Thousands are seeking understanding in overcoming the fear of death. They want to know where they are going after death and what it is like. It is natural to be inquisitive about one’s future, and long to experience what is on the other side of death, with knowledge and without fear.
During the life of every individual there are moments that may be described as crossroads, in which he looks within himself for answers to the questions that have concerned mankind since the dawn of human history:
The way the individual faces these questions may well determine the course of his existence.
The Ancient Teachings of the Masters is the most ancient spiritual teaching known to Man—it is for the individual—and through it these universal questions are seen in their deepest meaning and answered by the direct experience of God at the Temple Within.
WHEN LIFE BEGAN
All life began when a great Intelligence called Spirit (the Voice of God)brought Souls out of the higher planes of existence into the lower worlds of creation. Once Souls reach these lower worlds, they begin to unfold and spend many lifetimes in the physical world, attempting to discover who and what they are.
This physical world serves as a training ground, a school to educate individuals, spiritually, as to their true identity. Eventually Souls reach spiritual maturity after long periods of time through many incarnations into various life forms. Ultimately, they enter into human form, but when it is time to begin the journey back to higher planes of existence, Souls have become so conditioned to life as they know it that they forget their way back home.
The teachings of Divine Spirit provide the help that awakens
the yearning Soul and guides it back to the heart of God,
Soul’s true home.
OUR TRUE IDENTITY
The Ancient Masters teach that Soul is man’s true identity, inborn and indestructible, the eternal consciousness that knows no death. The Masters, throughout the ages, have evolved techniques by which the individual, at his own volition, and without the use of drugs, hypnosis or occult practices, may consciously transcend the physical state of consciousness.
In this way a person may experience greater levels of existence that lie beyond the perception of physical senses.
Each of us has five bodies: The physical, that we see and touch; the astral or emotional body; the causal body, where the recollection of Soul’s past experience is kept; the mental and etheric body, including the unconscious that we experience in dreams; and the Soul body.
We place the emphasis on the Soul body as the vehicle we prefer for experience. Soul cannot be aberrated in the manner the other bodies can. It is indestructible. The mind can be developed, but as it is a tool, it is limited. Once an individual grasps the movement of Soul, it is swifter than the speed of light.
SPIRITUAL FREEDOM
The goal of those on this direct path to God is spiritual liberation in this lifetime, the realization of self and God, and the preservation of the individual self throughout eternity. The essential nature of the teachings is freedom from all things, the complete independence of Soul.
Nothing is held back from you;
there is only your own state of consciousness
which you and only you are able to develop.
The teachings stress that the individual is responsible for his own physical, psychic and spiritual space, and that no one should interfere. Each individual should be exactly where he chooses, and no one else should have anything to say about that spiritual freedom, so long as it is conducted in a responsible manner.
Initiates come from every part of the world, every walk of life, are of every age, social and economic background. They have one common denominator—a desire for the personal experience of the Sugmad, an ancient Chinese word for God.
Along the way, the individual brings his physical, emotional, mental and subconscious states into harmony with himself as Soul and discovers a dynamic, fully integrated existence. When he finds the answers to all his questions, they will be his own answers, for neither I nor any man can give them to another.
Through the teachings of the Ancient Masters, the individual will be certain of what he has found, for it will be his own conscious experience that leads him to it, and his own choice and desire that make it a reality.
Excerpts from The ATOM Way of Life, 1998 andSource Sugmad
