Some parts of this blog will be excerpts from Harold Klemp's talk at the 1995 ECKANKAR Worldwide Seminar, from a talk entitled " Walk With Me, Mahanta"
First of all, it must be pointed out, that while not everyone who reads this will necessarily agree with the point of view from which the information is given, any who go within themselves to investigate their own inner worlds, will find it to be useful, and the information quite valid. It all depends on the point of view one chooses to use in viewing it. Try thinking of it Inclusively rather than Exclusively. This blog is primarily about the Inner Master, which has a number of meanings….For one it is a Master, a Teacher, a Guru, one who is another being that has already tread the footsteps each of us are trying/wanting to make, thus making them a person who can not only show the way, but also one who can warn against traps and hardships that many encounter along their way.
This individual is also the Spirit, in and of Itself, focusing Itself into a matrix or form, that one can relate to or with. There are a number of human beings that act in this role for a great many people of different paths and/or faiths , but of course they aren't all the same individual, and they may not all have the same amount or degree of spiritual experience or realization, but we must realize that Spirit isn't at all interested in the separations we and our minds create and depend upon. It is able to work THROUGH any number of Souls, to an extent depending only on their own ability to open up to It, so, It will work through one teacher to a certain degree, but It may also work through others in varying degrees, It has no prejudice, It only needs willing servants that are willing to ask It to work through them, and each individual Soul, whether of a teacher or a student, is included in this. This means that while a very advanced and realized Master can teach one or many, even those who are being taught are interacting both with that teacher, and the Spirit Itself.
What Is the Mahanta?
ECKANKAR has two parts: the inner and the outer teachings. The outer teachings include talks, books, and discourses and the Mystic World for those who become members of ECKANKAR. But the inner teachings are the greater part of this path: dreams and dream travel, Soul Travel, and the ECK- Vidya — getting an insight in contemplation into your own future or other things that are helpful to you if and when the occasion warrants.
There are also two parts of the Master: the Outer Master and the Inner Master. During my talks and through my writings, I work in the role of the Outer Master where I give you what i can.
I am all too aware of my limitations. Sometimes i go back to the hotel room after a talk and tell my wife, " I wish I were able to say things better and more clearly so that people would be able to take the very most spiritual benefit back home with them. "
But the greater part of this teaching is the Inner Master, the Mahanta. It's a state of consciousness. It is my inner side.
Working with the Divine Spirit, this inner form is something you can see inwardly as the Inner Master. Each one of you can see it individually at some time or another. Some of you may see the Inner Master. Some of you may see other ECK Masters. You may see the Light of God, you may hear the Sound of God. Anything of this nature is very good for you spiritually.
Fitting the ECK Teachings to You
The inner teachings are custom fitted for each one of you individually. The outer teachings cannot be.
I sit at my desk, and i write articles and letters. But I have to address you as a group consciousness. In other words, I have to find the pulse, where the spirit of the ECK students is today, and then speak to you in that way.
It works pretty well. But nothing beats the Inner Master.
The Inner Master can meet you in your dreams and speak to each one of you directly and give you exactly the spiritual help that you need.
For some, these are preposterous statements. That anyone would say there is such a thing going on in the world today.But it does happen. In my talks, I tell stories about people who have come in contact with the ECK Masters and benefitted spiritually.
Whether or not someone believes this depends on their own experience. Their own experience is what helps them move forward spiritually. Or sometimes it holds them back — if they won't throw away the unnecessary karmic baggage or habits that hold them back, like anger. Then they don't move forward as quickly as they'd like. And then, of course, the Inner and Outer Master both get credit for that.
But I'm used to it. It's just part of this position. I realize that, at some point, people will get a little further along the spiritual path and understand that the responsibility for their spiritual unfoldment begins and ends with themselves. So I don't worry about it.
Some people come to ECK, and they leave ECK. It's just how life is. Because here in the lower worlds, anything that has a beginning also has an ending. It's the nature of life here. This applies to everything, whether it's a job or a relationship. We don't like to think about endings, especially if we're in a happy relationship. But the truth of this world is: anything that begins, will someday end.
ECK Master With No Name
One of the ECKists works with the dream state. And in his dreams, he kept meeting this Master.
He wanted to know this Master's name. But in the dream when he asked the different people he met, "Who is that ECK Master?" the best anyone could tell him was. "That's the ECK Master with no name."
One night, this Master came to him in a dream. By now the dreramer wasn't sure if this was a good spirit or a bad spirit. But we have a test in the teachings of ECK. We sing the word HU, which is a love song to God, and we see whether this entity or person can stay or if this makes the person go away.
As soon as the dreamer began to chant HU, this Master with no name began to chant HU with him. After they finished, the ECK Master said, "It's a pretty Sound isn't it?" He said it like he was totally in harmony with HU.
And so the dreamer knew he was one of the ECK Masters, one of the high spiritual beings who come to help people.
In Tune With Today
Then the Master without a name took the dreamer to a future ECK seminar. And how far in the future was it? In 1995 we released the Mahanta Transcripts, Book 10, the tenth year of my talks. In the dream the ECKist went into the seminar bookroom and saw Mahanta Transcripts, Book 34, 35, 36 and beyond. He did some quick arithmetic and discovered they were in the year 2021.
The dreamer wanted to read these future Mahanta Transcripts now, but he knew he couldn't. And the ECK Master with him said, "The truth in the Mahanta Transcripts is given out for the times in which they are released. To go into the future, read these books, and then try to apply their truths in the present time would be a mistake. You might feel that some of this information from the future applies today, but it doesn't."\ One of the benefits and strengths of ECKANKAR is that it constantly keeps up with the changing consciousness of people today. In other words, you cannot have old scriptures as your sole message to people.
What people could understand and accept in medieval times is entirely primitive if you compare it to what people can understand and accept today. Those were the Dark Ages. People's understanding about life and God was entirely different from today.
The teachings of ECK have to stay in tune — stay in step — with the consciousness of the people if the teachings are going to be effective. And the ECK teachings do this. So whatever we are releasing today is what people today can accept and understand. In five, ten, fifteen, or twenty years, the teachings will be different. Each time, truth takes another step and broadens.
Of an equal amount of importance as is the spiritual leader or teacher, is also the teachings themselves, which can easily be relevant for a specific time, but don't always extend much beyond that, unless that one who gives them out, is also able to update them…. It is much the same with many scriptures of the past and from various areas, while they do contain truth, they are not necessarily always going to be the current and active form of the Living Truth, and because of this a great many trap themselves by becoming attached to an older writing, without leaving one end open enough to accept and interpret newer truths that might come from other places, or areas, and especially different cultures….the point i am making is not necessarily that my own path is the only or best way, nor that any others are insignificant, only that none are able to be complete or entire all by themselves. A truly Living Teaching is one that each individual is able to work with in their own inner worlds, realities, and indeed their own lives.
Well done …
… excellent and useful information that can be out to practical use.
This individual is also the Spirit, in and of Itself, focusing Itself into a matrix or form, that one can relate to or with.
To digress briefly – what do you make of the term matrix? It is tossed around freely these days.
In THIS context
I am using to mean the literal individual…Soul Itself is the maximum fullness of the individual state, but is also beyond the mind and emotions, and also the ego we are all familiar with…some Sufi writers refer to the ego dualisticly, as in the lower and higher egos, they use these terms to denote the same thing about the individual Soul, thrown around just as often is the term One, or we are one, and some go even further with it to say i am you and you are me, just in different aspects of being…this is not at all accurate or true however, as this denies the basic individuality each Soul has and is, now, having said that, and knowing that that is where these other statements are coming from, i MUST make a distinction on those statements, they are the result of one using the state of consciousness of Mind to try and understand what is meant by the One…and they always fail because thay cant do otherwise..
The reason is, that one needs to develop their own state of consciousness into that state where they can see themselves, the naked Soul, through the spiritual eye of Soul, and from that point it becomes abundantly clear that the Soul is eternal, divine, is OF God, and further more is literally a "particle" (for lack of a better term) of the Word, or Voice of God, which is to say the Divine Sound Itself…so, in this way, Soul is OF God, and is even Godlike, and very powerful, but is not a God Itself, and from this state one can also see that each other Soul in existence is the same, made of the same ingredient with the very same qualities, regardless of if they themselves, are at all aware of this…it is this experience that mystics around the world refer to as Self Realization…so, with this understanding, i am saying that the Spirit, which i call the ECK (from the Hindi EK, meaning ONE in the sense of GOD, ITSELF) divides ITSELF into seperate increments, each one different from all the others, but at the same time, each one being connected to and with all the others, and deriving from the very same Source….so, when an individual asks God for help in their life, the ECK works THROUGH the individual Soul, because this is ITS only way into these levels of existence….and this is ther very same idea that applies to all of Neville Goddard's writins on the Law of Assumption, his instructions are VERY good as they encapsulate all aspects of HOW to use it, but this is Soul's natural ability to manifest that which has already been created by GOD, and bring it into the physical, emotional, and mental lives (and planes) of the Soul that did the manifesting.
When an individual asks for guidance, this same Spirit can manifest ITSELF as any Master, whether ECK or otherwise, or can use any Soul to do the very same thing, as this is ITS ONLY way to enter into this world, and it is this which gives every Soul multiple opportunities to use their spiritual gifts to help others, and give love throughout existence, on any and every, level!
addendum
so, each Soul, and every Master, of OF the One, and IT certainly CAN manifest ITSELF or ITS help or guidance, through ANY of ITS channels, this is merely another aspect of the ONENESS, that all of we individual Souls, share and participate in…..each has very different preferences, and likes and dislikes from every other one,thus clearly displaying the individuality that we all ARE…
Hello Shabda –
My discourses are those written by Sri Harold Kemp. In the 7th, the Master Principle, are exercises to meet the Masters. I was very excited about this and have been able to maintain my excitement but I have yet to meet any Masters. I do know others who have. I am still developing and am patinet about it. This is a very helpful post. I was wondering if you wrote the last parapraph.
i wrote
whats in black, Harold's words are in blue