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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2002
CONTENTS:
Editorial—The Light of Christ
The winter solstice approaches in the northern hemisphere, bringing the return of the Sun-God to darkened Earth. This mythic belief pervades human aspiration, going back to ancient Persia with its cult of Mithras, who was said to have been born on December 25th, a date also determined by the early Christian church to be the birthdate of Jesus. For thousands of years this period has been linked to the coming of the Sun-God, bringing light and hope to humanity.
The Nature of Esotericism—Djwhal Khul
"Man is an Analogist": The Law of Correspondences II—Part II—Michael Srigley
In his collection "On Poets and Poetry" (1957), [T. S. Eliot]…calls the unborn poem "the dark embryo", likening the mysterious genesis of a poem in the depths of the mind to a child gestating in the womb of its mother. Many years earlier, in the essay "Tradition and the Individual Talent", he had offered another "suggestive analogy" to what occurs in the mind of the poet when, in a state of "depersonalisation", it assists at the creation of a poem.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead: Three Bardos–Part I—J.S. Bakula, Ph.D.
When we look at the sky, day or night, do we realize that we are looking into a mirror of our own minds? Why should we fear casting off the clothes that cause us to drown in the ocean of wisdom, the ocean of space, when being there in naked rigpa keeps us afloat? The view of sky or space is the ultimate teacher of reality, a reality in which we actually live, in which the sun lives, in which life takes place. "Space is an Entity", H. P. Blavatsky said.
Awakening to the Power of Four—Rosemary Burton
When we are considering numbers esoterically we need to remember that they are potencies and each has its own special significance, meaning and expression which operates in a similar pattern although in a different register in all the planes. In the same way, a musical note sounds the same keynote at different vibrations up and down the octaves.
All in Good Time–Harold McCollum
Though tests and methods may vary to some extent, scientific authorities are in general agreement on the age of the Earth. The figure of four and a half billion years is considered reasonably accurate. This seems a far cry from the Genesis description which places the elapsed time at seven days. If, however, we were to use the "Cosmic Fire" description as an interpretive key to the first portion of Genesis, we might find a logical explanation to many of the contradictions that have proved so disturbing to biblical scholars.
The Duality of Service—Darius Vaughan-Scott
As we know, one of the greatest and hardest lessons that the disciple must come to terms with is that he or she is, in many ways, living a dual life. The disciple is aware of the world of the soul, the Ashram, in which the Master is the inspiring Presence. He is also aware of the world of the personality. And it is just here that the duality of service arises. The one impulse to serve, received through living in the Ashram, is a result of the divine will and, more specifically, of the particular work that the Master is responsible for. This essentially subjective work is shared by all disciples in the Ashram. The other urge, a more external urge to serve, arises from the disciple’s love of humanity, but has its origin in the spiritual will and an individual recognition of the Plan.
What is Service?—Donna Mitchell-Moniak
Service is a word that has a deeper esoteric definition as well as an everyday meaning. To many people service is doing good works; and so that may be. Yet, service is also more than that. Service, esoterically understood, stems from the soul—the light within, and as such is not just the good works of good people, but is the work of consciousness in all theaters of life.
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