Platform

The Platform of Men and Women of Goodwill

All work becomes spiritual when rightly motivated, when wise discrimination is employed, and when spiritual power is added to the knowledge gained in the physical world where emotion and thinking also play their parts.

One of the main qualities of men and women of goodwill everywhere is their attitude to the major problems which confront humanity at present--a strong sense of responsibility for helping to solve those problems.

These people of goodwill are to be found in every country in the world, and in every racial grouping. They are members of every religion and church; they are to be found working in every political and economic grouping without exception. There is in fact no area of human life or thought that lacks the harmonising presence of people of goodwill.

Men and women of goodwill who are associated with particular political, religious, economic, cultural or other groupings in the human family do not work for the benefit of these groupings at the expense of others. Whatever their outer affiliations, people of goodwill stand for:--

1. The belief in the underlying unity of humanity, which is part of the oneness of the whole planet and the life upon it.
2. The belief in a worldwide brotherhood (removed from the realm of sentiment, of idealism and of mystical aspiration) as a demonstrated reality.
3. The belief that the major need today is to awaken interest in and mobilise the forces of light and the resources of the men and women of goodwill. If this is done the negative and evil forces will lose their hold and power in human affairs.
4. Harmlessness in speech, writing and action. Public opinion must be educated in the principle of non-separativeness, and people's minds must be prepared for the changes of thought and techniques of work of the new age. Harmlessness is not a negative or sweet and kindly activity, and does not remove the need for firm or even drastic action if the occasion demands. Harmlessness is a state of mind in which the motive behind all activity is goodwill.
5. An unprejudiced mental analysis of all human problems so that any solution may be in the interests of the whole.
6. An inner blending of objectives which recognises the value of the individual as well as of true group work, which means group understanding, group inter-relation and group goodwill.

Above all people of goodwill stand for the fundamental freedom of the human spirit. Men and women of goodwill should remain free to think and choose and act according to their own conscience, for there is no uniformity of people. There can be uniformity of purpose and approach, but a uniformity of reaction must not be expected. Unity is not uniformity. Diversity does not exclude unity, nor create chaos. The chaos is essentially in the minds of humans, and with clarity of thought and goodwill a right and constructive relationship between the parts can be established.

The Science of Relationships

An analogy can be drawn between human service and an electrical current. The current only flows when it is providing energy for something beyond itself. Selfishness drains away power as surely as a short circuit and, if too great, can equally surely halt the whole flow of power. When the technique of goodwill is more generally understood, its energy will begin to flow and its power be felt more widely.

Each of us is involved in a complex network of relations, individual, group, community, national and international. These may be thought of as the "horizontal" relationships of individuals with their fellows and with their environment. This horizontal system of relationships is a means of contact, communication and influence. Itis a carrier of energy at different levels, physical, emotional and mental. And since we live in a rapidly evolving world, this system of relationships is in a continual state of flux and change. The task of the person of goodwill is so to handle his or her place within this system, and the forces and energies under their control, that he or she assists in establishing right human relationships. Right relationships may be defined as those which encourage the maximum evolutionary growth of all the individual and group units within the system. The energy of goodwill is the most fundamental and important means to this end.

But humanity is also part of another relationship system--the "vertical", which links us to spiritual levels of awareness, to God and to the Universe. Contact with this vertical system is made by knowing and living up to the highest in oneself. Prayer, meditation and reflective thought are the essential means of creating and maintaining the "vertical" life of the spirit.

Creative living, involving the dynamic expression of the soul, or inner spiritual nature in the world of human relationships, calls for a right balance between the "vertical" and the "horizontal" systems of relationship, between the subjective and objective factors. Lack of attention to the "vertical" life of the spirit leads to static, crystallised and uninspired relationships and action in the everyday world. Excessive concentration on the subjective, or "vertical" life without allowing any opportunity for right expression in the material world can lead to overstimulation, tendencies to glamour and unreality, and to those distressing cases of messianic fanaticism that occur only too frequently among the well-intentioned but unbalanced aspirants.

The right balancing ofthe "vertical" and "horizontal" life can only be accomplished when the individual can balance the forces of their own nature, within their own psyche. The symbol of this balance, which also symbolises the goal for men and women of goodwill in the new age, is the even-armed cross. Once the balance is achieved, the fire of the spirit can inspire and permeate the world of everyday in a wisely adjusted system of human relationships.

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