The Testament Of
Secrets November
1991 read original chapter 17 WITH
parentheticals this version is without
capitalization and parentheticals (also
see why Adi Da ‘writes’ in the style he does) Chapter 17 The Heart Itself Must Exceed Every Stage, Until the
Seventh Is Perfected as Itself In truth, the Way of The Heart begins at birth and
progresses through each of the seven stages of life, until
divine translation Individuals who are not born into the formal community of
true practitioners of the Way of The Heart generally come to
the Way of The Heart at an adult age. Such individuals have
already passed through the years of growth that are
naturally associated with the first three stages of life.
Even so, they invariably exhibit the signs of patterned
un-happiness that characterize the failures of functional,
practical, and relational adaptation in the context of the
first three stages of life Therefore, the Way of The Heart requires an ordeal of the
heart. Even from birth, and even in the context of each of
the first three stages of life, the heart should be
awakened, or else human adaptation and growth will
necessarily be retarded and made un-happy by the
self-contracting efforts of egoity It is free and effective heart-feeling that enables human
beings to grow beyond self-contraction to ultimate
realization of god, and if free heart-feeling is suppressed,
human beings cannot grow beyond the un-happy settlements of
the first three stages of life The heart is mine. The heart is the domain of all my
work. The heart is always in god, but reaction to the
conditions associated with apparent birth into the cosmic
planes produces the apparent conditional destiny of retarded
growth and all the suffering of self-contraction. Therefore,
this self-contracting reaction to conditional or phenomenal
states must be transcended in the context of every stage of
life. The heart must awaken at every stage of life, and the
individual being must grow to be attracted and distracted by
the forms of god, and thus to feel beyond the bond of
conditional events, and, ultimately, to feel beyond all that
is not the realization of divine being itself In the context of the first three stages of life in the
Way of The Heart , the hearts free urge to perfectly
self-transcending god-realization must be very fully
awakened by a growing response to my heart-revealing
realization-sign, and my full-given word of confessions,
arguments, and questions, and all my heart-instructing and
heart-blessing leelas. Therefore, those who grow by such
response are gracefully inspired, and constantly instructed,
and always directly helped in their growth, by my free
person and by all my storied and heart-liberating work In the fully established “basic” context of the fourth
stage of life in the Way of The Heart , the heart must be
established in full heart-response to my revealed
spirit-presence In the context of the sixth stage of life in the Way of
The Heart , the heart must be established in the
transcendental self, realized on the basis of the previously
established response to my grace-given bodily form, and to
my gracefully revealed spirit-presence, and on the
grace-given basis of a direct and heart-realizing response
to my very state And in the context of the seventh stage of life in the
Way of The Heart , based on all that was gracefully
established and realized in the context of the first six
stages of life, the heart must be established in the
“bright” divine self, inherently, immediately,
spontaneously, and divinely recognizing all apparent
conditions In the Way of The Heart , even every stage of life that
is entered is a circumstance in which I call my listening
devotee, or my hearing devotee, or my seeing devotee at the
heart. Even from the beginning, the Way of The Heart is a
call to grow toward the only one who is The Way of The Heart is, from the beginning, a response
to the call to realize the inherently perfect fullness of
the divine person. Therefore, even the inherently perfect
happiness of the seventh stage realization of the
transcendental, inherently spiritual, and divine reality
must inspire all the stages of life. And it can be so, if
every stage of life is lived in response to the great
person If there is self-transcending communion with me, then the
divine person is realized as I am. Because of this, whatever
his or her stage of life in the Way of The Heart , my
listening devotee, my hearing devotee, or my seeing devotee
will tacitly receive even all the by me given forms of the
divine person Therefore, the first three stages of life in the Way of
The Heart must become associated with participatory
dependence upon me via the left side of the heart, but the
middle station of the heart and the right side of the heart
will also be established in me, if my devotee really and
truly enters into self-surrendering, self-forgetting, and
self-transcending communion with me And even though the fourth stage of life and the fifth
stage of life are associated with the developing response to
me via the middle station of the heart, any devotee who
truly enters into such communion with me will realize the
witness-consciousness, and so be moved to the inherently
perfect practice of the Way of The Heart And even though the sixth stage of life is associated
with perfect feeling-contemplation of me as consciousness
itself, my true devotee will awaken to me most perfectly ,
and entirely free, and even free of the motive to exclude
the body-mind and its relations. In this manner, my true
devotee will enter into the seventh stage of life, wherein
the body-mind, founded in the totally awakened heart, is
resolved in the self-radiant and self-existing divine being,
and my true devotee will surely come to the divine
self-domain, via the divinely self-revealed doorWay of The
Heart The truly self-surrendering, self-forgetting, and
self-transcending response of the total heart to my bodily,
spiritual, transcendental, and divine revelation is the
great gesture to which I call my listening devotee, or my
hearing devotee, or my seeing devotee at every stage of
life. Only listen to me, and hear me, and see me. And if you
are listening to me, or hearing me, or seeing me, then love
me now, in my bodily form. And whenever you truly
acknowledge and embrace me as your true heart-master, you
will presently enjoy a revelation of the very divine person,
and a tacit awakening to all the forms of god, truth, or
reality Even so, this heart-responsive awakening should be
expressed in a more and more mature and fully conscious
fashion as my listening devotee moves through the stages of
life in the Way of The Heart . Every moment of practice in
the Way of The Heart will be a testing school for my
listening devotee, my hearing devotee, or my seeing devotee.
And the measure that is to be schooled and tested is my
devotees heart-response to me. Therefore, each moment of
practice and every stage of life in the Way of The Heart
will require increased responsibility for the gift that is
practice itself, because growth in practice is always based
on a progressively unfolding disclosure of the human design,
and a coincident increase in the level of participatory
self-submission required by every new stage of
revelation Even children and young people practicing and developing
in the natural context of the first three stages of life
within the by me given wisdom-culture of the Way of The
Heart are called to respond to me, and to commune with the
divine person as I am. They are called to commune with god,
truth, or the mystery of reality via my help, and to commune
with god, truth, or the mystery of reality as the universal
“spirit-presence”, and as the apparently objective “divine
star”, and as the “transcendental self”, and even altogether
as the “bright” and ultimate mystery of god. Because of
this, they will surely grow toward adult age served by my
living wisdom at the heart, and, for this reason, they
should be able to pass more readily through the listening
and hearing process to real practice in the seeing context
of the fully established “basic” fourth stage of life Those who come to me at an adult age are first called to
listen to me and to hear me, and thereby to awaken to
fullest devotional response to me. And that first period is
to take place within my formal sacred and cultural and
cooperative community of devotees All adult beginners in the Way of The Heart , whatever
their age, are still functioning in the context of the first
three stages of life. However, as soon as such individuals
begin to listen to me, they have already begun to develop
the orientation that is the first characteristic of the
fourth stage of life. And after such listening devotees
awaken to true hearing and basic human equanimity, and as
soon as they grow to actually and truly see me, they will
begin practice of the Way of The Heart in the fully
established “basic” context of the fourth stage of life For all adult practitioners of the Way of The Heart , the
student-beginner stage of the Way of The Heart , the first
three practicing stages of the technically “fully
elaborated” form of the Way of The Heart , and the listening
stage, the hearing stage, the would-be-seeing, or
progressively seeing, stage, and the first actually seeing
stage of the development of the technically “simpler”, or
even “simplest”, “lay congregationist” form of the Way of
The Heart involve the practice of disciplines which are
associated with the first three stages of life, and which
are progressively associated with heart-surrender into the
context of the fourth stage of life. Therefore, practice of
the Way of The Heart in the context of the fourth stage of
life begins in the student-beginner stage, then it develops
responsively in the first practicing stage of the
technically “fully elaborated” form of the Way of The Heart
, becomes full in the second practicing stage of the
technically “fully elaborated” form of the Way of The Heart
, and develops in the third practicing stage of the
technically “fully elaborated” form of the Way of The Heart
. And, if an early transition is not made to the “perfect
practice” of the Way of The Heart in the context of the
sixth stage of life, the adult practitioner of the
technically “fully elaborated” form of the Way of The Heart
should continue practice in the context of the fourth stage
of life by transitioning to the fourth practicing stage of
the technically “fully elaborated” form of the Way of The
Heart , wherein and whereby the transition should eventually
be made either to practicing stage five of the technically
“fully elaborated” form of the Way of The Heart or, even
more directly, to practicing stage six of the technically
“fully elaborated” form of the Way of The Heart , before the
final transition is made to practicing stage seven of the
technically “fully elaborated” form of the Way of The Heart
. Even though all adult practitioners of the Way of The
Heart must necessarily begin their practice in the domain of
the first three stages of life, the process of their
discipline should in fact also constantly develop within the
context of the fourth stage of life. Therefore, for all
adult practitioners of the Way of The Heart , the fourth
stage of life is to be progressively entered, through an
urge and a process that are embraced at the very beginning
of the Way of The Heart , but full entrance into the context
of the fourth stage of life in the Way of The Heart must
develop progressively, through the preparatory period of
first study-“consideration” and first devotionally
responsive practice of the Way of The Heart , and either
through the first three practicing stages of the technically
“fully elaborated” form of the Way of The Heart or through
the technically “simpler”, or even “simplest”, process of
listening, hearing, would-be-seeing, and first actual seeing
in the practice of the “lay congregationist” form of the Way
of The Heart The student-beginner of the Way of The Heart should be
freely moved to acknowledge and honor my grace-given person,
and word, and leelas, through the consistent offering of
attention to my now and hereafter ever-given bodily sign,
and my recorded and ever-speaking word, and my recorded and
ever-living leelas. Therefore, even though the
student-beginner of the Way of The Heart is most likely a
relatively limited, religiously undeveloped, and spiritually
un-awakened character, who is defined by the signs of failed
adaptation in the first three stages of life, and who is
limited by the ordinary purposes associated with the first
three stages of life, the fundamental motive of
self-transcendence and the great impulse toward perfectly
self-transcending god-realization can very fully awaken at
the heart in and by the profound process of the beginnings
of true listening. In the progressive course of the formal, and formally
acknowledged, practitioners first period of embrace of the
beginners devotional relationship to me, and of responsive
“consideration” of my full-given word and my storied leelas,
and of responsive application to the by me given forms of
functional, practical, relational, and cultural
self-discipline associated with the Way of The Heart , and
of responsive practice of the two devotional ways of the one
great Way of The Heart , the student-beginner must
eventually choose to practice one or the other of the two
devotional ways. Of the one great Way of The Heart . By means of this
total course, the acquired un-happiness relative to the work
of individuation should be significantly released. Indeed,
the inherent limits of even all of the first three stages of
life should become obvious in that earliest practice of
listening. Therefore, when the student-beginners original
heart-motive toward perfectly self-transcending
god-realization is, by grace, very deeply confirmed and more
fully awakened, and when that student-beginners active
feeling-contemplation and responsive devotional
acknowledgement of my now and hereafter ever-given bodily
human sign, and also his or her study and real
“consideration” of my word and work, have become his or her
thorough and consistent demonstration of all my original
gifts, callings, and disciplines, and when and if the
individual is prepared to be made increasingly effective in
the real practice of the Way of The Heart by the ever
thereafter continued and magnified application of the total
range of functional, practical, relational, and cultural
disciplines and obligations given by me to practitioners of
the Way of The Heart , then he or she should move on either
to “lay congregationist” practice of the “simpler”, or even
“simplest”, form of the Way of The Heart or to the first
practicing stage of the “fully elaborated” form of the Way
of The Heart . In the first practicing stage of the technically “fully
elaborated” form of the Way of The Heart , the practice of
right relationship to me is to be enlarged through the
voluntary, intentional, intelligent, and consistent
application of functional, practical, relational, and
cultural disciplines. Therefore, during the first practicing
stage of the technically “fully elaborated” course of the
Way of The Heart , progressively more profoundly
self-surrendering, self-forgetting, and self-transcending
feeling-contemplation of my bodily form should develop, and
“consideration” of all my fundamental teaching arguments
should become profoundly effective, and both random and
formal self-enquiry should become profoundly effective, or
else both random and formal sat-guru-naama japa should
become profoundly effective. All of that, including inspired
response to my historical play of teaching work and my
eternal play of blessing work, and also including regular
participation in sacramental, ceremonial, and other formal,
or informal, occasions of celebration of me, serves to
awaken the fourth stage response. That total process truly releases the un-happy first
stage motive toward separation and separativeness. And the
dramatization of the un-happy second stage motive of
rejection is also to be released by these same means.
Therefore, before the individual practitioner of the
technically “fully elaborated” form of the Way of The Heart
makes the transition to the second practicing stage of the
Way of The Heart , the basic limitations dramatized in the
context of the first three stages of life must be released
through most fundamental self-understanding, such that the
frontal personality thereby fulfills the third stage
necessity of human integration. My spirit-baptism awakens signs in and of the middle
station of the heart in my devotee. In the technically
“fully elaborated” course of the Way of The Heart , that
baptism is to occur, to real effect, during the second
practicing stage. At that stage, the spiritual basis for the
lovelessness that was egoically associated with the second
stage of life is to be directly transcended through the
grace-given spiritual conversion to love. That is to say, by
true seeing, the frontal personality is to be released from
the spiritual limitation that diminishes love, and the truly
spiritual socialization of the frontal personality through
love is thereby to be set in motion. The third practicing stage of the technically “fully
elaborated” form of the Way of The Heart is the most basic
technically “elaborate” practicing stage associated with the
fully established “basic” context of the fourth stage of
life. During that stage of the technically “elaborate”
practice, the individual is to complete the work of growth
beyond the ordinary limits of the first three stages of life
by fully integrating the frontal personality with the by
grace revealed spiritual reality. Therefore, in the context
of the third practicing stage of the technically “fully
elaborated” form of the Way of The Heart , the frontal
personality is to be spiritually purified, spiritually
balanced, and made full of spirit-life, through the ecstatic
yoga of devotional self-sacrifice, in which the frontal line
of the body-mind is spiritually converted to divine
love-communion by the constant exercise of the spiritually
awakened heart. The fourth practicing stage of the technically “fully
elaborated” form of the Way of The Heart is the stage of
“advanced” practice in the context of the fourth stage of
life. And the fourth practicing stage of the technically
“fully elaborated” form of the Way of The Heart is the stage
of transition from the context of the fourth stage of life
to the fifth stage of life. The transition from the third
practicing stage of the technically “fully elaborated” form
of the Way of The Heart to the fourth practicing stage of
the technically “fully elaborated” form of the Way of The
Heart is the transition from “elaborate” technical practices
predominantly associated with the frontal line and the
frontal personality to “elaborate” technical practices
predominantly associated with the spinal line and
evolutionary self-transcendence through devotional ascent.
Practice during the fourth practicing stage of the
technically “fully elaborated” form of the Way of The Heart
must continue, in the ordinary daily circumstance, to submit
the frontal personality to divine communion, but the primary
practice to which my devotees are called in the fourth
practicing stage of the technically “fully elaborated” form
of the Way of The Heart is that of devotional
self-submission from the anahata chakra , which releases the
spirit-current up into the spinal line and to the ajna door.
And the fifth stage of life has begun when devotional
concentration, or ascending feeling-contemplation, at the
ajna door is steady in daily meditation practice. The transition is made to the fifth practicing stage of
the technically “fully elaborated” form of the Way of The
Heart when devotional concentration is regularly and easily
steadied at the ajna door. Likewise, transitions to the
ultimate practicing stages of the technically “fully
elaborated” form of the Way of The Heart are also to be made
in due course, as I will describe in this testament. this version is without
capitalization and parentheticals read original chapter 17 WITH
parentheticals
Of The Divine World Teacher
and True Heart-Master,
Da Avabhasa
(The “Bright”.)
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“The perfect
among the sages is identical with Me. There is absolutely no
difference between us”
Tripura
Rahasya,
Chap XX, –
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