The Great Invocation: Grounding Young People in World Service

Today’s broadcast is focusing on the theme: “The Great Invocation grounding young people in World Service”. We will begin with some introductory remarks about Triangles, followed by some thoughts on invocation and the Great Invocation. Then we will work with the visualization which regular participants in this webinar are familiar with, and this will be followed by a conversation with our guest, Nina Meyerhof, who will talk about her work over many years with young people from around the world.  

So .. if you are new to Triangles … welcome! The Triangles network is made up of individuals around the planet who come from different spiritual backgrounds and share a common belief in the powerful role that meditation, prayer and invocation can play in the creation of a better world. 

The name ‘Triangles’ is significant at many levels. After all the triangle, the three as one, is one of the most fundamental symbols in almost all spiritual and esoteric traditions.  The Triangles network made of groups of 3 people who agree to link in thought every day, visualizing themselves as a triangle of light and together invoking energies of light and goodwill. Each triangle is part of the global network of Triangles … the lighted energies of divinity that are invoked are visualized as flowing out from each triangle .. through the network of triangles .. and into the world of human consciousness – strengthening all that is good, and true and beautiful in the world. The network has been built over many decades and can be envisaged as a strong, well-established, potent structure in the etheric or energetic body of humanity, through which spiritual energies flow into the consciousness of humanity to touch all those hearts and minds that are open to spiritual stimulation. 

Many participants in the network draw at least some of their spiritual inspiration from the esoteric and theosophical teachings found in the books by Alice Bailey. The teachings contain a strong emphasis on the role and meaning of the triangle in the consciousness of every human being; they emphasize the triangle of energies at the heart of the spiritual path; and identify that path as the bridging between worlds of spirit, soul and incarnated personality. Triangles is one of the service activities of the Lucis Trust, the umbrella organisation established by Alice Bailey.

Yet Triangles does not exist to promote the Alice Bailey teachings. Triangles workers come from different spiritual traditions – what unites them is their use of the Great Invocation and a willingness to use the power of thought in service of humanity. The work is organized and structured – it depends on the regular participation of Triangles partners in the simple daily act of alignment with the three points of the triangle and use of the Great Invocation. The work does not need to be synchronized, in other words there is no need for the three points in a triangle to link up at the same time or to be physically together.  

If you are new to this work and respond to this idea of planetary service, you might like to consider forming a Triangle or, if you are already a member of Triangles, you might consider forming another.  The more people who participate, the more spiritual energy will be released into our world … and this is especially true of those who are already consciously treading a spiritual path and developing skills in work with the lighted, loving energies of the soul or Higher Self. 

There is information on the Triangles website, www.triangles.org, about how to form a triangle – including a section where you can form a Triangle online, by entering your details and inviting others to contact you to form a triangle. Or you can enter a request in the chat box during the webinar today and others on the call may agree to form a triangle with you.

If you have questions about Triangles please don’t hesitate to ask these in the chat box ... or to ask them in the discussion period towards the end of the call.

Let’s begin with a moment of silence, after which we will sound together the Noontime Reflection.

I know, O Lord of Life and Love, about the need. Touch my heart anew with love, that I too may love and give.

On the call today we are going to be focusing on the theme of the Great Invocation and we are especially fortunate to have a long-time Triangles participant and active world server, Nina Meyerhoff. I will introduce Nina a little later. She will be discussing work she did over many years with young people from around the world – especially teens and young adults. Through the network she established, Children of the Earth, Nina has helped countless young people develop the spiritual skills needed to assist them in their efforts to build a world of peace and justice, helping them to draw on their spiritual potentials in this work. As part of this work Nina introduced young people to the practice of invocation, and ultimately to a version of the Great Invocation, From I to WE to ONE.  

So with this in mind, the theme of our call today is “The Great Invocation grounding young people in World Service”. 

Invocation is a fundamental element of the Triangles work. The spiritual energies of Light, Love and Enlightened Will are invoked. They are called forth. These energies are available from the reservoirs which lie at the core of our being. 

Mind, heart, will. Each of these regions of the self are multi-layered. Each contains depths and heights and throughout the ages, spiritual paths inside and outside of established religions have spoken of the ways of accessing the higher dimensions where they can be known as wisdom, poise, tranquility, serenity, ‘the peace that passeth understanding’. These are real dimensions of our being. And they can be consciously called forth – or invoked. 

First there must be a recognition that these aspects of Soul or Self exist – that they are real. And this recognition needs to be nurtured through study of the vast body of literature that deals with these realms. Through this study the mind begins to establish a relationship with the higher dimensions. And the act of invocation becomes increasingly targeted. The realms begin to live in the consciousness.

The Great Invocation is, directed towards the universal aspect of the soul. When the Great Invocation is used it is almost as if we are standing with humanity as a whole, calling on the higher forces of Light and Love and Spiritual Power (by whatever names we may know these forces) that they may flow into the whole wide field of human relationships – disturbing existing habits that reinforce the separateness and divisiveness of the critical mind, the unrestrained passions of the emotional life, and the restricted self-centered sense of purpose guiding individuals and nations. The Invocation call is directed to the point of Light within the mind of God; the point of Love within the Heart of God; and the Centre where the Will of God is known. It calls for a higher light to shine into our divided world, revealing not just to ourselves but to all peoples,  possibilities for the mind of the human to reach into the intuitive knowing and the abstract realm of ideas where pure reason and the straight knowledge is to be found;  for the emotional life to become, through time, more stable and detached; less disturbed by highs and lows and therefore more able to carry a flow of selfless radiant love. And the possibilities for a collective sense of purpose and destiny that can lead to cooperation for human and planetary development.

One of the issues that came up in last week’s webinar was the question of the wording of the Great Invocation. Inevitably many who have used the Invocation for decades, and who know the Invocation through the teachings of the Master DK as it is presented in the books by Alice Bailey use the Invocation in the carefully chosen words, and the mantric sound patterns, recorded in 1945 by Alice Bailey. This is understandable and as it should be. The word ‘Man’ used in this Invocation refers to humanity as a whole. It uses the widely accepted language of the time and draws on the Sanskrit derivation of Man as ‘Manas’ or Mind. 

Others however are drawn to the vision, expressed by DK, that the Great Invocation has the potential to become a world prayer, widely used by people of spiritual intention. With this in mind an adapted version is favored, using human in place of Man to refer to humanity, and framing the critical call for Christ to return in language that better expresses the universal understanding of Christ with a call for the Coming One acknowledged by all religions, to return.

After the visualization Nina will be speaking about another initiative to engage young people in the work of invocation, with quite different wording from the Great Invocation ... and with a different name for the Invocation: “From I to We to One” – ensuring that this is not meant as a replacement for The Great Invocation but as a way of spreading some of the central elements of the Great Invocation to a wider audience.      Steve Nation

For Nina Meyerhoff's contribution, please listen to the broadcast from 27 minutes and 35 seconds onwards.