Some quotes from the Alice Bailey writings on epidemics
The current coronavirus pandemic is naturally raising a lot of questions from students of the Ageless Wisdom and we have therefore compiled a selection of relevant quotes from the Alice Bailey writings on the subject. There is much on the subject of diseases of the respiratory tract and lungs in the book, Esoteric Healing, and coronavirus fits into this category, however we haven’t included passages specifically concerned with influenza and tuberculosis, but these subjects can be researched online. While coronavirus shares some of the same symptoms as influenza, a clear differentiation between the two is made in this report of comments by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization. We are focusing here on what is said specifically about epidemics and then leaving students of the Ageless Wisdom to formulate their own thoughts on the current pandemic.
A link to a Goodwill meditation is provided at the end of the quotes for anyone wishing to augment the spread of goodwill at this time.
From the Alice Bailey writings
A general comment is made in the following passage on the relationship of epidemics to the condition of the etheric substance of the planet:
“Group ills and the sweep of epidemics of any kind through the masses are founded in some condition in the etheric substance of the planet. Those diseases which are general, national, racial and planetary find their way to an individual via his etheric body, but are not so personal in their implications.” Esoteric Healing (EH), p. 25
The Spiritual Hierarchy is able to play a role in controlling epidemics to some degree, depending on a wide variety of factors such as the karma and free will of humanity:
“There is…a secret…which relates to the seven rays as they express themselves in the human kingdom; the knowledge of this secret enables a Master to control epidemics and widespread diseases; with this you are not at this time concerned. Incidentally, the relative freedom from the plagues and epidemics which usually follow in the wake of war has been partly due to the use of this sevenfold knowledge by the Hierarchy, plus the scientific knowledge of humanity itself.” EH, p. 598
Although we cannot know to what extent the Spiritual Hierarchy can control this current pandemic it is some consolation to know that it collaborates with humanity as much as spiritual law allows. Nevertheless, members of the Hierarchy are themselves still learning about the secrets of nature’s processes including the secret that is referred to in the above passage:
“…there are two hierarchical officials the Mahachohan and His Representative upon the seventh ray—Who are today in possession of this secret in its entirety, and They are aided by five other Masters in applying the gained knowledge. These five Masters are working primarily with the deva evolution, and this is, as you know, connected with form, and in this particular case with the healing devas. These seven Members of the Hierarchy are aided in Their turn by one of the Buddhas of Activity, and also by the representative of the Spirit of the Earth. This again makes the two, the five, and then the seven—a different enumeration, and one which when brought together equals nine, which is the number of initiation. This numerical relationship brings man to the point where he is ‘initiated into the realm of perfection and knows no further aches or pains, and his mind is thus deflected from that which is below to that which is above.’
I have mentioned this phase of mankind's relation to the subject of health so as to show you how subtle and esoteric are the matters with which we are dealing, and so give to the individual patient a sense of proportion, where his bodily ills or even his death are concerned.” EH, p. 598-9
Some initiate healers work with epidemics:
“Certain healers—few and far between…have set up a relation with the spirit of the earth, the Ruler of all the lunar lords. Under certain formulas and given a certain amount of practice, these healers can invoke his aid and—in fact—command it. I do not advise any interested student to ponder overmuch along this line or to endeavour to set up a contact or to invoke his aid. Only initiates of high degree can deal safely with this powerful involutionary Elemental; they do so only in connection with epidemics and international catastrophes such as the world war, in which thousands and thousands of bodies were involved. An individual not highly developed who endeavoured to establish rapport would probably only succeed in stimulating the lunar lords of his own little system to such an extent that his lower nature would be unduly energised—sometimes even to the point of death.” EH, p. 646-7
The planet’s power to absorb the negative forces that result from humanity’s psychological condition often breaks down in the aftermath of wars.
“The power of absorption with which the planet is endowed is very great within certain limitations; it is these limitations, for instance, which promote epidemics as the aftermath of war. Such epidemics have a serious effect upon the human race after the war cycle is over and after the consequent epidemic has spent itself. Humanity, particularly in Eastern Europe, had not completely recovered from the epidemics, incident to the first part of the world war, when the second part took place. The psychological effects continue; the scars and the results of the second phase of that world war will persist for fifty years, even though—owing to man's greater scientific knowledge—the epidemic factor may be kept surprisingly within bounds. This, however, still remains uncertain. Time alone will demonstrate how successful humanity is in offsetting the penalties which outraged nature is apt to exact.” EH, p 248-9
The relationship of epidemics to the etheric body:
“1. …disease, in its immediate cause, can be traced to the individual etheric body when the difficulty is purely local, or to the planetary etheric body (in particular the etheric body of the fourth kingdom in nature) where epidemics are involved, or to such a condition as war, affecting large masses of men.
2. That the etheric body has not hitherto been considered as an existent fact, from the angle of orthodox medicine, though there is a modern drift towards emphasis upon vitality, upon the vital qualities in food, and the giving of vitamin products in order to build up a vital response. This is the first indication of an unrealised need to increase the potency of the vital body.
3. That the condition of the etheric body predisposes the subject to disease or protects it from disease, making man resistant to the impact of deteriorating or epidemic factors, or failing to do so because of inherent etheric weakness.
4. That the etheric body is the mechanism of vital, pranic life, and "sub-stands" or underlies the outer, familiar equipment of the nervous system, which feeds and actuates all parts of the physical organism. The relationship existing between the centres, the nadis and the entire nervous system comprises the field of the new medicine and indicates the new major field of research.
5. That the main causes of all disease are two in nature:
a. They are to be found, first of all, in the stimulation or the non-stimulation of the centres. This simply implies the overactivity or the underactivity of any centre in any part of the body. Where the flow of energy is commensurate to the demands of the physical body at any particular stage of development, then there will be relative freedom from disease.
b. They are to be found, secondly, in the karmic effect of the three planetary diseases: Cancer, Tuberculosis, Syphilitic diseases. Some day medicine will realise that behind every single disease (irrespective of the results of accident or war) lie these three main tendencies in the human body. This is a basic and important statement.” EH, p274/5
The relationship between humanity’s unfolding state of consciousness and disease:
“Only when the soul, consciously and with the cooperation of the personality, builds the temple of the body, and then keeps it full of light, will disease disappear; this building is, however, a scientific process, and in the early stages of discipleship (which is the time wherein the soul begins to grasp its instrument, the personality) this leads inevitably to conflict, increased strain and frequently aggravated disease and disharmony. This dis-harmony and dis-ease lead to much necessary trouble and consequent undesirable effects. These effects will be overcome but—in the interim of adjustment—whilst they are registering and expressing themselves, there will be much distress, physical and psychological, and all the major and minor difficulties to which humanity seems heir.
In undeveloped humanity, the conflict (from the angle of consciousness) is practically nil; you have less susceptibility to the subtler diseases emanating from the three interlocking systems, but at the same time a much greater responsiveness to the three indigenous diseases, to infectious and contagious diseases, and to the great epidemics which sweep through nations and great planetary areas. As humanity develops, diseases become more personal (if I might express it in this manner) and are not so definitely related to the herd or mass condition. They arise within the persons themselves, and though they may be related to the mass diseases, they are based on individual causes.” EH, p. 192-33
A number of diseases are environmental and epidemic:
“…a number of diseases are environmental and epidemic; in the tuning in of the individual to streams of poison emanating from world hate, or from psychological complexes with some of which we have already dealt, and in the diseases (if I might so call them) which are indigenous to the matter of which humanity has chosen to construct its physical vehicle, isolating it and separating it from the general substance of manifestation, and thus creating a type of matter which is consecrated to the task of forming the outer expression of the inward reality. This constitutes, therefore, a unique and peculiar aspect of the universal substance, perfected to a certain point in the last solar system and of a necessarily higher order than the substance which vibrates creatively to the call of the three subhuman kingdoms in nature.
In every occult consideration of disease it must be accepted as a basic proposition that all disease is a result of the misuse of force in some earlier life or in this. This is fundamental.” EH, p 111-112
Diseases fall into five major categories one of which is the following:
Contagious diseases (epidemic or endemic) which are of group origin and involve the man as a part of his group karma, [but] are quite frequently unrelated to his personal karma. Esoteric Psychology II p. 547
Effects of the stage of evolution of our Planetary Logos:
“The problem of humanity in respect to imperfection is complicated, not only by the fact that the seven informing vitalising Energies are ‘tainted with imperfection,’ but also by the fact that the Lord of the World is Himself, from the angle of a Solar Logos for instance, far from perfect; this is the reason why our planet, the Earth, is not a sacred planet. We are told that Sanat Kumara is the divine prisoner of this planet, held here until the ‘last weary pilgrim has found his way home.’ This is His heavy karma even whilst it is an expression of His desire and of His joy; the ‘weary pilgrims’ are the atoms (human or otherwise) in His body, and they are tainted with imperfection because of His imperfections; their complete ‘healing’ will set the term for His release…. EH, p 298
The stanza below, No. 4 of seven in number, indicates the quality of the descending energies and the taints which these energies carry and convey to all forms which are vitalised by the life of our planetary Logos.
Lord of the 4th Ray:
“IV. ‘The Great One fought and entered into combat. All that He met appeared to Him a subject for display of power. Within the fourth He found a field of battle and settled down to fight. He saw the right and knew the wrong and vibrated between the two, fighting first one and then the other, but missing all the time that midway point where battle is not known. There harmony, ease, rest and peaceful silence will be found. He weakened all the forms which used His strength and power. Yet all the time He sought for beauty; searched for loveliness; and yearned for peace. Despair overtook Him in His courses, and with despair the will-to-live could not survive. Yet all the time the loveliness was there.’
Here we have a strong indication as to the reason why humanity (the fourth kingdom in nature) succumbs with such rapidity and such ease to disease. The conflicts to which humanity is so constantly summoned, both in group form and as individuals, lead—until understood and used as a means to triumph and progress—to a condition of constant devitalisation. Where this is present, resistance to disease fades out and practically all forms of ill health and bodily ills become possible. Diffusion of energy leads to a constant lessening of this resistance. As a result you have debility, quick and bad reaction to the disease indigenous in the planet itself, and a rapid taking on of infections and of contagious diseases. It is this energy which lies behind what we call epidemics, and influenza is one of its main expressions.” EH, p.301
Although not specifically allied to epidemics, diseases of worry and irritation stemming from the astral body are involved in cases of “planetary influenza” and these also need to be considered.
"Why are these difficulties of the astral body so "perilous" and so serious? Worry and Irritation are dangerous because:
1. They lower the vitality of the man to such a point that he becomes susceptible to disease. The scourge of influenza has its roots in fear and worry, and once the world settles down to freedom from the present "fearful" condition, we shall see the disease die out.
2. They are so highly infectious from the astral point of view that they lower in a peculiar manner the astral atmosphere, and thus make it hard for people—in the astral sense—to breathe freely.
3. Because the astral conditions of fear, worry and irritation are so widespread today that they might be regarded as epidemic, in a planetary sense.
4. Because irritation (I speak not here of worry) is inflammatory in its effects—and inflammation is hard to bear—and leads to much difficulty. It is interesting to note that certain forms of eye trouble are caused by this.
5. Because worry and irritation prevent true vision. They shut out the view. The man who is the victim of these conditions sees nothing but the cause of his complaints and is so submerged through self-pity, self-consideration, or in a focussed negative condition, that his vision is narrowed and his group hindered. Remember that there is group selfishness as well as individual selfishness.
I have cited sufficient reasons for the effects of Worry and Irritation to demonstrate to you the wideness of the difficulty. It is not much use at this time to talk of the remedy. One does not say to an influenza patient (when the worst throes of the disease are upon him), "There is nothing the matter. Pay no attention. Get up and go about your business." It is no use saying to men today, "Do not fear. Leave off worrying. All will be well." They will not believe you, for one thing—and that is fortunate, for it is not true. Things are not well and humanity and the Planetary life are not well. This, the Hierarchy knows, and is working for the amelioration of the conditions. When the throes of the "planetary influenza" are over (and the patient will not die), then investigation can be made and effort produced which can prevent a recurrence. At present, all that can be done is to keep the patient quiet and also keep the fever down. This is the work of the New Group of World Servers and the intelligent men of goodwill. Their name is Legion." EH p.69/71
To end with the power of goodwill:
By the development of goodwill, which is the will of good intention and motive, will come the healing of diseases of the respiratory tract, lungs and throat, the stabilising of the cells of the brain, the cure of insanities and obsessions, and an attainment of equilibrium and of rhythm. Longevity will ensue, for death should be the recognition by the soul of work consummated and pralaya earned. It will only take place later at long and separated periods, and will be controlled by the will of the man. He will cease to breathe when he has finished his work, and then will send the atoms of his body into pralaya. That is the sleep of the physical, the end of manifestation, and the occult significance of this is not yet comprehended. EH, p 108