It has been said: "Necessity is the mother of invention." Therefore, the origin of a thing is in the need for it. Reality is like a vacuum, Truth rushes in to fill the void; but only where there is a genuine need for the void to be filled.

Only those who know from actual experience will be able to fathom what is written in the sacred writings. Without understanding, the container will be mistaken for the contents. Like so many other mystical and philosophical writings, the sacred books of the Arya are primarily intended for the use of teachers (Arya-Tes: Teachers of the Way) rather than for the use of students (or Disciples of the Way). The Way is usually taught by a series of lectures or discourses of which explanations can be given personally and the message can be delivered by the spoken word. They are difficult for the reader to follow coherently; hence, a commentary for students is necessary, and I have tried to fill that need in these writings.

The term "Arya" is used in literature in different senses. But the general sense always remains the same, and that is a unification of two or more diverse elements, a whole which includes or unites several parts. Specifically, it is the establishment of perfect harmony between the everyday self and its spiritual source. It is what is generally called mysticism.

In the Hebrew Bible, the condition of Arya is concisely indicated by the frequently used phrase: "and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him," as the method of the Arya is correctly described by the Psalmist's: "Be still and know that I am God." In the Christian religion something akin to the practices of the Arya has been always practiced. Christianity has, throughout its long history, held a mystical element. Therefore, the ancient teachings are not really something exotic and entirely unknown in the West; they have only been neglected and are half-forgotten in a society that is primarily focused on materialism...

Religion must emphasize the harmonious development of the physical, social and spiritual elements of human (or community) life.

Our faith must be known as a rigorous discipline, and for its constructive involvement in the ordinary world, as well as for its production of mystics of high attainment.

Eventually it will absorb alien elements, and naturally will become subject to the political and economic pressures that affect any visible organization.

The Arya-Dhar is a guide to comprehensive self-realization while living an ordinary life in the world. It shows the way to enlighten people and to accomplish tasks.

For practitioners, to harmonize with the heavenly (or divine) in human life means to deal with each time and place, each combination of relations and potentials, in such a way as to achieve an appropriate balance of relevant forces and their modes of manifestation.

That rest is the foundation of movement (thought and action), movement is the potential of rest (doing for being), is a perennial Aryan theme, according to which stillness and action, receptivity and creativity, are complementary and interdependent, both necessary to the complete human being, just as they are essential aspects of the entire fabric of being as a whole.

According to one mode of Aryan practice, receptivity to reality, which is what gives creativity its positive quality of sanity, is achieved through emptying the mind of its conditioned subjectivity, stilling personal predisposition so that unbiased understanding and action may take place. Thus, the state often described by such terms as "freedom from thought and contrivance," "rest," "emptiness and stillness," is regarded as a sort of passageway to the awakening of the whole human potential. In everyday terms, this might be likened to refraining from speaking and remaining silent in order to listen; by understanding gained through accurate reception, it may then be possible to respond objectively rather than automatically.

The rest or stilling of automatic thought and behavior, intended to provide room for impartial awareness and deliberate action, is an aspect of Aryan practice that is highly emphasized.

The embodiment of openness and tranquillity, or emptiness and stillness, is sometimes likened to polishing a mirror so that it can reflect clearly. This not only improves personal efficiency in the everyday world, but it also clears the way for enhanced consciousness and continued development.

Aryan mysticism is ancient and at the same time it is ideally suited for the 21st Century and beyond. The Arya-Dhar is well adapted to modern life... it can make the individual stronger and freer and help to promote social harmony and material progress. It can bring more power into every activity of life, and at the same time purity and peace.

It begins with you, who must work to do your part in the development of the Aryan outlook and the Aryan way of life, an ideology which will gradually spread through society and produce that social temper of the individual which is the best insurance of the future welfare of the race.

Guan Gong Ch’an (i.e., the Arya-Dahr and the Noble Path) is the focal point of our thought and purpose. Beginning with that, we can select, employ and adapt what suits us, and find in it an addition to our present living, a poised vitality, a clarity and inflexibility of purpose and an intelligent use of our intellect which will benefit both the individual and society.

Those who approach the subject of religion do so from three quite different points of view. One group says: "We want to make our lives richer and stronger in the immediate future. We do not seek something different from the kind of life we now know, but we want it much improved, both inside and outside, that is to say, in mind and body and in environment. We want clear, strong minds, well stocked with knowledge about the art of living, and we want tasty and wholesome food; sensible, clean and good clothing; well-equipped houses, with comfort, sanitation, sanitation, security and beauty; happy families; good and friendly neighbors; and community benefits such as good schools and libraries, honest newspapers, swimming pools and roads. We are not averse to regular work and even labor, but we want ample leisure with good entertainment by magazines, radio and TV, music, films and the theater, public lectures and forums, good transportation, and access to holiday places in the mountains and at the seashore. We do not seek the solution of the mysteries of life - what the world really is or what ourselves really are - but we want a stronger, richer life. Can Guan Gong Ch’an help us do that?"

The answer is that it can, for it says to the seeker: 

"Your success depends on how you work in the world. It requires that you look every fact that concerns you straight in the eye and know it for what it is to the senses, and then deal with it with all the knowledge you have and with resolve. It requires that you ponder your own thoughts and feelings until you know what you want, without groping around in the dark, without a miserable acceptance of negative satisfaction, and without resignation. It requires that you meet your neighbors with the clear-sighted knowledge that, taken as a whole, they are all very similar to yourself."