The Nature of Discipleship

The first 200 words of this essay...

The Nature of Discipleship

It might be of value here if we considered briefly the nature of discipleship. It is a word in constant use among aspirants in Christian lands, as in the oriental religions. Discipleship could be defined as the final stage of the path of evolution, and as that period in a man's experience in which he is definitely self-conscious. It is the stage in which he knowingly pledges himself to impose the will of the soul (which is essentially the will of God) upon the lower nature. Upon this path he submits himself to a forcing process, so that the flower of the soul can unfold more quickly. The inevitability of human perfection underlies his willingness to make the attempt to tread the path. This perfection can be attained in two ways. It can be the result of slow and steady evolutionary growth, carried forward under nature's laws, cycle after cycle, until gradually the hidden God can be seen in man and in the universe. Or, it can be the result [6] of systematized application and discipline on the part of the aspirant, producing a more rapid unfoldment of the power and life of the soul.