In the previous chapter dealing with the Gnosis, we had the opportunity to call your attention to the sacred trade exercised by the pupil, the fisherman’s trade, the fishing for men. Our task now is to have you reflect upon the tool of the true worker, the fisherman’s net, so that the sacred trade will stand out in your mind with more clarity than ever before.
The net, in the personality, symbolizes the aural field or the respiration field. In the Spiritual School the net is the symbol of the force-field. In the Universal Brotherhood it symbolizes the Immovable Kingdom, whereas the Christ Being is the net with which the Universal Brotherhood goes out to envelop the fallen world and mankind. You will know that every human respiration field possesses a magnetic power and that this power has two aspects: that of attraction and that of repulsion. The nature and quality of this magnetic power is intimately connected with the blood, the nerve fluid and the internal secretion. So it can be said that the net that man has at his disposal is woven in a particular way.
Only what is qualitatively in agreement with the human aural net can be caught in it. The natural attracting, magnetic power of the aura will always take care of this. It will be evident that nothing can enter the aura which is not in harmony with it. The natural, repelling power of the aura will ensure this. Now, as you know, there is a certain ‘will power’ within the human consciousness.
This will power is activated either by the mind or by desire, or by both. Therefore, it can happen that a person will want to repulse something which is quite naturally attracted by his aura, or want to attract something which is not in agreement with his aural quality. In the former case a desperate struggle ensues in which man is always the loser. In the latter case there will be an aural and, consequently, a bodily destruction; the net tears and this may entail fatal consequences. So it is with good reason that the will is called a martial power, for the fire of the will can cause great calamities. Every pupil should realize that it takes quite a few preparatory measures before he can use his will correctly.
The will is a magical power. The will is a creative power. It stands to reason that the creative field must be in perfect harmony with the will before the latter may be put into operation. This means that the aural sphere must have the power to repulse what the will wants to repulse and, con versely, the aural sphere must be able to attract that which the will wants to attract into the system. It will be evident to you that a total change in life, a total reversal is required to permit the martial will and the aura to function harmoniously. It will be equally clear that almost all human beings are constantly producing all kinds of effects in their system, resulting from the flery activity of their wills.
When the net is torn, that is, when a person lives wrongly because of the situation we just mentioned, the result is that the natural state of his aura is totally disturbed. For a certain period he will then be at the mercy of all sorts of powers which are akin to that state of being and which will take advantage of it. In such torn nets nothing can be retained as was the case beforehand. We have then no way of preventing anything undesirable from entering, as we would be able to do under normal circumstances. The scum floating on the surface of the sea of life can then freely enter. The cause of this always lies in the misuse of the will, in the misuse of the creative power and in this way the destruction of the aural net will follow.
Therefore, whenever you desire something or your mind spurs your will to action, always ask yourself if your objectives are in accordance with the natural faculties of your personality. The natural faculties of the aural net can only be modified by a radical reversal of your entire attitude of life. It will be clear to you that a most emphatic warning by the Gnosis is being conveyed to you with these words. In your position as pupils of the Spiritual School, your attention has been focussed for years upon the new life, upon the call of the Immovable Kingdom and we have tried in all conceivable ways to attune your consciousness to the true path.
As soon as you direct your mind to the things of the higher life only by means of the will, the martial frre of your dialectical state, accidents will irrevocably happen. If your aural faculty is unable to absorb the new etheric farces and yet you pursue them with your will, the aural net will tear. Then, instead of the new etheric farces entering, the scum of the sea of life will ride in on the waves.
Mark it well that in all circumstances a total change in your attitude of life, in the sense of the liberating life, is a prerequisite. When your mental interest for the higher life has been aroused and your feelings have been kindled with enthusiasm, do not then follow the ordinary dialectical way by directing your will as a fire at the goal. The fatal consequences of this are often incalculable. You cannot burn open the door of doors. It is only when the pupil is ready, entirely ready, that the Master is there.
As you may now realize, the familiar law: ‘like attracts like’ is very much related to all this. Many people wonder how it can be that certain vital farces and persons who carry these vital farces, farces which one carne to hate out of bitter experience, nevertheless inflict themselves ever again upon us. That which we do not want comes back to us again and again. Do you realize that these phenomena are due only to the quality of the aural net? One will always catch in his net those fish to which one is entitled.
Certain kinds of people will associate with their kind again and again because of the polarity of their nets. This polarity can have an uplifting effect hut in many cases it also can be destructive. When several people come together far insipid, meaningless sociability in a lower mental directedness, they drag each other down. The cause is obvious: their like-mindedness strengthens the collective power of attraction with all the inevitable consequences. There is a book entitled ‘the multitude as a criminal’, written by the Italian philosopher Scipio Sighele. He shows in this book that people with ordinary normal natures can fly into a hellish blaze of passion when they come together. History provides us with ample proof of this.
You must understand the ‘nets of evil’ in exactly the same way. In dialectics a great number of nets are cast to ensnare the guileless. Countless are those who are caught in these nets. It may take much suffering and many bitter experiences before they can be delivered from them. And what is the cause of this? We have explained it to you and by a little reasoning you will always be able to find the answer for yourself.
Suppose that your interest and enthusiasm for the new, original state of life have been kindled. That you accept our warning not to pursue the object of your interest with the fire of your will. You understand fully that the aural net will have to be woven from within by a liberating attitude of life, before the golden treasure of the new life can find access. But now the tempters come to spread their nets in a very enticing and artful manner. They attempt, by pointing out all kinds of imitations, to suggest that you have reached the goal. If you rise to this bait with your attracting faculty you let in the destructive poison which will drag your personality down and destroy your blood. And the evil one who in this way ensnared you in his nets will have attained his aim, which is to make you insensitive to the Gnosis for a long time to come.
There are many who with regard to these things find it terribly difficult to discriminate between truth and untruth. Yet, do understand that nothing is easier. Everything that fits in with your interest, with your desire, with your hidden and repressed will, in short all that is in line with your natural. faith, hope and love, so with the entire working of your I-consciousness, is wrong under all circum stances. Though you may not have the ability to unmask the tempter and though his touch may appear to your consciousness as a radiant light, have the courage to reject it radically and completely. Por the Gnosis, the original pranic Light, never manifests itself to the dialectica! consciousness, no matter how cultured it may be. If you hold fast to this golden rule, no harm can come to you.
The Gnosis works independently of your consciousness, your thoughts, desires and will. Perhaps it is difflcult for you to understand this. You know that the sun shines independently of your thoughts, desires and will. The sun rises and sets at fixed times because of the laws that govern the revolutions of the axis of our planet. It would be absurd to want it to shine during the night, so if any being were to imitate the solar radiations for you in the dead of night, your reason would teil you that you were being hoodwinked. When the sun rises in the morning and shines on the land scape, no one can say: ‘I willed the sun to rise and look, it rises’.
The same is true of the gnostic light. Neither your will, nor your desire, hor your intellect can attract it. The sun of the Spirit will take no heed of it. So if any being should carne to offer you the solar radiation of the Spirit, you should know that it is unreal. It does not shine on dialectica! mankind in the sense that it makes a binding with it. It does not rise, it simply is. It can be experienced only by a microcosm which has gone through the breaking up of the dialectical nature.
There are several places in the Holy Language where it is made abundantly clear that the descent of the original pranic Light into the dialectica! sphere which is emptied to the I, always occurs in a way unforseen by the I. It manifests itself without the consciousness being in any way aware of it. Nor is there any question ofoccult overshadowing. The conversion of life, which the Gnosis expects of its pupils, has marvelous consequences. When the I, that is the consciousness, gives up the promptings of its dialectica! nature and, as the Psalmist expresses it so pithily, ‘becomes silent before God’, the blood and the internal secretion change. The will, the desire and the drivings of the intellect participate in this very significant silence. The two aspects of the aural magnetism also undergo a total change; they are virtually neutralized. What would the pupil want to attract or repel? He has become silent before the light of the Gnosis.
There comes a time when in this wonderful silence no ordinary natural power whatsoever can wield influence over the system. There is only a biologica! interaction between the personality and the various etheric forces which keep the person ality in existence. In this state the dialectica! sphere is completely taken up into and susceptible to the light of the Spirit. A certain sensitivity to the gnostic radiations takes place which constitutes a binding. Then transmutation begins with all the known results. This is the point where the pupil is taken up into the net of the Gnosis and can become a fisher of men.
When the dialectical sphere becomes sensitive to the Gnosis through self-mortification, a certain reflection develops. To some degree, the radiations of the Gnosis are reflected into the dark depths of the earth and so the pupil can fish for men in the service of the Brotherhood. His net can tear no more, because it is no longer he who acts, but Christ in him. His respiration-field breathes in the radiation of the Gnosis and a new being, the reborn Man awakens in that breath.