Dear Friends
I was thinking early this morning about what to say in our end-of-the-year message. There is so much I would like to share with you: personal thoughts, thoughts of the Teachings, thoughts about the labor and striving of the group, and more; let me begin with gratitude.
The White Mountain staff and myself want to express a most deeply felt gratitude to each of you for the beautiful bonds of friendship, for your enthusiasm and love, for your sincerity in applying the Teachings, for sharing and helping with the distribution of the Teachings, and for your continuing support and encouragement. I am also very grateful to our antagonists, for their oppositions teach us in unimaginable ways, ways that enable the consciousness of the group to expand. It takes a sincere, dedicated and united group of world disciples to stand steady in the light, love, and power of the Teachings, as they each strive to manifest their continuing and unfolding vision. In addition, it takes humility, mental clarity, and a clear sense of who we are as a group and what we are to do (dharma: earthly tasks) in relationship with the Hierarchy and Its Messengers.
The White Mountain Educational group provides a pathway of study to all, a pathway that is the synthesis of the Ageless Wisdom Teachings and a uniting of the highest in all Teachings. In this uniting we see the eventual establishment of a worldwide community for the expression of the highest in all Teachings. It is to this vision we are dedicated.
For 18 years we have provided spiritual studies: home-study courses, meditation courses, class-by-tape correspondence courses, regional New Era and leadership training classes—all of which place a focus on ethical living; we also conduct annual conventions, monthly full moon meditation gatherings and seminars as a means to experience the highest in all Teachings. Our services include individual spiritual and family counseling, baptisms, weddings, last rites, Holy Communion and Sunday worship services for both children and adults. In 1989 we published Spiritual Regeneration; in 1999, At the Threshold of the New World; and in 2000, the musical CD “Giver of Light,” which features ancient prayers and mantrams put to music and sung by the choir.
Since 1982 the group has published Meditation Monthly International, a bimonthly publication of the Ageless Wisdom. In 1985 we established the Torchbearers program. It is a wonderful spiritual and educational program of the Ageless Wisdom for children, ages 3 to 18, which is held on Sunday mornings. In 1995 we established our website (http://www.wmea-world.org), which now averages 90,000 hits per month; and in May of 1999, we established two on-line forums: one for a general discussion of the Ageless Wisdom and the other for discussions regarding the Teachings of Agni Yoga; both of these forums are accessible for registration through our website. We could not have accomplished these tasks without the multiple skills, talent, time, energy and financial contributions from friends and members of the group. As master artist and statesman Nicholas Roerich said, “Nothing can take the place of divine multiformity…. Multiformity means bounteousness of the people’s spirit.” He also wrote: “Are there not numerous kinds of flowers growing upon the spring meadows and are they not superb in their variety?”1 No man is an island unto himself nor is any group. The accomplishments of these tasks is reflective of the beauty and power of inter- and intra-group cooperation.
This year, during our 18th anniversary celebration, we announced the next phase of our continuing and unfolding purpose—the launching of the WMEA New Era University and Seminary
on-line campus. We have expanded our well-established curriculum to include an international outreach, which will first help individuals—students, teachers, ministers and leaders—to direct humanity toward living a life of greater values and principles; and second, provide leadership training for individuals who want to cultivate the skills and knowledge in teaching and living the Ageless Wisdom, or who have received a calling into the ministry with the goal of ordination to minister the New Era religion. The WMEA New Era University and Seminary curriculum is a transformational education for the spiritual soul. The on-line and local curriculum will provide opportunities wherein an individual can expand the horizon of his or her consciousness, so that he or she may live a life inspired by the One Almighty Power in the universe, the cause of all manifestation.
In addition to the on-line campus, we will continue with our local and regional classes, as well as provide on-site seminars in Arizona and our annual convention as a means for everyone to meet and share the Teachings, and their personal experiences in applying the Teachings. This year’s convention will take place March 13–17, 2001. For complete information, you can write to us or access our website page: http://wmea-world.org/01convention.html
WMEA is a not-for-profit, federally tax-exempt, 501 C3 religious and educational organization. This status enables us to accept financial contributions and you to declare your contributions as tax-deductible. As with most non-profit groups, we need your financial support to fund our projects and labor. At the same time I have always believed it important not to (a) allow our financial needs to overshadow our purpose nor (b) beg for your financial help. We believe in the law of prosperity and believe that if you are drawn to financially support our endeavors, you will do so without continual reminders of financial need. In keeping with the laws of prosperity, we follow the fourteen laws in the book Spring of Prosperity byTorkom Saraydarian. Among the fourteen points given regarding how to keep prosperity in flow, Torkom includes: “Keep your vessels pure; increase the inflow of light, of love, of beauty; share your prosperity; do not be greedy; do not exploit people; be economical; use your money for the glory of the One Who is the Source of all that exists.”2 Torkom also writes: “When souls cooperate with you in the subjective plane, very soon their personalities will find you and bring you the needed help to fulfill your project and actualize it. You must have a clear plan in your mind which is dedicated to the Common Good.” 3
Non-profit religious and educational groups today are supported by the generosity of their friends and members. Like any business, to remain efficient each must maintain an up-to-date modern office with modern-day equipment (up-to-date computers and software, photocopy and fax machines, tape duplicators—both video and audio, video-editing and projector equipment.) Each must carry different types of insurance to cover everything from insurance on equipment to real estate and liability insurance. Then there are the costs of property maintenance. All this must be accomplished, yet at the same time, the organization must remain economically sound and frugal.
As a non-profit group, we are fortunate to have skilled and dedicated voluntary help to staff the office and meet the demands of helping us to manifest the group’s labor and tasks. We, as a group, love the challenge and appreciate the opportunity to serve.
For those who feel called to financially support our endeavors, there are many specific projects and general needs that ask for funding –
PUBLISHING: In addition to our general needs, we have four books waiting to be published. We are looking at publishing costs of a minimum of $7000 for each book. As an alternative, we are presently researching the costs of “print-by-demand” publishing to determine the cost effectiveness for this kind of printing. We also have the continuing costs of publishing Meditation Monthly International.
WMEA NEW ERA UNIVERSITY AND SEMINARY: The financial costs of the WMEA New Era University and Seminary classes will be ongoing. Although these on-line courses do not require classroom space, they do require a support staff and a financially demanding technology infrastructure.
WMEA BETHANY LINK MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND: In October we announced the WMEA Bethany Link Memorial Scholarship Fund, a fund that can eventually provide partial or full scholarships to those in need of educational financial assistance. Donations to this fund are most welcome.
WMEA CHOIR: The choir is in need of upgrading its sound and recording system and the purchasing of new music. This year a choir member purchased a new high-tech, Korg Triton pro X music workstation so that I could produce more sophisticated musical arrangements and compositions.
TORCHBEARERS CHILDREN’S PROGRAM: Our Torchbearers children’s program is in need of funds to buy books that teach the Ageless Wisdom, as well as funds for supplies, and a fund to publish a lesson workbook that will include a minimum of 100 lessons. It will be a workbook that parents and teachers can use as an educational resource for children ages 5 to 12.
As our responsibilities increase and our tasks multiply, our financial needs too expand. In the light of the laws of prosperity, we know our needs will be met. In serving others we are serving God. One of the greatest and most beautiful things in life is to serve others.
May we all experience a life of beauty through service this coming new year. I wish for us all increased health and prosperity; increased happiness, love, and joy; and an increased opportunity to serve the Divine Presence in all.
In joy,
Joleen Dianne DuBois
President
**************************
1. The Fiery Stronghold, Nicholas Roerich, p. 17.
2. The Spring of Prosperity, Torkom Saraydarian, p. 28. ©1982 Torkom Saraydarian
3. Ibid, p. 26.
Thou
must aspire.
For the way of aspiration provides a new window,
and the window leads to the open.
Who desires—receives.
All things have their significance.
Leaves Of Morya’s Garden, 1924, Book 1, para. 183
Love, achievement, labor, creation—these summits of ascent preserve the aspiring strivings in all permutations. What a bounty of additional concepts they encompass! What is love without self-sacrifice or achievement without valor, labor without patience, and creativeness without self-perfectment! And over this entire legion of benignant values the heart rules. Without it the most patient people, the most valiant, the most striving, will remain cold coffins! Burdened by knowledge, but unwinged, will be those who are heartless! It is sad not to come at the time of the Call! It is grievous not to follow the Hierarchy completely! Often people try to hide from themselves the rejection of the Hierarchy. Canst thou, traveler, open-heartedly be ready to follow the Hierarchy? Perhaps thy readiness is only up to the first turn, up to the first step, only where the Hierarchy can help? Wilt thou not forget at a difficult hour, or wilt thou remember Hierarchy only in abundance?
At the very beginning of the Teaching you were
amazed more than once at the turnings and deviations of even those near to you.
You can understand the full sorrow of seeing how, upon the threshold, the pupil
often runs swiftly away into the forest. My Hand is constantly with him who
walks in complete readiness.
Heart, 1932, para. 75
Even a high Yogi sometimes acts and heals consciously, sometimes upon a Highest Ray without personal determinations. If people would realize that there are Highest Rays, they would safeguard themselves from mingled influences. Space is filled with various intercrossing rays and currents. Without the aspiration toward Hierarchy how many accidental and ill-intended disturbances can intercept pure striving! We are accustomed already to the fact that people call on Us only in apparent danger, while during real dangers, the invisible ones, they cannot retain the link with the Hierarchy! Thus, one should bind oneself to the Ray of Hierarchy, actually becoming united with it as an integral part. For even a highest Yogi sometimes acts upon the Highest Ray. Heart, 1932, para. 102
The idea of having at least a half-hour daily for thought is
good. I do not mean some special concentration. It is useful to think about
the best aspect of everything that is taking place. Even small signs reflecting
the best in life afford a glimpse of Light. They also stimulate the flow of
gratitude and magnanimity. Such fires are equivalent to a dose of musk. Thought
about the best generates aspiring tension of the nerves. The nerves should also
be given work, but only Good will strengthen the nerves.
Fiery World I, 1933, para. 405
The Master Morya instructs: “The aspiration of the spirit is the sparkling of Bliss....”1
What ignites aspiration of the
spirit? A vision. A vision can be given to you from within your own 
consciousness,
inspired by the treasury of your Chalice, or from your Solar Angel. Your earth-
plane Teacher can give a vision to you. You can be kindled with a vision by
participating in, or inspired in some way by, a beautiful achievement created
by some person or group.
What is Bliss? We are told by the Master that “The Bliss manifested on the Heavenly Heights will bestow courage upon the legion of warriors for Truth.”2 Bliss is the energy of intuition. Aspiration is an effect of Bliss. Bliss is the kiss of the Master, the Beauty of the Fiery Abode. It is the sending of Bliss from the Higher Ones that kindles the Spirit; the Spirit is the eternal fire.
What is the “sparkling of Bliss”? Sparkling means vibrant, vital, life-giving; it is an electrical fiery energy, an energy that bestows dedication and striving upon the one who absorbs the beauty of Bliss. Those who carry Bliss in their aura are those individuals and groups who have dedicated themselves to the Community of Brotherhood and to the protection of humanity and its future.
What is inspiration? Inspiration is the reception of those ideas and visions that make you surpass and transcend yourself. Aspiration is response to the Divine Life; aspiration causes one to take action.
The heart will aspire once it is ignited with a vision. If the heart is not ignited with a vision, there will be no aspiration. When you have been inspired with a vision, your heart will aspire toward the manifestation and realization of the vision. If a person’s heart does not absorb the beauty of the vision, the vision will be interpreted through his mind, diminishing into illusion and distortion. The vision will be interpreted through the person’s ego and vanity; the illusion of self-importance, personal gratification, selfishness and fanaticism. There will be no sense of the future in the manifestation of a vision interpreted only by one’s lower mind—his maya, glamors and illusions. This is why aspiration and ambition are not the same. Aspiration is a response to the Divine Presence; ambition is a reaction to one’s ego and vanity. The source of aspiration is from the Chalice; the root of ambition is from a selfish desire for recognition, for self-aggrandizement.
Aspiration is a quality of the Heart, fed by intuition. When you are filled with the energy of aspiration, you will be pulled upward into new levels of achievement. Aspiration is the power behind your striving.
M. M. says, “…Who desires—receives.”3
Desire is necessary for aspiration. What kind of desires? The desire for transformation, the desire to change the world, the desire to change oneself for some great purpose, and the desire to be somebody are higher desires of the human soul.
The Call: Oftentimes people will respond to a higher calling but not realize to what they are responding. Their brains are too small to have a consciousness that knows what is occurring, but the heart will respond—for the heart is linked to the Cosmic Heart, the Great Magnet, the Heart of the Sun. Spiritual students, aspirants and disciples can receive a call from the Great Magnet, and from the “Bliss” of that call, progress upon the spiritual path. A vertical and progressive striving will occur. The one who was called, and responded to the Call, will aspire to climb to the summit of consciousness, as symbolized by the sacred mountains of Mt. Kalish, the Kanchenjunga Mountains or Mt. Everest—all part of the Himalayan mountain range.
Some disciples, through their aspiration to serve, will receive the sacred Call to Shambhala. When a disciple hears this Call, he will know that the way to Shambhala is open to him. It is given to him as a vision from a Teacher or a Great One. This is a very great challenge, for he must know and aspire on the way. From that time forward, he will be in contact with the Blessed One. It is a time of great danger and great Bliss. Danger—for if he has not done the necessary purification of his lower nature, the pressure and tension of the vision can release a steady and overwhelming river of trash, causing the disciple to backslide: increasing his ego, vanity and sense of self-importance. Higher dangers too can prevail: the tests of the Way. You may be in the height of your achievement, the height of success, and receive the Call to come. Can you put down your achievements, your successes, your physical abode to which you are attached, and be willing to move from your present location…. to serve the Great One when your brain registers the sacred Call? It is for this reason disciples practice the discipline of detachment. They realize their destiny is to aspire to serve the Plan and, in serving, to remain mobile and flexible. Until then, the aspirant and disciple will strive to live the high principles of everyday life as preparatory steps in readiness for the Call.
When a student’s heart has been kindled by a vision, such a student is “teachable.” He is inspired with the desire to receive higher knowledge—not to accumulate knowledge but to receive knowledge that will transform his consciousness and prepare him to do great things: to serve and make a difference in the world and in his own life, to heal. The response to the Call is aspiration. The response to the vision is aspiration. The response to the vision when registered in the heart becomes aspiration.
Aspiration is the response to love. Does someone love you—really love you? When my spiritual search led me to the Teacher, I felt like I was meeting the fragrance of spiritual love—a love in which I could place my trust, a love that was from a Soul level. When you feel the Bliss of love, what occurs? Creative aspiration. This kind of love inspires your spirit to be creative. Don’t you want to aspire and strive toward something better when you are bathed in a spiritual love? This is why marriage, the union of marriage, is most sacred, for it is the joining of two souls in love. Aspiration is the response to love. Love kindles creative energy. Not all marriages are made of love—some are made of lack: to have their needs met, to have security, houses, cars, money, insurance and so forth. But a true marriage—a union of love—will inspire two people to create objects of beauty.
If members of a group have love for one another, their hearts will be filled with aspiration, their path will be clear, their destination established—for their aspiration will result in service to the Great Ones. Their service will be like a treasure map, which will reveal the way to the Tower—the abode of God. Throughout history, people have searched for such a treasure map—the treasure, an elixir, which will bring them immortality.
Divine Presence: The Divine Presence is the Great Magnet—the Heart of all Life. Unless you have aspiration, which means responsiveness to the Divine Life, you cannot spiritually progress; you cannot vertically expand. You will simply grow fat with self-importance.
“Who aspires will attain. Learn through the manifestations of life. We send you the visages of persons and events; And both reveal to you the fixed plan of wondrous … evolution. I bring a talisman to all. Whosoever proclaims Beauty shall be saved.” 4
And, “Each epoch has its own aspirations. At one period they denude the stone of its setting, At another they embellish it beyond recognition.”5
He who aspires will attain beauty and increase in love. Each epoch has its own aspirations: the Teachers of Beauty, the Teachers of Love and Light.
We have learned there is a relationship between the heart and aspiration. We have also learned there is a relationship between aspiration and love. We know there is a relationship between our aspiration and the Great Magnet. We have realized that the heart, love, vision, the Call, the High Ones, and the Great Magnet are essential to aspiration.
First, he who aspires is the one who is in contact with the beauty of the Heart; he is the fragrance of love, a petal in the flower of Hierarchy, who will plant the seeds of this fragrance in everything that he creates.
Second, each epoch has its own aspirations. This indicates each epoch, each era, is given a keynote, a vision that has been inspired by the Community of Hierarchy. Hierarchy will send their Messengers to different parts of the world carrying the new keynote; they could be called Messengers of Aspiration. We believe Nicholas and Helena Roerich were Messengers of Aspiration, who kindled the hearts of disciples, for they gave humanity the Teachings of Agni Yoga; Helena Blavatsky who founded the Theosophical Society was a Flame of Aspiration, and most recently, Torkom Saraydarian. Each Flame of Aspiration brought a Message to humanity, a vision to lead it into the future. Those who heard the Call, whose hearts became kindled by the keynote for the new epoch, began to release all the non-essential from their lives in order to travel to the next station on the Path of Transformation.
“Thou shalt learn of Our Aspirations upon the peaks of the mountains. Thou shalt hear of Our Manifestations, yet thou shalt not believe. Because We teach only those who knock. Firmly will We reject the traitors. Austerely shalt thou speak of Us.”6
We must strive; we must climb to the summit of the mountain before receiving the Bliss of Aspiration—the Teachings, which will kindle our heart; Teachings, which will take us closer to the Other Worlds. We will not find the Teachings in the bazaar of life, but only in unpolluted space. We cannot receive Their gifts without achievement: without service, labor and striving.
Meditation is vital to attainment. Meditation elevates your consciousness to new and higher levels. Every time you extend yourself toward new heights of consciousness, you change yourself. You change the chemistry of your body and, making yourself ready, reach the summit of the higher mountains; you are creating greater breakthroughs to receive greater visions. Even if you stand at the peak of the highest mountain on earth and you have not changed your consciousness, you will not see your future.
A friend told me a most beautiful story. He explained that a few years ago he traveled to the top of a very high mountain. It took him years to get there: years of meditation, years of service, years of dedication, years of changing his consciousness. One afternoon, on the summit of a most beautiful mountain, his heart became filled with the currents of aspiration—Their Aspiration. Others were there, he explained, but were not filled with aspiration. He said, “That moment of aspiration was like the opening of a new window to the Universe.” M. M. says: “For the way of aspiration provides a new window, and the window leads to the open. Who desires—receives.”7 During the past year he had been asking for guidance, for new direction, and preparing his consciousness for clear understanding. At the summit of the mountain he was kissed with a drop of Bliss. You must first see the summit and then climb, step by step, to reach the top.
You will hear many people say they are climbing the mountain. Ask them, “What steps have you taken?” Many people will say, “I am building a group. I am going to build a temple. I am going to create a university.” When you see them again next year, ask them, “What did you do this past year?” They will answer, “I am still planning.” They have done nothing. You must start now, step by step…. that is aspiration. You see the summit, the vision, and then the aspiration of your heart will lead you step by step to the mountain top. The Way is hard. The Way is filled with temptations and difficulties. Someday, in another Sunday Talk, we can discuss these difficulties, beautiful difficulties that will lead you to new summits.
“Thou shalt hear of Our Manifestations, yet thou shalt not believe. Because We teach only those who knock. Firmly will We reject the traitors. Austerely shalt thou speak of Us.”8 The Teachings have always been available, but if a person’s consciousness is not tuned to the Light, Wisdom and Beauty of the Teachings, he will not believe. Many good religious people today will believe there is only one way to salvation, to illumination—through their church, their house of God. Yet God was wiser than his children. He knew we would need many paths to return Home. We are told our Father’s house has many mansions. But people don’t believe. Why is this? Because their heart cannot listen, only their brains; only their brains. We are brain heavy. Our brains have very short antennas.
You must ask.… to be heard. The Great One says, “We teach only those who knock.” When you knock, what will you take with you if you are granted entry? Intellectual greed? A desire for personal gain? Your past? Personal power? Position? If so, then your knock will be shallow.
We must knock with renunciation, with courage, with daring, with determination, with humility, with readiness, with aspiration; we must empty ourselves; we must knock with our pure hearts.
“Firmly will We reject the traitors.” Who are the traitors? Traitors wear many masks; they will be those who know the Teachings but who will use the Teachings against the Teachings, who will plant seeds of doubt about the Teacher. Traitors are agents of destructive forces and entities. Traitors slander the Teachings, the Teacher and Hierarchy. M. M. tells us that whoever slanders the Hierarchy is the greatest traitor.
“The power of aspiration helps the growth of spirit.”9
“Let us know how to aspire. Let us construct a rainbow conjoining the steps of the spirit’s ascent.”10
________________________
1. Leaves of Morya’s Garden, 1924, Book One, para. 285. ©1953 Agni Yoga
Society, Inc.
2. Ibid., para. 130. 3. & 7. Ibid., para. 183.
4. Ibid., para. 199.
5. Ibid, para. 244.
6. & 8. Ibid., para. 282.
9. Leaves of Morya’s Garden, 1925, Book Two, p. 167. ©1952 Agni Yoga
Society, Inc.
10. Ibid., pp. 38–39.
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