Highlights from Chapter 2 of A Handbook for Discipleship

Highlights from Chapter 2 of Handbook for Discipleship:

First of all, we need to develop attitudes of humility, of wanting to learn, of being willing
to give up one’s own desires, of giving up one’s normal human tendency to justify
oneself, to insist on being right. Unfortunately it’s all too common for disciples to act as
if the guru were some sort of heavenly slave, always doing them little favors. You find
this sort of person saying, “Oh, Master did this for me, or, Master did that for me.” They
don’t understand what Master is. They reduce Master to the level of a human personality,
when he is so much more.

The first step in becoming a true disciple is to be a proper human being – that means
relinquishing those things that prevent one from attaining the state of consciousness of
the guru.  What is a human being in its improper human state? First of all, it clings to that
state. It says, “I am real. My body is real; my personality is real; my ego is real.”
Secondly, it says, “I am more real than anyone else. If they suffer, I don’t feel it. If I
suffer, however, I do feel it. Therefore I am more real. When I am happy, I feel it. When
other people are happy, I’m happy for them, but in a different way!”

To be a true disciple, we need also to have the attitude of openness to the guru, to be
willing to be corrected at any time.

The guru asks things of us that are not convenient,
and the ego goes through certain tests because of this. Every devotee on the path goes
through the same basic tests, though each one will have his own individual challenges as
well. The first is negativity. Invariably it happens when you first come onto the path that
someone tries to turn you away from it. Someone will say negative things, and you start
to listen. Either you are swayed towards this negativity, or you resist and say no.

You can tell if something is the pull of delusion or not by the kind of consciousness you
develop from it. Does it give you peace? Does it give you joy? Or does it undermine that
peace and joy?

The next test that comes along is a certain rebelliousness. The disciple thinks, “You are
asking too much of me. I am not going to do that much. I’ve got my life to lead, too.” The
disciple doesn’t want to be asked to give up everything because that doesn’t seem fair.
So, in reaction, he rebels.

The third test is the thought, “What the guru is saying may be right for him and for a few
others, but he doesn’t understand me and my needs.”

The most important aspect of being a true disciple and overcoming the tests on the path is
the commitment of loyalty – the commitment of trust.

The true disciple is
always thinking only of how he can serve God and guru more, of what more he can give.
If the devotee starts to think of how he can get more experience or more realization, then
he falls back into delusion. It has to be a constant giving, and in that giving, God can give
us more.

The guru is omnipresent. As true disciples, we
should try to become omnipresent like him.

I would say the important thing is not to go looking for a guru. Look for God. God will
send you what you need at the time that you need it. Our devotion should always be to
God. I remember Yogananda saying to one disciple, “Never mind what happens to me.
Don’t forget God.” God is our common Father. He’s the one we’re looking for.