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: 1^st Ray, Power; 2^nd Ray, Wisdom; 3^rd Ray, Art; 4^th Ray, Love; 5^th Ray, Science; 6^th Ray, Service; and, 7^th Ray, Alchemy or Ceremonial Magic.

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

1^st 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.

2^nd 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.

3^rd 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.

4^th 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.

5^th 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.

6^th 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.

7^th 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 (7^th 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 1^st Ray is more important than the 2^nd Ray, or 2^nd Ray more important than 3^rd 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 3^rd 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 6^th Ray. In my case, I realized that my core Mission is Teaching (2^nd 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]