| 1. The stage of the "awakening urge."
Of this stage, the half-opened eye is the symbol. The neophyte, just admitted into the
Ashram, becomes (as the Book of Instructions for Neophytes expresses it) "the victim
of a dual sight. With the right eye he sees a shaded way into the central Ashram; from
point to point, from light to dark and dark to light as the pillars point the way, he sees
a narrow corridor and at the end a room; within that room the passing figure of the Master
appears and disappears. With the left eye, a world of mist and fog, of gloom and shadowy
forms is seen - a land of woe and dire distress, with light and shadow moving back and
forth. From within that gloomy land a cry comes forth: We need your aid. We cannot see.
Come hither with the light." In these phrases is embodied the first reaction of the
new disciple to the dual life to [633] which his admission to the Ashram has committed him
- the life of ashramic instruction and of steady approach to the Master, plus the life of
outer service which must come as a response to need and not as a fulfilment of an
enjoined duty. He sees in neither direction with clarity. Remember ever that approach and
service must be self-initiated and self-implemented. The only help which the disciple gets
at this stage comes from the stimulating effect of the aura of the Ashram. |
