Question 7: Are the inner Teachings of today’s Great School the same ancient Teachings as those promulgated thousands of years ago?
Answer 7: The teaching methods of the exoteric branches of the Great School are always pragmatic in nature, being continuously readapted to the cultural and intellectual needs of the times. Therefore, the teachings being presented now cannot be expected to be exactly similar to those presented to past generations of seekers.
Often, both teachers and students populating existing exoteric schools attempt to restrict their studies to the theoretical and philosophical formulas and diagrams created hundreds and thousands of years previously by earlier seekers. While the information contained within such documents may remain completely accurate, modern understanding will fail since modern students lack sufficient familiarity with the ancient languages, idioms and metaphors assumed by the original seekers. The proper method for utilizing ancient formulas and diagrams begins by studying the basic elements, definitions and cultural underpinning of the language of the creators of these documents and images. Once a seeker has familiarized himself or herself with the language, symbols and important historical events surrounding the formulation of the ancient teaching aids, he or she can attempt to understand and apply the ancient knowledge.
Exoteric schools are more than repositories for sacred knowledge. These schools are important and necessary experimental crucibles for retesting and expanding the application of ancient formulas and doctrines by assuring that they are consistent with new scientific and mathematical discoveries. The Initiates are well aware of the fact that many of their previous discoveries and speculations arose from deep explorations into the inner mind, explorations beyond the processing abilities of the serial conscious awareness. They are also aware that secondary verification of some of their findings about the material world would have to await better measuring instruments and mathematics.
Also, the Order and School recognize that many occurrences now called psychic will someday be shown to arise out of the operation of physical matter. The Great School teaches that ‘knowledge to be useful, must remain fluid and expansive.’
However, this should not be taken to mean that the majority of the knowledge possessed by the Great School is incomplete. The basic principles operating within life were established thousands of years ago and continue unchanged to this day. The truths that have been taught for many thousands of years, especially the details and efforts which are necessary to take during one’s travels upon the ancient path for attaining conscious evolution and spiritual growth, remain just as vibrant and meaningful today as they were 40,000 years ago.
This brings us to the close of this month’s lesson. As always, my promise to each of you is: ‘give me an hour of your time each week and I promise you a fuller and more remarkable life.’ Next month we continue with this series, “Dynastic Egypt and Its Mystery Schools.”
Hopefully, you are beginning to see that attaining to the first stages of “making a soul” requires concerted efforts to hear, absorb and process knowledge about the Work. Being sloppy in speech and mind is unacceptable. For us to generate mutual and pragmatic understanding of the Work requires agreement in the proper employment of specific words and phrases. This is why it is important to listen or read new material with what the ancients called, “silent mind.”
If you listen as a mundane person does all day and all night that is with “monkey chatter mind,” you will make no progress in the Work; but will remain within you own biased and imaginary world of “waking sleep.” As the old Zen Master demonstrated to the student during a Tea Ceremony . . . your cup of knowledge, or mind, can only be filled with Work Ideas after emptying it of imaginary and unverified thoughts and feelings.
To aid you in such endeavors, you would be well advised to begin to construct a glossary of terms defining common words. By diligent studying of such, in the context of how they are utilized within the Work, you will can study and determine exactly how such definitions apply to the Work. We will send you written supplements that you can add to your glossary as the lessons progress.