Erle Frayne D. Argonza
Magandang araw! Good day!
I just recently received a communication from a Canadian spiritual seeker, a lady, who is now going through tumultuous changes. She, like many other seekers and even devotees whom I’ve encountered in the past, is interested in the matter of ‘old soul’, and requests more information about the matter.
Many writings were already elaborated in the past regarding ‘evolved souls’, notably those released by the founders of the Theosophical Society (Blavatsky, Hodson, Q. Judge, Leadbeater, Bessant). Many other mystics and masters who came after them also made substantial contributions to the subject. In some previous writings of mine, like the ones about freethinkers, individuated psyche, free spirits, I did present a synthesis of the thoughts of previous thinkers about the matter (please see my previous articles in my blogs: http://erleargonza.blogspot.com, http://raefdargon.mysticblogs.com).
To simplify the subject, we begin with Blavatsky’s thought that we all go through three (3) levels of evolution that take place simultaneously: spiritual, mental, physical. As we progress in the material and mental dimensions, so should we also evolve in the spiritual dimension. Not only our physical-etheric and mental bodies but also our souls do evolve. It is ‘soul age’ that is the true measure of one’s age rather than the chronological age which is a mere analytical devise that is replete with illusions.
Following the ‘law of uneven development’, we better note that not all souls progress at similar paces. There are those souls who were very lackadaisical in the Path, were so slow in absorbing the wisdom lessons, and have lagged behind the more fast-paced ones. These souls we mystics call the ‘laggards’ or ‘evolutionary laggards’.
On the other hand, there are those souls who were more determined in evolving fast and are endowed with the spirit of conquerors. They quest for the heights of the Path and desire to conquer the lower self in the shortest time possible ever. They rise like the Sphinx, and thus become leaders among men and women in all walks of life. We mystics call them the ‘evolved souls’ or ‘highly evolved souls’.
In ancient China the term for the laggard is ‘young soul’ while that for the evolved soul is ‘old soul’. These terms sound cute, so I’d use them more than the terms laggards and evolved souls. The term ‘laggard’ sounds pejorative, and is immersed in Victorian embellishments, so I’d better use ‘young soul’ before some true laggards out there might wish to stone me to death for sounding condescending.
As a matter of convenience, I’d refer to those between the young and old souls as the ‘middling souls’. Many of these souls are now on the threshold to ‘old soul’ age. Though they cannot yet move apart from the devotional methods that are common among young souls, they are also open to new ideas or unconventional thought about the higher mysteries. They are the hybrid devotee-seeker.
Moving back to the old souls, because they are fast-pacers and they can lead in the Path, they are often brought back to the physical plane by the Karmic Board as soon as they leave their bodies upon (physical) death. They hardly have rest in the higher spheres at all. They immediately plunge back to the physical plane for The Work. Upon returning here they are quick to show the psyche of a Seeker and are scornful of superstitious orthodoxies that are fit for the young souls.
As such, they are right away assigned by the Cosmic Hierarchy with spirit guides (Catholics’ ‘guardian angels’) of higher caliber than the rest of the population upon return. Most often they meet these guides early in life, who appear to them in dreams or materialize in front of them while they are still kids.
The oldest of souls are provided right away with guides who are of an even higher caliber: spiritual masters. A mahatma or ascended master serves the role of an ‘adviser’ who is the main guru of the aspiring soul. The mahatma than assigns ‘masters of wisdom’ to the said soul for each of the different phases in his/her initiation. Sometimes a mighty angel such as a Seraph will team up with a master to guide the aspiring old soul.
In my Path for instance, my mahatma happens to be the chohan of the 1st Ray (warriorship) of the cosmic order, the Great White Lodge, whom I met via a dream at age 18. He had since guided me along the way, and recently assigned a master and a seraph as my ‘spiritual professors’. Master J and Master Seraph (I don’t know the angel’s name) manifest before me every now and then in meditation visions and in the dream state. The seraph is particularly robust, tall and mightily awesome, and it will scare any Fallen One to dare to come and attack me if it perceives this celestial guide and guardian.
Because old souls tap cosmic energy so naturally more than the middling and young souls, they also normally radiate with a magnetism that seems beyond comprehension. They end up as charismatic leaders, as born leaders, and even under duress, stress and storm they rise up like the mighty Sphinx to become the conquerors of all spheres of life. Even in the financial-business world today they have carved out mighty domains and huge followings.
As adolescents they are already filled with the sense of urgency to plunge into The Work. Not only do they study The Teaching with a hunger that ordinary folks can’t comprehend, they also do service, advocacy, organizing, and related deeds of the High Cause with such zeal and passion that they exude the psyche of responsible adults too early in life.
While they may exhibit such fondness for the folks (young and middling souls) whom they perceive as clientele worth serving, they have ambivalence over shallow, petty, impertinent pursuits, talks and thoughts from the latter. One old soul whose excessive ambivalence led him to an even deeper condescension over the folks, F. Nietzsche, eventually fell in the Path and was overshadowed by the Hierarchs of Evil. So for the old souls out there, please rethink the way you behave towards the folks, so that you can say you’re still well on track in the Path of Light.
Now, since I mentioned ‘the fall’, I may as well inform the readers that old souls do comprise of both the ‘Lightworkers’ and the ‘Fallen Ones’. Edgar Cayce, the great American 20th century mystic, referred to the former as the ‘Goodly Company’ and the latter as the ‘Sons of Belial’. As a mystic I do recognize the possibility of The Fall, that many old souls did fall many steps behind. Engagement in black magic, corruption, totalitarian domination, abominations and so on by any old soul clearly indicates his/her fall along the way.
So we now face this situation of polarity, as seemingly an equal number of old souls are positioned on either side of the coin. Many old souls are still falling today, while many fallen ones are getting back to the Path of Light. There is imbalance in the world, as the Fallen Ones do not seem to follow ‘rules of engagement’, have violated the truce concurred 100,000 years before between the Arch. Michael’s forces and those of Lucifer’s, they blatantly continue with their evil designs till these days.
We do need to accept this reality, for we are a Fallen Planet. Earth is a domain of the Fallen Ones, and they are simply asserting their perceived pre-emptive right towards this planet, its resources and its populations. And these Fallen Ones connect well to forces outside the solar system, whom they have called for to their side in their past, present and future offensives.
But many Fallen Ones do go back to the Path of Light, many have already returned, and this is the good news. The true old souls, the true pathfinders, our sanguine leaders in the Path they are, who have rejoined those who never fell at all. They are always welcome to the Path, the Almighty One is as merciful as ever and has welcomed back these prodigal sons and daughters.
Admittedly, as an old soul and mystic, I do possess a very bellicose attitude towards the Fallen Ones. They can never be trusted. However, I have modified my attitude, in that I will never go out mission-wise to track down and destroy them. We are an open market of souls here, Earth is a spiritual laissez faire, let them Fallen Ones do their convincing tasks while we Light Workers or Christ-Force workers do ours, each one respecting our rights to disseminate and propagate our respective teachings.
To my fellow Christ-centered old souls out there, fear not the Fallen Ones. Seek ye the protection of your Guides and the Almighty One. But please learn to protect yourself too. The shamanic mystics have already released to the world many of the protective tools, it just takes a matter of perseverance to search for and locate the tools and apply them accordingly. And fear not death in the Path, for above you are the Guides who will catch and secure you any time that death comes unexpectedly.
Think only of advancing The Cause. And please be an exemplar in all the spheres of life, which Blavatsky and the Asian teachers outlined as: Will, Wisdom, Art, Devotion, Science, Service, Alchemy. Failing in each one of the seven (7) categories or criteria will raise doubts as to your ‘old soul’ contentions, and will make you return back in another incarnation to where you were before.
The Cause is summed up in the line: “freedom for all is the ultimate cause of all causes” (see Collegium Liberum). So let it be. Aum.
[Writ 05 February 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila]
Showing posts with label Mother Teresa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mother Teresa. Show all posts
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
SERVICE AND THE GOLDEN RULE (Seekers’ Lesson 7)
Let me articulate at this juncture the last of the 7 Ray Lessons that I wish to stress: Serve God and His Creations! I will begin with some reflective notes on the sociological ‘law of reciprocity’ which the masters made known to us through the ‘golden rule’. I will incorporate in the discourse the reflective notes on libertosophy that I elaborated in my book Libertosophy and Freethought: The Path of Illumination for Libertarian Freethinkers.
Sociologists and anthropologists alike discovered the ‘law of reciprocity’ across cultures. In philosophical sense, this law is an axiological standard and is at the core of ethical teachings. On the positive sense, it is stated: “Do for others what you want others to do for you.” In the negative sense, it is stated: “Do not do unto others what you don’t want others to do unto you.”
In libertosophy, I outlined three core principles regarding the liberation project: (1) to be able to attain liberation, one must liberate others; (2) only the free can set other people free; and, (3) liberation must be done within the context of the social world (never in isolation from people). They are all inter-connected and mutually reinforcing.
The Teaching is clear that one must practice yoga (union) and attain union by (1) immersing in the social world, (2) observing mutual devotion with your fellows, and (3) doing mutual service unto each other. In no way should one opt to attain nirvana via a total detachment, by meditating inside caves, by retiring in monasteries early in life for successive lives, by a prayerful attitude and yet manifesting anti-social behavior towards fellows. Only under exceptional cases should one do yoga in isolation, such as when one has been exhausted due to over-immersion in the social world for successive lives. In which case, one will be allowed to meditate in isolation by your Mahaguru (e.g. Christ) for an incarnation or two.
But after some times in isolation, your Mahaguru will again remind you to go back to the social world or ‘lifeworld’. At the minimum, one might be allowed semi-isolation, through a monastic life, in which case one is in the company of a group and can then conduct service with a team of monks. At the maximum, one must immerse fully “with the crowd”, practice a profession or business for a while, and then retire early so as to do the work of a Teacher. Another option would be, based on good karma in past embodiments, to incarnate you in a wealthy family so that you need not have to work for a living. For the latter experience, you as an advanced yogi-mystic can catalyze your ascent to Master status and become a Teacher early in life, such as Paramahansa Yogananda and his teacher Sri Yutekswar Giri, both of whom came from wealthy families.
Among the current gurus of financial success is Robert Kiyosaki, writer of best-selling Rich Dad, Poor Dad. In his books, Kiyosaki emphatically reiterated the need to do service unto others, by sharing your graces to others. He said succinctly that “the more you give, the more you receive.” Without need to mention, the trait of stinginess speaks of negative backlash. But very graphically, Kiyosaki did stress the dangers of becoming greedy as this would lead to disasters in one’s financial life. Though Kiyosaki is no yogi, couples of core wisdom lessons were articulated by him that reverberate the wisdom of the ancient masters.
Let it be clarified that there is not one fixed form of service. The 6th Ray gets manifested in diverse forms. By praying for others, whether singly or as a team, one does service to others. By extending financial gains to the less fortunate ones such as the clients of a hospice, one does service. By doing relief works for those affected by calamities, one does service. By washing the feet of priests during special occasions, even if such priests are dogmatic and sinful, one does service. Who is without sin anyway? “He who is without sin will cast the first stone,” declared Jesus Christ.
In the emerging contexts, service as a manifestation of deeply divine principles has been steadily increasing. So powerful is the subtle force behind the 6th Ray that even capitalism itself has been transformed from the greedy money-bag capitalism of yesteryears, which has no moral philosophy whatsoever, to that of ‘corporate social responsibility’ capitalism or ‘compassionate capitalism’. Many young executives are turned off by purely money-making concerns, even as some other top echelon executives demand that, prior to their appointment as CEO of a huge conglomerate, CSR must be considered first and foremost. The noble CEO Mr. Licuanan, who steered the Ayala Group for sixteen (16) years, whose leadership led the said conglomerate to grow to multinational scale, made such a demand on the corporate patriarch Don Jaime Zobel de Ayala who empathically listened to him and granted his demand. Look at the enormous stride in the growth of the Ayala Group with CSR at its core principle of operations, which has diversified its investments from
Many other young executives, fresh from MBA, choose to shy away from the corporate world altogether. Rather, they opt to serve the NGO sector, or the Non-Profit Associations. In a recent research conducted by me lately about international consulting think-tanks, I was amazed at the trebling of numbers of such young executives who serve international aid organizations and non-profit think-tanks, risking their lives in the poor regions of the emerging markets. This trend is bound to grow exponentially as the years go by, rest assured.
Furthermore, there are also businesses whose nature is to help others in their financial lives. Among these enterprises, network marketing is the fastest growing form. It is among the least understood enterprises, because people are fixed to the old ideas of doing business: pure old capitalistic profit-seeking. Per my own research, network marketing socializes teams of marketers to help out each other, via the adage “the rising tide will lift everybody up.” The members of a team can’t afford to claw at each other like crabs, for the demise of one could redound to the demise of the entire group. The team members observe the lesson that you must help yourself first, and when you gain profits than you can have the extra income to help the less fortunate. It makes a lot of sense, this network marketing.
It surely pays to listen to the new gurus of success including those who brought network marketing to maturity such as Jim Dornan of Network 21. They first of all stressed on the power of the team approach, and the norm of helping each other out. In the process, network marketing and related modalities are very potent at deconstructing the ‘crab mentality’ in the lifeworld. Converging with CSR at some junctures, the new modalities for ‘compassionate capitalism’ may lead to some other modalities in the future, and reformat the world from old-world capitalism to altruistic or ‘community economy’ within a broad context of Information Society.
Understood in another sense, the lessons say “do not hoard what you have, learn to be self-sufficient but when resources permit, share your blessings to others.” Among the various thinkers in the scientific community, it was the Erich Fromm who discoursed on the dangers of the principle of hoarding. He articulated this well in his books, such as the Art of Loving. Hoarding is among the counterproductive traits, and the greater we hoard in life the more we become objectified or depersonalized. Liberation becomes expressed, among other things, in more productive behavior such as loving, sharing, or those related to “being” that make us all more ‘human’ in the process.
The creation of a ‘compassionate society’ has been the obsession of many thinkers particularly those on the Left. “Serve the People!” declared Mao Zedong, who secretly was an engaged seeker and was no atheist. This society, in their mind, should also be a ‘rational society’, so that the cognitive principles of ‘rationality’ should harmonize with the non-rational axiological principles or value-based rules. They envisioned integrated societies, where the detached rationality of modernity would harmonize rather than clash with the value-based axioms of the ethicists and spiritual masters.
At this point, let me stress the narrative of Mother Theresa of contemporary
We sorely need the likes of Mahatma Theresa today, and we miss her so much. But we need not worry much, as her likes left the world with large cadres of Godly servants who are referred today as Lightworkers. The increasing presence and influence of the Lightworkers is changing the social landscape of the planet. Every institution of society will more or less be transformed in the decades ahead, as the numbers of Lightworkers increase all the more and their altruism becomes the sacrosanct standard behavior.
One last point that I need to stress is the distinction between the “service-for-self” and “service-for-others”. Because altruistic service had become pervasive for the last successive decades, there are those hoarding-oriented or egotistical types who rode the wave by exhibiting “service-for-self” behavior. In this case, one does service so as to be noticed by others. It isn’t serving others due to a “call of the heart” but rather due to selfish pursuits. It is service that won’t allow you to ascend for sure.
After our periodic conduct of service, it would be fruitful if we meditate on the service that we have delivered. We can make self-assessments whether the service is egotistical or altruistic. It would also be great if some sensitive souls among our fellows (seekers, mystics, masters) would help us in our self-assessments. It should be the job of a spiritual Teacher to be a seeker’s mirror or feedback-giver and self-development counselor, but with the reality that we have a scarcity of teachers this option is equally scarce. If one is already well connected to one’s Inner Guide, then the guide can be a surrogate for the teacher and can share the feedback through dreams or intuitive thoughts.
To conclude, let us all be like Mahatma Theresa, and let’s hasten the construction of the ‘compassionate society’. Let us serve God, our Fellows, Mother Nature and her biological endowments, and show the greatest respect for all life forms around us including minerals. Who knows, the 6th Ray could be the last lingering alchemical agent that could make one ascend to the next level of soul evolution. Try it, amid risk, for God Almighty provides the blessings in your Path and protects you along The Way.
Amen. Aum.
[Writ 23 October 2007,
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)