"Sometimes it is said: in ascending the stairway a man is not sure of anything, he may doubt everything, his own powers, whether what he is doing is right, the guide, his knowledge and his powers. At the same time, what he attains is very unstable; even if he has ascended fairly high on the stairway, he may fall down at any moment and have to begin again from the beginning. But when he has passed the last threshold and enters the way, all this changes. First of all, all doubts he may have about his guide disappear and at the same time the guide becomes far less necessary to him than before. In many respects he may even be independent and know where he is going. Secondly, he can no longer lose so easily the results of his work and he cannot find himself again in ordinary life."- Search, p301

In pondering being master I came to this quote, which gives indirect ideas for defining the change in being between having and being master. An analogy can be made between leaving the nest or a child leaving its parent. This is described in Tales as "preparation for a responsible being."

A parent works with two bodies, the physical and astral, in raising a child. The child crystallizes physical body at birth and begins to develop astral body. In past epochs, according to G., the proper education would include a crystallizing of astral body prior to going out into life. This is no longer the case, however, and any development to astral body is incomplete and often completely wrong.

The Work affords us a teacher, who basically completes and/or restructures the development of astral body, while also working with developing potential in mental body. So we see that a Teacher also works with two bodies, much like the parent. The astral body should be crystallized and the mental body sufficiently developed so that it can continue on its own.

The quote above clues us in on what this change looks like - the relationship with the teacher shifts. Much of this is dependent on the relationship and the maturity of the teacher/parent. Many of us experienced turbulent departures from our parents; either our parents pushed us away or clung to us. The same extremes can be experienced in a student/teacher relationship: in this we must be watchful so as not to recreate our (former) paradigm mechanically. If the teacher/parent is mature, prepares in advance and takes measures to this end, there should be no problem; the student becomes free on the best of terms and begins to relate to the teacher/parent as a peer. If there is a problem, the separation must still occur, for the health of both parties, and often an exaggerated boundary is established. It may be quite so time, perhaps forever, that this boundary is maintained.

To return to my original point, it is this separation from the teacher, peaceful or turbulent, that defines the beginning of the way. It may also be said that in order to enter the way, one must separate from the teacher. This may be verified on the lower scale of ordinary life by observing adults who still live with their parents. They are not fully in life, are not 'responsible citizens,' nor do they make good employees or even friends; in short, they are not "good householders." There is no understanding or discipline in them as they are unable to face obstacles and overcome them.

There is much more to ponder along this line. I look forward to hearing of your discoveries!

KSR 6/10/00