The Soul, The Hierarchy, and The Master

(An extract from the N.S. Study Guide)

When student's first learn of ashrams, they inevitably think of them in persona terms. They imagine, for instance, a group of disciples in a forest glade. The disciples are clothed in loincloths and seated at the feet of a wise old man who is bearded and wears robes. This kind of imagery is normal and expected. Similar forms of appearance are often called ashrams. However, there is little relationship between these outer groups and the Soul Group which is The Ashram.

An ashram is a soul group that shares the same purpose, place and function within the One Life. There are 7 major ashrams (one for each of the 7 characteristics of the soul). Because of this shared relationship, ashrams are sometimes said to be on a certain ray (i.e., the 1st ray ashram, the 2nd ray ashram, etc.).

The ashram can be symbolized by the circle and the dot. At the heart or center is the master or monad, the spiritual aspect of the ashram. The master is the teacher of the Overshadowing Spiritual Soul. His relationship to The Soul is comparable to that of The Souls’ relationship to the persona.

The circle represents the periphery or persona of the ashram. This is the substantial aspect of the ashramic life. It includes all of the personalities of the group soul of the ashram.

The space between the circle and the dot represents the soul of the ashram, or the disciples and initiates who have (via service) gained entry into the life of the ashram.

The Group Soul of the ashram is The Soul of The Monad. The Monad or master has no soul in the individual sense. The persona of the ashram is the persona of The Monad. The Monad has no need of an individual persona (although it may create the appearance of one for a specific service activity).

The master is identified with The Father or Spirit aspect of Divinity. The master formulates Divine Intent (into an archetype, a state of consciousness or a thought-form) and radiates that intent 360° into the ashramic consciousness. The senior initiates receive the formulated intent, step it down in frequency and pass it on to lesser initiates and disciples. Thus, the formulated intent moves from the heart to the periphery, until it reaches the outskirts of the ashram.

The Nature of The Soul is an example of this kind of precipitation. It was formulated in the heart of the Synthetic Ashram and projected forth as a New Thought-form Presentation of The Wisdom. It was then up to the initiates and disciples of the ashram to translate the New T.F.P. into forms which humanity could use. This process was described by Lucille thusly:

Lucille: “Well, in the first place, Masters don't write the lesson material. I write it. They don't determine the words that will be used. I determine the words that will be used. They have taken those principles of truth which are incorporated in the lesson material and placed them, put them into abstract thought-forms. Now these abstractions are above the level of words, they are above the frequency of pictures, they are in the frequency of meaning itself.” _{A short bio of Lucille Cedercrans by Wisdom Impressions, publishers}

At the outskirts of the ashram (just outside the circle), the formulated intent is received by personas who have not been accepted into the ashram, but have a limited receptivity to it. These personas tend to interpret the impression as personal instruction from a personal master. As we have seen, this is glamour. The master does not give individual instruction, any more than you give individual attention to a cell in your index finger.

This subject is explored further in Lesson 15 of The Nature of The Soul.