 Lineage and Legacy  |
The other night I was watching a fascinating documentary called "The Yogis of Tibet." Now the yogis of Tibet come from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. It's a very old tradition and I remember one of the yogis in the film talking about the fact that their lineage was unbroken for over 3000 years. He showed a chart listing all the masters and disciples back to the ancient days. He talked about the fact that the techniques of Tibetan yoga have always been secret - passed down by demonstration and practice from generation to generation of practitioners. But this elder yogi also said something very interesting - he said that after over 3000 years, it was now time to show the world these techniques for the very first time. The interviewer asked him "why now?" He replied that the times had changed and that now, the awareness of these methods of raising consciousness was deeply needed in the world. He said that, in effect, the yogis of Tibet had been the caretakers of this knowledge through a time of darkness, and that now they needed to deliver their legacy back into the world.
Lineage is a method of preserving purity of knowledge when that purity may be threatened. It works by mouth to ear, master to student, exact repetition and loyalty to the purity of the teachings. Lineage is the pipe that conducts the waters of truth. Each generation is simply a new section of pipe through which the water flows to the next generation. The beauty of lineage is that the student does not need to understand or deeply experience the teachings. All that is needed is loyalty and faithfulness to the original as it is handed down from generation to generation - perfect for the Piscean Age (the motto of which is "I believe, therefore I know.")
But now the Aquarian Age is dawning. Only authenticity, truth and direct experience are of value. Hearsay, intellectual (academic) study, secondhand information and repetition are all of secondary importance. What is valued in this Age is direct experience.
Legacy is the actual technology. It is the actual water that has passed through the pipes of generations of lineage. It is what remains beyond the impermanence of physical form. It can be practiced, experienced directly and understood by anyone. Lineage is no longer necessary. Legacy is completely pragmatic. Either it works or it does not work. Either it is true or it is not true. It is self-testing and self-purifying.
In the light of the Aquarian Age, there is no room for hidden agendas, selfish motives or any personal ego, title or situation. It is intrinsic in those values of being spiritually, physically, mentally, and financially sound that there's strength, integrity and commitment - all combined into body, mind, and soul and spirit. It is the time to drink deeply of the legacies we have received from the masters of the past and make them our own. To experience them directly, share them universally and enable others to teach them and spread them.
The universe has delivered to us a perfect legacy. It contains all the tools and technologies we need to not only survive in the Aquarian Age, but to prosper and excel, and to live in love, expansiveness and ecstasy.
It is our job to use it, live it and share it.