Corresponding Manual for Teachers Section
Chapter 5: Student / World Questions
8. Can the Divine Be Reached Directly?
The Divine indeed can be reached directly, for there is no distance between It and Its Children. Awareness of the Divine is in everyone’s memory, and Its Word of Truth and Love is written on everyone’s heart. Yet this awareness and this memory can arise across the threshold of the unconscious only where all barriers to Truth and Love have been removed. In how many has this so far been accomplished?
Here then is the Role of the Divine’s Teachers and their students. They too have yet to attain the necessary Understanding to allow all barriers to Truth and Love to be removed, but they have joined with each other and with Spirit in awakening. This is what temporarily sets them apart from the world. And it is this that enables them to leave the world of illusion together. Alone they are nothing because they are not alone. But in their Joining is the Power of the Divine.
There are those who have reached the Divine directly, retaining no trace of worldly limits and remembering their own Identity perfectly. These might be called the Teachers of the Teachers of the Divine because, although they are no longer visible in form, their Likeness can yet be called upon. They are One with the Divine’s appointed Teacher – the Holy Spirit – as they are with the Divine. And they will appear when and where it is helpful for them to do so.
To those to whom such appearances would be frightening, these Teachers of the Teachers of the Divine give their Ideas. No one can call on them in vain. Nor is there anyone of whom they are unaware. All needs are known to them, and all mistakes are recognized and seen beyond by them. The time will come when this is understood. And meanwhile, they give all their Gifts to the Teachers of the Divine and their students who turn to them for help, asking all things in their Name, which is One with the Divine’s.
Sometimes a Teacher of the Divine or student may have a brief experience of direct Union with the Divine. In this world it is almost impossible that this experience endure indefinitely. It can, perhaps, be won after much devotion of the heart and dedication of the will, and then be maintained for most of the time on Earth. But this is so rare that it cannot be considered a realistic goal of our curriculum. If it happens, so be it. If it does not happen, so be it as well. All worldly states by nature must be transitory. If the Divine were reached directly in sustained awareness, the body would not be long maintained. Those who have transcended the body entirely into Limitlessness to extend their Helpfulness to those remaining in this world are as yet few indeed. And they need helpers who yet dream they are in this world, so that by their awakening can the Divine’s Voice be heard.
Do not despair, then, because of limitations still experienced. It is your function to release yourself from them, but not to be without them. If you would be heard by those who suffer, you must speak their language. If you would be awakeners, you must understand what needs to be awakened from. The Great Awakening is not theoretical—It is direct experience. Remember Its motto: learn, listen and allow. Discern the problem, ask for the Answer, and then accept It when It comes. Nor will the Answer’s arrival be long delayed. All the Help you can accept will be provided, and not one need you have will be left unmet. Let us not, then, be concerned with goals for which you are not ready, such as reaching the Divine directly. The Divine accepts you where you are and welcomes you. What more could you desire, when this is all you need?
