I would like to speak about mastery – about learning, preparation and cultivating the experience of Knowledge. Mastery has become a very popular subject. It is promised as the result of many spiritual study programs that are available now, and people have great expectations of themselves, of the educational processes and of their teachers in this regard.
In The Greater Community Way of Knowledge, answers are not always easy to find. Things are not always immediately accessible. This is because you must go deeper. You must penetrate things that are simple and obvious to find what is really at the heart of your life and what accounts for the mystery of your life. In The Way of Knowledge, we take people through many stages of development. There are other Teachers who are disseminating information at various levels to help people on their way, but our role is a little bit different. We actually present a curriculum for training in Knowledge according to the ancient schools in the Greater Community.
I would like to teach you a few words to say with me. The words are RAYE NAVAR. Please say them with me now. RAYE NAVAR. This is an appropriate invocation for our subject. RAYE NAVAR means, in a rough sense at least, “to shed the mind” because it deals with a level of education that is beyond what is normally considered to be education here. It also translates to mean “to part the mind” because the mind has a center line between the rational and the intuitive. There is a seam that joins the two aspects of your personal mind, and it can be parted. What this reveals is a seed of light, not the kind of light that you see in a light bulb, but a seed of Presence, a greater expression of your being in the world.
Now we would like to speak about Spiritual Truths. There is much presumption and misunderstanding about very basic things, which makes the direct approach to Knowledge seem more complicated than it needs to be. We speak about the development of Knowledge, relationships and world events in a very direct manner, but people are still very confused because they have assumed that spiritual life, spiritual teachers, spiritual teaching and spiritual ideas must have a certain conformity. Therefore, it is appropriate to talk about Spiritual Truths.
We would like to talk about escaping fear because fear is so much a part of your experience. There is a way to escape fear so that you may become much more effective and present in life. It is not an empty promise to say that you can escape fear, but you must enter a different state of mind. You must enter the state of Knowledge, a state of profound knowing. You cannot escape fear when you are living in your personal side, or personal mind. There are many attempts to do this, and they end up being extremely difficult, requiring great amounts of energy with little success.
Knowledge is the primary reference point in your development. Therefore, it is necessary to consider stages of development in terms of your relationship with Knowledge itself. Knowledge is your True Self as it exists in the world. You cannot grasp it or conceptualize it and possibly comprehend its meaning, its value or its purpose. However, you can and you must experience it increasingly. The teaching in The Way of Knowledge is concerned with the reclamation of Knowledge and, through Knowledge, service to the world.
There are many specific elements in initiating, maintaining and completing relationships that have not been mentioned in this book, yet they are related to what has been presented here. Knowledge is your guide. Fantasy will undermine you. Honesty will provide safety. Dishonesty will create a threat. These things are fundamental regardless of what is occurring and regardless of whatever specific issues you are faced with at this moment. Knowledge knows how to deal with all of these issues.
The marriage that We will be talking about is a very, very special kind of relationship. We would like to provide the proper context because the quality of marriage that we would like to address is something that is very rare in the world. It is something you do not see very often, and yet it is something that people strive for knowingly and unknowingly.
A relationship worth maintaining is the one worth starting again.
What are the necessary criteria and the basic requirements for maintaining a primary relationship?
First, it is necessary that you share a commitment to each other’s spiritual development. Second, you must be able to function together harmoniously in the mundane world. Third, you must meet each challenge as it comes along. The challenges will come along one after the other. They may seem difficult at first, but they provide the means for your relationship to become established. If seen correctly, these challenges enable you to grow closer together and grow outwardly at the same time.
What is a relationship?
Relationship is when two or more people come together to fulfill an inner and an outer need. Life is like climbing a mountain, and you cannot climb it alone. You will not find your way alone, you will not gain strength alone and you will not learn to overcome the obstacles alone. You will need companionship. You will need companionship for encouragement, for discernment and for the courage to identify and eliminate your obstacles. You need relationship to learn The Way of Knowledge.