God, the Bhakti Way

No matter how far you’ve advanced as a Seeker or even as a mystic or master, just the same you will feel the urge to do devotional works. The most individuated Seekers are allergic to mass production devotions (church, congregations). If you are this type of Seeker, then schedule a bhakti session alone, in your home, by chanting the name of God. The lines you learned from your churches would be alright for this purpose.

For instance, you can chant repeatedly for around fifteen (15) minutes at least the mantrams “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare (7X), Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare (7X),” over and over. You can also diversify the mantrams. Advanced seekers are universalistic, and if you’re of this kind, than you can add, even if you were born a Hindu, the chanting of the “Hail Mary” of the Catholics, and vice versa (Catholics can chant the Hindu’s bhakti mantrams). A powerful chant is “Om Namo Narayanaya” which is expressing devotion to the Spirit-side of God.

That is why the “Hail Mary” or the novena was designed—by mystics within the Roman church—precisely to diffuse powerful mantrams as sustainers of devotion to Mary and God. So powerful is the novena, devotees just can’t comprehend its power but during the focal devotions the novena keeps the believers glued to where they are. If only the church can re-codify the Hail Mary into chant form, and let it be sung repeatedly, it could transport the devotee to the heights of the higher dimensions.

If you Dear Seeker are keen on attending church service, than that would be your regular Bhakti session. During a mass, the devotees chant, invoke many mantrams (prayers), and end the ritual with an invocation to let the Violet Flame descend unto the participants (Violet Flame = Holy Spirit of Christians). Go ahead, Seeker, maintain your church life, but to make your bhakti more meaningful you must also join your ministries or equivalent. Join the liturgy ministry, or youth ministry, or ecology ministry, where you can work with ‘significant others’ and strengthen your devotion at that level.

It is possible that if you, Seeker, can stabilize your emotional-social selves via bhakti if you are unstable in this regard. Bhakti can be a powerful tool that will make your heart warm up to your hostile “enemies” (per your perception) and reconcile with them even if the reconciliation will be non-physical (visualization with prayers, reconciliation of the heart). But if your emotional-social ailments have reached the dysfunctional level, then please see a psychiatrist who can help you take off the dark energies that cause the ailments from your unconscious mind.

Look at all those devotees who practice bhakti, but who after coming from church service are back to their hostile, antisocial attitudes towards their ‘significant others’. They suffer from deep psychiatric malaise, and they are using bhakti (church service) as a dope or opiate to temporarily relieve them of the ailment. The opiate then makes them delude into believing that they are already saved. Sociologists found out after extensive research, some with disbelief, that indeed the ‘opiate effect’ thesis of Marx, or ‘religion as dope’ of Simmel, or ‘religion as illusion’ by Freud, was empirically correct, accurate and precise. (See the works of Kenneth Thompson regarding the theme of ‘belief and ideology’ as summary of these inquiries.)

Don’t ever imitate those whose behavior you think isn’t worth emulating. Such as the mass of devotees, most of whom are laggards, who have reduced devotion to dope. Make bhakti a truly liberating one, let it penetrate through you and empower your conscience. With an empowered conscience, virtues can work within you, and you can develop healthy relationships with ‘significant others’ based on true, spirit-filled devotion.

Summary

In sum, put devotion in your program for self-realization, and practice them at both the social and trans-social (transcendent) levels. With your heart you can then intuit on the cosmic significance of the category of ‘Other’, and discover that the ‘significant Others’ are One and indivisibly parts of the ‘Divine Others’, all thus merged in the heart, mind and will of the highest ‘Other’: God. Then indeed are you prepared to journey to the Heights of the Divine.

[Writ 05 October 2007, Quezon City, MetroManila]

Friday, April 15, 2016

SELF-LEARNING: MODALITY FOR PRESENT & FUTURE AGES


SELF-LEARNING: MODALITY FOR PRESENT & FUTURE AGES

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Noble Seekers, Fellows in the Path who by now number by the tens to hundreds of millions, this article focuses on the modality of methods for transcendence for the current and future contexts. To begin with, it will be largely the self-learning modality that is now dominant.

While it is a fact that individuation continues to rise and expand in a very dynamic fashion, and that the old institutional methods of attainment are crumbling by the day, it is also a fact that there has been an explosion in the population from the past century onto the present, which constrains the Ascended Host or divine beings in embodying teachers who can attend to Seekers’ needs.

In the language of economics, we have a huge demand for the Teachings, but we are short of the supply of Teachers. We have right now a ‘buyers’ market’ as far as the teachings are concerned, and so this situation raises challenges on the Ascended Host to innovate on means of attainment so that the ‘buyers’ (Seekers) will meet their specific needs.

All souls here must reckon with the fact that the physical plane, nay the planet Earth as a whole, is a school for life. As such, it is an open market for various teachers, both of the Dark Side and the Light Side. It used to be that the Dark Ones were dominant in the physical plane, where they held sway in an almost monopolistic manner. However, beyond the year 1934, the equation had changed, and we have more or less an equal opportunity for both the Dark and Light sides to present their platforms and lessons before a huge ‘market’ of souls.

The new development was made possible by the increased ‘supply’ of more evolved souls in the physical plane. Such souls have graduated to the level of ‘old souls’, to use a Chinese term. There are now a ‘critical mass’ of evolved souls and other advancing seekers, leading a further larger number of enthused devotees, seekers, mystics and masters whom we all refer to as ‘Lightworkers’.

Thus, with a ‘level the playing field’ now optimized, we have a greater opportunity to proceed in the Path than ever. We have an ‘equal opportunity’ situation here, to use the term of civil libertarians. Of course, the Dark Ones would want to shift the balance back to their favor, by sabotaging the operations of the Lightworkers—by attacking us all both internally (within each one of us) and externally, or in situations where we are weak. But their efforts are looking ridiculously slapstick, for they realize that they cannot have the competitive edge in this manner.

One thing that the Dark Ones will never be able to control is the increasing power of the Christ Consciousness on this planet. And this situation, which the Fallen Ones would wish to subtly neutralize via the relentless permeation of the Anti-Christ Consciousness in the private sphere, is shifting the balance in favor of the Lightworkers more or less. You would see in all mass media, for instance, the constant bombardment of the mind with negative images, libidinal messages, and many more imaging devices that leave the folks mesmerized and wallowed in cesspools of crass materialism. But these efforts are largely a panic complex by the Fallen Ones, and they will lose the day as the Christ Consciousness further permeates the private sphere and individual consciousnesses.

However, we Lightworkers would also admit that the explosion in our populations have constrained the hands of Teachers in the Path. For while there may be many mystics and masters, not many from our ranks can perform teaching roles. In the Philippines for instance, which is a remnant of the ancient Mu continent, healing has been the chosen mission of about 2/3 of mystics & masters. There is now a revival in this country of ancient techniques, popularized in antiquity by Lemuro-Atlantean priests, of a method that would accelerate the pace of inner awakenings without having to use yoga meditation that will take decades of painstaking practice to achieve desired results. And so we have an explosion of healing ministries in the archipelago today, but too few teachers.

So, whether in RP or in the other countries, we face a low supply of teachers inspite of a huge stock of Lightworkers. The best remedy for the situation is to devise innovative methods that will shift the learning from teacher-centered to seeker-centered learning. The learning situation had in fact already shifted to the self-learning modality as of the last quarter yet of the 20th century.

So what is the role of the Teacher in this situation? As I elucidated in my book Libertosophy & Freethought, the teacher performs the role of a catalyst of change in the new context. The guru or teacher is much like the university professor whose instruction is only 30% of the equation, while the student does 70% of the efforts. There would be an instance when the teacher can recede in the background, and the Seeker programs his/her own readings and lessons, with help of course from shis (his/her) Inner Guide. Just like when one graduates from college, the professors won’t be around any longer, but the alumnus can move on to program his/her readings and thematic learning using various methods such as enrolling in special seminars.

The same thing is true for the Seeker. The physical Teacher will help you begin the courses, explain to you the ‘program’, then supervises and monitors your undertakings for a specified or expected period. Each seeker will absorb lessons differently for sure, so the Teacher will recommend to you whether to continue with the existing program or move on to a succeeding set of lessons. Be prepared to hear the Teacher recommend that you get instructions from some other Teachers who may be adept at certain courses and methods.

And so, just like in the university where a student encounters many professors before graduating, a seeker will encounter many teachers along the way. It’s possible that you, Noble Seeker, will be a disciple of a single Teacher, and it cannot be avoided that you will develop a strong, devotional attitude bordering a filial bond with the Teacher. There’s no problem with that. Still, your main Teacher may encourage you to seek lessons from other teachers, and then you go back later to your main Teacher who can help you assess where you are situated so far in your spiritual compass.

Such a Teacher is truly noble, and has the proper mark of a ‘true teacher’: one who will respect your autonomy from the very onset, and encourages you to get instructions from others. S/he will never show a sense of jealousy towards other teachers at all, but will be deeply happy over the disciple’s expanded learning from other physical teachers. True teachers never call themselves ‘master’ at all, it is the disciples who out of deep filial respect will call the teacher a master, or papa/baba (father), or mama (mother).

Any Teacher who labels himself/herself master is suspect. Likewise would the trait of trying to control seekers by using the “I am your only teacher” or “you cannot have any teacher other than me” line. You may even end up being forewarned of the dire consequences of leaving the teacher for another teacher if ever. A very egotistical teacher this one is! Beware of their kinds, they are manipulative and deceptive and they abound in our planet.

In my case, I would go for a formula of 10% learning from me, and 90% of learning self-programmed by the Seeker. For the advanced seekers, who are bound to become mystics, I’d have it a residual 3%-8% learnings from me, and the rest from the seeker. Most of you seekers are out to be handled by your own ‘true guru’ who is no other than your own respective Inner Guide, and my role is simply to help connect you to that Guide. But I will always open my gate to you, as my own commitment of co-partnering with your Guide in instructing you, and will have to clarify questions and lessons every now and then or when you feel a need to. The time will come when it will be largely you and your Inner Guide co-partnering, as I am done from my duties for you.

My main guru, the Master El Morya, does the same thing to me: he instructs me approximately once every 1 & ½ years only, with 1%-2% lessons coming from him. He also helps me to assess lessons learned from other teachers (who are non-physical). Sometimes he calls for me urgently, to which I oblige very willingly, and then lets me go quickly. His occult powers are beyond my comprehension, as he can summon me and transport my etheric body right in front of him in the higher dimensions, while my physical body is taking a ride for work in the big city (Manila), instructs me in 20 minutes or so, and then brings back my subtle body to my physical body before I alight for work.

But there are those phlegmatic types who it seems are former laggards who have quite evolved compared to their own kinds. They absorb lessons so slow, that sometimes I keep on repeating the same lessons or subjects to them. Their long-term memories don’t work as much as the smart seekers whose IQs border the genius. So for the phlegmatics I am compelled to raise the formula to 50% learning from me, and 50% self-learning. And I have to pray to the Almighty God for additional patience to handle them because no matter how slow they are, they keep on going in the Path and no teacher has a business to throw them away just because they’re slow.

Now, for the smart ones, who admirably absorb lessons so fast, I can take on a merely residual of 3%-8%. And there are seekers whose IQs are genius level. Genius is the highest level of awakening that a seeker can develop. Geniuses in IQ who are also geniuses in emotional & social quotients are those highly evolved types and are Big Siblings unto others. Provided that they are focused in their lessons, meditate regularly, and they do the 7-ray program consistently, they can become mystics by middle age. By that time, their main guru will shift from a physical teacher to an Ascended Master who may be non-physical but of a higher-dimensional nature. In my experience, I never was initiated by a physical guru, but rather guarded & guided by an archangel and then instructed by an Ascended Master from young adulthood onwards. I became a mystic at Age 36. It was 98% self-learning for me from the inception.

Now, are you somebody else who’s dependent on a teacher 90% of the time? Whose lessons are doctrinal, never learning from texts outside of scriptures? Who regards the words of the teacher as the only true and correct expression of the divine? Then please stick to your church. Your teacher is your priest and/or patriarch and not a guru. You are rest assured of my goodwill, as we are all ‘children of God’ (emanations from the Cause of all Causes).

But if you wish to combine seekers’ and devotees’ lessons, like many phlegmatics and laggards do, well and good. No problema! Please consult matters with me, as I’m very willing to help you out.

So, Noble Seekers, good luck to your learning! I’ll be with you as much as I can as your Big Brother.

[Writ 01 October 2007, Quezon City, MetroManila]

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

LESSONS FOR SEEKERS: A BRIEFER


LESSONS FOR SEEKERS: A BRIEFER

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Most felicitous greetings, Noble Seeker!

It should be of interest to you to know what would be the configuration of lessons that you ought to undertake in your journey to God-realization. By using the imperative ‘ought to’, I don’t mean to scare you with the implication that if you won’t do the lessons, you’d go to hell. Far from it, you are a free will being. The best attitude for you is to reflect on the notes below with reason, wisdom and love rather than obey them out of fear. If they don’t make sense to you, fine, I’d still treat you as a Fellow human.

To begin with, please familiarize yourself with the system of 7 that I’ve adopted. As a mystic, I’m well aware of the Law of 7: 7 days in a week, 7-year itch (for newly wed couples), every 7 years all of the cells in our body replace themselves entirely, it takes 7 years to start and complete a phase in the Path before going to the next, the 7 planes or dimensions of being, etc. Again, this is a cosmic law or axiom that pervades all universes (bio-physical, astral-etheric, causal, spiritual universes).

I also borrowed heavily from H.P Blavatsky and her team of theosophical thinkers, by adopting the 7 Ray system. Accordingly, 7 Rays emanate from the Godhead, representing thus 7 different ways of galvanizing life in the domains of the manifest worlds, to wit: 1st Ray, Power; 2nd Ray, Wisdom; 3rd Ray, Art; 4th Ray, Love; 5th Ray, Science; 6th Ray, Service; and, 7th Ray, Alchemy or Ceremonial Magic.

Such Rays represent essential soul attributes and personality traits, to note: Power (1st Ray), Will-oriented; Wisdom (2nd Ray), Contemplative or intellectual prowess; Art (3rd Ray), Craftsmanship; Love (4th Ray), Devotion; Science (5th Ray), Knowledge-building; Service (6th Ray), Serving others or Altruism; and, Alchemy (7th Ray), Synthesis or power of integration.

Now, this lesson note may sound like the 8-Fold Path of the Lord Gautama, and honestly it is crafted in like vein. This is for simplification purposes: it makes it easier on the mind to note what lessons to do, where had one advanced and where had one lagged behind, and so on. So, this mystic-teacher would opt here for a 7 Ray Lesson Set as a matter of simplification. In succeeding articles, each of these lessons will be discussed.

1st Ray Lesson: Develop Organization, Leadership, Determination (O-L-D). Developing one’s will is beyond compromise. Weak-willed persons will drift in life. Will must be used to develop the other traits as well. It would be great to join clubs, learn management skills via formal lessons, seminars, workshops, and via practice. Look for lessons shared by human resources gurus such as Maxwell that can help you develop the O-L-D traits. For those who are Power-oriented, they should program themselves to take on leadership and management roles wherever they go. Those who are weak-willed must learn the traits from those who are powerful in this respect.

2nd Ray Lesson: Build Virtues. From philosophy we learn ethics/axiology, epistemology, metaphysics. For this Ray, I’d emphasize axiology: let values work in your life. Recognize what your weak attitudes or ‘vices’ are, and systematically deprogram them by using a combination of yoga and self-development lessons. Build virtues gradually but determinately. In addition, study every philosophical material along the way. Read everything, question everything, doubt nothing.

3rd Ray: Show Devotion to All You Love. Demonstrate devotion to the Divine Beings, to your close kins, close pals, superiors and apprentices, to Mother Earth and her blessings of nature and resources, to your Other Half, and so on. Sociologists recognize the central import of devotion in maintaining institutions in the private sphere such as family and peerages, without which society will fragment. No devotion, no social order, high chaos. Conversely, high devotion, high harmony, high order. So, please contribute to this, as your devotion will be paid by Others with love and devotion. Take time to do bhakti yoga such as singing and chanting The Lord’s name in your church or privately at home.

4th Ray Lesson: Practice a Craft. Right Livelihood, said the Gautama Buddha. A soul without a craft is a soul-less robot and laggard who needs to be instructed via social programming from superiors. The craft or profession should be determined by you most of all, not by others. Crafts must come from your heart and depth of your soul. “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs,” so declared the Acts of the Apostles (New Testament). The said fiat means: practice a craft or profession, and you shall get paid accordingly for your efforts. Be not a parasite, for parasitism is a vice or ‘sin’. Aim high in your profession, dream with great ambition, and build capabilities along the way.

5th Ray: Know Thyself, Thy World, Thy Cosmos. Learn as many tools for self insight as you can learn, such as those developed by psychologists and human resource gurus. Also, keep on studying the sciences, from the biological to the social sciences, and develop analytical-empirical skills in the process. Use such inquisitiveness and tools for understanding the other dimensions, study metaphysics thereof, and learn about the cosmos in general. Develop a scientific attitude in your practical life. Learn to understand the spiritual spheres via spiritual science to be able to break away from superstition and dogma.

6th Ray: Serve God & Fellow Men. Do service to God and the Transcendent, and serve your ‘significant others’. ‘Serve the People!” declared Mao Zedong, who himself was secretly a Seeker. Follow the Golden Rule with all thy heart. If you are a boss, love and serve your subordinates, and Heaven will open itself up to you. Keep on giving whatever you can give without expecting rewards. As Robert Kiyosaki said in his books on personal success, the more you give, the more you receive. Mother Teresa herself taught us: please keep on serving Others, whether those Others will show sympathy or hostility to your service offerings. If they show you hostility, love and serve them just the same.

7th Ray: Practice Centering thru Meditation & Prayer. Learn and practice yoga meditation. And learn to pray well too. Yoga meditation is the most focal lesson taught by great Teachers. When practiced properly and consistently, meditation can hasten your higher levels of awakenings. At the highest levels, you can use meditation to burn your own past karmas and effortlessly merge with your God Self or monad (7th Ray body). So, instead of coming back to the dense spheres for around 1 million more years of repeated reincarnations, you need not come back any further. Yoga is safe and effective. Couple it up with prayers (used for devotional practice, etc), pray short invocations at least 5 times a day. When fully centered, you will attain synthesis and self-integration at quantum speeds and gigantic strides. Your mystical powers will also increase, thus allowing you to help others via your potent prayers & meditations.

Note that such lessons are not chronologically nor axiomatically arranged. You can do the lessons simultaneously every day of the week. It doesn’t mean that 1st Ray is more important than the 2nd Ray, or 2nd Ray more important than 3rd Ray, and so on. All the Rays are equally important. Strengthen your traits in all rays, for improving one at the expense of others will create imbalance, disharmony and dysfunction in your psyche, leading to psychiatric disorder conditions if not schizophrenia.

As much as possible, please reflect on which trait is most dominant in you. For example, if your strongest is 3rd Ray, then that will define your vocation in life. As an artist, you must build every capability along the way, aim high in your goals (e.g. a painter must do exhibits and become a ‘signature’ artist, known locally and internationally as much as possible), trust God Almighty that you will succeed as a Star in your vocation. Be somebody in your vocation, God never made nobodies. All were crafted as Stars by God, so assert you Starhood in your vocation.

Can you develop sub-vocations or sub-specializations? By all means, please do so. If you feel so strongly that you must be a physician-surgeon and a concert pianist at the same time, why bother with thoughts that these vocations will conflict? Grab both tigers by the tail, and become both a high-performing doctor and inspiring concert artist at the same time. Failure to do so, deep frustrations could lead into schizophrenia later.

Please note that your spiritual missions (tasks) may be different from your vocation. Do some periodic reflections too about your missions, or core Mission, and see how this can harmonize with your vocations. In today’s context, most missions are concentrated on the 6th Ray. In my case, I realized that my core Mission is Teaching (2nd Ray), or guru task. I refused to accept this for a long time, denying that I’m capable of a guru’s task. But the Heights keep on knocking at my doors each day, and I just can’t refuse the task anymore. I have to face it squarely, be bold to accept both successes and failures in my practice, and trust God Almighty that help constantly comes from the Above for me to be able to succeed in my Mission.

Noble Seeker, make no further procrastination, configure your specific lessons now. Help will come from your Guide, trust Almighty Providence. Good luck in your lessons!

[Writ September 2007, Quezon City, MetroManila]