Gateway of Liberation by Mary Gray

Author:Mary Gray [Gray, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

The Tests of the Accepted Disciple

It is to be remembered that the first Initiation marks progress only to the point where the major part of a man’s efforts in life will be dedicated to the service of mankind and where also he will have achieved a certain capacity to guarantee that force put at his service will be used profitably.

In work for humanity it is the disposition of all forces at the command of the pupil which counts. Whether it be money, whether it be health, whether it be strength, whether it be sympathy, whether it be spiritual resources that he has, all must be disposed of to serve the greatest good of the greatest number, and to a very considerable degree his work for any individual must be limited by the value of the services that individual can render to the work of the Lodge.

It is often hard to realize the need for cool and dispassionate thought in the conservation of energy and in the wise disposal of one’s time and resources. Initiates are primarily trustees, often with a given piece of work to do to which the major part of their energies must be directed and with only a small margin remaining for the casual requirements of friendship, associations and the general public.

Throughout the training of the chela he is tested for discretion, conservation, efficiency and economy, as well as dedication. His faults are judged more by how they interfere with his capacity for service than as factors in themselves. Almost all men have the weaknesses of their virtues, but these weaknesses are not judged by the conventional standards of the world.

Spite is far more seriously considered from the occult standpoint than the breach of conventional moral law, and the mind which rejoices in gossip less hopeful than one prone to anger. In the end a man must meet all the weaknesses of his character and must achieve control in every vehicle and on every plane of nature, but the order in which those faults are corrected is not determined by the conventional emphasis of the world, and sins which come from lack of control range far lower and do far less harm than those aligned to malice.

These latter sins are easily forgiven in the conventional world where gossip and slander are often reckoned as wit and where bigotry and intolerance pass for morality, but it is otherwise in the inner worlds. The measure of man’s morality is determined by the nature of his faults, whether they arise from a mean and cruel streak in his character or are merely by-products of some great virtue not yet wholly governed.

The sweep of a wide and generous nature may often include failings which are unimportant hangovers from the past and yet which may be harshly judged by the creeds of narrow natures. In occult work bigness is necessary before all things — generosity of heart and mind and spirit.

The measure of a man’s service is determined not by his

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