Navegar por los Capítulos de este Libro

SECTION THREE - FORCES BEHIND THE EVOLUTIONARY PROGRESS OF THE RACE - Part 3

As the executive side of the group work grows, and the will aspect of humanity is contacted and its power used to evoke the emerging crisis of love, an increasing number of workers with first ray qualities will be drawn into the ranks of the New Group of World Servers. This constitutes the second difficulty, and it is here that I feel the need to utter a word of warning. This coming in will greatly strengthen the work but brings with it also great problems. Much of the work done hitherto has been second ray work; its quality is gentler, its technique is that of building and teaching, and its workers are magnetic and they present, when brought together, no great problems of cohesion and of group integration. Of this aspect of work, the Arcane School is an example.

When, however, first ray workers appear to aid in the expansion of the work and to carry it to the four quarters of the earth, then certain difficulties inevitably appear. It is the dynamic quality of the power aspect which must be guarded against, not in the sense that it must not be permitted expression, but in the sense that it must be motivated by love, harnessed to gentleness, and qualified by understanding.

The problem, therefore, will be to integrate first ray workers into the New Group of World Servers in such a manner that the destructive aspect of the ray will not cause difficulty, produce disruption or any obliteration of the dominant love note which should be the outstanding characteristic of all workers with the Plan at this time. Otherwise, the precipitation of the crisis of love will be hindered.

I would ask for an intensification of love between all of you, and a growth of real understanding. Forget not, at [335] the same time, that love is the great attractive magnetic force, and will consequently draw to itself all that is needed at the present crisis and for the materialisation of the vision in due form on earth. This will require spiritual energy, sound business sense, skill in action and financial support. Remember that money is the consolidation of the loving, living energy of divinity, and that the greater the realisation and expression of love, the freer will be the inflow of that which is needed to carry forward the work. You are working with the energy of love and not with the energy of desire, the reflection or distortion of love. I think that if you will ponder on this, you will see the way more clearly. There are many first ray workers wielding the power of desire and thus materialising money. There are many first ray workers finding their way into the ranks of the workers among the New Group of World Servers. Unless these workers are swept by love, their first ray energy will wreck the work of the group. Yet they are needed at this time, for they have the strength to stand unmoved at the centre. It is the conjunction of the first and second ray workers which can carry the world through the coming crisis of Reconstruction, and it will be of value if this is borne in mind by all of you in all work connected with the new group. It is important integrating work.

You might ask me at this point to be specific and state if there is any significant hindrance which needs to be offset or changed, once realised. An understanding of all I have stated above will greatly help, for I have pointed out three difficulties. Add to this the realisation that a right handling of the broad issues will automatically tend to take care of the details. By this I mean that the establishing of sound inner group relations between all of the workers will produce that inner cohesion and one-pointed effort which must inevitably and surely produce the outer results and attract both the needed workers and the essential money.

See to it also that one department of the work is not over-emphasised in your minds to the exclusion of others, for that will produce strain, lack of balance and sometimes [336] a sense of separation, leading if continued, to disruption. Let the consciousness be developed that there is one work being done by all, and that the whole group is concerned in the entire activity. This inclusive attitude should permeate the entire organisation, and thus the departmental spirit need not enter in.

One point I will touch upon for the clarification of your minds. The daily meditation, both personal and in relation to the group, would produce better results if the focus of attention were given to the attaining of the needed inner attitudes, the intensification of the inner spiritual life of understanding and the welding of all workers into one unity of service. A united attitude of love, of hopeful expectancy, of courage, of spiritual demand and of directed will is potent in results and will bring all that is required.

Has there not been too much attention in the past to aspects of physical plane effort, and to techniques of working? Has there not been too much consideration of how to do the work and too little consideration of the spiritual dynamics of the work itself? The need has been great and the problems many. The expansion of the work may seem necessarily to foster a departmental spirit. When such situations arise, it is necessary then to intensify the inner sense of unity. Differentiations are easy, for they follow the line of least resistance upon the physical plane. But the work is one work, and the workers constitute one group. The need now is fusion and group understanding.

Is it not true that a point of fusion achieved in the daily meditation by an individual brings about right expression in the daily life and a right handling of life conditions? A point of fusion achieved in group meditation will evoke the right results and produce an instrument of service of such power that its progress will be irresistible.

The strain of the past three years has been long and great. Many of the workers are feeling it, and the need for love and strength is great. The strain ahead will be no lighter, though it will register differently and bring different problems, but you are equal to it and to the task ahead. [337] Success can crown the efforts being made, and the New Group of World Servers can measure up to the need, if there is a more conscious and definite attempt to stand in the centre—the place of loving power—and an increased ability to think in terms of group synthesis and fusion, and to choose with wisdom those who (from inner development and outer ability, for these must go together) belong to the group.

AN IMPENDING CRUCIAL DECISION

December 1941

As the last month of the present sad year is upon us, I come to you with a message. The determination and the inner purpose of humanity will be so definite during the period when the Sun will begin to move northward—from December 25th until June 22nd, 1942—that the future of humanity for many hundreds of years will be decided. From that decision will date the coming New Age; on that decision, the Hierarchy will be able to make prediction and determine action; in that decision will be discovered the point in evolution of the mass of men. I urge you to face the future with strength, to free your minds from all vestiges of doubt, and to know (in your own life and for the race) that the forces of materialism and cruelty will not triumph. Again I say to you, the Hierarchy stands. Go forward with assurance.

A deeply rooted subjective process is taking place in the human consciousness which is evocative and producing definite effects. This needs to be recognised and the nature of invocation understood by all who seek to aid their fellowmen. As I explained elsewhere in detail (Esoteric Astrology, pages 570-575), this process of invocation falls into two stages in the life of the individual and also today in the life of humanity as a whole. The stage of aspiration, irregular and vague but gradually becoming focussed and assuming power; and the stage of mysticism with its uncomfortably recognised dualism; this merges into occultism which is the intelligent study of that which is hidden. It is because all [338] these stages are actively present today that we have the dire and widespread crisis.

It was the need to give a constructive trend and to focus the invoked energies which led me, under instruction from the Hierarchy, to give out—at widely separated points of time—two Stanzas or parts of a great occult mantram, the first one to help focus the aspirants from whom it met with full  response; the second was also offered to the masses, but was intended to be a test and a "decision in a time of crisis," hence made its appeal to the mentally focussed aspirants and disciples.

I am explaining this because world conditions today warrant the use of both Stanzas now. The Great Invocation, as earlier used, should again be made available to the masses. The second Stanza should be used by thinkers, occultists and disciples, and by all who respond to its note. In doing this there will be need on your part of great "skill in action," so that you may rightly and wisely distribute the two Invocations. The one will invoke the Rider from the secret place and aid in His evocation, for it is the Rider from the secret place Who is referred to and invoked in the first Invocation; the other will invoke the Lords of Liberation.

The blended invocation and the united call from the different levels of the human consciousness will bring a mighty appeal to bear upon the hidden Centres of the "Saving Force." It is this united appeal which must now be organised. Thus the mass of humanity will be stimulated to move forward into light, and the new world cycle, beginning in Aquarius, will be definitely inaugurated by humanity itself.

THE ONLY WAY TO VICTORY

April 1942

I have been working with A.A.B. as my amanuensis since November 1919. During that period the world has seen great and significant changes, and one of the most significant has been the growth—the phenomenal growth—[339] of spiritual perception. This shows itself in the fact that, in spite of the world catastrophe, in spite of the rampant horror and evil which is stalking our planet, and in spite of human pain, terror, suspense and uncertainty, there are today two factors present in the human consciousness: the vision of a better future and a fixed, unalterable determination to make that vision fact in human experience. This better world is to be a world in which the spiritual values will control, viewing those values as that which is good and right for the whole of humanity and not simply as religious and theological interpretations. Spiritual perception has become inclusive and now concerns the physical plane as well as the metaphysical.

It is not perhaps easy for you to realise the importance of this development which—again in the face of all contending forces—has enabled men to recognise that the Kingdom of God must function on Earth; that it must be externalised and that it need not be some distant point of wishful thinking but should condition man's daily life and control all his planning for the future. For this, men are today working and fighting. They call the vision by many names: better world conditions, the new world order, world reconstruction, the new civilisation, brotherhood, fellowship, world federation, international understanding—it matters not. It is the theme of betterment, of universal welfare, of general security, of widespread opportunity, irrespective of race, colour or creed. This is the factor of importance. The underlying purposes of God are working out, and with this note I seek to begin my Wesak communication to you.

This is the hopeful and most important side from the angle of the Hierarchy Who view all world events from the angle of the future. There is, however, the other side. It is not necessary for me to emphasise the seriousness of the present situation. The war is not yet won. At the time of writing, in spite of sporadic successes and the staying power of the Allied Nations, and in spite of a basic trend towards ultimate victory, the powers of evil have had things very much their own way. They have triumphantly moved forward, [340] except in Russia. This was to be expected at first, because if evil is simply the dominance of matter and the negation of the spiritual values, it is obvious that on the material plane the line of least resistance is to be found for them. Their initial triumphing is, therefore, to be expected. The course of the war hitherto has demonstrated this. When the spiritually-minded people of the world, the men and women of goodwill, the idealists and the kindly, decent folk in every land can bring to bear upon the physical plane the same unified determination and the same united will-to-victory that the forces of evil have shown, then the Forces of Light will assume the upper hand and control human affairs.

The difficulty with which the Hierarchy was confronted in the effort to bring this about was due to the fact that the condition of unity of objective, of method and of interrelation had to be brought about without any infringement of the free will of the individual, group or nation. The occult law of spiritual freedom had to be recognised and protected. No such recognition or safeguarding hinders the activities of the forces of evil. The will-to-power and an organised, evil minority took control. Freedom of conscience and of action was removed, and the enforced submission of the majority to the will of a ruthless minority brought about a spurious but temporarily most effective unity. This has been lacking in the case of the United Nations, fighting for the Forces of Light and on behalf of human freedom.

Freedom, my brothers, can itself prove a limitation when it delays right action, when it centres attention upon the petty differences and the personality inclinations of people and when it serves to prevent that unity of action which can win the war. It has been necessary for the leaders of the peoples to take valuable time to bring them to a proper sense of values and to the realisation that individual and national differences and points of political and religious disagreement must all give place to the one supreme requirement—the winning of the war and the releasing of humanity from the threatened slavery, the steadily mounting fear, and the world domination of the Black Lodge.

[341]

As I have earlier told you, an ancient conflict is again in full swing and humanity has now the opportunity to settle it once and for all, and—for ever after—be free in a sense not hitherto known. This conflict falls into three stages:

1. The stage of physical warfare in which we are now engaged and from which there is no escape.

This requires the Will-to-victory.

2. The stage of reorganising world affairs when the war is over. This should properly fall into two phases:

a. The establishing of right human relations during a prolonged armistice, if possible. This phase will prove in many ways as difficult as the war itself, but will work out on mental and emotional levels of warfare, instead of physical.

b. The task of rehabilitation. This will be both physical and spiritual in scope and will embrace those activities which stretch all the way from the rebuilding of blasted cities, the restoration of the scorched earth, the psychological care of the youth, the sick in mind and the bewildered, and the re-enunciation of the essential spiritual values which must guide humanity in the future.

This will involve the Will-to-good.

3. The stage wherein will come the recognition of the opportunities of peace, the right use of security, and the planned education of the youth of all lands in the principles of the new age.

This will involve the Will-to-organise.

Thus on all three levels of human living, mankind will be conditioned by a tendency towards the good, the beautiful and the true. Speaking esoterically, the personality of humanity will be integrated and reoriented towards the good [342] life, a new and better way. For the attainment of these objectives, I summon you today and all whom you can reach.

I should like to incorporate at this point part of what I said elsewhere.

One thing you must constantly bear in mind. When the war is over, when this time of acute trial and tribulation have come to an end, a great spiritual awakening (of a quality and a nature quite unpredictable now) will arrive. The war will have taught humanity many lessons and will have torn the veil of self away from many eyes. Values which have been hitherto expressed and understood only by those whose "eyes are on God," will be the goal and the desire of untold thousands; true understanding between men and between nations will be a longed-for objective, and what humanity determines to have it ever succeeds in achieving. This is an occult law, for desire is, as yet, the strongest force in the world; organised, unified desire has been the basic reason for the appalling Axis successes.

The only factor which can successfully oppose desire is Will, using the word in its spiritual connotation and as an expression of the first great divine aspect. There has been but little of that organised, spiritual will shown by the United Nations; the Allies are animated naturally by desire for victory, desire for the arrival of the end of this all-engulfing world cataclysm, by desire for peace and the return of stability, the desire to end war once and for all and to break its constantly recurring cycle, and a steadily mounting desire to bring to a finish the terrible toll of suffering, of cruelty, of death, of starvation and of fear which is gripping humanity by the throat in the attempt to strangle out its life.

But all this determination is in most cases simply the expression of a fixed and united desire. It is not the organised use of the will. The secret of the will lies in the recognition of the divine nature of man. Only this can evoke the true expression of the will. It has in fact to be evoked by the soul, as it dominates the human mind and controls the [343] personality. The secret of the will is also closely tied in with the recognition of the unconquerable nature of goodness and the inevitability of the ultimate triumph of good. This is not determination; it is not whipping up and stimulating desire so that it can be transmuted into will; it is not an implacable, unshakable, immovable focussing of all energies in the need to triumph (the enemies of the Forces of Light are adept at that). Victory for the United Nations does not lie in the effort to produce this focussing with better effect than the enemy. The use of the will is not expressed by an iron fixation to stand steady and not yield to evil forces. Determination, the focussing of energy and the demonstration of an all-out effort towards victory are only (where the United Nations are concerned) the expression of a one-pointed desire for peace and for an ending of the trouble. This type of effort is something which the masses can give, and which they do give on both sides in this conflict.

There is, however, a plus, a something else, which will swing the tide of victory on to the side of the United Nations. This will come through the effort to understand and express the quality of spiritual Will; it will be the manifestation of that energy which makes the first divine aspect of Will or Power what it is; it is that which is the distinctive feature of the Shamballa force; it is that peculiar and distinctive quality of divinity which is so different that even Christ Himself was unable to express it with facility and understanding. Hence we have the episode in Gethsemane. It is not easy for me to express its significance in words. Two thousand years have gone since Gethsemane and since Christ made His initial contact with the Shamballa force, and by this means and on behalf of humanity established a relationship which even after two thousand years is but a thin, frail line of connecting energy.

This Will force is nevertheless available for right usage, but the power to express it lies in its understanding (as far as may be possible at this midway point in human evolution), and in its group use. It is a unifying, synthetic force, but can be used as a regimenting, standardising force. May [344] I repeat those two key words to the use of this Shamballa energy: Group Use and Understanding.

Mankind has had much difficulty in comprehending the significance of Love. If that is so, the problem in relation to the Will will naturally be still more difficult. For the vast majority of men, true love is still only a theory. Love (as we usually interpret it) works out as kindness, but it is kindness to the form side of life, to the personalities of those around us, and fulfils itself usually in a desire to carry out our obligations and not to obstruct in any way those activities and relationships which tend to the well-being of our fellowmen. It expresses itself in a desire to end abuses and to bring about happier, material world conditions; it shows itself in mother love, in love among friends, but seldom as yet in love among groups and nations. It is the theme of the Christian teaching, just as Will, divinely expressed, will be the theme of the coming world religion, and has been the impulse lying behind much of the good work done in the fields of philanthropy and human welfare, but factually, true love has never yet been expressed—except by the Christ.

You might ask why, if this is so, do you emphasise this highest aspect? Why not wait until we know more about Love and how to manifest it in our environment? Because, in its true expression, the Will today is needed as a propelling, expulsive force, and also as a clarifying, purifying agent.

The Shamballa energy is therefore that which is related to the livingness (through consciousness and form) of humanity; we need not consider its relation to the rest of the manifested world; it concerns the establishing of right human relations and is that condition of being which eventually negates the power of death. It is therefore incentive and not impulse; it is realised purpose and not the expression of desire. Desire works from and through the material form upwards; Will works downwards into form, bending form consciously to divine purpose. The one is invocative and the other is evocative. Desire, when massed and focussed, can invoke will; will, when evoked, ends desire [345] and becomes an immanent, propulsive, driving force, stabilising, clarifying, and finally destroying. It is much more than this, but this is all that man can grasp at this time and all for which he has, as yet, the mechanism of comprehension. It is this Will—aroused by invocation—which must be focussed in the light of the soul and dedicated to the purposes of light, and for the purpose of establishing right human relations; it must be used (in love) to destroy all that is hindering the free flow of human life and which is bringing death (spiritual and real) to humanity. This Will must be invoked and evoked.

There are two great handicaps to the free expression of the Will force in its true nature. One is the sensitivity of the lower nature to its impact, and its consequent prostitution to selfish ends, as in the case of the sensitive, negative German people and its use by the Axis nations for material objectives. The second is the blocking, hindering, muddled but massed opposition of the well-meaning people of the world who talk vaguely and beautifully about love but refuse to consider the techniques of the Will of God in operation. According to them, that Will is something with which they will personally have naught to do; they refuse to recognise that God works out His Will through men, just as He is ever seeking to express His Love through men; they will not believe that that Will could possibly express itself through the destruction of evil with all the material consequences of that evil. They cannot believe that a God of Love could possibly employ the first divine aspect to destroy the forms which are obstructing the free play of the divine Spirit; that Will must not infringe upon their interpretation of Love. Such people are individually of small moment and of no importance, but their massed negativity is a real detriment to the ending of this war, just as the massed negativity of the German people, and their inability to take right action when Hitler's purposes were disclosed, made possible the great inflow of ancient and focussed evil which has brought the present catastrophe to man. Such people are like a millstone around the neck of humanity, crippling true effort, murmuring, [346] "Let us love God and each other," but doing nothing but murmur prayers and platitudes whilst humanity is dying.

You can easily appreciate the fact that the evocation of the energy of the Will and its effect upon the unprepared, materialistically minded person might and would prove a disaster. It would simply serve to focus and strengthen the lower self-will, which is the name we give to realised and determined desire. It could then create such a driving force, directed to selfish ends, that the person might become a monster of wickedness. In the history of the race, one or two advanced personalities have done this with dire results, both to themselves and to the people of their time. One such figure in ancient times was Nero; the modern example is Hitler. What, however, has made the latter so dangerously an enemy of the human family is that during the last two thousand years mankind has advanced to a point where it can also be responsive to certain aspects of this first ray force. Hitler therefore found associates and cooperators who added their receptivity to his so that an entire group became the responsive agents of the destructive energy, expressing itself in its lowest aspect. This is what has enabled them to work ruthlessly, powerfully, selfishly, cruelly, and successfully, at the destruction of all that attempted to impede their projects and desires.

There is only one way in which this focussed evil will which is responsive to the Shamballa force can be overcome, and that is by the opposition of an equally focussed spiritual Will, displayed by responsive men and women of goodwill who can train themselves to be sensitive to this type of new incoming energy and can learn how to invoke and evoke it.

You can consequently see why there was more than the casual use of a current word in my mind when I talked to all of you in terms of goodwill and of the will-to-good. All the time I had in my thoughts not just kindness and good intention, but the focussed will-to-good which can and must evoke the Shamballa energy, and use it for the arresting of the forces of evil.

[347]

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WESAK FESTIVAL

May 1942

We have now reached the most important moment of the year. This year two such moments are brought together, reinforcing each other, the Full Moon of May and the Full Moon of June. I would have you bear in mind that time and energy are interchangeable terms upon the inner planes. Time is an event, and an event is a focussed expression of force of some type or kind. Two great streams of energy—one focussed through the Buddha and the other focussed through the Christ—are to be fused and blended and it is the task of the world disciples, the initiates and the accepted disciples to precipitate this combined energy on to the waiting world where its effective use will be largely dependent upon the sensitive response of the world aspirants. These are to be found in every country and their task is to react to the stream of directed energy. These are the points I would have you bear in mind as you endeavour to work through and in the ashram; in that ashram are to be found all types of disciples with all types and degrees of responsiveness.

There is an increasing emphasis being given in the West by esotericists to the Full Moon of May, which is the Festival of the Buddha and is held at the time when He makes His annual contact with humanity. This emphasis, which will continue to increase for years to come, has not been brought about in order to impose recognition of the Buddha upon the Occident. There have been two main reasons why, since 1900, this effort has been made. One was the desire on the part of the Hierarchy to bring to the attention of the public the fact of the two Avatars, the Buddha and the Christ, both upon the second Ray of Love-Wisdom, Who were the first of our humanity to come forth as human-divine Avatars and to embody in Themselves certain cosmic Principles and give them form. The Buddha embodied the Principle of Light, and because of this illumination, humanity was enabled to recognise Christ, Who embodied the still greater Principle [348] of Love. The point to be borne in mind is that light is substance, and the Buddha demonstrated the consummation of substance-matter as the medium of Light, hence His title of the "Illumined One." Christ embodied the underlying energy of Consciousness. The one demonstrated the height of the attainment of the third divine aspect; the other that of the second aspect, and these two together present one perfect Whole. The second reason was to initiate, as I have earlier said, the theme of the new world religion. This theme will eventually underlie all religious observances, colour all approaches to the divine centre of spiritual life, give the clue to all healing processes, and—using light scientifically—govern all techniques for bringing about conscious unity and relationship between a man and his soul, and between humanity and the Hierarchy.

The first objective has been definitely reached. Today, at the Full Moon of May, many millions everywhere will be turning their thoughts towards the Buddha, seeking to come under His influence and blessing and that of the Hierarchy at His annual, though brief, return to bless humanity. This recognition will grow until the time in the not too distant future when His term of service will be over and He will return no more, because the coming Avatar will take His place in the minds and thoughts of the peoples of the world. His task of reminding aspirants continuously of the possibility of illumination, and His work of keeping a channel open for the light to irradiate men's minds by piercing annually through light substance to the Earth is nearly completed; the time has nearly come when "in that light we shall see Light."

I would ask you to ponder on these two functions which the Buddha has performed. There is a third which, in collaboration with the Christ, He has made possible; this is the establishment of a more easily achieved relation between the Hierarchy and Shamballa, thus facilitating the impress of the Will of God upon the minds of men, through the medium of the Hierarchy. This impress we interpret as yet in terms of the divine Plan. This is expressing itself at present in the [349] keen recognition by men everywhere of the need to establish right human relations, culminating in the objectives for which the United Nations are fighting. These have been voiced for humanity by two great world disciples in terms of The Four Freedoms and The Atlantic Pact. These Four Freedoms relate basically to the four aspects of the lower self, the quaternary. Enough light has been permitted to penetrate by the efforts of the Buddha, to lead to a world-wide recognition of the desirability of these formulas; and there is enough love already in the world, released by the Christ, to make possible the working out of the formulas. Rest back on that assurance and—in full practice upon the physical plane—demonstrate its truth. I said "to make possible," for the working out lies in the hands of the New Group of World Servers and the men and women of goodwill. Will they prove adequate for the task? Will they brace themselves for the needed strenuous effort?

What now is the task which the Buddha has set Himself this coming Full Moon? As far as your comprehension is concerned, it is to evoke in humanity the spirit of demand, whilst holding open for them the channel whereby that demand can reach straight through to Shamballa. This is the point to have in mind as you prepare for the Wesak Festival and attempt to participate in the Full Moon blessing—blessing for the world and not for yourself. The Buddha comes this year, embodying the force which can stimulate men everywhere to focus their "massed intent" and thus reach symbolically "the ear and the heart" of the Avatar, wresting thus from the secret place of the Most High the aid, help, and directed recognition which will bring about a phenomenal event in due and proper time. Whilst He is attempting to do this, the Christ will join in the effort by focussing in Himself the spirit of appeal as it is evoked by the stimulation being applied by the Buddha. He will embody that appeal in a great Invocation, one which cannot be given to you, but which He is prepared to use if the appeal comes forth in sufficient strength from the people of the world. Will humanity respond to the evocation of the [350] Buddha? Will their massed intent be vital enough to enable the Christ to become Himself, in a mysterious way, the very Spirit of Invocation on their behalf? These are the possibilities with which we are confronted this Full Moon of May.

It is these which I would ask you to have in mind from now until the Wesak Moon and on until after the June Full Moon. It is at that Full Moon that the Christ can and will use this Invocation, provided the will of the people permits. At that time He will attempt to reach the Lords of Liberation and evoke Their response to the focussed will of the spiritually minded people of the world, the aspirants, disciples and initiates; They, if evoked, can give the impetus which will enable the Christ (as the Rider from the Secret Place) to come forth in response to the "massed intent" of the general public.

Do you see, therefore, the imminent and vital possibilities? Do you recognise the urgency of the opportunity? The two Full Moons form one complete cycle of work and should be prepared for in line with these statements of mine, both now and in the years which will follow. As you prepare your own hearts, remember that the Full Moon of May is the time in which the New Group of World Servers and all the esotericists and spiritually oriented people of the world must work in full cooperation with the Buddha, and that the Full Moon of June is the opportunity for the men and women of goodwill—aided by the New Group of World Servers—to arouse people everywhere to make a great appeal, and by this appeal enable the Christ to invoke for them the needed aid.

One thing I would request. Set no dates for the appearing of the Coming One, the Avatar, or for any spectacular aid. If the work is rightly done, He will come at the set and appointed time and the needed aid will be forthcoming. Modes and methods are none of your concern. Regard the ancient prophecies as intrinsically right, true and correct, but recognise that their phraseology is symbolic and not to be taken literally. How the Lords of Liberation will work can only be known to the Hierarchy. Their aid will be focussed [351] upon evoking in the Hierarchy those attitudes and capacities which will make possible the inflow of energy from Shamballa. Their work is with the Hierarchy, and the reaction of humanity to Their activity will come only from the New Group of World Servers, and may even then only be registered consciously by the senior disciples and initiates.

The work of the Avatar, the Rider from the Secret Place, will be primarily with humanity and will be for their relief and salvation.

The first half of this work, focussed through the Buddha, will begin in May 1942. The second half will be started by the Christ in June 1942, but only if the invocation of the New Group of World Servers and the massed intent of the men and women of goodwill is adequately strong and adequately focussed. It will consequently be a reciprocal process of invocation and evocation, facilitated by the extreme readiness to act and to respond on the part of Those invoked by humanity, but handicapped by the lack of sensitivity and the weakness of the will of those seeking aid. It is this inadequacy which the Buddha hopes to remove when He comes to His people in May. It is the strengthening and focussing of the will which the Christ is endeavouring to foster with a special effort in June.

These two Full Moons are therefore of paramount importance and should have a definite effect subconsciously upon the minds of the New Group of World Servers and upon the hearts of the men and women of goodwill in every land, nation and group. Let your meetings, your meditation and your individual thinking be steadily focussed upon these points, and endeavour to enter into the Full Moon exercises—both of May and June—with as clear an understanding of what is taking place as you can and a clear picture of the possibilities which can come as the result of right action. Both the Full Moons should be times of effective service. The Buddha does not require invoking. He will come. But the spirit of invocation needs evoking from the masses and it is this work that aspirants everywhere can aid the Buddha in bringing out, standing thus with Him and with the [352] Hierarchy. At the time of the Full Moon of June, and in preparation for the opportunity during the entire month of May, the point of focus for all servers must be the Christ and every effort must be directed to aiding His work as Representative for the people. He will endeavour to gather into Himself all that they have of appeal, prayer and demand—voiced or unvoiced—transmitting it in an act of spiritual intent to Shamballa.

A mobilising of the Forces of Light is going on upon the inner side of life. These Forces stand ready, but the word for action must come from the Christ, and He will give that word when the people give it to Him. We are the conditioners of our own destiny. Neither the Christ nor the Hierarchy may, at this stage in human evolution, take any step vitally affecting humanity unless released into this activity by humanity itself.

From April 15th till June 15th are critical weeks, spiritually and materially, and this is one of the important facts I want at this time to bring to your attention. I cannot detail to you what you should do or what should be your line of endeavour. I can give you a general idea of the hierarchical Approach and the nature of the human problem. The rest lies in your hands.

Even if the work done is entirely successful, the time of the Appearing and of divine intervention by the Forces of Light, through the medium of Their Agents, the Lords of Liberation and the Christ is dependent upon many factors beside that of right invocation. Of these you can know little, if anything. The question of right timing is one of deep esoteric significance and is basically involved here. The next three years are years of fulfilment and for that period the aspirants of the world are asked to stand steady in patient, yet convinced, expectancy. The task to be done by the Hierarchy involves not only the physical plane but also the inner planes of causes and impulses, of thought and desire. This all disciples know but are apt to forget. The critical situation upon the outer plane is only a reflection of still more critical inner conditions, and you can give acceptable [353] help if you evoke your own will and control your emotions, disciplining your personality. Thus you will be able to present a tiny focal point through which the spiritual Forces can work. Through the agency of the many tiny points of light and will, much potency can be transmitted.

It is the will-to-victory that is demanded at this time; it is the will-to-invoke that which is needed; it is the will-to-focus and through this focussing to aid in the great act of invocation for which the Christ is at this time preparing Himself; it is the will-to-goodness, to self-control and to the evocation of right action for which the Hierarchy asks today. If humanity does its part, it will find that Hierarchy more than ready to respond and do its share in bringing about world release from the Forces of Evil.

Will you ponder on this and will you cooperate in every possible way? The plans may be laid, the vision may be seen but unless everyone recognises his essential contribution and his real usefulness, nothing can be done. There are no limitations when true esoteric work is undertaken. To this end, I seek to emphasise renewed application to meditation and a constant steady use of the Invocation, particularly the one which begins by invoking the Lords of Liberation.

"This work," Christ said, "goeth not forth save by prayer and fasting." I call you to prayer and to meditation for both are needed today, fusing as they do the emotional and mental bodies into one aspiring whole. I call you to discipline, for that is the meaning of fasting and to the constant effort to live at the highest possible point all the time; this is so often a dream but not often a fact. Today, in the hour of the world's need, aspirants and disciples who are willing to make at least consistent, persistent effort are needed by humanity and the Hierarchy.

My brothers, I have presented the picture; I have held before you for years the vision of opportunity, service and discipleship. I have outlined to you the mechanism of service which already is in existence and which can be galvanised into activity and world usefulness. I leave the matter in your hands, asking you to remember that the united [354] interest, love, service and money of the many is far more potent than even the consecrated effort of the two or three. No one is futile or useless, unless he chooses so to be.

And in the meantime, paralleling your subjective work and externalising your inner endeavour must be your work for your country and for your fellowmen in humanity's hour of need. There must be steadiness, selflessness and silence, plus courage and confidence—confidence in the strength of your own souls, confidence in the watching Hierarchy and confidence in the Plan. The end of tribulation is not yet, but it is in sight. With this thought I leave you. May the blessing of the Masters rest upon you as a group and as individuals, and may the Holy Ones Whose pupils you seek to become show you the light you seek, give you the strong aid of Their compassion and Their wisdom until you stand where the One Initiator is invoked, until you see His star shine forth.

THE CAUSE OF THE WORLD CATASTROPHE

June 1942

We come now to the consideration of the present acute situation and world catastrophe which is rooted in world glamour, and will study the possibility of relief and cure. This possibility exists and is centred in the two great Avatars, the Buddha and the Christ.

It is difficult to write clearly about this matter of world glamour [vii]* because we are in the midst of its most concentrated expression—the worst the world has ever seen because glamour, incident to centuries of greed and selfishness, of aggression and materialism, has been focussed in a triplicity of nations. It is, therefore, easily to be seen and most effective in manifestation. Three nations express the three aspects of world glamour (illusion, glamour and maya) in an amazing manner, and their powerful assault upon the consciousness [355] of humanity is dependent not only upon the response of Germany, Japan and Italy to this ancient miasma but also upon the fact that every nation—the United Nations as well as the Totalitarian Nations—are tainted with this universal condition. The freedom of the world is consequently largely dependent upon those people in every nation who (within themselves) have moved forward out of one or other of these "glamorous illusions of mayavic impressions" of the human soul into a state of awareness wherein they can see the conflict in its wider terms, i.e., as that existing for them between the Dweller on the Threshold and the Angel of the Presence.

These people are the aspirants, the disciples and the initiates of the world. They are aware of the dualism, the essential dualism, of the conflict and are not so pre-eminently conscious of the threefold nature and the differentiated condition of the situation which underlies the realised dualism. Their approach to the problem is therefore simpler and, because of this, world direction lies largely in their hands at this time.

It is right here that religion has, as a whole, gone astray. I refer to orthodox religion. It has been preoccupied with the Dweller on the Threshold and the eyes of the theologian have been held upon the material, phenomenal aspect of life through fear and its immediacy, and the fact of the Angel has been a theory and a point of wishful thinking. The balance is being adjusted by the humanitarian attitudes which are so largely coming into control, irrespective of any theological trend. These attitudes take their stand upon belief in the innate rightness of the human spirit, in the divinity of man and upon the indestructible nature of the soul of mankind. This inevitably brings in the concept of the PRESENCE, or of God Immanent and is the result of the needed revolt against the one-sidedness of the belief in God Transcendent. This spiritual revolution was entirely a balancing process and need cause no basic concern, for God Transcendent eternally exists, but can only be seen and known and correctly approached by God Immanent—immanent [356] in individual man, in groups and nations, in organised forms and in religion, in humanity as a whole and in the planetary Life Itself. Humanity is today (and has been for ages) battling illusion, glamour and maya. Advanced thinkers, those upon the Probationary Path, upon the Path of Discipleship, and the Path of Initiation have reached the point where materialism and spirituality, the Dweller on the Threshold and the Angel of the Presence, and the basic dualism of manifestation can be seen clearly defined. Because of this clarity of demarcation, the issues underlying present world events, the objectives of the present world-wide struggle, the modes and methods of re-establishing the spiritual contact so prevalent in Atlantean days and so long lost, and the recognition of the techniques which can bring in the new world era and its cultural order can be clearly noted and appraised.

All generalisations admit of error. It might, however, be said that Germany has focussed in herself world glamour—the most potent and expressive of the three aspects of glamour. Japan is manifesting the force of maya—the crudest form of material force.  Italy, individualistic and mentally polarised, is the expression of world illusion. The United Nations, with all their faults, limitations, weaknesses and nationalisms, are focussing the conflict between the Dweller and the Angel, and thus the three forms of glamour and the final form of the conflict between the spiritual ideal and its material opponent are appearing simultaneously. The United Nations are, however, gradually and most decisively throwing the weight of their effort and aspiration on to the side of the Angel, thus restoring the lost balance and slowly producing on a planetary scale those attitudes and conditions which will eventually dispel illusion, dissipate glamour and devitalise the prevalent maya. This they are doing by the increased clear thinking of the general public of all the nations, bound together to conquer the three Axis Powers, by their growing ability to conceive ideas in terms of the whole, in terms of a desirable world order or federation, [357] and their capacity to discriminate between the Forces of Light and the potency of evil or materialism.

The work being done by those who see the world stage as the arena for the conflict between the Dweller on the Threshold and the Angel of the PRESENCE might be itemised as follows:

1. The producing of those world conditions in which the Forces of Light can overcome the Forces of Evil. This they do by the weight of their armed forces, plus their clear insight.

2. The educating of humanity in the distinction between

a. Spirituality and materialism, pointing to the differing goals of the combatant forces.

b. Sharing and greed, outlining a future world wherein The Four Freedoms will be dominant and all will have that which is needed for right living-processes.

c. Light and dark, demonstrating the difference between an illumined future of liberty and opportunity and the dark future of slavery.

d. Fellowship and separation, indicating a world order where racial hatreds, caste distinctions and religious differences will form no barrier to international understanding, and the Axis order of master races, determined religious attitudes, and enslaved peoples.

e. The whole and the part, pointing to the time which is approaching (under the evolutionary urge of spirit) wherein the part or the point of life assumes its responsibility for the whole, and the whole exists for the good of the part. The dark aspect has been brought about by ages of glamour. The light is being emphasised and made clear by the world aspirants and disciples who by their attitudes, their actions, their writings and their utterances are bringing the light into dark places.

3. Preparing the way for the three spiritual energies which will sweep humanity into an era of comprehension, leading [358] to a focussed mental clarification of men's minds throughout the world. These three imminent energies are

a. The energy of the intuition which will gradually dispel world illusion, and produce automatically a great augmentation of the ranks of initiates.

b. The activity of light which will dissipate, by the energy of illumination, the world of glamour and bring many thousands on to the Path of Discipleship.

c. The energy of inspiration which will bring about, through the medium of its sweeping potency, the devitalisation or the removal, as by a wind, of the attractive power of maya or substance. This will release untold thousands on to the Path of Probation.

4. Releasing new life into the planet through the medium of every possible agency. The first step towards this release is the proving that the power of materialism is broken by the complete defeat of the Axis powers and, secondly, by the ability of the United Nations to demonstrate (when this has been done) the potency of the spiritual values by their constructive undertakings to restore world order and to lay those foundations which will guarantee a better and more spiritual way of life. These constructive attitudes and undertakings must be assumed individually by every person, and by nations as collective wholes. The first is being undertaken at this time. The second remains as yet to be done.

5. Bringing home to the nations of the world the truths taught by the Buddha, the Lord of Light, and the Christ, the Lord of Love. In this connection it might be pointed out that basically: