Devotion to the Spiritual Teacher
Devotion to the Spiritual teacher is very important on the spiritual path. This is one of the laws of Hierarchy. Beings of higher evolution help the beings just below them. And, this chain between higher and lower is interdependent and should not be broken. Just like we are dependent on plants for oxygen, they are dependent on us for carbon dioxide. Likewise there is a sacred bond between the teacher and disciple.
So a spiritual teacher or Guru is the mediator between us and the higher worlds. The Guru is the key to the Higher worlds and we can get access to the higher world through inner conductivity towards our Guru or teacher.
In Eastern literature, Guru is referred to as “Guru Deva”. The word deva is synonymous to “angel”. So a true Guru is a deva, an angelic being who comes from the higher planes of existence to help us develop spiritually. The Guru is the link between us and the Higher worlds. And, this Guru is both inside and outside of us. The earthly Guru or our physical spiritual teacher is the outward manifestation of this sacred link, while our Solar Angel (Higher Soul) is the inner link or the inner Spiritual teacher we have with us at all times.
But one might wonder, what is true devotion? And that is a very valid question.
There are two types of devotion. One is religious devotion which every religious person practices, which comprises of worshipping an image, a deity, a Guru etc. The other is Esoteric devotion, which is going to the very core of devotion and embodying it within oneself. We all know about the religious devotion, but from experience, especially if we are in the esoteric path we can tell that is not enough. Such devotion often leads to fanaticism. It leads to division. My Guru vs your Guru, my God vs your God, my system vs your system. That is not devotion, that is worship. And, worship leads to identification. One gets identified with the object one is worshipping.
Identification with the object of worship is the key characteristic of religious devotion. On the contrary, oneness is the essence of Esoteric devotion. Therein lies the difference between the two. Just by worshipping the teacher one loses the teachings. The teacher who is a highly evolved being can only be found if we ascend and tune in to his/her level of consciousness. But, what we usually do is we want the Guru to come down to our level which can never happen. The law of the hierarchy is there to make us evolve. It is elevating and ascending towards the higher worlds. So, to be one with the teacher or the Guru, we must first practice the teachings.
74. “With whom may one fortify one’s thoughts? Only with the Guru. He is as a rock, near which it is possible to be sheltered from the storm. Reverence for the Guru is the path to the Higher World. But chaos cannot tolerate construction. One should direct attention to the basis of thought in order not to be exposed to the whirlwind.” – Aum, Agni Yoga Teachings
The teachings lead us towards oneness with the Guru. To worship the Guru and forget the teachings is tantamount to treason because the true teacher and the teachings are one. A teacher who lived by his teachings is an embodiment of the teachings and therefore the teaching is the only path through which we can contact the teacher. Unfortunately this is not what happens. What we do is, we worship the teacher and get hypnotized by his image and we forget the teachings.
The founder of Arhatic Yoga System Mahatma Choa Kok Sui once said, that a student should have devotion to the spiritual being within the physical teacher. This is because there is a big difference between the physical teacher and the “Guru-Sattva” or essence the physical teacher embodies. When someone gives us a gift, we value the treasure that is within the box, we do not worship the box itself. The devotion towards the teacher works the same way. If we understand this, it becomes possible for us to change our focus from the image of the teacher to the spiritual essence within the teacher and the teachings.
“When you look at the teacher remember this is the spiritual teacher within a physical body. The Spiritual Teacher is not the Physical Body.” – Master Choa Kok Sui, Golden Lotus Sutras on Spiritual Practice (Compiled and edited by Charlotte Anderson)
In the New Testament Jesus also pointed the same thing, when a lot of people started worshipping him, he said not those who say “Lord, Lord” will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of God will enter. Faith without works is dead, that is an old saying. Devotion to the teacher is very important. But, such devotion should propel us towards more striving and more spiritual activity. True devotion is like a fire that dissolves our ego and empowers us to act selflessly, it is a devotion towards the principles. A disciple therefore is someone who should transmute devotion towards personalities (object) to devotion towards spiritual principles. If one’s devotion is formless it becomes a transforming factor in one’s life.
Devotion to the earthly Guru who has a personality is also important. But we must remember, it should be devotion towards the spiritual essence within the earthly teacher and not towards the image.
“Let us remember the leading Hierarch, and let us honor the nearest, the earthly Guru. “The earthly Guru is given for reverence, for progress, for unity, for construction.” By neglecting the Guru, by depreciating the Guru, one neglects and demeans the Great Teacher who confirmed the Guru because the Guru is the representative of the Great Teacher.” – Letters of Helena Roerich I, 19 October 1929
When we worship an image there is division. Where there is worship, there is a worshipper. And, there is a division between the worshipper and the thing that is being worshipped. In true esoteric devotion however, there is no division because it is formless. The self melts in the fire of devotion and the disciple becomes one with the teacher and the teachings. This is something very advanced but saying this is difficult would only diminish the possibilities of the disciple. A formless devotion liberates.
True devotion towards the teacher empowers the disciple to act. Just like great disciples like Helena Blavatsky, Mahatma Choa Kok Sui, Helena Roerich and Torkom Saraydarian acted and worked for their teacher instead of worshipping the teacher. They did not worship their teacher but they were deeply linked with their teacher that always empowered and protected them. They were conductive to their teacher. They did great things because their deep devotion elevated them to the Higher worlds, enabling them to do great things. Such devotion is the key to higher spiritual development. There is a law which is called the Law of the Hierarchy. It states that all beings, higher or lower are linked with each other like beads in a rosary. If one link refuses to cooperate with other beads, there is disorder. Likewise when a disciple doesn’t have a proper attitude towards the teacher and the teachings, it leads to disorder and misery. Worshipping the teacher is one such examples of improper attitudes.
Another aspect of devotion which one should be aware of is the glamour of devotion. This is more complex. To find true devotion in one’s heart, this glamour must be dissipated. It is one of the greatest hindrance to spiritual development. What is this glamour of devotion? How do we understand it? Nothing can explain this better than this excerpt from the book “Glamour: World Problem” by Alice Bailey:
“The Glamor of Devotion causes many probationary disciples to wander circuitously around in the world of desire. This is primarily a glamor which affects sixth ray persons and is particularly potent at this time owing to the agelong activity of the sixth Ray of Devotion during the rapidly passing Piscean Age. It is today one of the potent glamors of the really devoted aspirant. They are devoted to a cause, to a teacher, to a creed, to a person, to a duty, or to a responsibility. Ponder on this. This harmless desire along some line of idealism which confronts them becomes [78] definitely harmful both to, themselves and to others, because through this glamor of devotion they swing into the rhythm of the world glamor which is essentially the fog of desire. Potent desire along any line, when it obliterates the wider vision and shuts a man within a tiny circle of his own desire to satisfy his sentiment of devotion, is just as hampering as any of the other glamors, and is even more dangerous because of the beautiful coloring which the resultant fog takes on. A man gets lost in a rapturous mist of his own making, which emanates from his astral body and which is composed of the sentimentalizing of his own nature about his own desire and devotion to the object of his attracted attention.
With all true aspirants, owing to the increased potency of their vibrations, this devotional sentiment can be particularly difficult, and bring about a lengthy imprisonment. One illustration of this is the sentiment of devotion poured out in a glamorous ecstasy by probationary disciples upon the Masters of the Wisdom. Around the names of the Members of the Hierarchy and around Their work, and the work of the initiates and the disciplined disciples (mark that phrase) a rich glamor is created which prevents Them ever reaching the disciple or his reaching Them. It is not possible to penetrate the dense glamor of devotion, vibrating with dynamic ecstatic life, which emanates from the concentrated energy of the disciple, working still through the solar plexus center.
For this glamor there are some age-old rules: Contact the greater Self through the medium of the higher Self and thus lose sight of the little self, its reactions, its desires, and intentions. Or: The pure love of the soul which is not personalized in any way and which seeks no recognition can then pour into the world of glamor which surrounds the [79] devotee, and the mists of his devotion (upon which he prides himself) will melt away.”
– Holy Master DK through Alice Bailey, Glamour: A World Problem.
Glamour belongs to the astral plane and leads to an orientation towards the false values of existence. To be free of glamour one must be free from this impression that one can have devotion without following the teachings. Anyone who has worshipped the teacher without practicing the teachings have lost the teacher. Many people take the sacred name of their teacher in vain, they post the pictures of their teacher all over social media, even sometimes change their profile pictures with that of the teacher’s picture. All this leads to more glamour and illusion and destroys the image of the teacher. The name of the teacher is sacred and must never be uttered casually. For this very reason Mahatmas like DK, KH, M often preferred to be addressed in initials. A disciple who is serious on the spiritual path must take care of these things. They must refrain from misusing the name and picture of their earthly teacher and refrain from making claims about contact with the inner spiritual teacher.
Many of us begin the spiritual path with good intentions. But later we fall into these traps, like the glamour of devotion that stunts our spiritual growth. If we truly want to find our spiritual teacher and be one with him, we must follow the teachings. That is the greatest act of devotion in itself.
