What is the Minimum Standard for Discipleship?

Discipleship is also known as the path of the “razor’s edge” in esoteric literature. The path to discipleship is not easy. Moreover, according to the law “Many are called, few chosen.” there are certain qualifications for discipleship that can lead one to the door to Initiation. 

Before one can become an accepted disciple of the Spiritual Hierarchy, one must tread the Probationary path. What is the Probationary path? In simple terms it is like a trial period during which one is tested and given an opportunity to be an ideal candidate for discipleship. It is like a preparatory level during which one must live a spiritual life, pay off one’s karma that hinders further progress, eliminate vices and become more virtuous etc etc.

During this probationary period which is generally 7-9 years, the chela or probationary disciple must do the preparatory work or training and live a life according to the teachings, that will enable him/her to become an accepted disciple in future. This will determine if one possesses the minimum qualities and standards that are requisite for discipleship. 

@ Grev Kafi

Before we move into the qualifications and minimum standards of discipleship, we must understand what is a disciple. According to Alice Bailey, 

“For what is a disciple? He is one who seeks to learn a new rhythm, to enter a new field of experience, and to follow the steps of that advanced humanity who have trodden ahead of him the path, leading from darkness to light, from the unreal to the real.”
― Alice A. Bailey, A Treatise on White Magic

A Disciple thus aims at a life lived according to the rhythm of the Soul. A disciple aims to be a Soul conscious being contrary to the ego/personality conscious humanity. And through that soul infused personality, a disciple acts in the lower worlds. The life of a Disciple is therefore governed by certain Occult Laws. These laws dictate the course of a disciple’s life and paves the way to the door to initiation. If a disciple breaks or goes against these sacred laws, the result is either a spiritual fall or a temporary setback. Therefore it is pivotal for all students of Esoteric wisdom to understand the qualifications for discipleship. As Mahatma Choa Kok Sui said, 

“There is a minimum standard. Disciples are supposed to possess self-control and refinement, and to be cultured. We have a certain limit. Disciples are expected to behave in a certain manner.”
– Master Choa Kok Sui
Creative Transformation (Compiled by Charlotte Anderson)

According to Madame Blavatsky the qualifications of a perfect chela, which a lay chela should acquire to some extent before he/she can expect to be accepted by the Spiritual Hierarchy:

“From Book IV of Kiu-ti, chapter on “the Laws of Upasana,” we learn that the qualifications expected in a Chela were:

1. Perfect physical health;
2. Absolute mental and physical purity;
3. Unselfishness of purpose; universal charity; pity for all animate beings;
4. Truthfulness and unswerving faith in the law of Karma, independent of any power in nature that could interfere: a law whose course is not to be obstructed by any agency, not to be caused to deviate by prayer or propitiatory exoteric ceremonies;
5. A courage undaunted in every emergency, even by peril to life;
6. An intuitional perception of one’s being the vehicle of the manifested Avalokitesvara or Divine Atman (Spirit);
7. Calm indifference for, but a just appreciation of everything that constitutes the objective and transitory world, in its relation with, and to, the invisible regions.

Such, at the least, must have been the recommendations of one aspiring to perfect Chelaship. With the sole exception of the first, which in rare and exceptional cases might have been modified, each one of these points has been invariably insisted upon, and all must have been more or less developed in the inner nature by the Chela”

In case the above qualifications seem too high, it must be understood these are the qualifications for an accepted disciple. A probationary/preparatory disciple may not have mastered the above qualities, but is one their way to do it. That makes the difference.

Madame Blavatsky further elaborated the nature of true discipleship in her following saying,

“True Occultism or Theosophy is the “Great Renunciation of SELF,” unconditionally and absolutely, in thought as in action. It is ALTRUISM, and it throws him who practises it out of calculation of the ranks of the living altogether. “Not for himself, but for the world, he lives,” as soon as he has pledged himself to the work.”
— H.P Blavatsky
Raja-Yoga or Occultism, 32 

Becoming Selfless, not just theoretically but actually is one of the major factors of discipleship and spiritual development. Great renunciation of Self here doesn’t refer to the Higher Self or Soul but to the personal self/personality/ego. The basic qualifications of discipleship can be further understood by reading “The Golden Stairs”,

“A clean life, an open mind, A pure heart, an eager intellect,
An unveiled spiritual perception, A brotherliness for all, A readiness to give and receive advice and instruction, A loyal sense of duty to the Teacher, A willing obedience to the behests of TRUTH, Once we have placed our confidence in, And believe that Teacher to be in possession of it;
A courageous endurance of personal injustice, A brave declaration of principles, A valiant defence of those who are unjustly attacked, And a constant eye to the ideal of human progression, And perfection which the secret science depicts—These are the golden stairs Up the steps of which the learner may climb To the Temple of Divine Wisdom.”                                  -H.P Blavatsky
Collected Writings, XIII

To sum up a person who wants to be a disciple in the true sense of the word must take care of few things,

  1. They must live a pure life physically, emotionally and mentally. Physically that means to take proper care of the body by doing exercises, nourishing it with pure food, not poisoning it using drugs, alcohol, pork etc. Not to waste the body’s vital energy through indiscriminate sexual activity. Emotionally it means to regulate the emotions and cultivate healthier emotions contrary to anger, hatred and malice. Mentally it means to have right thinking. 
  2. They must meditate everyday and do esoteric exercises to purify the subtle bodies. 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                  “If your meditation is not regular, cyclic, rhythmic, and harmonious, the Higher Forces know that you are not yet geared to the natural laws of rhythm, harmony, and cycles. Because of this, They consider contact with you to be dangerous to you and to those around you. Regular meditation disciplines your bodies, your nervous system, heart, and brain. It disciplines your emotional body, and it makes your mental body focused, concentrated, awake, and creative.”
    -Torkom Saraydarian
    Education as Transformation vol.1
     
  3. They must live a life free from selfishness, a life lived for the welfare of others. One way to do that is by Sacrificial service. 
  4. They must refrain from MISUSING their spiritual gifts.                                                                                                                                “Divine Magic is wisdom. Magic and Wisdom are one and the same thing: divine light. Very few human beings have ever risen to that level. All or almost all, have used this sacred knowledge to practice witchcraft, to obtain money, glory, women and material possessions. Every magical practice whose purpose is to satisfy the inferior desires of the personality is witchcraft or sorcery.”
    – Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov
    Love and Sexuality part 1 
  5. They must guard themselves from engaging in gossip, slander and most importantly TREASON. According to Spiritual hierarchy Treason is one of the most heinous spiritual crimes which is born out of hypocrisy, fanaticism and intolerance.

To understand the path of discipleship and it’s qualifications even better, it is recommended to study the “14 Rules for Applicants” from the book Initiation Human and Solar by Alice Bailey. That chapter is all about qualifications for discipleship. We must always remember the spiritual path is not easy and it is our responsibility to be vigilant on the path and tread it with care and awareness. 

"“Beneficent Magic”, so called, is divine magic, devoid of selfishness, love of power, of ambition or lucre, and bent only on doing good, to the world in general and one's neighbour in particular. The smallest attempt to use one's powers for the gratification of self makes of these powers sorcery or black magic."

- H. P Blavatsky, The Theosophical Glossary