Introduction by Foster Bailey

Discipleship in the New Age - Vol. II

Mrs. Bailey asked me to write an introduction to the second volume of "Discipleship in the New Age" and I therefore now gladly comply. The introduction written by her in the first volume may be profitably reread in relation to both volumes.

The Master Djwhal Khul, known also as "The Tibetan," took advantage of the opportunity of the availability of A.A.B. as a trained collaborator and initiated an unique and pioneering experiment in new age training for group initiation. This involved the entry of those qualifying into His Ashram there to stay as they hastened their progress or to pass on to other Ashrams as the case might be.

For this purpose the Master selected some fifty people, most but not all of whom were known to A.A.B., to whom this unique and transcendent opportunity was offered. Almost everyone accepted but some did not stay very long. It was not easy. As was inevitable and very human, some as time went on reacted well, others not. It is hard to keep a right balance between the soul and the personality when the spiritual stimulant is relentlessly high. The rushing into the personal life of soul force is like sunshine in a garden. Weeds as well as flowers emerge.

It was a new age group forcing process, tested in operation by the use of this group of chelas all of whom had voluntarily accepted, and any one of whom was free to leave at any time without blame. The values achieved were much more than any obvious comment can display. Much of the deeper values are more subtle and slow to emerge. Individuals benefited greatly. As a group achievement it was not a success as is made abundantly clear in these pages, but the group is a living entity on the inner planes of possible great future usefulness.

Mrs. Bailey gave unsparingly of her life and strength to do this work which was to her an extra and a heavy burden. It was particularly distasteful to her to take the personal instructions. Indeed sometimes when certain individuals did not like what the Tibetan said to them about themselves they blamed her.

The training given to this group was not a part of Mrs. Bailey's system of training in the Arcane School. The Arcane School is not a training school for initiation and the goal is not to help the student to get into an ashram or to contact a Master. The purpose of the Arcane School is, and always has been, to help the student to move forward more quickly on the Path of Discipleship. It does not deal either with the problems incident to the Probationary Path nor of the Path of Initiation. The Master Djwhal Khul has stated that in the new age the field of training for the disciple is in the New Group of World Servers.

The decision to publish the record (or most of it) was an unexpected development to the Tibetan but welcomed by Him. He said that this act attracted the attention of other members of the Hierarchy. The appearance of the first volume has already proved a major addition to the entire esoteric field, especially in terms of what modern discipleship really is, and the practical realistic attitude that a Master has to his chela.

This second volume brings additional teaching both in the general text and in the remaining personal instructions which are amazingly frank and direct. A few personally assigned meditations are included to show the technique of the training in individual cases, but the individual training was always incidental to a planned special group achievement.

It should be remembered that these meditations are dangerous to use except as prescribed by a Master and used under His watchful eye, just as there are many medicines available to the public which are not safe except as directed by a physician.

An examination of the text will reveal many factors knowable only to a Master which made these meditations safe and the breathing exercises useful while He was watching the effects. For example: He knew not only the Ray qualities of all the vehicles but also the degree of response to Ray stimulant of any particular vehicle in relation to total, balanced progress. He knew also the conditioning Rays of the previous incarnation which may appear as a "hangover" not to be developed but to be transcended.

He knew the astrological characteristics of the soul, a factor as yet unknown to present day astrology but of much importance in advanced stages of discipleship. He knew the exact condition and degree of unfoldment of all the force centers in the chela which in certain cases He stated in exact percentages. Even with this knowledge given us we could not know which center to stimulate next nor how much. Moreover Djwhal Khul has said that given a consecrated active life of selfless service to one's fellow man the centers will unfold naturally and safely without attention to them.

The Master also knew the basic and planned purpose of the soul for the present incarnation, the hidden hindering karmic forces working out and the latent spiritual capacities previously achieved which could be wisely called upon.

Someday we shall have occult schools of meditation giving training for initiation. There are none such today. Those claiming to give such training are false teachers, often sincere but self-deluded. This also has been stated both by the Tibetan and by A.A.B.

Foster Bailey

March 1955