Reflections on Some Hidden Sources Underlying the Outer Turmoil
THE PATH OF THE LOTUS
We’re working now in the five-day approach to the Taurus new moon period which occurs here in New York on Wednesday night at 10:25 pm. In New York we welcome you to participate in our new moon meeting on Thursday at 6:00 pm via Zoom and a link for this event will be posted on our homepage.
Taurus is the sign of the Buddha and also the sign which governs the new group of world servers. Each of the three festivals of the higher interlude period are associated with one of the three planetary centers -- Aries with the planetary heart center, the Spiritual Hierarchy; the Wesak Festival, the high point of the spiritual year, is linked with the center Shamballa, the planetary head center, the center where the will-of-God is known from which the Buddha comes, at great cost to himself. The third and culminating Gemini Festival is linked with the center Humanity.
This Taurean energy is magnified this year due to a number of factors, principally because this sign is linked so closely with the previous December Festival Week period -- both signs being linked with the will aspect. We know that the potencies of this year’s Wesak are strengthened as a result of this event but the planetary configurations conditioning this new moon festival in particular paint a picture of the powerful energies that are working out, creating a portal, preparing us for the receipt of the Wesak energies. When potent forces are afoot it is wise to do what we can to stay focused and be careful to not take in too much energy that can result in overstimulation.
Sometimes people who understand somewhat about the Law of Rebirth state that they don’t want to come back, that they have had enough of earth experience and they want this to be their last incarnation. Others, working with little or no understanding of the Great Law, respond to life’s challenges in more drastic ways. Such sentiments are understandable but it’s helpful to recognize that the path is long and arduous and there are no shortcuts along the way.
In eastern teachings this long path of human evolutionary growth was often depicted as similar to the long journey of the lotus flower. The lotus begins its journey with its roots deep within the mud, within the depths of matter and darkness. It is only over a long period of time, that there eventually emerges a stirring of life within the form. This burial beneath the mud is representative of the many, many lives through which we all pass when there is no real stirring of the inner life and only ignorance rules and little progress is made.
Much time passes before there occurs a stirring in response to the a distant light. At times this light pours down through the depths of the water and the mud touches the life within. Then begins the long journey through the many layers of water, the symbol of the astral or emotional plane, perhaps the most challenging part of the path of return to the source for the water distorts and obscures reality. Eventually the seeker on the way learns to free himself from the distortions and the false evidence appearing real and then the lotus pierces through and reaches above the mud and water, into the light and clarity of the mental plane. Then the turbulence the of the waters begins to quell and the tiny bud begins to grow larger as the monkey mind is slowly tamed. The bud continues to grow and mature, under the impress of the light of the sun, the light of the soul. This stage could be characterized by the following passage from Letters on Occult Meditation which the Tibetan appears to be attributing to St. Paul:
“We sense beauties and glories surrounding us that as yet we cannot revel in; they flit into our vision, and we touch the glory at a lofty moment only again to lose the contact and to sink back again into the murky gloom that envelopes. But we know that outside and further on is something to be desired; we learn also the mystery that that external wonder can only be contacted by withdrawing within, till the centre of consciousness is found that vibrates in tune with those dimly realised wonders, and with those radiant Souls Who call Themselves our Elder Brothers. Only by trampling on the external sheaths that veil and hide the inner centre do we achieve the goal, and find the Ones we seek. Only by the domination of all forms, and the bringing of those forms under the rule of the God within, can we find the God in all, for it is only the sheaths in which we move upon the plane of being that hide from us our inner God, and that shut us off from Those in Whom the God transcends all outer forms.
The great Initiate, Who voiced the words I quote, added still other words of radiant truth: "Then shall we know even as we are known." (Letters on Occult Meditation, pp. 257-58)
And then, under the impress of the initiatory processes, the individual comes under the light of the soul in increasing measures, the petals of the lotus open, eventually to reveal the jewel within.
Om mani padme om -- “I salute the jewel in the lotus.” Kathy Newburn
REFLECTING ON SOME OF THE “HIDDEN SOURCES OF THE OUTER TURMOIL” -- CRISES
Students of the ageless wisdom, with all others, are reflecting on the Crises, and simultaneously on healing and unification and their keynote might as well be a line from the Mantram of Unification: “Let pain bring its due reward of light and love”. Naturally we are all intensely seeking for some meaning and explanations that will shed some light on this ongoing world crisis, and what its aftermath may bring.
In this connection the following quote from the Tibetan in January of 1939 is illuminating: “Another angle from which the world situation can be viewed with profit is to look for the hidden sources of the outer turmoil. This is seldom what men think it is, for the source lies in the realm of energies and forces” (The Externalisation of the Hierarchy, p.71). He further stated that “there are three great streams of energies working powerfully in the world at this time…” These are the energies of Shamballa, the Will- to- good; Hierarchy, Love/Wisdom; and Humanity, creative intelligence. These also constitute the essential energies employed in our Triangles Work.
Our work with these energies through the many forms of meditation, and above all, the widespread use of the Great Invocation have increased tremendously the inpouring of light, love and will-to-good, thus speeding up all world processes, noting that one of the effects of the Great Invocation is acceleration, and this is being demonstrated in the world in the speeding up of processes in the threefold world.
Another energy which is always present, even when not in incarnation, is the Fourth Ray of harmony through conflict, because it functions through humanity, the fourth kingdom. This Fourth Ray of harmony through conflict, is “the embodiment of the Principle of Conflict as the instigator of eventual harmony in relation to the nations,” p. 623 RI., and under this Ray, are effected the working out of the Points of Crisis, the Points of Tension and the Points of Emergence—processes involving energies and forces associated with initiations.
Today the effect of this Fourth Ray, in conjunction with the other rays, especially the Seventh Ray of ceremonial order – the Ray energy presently pouring into the planet in increasing measure and replacing the familiar Sixth Ray-- is producing a true world crisis!
Many points of crisis are present in the world, tensions are rising and falling with bewildering rapidity, everywhere, there is an uncomfortable mix of suspense and hope. Amidst all the death and the dying, the recovering and the anxiety, is an outpouring of goodwill, love and fortitude. The nations are beginning to stand in solidarity and to share and cooperate after the earlier wave of national inward looking, evoked by fear, confusion and old habits.
To the student, seeking some understanding, one way of approach is to consider many possible suggestions and one such suggestion is considered here in the form of a question: Does the incoming Seventh Ray of ceremonial magic, and its conditioning effects suggest some relationship between the present world conditions and the Points of Crisis, Tension and Emergence associated with the first initiation of the Birth of the Christ at Bethlehem? Simply put: Is it reasonable, from the point of view of the ageless wisdom, to suggest that, the world is in the process of taking the first initiation, based on the present world challenges and the current crisis?
Some of the key words, given by the Tibetan on page 340 in RI, associated with the first initiation are Birth; Sacral center, Beginnings; 7thRay, Relationship, Sex; Magic and the Physical plane.
Let us briefly examine these key words in connection with the current world affairs.
The seventh Ray has the “power to bring … into synthetic relation the great pairs of opposites” (p. 280 EP, vol. 1,) and has been in manifestation since 1675 A.D.; the sacral center and sex are symbolic words for relationships and have their higher counterpart of Relationship which is a keynote of the first initiation, and initiations in general.
For example, the relationship between the sexes—the long struggle for gender equality-- has come under intense scrutiny lately and the fight for equality among the sexes is still raging, the “Me Too” movement comes to mind; the racial inequalities, perennial and bedeviling the world is also agonizingly with us , the “Black Lives Matter”, all too painfully reminds us; in fact, concerning relationships, the clamor for right human relations everywhere in the world, without exception and across every possible aspect of human life—political, economic, gender, social, educational, nutritional, environmental, religious and the devious and continuous manipulations of data and media etc., etc. is the order of the day.
Values are changing, and the Sustainable Development Goals, with its great promise, is definitely an astonishing acknowledgement of the beginning of humanity’s conscious acquiescence in the establishment of the RHR. Points of Tension leading to Points of emergence are engaging all nations today, through the cycles of conferences. Here the Point of Tension means sustaining the effort needed for the work to be done in establishing RHR.
The higher form of relationship, hinted above, and symbolized by the keyword, magic, is engaging the aspirants and disciples of the world. Disciples are relentlessly struggling with the difficult work of the White Magic of the Soul – Personality Relationship. The meaning of the name Bethlehem, the house of bread, is another indication of the challenges posed by wrong economic relationships, this is universal and clamoring to highest heavens for redress.
The birth/coming of the light in the cave of darkness, as the first initiation is sometimes called, reveals some of the ugly and hideous surroundings within the cave of darkened hearts, and the disruption that characterizes the birth process on many levels, and is reflected in the disaster that has characterized the initial world reaction to the handling corona virus crisis.
All that is represented by the keywords associated with the first initiation through the impact of the seventh ray, as given in RI, p. 340, is present in the world experience today.
May the Group of World Servers continuously “hold the vision before the eyes of men and women” everywhere, leading us from the unreal to the real, “for where there is no vision the people perish”.
Emmanuel Sackeyfio