DISCOURSES Volume II - Avatar Meher Baba Trust

True DiscipleshipWHEN an aspirant becomes voluntarily affiliated with a Master,he is said to have become a disciple. But if this affiliation ismerely formal, it does not constitute true discipleship. The rela-Discipleship is vitalrelationtionship between disciple and Master isutterly different from the legal relationswhich create rights and liabilities throughverbal transactions or formal agreements. Discipleship is one ofthe fundamental features which characterise the life of theadvanced aspirant, and it does not come into existence through anyartificial procedure. It arises out of the basic laws of spiritual life.It is therefore much more significant than the mundane relationswhich arise within the context of ordinary social life as a result ofincidental associations or temporary contracts. Many of thesemundane relations do not enter into the spiritual fabric of the life ofthe aspirant but remain superficially attached to his being. Thus itis not of any great consequence whether you purchase a thing fromone shop-keeper or another as long as you pay the price for it; andit is immaterial whether you travel by one ship or another so longas you arrive at your destination. Even such transactions are nodoubt inwardly determined by sanskaric ties and karmic laws, andtherefore are not entirely devoid of spiritual significance. But