In search of the ‘Living Truth’
Autumn 2017
“Who knows truly?
Who here will declare whence it arose, whence this creation?
The gods are subsequent to the creation of this.
Who, then, knows whence it has come into being?
Whence this creation has come into being; whether it was made or not;
he in the highest heaven is its surveyor.
Surely he knows, or perhaps he knows not.”
The Hymn of Creation, Rigveda, 10:129-61
Dear friend and co-worker,
What can we ever hope to know of ultimate truth if one of the most sacred scriptures proposes that the highest of Divine Beings may not know either? Mystery and wonder are integral aspects of truth, and the discovery of truth at one level leads on to a greater mystery at another. If this were not so, there would be no creativity, for the creative urge is essentially the desire to penetrate the unknown and to make what is discovered there a part of oneself through self-expression. Cultivating the sense of mystery and wonder is therefore beneficial in meditation as it is a creative enquiry into the enigma of being – a quest to touch the essence of the unknown and bring it back to the mundane world to express it through ourselves. This is the ‘living truth’ – the ever unfolding sense of identity on an endless journey from the unreal to the Real.
Important though the more concrete truths may be – the facts and figures of time and space – it is the living, spiritual truth which encompasses and animates the larger reality of which the former is only a small part. But how can this help us in a practical sense? How to discern right and wrong in an Information Age that feels at times more like the ‘Ironic Age’? For we may be more informed than at any other time in human history, but informed by what? Who do we trust to correctly interpret the titanic volume of data that is massaged and bandied about by all and sundry – through the social media channels of the internet as well as via the established media? At a time when fake news is blatantly used to manipulate public opinion and political outcomes, how do we discern the truth concealed in the deftly concocted falsehoods of vested interest groups?
Perhaps a clue lies in the word ‘information’ – inform meaning “to shape, give form to.” Everything that our senses relay to us is a ‘formation’ that has been shaped by energy of some kind, whether the formation be phenomenal or subjective, an event or a set of circumstances. To contact its ‘truth’ involves penetrating that formation to directly apprehend the purpose, quality and meaning of the energy that gives rise to it. Training to do this is found in Raja Yoga – the Kingly Science of the Mind – a system of meditation given to the world eleven thousand years ago by Patanjali and one that is predicted to remain a means of training disciples for the next seven thousand years.2 As set out in Alice Bailey’s book, The Light of the Soul, the practice of Raja Yoga can be used to train the mind to penetrate human affairs and to discern the underlying truth that is seeking expression. In the words of the Mantram of Unification:
“Let the soul control the outer form,
And life, and all events,
And bring to light the Love
That underlies the happenings of the time.
Let vision come and insight.
Let the future stand revealed.”
The ‘Love that underlies the happenings of the time’ referred to here is in sharp contrast to the hatred, violence and separativeness that dominate so many issues and events worldwide. But the truth of the matter is that the greatest ‘informing’ agent on our planet at this time is the Divine Plan of Love and Light as referred to in the Great Invocation. It is the underlying, living truth for our age, and everything that is unfolding before our eyes is related to it, ultimately making the outer expression of this love possible.
To achieve that end, the available energies of the Plan need to be stepped down into thought patterns on mental, emotional and etheric levels by those trained in the science of the mind. These thought forms can then provide inspiration to the constructive work of world servers everywhere. Without the constructive stepping down and relaying of these available energies, they are prone to the forces of illusion and glamour. Subtle distortions of truth then occur as the energies of the Plan become misused by those with powerful minds but lacking in true love. The resulting distorted forces then continue to descend but take a destructive, separative course into evil expression on the physical plane.
A dispassionate, impartial consideration of this process is provided in the Alice Bailey teachings: “evil and good are reverse aspects of the same one reality, and evil is that good which we should have left behind, passing on to greater and more inclusive good.”3 As it applies to the current world situation, this helps us to understand that both the person of goodwill and the perpetrator of evil deeds may be searching for truth and an expanded sense of identity, each at their own level, but the latter has become lost in illusion and glamour and is therefore incapable of expressing love. Greater mental skill in penetrating to the heart of the living truth, as learned through Raja Yoga, is vital to help people of goodwill forge a stronger link with the constructive energies of the Plan and to counter the subversion of the good and the true.
Recapturing the sense of mystery and wonder of existence is an essential part of this process, as the Hymn of Creation so beautifully portrays. Through its cultivation, the living, spiritual truth flows through us with its constant revelation, lifting humanity’s eyes towards a new vision. On a higher turn of the spiral, this is even so for great World Saviours such as the Christ and the Buddha. We read in the Alice Bailey writings, that their real work as Members of the White Brotherhood is even now only on the point of beginning, as “the true purpose of the existence of the Great White Lodge begins faintly to dawn upon Their entranced and amazed understanding. It is of real value to us, therefore, to endeavour to grasp the continuity of revelation and the vast future or vista of unfolding wonder.”4
And so, with these thoughts in mind, we invite you to join us
at the upcoming World Goodwill seminar to explore the theme:
From the Unreal to the Real: Discerning Truth in our Times.
As one, unified group mind, we will be working to intuit more
of the ‘living truth’ that can assist humanity’s arduous yet
awe-inspiring journey towards ever greater realities.
In the light of group vision,
Lucis Trust
1. Hymns from the Rig Vega, Prof. Paul Brians https://brians.wsu.edu/2016/11/14/hymns-from-the-rig-veda/
2. Discipleship in the New Age, Vol II, pp 326-7 A.A. Bailey
3. The Rays and the Initiations, p 350. A.A. Bailey
4. The Rays and the Initiations, p 203. Ibid