Vol. 41 No. 33 - Elizabeth Clare Prophet - August 16, 1998
Family–The Heart of Community
5
Confucius’ Formula for Family and Community Building
Part 2
Developing Confucius’ Formula for Our Empowerment
Let us return to the formula Confucius gave us long ago. By using this formula, we can begin to discover our etheric patterns and those of our families and community and become empowered by them. We can anchor these patterns in the physical plane so that they will help others, and in this way we can help uplift the planet and prepare it for the coming golden age of Aquarius.
We are going to look at the phases of self-discovery, beginning with our personal experience. Let us place our right hand over our heart so that we are connecting with our heart chakra and are giving out the love of our heart and receiving love into our heart. Then we can intensify this love as we continue on with these teachings.
The First Step of Confucius’ Formula
We will start with the concluding statement of the formula and work back to the beginning. Thus we begin with the final statement:
To assimilate wisdom and put it into practice, we must first investigate and reflect upon all phenomena and cull out what is true.
Reflecting upon all phenomena and culling out what is true corresponds to Lord Maitreya’s teaching on the three ds—discernment, discrimination and determination. Maitreya has taught us that a disciple of the Cosmic Christ uses the three ds “to implement his own divinity.”
In his series on initiation, Maitreya tells us that the faculty of discernment is “the exercise of the yellow fire of the second ray. It is to separate with the mind, to recognize mentally, to detect with the eyes of the mind. Discernment is a faculty of the mind that enables the soul to understand the shades of difference as it examines manifestations in the relative plane of life and death, good and evil.”
Maitreya explains that once we have discerned the elements of a given situation, we can exercise the pink fire of the heart through discrimination. “And by the penetration of the Holy Spirit,” he says,
you isolate the distinguishing characteristics—the differences between qualities, personalities and choices in the planes of Matter. Discrimination is the assessment by love that results in the exercise of good judgment.
Thus the faculty of discernment in the mind becomes discrimination in the heart. And the resulting manifestation is the wise and judicious implementation of the best plan for the best results.
...The assessment, then, of mind and heart becomes the judgment that is carried out through God-determination. By determination the disciple in the way of initiation delivers the thrust of the will of God, of action that becomes precipitation—good works bearing good fruits for a good harvest in the Lord. <1>Thus, investigating and reflecting upon all phenomena and culling out what is true is our first step. It is the process of taking in all the factors, all the alternatives, in a given situation.
As Confucius once said: “Do I have knowledge? No, I have none. Let a simple bumpkin ask me a question and I am all empty. And so being, I tap away at the alternatives until the issue is resolved.” <2>
The Second Step of the Formula
Next, we sort through all phenomena with the fingers of the mind and call for the quickening of the Mind of God within us during this process. Then we give the entire matter over to the intuition of the heart and continue to pray for guidance and confirmation. And when we reach our conclusions, we take the next step of the formula:
If we want to be honest with ourselves and purify our motives, we must first assimilate wisdom and put it into practice.
How do we do this?
We do it through self-discipline. I am talking about the discipline that comes because we truly love ourself—our God Self and our precious soul. In this sense, we can see how the word discipline comes from the word disciple. I am not talking about the self-discipline of holding ourselves to some rigid standard imposed upon us. For that is a form of self-punishment and co-dependence.
Saint Germain relates an incident about El Morya and Kuthumi when they were in embodiment. They were making their trek up the mountain to see their guru and they were in a hurry to get there. Saint Germain says:
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You remember the joke that is told by Morya and Kuthumi making their treks to the home of light, to the feet of the Masters—Morya being so intense about getting there and Kuthumi a bit more peaceful. And when they had arrived and when they had returned, for all of the perspiration and energy expended by Morya, it was Kuthumi who retained the message of the Master. <3> |
Both El Morya and Kuthumi had the necessary self-discipline, but Kuthumi allowed himself to receive the reward of his efforts and remember the Master’s message.
After El Morya ascended in 1898, he imparted his teachings to Helena and Nicholas Roerich, the founders of the Agni Yoga Society. In book two of Leaves of Morya’s Garden, El Morya tells us: “One must manifest discipline of spirit; without it one cannot become free. To the slave, discipline of spirit will be a prison; to the liberated one, it will be a wondrous healing garden. So long as the discipline of spirit is as fetters, the doors are closed. For in fetters one cannot ascend the steps.” <4>
The Ascended Lady Master Clara Louise shared some of her thoughts on self-discipline with us in 1991. She said: “True self-discipline is never rigidity but it is Love fulfilling itself by the intuitive powers of the soul, by the discernment of the heart, by true discernment of the mind. These are inner qualities of the five secret rays that sensitize even the soul to the understanding that though all the rules be followed, yet without Love the disciple cannot succeed.” <5>
A Psychological Approach to Self-Discipline
In their book The Essence of Parenting, Anne Johnson and Vic Goodman give us an excellent understanding of self-discipline. Johnson, a social worker, and Goodman, a family counselor, live and work in Wisconsin. They base their work on more than thirty years of experience as parents, educators and counselors.
Johnson and Goodman believe that love is the inner essence and foundation of self-discipline. They say:
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Self-discipline is knowing and remembering our own value and worth when every cell in our bodies is believing otherwise. It requires the willingness, the strength and fortitude to pick ourselves up and keep going when all we want to do is give up....Self-discipline is having faith in the knowledge that we are good people; we work hard; we deserve to be happy. It is knowing that any thoughts or beliefs to the contrary are self-defeating, demoralizing, and only lead us away from truth.... All of us make mistakes. We all end up feeling guilty about one thing or another. Self-discipline is the willingness to accept our own shortcomings and failures. It is the gentle touch of forgiveness when we’re screaming for retribution. It is knowing that our anger, the poison pumping through our system, the feeling we’re about to unload on our children or spouses or friends or co-workers, is ours and ours alone. Self-discipline is remembering that there is no one to blame; there is no one making us feel the way we do; there is only our own anger. It’s knowing at those times when we’re pointing the finger, drowning in self-righteousness ready to condemn, that it’s all a play of consciousness. Who are we really angry at? Why are we so hurt? Who is the one burning with these feelings? Self-discipline is about remembering the truth when our minds are filled with doubts. It is the willingness to reach again and again and again for the love and compassion, the gentleness and kindness that lives within our heart. <6> |
I see self-discipline as remembering that we have a threefold flame of Love, Wisdom and Power in our heart. We can visualize this flame any time in the day to help us keep centered. For self-discipline is knowing that at all times God lives within us and that God is Love. Self-discipline is accepting that our true nature is love. And when we understand this, we become sensitive to our needs and fulfill them.
So, if it is late at night and you are completely exhausted, don’t worry about the dirty dishes or about the house being a mess. Go to bed and get the rest you need. Then clean up the mess the next day. Now, that is self-discipline.
When you have a false sense of self-discipline, you can become addicted to work. You may tend to overdo it and abuse your body because you have believed the lie that you do not deserve to be loved just as you are. The Divine Mother loves you as you are. And you are worthy of her love just as you are. The point is to be centered and to act and work because it pleases the God within you to do so.
Johnson and Goodman explain that our inner awareness comes into balance through self-discipline. And when we become conscious of and accept our true worth—and when we love and respect the truth that lives within our heart—then we are able to extend this essence of our love to others.
The Third Step of the Formula
As we accept and apply the wisdom of our heart, we embrace the next level of the formula:
If we want to be in line and in tune with our heart, we must first become honest with ourselves and purify our motives.
We all need to become more honest with ourselves. And the spark of wisdom in our heart gives us the courage to really look at ourselves and be able to see what is real and what is not. In this way, we can engage in self-inquiry and self-reflection lovingly and nonjudgmentally.
Master Tseng, a principal disciple of Confucius, said: “I examine myself three times a day. Have I been unfaithful in my plans and transactions with others? Have I been unreliable in my conversations and interactions with friends? Am I preaching what I am not practicing?” <7>
Johnson and Goodman call this process “becoming the witness of our thoughts.” They tell us that we need to slow down enough to see what is going on in our minds. For, they point out: “We are not our thoughts but the witness of our thoughts. The witness forms no opinions, judgments, or criticism about what it sees....The more diligently we practice being the witness, the easier it will be to identify and ultimately replace or let go of unwanted thoughts.” <8>
When we realize that our true nature is loving wisdom, we have the foundation we need to begin looking at ourselves objectively and observe our behavior patterns, our motives, our psychology and our past records. Then we can get the psychological help we need. And we can do the spiritual work with the violet flame to free ourselves and become the loving persons that we truly are.
Step Four of the Formula
When we become honest with ourselves and realize that our true essence is love, then we have entered the next phase of the formula:
If we want to cultivate ourselves, we must first get in line and in tune with our heart.
In Buddhism, getting in tune with the heart is known as mindfulness. Mindfulness is being aware of our thoughts and feelings and, most importantly, it is being mindful of the intimations from our Christ Self and Buddha-nature.
One Zen Buddhist teaching on mindfulness says: “At the start of sneezing, during fright, in anxiety, above a chasm, flying in battle, in extreme curiosity, at the beginning of hunger, at the end of hunger, be uninterruptedly aware.” <9>
In the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Sogyal Rinpoche explains mindfulness as the prolonging of the meditative state of calm and centeredness through everything we do. He recalls the Zen story where the disciple asked his Master: “Master, how do you put enlightenment into action? How do you practice it in everyday life?” “By eating and sleeping,” replied the Master. “But, Master, everybody sleeps and everybody eats.” The Master replied: “But not everybody eats when they eat, and not everybody sleeps when they sleep.”
Rinpoche explains that to “eat when you eat and sleep when you sleep means to be completely present in all your actions, with none of the distractions of ego to stop you being there.” And he sums it up by saying, “This is integration.” <10>
Johnson and Goodman call this the state of being conscious, being grounded in a state of inner love. We understandand accept that love is our inner essence, our natural inner state. And once we have accepted the truth that our inner essence is love and we have experienced it (even a little taste of it), then we have started the process of becoming in tune with our heart.
To maintain this state requires grace and self-effort. Johnson and Goodman say that the keys to unlocking the heart are “becoming conscious, being willing to make the effort, opening ourselves to grace.” <11>
Step Five of the Formula
Once we have become in tune with our heart, we enter the next phase of the formula, self-cultivation:
If we want to establish equanimity in our families and make them whole, we must first cultivate ourselves.
Self-cultivation is becoming sensitive to our spiritual senses as we develop the secret rays within ourselves. When we cultivate the secret rays, we can attune to the etheric patterns, bring them into our lives and empower our holy endeavors.
The five secret rays are the high energy and power of the nucleus of life, the nucleus of the atom, the nucleus of our heart. They are the sheaths of the inner white-fire core of the atom. The five secret rays form the core and essence of primary fire within us. <12>
The secret rays are the secret power for creation as well as procreation. Lord Sanat Kumara has told us that the Ascended Lady Masters use the five secret rays to help the formation of the child within the womb. He said that it is important for parents to meditate and visualize the five bands of light within the womb and around their baby throughout the period of gestation until he or she is born.
The Queen of Light has said that if we want to help mothers and fathers who are preparing to receive a holy child, we should invoke Mighty Cosmos’ secret rays. <13> In giving the decree “Mighty Cosmos’ Secret Rays,” we can support our greater family, God’s family on earth, by helping to raise the vibration of the entire planet. In so doing, we can magnetize spiritually advanced souls to this world. We can also give the decree for our self-transformation and the transformation of our families and community.
Our beloved Nada explained to us why the secret rays are crucial for this age. She said in 1973:
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You are living in an era that will be marked by...the saturation of the earth with the five secret rays released from the hand of Mighty Cosmos...so that mankind might go within to establish the tabernacle of the Holy Spirit, to perfect the blueprint, the inner keys, and the devotion to the Holy of holies. This is necessary to bring forth the kingdom of God into manifestation upon earth in preparation for the two-thousand-year reign of the Christ Consciousness. During the period of the secret rays, the precipitation of the culture of the Divine Mother, of heavenly patterns perfected on earth, shall come to pass. And only that which is perfect shall be allowed to remain. |
The secret rays are also essential for the future of our community. In 1973, beloved Lanello told us that he had many etheric patterns he wanted to impart to us for the building of our Church. He said: “Every cell, every facet of activity that is a part of this Church, the true Church Universal and Triumphant, is a pattern that shall endure through the millennia if it be founded upon that five-pointed star of Cosmos’ secret rays that is the cell pattern of the fiery core of being. And that star center, that flaming presence, is an idea held in the Mind of God.”
Mighty Cosmos’ secret rays are effective in dissolving chaos and confusion. They can pierce through negative behavioral patterns, misconceptions and all manner of psychological obstacles that try to sabotage our loving and harmonious interactions with one another. So the secret rays are an important ingredient for community building.
When we cultivate the secret rays, we are cultivating sensitivity. We must ask ourselves, are we sensitive to our neighbor? Are we sensitive to our own soul?
Sensitivity is something we need to cultivate or we will not enter into the five secret rays. It is almost as if those rays are such a fine filigree thread that unless we are also refined we cannot enter in.
We begin by listening. We sit back and abide in the secret chamber of our heart as we listen to others. And we learn to listen to the inner voice in our own heart. It is no coincidence that Kuan Yin’s name in Chinese means “one who observes the sound.”
When we observe the inner sound, we become sensitive to our needs and the needs of everyone around us. The trick is to fulfill our needs and not just be aware of them. Then we can tap into our own wellspring of love and wisdom and be sensitive to and meet the needs of our family.
Maitreya has said that by cultivating the five secret rays in the delicateness of Kuan Yin, the Mother of Mercy, we can also learn etiquette. Confucius emphasized the true spirit of etiquette in his teaching thousands of years ago. Etiquette comes from the grace and gentleness of the East and gives us a sense of deference to the Christ within each family member. Giving Kuan Yin’s Rosary <14> is a wonderful way to develop sensitivity and gain mastery in the secret rays.
Our recently republished book Quietly Comes the Buddha is a great handbook for cultivating the secret rays. In it Gautama Buddha introduces the qualities of the secret rays through prayers, meditations and poetry. <15>
The Final Step of Confucius’ Formula
The secret rays are the keys to our wholeness and to our families’ wholeness. This realization brings us to the point where we can begin to understand the last phase of the formula:
If we want to heal and bring order to our state, we must first establish equanimity in our families and make them whole.
When we cultivate the secret rays and extend our mastery of them to help our families, we bring balance and wholeness to our loved ones. We accept that their true nature is love. Then when we support and nurture their loving nature, we have shifted from doing to being.
Johnson and Goodman tell us that to succeed in parenting, techniques are not it; our state of mind is. They say, “Our job as parents is to find and stay connected to our inner essence so we can always see and respond to the beautiful inner essence of our children.” <16> This is true whether we are a parent or we are parenting the inner child within us.
By focusing on our true nature as love and shifting from doing to being, we can find wholeness for ourselves and then we can extend this wholeness to our families. It is an evolving wholeness that can attain new levels and rise to the expression of divine love.
Now we have the essential units to build a solid foundation for ourselves, our families and our community. And this is the way to bring divine order back into our nation.
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In conclusion, let us meditate again on the words of Confucius: The ancients who wanted to manifest enlightened virtue in their empire first healed and brought order to their states. Wanting to heal and bring order to their states, they first established equanimity in their families and made them whole. Wanting to establish equanimity in their families and make them whole, they first cultivated themselves. Wanting to cultivate themselves, they first got themselves in line and in tune with their hearts. Wanting to be in line and in tune with their hearts, they first became honest with themselves and purified their motives. Wanting to be honest with themselves and purify their motives, they first assimilated wisdom and put it into practice. They assimilated wisdom and put it into practice by investigating and reflecting upon all phenomena and culling out what was true. <17> Thank you. |
Mighty Cosmos’ Secret Rays
In the name of the beloved mighty victorious Presence of God, I AM in me, my very own beloved Holy Christ Self, Holy Christ Selves of all mankind, beloved Helios and Vesta and the Great Central Sun Magnet, beloved God Harmony, beloved Mighty Cosmos, beloved Lanello, the entire Spirit of the Great White Brotherhood and the World Mother, elemental life--fire, air, water, and earth! I decree:
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Mighty Cosmos’ Secret Rays, (3x) |
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Take dominion now, |
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I live, move, and have my being within a glorious, victorious focus of Mighty Cosmos’ Secret Rays from the heart of God in the Great Central Sun, focused through the Five Dhyani Buddhas and Vajrasattva, my very own beloved individualized I AM Presence, beloved Helios and Vesta, and beloved Mighty Cosmos which blesses and heals, illumines and seals me and all mankind in the Victory of the ascension in the Light. Beloved I AM! Beloved I AM! Beloved I AM!
“The Summit Lighthouse Sheds Its Radiance o’er All the World to Manifest as Pearls of Wisdom.”
Elizabeth Clare Prophet delivered this lecture, “Confucius’ Formula for Family and Community Building,” at the six-day conference Family--The Heart of Community held July 4 through July 9, 1998, at San Diego, California. The lecture has been edited for publication in the Pearls of Wisdom.
1. Lord Maitreya, “Integration with God,” On Initiation, no. 2, in 1975 Pearls of Wisdom, pp. 269-70.
4. Helena Roerich, Leaves of Morya’s Garden, bk. 2 (New York: Agni Yoga Society, 1952), p. 8.
The Ascended Lady Master Clara Louise was embodied as Clara Louise Kieninger (1883-1970). In 1961 Saint Germain anointed her as the first Mother of the Flame of the Keepers of the Flame Fraternity. For years she had devotedly served in the field of nursing, taking as her motto Ich Dien (“I serve”). Later, as a dedicated student of the Ascended Masters, Clara Louise kept a daily prayer vigil for the youth of the world, the incoming children and their parents and teachers. She would begin every morning at five and decree for two to four hours, and sometimes till noon. She made her ascension at the age of 87 from Berkeley, California, on October 25, 1970.
7. Confucius, Analects 1:4, translated by Karen Y. LeBeau.
8. Johnson and Goodman, The Essence of Parenting, pp. 24, 155.Notes 9-17 to be continued
11. Johnson and Goodman, The Essence of Parenting, p. 16.
16.Johnson and Goodman, The Essence of Parenting, pp. 81-82.
17.Confucius, Great Learning 1:4, translated by Karen Y. LeBeau.
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