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SECTION TWO - THE GENERAL WORLD PICTURE - Part 7

I call you to no organisational loyalties, but only to love your fellowmen, be they German, American, Jewish, British, French, Negro or Asiatic. I call you from your dreams of vague beauty, impossible Utopias and wishful thinking to face life as it is today; and then to begin, in the place where you are, to make it better. I call you to the experiment of right human relations, beginning with your own personal relations to your family and friends, and then [211] to the task of educating those you contact so that they also start a similar work. It is the work of attaining right individual relations, right group relations, right intergroup relations, right national relations and right international relations. I call you to the realisation that in this work no one is futile or useless, but that all have a place of practical value. I call you to recognise that goodwill is a dynamic energy which can bring about world changes of a fundamental kind, and that its mode of expression is through the activity of the individual man and woman and through their massed intent. The massed power of goodwill, the dynamic effect of intelligent and active understanding, and the potency of a trained and alive public opinion which desires the greatest good of the greatest number, are beyond belief. This dynamic power has never been employed. It can, today, save the world.

THE WORLD CRISIS FROM HIERARCHICAL VIEWPOINT

April-May 1940

Another Wesak Festival will be close at hand when you receive this communication. Its urgency, imminence and finality prompt me again to attempt to awaken those of you who receive it to the present opportunity and to the spiritual urgency of this high moment in human affairs. The three Full Moon periods of April, May and June are most significant and determining, and upon what happens during the next few weeks, whilst the sun is still moving northwards, much will depend.

In this communication I would like to do two things: First of all, give you a better idea as to how the spiritual Hierarchy of our planet regards the present world crisis, and secondly, indicate to you certain major eventualities which are dependent upon three things:

1. A possible divine intervention which may be brought about through the aspiration of all right-minded people, plus the intelligent and constant use of the [212] Great Invocation, now being used in its tens of thousands by the world aspirants in every country.

2. The emergence of certain clear lines of demarcation between the activities of the Forces of Light and the forces of materialistic aggression.

3. The place which clear thinking, wise speech and skill in action should play in the attitude of the world disciples and the men and women of goodwill everywhere.

I shall endeavour to speak with a reasonable brevity and clarity, and I do so with complete freedom from what you call bias. I speak in terms of humanity—without distinction of race, colour or nation; I have no particular political views, because I know that all potential theories, ideologies and governments are temporary states and conditions, controlling different groups of human beings on their way from the human state to the divine. This is a point of view oft overlooked by many of you who—temporarily and oft fanatically—belong to one or other of these ephemeral states of mind and passing human attitudes. I have no particular religious preferences, knowing as I do that all roads lead to God and that the sense of divinity is so dominant and inherent in the human heart that naught at any time can crush it out; life, experience, trial, pain and instinctive human orientation lead all men finally back into the light of God. I can and do, therefore, love all men, irrespective of nationality and present ideas, as do all with whom I am associated. Looking upon the moving screen of time with a vision which reaches into the future and is inclusive of the past (for this is the prerogative of all trained world disciples) I know that present events will play their timely part, will give place to others in due time, and that—when the immediate processes of readjustment in human values, spiritual objectives and political schemes, religious orientations and territorial syntheses are completed—the world will settle down again to the processes of daily living. The immediate opportunity and situation in which we find ourselves [213] will have proved dynamically useful or (such is the sad possibility) negatively futile. A fresh cycle of civilisation, culture and growth will have been inaugurated which will be coloured by the ancient hues of selfish desire and aggressive acquisitiveness, or by the newer and more beautiful colouring of happy and satisfactory international relationships, of religious understanding and of the much needed and demanded economic cooperation.

Such a dual possibility confronts us now. One—new, right and spiritually oriented; the other, ancient, evil and undesirable. Whether man will go forward into the better way of life or permit the perpetuation of the old ways and the domination of selfish personal, national and racial interests remains yet to be determined.

Two things are, however, obvious to us as we look at the present world situation; first, that the lines of demarcation between the two ways of living and the two objective attitudes are far more clearly defined than at any previous time in the history of humanity; secondly, that it is the muddled thinking of vast masses of well-meaning people (many of them not immediately implicated in the world conflict) which is largely responsible for the slowness of the final crisis and the postponement of the advancing decision.

For decades, we, the teachers of the race of men, have watched certain great world (or planetary) tendencies take shape, assume defined and pronounced outlines and become conditioning potencies. This shaping and definition was essential if the issue was to be presented with clarity to humanity, thus enabling a basic choice to be presented to the sons of men and the placing in their hands of certain determinations which could, if rightly directed, carve out for them a new and better future. Such a presentation has never before been possible, because never before has mankind been at the stage where it could grasp the situation intelligently, or been so closely and rapidly interrelated by the radio, telephone, the press and the telegraph. The needed choices can now be made in cooperation, in consultation and with open eyes. The choice is clearly before the thinking people [214] in every country, and upon their decision rests the fate of the less intelligent masses. Hence the present responsibility of the national leaders, of the representatives of the people in the governments, of the churches, and of the intelligentsia in all lands, without exception. There should be no shirking or evasion of responsibility. There is, however, much.

In past communications I have oft spoken of the Forces of Light and the Forces of Materialism, meaning by these terms the controlling trends towards brotherhood, right human relations and selfless purpose, and those which reverse these higher tendencies and bring into human affairs selfish acquisitiveness, emphasis upon material interests, brutal aggression and cruelty. The two positions are clear to the unprejudiced onlooker.

To these two groups I would add a third. This third group is taking shape in the world today with extreme definiteness and is composed of those who throw the weight of their influence and of their action on neither side; theoretically, they may advocate the higher way, but practically they do nothing to further its interests. This third group is formed internally of two groups: first, those people who are potentially weak and are therefore ridden by fear and terror, feeling that they dare not move in any way against the forces of aggression, and secondly, an intrinsically powerful group who, through selfish material interests, plus a sense of separative superiority, or distance from the seat of trouble and the domination of false values, hold aloof from the situation and shirk their evident responsibility as members of the human family. This latter group includes, among others, a number of powerful democracies and republics. Fear, terror and a sense of helpless futility govern the reactions of the one, and who can criticise? Selfishness and separativeness control the other group.

You have, therefore, in the world at this time three groups of people who embody the three major views of the whole of humanity, plus the unthinking masses, swayed by propaganda, controlled by their governments, and the prey [215] of the loudest voices. It is of value to you to get this picture clearly in your minds, and I would like again to define them.

1. The ancient entrenched forces of aggression, of material acquisition and pure selfishness, working through a pronounced cruelty which reaches out and grasps what it wants, irrespective of any other rights, historical and legal possessions or the will of anyone.

2. The forces of spiritual purpose, embodied in the will to protect the rights of others, along with individual rights; to end aggression and its consequent fear, and to throw the weight of their combined influence on to the side of the most spiritual values, of human freedom, of the right to think, and of kindness. I use the word "kindness" advisedly because it embodies the idea of kin-ship, of brotherhood and of right human relations. It is world goodwill in expression, just as the will-to-good is the basis of any possible peace—a goodwill which would negate any premature peace at this time, because the latter would give time for the Forces of Materialism to consolidate their gains and prepare the way for further aggression. Kindness, the will-to-good and peace—such should be the practical expression and the formulated intention of those who are conditioned by the Forces of Light.

3. The force of mass negativity, as expressed today by the dominated people in the strongholds of aggression and by the neutrally minded people everywhere. They are all coloured by racial fear, by the instinct to self-preservation, and by short-sighted selfish interest.

The problem is one of exceeding difficulty because, even though the lines of demarcation are becoming steadily more distinct, yet the exponents of these three groups are to be found in every land and among all people—in every church and in every home. No nation or group is exempt from this triplicity. It is rooted in human attitudes, and that is why this conflict is a strictly human conflict and not a European war. Every nation has its selfish, aggressive people, who believe that might is right and that men must be [216] governed by the law of the jungle, taking what they want, no matter at what cost to others. Every nation has those within its borders who see the vision of right human relations, who seek to live by the law of brotherhood, who respond to the influence of the Forces of Light and of the spiritual Hierarchy, and who desire peace, kindness and goodwill to rule world affairs and control the policies of the governments. Every nation has also within it those neutrally-minded people who fail to think clearly, who seek to place the blame upon the shoulders of all except themselves, who theorise and speculate, advise, and assign responsibility, but who refrain from any active participation in the processes of adjustment, from reasons of pride or unwillingness to pay the price. Many of them are group conscientious objectors who will eventually profit by the victory of the Forces of Light but who refuse to share in the struggle, reserving themselves for the future peace settlements, longing for the conflict to end, but doing nothing to bring that about. Many are entirely sincere, but their thinking needs adjusting.

If you will rightly grasp the reality of the statements made above, you will do your share in the mental clarification which is going on in the world. These three groups are functioning today and are in conflict. The neutrally-minded group is definitely hindering the work of the Forces of Light. These three world attitudes are to be found in every nation, as well as in the consciousness of every single individual. The realisation of this may enable you to grasp and shoulder your individual responsibility better. You will realise the need to ascertain for yourself where you stand and will refuse to be conditioned by other people's points of view and the world-wide propaganda; you will appreciate where your nation stands and on which side, and where you, as a soul, stand. You will then be able—if you are sincere and clear-thinking—to work for that group within the whole which seems to you to embody the highest possible activity and aims, and you will relinquish that attitude of futile negativity, smug neutrality or bewildered confusion which may [217] distinguish you. You will then emerge from the glamour of propaganda and of world illusion into the clear light of your own soul, whose essential nature is love and selflessness and whose major aspiration is to bring peace and goodwill among men and to see the consummation of the mission of Christ.

This will lead eventually to the disappearance of so-called neutrality upon earth—a neutrality in act, for there is never neutrality in thought.

One of the things which the spiritual leaders of humanity have sought to do is to bring clearly to the attention of men the basic duality which is found in the world today—the duality of selfish, material living and that of unselfish spiritual objectives. This is now clearly defined. The second stage of their task now lies ahead, and that is so to stimulate the vision of men everywhere that—beginning with the intelligentsia—they can consciously take their stand under one or other of the two banners, and so know what they are doing and why. The neutrally-minded waver between the two and, to date, do nothing.

I would like in this connection to deal with one problem which has somewhat disturbed the least clear-thinking among those whom I have for some time taught. I have for years sought to develop in the world a group of men and women who would stand for the spiritual values, who would love all men, who would foster the spirit of goodwill, and who would stand to humanity (as far as they could) as the Hierarchy of Light, as Christ and His disciples seek to do. This has been interpreted by some of you as meaning that you must refrain from rebelling against the evil thing in your midst, and from all criticism and partisanship. You seem unable to love with steadfastness the offender and yet to rid the world of the offence. The situation might clarify if you answered to yourself one or two questions:

Do you believe that the Hierarchy of Light, under the leadership of Christ, is on the side of cruelty, aggression and the slaughter of the defenceless?

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Do you believe that the world can be saved by a refusal to think and by the shirking of individual responsibility, thus ignoring a situation which does exist?

Do you feel that there are no issues and principles which are worth fighting for and dying for, if need be?

Do you stand with the Forces of Light or with the Forces of Materialism?

What are you doing to aid the side which claims your allegiance, loyalty and idealism?

Are you governed by a sense of individual futility—that weapon which the Forces of Materialism are using now so potently to stun possible opponents into helplessness?

A clear and searching analysis of the spiritual objectives of humanity will enable you to answer these questions. If you do not need to answer them because your position is clear in your mind, the study of the questions may enable you to serve your day and generation more ably and to present the situation more clearly to the bewildered.

A horror of war and a longing for peace are no excuse for slack thinking, nor do they provide an alibi or the opportunity to shirk individual or national responsibility. The conflict is on. It is of ancient lineage. The issues are clearly marked between right and wrong, between cruelty and kindness, between aggression and freedom. To evade responsibility because of past national mistakes and historical sins and failures is an unwarranted alibi; the shirking of due participation in the struggle because every nation has certain materialistic objectives is wrong; a nation is but the sum total of its people. To refuse to think because of the general condition of fatigue in which you share is no excuse, and is unworthy of the world disciples and aspirants.

The Hierarchy of Light is seeking to arouse men everywhere to the basic dualism underlying this conflict and to the essential significance of the issues with which humanity is faced. Hence the emphasis which I am laying upon the need to face the problem, to think clearly and intelligently about what is going on around you, and to take right and cooperative action. The whole world problem will be clarified [219] and the end of the conflict more rapidly reached when there are only two parties and not three. The recognition of this underlying dualism is necessary prior to the shifting of humanity's consciousness away from its major preoccupation—acquisitive material desire, aggressively obtained—into soul consciousness, with its correlations, group interests, the meeting of group need, and the functioning of a steady group cooperation on a world scale. This is true of individuals, of nations and of races; as you, an individual, work out your own problem in your daily life, you are helping to solve the world problem.

This is the situation as the Hierarchy sees it today and with which it challenges all men and women of goodwill. They ask you to share in the conflict in some way, and remind you of the occult significance of those oft misunderstood words of Christ, "He that is not with me, is against me."

In closing these remarks upon clear thinking I would add two more. There is some confusion arising out of the basic idealism which underlies the activities of many people in many countries. It is the importance of the somewhat new ideal of the good of the state as a whole versus the good of the individual and the good of humanity. The state becomes almost a divine entity in the consciousness of the idealist. This is necessarily part of the evolutionary plan, but in so far as it constitutes a problem, is too big for the individual to solve alone and unaided. Of one fundamental truth I can, however, assure you. When men everywhere—within the boundaries of their particular state and whilst upholding its authority and its civilisation—begin to think in terms of mankind, then public opinion will become so potent and so right in its inclusiveness that state policies must inevitably conform to the larger ideal, and the sacrifice of the individual and of humanity in large numbers to the individual state will no longer be possible. The part will be seen in its proper relation to the larger whole. It is this arousing of public opinion to world rights, to inclusive human interests and to international cooperation that is the true goal of all present spiritual endeavour. Eventually it will be [220] realised that the responsibility for what governments do rests squarely upon the shoulders of the individual citizens who put governments in their position of power. This is a responsibility from which no citizens of any nation are or should be exempt, and to this all national thinking of the right kind is fortunately awakening.

The second point I would briefly add is that, with the precipitation of the present world situation, the citizens of all nations are involved in a condition from which there is no escape except through right action and wide vision on their part; to this world situation they must conform their lives temporarily, patterning their activities upon the needs of their own particular nation. For those who are swept into the world conflict under one or other of the clearly defined banners, their immediate action is clear—participation in the national emergency. This is, however, wholly compatible with a subjective process of right and clear thinking, which must run parallel to the demanded outer activity and which will lay a foundation for the increasingly right action as time elapses. This will involve right action on the part of those who are fighting under the Forces of Light, and will lead to an eventual right and just peace; it will involve also right action upon the part of those who have been swept into a bewildered activity under the Forces of Materialism, leading finally to a revolt against that which is wrong and evil—for the hearts of all men and the springs of the divine life are not to be permanently directed into wrong channels of activity. The responsibility for the immediate world moves and the present gigantic national enterprises is now out of the hands and the control of the individual; the responsibility for the future, nevertheless, still lies in his hands. This shouldering of right responsibility must be preceded, however, by an interlude of clear thinking plus right action as a citizen.

The problem of those living in neutral countries is different, and along what lines it should be solved I have earlier indicated.

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As for the world disciples and aspirants (among whom you range yourselves), the entire problem can be seen along still wider and more comprehensive lines. You are forced by circumstance and karma, and by the free decision of your souls, to work under one or other of the two banners or in some one of the neutral and negative countries. Your problem in all three cases is to see clearly the spiritual focus of this world crisis, to swing the weight of any influence you may have—objective or subjective, spiritual, emotional or mental—on to the side of the Forces of Light. As you do so, you must preserve an understanding attitude of steadfast love (not sentiment or emotional reaction) to men and women everywhere, without any exception or reservations in your consciousness. That action has to be taken, at times, which hurts or damages the form side of life or the physical forms, is entirely compatible with the constant preservation of soul love—a thing which it is hard for the disciple to learn and master, but which is nevertheless a governing principle in evolution. This world crisis and the present world war will, it is hoped, awaken men to the realisation that the form side of manifestation, with its aggressive selfishness, its cruel emphases and its separative tendencies, carries inevitably with it the seeds of its own eventual elimination and the unavoidable results of pain, suffering, war, disease and death. This situation is therefore of man's own making and the result of his material nature and lack of soul control. But—the soul is eternal; its nature is inclusive love; and the whole aim of the present crisis is to shift the focus of human awareness out of the form and the material aspect of living, into the consciousness of the soul, and to do this at any cost to the hindering forms. It is against this transference of emphasis that the Forces of Materialism are today fighting.

For this reason, humanity is swept into a vortex of conflict, and the issue depends upon the clear thinking, wise speech and selfless intent of the world disciples, working in collaboration with all the forces for good in the world today, doing their duty as citizens of their own country but cultivating ceaselessly and unrelentingly a world-consciousness.

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Let me now enlarge somewhat upon the possibility of divine intervention.

Hovering today within the aura of our planet are certain great spiritual Forces and Entities, awaiting the opportunity to participate actively in the work of world redemption, re-adjustment and reconstruction. Their Presence is sensed at times by the spiritually-minded people of the world, and Their reality is recognised by the mystics and occultists working in every land. Men and women express this recognition according to the trend of their religious and psychological training and their particular mental or emotional bias. The advent of Christ, or His "second coming," is anxiously anticipated by many orthodox Christians, who regard this world war as indicating the end of the world and as preparatory to the appearance of the Christ, to bring peace on earth. Others, more orientally minded, await the appearance of an Avatar Who will transmit from God the needed world message or new type of energy. Prophecy and astrology indicate a Coming One and their many differing opinions seem to converge on Him; occultists invoke everywhere the Forces of Light and call for the appearance of that extra-planetary Potency to Whom they give the title, "Spirit of Peace." Those with no religious or metaphysical bias recognise, however, that all times of emergency seem ever to evoke some Liberator or some man or group of men who are capable of changing world affairs and inaugurating—under the stress and strain of the times—the new and needed fresh cycle of civilisation and culture. Many refrain from specification of the requirements of such a Coming One today, because of the magnitude and planetary nature of His task, but they secretly hope and pray for His appearing. Still others regard such an idea and hope as simply a psychological fulfilment and the embodiment of the wish-life of the people—this time of humanity as a whole, for the first time in racial history. Such people are apt to feel that this embodiment has no true substance or place in the life of mankind, but wish that it had. They forget that when a thoughtform has been constructed of sufficient potency and [223] has been built over a long period of time by the people of the world, a further and final stage becomes ever possible. The form can be rendered so magnetic that it can attract an Energy which will inform it and give it active potency; it can then become a vital link between the subjective world of energy and the objective world of forces and a thing of power, of impelling and guiding activity, and therefore the expression of a Life. This thoughtform, duly informed, becomes a mediating factor, constructed by humanity but animated by the will-to-good of some great and spiritual Entity. That thoughtforms, embodying evil lives can be and are constructed is equally true, but with these we are not at this time dealing.

We come now to the significant point of what I have to say today in this connection.

A great and vital thoughtform is in process of construction upon our planet and within our planetary aura. It is being built by the power of sound, by the magnetic pull of invocation leading to eventual evocation, and by the force of desire-substance, animated by the power of thought. It is being constructed by the united efforts of the Hierarchy, of the world disciples and aspirants, of the men and women of goodwill in all nations, and also through the inchoate longings of men everywhere, of all religious beliefs, political views and group loyalties. It is safely anchored upon the physical plane, is of vast proportions upon the astral or emotional plane, but lacks vitality and power upon the mental plane. It is here, within the realm of thought substance, that the weakness of the structure of this thoughtform becomes apparent. It is already potent spiritually, owing to the scientific work of the occult Hierarchy and Their trained helpers. This spiritual life relates the thoughtform to the waiting extra-planetary Forces and can make Their work possible and effective. It is potent physically and emotionally through the work of the lovers of humanity, the well-meaning efforts of the emotionally oriented people and the agonised longings of the masses, who [224] hate war, desire quiet, and demand peace and good living conditions.

There is, however, a gap or hiatus upon the mental plane, for the minds of men are not functioning correctly. The disciples and world aspirants are not thinking with clarity, nor are they working in unity. They are evading issues or are thinking separatively or nationally or fanatically; they are not convinced of the potency of invocation or of prayer; they are failing to realise that it is possible to work ardently for those conditions which will lead to peace, and yet fight simultaneously so that those conditions may be available; they fail to love all men without exception in their longing to see their own loyalties emerge triumphant; they work doubtingly, hoping for the best but believing in the worst; they use the method of prayer and of invocation because such methods seem to have been successful in the past, and because they are told that "faith can move mountains," but they feel inwardly quite hopeless and uninspired and are not at all sure what faith intrinsically is; they realise that a united front and a spirit of joyous certainty are psychological assets of well-nigh invincible potency, but they feel unable to arouse within themselves the slightest enthusiasm.

It is this negative and lukewarm attitude, this mental uncertainty and this failure to link up the spiritual and the physical worlds in a positive relationship which is holding back the Forces of Light and the actual presence of the Spirit of Peace, and thus negativing a possible divine intervention. It is the test of group work. The faith of many individuals is real and deep, but they stand alone; the knowledge that the few have of the nature of the waiting Forces of intervention is being negated by the faithlessness of the world disciples and aspirants, weighed down by world karma, by their own physical fatigue and by their horror of the present situation, plus the difficulties of individual circumstance.

The problem can be most simply stated. Either the spiritual Hierarchy exists, with all its potencies of love, wisdom and skill in action, or for ages humanity has suffered [225] from hallucinations; either Christ and His group of Masters, initiates and disciples are facts in the natural processes of evolution, historically proven and known through Their spiritual activity down the ages, or men have been victims during those ages of a gigantic fraud—emanating from what and where? Either the consistency of the evolving presentation of the spiritual effort of the Hierarchy is a witness to a great reality or mankind has developed a mentality which is an instrument for the fabrication of non-existent facts, and this is in itself so paradoxical as to give the lie to the inference. Either the spiritual worlds and the three worlds of human endeavour can be related, or there is nothing to past beliefs, to ancient stories of manifesting divinity and to the constantly recurring periods of divine intervention.

I would here face you with these alternatives and would ask you to consider your own position in these matters. Does the story of Easter and of the living Christ carry no truth, and is it not possible for that Risen Christ to express His power on Earth through His chosen instruments? Is there no foundation for the myth of the annual return of the Buddha, holding the door open between Shamballa and the Hierarchy so that, at need, intervention may be possible through that open door? Is it only a silly dream and a fantasy that at the time of the June Full Moon, Christ—in the closest cooperation with the Buddha—links the Hierarchy with Humanity? Is it quite impossible that when humanity awakens to the fact of this mediatorship and can then avail itself of the straight line of ascent and descent through the doors held open by the Buddha and the Christ, some stupendous appearing may be imminent and suddenly take place? May it not be possible that through the ascent of man's aspiration and spiritual desire, and through the descent of the waiting Potencies, certain great changes may take place, for which all the past has been only preparatory and through which the Aquarian Age of brotherhood and understanding may make itself felt by virtue of these great Potencies?

The two Full Moons of May and June present to you [226] a new opportunity to participate in the release of the planetary Life from the thraldom of the Forces of Materialism. If you are to do your share in this work of salvage, it will necessitate certain attitudes and activities on your part which I would like briefly to touch upon, leaving you to take right and appropriate action and to follow, with all other disciples and aspirants, the indicated stages:

1. Study with care and answer with sincerity and to your own complete satisfaction the questions I put to you earlier in this communication. When you have done this, you will know where you personally stand.

2. For the entire week prior to the May Full Moon and the June Full Moon endeavour to do the following things:

a. Link up with all disciples, aspirants and men and women of goodwill throughout the world and in all nations, using the creative imagination.

b. Eliminate out of your consciousness all negativity, seeing yourself clearly as ranged on the side of the Forces of Light; you are, therefore, not neutral in thought. See to it also that when taking right action in the conflict against the forces of materialism you preserve ever a spirit of love for all individuals who have been swept into the vortex of their potency.

c. When meditating and invoking the Forces of Light, endeavour to forget entirely all your own personal difficulties, tragedies and problems. Disciples have to learn to carry forward their work for humanity in spite of personality stresses, strains and limitations.

d. Prepare yourselves thus for the work of the two Full Moons, keeping your objective clearly in mind and submitting yourselves to an adequate temporary discipline.

3. For the two days prior to the Full Moon, on the day of the Full Moon itself, and for the two succeeding days (five days) endeavour at sunrise, at noon, at five o'clock P.M., and at sunset, plus the exact time of the Full Moon in your own [227] land, to say the Great Invocation with the intent to invoke, precipitate and anchor in outer manifestation the waiting Potencies. Do this aloud when possible, and in group formation whenever feasible. It is the focussed power of your unemotional thought which will bridge the present existing gap and link more closely the two worlds of spiritual activity and of human demonstration.

4. Repeat this activity for three days each and every month—the day prior to the Full Moon, the day of the Full Moon, and the succeeding day. As a preliminary exercise to these three days, you could take an earlier three days of preparation, and thus increase the effectiveness of your effort.

Many people the world over have for years been trained to recognise two things. First, the importance of the Wesak Festival at the time of the Full Moon of May, because it not only objectively links the major Eastern religion with the major Western faith, but because it esoterically provides the key to the open door between Shamballa and the Hierarchy, between the purpose of God (still unidentified by man, owing to his relatively low stage of evolution which makes it beyond human comprehension at present) and the method of God, which is love; it provides also the link between the Buddha, temporarily embodying will-wisdom, and the Christ, embodying love-wisdom, and also between humanity, focussed in consciousness through the Christ, and the Hierarchy, focussed in consciousness through the Buddha. Owing to the stress of humanity today and the urgency of the response which that distress evokes in the Hierarchy, the synthesis of these two reactions to the world crisis can prove adequate to bring in that outside assistance which could end the conflict along right lines and bring not only relief, but illumination to the human consciousness. But again—speaking here to a representative body of aspirants and disciples—I would state that the focus and the emphasis is not yet adequate to guarantee this extra-planetary response.

Nevertheless, it could be if, in your own life of meditation [228] and of discipline, in your speech with others and in the general tone of your intercourse with your environment, you can eliminate the negative and more selfish reactions and (for the sake of human welfare) temporarily, at least, live at your highest point of aspiration.

Secondly, you have been trained in the belief that all the information which I have given out anent the relation of the Buddha and the Christ, and of the Hierarchy, Humanity and Shamballa, will form part of the coming new world religion and that the theme of the Great Approaches will constitute the basic fundamentals of the future spiritual teaching. This too you must have in mind, for the work you are asked to do at the coming two Full Moons, and during the less important full moons of the year, is not only related to the present emergency, but is also constructively related to the future faith of humanity. Bear this also in mind.

You will note that what I have said concerns your mental attitudes and your emotional reactions to present world affairs. It concerns also your soul tension, your willingness to undergo soul tension, and your capacity to stand as part of the great chain of intermediaries who are today being called to the service of the race in an hour of urgency. It concerns the organising of yourself as an integrated personality in relation to your soul and to humanity; it involves the recognition of the work which you can do from the point of integration. I would ask you to ponder with care upon this paragraph, stating the possibilities of your task.

I call you to a period of clear thinking. I seek not to mould your political approach to life, but I do seek to aid you to see humanity and its welfare—not only in terms of your own nation or your own political group—but in terms of the whole, and as we, the teachers on the inner side, are forced to see it. I seek to see you free yourselves from the condition where you are swayed by propaganda of a political, national or religious kind, and deciding for yourself where you, as a soul, must stand in this world crisis and on which side you will place the emphasis of any influence you may wield; I would have you note where your highest ideals [229] will lead you and whether the springs of your life's decisions and attitudes are truly pure and unadulterated.

I seek to draw your attention away from the many minor issues, the many clamouring voices, and from the widespread concentration upon the unworthy pasts and the undesirable aspects of all nations (without exception), and help you to see with clarity the major dualism which underlies the present world conflict—might against right, materialism against the higher values, freedom against imprisonment, cruelty against fair dealing, liberty and safety against fear and aggression. Then, having balanced these pairs of opposites within your consciousness, decide where your loyalty, your interest and your ability to serve will be placed, and then go forward to further the ends of one or other of the two groups, at no matter what cost, but knowing where you stand and why you stand there.

That the will of Shamballa may be enabled to express itself through love and through the meditation of the Hierarchy, working through all disciples, aspirants and men and women of goodwill, is the earnest prayer of your fellow disciple and co-worker.

THE WORLD CRISIS TODAY

June 30, 1940

Events and situations change with such rapidity at this time, as humanity takes action or refrains from action (which latter course is just as determining for good or evil as is the former), that I feel again the need of writing on the world crisis, as I did last autumn, thus carrying forward my theme. I write as one who is working on the inner side today, sensing and seeing what is hidden from many of you. The exoteric outer history of events is known to all of you, and with its detail I need not deal. The action taken by the combatant nations, or withheld by the neutral nations, is also registered in your consciousness. The implications of such activity can only be truly known and appreciated by those people who today think in terms of humanity as a [230] whole, and not in terms of a particular nation, such as the good of Germany or the destiny of America. Few disciples there are at this time who can thus think synthetically or who see the vision as a whole, precipitating as that which will condition eventually the entire human family. Many there are who are awakening to the need so to do and who are finding, in their processes of readjustment, many bewildering problems. For these sincere but bewildered people, I write. I find that there is little that I can say to the provincially minded or to those with the purely parochial point of view. Their limitations of vision lie within themselves and only dire events and strenuous emergency will enable them finally to transcend the petty quibbling and quality of their lower mind, with its concrete tendency to hark back to the past and its fear to venture with faith into the future.

I have been interested in the response to my earlier article, written in April, 1940. The majority of those whom I sought to reach and with whom I have communicated for many years accepted my premises without much questioning but refrained from positive action or the use of any influence. A few resented the implications of the existent divisions between the Forces of Light (focussed through the allied nations) and the Forces of Aggression (focussed through Germany). They embody a true, but erroneously interpreted, idea of human unity. They fail to understand that—as the New Age is ushered in—there must inevitably come a judgment day (speaking symbolically) and the emergence of a clear line of demarcation between that which is new and that which is of the old age; there must appear the distinction between exoteric happenings and esoteric attitudes and between those who see a new world order, developed and brought to functioning activity by the Forces of Light, through cooperation, coordination and understanding, and a world order which will be imposed by terror, through dictatorial government, by the suppression of liberty of conscience, and by the enthronement of a race whose values are, at this time, anti-spiritual and anti-social. This judgment day is now upon humanity, and the final decision will be [231] arrived at by those whose normal inclinations and natural tendencies are on the side of law and order, and whose will-to-good is directed towards right human relations and true human welfare. These enlightened people will back their judgment with a focussed will to bring in the era wherein these values will dominate, and they are also willing to take the necessary measures to make these values possible.

I would like to deal openly and frankly with the problems with which you are being confronted when you face the world as it is today and the world as it may be tomorrow—a world whose fate is still unsettled. I would present possibilities with a definite application to the reactions of such empires as those of Great Britain, France and Holland, and with indication as to how the United States of America should be expected to respond. I write as one who represents the Hierarchy, as a member of a certain standing in its ranks, and as one also who works day and night for the success of those nations in the human family who, with their backs to a wall of misunderstanding, vilification and dislike, are strenuously opposing Germany and her satellite, Italy. I refer to that group of Allies who today stand with their purpose focussed in Great Britain, driven there by the trend of events. I do this because the basic hope of right human relations, of true and lasting peace, of liberty of conscience and of free and happy homes rests upon their triumphing; they are, at this time, the point of positive attack by the Forces of Evil. It is not possible for us as yet to reach the soul of the German people within that unhappy land, so complete is the glamour under which they are labouring. The day will come when again they will be reached, and this responsibility rests upon those Germans who remain free from glamour in other lands; it will come when the forces acting through the medium of a band of evil-intentioned men have been removed. With their disappearance will come the dissipation of the clouds of evil propaganda, lying information and distorted imputations and interpretations with which the masses of people, even in neutral lands, have been deluged.

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Would you have me at this time of planetary crisis refrain from direct speech, have me withhold from you who read my words the truth—a truth which is already apparent to those who ponder the signs of the times with an unprejudiced mind, unbiased thought and a true love of humanity? This last quality, a true love of humanity, constitutes a basic test of wrong or right action. It is phenomenally clarifying if applied at this time to the combatants. Would you have me deal with pleasant platitudes anent a future happy world, when perhaps the very possibility of such a world trembles in the balance? Would you have me present the attitude of the Hierarchy as that of a placid band of onlookers, ready to help the world when the conflict is over, but at present insulated from all action and simply waiting till the dust and clamour of battle settle, to stimulate in men's minds the vision of a new world order wherein everyone will have a good time, where there will be no unemployment, wherein fear and terror will find no place and everyone will be happy, well fed and reasonably intelligent? Would you have me picture to you the great band of disciples, initiates and aspirants as a band of pacifists, cherishing the form side of life, afraid of death and remaining passive in the face of the death struggle of human liberty, of life, conscience and mind?

I tell you that this I cannot do. The Hierarchy is very different from this. Pacifism, as interpreted by you, has no place in its ranks. The destruction of form in battle (which causes so much fear to many of you) is of small importance to those who know that reincarnation is a basic law of nature and that there is no death. The forces of death are abroad today, but it is the death of liberty, the death of free speech, the death of freedom in human action, the death of truth and of the higher spiritual values. These are the vital factors in the life of humanity; the death of the physical form is a negligible factor in relation to these, and one easily righted again through the processes of rebirth and fresh opportunity.

I would say to those who preach a passive attitude in the face of evil and human suffering and who endorse a [233] pacifism which involves no risks: With what do you propose to fight the forces of aggression, of treachery, evil and destruction which are today stalking over our planet? What weapons do you bring to this combat? How will you begin to stem the onslaught and arrest the whirlwind? Will you use prayers for peace, and then patiently wait for the forces of good to fight your battle and for God to do the work? I tell you that your prayers and your wishes are unavailing when divorced from right and potent action. Your prayers and petitions may reach the throne of God, symbolically speaking, but then the reply comes forth: The Forces of Light will strengthen your arms and turn the tide in your favour if you stand up and fight for that which you desire. Who will arrest the progress of aggressive selfishness if the men and women of goodwill rest back upon their idealism and do naught that is practical to justify their hope or aid in the materialisation of the desired ideal.

There are those in the world today who (despite past national selfishness and wrong) are fearlessly and with true insight fighting humanity's battle, and with them the Hierarchy stands, as it has ever stood on the side of liberty, right understanding and correct attitudes in human affairs. I would say to those who cry, "Peace, peace when there is no peace": Are you going to profit by their death and sacrifice when the ultimate triumph of the Forces of Light comes to pass? Are you going to take the position that you can then live in a safe world because others gave their lives that you might do so? Are you going to issue forth from the safe security of your pacifist alibi and gratefully acknowledge what they have done and grasp your share of the gains which they have purchased at such a cost? I would warn you not to be glamoured by the false premise that you must stand by your hard-earned convictions, even at the expense of other peoples' lives and the downfall of nations, forgetting that fear and false pride will make this argument of importance to you. Are the peace-minded people of the world going to reap the benefits of a peace for which they have paid no price? It is the people who value peace above all [234] else who are today seeking by every possible method to stop Germany.

Let me tell you something about the peace for which the Hierarchy works and which the spiritually minded people of the world envisage even whilst they fight, and for which they are ready to pay the ultimate price. Peace, when it comes, will be the result of right world conditions and right human relationships. It is an effect and not a cause; it is the effect of certain subjective attitudes which are not yet present in the world on a sufficiently wide scale. Against these emerging conditions Germany has assembled her potent war machine, after years of scientific and planned preparation. Today the Allies stand waiting the opportunity for the final struggle with that potent nation, prepared to institute afterwards those conditions which will guarantee peace. There is no peace on the planet anywhere today. There is no peace in the questioning hearts of those who are not actively sharing in the struggle against evil. There is no peace in any field of human endeavour. It is not to be found in the economic field, torn as it is by the conflict between labour and capital, and between great schools of economic thought; it is not to be found in the religious field, where the struggle is going on between authority (tainted with old world churchianity) and experimental religion; it is not to be found in the social order, where class is ranged against class, poor against rich, and man against his brother; it is certainly not in the political field, where party strife controls and blinds the warring groups, hiding the wider vision of world affairs and the needs of humanity as a whole. There is no peace, and peace will not come through an applied and fanatical pacifism or through the loud talking and wishful thinking of those who hate war and who at the same time swell the tide of conquest and delay true victory by their violently uttered opposing views.

I tell you that all nations hate and oppose war; even Germany, behind the imposed terror, shrinks in horror at what is being done. The same love of peace which inspires the ordinary pacifist inspires those who are today fighting [235] in order that peace may be the result of their sacrifice and the effect of the establishing of those right conditions which Germany is set to prevent. Yet many neutrally minded and pacifist people are unwilling to pay any price for what they profess so much to cherish. A complete refusal to fight on the part of the Allies and of those who are seeing with clarity the issues at stake would open the door to the world domination of the Forces of Materialism and Aggression. It is upon this that these evil forces count when they face the greatest neutral of all, the United States of America, and for which they are preparing as they disseminate their lying propaganda and plant their agents in every country and every state—preparatory to a peaceful conquest of a people who refuse sufficiently to value the spiritual issues at stake to take positive action.