Sri Sai Baba`S:Charters And Sayings

'28 TALKS ON (< AT THE FEET OJ? THE MASTER "

undertake it even if there were no other reason.
For what is the meaning of this first great step ?
The man who takes it has entered upc^n the stream.

The Christian calls him the man who is " saved," or
•

(i safe ". That means that he is quite sure to go on in
this present stream of evolution, and not to drop out
at the u day of judgment " in the next Round, so that
even for himself it is a stupendous achievement, this
union of the higher and the lower self. But the
attainment of it is, by the nature of the case, a thing
you must do yourself. There is no sort of vicarious
atonement possible in this matter, it is not possible
that somebody else should do it for you. Somebody
else may show you how, but you yourselves must
individually do the work that it requires. This
means that you must bring yourselves up to a certain
standard; and when you have reached that, the
Hierarchy recognises you as a member of the Great
Brotherhood. The First Initiation is the ceremony
which officially admits a man to that Brotherhood,
which makes him saved or safe ; and the words used
in admitting him to it include that very verse : tt You
are now safe for ever; you have entered upon the
stream ; may you soon reach the further shore "—the
further shore being Adeptship, because that, is the
next great stage. If you think of it, there are certain
definite stages which outweigh all others in import-
ance in a man's existence ; the first of these is when
he individualises, when he comes forth from the