The Way of the inner Master

..The Master is an inner presence that helps the aspirant’s gradual development. He appears as an inspiration first, then as an intuitive idea and finally as the inner dialogue between two points of the same conscience. Only in the stages close to the real Initiation the extra-conscious contact between the Disciple and the Master occurs and it does almost exclusively for reasons of ‘service to the common welfare’.

Preamble to the idea of conscience
The Master is an inner presence that helps the aspirant’s gradual development. He appears as an inspiration first, then as an intuitive idea and finally as the inner dialogue between two points of the same conscience. Only in the stages close to the real Initiation the extra-conscious contact between the Disciple and the Master occurs and it does almost exclusively for reasons of ‘service to the common welfare’.

Religious books often use the inner dialogue to support the truthfulness of their prophet. The dialogues reported are those with the divine conscience; from them the religious precepts of the relevant faith are originated. These precepts are usually not very important because those dialogues are the product of two different points of the seer’s conscience. Among the most representative Books, in the West we can mention the Timeus of Plato (whose real name was Aristocles) as a reading of old wisdom. In the East we can mention the Bhagavad Gita for the depth of the metaphors between the warrior spirit of Arjuna and Srî Krisna.

To make it simpler, let’s say that the first important contact in the ordinary conscience is between the aspirant’s mind and the sense of subtle conscience. Someone called it quite suitably the voice in the silence.

By developing the inner potentialities, the contact can move to the outside and communicate with other high degree auras. This can only happen through the activation of a forced series of minor links (the so-called Bridges) that make up a bigger one between ordinary and subtle conscience. In order to concretize these ‘bridges of communication’ between different aspects of the same conscience, it is necessary to develop mental abilities; the mind is indeed the only means between physical and subtle conscience.

The subtle conscience is the plane of existence of the soul and the soul expresses itself through a mental focus that in the West is called superior Ego. In the East the plane where the subtle conscience starts is called buddhic, after Buddha that means wisdom.
The superior Ego is part of the super-consciousness and it is different from the physical self (limited in time) because it is an imperishable aspect. Whilst the physical personality, linked to the physical body, must dissolve in order to re-generate, the subtle conscience, linked to the conscience of the soul, preserves the qualities of the nucleus.

Who are guides, instructors and lower masters?

They are not proper Masters, although if we compare them to the common sense they appear as illuminated men. A Master in the highest sense of the word is beyond the threshold of illumination and he rules whole human departments.

When the concept of ‘initiatory Mastership’ goes from the exterior goal to the inner condition, the adept has made his decision. We can say that once overcome the point of ‘no return’ he abandons for good the profane point of view, which focuses on conflicts, ideological formulas and appearances. He perceives that the source of wisdom he is looking for is inside him, not outside. As it says on an old Commentary: “…only by progressing in himself the initiate will be able to see the eternal cosmic…” It is indeed a ‘contact of conscience’; therefore the source of perennial wisdom and the principle called inner master are the same.

Many old ritual words have been absorbed in modern systems that have changed their meanings, hiding their principles in headings with a purely symbolic value. I’m talking about the Secret Master (already mentioned in Esonet), Perfect Master, Private Secretary or the Unknown Superior. We use only the metaphoric aspect of these words; they are therefore turned into words without an initiatory meaning. A secret master or an unknown superior are not characters wearing a hood, but inner guides of mental levels. In other words, the inner guides are the sense of the subtle conscience (super-consciousness) and the chakra that together affect (positively) the mind.

In order to ‘travel’ inside us we must know our spaces of conscience that are usually inaccessible because they are too deep or subtle.

There aren’t many indications on how to find an inner master; the wisest thing to do is to rely on an exterior master, a guide, an expert that has already walked along that path. He will work as a mirror (initiatory speculum) in order to allow the neophyte to recognize himself and see what he really is, not what he thinks he is.

The truth is harsh, though, and not many can bear it. Furthermore, the world is packed with mystifiers and bad teachers. It’s a difficult task and we need a lot of intuition and common sense to avoid deceit.

When the aspirant advances he must recognize himself as a physical image (type of attitude) and then as a mental figure (I am what I think). He learns that only by transforming his mental structures he can change himself. A first metamorphosis is necessary to communicate with the exterior master and understand the teachings he gives.

The exterior master has the function to provide the missing link between the aspirant’s mind and his superior Ego; on its turn, the latter provides the missing link with the soul, which is the real master.

At this point we must pay attention to how the connecting bridges are built; it would be more appropriate, actually, to call them mental and spiritual reflections.

The exterior master compensates for the lack of an inner master; he takes care of the growth of the aspirant until he reaches the level of minor initiate. The link with the Ego (the first occult master) and then with the soul (the inner master) will make any exterior support superfluous.

The soul is the only one to communicate with a true Master.

The true disciple is the soul.

The aspirant is its shadow until he becomes a lesser initiate.

After the contact with the Ego the Initiate’s mind is developed exponentially, because it becomes the reflection of the soul.

The mind is not enlightened because it ‘ascends’ towards the soul, but because the conscience of the soul ‘descends’ in the mind.

The soul is the direct reflection of the spirit called monad.

The inner master it’s us at a higher level. We can call super-consciousness the entity that guides us towards the Pure Reason without ever replacing it.

Characteristics of an Instructor
The exterior master (instructor) accomplishes his tasks in an impersonal way through binding criteria and principles, because they are part of a Rule that he represents. As in the scientific field, in the initiatory one as well it is not difficult to distinguish between the people who freely interpret a principle from those who apply it. If we are looking for a master, either big or small, the method ruling the contact is always the same:

«…it is not the pupil to choose the instructor (or the Master). It is the instructor (or the Master) to choose the disciple…» There comes a time when someone shows you how to ‘arrange’ what you are doing, very simply although skillfully. This is the first day of instruction. It often happens so lightly that it doesn’t seem to have happened at all. A simple encounter, a touch, a word and … by recognizing you will be recognized.

The instructor formulates principles and ideas with simplicity, joining their verbal form and their meanings until he reveals the hidden combination that opens the ‘mystery’ under the eyes of the neophyte. Most of all he knows what he teaches.

He doesn’t use mysteric words; he is neither folkloric nor he attracts attention. He seems strict because he doesn’t give space to the fantastic games of a childish mind that must grow up leaving behind the pastimes it enjoys. This is not because of usefulness or prestige but in order to achieve the ideal initiatory progress in the humankind. He uses impersonal, therefore realistic, judgments. He doesn’t surrender to pleasure or non pleasure, because he doesn’t want to develop opinions but the principles of the initiatory science. It would be nice to keep following the wave of this thought. Other aspects wait for us in order to reach the last and unique goal called “Initiatory synthesis”.

Athos A. Altomonte