CHAPTER SIXTEEN

 

MASTER AND HIS DUTIES

 

COUNTLESS are the duties and responsibilities of a

Master. His first and foremost work is to link once

again the created with the Creator; to win for him the

Kingdom of God and restore him to his ancient and

forgotten lineage and heritage. This he does by means of

Shabd or Word, which carries the spirit to its native

Home.

 

Like electromagnetic waves, the Shabd or Word is

vibrating everywhere, but, unfortunately, through the

overpowering density and weight of matter on the physical

plane we are unable to feel it and harness it to our

benefit.

 

A Master, by his personal guidance, frees the spirit

from the dead weight of matter, disengages it from the

sensory organs, withdraws its everspreading rays and

collects them at its center, behind the two eyebrows,

thereby enabling it to experience a little of the Light of

God and to hear Shabd, the Voice of God; both of

which by continuing practice can be developed in course

of time.

 

The jiva then finds himself attracted by that magnetic

power, the Sound Principle, which carries him step by

step to his ultimate goal. A mere knowledge of the science

of the Masters cannot be of any avail, and intellectualism

by itself, however keen, cannot be of any aid.

 

An ethical life is a stepping stone to spirituality.

Cleanliness is said to be next to Godliness. A Master,

therefore, begins his work with man-making. Cleanliness in

thought, word and deed is an essential which cannot

be over-emphasized. As self-knowledge precedes God-

Knowledge, a Master has first to impart in theory and

practice the knowledge of the spirit, to liberate it from

the shackles of mind and body.

 

Gradually the spirit is enabled to cast off the various

coverings or sheaths with which it is enshrouded, until

it becomes spirit clean, untrammeled and unalloyed, and

exultantly cries out, "I am Spirit!"

 

After this comes training in God-Knowledge, which

is the climax and the crest jewel in the science of

spirituality, and enables the spirit to attain Godhead.

 

Once the shepherd takes charge of a lost sheep and

brings it to his fold, he takes over the entire

responsibility. Once a Master, always a Master, is a well-

known dictum. Master on earth, he is Master in the various

regions, subtle, causal, and beyond. He does not rest until

a spirit is safely escorted back to the Father's mansion

in Heaven.

 

The process of home-going and progress on the path

is entirely at his discretion, and he is the sole judge for

the time and measure of each step Godward.

 

From the time the spirit crosses over to the astral plane

and comes face to face with the self-luminous form of

the Master, the jiva has nothing more to do and strive

for. It is the Master's job henceforth.

 

Apart from this a Master is a child of Light, and like

a lighthouse over tempestuous seas sheds his kindly Light

throughout the world. Like the good shepherd he has to

look after and tend many sheep. Whoever has anything

to do with a Master Soul is ultimately to be prepared

for the path and helped through in his probation and

apprenticeship.