March 2008

I was recently listening to a radio programme about the (Coptic) Christian monks, living as hermits in Egypt. Their way of life is simple, profound and nourishing to hear of, the desert lay at the centre of the piece, and the words on prayer gave me some insight into the sequence of the Masters.

At the heart of their tradition is an advice Jesus gave when asked by a wealthy young man "What good deed need I do in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven?" Jesus answered "Follow the 10 Commandments". When the man enquired further Jesus said "If you want to be perfect, go, sell all your possessions, then come and follow me." The young man turned away with sadness, the price was too high.

Jesus's words answered, not the original question - how to enter the kingdom of heaven, but a deeper question - how to be perfect. And Jesus' answer was in essence to let go of all attachments, an answer surprisingly similar to the Buddha's teaching. It is surely an enormous price to pay. The price is to walk away from everything you have valued. The monks pay by entering the desert, the desert with all its emptiness and space, its extremes of beauty and hardship. Here is the perfect space to let go of all attachments. How can all this be connected to Aura-Soma and the Masters?

The Light at the Centre of the Colour Rose

The perfection to which Jesus referred could be expressed in Aura-Soma terms by the pure light at the centre of the Colour Rose. The light that is beyond all colours, beyond all experiences, ever present at the centre.

To be one with this light we have to turn away from the hues (the human world) on the outer edge, and pass through the pale colours, the Masters of the inner world. As we travel towards the light at the centre we meet each colour more intensely in its pastel form. The resonances in our own chakras are amplified, just as in the desert both light and challenges are more extreme. It strikes me now that the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert were the vital preparation to the events culminating in Easter. This article will liken the realm of the masters to that of an inner desert, empty of distraction but full of life, a place of intensity that brings us closer to essence.

A New Perspective on the Masters El Morya to Hilarion

The first hint of the master sequence arising from the monks life came with the description of the third, and final, stage in the monks development, that of contemplation on, and ultimately union with, God. (It follows the initial stage of stillness and peace, and the second stage of mindfulness culminating in the ability to see the world without attachment or reaction). The pinnacle of this third stage is falling into pure prayer which they described as a momentary flash of pure insight into the inner truth of things. They said it happens when the mind is empty of itself and they compared this state to that of an empty sky or a clear blue sapphire. In this state the mind attains what they call "the place of God".

Now this seems a very El Morya idea and it triggered the following thought which is, for me, a new view of the first four master energies in Aura-Soma. (I am already familiar with seeing their sequence as a progression of steps, but usually in the context of a journey into incarnation.) This time I saw them in a new light, their sequence describing the potential that can happen through us rather than to us - a more transpersonal view. Blue, El Morya, is the first Master, and here expresses the highest attainment of the (human) monk, to be empty of thought and reunited with the mind of God. From this follows the flush of yellow energy, Kuthumi, which is an illumination of (transcendent) self, the light shines into and through our individuality. And from this, our enlightened self, pink, Lady Nada, love flows in the world. A love which makes all things grow, green, the energy of Hilarion. This seems as a statement of our potential and the flow of the first four Masters through us following from the potential human attainment that the monks practice towards.

Lady Portia, Prayer and Grace

Now, having listened to the programme again and tuning in more deeply to the subject, another part of the Master sequence has been brought into focus. The flow from B59 - Lady Portia, through B60 - Lao Tsu and Kwan Yin to B61 - Sanat Kumara.

The programme focussed very much on prayer. The practice of prayer is, for these monks, both the way to God and thereafter the experience and expression of God. The prayer of these Coptic monks is very simple: "Lord have mercy on me". Just this. Regularly. Often. Sincerely. Repeating over and again as they reach out "Lord have mercy on me". Now this prayer strikes me as being very resonant with Lady Portia's association with the plea for forgiveness. And if we consider the colours of Lady Portia - pale yellow / pale pink - it shows us the deepest cause of this prayer. The B54 Clear/Clear of suffering added to the B5 Yellow/Red of the human experience (B5 being the chakra set base chakra bottle - the physical body in which we have the human experience and 5 being the number of man). It is (for me) impossible to imagine this prayer being totally, earnestly, offered without this experience of human suffering behind it.

This prayer is nothing to do with the ego. It does not manifest greater wealth or job prospects, it is not a New Age technique to invoke our higher powers, it simply invites a response from God / the Universe. The gift is that of God's presence or favour. (Please note that we could perhaps substitute here instead of the word God the idea of the pure light at the centre of the Colour Rose if that is easier to relate to). God's presence or favour is not something we can take for ourself, all we can do is be ready to receive it. Indeed "forgive" is literally "for give" - that something may be given (to us). A very good word to describe this gift is Grace. And this idea of grace is also a very Lady Portia theme. Her famous speech in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice is about Mercy. She describes it as falling upon us "as the gentle rain from heaven" - this clearly echoes the idea of grace that the monks seek, something falling from above.

Moreover the experience of Grace can also perfectly be described by the Lady Portia colours. Contained in the Pale Yellow/Pale Pink we can now see a different experience. The Clear/Clear making these colours pale can now be understood as the pure light at the centre of the Colour Rose shining out and suffusing the Yellow/Red human experience. Light has come to the human experience. Suffering caused us to seek grace (the light), and the arrival of grace (light) illuminated the human experience. or as Vicky Wall liked to say - the Hue-Man, experience.

Lao Tsu and Oneness with the Mind of God

If grace should come to a monk as a consequence of prayer, then the programme described this experience by quoting the words of a psalm, one well known in Aura-Soma, the words, "Be Still and Know that I Am God." It is this exact phrase which is associated with B60 - Lao Tsu and Kwan Yin! The Master which is the very next after Lady Portia!! Mercy leads to the presence of God. B59 leads to B60. The spiritual process as understood by the monks echoes precisely the unfolding themes of the Master sequence!!!

B60 is that space of stillness in which we contact the presence of God. Colour wise B60 contains the pure light of the centre of the Colour Rose in the base fraction and the blue of peace and total acceptance in the conscious mind - the top fraction. As the programme described, "With sincere practice that constant flow of thoughts may slow down a little, and if it does we may become aware of a gap opening up between them. Like the desert itself this inner space is truly silent and truly empty. It is the still centre behind the activity of the conscious mind. And, in that space, we may find ourselves present to the presence of God."

Little by little, a practised monk will increasingly enter this state of union and from this the final stage emerges, the state of constant prayer, what the monks call the prayer of the heart. Now the self is no longer present just as when we sleep we are not aware of ourselves sleeping, so in this state of contemplation which is prayer the monks are entirely absorbed. "The desert fathers believed that prayer is our natural state. In this sense then there is no need to seek God outside because God is the deepest reality of what we are. And thus the way to find God is to know ourselves. "

Sanat Kumara and the Prayer of the Heart

This last sentence is another way to express the key sentence of Sanat Kumara: As above, so below." B61! Sanat Kumara, follows B60 follows B59. I now have to think that a way to understand Sanat Kumara is to see it as the living of constant prayer. I am surprised because from a colour perspective I would think prayer and heart would be closer to green, but I can now see this at a new level. This love (pink) flows from our being, from our existence as an individual self (yellow). Pink shining into the world - top fraction - as an expression of our being Pale Yellow in the base fraction.

And from this we could see B105, Azreal, the grounded Coral/Coral hue (which is the colour ray of Sanat Kumara) as being the new society in which we live this constant prayer. Very ideal I am sure and probably very far away but nevertheless this would be the potential. Moreover as we just saw in the previous paragraph, though it may be far away from our daily experience, it is actually far, far closer than we could imagine. It is the activity at the very core of our real self, just that we are far away from that. Taking even a little time to turn away from the distractions of the world each day, turning towards the space of our inner desert, offering a sincere prayer to receive Grace Light from the centre, supported perhaps by the application of a quintessence as we enter the realm of the inner light, this could be a step in the right direction, for ourselves and for the collective.

Final Thoughts

I like this idea of the prayer of the heart. And I believe this is a year of the heart. 2008 has the 8 of the Yellow / Blue bottle that shakes to green. B8 is the colour combination that asks "Have you been true to your heart? In Aura-Soma we have different names and a different language to other systems, but I believe the underlying spiritual truths are the same no matter which path we choose to practice. Turning within, whether it be in the Egyptian desert, or in the Colour Rose, or within ourselves to the star of light; all share the same resonance. And to explore and travel these paths is the opportunity that life presents. I wish you well with your journeying. And may the energies and tools of Aura-Soma serve you well.

Happy Easter.

Love and Light

Dominic

Dominic Yeoman is an international Aura-Soma teacher who has been with the system since 1985. He has worked with Vicky Wall, Mike and Claudia Booth and from 1992 to 2001 he was Course Director at Dev Aura. His vision is to deepen the understanding of Aura-Soma in the world and he currently travels, teaches, writes and offers consultations to this end.

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