The Power of Thought to Manifest the New Civilization

The Power of Thought to Manifest the New Civilization
Talk on Education in the New Age for Triangles

Welcome everyone and thank-you for joining us for the Triangles work today. The talk is based on the ideas presented in the book of the same title written by Alice Bailey and published in 1954. Alice Bailey tells us that true education is the science of linking up the integral parts of man, and also linking him up in turn with his immediate environment and then the greater whole in which he has to play his part.*

Today’s talk will answer a few key questions.  What do we mean when we say the “New Age” or the “New Civilization”, how do we help to manifestation of the New Civilization and what are the key advancements or developments that we can expect?

The New Civilization

We have all heard the term “New Age” and have numerous ideas and impressions based on the is phrase – both good and bad.  So, let’s begin with a different term to clear our minds – the new or Aquarian civilization.  What does this mean?  Alice Bailey tells us that it is the age of synthesis, of inclusiveness and of understanding, and the new education of the Aquarian Age must begin very gently to penetrate the human aura.  We also hear from her that the coming into manifestation of the Aquarian Civilization should provide the grounds for a profound and convinced optimism as nothing can stop it.  This Aquarian influence will inevitably condition the future, determine the type of culture and civilization, indicate the form of government and produce a profound effect upon humanity.

The themes here are of optimism for the future and the impact that this Aquarian influence will have on all aspects of our lives – including the politics, the economy and education.  

At this point in time, we are in a transition period, where the Piscean influences are being withdrawn and the new Aquarian influences are beginning to take hold – hence the levels of ideological conflict and division.  During this is a period of transition (that will likely last a further 100 years), we are challenged to bridge the many divides that exist within our society and weave together the threads of ideas new and old, harmonizing them into a coherent whole.  We see these division in politics, in religion, in health care, in education, between races, and in many fields of human expression.  We are not asked to throw out the old but to build this new inclusive civilization on the foundations of the old.  Yes, toss out what does no longer serve but also transform, translate and transfer what does work and bring it into a synthetic whole.

Manifestation through the Power of Thought

While nothing can stop this age in moving forward, we can help to hasten its arrival and ameliorate the backlash and resistance from the waning Piscean energies.  Alice Bailey tells us that humankind is developing the ability to think which will enable us to build true to the great thought patterns which underlie the outer structure of our world.  She goes on to say that the attentive minds of the age are being made sensitive to these patterns so that the individual mind can recognize them bring them out of the darkness into the light of day.

The world structure, or as we have termed it the new civilization, emerges from inner thought patterns or thought forms.  To build this new civilization we need to educate and train people of goodwill to contact the world of thought and accurately and with clarity articulate and share the ideas perceived.  AB says that these will be people whose minds are so subordinated to the group good, and so free from all sense of separativeness, that that their minds present no impediment to the contact with the world of reality and of inner thought.  They will be people of goodwill, of high mental caliber with minds will stocked and equipped; they will be free from personal ambition and selfishness, animated by love of humanity and by a desire to help the race.  Such a person is a spiritual person.**

So, to assist in this work it is impendent upon each of us to develop our minds in this way, to think, to read and to “meditate” on new ideas and experiment with new modes of living.  We can do this by lending our thought power to amplify existing Aquarian thought patterns or bring down new ideas from via the rain-shower of knowable things from the plane of intuition into human consciousness and share them with others.

Developing the power of thought through Education in the New Age

How do we train ourselves and the next generation to develop this power of thought? Learn to meditate.

One of the keys will be the incorporation of meditation into educational curricula.  

Meditation helps relate the individual mind to the Universal Mind and to higher impressions.  This could also be called the science of vision of which the imagination is a precursor.  We have seen how meditation is now being recognized as a way of bringing calmness, focus, integration, good health and educational progress. Scientists and neurologists can now see very specific changes in the brain that result from meditation practices and are even beginning to discern differences between various types of practice.  As this is increasingly recognized, parents will want to ensure that their children have a good grounding in meditation and therefore ask or demand its inclusion in the educational curricula.

The second key change that we are also seeing in education is group consciousness.  An ability to understand and respect other people and their differences – racial, religious, culture and sexual orientation and work together in common purpose.  This bridge building work of the younger generation will certainly bear fruit as they come of age and take on greater responsibility in the world.  But this is just the external aspect of this work – the inner work is the bridging of the divide between soul and personality.  Once these bridges are constructed, they will facilitate the stream or flow of consciousness that will end the sense of separativeness that humanity currently suffers from.  I can see this here in Toronto – where the student body is very diverse and students learn to work with “the other” people from differing backgrounds.  This produces a sort of creative synthesis, when these young people reach maturity they bring a whole world of new attitudes, new ways of thinking and doing things that enriches our society.

The third key change arising from these two is the development of a strong sense of service.  We can see this growing now in our youth – in Ontario all young people must conclude 40 hours of community service before graduation.  While this is imposed by the education system it will soon be seen as a normal and natural part of a young person’s development.  As young people build the connection between soul and personality this will lead to an understanding of the purpose, plan and needs of humanity along with a strong desire to see these plans implemented and to be of service to the greater community or whole. We can see this now in the burgeoning, youth-led environmental movement.

The process is:

Meditation  ---->    Group Consciousness, Bridge Building (inner and outer)     ---->     Life of Service

I believe that this life of service in the youth of the 21st Century will be what leads to the new culture and civilization.  

What are the current problems from Piscean civilization that have been wrought by this sense of separativeness:

Fear of death
Racial inequalities
Me first – survival of the fittest mentality
Divisions between rich and poor
Political polarization
Environmental degradation
Violence against women
Religious conflicts
Conflicts over control of resources
Totalitarianism, authority and control over individual rights and freedoms

And the list goes on.

We can see that the transition to Aquarian thinking, one that is both inclusive and group oriented, will not just solve one or more of these problems but all of them together. Once the principle of inclusiveness (one of the key attributes of the Aquarian Civilization) is firmly rooted in human consciousness, once the group is considered ahead of the individual, the attention will shift to what is best for everyone.  

What does this mean to those of us practicing esotericism and/or studying in in a spiritual school?  We may be burdened with the old separative thinking that is a legacy of our upbringing, socialization, politicization and education.  But this can be overcome by these same means – opening our minds, learning to meditate, thinking about inner and outer bridging and getting the focus off ourselves and on to others so that we may be of service.  Each of us is challenged to shift our focus upward, allowing the light to flow into our consciousness and to ultimately bring our personality under the wise guidance and leadership of our soul.

Thank-you  

*Education in the New Age page 6

**Education in the New Age pages – 115 - 116