After the experience he had in the mountain, Theo would like to develop further the notion of having a Master.
Theo. – Your friend Malik had really clarified for me the high spiritual competence of a Master of Wisdom, but the experience I’ve had in the mountain allowed me to access a dimension that left me completely amazed. Could you please tell me more about the idea of having a Master.
The Elder – A Master of Wisdom comes down to Earth for a very specific task. It does not qualify him for any personal work. He is duly mandated. The ancient Taoists would speak of a celestial mandate. All Masters of Wisdom belong to a spiritual tradition. Each one of the Masters had his own Master, or sometimes several Masters belonging to that very tradition or to another one. He started with being an aspirant, and quickly became a disciple.
Theo. – Why couldn’t he be a Master right from the outset?
The Elder – Just as for any newborn human being, it takes time and maturation for the embryo to reach adulthood. The laws governing the three worlds have to be followed. Same thing for a Master of Wisdom’s training: with a very few exceptions, his training has been going on for thirty or forty years. They all had to be awakened and initiated by a Master.
Theo. – Like Jesus Christ was initiated by John the Baptist?
The Elder – It is a good example. Jesus received several degrees of initiation from Chaldean, Egyptian and Indian schools, before he became Christ.
Every Master is under the guidance of the Divine. The power he gets in order to fulfill his sacred mission comes from God. Each new stage, each initiation, means that he is being tested.
Theo. – But why? What’s the point?
The Elder – It’s like a school test for skill-validation. The teacher must make sure the lesson has been properly understood before going any further. Consciousness and competence will gradually settle in and stand out later. It is not easy to respect the human nature while harmoniously integrating spiritual and divine dimensions. Those have their own rules and workings.
Theo. – Do you mean that the difficulty is mainly for the Masters?
The Elder – In fact, it is still harder for them. They have to walk twice the path leading to the top of the mountain: first time, as disciples, proceeding blindly, as it were, guided by their intuition and their own Masters; and another time when they have to walk the Path again as prospective teachers. They must know all the aspects of the Path, know each difficulty, each potential obstacle, because they will have to guide each one of their aspirants, each one of their disciples, step by step. You can compare them to mountain guides who must not only be perfect mountaineers, fully trained and experienced, and who must also take the critical exam that will allow them to ensure that all the people they are going to take with them will progress safely and effectively. The guide will have to be aware of each difficulty met along the way, adjust his gait to his follower’s capacity and assess his or her predicament at every obstacle.
Silence set in. Theo seemed to ponder over and appraise what he had understood.
The Elder continued:
– Now you can see that knowledge is not an intellectual affair. A master must really learn through experience and suffering. He has to know every aspect the seeker might endure as he is guiding him or her to the Ultimate.
– Why all that suffering? Theo asked, obviously upset.
The Elder – A master must really know all that his potential disciples may have to go through during their initiation.
Theo. – Is not empathy good enough?
The Elder – No, it is not, because when a disciple is caught in thoughts, emotions or any egotistic tendency, his master will have to help him overcome the difficulty and also sympathize with his suffering and despair at falling short or even at definitely staying bogged down.
Theo. – I guess that will teach humility, surrendering to the Divine.
The Elder – A teacher who had to go through difficulties while being trained will be much more qualified. A gifted teacher having to teach mathematics in a primary school might never really understand a pupil’s difficulties. Having himself found it so easy to grasp, he will think: “It is so obvious! Couldn’t the child make an effort?” He might miss out on the rookie’s discomfort.
Theo. – I can easily imagine the hardships to be faced by the young when they have to divide or multiply, but also by a doctor of mathematics who has to grasp what a virtually insurmountable challenge it can be for the little ones.
The Elder – A teacher has to face a further difficulty when the pupil can’t manage to progress. Then the master has the heartfelt conviction that – whatever it’s going to cost him – he must take on his disciple’s karma in order to help him or her continue to rise.
There is a beautiful story about footsteps in the sand (cf. below) illustrating perfectly the way life difficulties are overcome though one may feel alone and abandoned, whereas the Master is just carrying us together with our burden.
Theo. – It makes me think of the harsh way trainers in martial arts generally use to teach us.
The Elder – Yes, but don’t forget Love, which is necessary for them to be able to face all forms of difficulties and sufferings. A master has to be strong, powerful, but also kind and yielding. His work is always done whole-heartedly and out of Love. A Master must not have any prejudice. He must be able to sacrifice himself for his disciples, and even offer his life for them.
Theo. – So, he is more a servant than a master, isn’t he?
The Elder – His only Master is God. He serves God as he is serving us, because he can see God in everyone. He surrenders to God through each one of us. He loves God in everyone. That is why it is said, “God runs after the devotee who will melt away into his Master.”
Theo. – What does that mean?
The Elder – It means he is like a ‘God-Nothing-All’ and that God sees Himself in him. It is the stage of Oneness.
Then the Elder adds:
“The Master is all God though he is not entirely God.”
Being aware that he won’t understand through his intellect, Theo attuned his self to the Elder’s. Peace spread within him to the Infinite of his Being, there where all becomes clear and bright. Then everything was perfectly integrated, allowing a peaceful mind and a contented heart to prevail.
Theophile the Elder
An excerpt from Dialogs with Theophile the Elder
Theophile the Younger’s initiation
One night, I had a dream.
I was walking along a beach, in the Lord’s company,
Up in the sky, all events in my life appeared one at a time.
I looked backwards and noticed that every time,
There had been two pairs of footsteps on the sand:
One pair was the print of my own feet, the other one was God’s.
So we went on, walking,
until every day in my life had been displayed before me.
Then I stopped and looked backwards again.
I noticed that in certain places
There was only one pair of footprints.
It precisely paralleled the most difficult days in my life,
Those days when I had experienced the greatest anxiety,
the greatest fear and also the greatest suffering.
So I asked Him:
“My Lord, as you said you’d be with me everyday in my life
I’d accepted to live with You.
But I can see that in the worst moments of my life
there was only one pair of footprints on the sand.
I can’t understand
how You could have left me alone when I most needed You.”
And the Lord answered:
“My son, you are so precious to me! I love you so!
I could never have abandoned you, not even for one minute!
The days when there was only one pair of prints on the sand
were those very days of trials and sufferings when I had to carry you.”
Keywords: Master, disciple, guide, servant, suffering, karma, love, spiritual path, Oneness.