Right Attitude

It is right attitude, then, born of true understanding, that prepares the way for spiritual remembrance and liberation from the loneliness of the little self. To help highlight this fundamental truth it may be observed that the perfect attitude of Jesus so liberated him that he was able to call upon "twelve-legions of angels" if he so chose. However, despite this emancipating verity, the vast majority of teachers today continue to encourage service to self by promoting the practices and by imparting the philosophies of personal empowerment, personal healing and personal enlightenment. This is not to say that the solitary practitioner or philosophical contemplative is necessarily selfish or moving toward an evil life, for it is ever the attitude (motive) with which one thinks and acts that determines the path upon which that person treads.

Nevertheless, many so-called spiritual teachers fail to emphasise the essential requirement of a benevolent and serviceful attitude, which is necessary for a safe and expeditious passage along the Way of Life. By far the greater number of spiritual mentors in the world today focus solely upon the personal aspects and rewards of the Way, and so, wittingly or unwittingly, they set up a great and enticing snare for those unwary and uninformed aspirants who so readily fall prey to spiritual materialism: yet another trick of the lower-self that must inevitably lead to further delay, delusion and struggle.

The real spiritual Path is not a search for happiness as mankind generally understands the word. The earnest and intelligent seeker will discover that Evolution is of far greater importance and yields a much superior joy than merely personal gain and contentment alone. Therefore, one of the first steps upon the True Path must include a conscious foregoing of the lesser personal pleasures, together with a discriminating and, therefore, willing relinquishment of those worldly pursuits that retard real spiritual progress. Secondly, the successful aspirant will have achieved an attitude of indomitable determination to obtain spiritual Knowledge, the seeking of which must be done with the sincere objective of attaining divine-contact in order to become a better instrument of service. Thus, if it is to be found, Truth must be sought for the benefit of all, and not merely for personal gain.

It should be understood by all serious aspirants upon the True Path that true Knowledge is unattainable by self-analysis or through philosophy. It is not reached by reasoning or by any cerebral process, for it is the awakening in consciousness of the divine Nature in mankind that must and will dawn courtesy of the Law of Recompense when informed humility unfolds true surrender in active service to the omnipresent Spirit in all. Such an awakened mind finds that it shares the patience of nature, being without the eager, grasping haste of personal desire.

Throughout eternity no greater opportunity may be either given or received than that of serving a higher, divine Cause, and such is the clear perception of a saint. Saints incarnate or emerge upon Earth to act as outposts of divine force, and in order to maintain this privilege they are required to keep their vessels empty. Thus, as prepared instruments they are employed by the divine Will to conduct, step down and distribute spiritual energy within the lower worlds. Therefore, all those who would walk the True Path must possess not only righteous motivations, but also an unassuming and humble attitude that will ensure that their vessels remain open and empty, and so enable them to effortlessly become the happy recipient of higher frequencies of spiritual energy. Humility, then, is a prerequisite upon the Right-Hand Path; it cannot be otherwise, for certain divine powers would prove harmful if wielded by the unprepared, and might cause irreparable damage to others who were exposed to well-intentioned but misguided zeal.

The True Path demands an attitude of total surrender; it is necessary that the personal self must be given up unconditionally and absolutely, in thought as in action. Servants of Life live not for self, but for the world, and in such devotion they consummate their liberation from the bleak and lonely ways of the struggling ego. Once spiritual aspirants embark wholeheartedly upon the True Path, their personality will begin to disappear as they proceed toward becoming a transparent conduit of benevolence. This does not mean that they shall lose their identity, however; to the contrary, they will expand it and add to it something infinitely more splendid. Such spiritual alchemy is incomprehensible and inexpressible in words or concepts; it is metaphysical and subtle beyond utterance, but, nevertheless, a glorious reality; real to such an extent that when one begins to grasp it, everything belonging to life's lesser realities becomes unsatisfying and insubstantial. Such divine realisation gives one a sense of the utmost security and certitude, imparting the most tremendous spiritual stimulus imaginable, and bestows upon the worthy person the privileged ability to channel holy forces safely for the blessing of the world.

It is impossible, however, to employ true spiritual force if there is the slightest tinge of selfishness remaining in the operator. Divine powers have always afforded themselves only to the pure in heart, but this universal law is repeatedly overlooked by those with a self-seeking attitude. It is a truism that a person must become "...like a little child in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven". The candidate for the True Path would do well, therefore, to remember that to the earnest seeker, spiritual ambition is very much more harmful to the attainment of his goal than its worldly counterparts. All serious aspirants must analyse their motives thoroughly. They must ask themselves sincerely whether it is the True Path that they are compelled from within to tread, or is it that there is a vague anticipation in their vision of lofty heights to be scaled by them, superior happiness for them to experience or of a great future for them to compass? Spiritual success will be received if the aspirant remembers always that it is the Path that is to be sought for its own sake, and not with regard for the feet that shall tread it.

The personality knows nothing in the light of the Divine, for the ego seeks to perpetuate the illusion of a separate self in order to continue its insatiable search for personal sensation and experience. During the course of evolution, mankind's personal search has served its purpose in creating a strong individuality that may now be used as a centre for the receipt and transmission of impersonal divine forces. Upon the Path of selfless service, through a loving unification with the One Self in all, the protective sheath of egotism that separates is dissolved, and one's consciousness is then liberated as it becomes identified with all life. The liberating Path of service begins when the attitude of seeking for personal experience is sublimated and reoriented toward an intelligent and earnest seeking to serve the Spirit: the Greater Self in all, i.e., to serve others as Spirit. Then, and only then, does one attain to Wisdom, for Wisdom is Love expressing itself in service.

Those who have awakened in recognition of the wisdom in embarking upon the way of selfless service will soon come to comprehend the liberating Law of Allowance*, as they happily choose to live by it. In giving up all attachment to results, they may begin to clearly perceive that in and of themselves they may do nothing spiritually worthwhile. However, in removing the lower self from their world perspective, Servers will find that their very own divine Intelligence is able to shine through their unobstructed personality. In re-establishing their familiar attitude of perfect surrender to and trust in the omniscience of Life, they will again recall that it is only the divine Spirit that may truly serve at all; it serves itself in other seemingly individual manifestations of the One. This is, of course, a major revelation and disappointment as far as the ego is concerned, for during its entire life it has habitually delighted in accepting all credit afforded it with an alacrity born of perfect ignorance.

* Jesus alluded to this law - the honouring of which is so essential to true happiness - when he invited us to simply "Let it be".

In faithful allowance of what is, awakened servers upon the right road to spiritual success cease in their struggling habits as they recall their own innate wisdom that reminds them to simply love, and then to just let it be. Everything is then rightfully seen as perfect in the world, as it always has been; the Law of Cause and Effect governing the great pageantry of Creation and operating throughout every particle of the universe and every experience of life.