Ask Richard
Questions and Answers from the
Are Only 1 in 2500
Ready to Assist the Brotherhoods?
Q: Did I read correctly a statement in The Ultimate Frontier that only one person in 2,500 is ready to implement the Brotherhoods’ teachings?
A: Yes. That’s Their figure.
Q: Does that correspond to a person’s emotional maturity?
A: It has something to do with it. But there are a lot of emotionally mature people whose philosophy is already set; so they’re not dissatisfied or searching for something else. If they aren’t looking for something better, then they’re not going to adopt a new belief, especially if it’s as different as the Brotherhoods’ philosophy is from current theological interpretations of Christianity or Judaism.
Are People in the
Q: Do you think there might be a greater concentration of people Egoically ready to accept your philosophy who are residing in this area rather than in other cities because they were drawn here?
A: I don’t think
so. People who are searching for meaningful answers live all over the world and
are quite evenly spread around the
Q: Well, then, are those persons who are each the 1 out of 2,500 the people who can understand the philosophy in your book?
A: Almost anyone can understand it. For instance, I think you could read a book on Hinduism and understand it. That doesn’t mean that you would embrace it. You might read a book on Buddhism and perhaps pick out and adopt for your own personal beliefs one or two concepts that seem reasonable and valuable to you, but that doesn’t mean you intend to become a Buddhist. There are plenty of people who are intelligent enough to understand the Brotherhoods’ philosophy as presented in The Ultimate Frontier; however, that doesn’t mean they’re going to embrace it and thus change their lives.
Q: So maybe the kind of person we are discussing is that 1 in 2,500 who is emotionally mature, can understand, and is motivated to apply the philosophy practically in his life.
A: Yes, I think so. And he or she has to be self-motivated the entire way. One of the things the Brotherhoods measure in order to determine the kinds of situations or challenges to enter into your life that will move you to further understanding, is how self-motivated you are to persistently apply yourself in the right directions. All of us will tackle something for a while and maybe put a lot of effort into it, but then we seem to need to rest on a new plateau for a couple of years until we feel ready to move upward again. I think those plateau periods are important, because they are a time of consolidation and crystallization of new ideas into something more real to you—where you reap the rewards of some of your lessons in life. Those plateaus tend to be a time for you to teach. I don’t mean as a paid, formally recognized teacher, but rather as one who exemplifies newfound concepts and informs neighbors, friends, and children. In many ways, you might not even realize that you’re being a teacher, because it isn’t necessarily a conscious intention. You’re just being out there modeling and sharing better ways. Part of your own consolidation and learning process is your teaching others what you’ve learned.
Can a Person
Perceive Their Life Plan?
Q: Most of life’s lessons just naturally happen. But that doesn’t mean some of your lessons aren’t induced by the Brotherhoods. When you’re ready, the Brothers bring situations and opportunities alongside your path to help educate you in the directions you want to go. They’re aware of what everybody’s lifetime intention was from before each time we incarnate. Yet sometimes our life plans turn into mere intentions after we come into incarnation. Aren’t you free to perceive your life plan and aid it from your end?
A: Certainly! But few people ever consciously penetrate their life plan with any real surety of accuracy. For some people, the same thing can repeatedly happen in their lives for decades, yet they never learn from it. In that case, they’re not growing or progressing as a result of these experiences. Only logic and analysis lead to understanding. If repeated results of your actions turn out negative, you have to ask how you’re bringing that about before you can determine how to achieve positive results. If good things are happening but not consistently, you may want to analyze what is causing the good results so you can bring them about more predictably and have your life be made up primarily of good things. Searching for cause and effect is our key to real learning. There’s no manual for how to run the Earth, nor is there a manual telling you how to run your life. Everyone’s in the same boat. We all have to see what results from the different things we try, and essentially we learn from that. But some people never learn, they just ask over and over, “Why is this happening to me?”
How Do the Brothers Help People Grow?
Q: I’ve heard you say that at times the Brothers help move along certain situations in one’s life. Do you really mean the Brothers, or is that the Lords of Karma?
A: The Lords of Karma are Adepts; so they’re Brothers too. They will help people who want to grow by setting up situations in their lives in ways which eventually should be beneficial. The majority of people do not receive this kind of attention from the Brotherhoods simply because they have no desire to improve themselves if it’s going to take their own efforts. Brothers never take control of your life. They may bring opportunities alongside your path, as it were, for you to either reject or act upon. If necessary, They offer essentially the same type of opportunity year after year until you do something with it. They can’t put a stumbling block in your path that you have to deal with unless it’s some kind of karmic situation.
How Do Brothers Know What Help a Person Needs?
Q: How are They aware of one’s being on the path to self betterment? Do they maintain some sort of surveillance?
A: Right! They know which persons are earnestly seeking answer to: Why is the world the way it is? Why am I here? What am I supposed to accomplish? Such are the people who are the Brotherhoods want to help and can help. You’ve heard the quote, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” Actually the teachers are there all the time hoping you’re going to make that next step so They can help you. Our questioning is a cue to Them to answer; but because They can’t answer directly, They have to do it subtly—sometimes by arranging a seemingly “chance” meeting with experts with whom you would have a more or less normal way of coming in contact; or by directing you to the right magazines, the right TV program. They have all kinds of apparently normal-appearing subterfuges.
Fortunately, there are also everyday channels available to all, which do not require the intervention of the Brothers. There are books and philosophical/religious groups to lead people from wherever they are to the next higher step of understanding and virtue. These groups don’t have to operate under the Brotherhoods, but the Brotherhoods probably give Their approbation because these mundane sources are each providing a level of improvement to someone. Most of us have to follow essentially the same path to enlightenment as step-by-step we’re able to take in new concepts and put them into practice. Thus we might move up through a series of groups, and that seems to lead naturally to subsequently higher stages of spiritual development. Unfortunately, many people are locked into a religious belief structure that admits of no such process of self-evaluation and the experimental search which that requires.
What Lessons Are Available?
Q: Just what kind of lessons do these various groups provide?
A: They literally encompass everything. We’re all immersed in the lessons of life. My view is that this world is supposed to be a very pleasant and instructive place. We all have to work, and in work some of our greatest learning opportunities come our way. Work usually involves interaction with other people and producing things or services which earn our karmic balance so that we can say we’re not getting something for nothing. For those who adhere to the proper operations of day-to-day living, life is good for them, as it should be. Of course, you can make life even more beautiful by your contemplations of how much Love comes from Higher Beings, who created us and our planet, and who are trying to help the whole human race climb the ladder. These Higher Beings are aided by our fellow human beings how have become Brothers. It’s beneficial to contemplate what those friendly and concerned Egos are like. They allow us full range of our self-determination to grow Egoically while They point the way and give us the challenges we arranged with Them to introduce before we incarnated. Lovingly, they want us to grow and stop the cycle of suffering mankind imposes on itself. They want us to become Their equivalent in that Brotherhood of Saints.