Your spiritual life has deepened during this past year and your light within the Ashram shines brighter. I think that it is only fair to tell you this for your encouragement. The loneliness of your life warrants at times my endorsing any spiritual confidence of which you may be possessed. Disciples need to learn sometimes that their spiritual status is not [562] always evocative of a life of violent outward activity. For such as you, with the handicap of a frail body and the limitations of karma, the place of triumph has to be exactly where you stand and within the circumference of a somewhat limited physical sphere. There - with no outer stimulation - the disciple himself, alone, becomes a focal point of power. His influence can then reach out to points unexpected and oft unknown to him. Frequently, prior to a definite step forward of a pronounced kind which is not due simply to a normal progress of a persistent aspirant, the soul of the disciple forces him into a quiet place where he has both the inclination and the time to deepen, to integrate more consciously into the Ashram, and to focus with definite intention upon work in mental matter, under clear, inner impression. Such is now your opportunity.

You might ask: To what specific end? You know that such a mode of daily life should not and must not last for several lives, because the goal thus expressed becomes increasingly active in its outer service and form. You will remember however, my brother, that there are times when the Master, speaking technically, goes into a state of consciousness which we call samadhi. This means that for a stated and qualified time, he quits his created threefold lower vehicle and "travels in consciousness" to those levels whereon the spirit aspect can commune with him, wherein the force of the Spiritual Triad can restimulate and revitalize him. On these levels, his vision is renewed and he draws from the force of Shamballa - according to his degree - the inspiration (again speaking technically) for a new cycle of service. This requires on his part absence or a state of withdrawal, [563] for the space of several hours as we count them on Earth, from his body of manifestation. In the case of a disciple in training, true samadhi is not possible. The cycles of enforced quiet and of conscious withdrawal from the pressure of daily life out in the world of business and of men have to be of great length, though - as progress is made - these periods get shorter and shorter. On the lower turn of the spiral, the Ashram is to the disciple what the courts of Shamballa are to the Master. That is why, my brother, I gave you that special meditation last year upon the theme of the Ashram. I trust you have followed it with care.

Thus you have presented to you a clear statement as to the goal ahead of you, and also the corroboration of many thoughts which have passed through your mind. You can [564] now cease from all questioning as to the future, can you not? And in exactly the same place where you now are, you can use in a new and a fresh way the creative power of the mind and begin to use your pen in a more potent and dynamic fashion.

The above statement gives you, also, the incentive which you need for the remainder of your life; further detailed instruction from me will not be necessary - unless you make such important progress that I shall have to watch more closely over you. That also lies in your own hands. I would have you remember that I am not urging upon you a too intensive pushing forward, for I have due regard for your physical condition.

It will be necessary for you to bring into your outer experience more force, and that of the first ray; it is necessary, also, that you should develop those conditions which will enable you to assume and work through a first ray personality when you next come into incarnation. To do this I would suggest that you study the instructions of I.S.G-L., given by me to him last year. There I gave him six statements anent [565] this mysterious and holy center which we call Shamballa. For this year's meditation, I would ask you to take the third statement and ponder it deeply, relating it to the sixth statement and endeavoring to arrive at an understanding of both of them. This you can do through the key which you will find in the first sentence of the meditation which I gave you in that same series. In these three statements and in their true comprehension you have the mode whereby you can put yourself en rapport with the Shamballa force. No disciple can do this without establishing a tenuous thread along which he can some day travel towards those sublime levels where the planetary Logos and his Council function. The first step is to respond to first ray energy; later you will come to use it consciously and constructively - not employing its destructive aspect - and thus learn to use first ray energy as a channel of approach; that, however, constitutes a much later stage.

The above three points for reflection will suffice for your meditation work for the coming year, and you should profit greatly by it. Every Sunday, however, I would have you take the meditation which I gave you last year and give thirty minutes to it, thus each week establishing a closer link with my Ashram and with me. My Ashram might be called the doorway to the Ashram of the Master K.H., and some day you will pass through to the higher and more potent center.