Beloved Master, as the requirements of service are so great in this present world hour how shall we sustain our spiritual & physical vitalities & yet not neglect our opportunity to serve?

Blessed chela, this is the age-old question asked by every sincere devoted member of mankind who has placed his feet upon the path. The balance between drawing the vital currents of inspiration, wisdom, enthusiasm, radiating light & utilizing the benefits of such magnetized energies is the goal toward which the wise chela works.

Beloved Master, we see on every hand opportunities to help & sometimes our zeal for service eats us up. On the other hand many seem indifferent to service, enjoying personal pleasure in Godly contemplation.

Blessed chela, these are the two extremes that manifest in the soul's return to God. They are symbolized in the consciousness of the Orient & in the consciousness of the Occident. It is the drawing together of the powers of magnetizing the gifts of God & the powers of radiating those gifts to mankind which forms Our present instruction to the chelas.

Be it known that the efficacy of the individual's capacity to serve God & his fellowman is dependent upon that individual's attunement with his own Presence. Wise is he who fills his cup at the source. Be it known that gifts, powers, inspiration & strength received from that personal communion become the responsibility of the individual to utilize to help mankind, elemental life & nature. The activity of the group endeavors allows the outlet for ever-increasing, balanced, qualified energies which have been magnetized & builded into the inner & physical bodies of the chela thru personal communion with the Presence of God.

Man's vehicles thru which the soul & spirit find expression are constantly in the process of change. Each vehicle is made up of the substance & atoms of the strata in which it functions. The thoughts & feelings of the individual determine what elemental life is drawn into these bodies & what elemental life is discarded. As the vibratory action of the individual increases the coarser substance is thrown off & the finer elements of each realm are invited into the vehicles in question. As the process of refinement of the vehicles takes place greater sensitivity to the Presence of God is developed & the daily communion becomes a more & more holy, sacred & truly enjoyable activity. When the vehicles of a man are made up of the coarser elements of each sphere they do not respond to the spirit of harmony which is God. As these vehicles are refined they are open to the subtle energies of the Godhead which find ready access into soul, mind, body & world. Coming into tune with the infinite is a practical process of the refinement of the inner vehicles. I practiced this with some success at Crotona & many of My pupils were enabled to consciously change the elemental substance of their inner vehicles thru the tuning up of each body by purity of thought, feeling & action to a point where individual & collective communion with God was a joy.

Beloved Master, we are told that it is essential for the chelas to expand the light of the world. Can you give us a practical way of doing this?

Blessed chela, certainly! Every individual is a magnetic center drawing primal life from the One Source, qualifying that life, giving it form & sending it out into the world as either light or as darkness. It is the capacity to draw forth from Oneself first, & then from others, energy harmoniously qualified which expands the light of the world.

Beloved Master, how can a chela consciously induce such release of harmonious energy from others?

Blessed chela, the chela has the capacity to create the conditions which stimulate the response of the immortal Flame of God in every man. For instance, a kind encouraging interest in the welfare of a man causes the soul of that man to emanate a vibration of gratitude, enthusiasm, faith & love. This constructive radiation from such an individual makes an aura of light around him & he becomes a focus thru which the light of the world expands. Whatever a chela does to make his fellowman more comfortable, more happy or more secure expands the light of that fellowman & contributes to the light of the world. Conversely, whatever a chela does to plunge the soul & consciousness of a fellowman into despair, discouragement or distress stimulates the release of dark clouds of misqualified energy & adds to the shadows of the planet. Thus, practically the light of the world is expanded by the development of personal & universal kindness toward those who hold within their hearts the spark of divinity. To kindle that spark one must be practically kind.

Beloved Master, therefore it would seem that every man has opportunity to create greater happiness in the lives of those around him--in his family life, his business world, his religious association or his civic group.

Blessed chela, you have spoken truly. Many have taken the admonition to expand the light of the world too abstractly. Each man's heart is like an electric lightbulb which must be consciously connected with its source & then illumined from within. The true feeling of divine love, understanding, tolerance & interest stimulates the potential light with the bulb, helps the individual to reach toward his own source & ultimately causes that bulb to blaze with its full light.

Beloved Master, consmically speaking do not the group activities also help to expand the light of the world?

Blessed chela, certainly! Thru the group activities the invocation of purifying radiation of sacred fire removes pressures of destructively qualified energy from the atmosphere of Earth as well as from the auras of individuals making it possible to more easily reach the hidden spark of divinity within each heart. However, just the service rendered in the group activities is not enough for the full development of the student. He should purify his individual world, develop feelings of solicitude for the needs of others & a desire to help to fill those needs as well as learning how to live harmoniously with his fellowman at all times. This is essential to cultivate that spark of divinity & make of it a flame which lights the aura of the individual. As all these auras are lighted by happiness, peace, harmony, beauty, understanding & love you shall see the entire Earth alight as freedom's star.

Beloved Master, Your instruction then points us toward the limitless opportunity of creating light in our present environment by lighting the feelings of others?

Blessed chela, true, however as you are about your Father's business, tell no man. Thus you will avoid the rebellions of the outer selves of others which is a vibratory action of darkness & which would defeat your purpose. Every chela can perform those acts, speak those words, radiate those feelings in his own world which make the individuals around him happier & more harmonious. Wise is the chela who renders this service unostentatiously & thus becomes the cosmic torch that kindles the sparks in his fellowmen without acknowledgment & acclaim.

Beloved Master, some people do not respond to overtures of interest, kindness, solicitude & love.

Blessed chela, that is not true. If the overtures are made thru effort of human will & do not carry the real feeling of interest & love from the heart of the chela, the soul of men instinctively recognizes such endeavors as sounding brass & tinkling cymbal. When the chela's heart is stirred, when the sincerity of his purpose is to truly stimulate the light thru another he need not even speak but his own aura will be a pressure of loving energy which can & does raise those about him into harmonious expression. Try this & see the truth within this counsel.

Beloved Master, there are so many beautiful ideas & promptings which I feel come from my own I AM Presence that I do not seem able to externalize. Can you explain why there is this difficulty between inspiration & manifestation?

Blessed chela, as the student progresses upon the path & removes the obstructions to clear reception of the directions from the I AM Presence many subtle tests arise. One of these is the often unrecognized spiritual pride that desires to impress one's fellow travelers upon the path with the knowledge, contact, directions & impressions which are claimed to be from either the I AM Presence or from an ascended being. Some of these impressions are truly divinely inspired. Others are pressures from the inner vehicles of the student which desire expression thru the personality. This point on the path requires the exercise of discrimination, discretion & constant alertness against those promptings which seek to aggrandize self. If the promptings are from the divine realms the student is wise to keep the precious instruction locked within his heart until he can manifest an expression of that prompting. Then he will have no need to make claims for his works not his words will proclaim his association with divinity.

Beloved Master, what is the best way to divine the nature of such promptings?

Blessed chela, good common sense will tell the individual whether the promptings & inspirations when activated will help the development of the higher nature thru the personal self or help mankind at large. If there is no selfishness in the idea wise is the chela who begins the activity of precipitating that idea into the world of form & who follows the admonition of the Master Jesus to tell no man.

Beloved Master, is it not wise to share beautiful experiences & so enrich the lives of others?

Blessed chela, the scientific law of precipitation requires the conservation of energies on all levels in order to have a perfect manifestation. The dissipation of emotional, mental, etheric or physical energies in talking about an undeveloped idea greatly hinders its progressive course toward manifestation. If the chela receiving a divine idea were to mold that idea into a workable practical form in the mental realm & constantly feed that mental form with loving feelings of accomplishment it would soon descend to the etheric realm. Then it would be a short step to clothe the etheric form in the atoms of the physical appearance world & manifestation would occur. However, besides the dissipation of the individual's own mental, emotional, etheric & physical energies which takes place in discussing a project upon which he is working, the individual invites the disintegrating forces of doubt, jealousy & unbelief from the consciousness of those to whom he confides his plan. These forces drive into the mental picture, the emotional certainly of accomplishment, & into the delicate etheric substance that is clothing his form in preparing it for manifestation. This makes an unnecessary battle; better for the chela to follow thru upon the inspiration received without having the cold water of other consciousnesses thrown upon his plan.

Beloved Master, how can we inspire others if we cannot share with them our inner experiences of beauty?

Blessed chela, the greatest possible inspiration is in manifest works. All the words in the world will do little but stimulate the mental bodies of others to study & endeavor to find the true law themselves. The chela who has a divine experience & the tenacity of personal energy to draw from that experience a manifest expression of beauty is the most wonderful inspiration to all about him.

Beloved Master, is it right to tell of an experience after manifestation has occurred?

Blessed chela, certainly, if the motive for that telling is to help another child of God to greater understanding. If the motive is to build up the ego & personality of the one who has such a manifestation the law will automatically remove future experiences of like victory from the one indulging in spiritual pride, no matter by what name the chela chooses to call it.