Theo. – We have already talked about spiritual research and the difficulty to identify one’s way. I’m interested in that, because I have noticed that the aspirants who come to see me are very confused about it.
The Elder – They are searching for a meaning to their lives.
Theo. – They want to know themselves, which does not always enlighten their minds. Much has been achieved since modern psychology examined how a so-called ‘normal’ person will work. We’ve spoken about that a lot already, and I like positive psychology recommendations for being happy: giving, caring, gratefulness and generosity. The values psychology and spiritual research advocate are incredibly identical.
The Elder – Spirituality and psychology are both sciences of the mind. They now start using yogic sciences, such as sophrology, relaxation, and even meditation, Zen, Mindfulness, Heartfulness…
Theo. – I often have to welcome new meditators who are not easy to identify. Actually, few of them are in search of the Ultimate we have evoked so many times. What should I do, as a trainer?
The Elder – As usual, you should do nothing at all, to begin with, but pay attention to the different levels of the being.
Theo. – You mean the heart, I guess.
The Elder – You do it from the heart and through the heart.
Theo. – So I let the light from both our hearts get connected, from one being to another being.
The Elder – Now you can go further ahead. You have been initiated as a raja-yoga trainer. All your chakras have been purified and then illuminated, so that your inner Master may now achieve the spiritual work boundlessly.
Theo. – Does it match my spiritual advancement?
The Elder – It does not; it’s only what we call an approach. During that new initiation, the Master has opened all the paths, but only your own efforts and your practice will help you reach every stage. Nothing will ever be gained; you will have to conquer and secure each new progress, thanks to practice, surrender and all that you know.
The Elder then subtly warned Theophile the Younger against the claims of the ego:
– Any new raja-yoga trainer is provided with pranahuti transmission. The Master has opened the divine channel from the Source. His heart lets the transmission through, from heart to heart, but only for the aspirant’s evolution. To allow this, the trainer must erase him/herself completely. It’s a must.
After a long moment of silence, the Elder continued:
– Your questioning is commendable. We shall come back to your training as an aspirant as well as a trainer. Don’t forget that you are still only a beginner.Then Theo’s mind was on the alert. The Elder was making him an inner request; had he missed something? Why that lesson about the ego, the appeal for humility? But he at once calmed down his mind and his questioning and plunged into the depths of his heart to be connected with his inner Master, and he could feel his ego readjust. His soul was all attention.
The Elder was pleased to see that his student had understood the caution. Now he could explain away to him. Theo’s awakened consciousness had discarded his ego’s investigations, even though these might have seemed to be legitimate.
Theo. – Where did I get mistaken?
The Elder – Strictly speaking, there was no mistake, but an inner readjustment was necessary. We were talking about your work as a trainer and, routinely, you addressed issues concerning your own advancement.
Theo. – Selfishness, was it?
The Elder – In a way, your questions are legitimate, but you are a trainer now, and your approach must evolve and be different.
Theo. – In what way?
The Elder – You must now develop self-effacement and self-sacrifice. You are serving.
Theo. – Serving the aspirant?
The Elder paused:
– Serving the Lord who is serving the aspirant.
Theo. – What do you mean?
The Elder – Your questions must concern your work as a trainer and your only concern must be the trainee meditator’s advancement.
Theo. – A trainee trainer caring for a trainee meditator?
The Elder – Don’t forget that we shall be trainees for as long as we live. Though he could not at first grasp what the Elder was alluding to, suddenly
Theo got his answer in a flash:
– If I keep standing right at the centre, I am a zero: I am nothing, completely erased, and I face the Lord. At every step He will show me what I should do and say. It is only when I am absent to my self that I am present to the Lord. That ‘s interesting! Pleased to have understood the lesson,
Theo teased the Elder:
– So, you too are a beginner, aren’t you?
The Elder – I’ll be an eternal trainee in the Lord’s hands. Who, better than He, could guide my life, my work?
Theo. – I thought you had attained a high level in your spiritual approach!
The Elder (smiling):
– If it were the case, then I should be all the more striving to stay at a value of zero position.
Theo grappled the opportunity and guffawed:
– ‘An infinite zero’! That’s crafty, isn’t it?
The Elder responded to Theo’s laugh:
– Being old doesn’t mean we can’t be witty and cheerful!
Regaining his seriousness, Theo went on enquiring:
– At times, you talk about the Centre, the Zero, and at other times, you mention the Inner Master or the Lord. Could you elaborate, please?
The Elder – When I evoke the Source of the Ultimate, I mean the Centre, whose quality is the infinite zero. That is where the pranahuti we transmit comes from. When I evoke the Lord, he is the ‘manifested soul’ of the Source. He is the one who bears a sublime Love for humankind. He is the one who provides all that the aspirant, the disciple and the Master need. When I evoke the Inner Master, I mean the one who guides the disciple, step by step, during his/her yatra, on the path of love, the path that will lead the soul to the Ultimate, to God.
Theo. – And the living Master?
The Elder – He embodies the manifested reflection of the Inner Master. They both work in a mirror-like way and they are in resonance with each other, which is fundamental for the trainer. That is the reason why the Master opens and illuminates all the trainers’ chakras, so that they may not have to care about themselves and their own evolution anymore.
Theo. – Is the trainer’s evolutive path any different from the aspirant’s?
The Elder – It is exactly the same, but it demands more self-effacement. The trainer will place the aspirant he is in charge of over his own evolution.
Theo. – At the same time, if he wants to be a good trainer, he will have to improve his practice still further.
The Elder – Indeed! The constant practice we have evoked in our previous meetings remains a necessity. However, his daily practice now represents more a series of small adjustments of the being than an indispensable requirement.
The Elder insisted:
– The trainer is no longer concerned with his own evolution.
Theo. – So, the trainer’s evolution is entirely in the hands of the Lord, whose blessed privileged instrument he has become.
The Elder – And he is not even aware of it. He only knows that he is constantly in the presence of the Lord, and that the Lord has become his breath, his life. He is not even aware of being a trainer…
Theo thought the matter over, trying to better integrate the whole picture, and he pursued:
– The trainer is totally absorbed in his work, just as he was absorbed in the optimal experience. It is the state of flow. I have experienced that condition, which generates a lot of joy and enthusiasm.
The Elder – All your attention and concern must be focused on the presence of the Lord within the aspirant, on how you are going to contribute to releasing the divine dimension in the aspirant’s heart.
Theo. – That sounds somehow like midwifery care, doesn’t it?
The Elder – You couldn’t say it any better. We have to give birth to ourselves, and we shall go through several lifetimes, while returning to God.
Theo. – … Hence these sorts of ‘little deaths’ that regularly go together with such rebirths!
The Elder – Deliveries may be troublesome. We each play the role of a midwife, assisting the Master during the soul’s delivery, informing Him in case of great difficulties.
Theo. – So, I am a trainee midwife who has not yet attended many deliveries.
The Elder – And that is why the Master has entrusted you to an old and very experienced midwife.
Theo. – Do you still have to inform the Lord?
The Elder – Does anybody know what he does for a soul? A soul midwife’s greatest quality consists in yielding precedence to the Lord… It works wonders!
Theo. – What’s the use of us, then, if God does everything?
The Elder – We assist the persons who are going to give birth, we comfort them, hold their hands when they are going through difficulties, and we also follow their pregnancies and prepare their deliveries.
Theo. – Haptonomy, relaxation, sophrology, and speaking to the baby, to the soul, I see! It means living with it, being in the moment.
The Elder – Learning to know all about the inner space, and observing the movements of the soul.
Theo. – Freeing the soul of its samskaras and of all the veils of illusion, which could hold it up during delivery. I can imagine it becomes much easier after several births.
The Elder – The first five deliveries are the most difficult ones. The next eight ones are much easier indeed.
Theo. – Are they? I can imagine that going through the eleven circles of the ego must be particularly tricky.
The Elder – A skilled birth attendant for souls may have to make an epidural or an episiotomy if the delivery happens to be too difficult.
Theo. – You must mean the samadhi, but I did not grasp the incision metaphor.
The Elder – When it concerns you, then you can understand easily, can’t you? But you will never have to do it, because that work is exclusively left to the Master.
Theo. (puzzled):
– I wonder what work is not Master’s work.
The Elder (smiling mildly):
– So do I…
Theophile the Elder
An excerpt from Dialogs with Theophile the Elder
Theophile the Younger’s Initiation