Non-Criticism and the Pursuit of Harmlessness

The Triangles Network in the Pursuit of Harmlessness

Triangles Meditation Group Webinar July 31, 2023

Michael Galloway

This week’s webinar theme, as mentioned, is “non-criticism and the pursuit of harmlessness”. These two qualities are, for several reasons, very close to the heart of Triangles. Both have fundamentally to do with right relationship and goodwill (love in action). And both are rather simple concepts, yet when applied to their fullest lead to the awakening and manifestation of the spiritual potential of the human being.

So, I’d like to focus today, before our meditation, on this quality of harmlessness, and I’ll leave it to Wendy to bring in non-criticism in her presentation which will come after.

Harmlessness, contrary to how it sounds, is much more than simply refraining from doing harm. Harmlessness is not negative or passive, but rather active and positive. It requires constant activity, discrimination, and watchfulness—the sustaining of a high altitude of observation and a sensitivity to the subtle currents of irritation which imperil the attitude of the perfect server. Harmlessness, when fully achieved establishes perfect relationship between oneself and others, between oneself and the environment, and most importantly right adjustment between oneself and the part that one is to play in the manifestation of the Plan.

Harmlessness therefore necessarily has to do with the right employment of the will and the right adjustment of the personal will to the higher, spiritual will of the group soul and the Will of God which seeks to work through that group just as it does through every soul individually, and collectively through the soul of all.

It is this special quality of will which makes the practice of harmlessness a positive and powerful force for good. The active and aligned will produces the right state of consciousness from which right action necessarily follows. True harmlessness therefore is very much about working with that which underlies action—with thought, with motive and the underlying impulse of love which is a natural expression of one’s spiritual nature.

Therefore to achieve the ideal of harmlessness and to put it into action, one must first of all cultivate a consciousness of harmlessness. This requires more than just purity of character—though this of course is important. To cultivate a consciousness of harmlessness, one must focus and sustain a positive intention to do good and then follow this through with the resolve and determination to carry out that good no matter what. This of course is not easy of attainment but leads eventually to one becoming a truly beneficent force in nature—a magnetic center, a clear light which illuminates the path for others.

But for this attitude or consciousness of harmlessness to work out through right action, one must also cultivate a number of other spiritual qualities: non-attachment to maintain the proper mental altitude and freedom from the limitations of self; discernment to know how and when to act; dispassion which brings the clarity of sight and freedom from glamour producing right proportion; and self-effacement so that the spiritual will may work out through one’s thoughts and deeds without hindrance, barrier, or distraction.

We can see therefore why one of the preeminent characteristics of the ideal server is harmlessness… And with this in mind, it is worth considering how this quality of harmlessness is relevant to the service activity, Triangles, composed as it is of those who seek to engage in world service through the power of thought. The Triangles network itself can also be thought of as a serving group—what would be needed for this group to attain to a positive and transformational state of beneficent harmlessness? What would be the result?

The Tibetan writes that for the ‘perfect rendering’ of service (and the pursuit of harmlessness is, above all, a path of service), three things are of vital importance: motive, method, and the attitude following action.

Motive. Right action springs forth naturally when the motive lying behind all activity is goodwill. Though this action may be disagreeable and evoke an outer sense of conflict, pure intent will inevitably bring all things towards a beneficent end. All inner forces, once set in motion by an act of will, must inevitably work out into physical manifestation. This is expressed in the occult truism that “energy follows thought, and the eye directs the energy”.

The Method, or means, of the perfect rendering of service requires the wise control of all the mechanisms and faculties of the self, but especially the faculty of the discrimination. Discrimination involves the right use of speech, knowing when to act and when to refrain. Knowing when to step in and lead, and when to concede to those who are wiser. Discrimination is key to carrying out one’s own duty to the fullest—and leaving others to theirs as they see fit.

Following action, the resultant attitude must be one of complete dispassion—for from dispassion emerges a growing love of the unseen and the real.

An attitude of harmlessness brings a natural and powerful simplicity to one’s life—and it is this spirit of simplicity which underlies the Triangles practice. The spiritual path is in many ways a process of elimination wherein all that which impedes the full expression of life itself is gradually removed; the lower nature wanes and the higher waxes stronger. Perfect harmlessness is a state of beneficent magnetism and close alignment with the Will of God. What is revealed in this state is nothing other than exactly what has always been—spirit and life inseparable from every form, every atom; every human being a divine son or daughter of God in manifestation, all of them potentially agents of divinity, spiritual beings truly—the Word made flesh.

Perhaps then the Triangles network itself can be thought of as simply revealing what is already there—humanity in its perfected state. Humanity, we are told when denuded of all its flaws and limitations is to be a great spiritual and creative force, a beacon of great light shining in the Cosmos, and revealing, in some measure, the nature of that great Cosmic Life which we call home.