the Question of Surrender Still a valid concept?
In the Gospel of St Thomas Jesus says: 'my yoke is easy, my Lordship light'. To the modern mind this conveys an archaic idea, and certainly the imagery of 'Lordship' belongs to feudal times. But to see this statement in that light is to miss the point that the genuine Master is gentle, and the discipline is easy, joyous in fact. All genuine Masters know this, but such is the nature of many seekers that some Masters seem forced to invent a plethora of daunting tasks to engage them. Another important element to understand in this relationship is that it is often short. A great Master's natural instinct is to teach as many as possible, because they know that their gift is precious and that is rarely available. Hence they are looking for new aspirants all the time, and it often becomes physically impossible to minister to the needs of everyone. Hence if the discipleship has been successful the Master will send the disciple away at the first opportunity, which has historically been seen by some as a betrayal. It should be seen more that the Master wants those who have attained to teach others, and to make way for those who still need guidance. Sometimes the Master will send an aspirant away because everything possible has been done and no progress has been made. The best reason for the relationship being short however is that the aspirant is intelligent enough and with sufficient humility to 'get it' quickly. All the men and women in the great Buddhist text 'the Elder's verses' seem to have fallen into that category. |