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SECTION THREE - FORCES BEHIND THE EVOLUTIONARY PROGRESS OF THE RACE - Part 5

3. Extend your interest to many countries and try to understand the diverse problems of those countries. Many know people in these foreign lands, and lists can be made of their names and addresses. As soon as the war is over and the lines of communication are again open, you can seek to reach these people, attempt to locate them through any available agencies, and then, when found, strengthen them with the knowledge of your goodwill or interest and by cooperating with them during the period of reconstruction. No matter how slight has been your contact with them in the past, foster it by thought and prayer, and later by direct communication. Thus a great network of relationship will be set up which will serve to weld a new world into one harmonious and understanding whole.

4. Pray constantly, and to your prayers add meditation and reflection. Behind the world pattern and structure stands its Originator, its Planner, its motivating Energy, its central Will, its living Creator, its God. Seek by prayer to reach that central Will and point of Life, thus blending yourself [384] with the sensed divine objective and identifying your will with the Divine Will. This central Will-to-Good can be reached by the man whose own will-to-good is a living, practical experience, and the more that goodwill is expressed, the more easily will you discover and cooperate with the divine Plan and follow the guiding hand of God in world affairs. The real work of reconstruction will be done by those who, in the silence of their own hearts, have walked with God and learnt His ways.

5. Find two other people to work with you. There is a unique potency in this triple relationship. God Himself, so say all the world Scriptures, works as a Trinity of goodness, and you can, in your tiny sphere, do the same, finding two other people of like mind with you to form a goodwill triangle of light and spiritual interplay. Each of the two who cooperate with you can, in their turn, do the same, and thus a great network of goodwill can spread throughout the world. Through it the Forces of Light will be able to work and you, in your place and sphere, will have aided and helped.

6. Find out and study the methods, techniques and objectives of the various groups and organisations which are interested in world reconstruction. You may not agree with all of them or with their plans and modes of working, but all are needed. The types of men are many, the races and conditions are varied, and the problems to be solved will call for innumerable ways of working. All can play their part if based on real goodwill and if fanaticism is absent. The fanatic is a danger wherever he is found, for he sees only one side of a question and is unable to appreciate the various points of view. He will not admit that all are needed. Cooperation is the key to expressed goodwill, and in the future period of rehabilitation cooperation will be the outstanding need. Keep a record of all such groups, their leaders, objectives and programmes. It will prove useful when the war is over. Establish helpful and friendly relations with them to the best of your ability.

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7. Find and keep a record also of the men and women of goodwill in your environment. Be spiritually aggressive in this matter and go out to discover them. When you have found them, then be interested in what they are doing, and also endeavour to have them cooperate with you in your lines of activity. Keep a register of the names and addresses of these people, adding also their capacities and functions if any, and thus build up a mailing list. You will then be aware of a group which can be depended upon to work in a spirit of goodwill and for world reconstruction. Later, these lists can be amalgamated, if deemed desirable, and form a vast mailing list of people in every country who will work along these indicated lines and who could be reached simultaneously. They will form a body of synchronised public opinion, sufficiently strong to mould ideas, influence the masses, and aid the world leaders to right and appropriate action.

8. Above everything else and growing out of all the above suggestions, plan definitely for the rehabilitation—physical, psychological and spiritual—of the children of every country. They have been the victims of wickedness. Let them be the recipients of loving goodwill instead. The problems of economic rehabilitation, of territorial boundaries, of the demobilisation of armies and the subsequent re-employment of the demobilised, and of world rebuilding are profoundly important and will call for expert aid. But the problem of the children, as earlier pointed out, underlies the whole necessity for world rebuilding, is greater than all other problems, is above all racial and national barriers, and evokes the best in every human heart. The children have prior claim upon all men.

I would therefore appeal to all whom I can reach through this article to concentrate their major effort—mental, spiritual and practical—on preparing themselves to aid the children of Europe and the other countries which have suffered so much at the hands of the Axis Powers. This will take much time and careful planning; it will necessitate [386] enlisting the cooperation of trained experts in the field of child welfare, doctors, surgeons, nurses, psychologists and educators; it will require much money to make the preparation effective, to send a trained personnel into the destitute and ruined countries and to carry forward the work whilst there; it will take also loving, compassionate action and long patience. It nevertheless constitutes the most important opportunity confronting the men and women of goodwill; it is the foundational activity of the new world order, for that order must be brought into being for the sake of the children of today. They will inhabit this new world, express the new ideals, and hand on to their children that for which we have fought and died, the best that we have inherited, and all that we have succeeded in salvaging for them. The thought of the children in the subjugated lands did not arrest the onward march of Hitler's soldiers; the sanctity of the home and the physical and moral needs of small children aroused no flicker of compassion in the young men trained under the Nazi system of education; the relationship of mother and child did not enter into the calculation of the German agents as they separated children from parents and set the child adrift in a world of carnage or in an institutionalised establishment. The planned cruelty must be remedied, and it must be remedied by the men and women of goodwill and loving hearts.

9. Begin now to lay aside, no matter what the personality may demand, such small sums as can be spared and which can accumulate in preparation for the work of reconstruction. If we can all do this, it will enable us to take our share in the work without placing an undue load on others. Will you see to it that this sacrifice and its resulting fund be preserved inviolate in your own hands until such time in the future as you may choose to use it?

These are the practical suggestions which it would seem possible to make at this particular time. They are of a general nature and basically individual. The whole scheme of rebuilding is as yet in the formative thought stage. The [387] process to be followed today is one of self-education and the awakening of all whom we can reach. It will demand the intelligent study and consideration of methods with which to meet this need, and the discovery of those who, irrespective of nationality or religion, can be depended upon to cooperate in the various phases of the work of reconstruction. In this work of preparation, all can share.

To this task we are all called, and to it there are many voices calling today; there are thousands who have dreamed the same dream, seen the same vision, believed in the divine possibilities which are latent in all human hearts and who know, past all controversy, that selfishness and universal greed have brought the world to its present desperate plight. They know also that selfless sharing and cooperative understanding between all men of goodwill everywhere can rebuild a new world, bring into being a more beautiful life, and restore that which humanity itself has destroyed. The best is yet to be. We can rest back upon the realisation that the history of the human race has been one of a steady moving forward down the ages and towards the light.

AN IMMINENT SPIRITUAL EVENT

March 1943

We are nearing the climax of the spiritual year. The greatest Approach of all time is imminent and possible. Much depends now upon the aspirants and disciples of the world, particularly those in physical incarnation today. A major contact between Shamballa and the Hierarchy, for which initiates and Masters have, for centuries, been preparing is in process of consummation. I shall very shortly be giving you some further information on the subject in an attempt to anchor on the earth that seed of the new world religion which an earlier instruction upon the Great Approaches [viii]* indicated might be founded, and lead to a true start of a universal faith which will serve the need of [388] humanity for a long time to come. All I ask of you today is to begin now a most careful preparation for the event which is impending at the time of the Full Moon of May, so that the energies then set in motion may be aided by your directed thought and you yourselves may come more fully into the current of the downpouring life.

At the coming Wesak Festival and until the Full Moon of June including the five days after that Full Moon I ask you to use both of the Invocations (pp. 144, 249), thus testifying greatly to the fusion of humanity into one great group of invocative appeal. Make a real effort to be present and in group formation at the exact time of the Full Moon of May, as far as you know it, using both Invocations and believing that you are voicing the unified will and desire of humanity itself. I will enlarge upon this in my Wesak message, but I seek to get this to you as early as possible so that my own group, in process of training, can lay the needed foundations of the work to be done.

Let me extend this concept a little further by pointing out that the invocative cry of humanity and of the Hierarchy, jointly sounded at the time of the Full Moons of May and June and particularly at the Wesak Festival, will be effective if the "cold light" of the aspirants and disciples of the world and of all selfless servers, no matter who or where they may be found, is united with the "clear light" of the initiates and of those who can function freely as souls—the Members of the Hierarchy and, to a lesser degree, all accepted disciples. This combination is the one that is desired and required. These people are relatively few in number, when compared with the world's population, but because they are to be found focussed at "the deep centre" and are distinguished by the quality of fusion and at-one-ment, they can be enormously potent. I would, therefore, ask all of you (during the weeks prior to the Full Moon of May and that of June and for five days thereafter) to seek to "dwell ever at the centre," to endeavour to blend the cold light of your personalities with the clear light of your soul, so as to work effectively for the five weeks of the desired period.

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A SPECIAL WESAK MESSAGE

April 1943

This communication is addressed to the members of the New Group of World Servers who can be reached (there are countless numbers of whom you have no knowledge) and to the men and women of goodwill everywhere. I would ask you to see that as many receive this as possible. We are nearing the climax of the spiritual year and the time that the Sun moves northward. The greatest Approach of all time is close and possible. Much however depends upon the aspirants and the disciples in the world at this time. The past year has been one of the world's worst experiences from the standpoint of agony and distress; the point of acutest suffering has been reached. It has, however, been the year in which the greatest spiritual Approach of all time has shown itself to be possible—an Approach for which the initiates and Masters have for centuries been preparing, and for which all the Wesak Festivals since the meeting of the Great Council in 1925 have been preparatory. I have, in past instructions, referred to the great meetings held at intervals by Those to Whom is entrusted the spiritual guidance of the planet and particularly of man. Certain facts must be assumed, such as the acceptance in the Western hemisphere of the existence of the Christ and in the Eastern, of the Buddha. It is, therefore, surely possible (given this acceptance) to assume that They and Their disciples must and do confer together upon the steps needed to guide mankind along the path of light, the path to God. To this all the world Scriptures bear witness and to this all spiritual knowers testify. I have not time today to enlarge upon this theme. I simply ask for your acceptance of the hypothesis (an hypothesis which is a fact to many millions and a proved event to many thousands) that spiritual guidance is accorded to mankind and that behind the veil which separates the visible from the invisible there stand Those Who are working strenuously—and, I might add, scientifically—to meet the present dire need.

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Two things are occupying Their attention:

1. The need to bring the present strife and warfare to an end and so release mankind from an evil past and open the door to a better future.

2. The opportunity to lay the foundations for that new world religion which will suffice to meet man's need for many centuries ahead and for which all past world religions have prepared him.

Such, brother of mine, are two of the objectives lying before the Hierarchy at this time as it prepares for the Full Moons of May and June. Can the forces be so organised and the energies, pending distribution, so dispersed that the full measure of good can be evoked? Can the evocation of a new cycle of spiritual contact and of liberation be brought about by the action of the men and women of goodwill? Can the will-to-good of the spiritual Energies and the goodwill of humanity itself be brought together and produce those conditions in which the new world order—visioned by all who truly love their fellowmen—be enabled to function? Can the situation be so staged that the new world religion and the new approach of humanity to God are brought into being? These are the important questions which the Hierarchy is today attempting to answer.

The group of spiritual workers of whom I happen to be one is faced with two major problems: the problem of the war itself with its stupefying and stunning effect upon the masses everywhere, and the problem offered by the aspirants and disciples throughout the world. Can the suffering masses of men "stand with massed intent" and with eyes directed towards God so that their cry can mount to His ears? And will the spiritually minded people and the workers for humanity make that supreme effort (rendered from an adequate "point of tension") so that humanity may be focussed in its appeal and bring about a response from the highest available sources. Can the united effort of these two groups—one conscious of what is happening and the other unconscious—evoke reply?

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In moments of extreme urgency or crisis, the story of the Christ brings to our attention the fact that He then came in touch with His Father in Heaven. God spoke to Him in terms of recognition; God testified to the fact that He knew Him for His beloved Son. To these basic facts of the historical record, we must add the realisation that "as He is, so are we in this world" and the assurance of Christ Himself that God is also our Father. Then the door of possibility opens. We can come then to the realisation that in times of intense human urgency, stress and crisis and when the soul of man is adequately aroused to the needed point of spiritual receptivity (as was ever the case with Christ) then there can likewise come a divine recognition from the highest possible source which will suffice to bring release and liberation and to give power—power to do the right, to take those steps which are demanded by the spiritual purpose and to proceed, consequently, along the path of evolution.

Let me here point out that where this is a group activity upon the physical plane there is—under the Law of Balance and of Action and Reaction—a paralleling spiritual activity. The entire world of men is today engaged in an intense activity in the material world—marching armies, factories working in shifts twenty-four hours a day, seething migrations and deportations of people, intense air activity and the organising and planned work of the hundreds of relief agencies in every country—to mention only a few of the myriad activities. The personalities of men everywhere are engaged and mentally, emotionally and physically they are all working at high pressure. The impact of circumstance and events has never been so potent. Alongside of this material activity of humanity is to be found the strenuous endeavour, the effort to think constructively, the focussed idealism, the registration of vision and the spiritual aspiration of the people of goodwill, of the disciples everywhere, plus the trained spiritual activity of the Hierarchy and of the spiritual leaders of the race upon the outer and the inner side of life. To this must be added the activity (the waiting [392] activity, if I might use so paradoxical a phrase) of that centre of life where the will of God is focussed.

There are therefore, (speaking in terms of spiritual endeavour) the following groups whose massed intent is to bring about the liberation of humanity and who are to be found everywhere in the world:

1. The men and women of goodwill.

2. The idealists and the dreamers of dreams, the visioners of a future world.

3. The spiritually minded people whom we call the world aspirants.

4. Disciples throughout the planet.

5. The Members of the spiritual Hierarchy of the planet, either in or out of incarnation.

6. The Custodians of the Will or Purpose of God, holding Themselves in readiness at Shamballa and listening for the demand for succour as it rises from mankind.

7. Certain great Energies of extra-planetary significance Who stand ready to intervene should the spiritual invocation or the distress of humanity reach the pitch of evocation.

The problem is how to fuse and blend the first five groups so that the spiritual appeal can express a group integrated and united demand. Only such a united demand, focussing the "massed intent" of mankind will suffice to evoke an extra-planetary response.

Much of this task of unification lies in the hands of two groups: the planetary Hierarchy and the New Group of World Servers. With the work of the first group, mankind has little to do, for They can be depended upon to fulfil Their task and to shoulder Their responsibility to the full. With the work of the New Group of World Servers all of you have much to do and it is about this work that I write at this time.

I shall not waste time in defining the personnel of this group. Suffice it to say that all who truly love their fellowmen [393] and who serve them with sacrifice and selfless understanding constitute this group. Along with the affiliated body of men of goodwill, the members of the New Group of World Servers must now prepare themselves for a great act of service at the time of the May and June Full Moons and throughout the weeks preceding those times.

The statements which I am now going to make, I will put as briefly as possible, leaving you to ponder upon them and trusting you to understand them. What I have now to say will fall into three parts:

1. The work of the Hierarchy in the immediate future at these Full Moon Periods

2. The task of the New Group of World Servers today

3. The New World Religion and its spiritual future.

It is necessary for you to understand the immediate spiritual possibilities which confront humanity if those of you who have vision and love humanity are to measure up to the immediate opportunity. It is necessary that you should grasp the immediate preparatory steps which you can take in relation to those possibilities and should also have a vision of the principles which must govern the new world religion, with its outstanding points of focus. I do not intend to plead with you, as in the past, or ask you for cooperation either to serve or sacrifice. I only seek to give you information, leaving you to make due application under the urge of your own souls.

The Work of the Hierarchy in the Immediate Future

The past history of the relations existing between the Hierarchy as a whole and humanity as a whole can be summarised in the idea of the carrying out of certain Great Approaches between Those who express the spiritual attitude and those who are frankly material in their attitude. By means of these Approaches, humanity has been brought (in consciousness) increasingly nearer to the spiritual centres of love and life and has been stimulated to make spiritual [394] progress, to awaken to the light within, to unfold the Christ consciousness and to find the Path of Light which leads to divinity. This steady trend towards increasing relationship has focussed itself throughout the historical record by means of certain great registered revelations—the result of these Approaches. Always in moments of crisis and tension, the cry of humanity has evoked response from the Hierarchy which has come, sometimes rapidly, sometimes more slowly, but always inevitably. In modern history, two such Approaches are recognised as existing on a broad human scale, i.e., the one which focussed through the coming of the Buddha to the Eastern civilisation and that which focussed through the Christ, coming to the West. Another Great Approach is now at hand but its date is dependent upon the activity of the New Group of World Servers and the spiritual tension which they can achieve.

A major preparatory period to this Approach took place in 1936 and in this preparation many of you participated; it culminated at the time of the Full Moon of May that year in a worldwide use of the first Invocation which I gave you. Now, seven years later, comes the opportunity to carry forward the work then started and to achieve results which may release spiritual tides of forces and these may turn the tide of battle. I refer not here to the battle in the physical sense. The war, from the physical angle, is already won though many months may elapse before the victory in the East and in the West is completely achieved. This you realise. But—again paralleling this physical achievement—must come a spiritual victory and this could be described as the gaining of a new spiritual orientation and a new attitude towards God, to express it very simply.

In reverse, I might point out that the reasons for a measure of failure in 1936 can be traced to two sources. The work was relatively so successful that it called forth a powerful paralleling activity upon the part of the Forces of Evil; these were potent enough to overwhelm temporarily the Forces of Light and to bring on the war with all its attendant horrors. Secondly, the New Group of World [395] Servers, the men and women of goodwill and the aspirants everywhere relaxed their efforts; they did not hold the tension gained but slipped back into negligence; the work did not go on and this in spite of the constant effort of a few. But they were too few.

Now again comes opportunity and the possibility of a Great Approach which can be the consummation of the work started in 1936. The battle is on between the Forces of Light and the Forces of Evil. To end this warfare rapidly, and with success, leaving a wide open door to a better world, the Forces of Life must be called in. It is this which is engaging the attention of the Hierarchy at this time. For aiding in this endeavour the Buddha is preparing Himself and for this the Christ stands ready, focussing in Himself the desire of Humanity for that "life more abundantly" which He promised when here before, and for liberation from evil and admission into good. One of the realisations emerging out of this war is the fact that humanity has now, as a whole, been able to see and grasp more clearly than ever before, the nature of evil. Men are recoiling in horror from this display of rampant evil and even the wicked man is shocked and arrested by the unleashed wickedness which is today stalking the Earth. That realisation is good and will help the needed reorientation of mankind towards God and good.

Putting it very simply, the Hierarchy is today getting ready for a Great Approach which will have two results:

1. It will bring about a closer relation between those great Lives Who embody the will of God and are the Custodians of the divine purpose, and Those Who embody the love of God and are the Custodians of the immediate Plan for humanity. This relationship can be established at the time of the May Full Moon at which time the Buddha will embody in Himself the powerful downpouring of energy—the dynamic energy of the divine will. The Christ, at the same time, will embody the outpouring dominant demand of the spiritual aspiration of mankind, plus [396] the demand of the Hierarchy for the needed aid at this time of crisis.

2. It will also bring about a closer relation between mankind and the Hierarchy. At the time of the June Full Moon, the Christ will focus in Himself the spiritual energies of the Hierarchy, plus the energy which the Buddha distributed at the time of the Wesak Festival; the New Group of World Servers will focus the spiritual demand for life and liberation, voicing the "massed intent" of humanity.

If both aspects of this one work can be satisfactorily carried forward, then a great release can be brought about. The Lords of Liberation could be successfully invoked; the Spirit of Peace might appear as the "Rider from the Secret Place" and the new era of goodwill (based upon the will-to-good) might be inaugurated. I say "might be" because, my brothers, the success of all that could happen is dependent upon the work done by you and all men of goodwill, by the religious and spiritually minded people everywhere and by the world aspirants between the sacred season of May and June, 1943, and that of 1944.

Esoterically speaking, the work of the Hierarchy is to focus the divine will-to-good as it affects humanity. The work of spiritually minded men is to evoke that will-to-good on earth through as full an expression as possible of goodwill. It is the goodwill of the masses, focussed everywhere through the United Nations who are fighting for the liberation of mankind and through the New Group of World Servers, which is sufficient to invoke the will-to-good and only this is adequate. This is an important statement and one on which I would ask you to ponder.

During the past six years I have given you two Stanzas of a Great Invocation. The first one ran as follows:

Let the Forces of Light bring illumination to mankind.

Let the Spirit of Peace be spread abroad.

May men of goodwill everywhere meet in a spirit of cooperation.

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May forgiveness on the part of all men be the keynote at this time.

Let power attend the efforts of the Great Ones.

So let it be and help us to do our part.

This expressed the normal, largely unconscious, invocative cry of humanity. It summed up in itself the desire of all men everywhere for peace, for goodwill and cooperation. It was generally popular and was and still is very widely used. It was fairly easily understood and its outstanding note was peace. It was used as a prayer by the majority and not as a challenging demand as had been intended; it did not, therefore, prove adequately effective in arresting the onward march of evil. It does, however, preserve the form which can and will evoke eventually the Spirit of Peace. This evocation will bring to humanity that stimulation and active desire to participate in the expression of goodwill which will render world peace an effective outcome of wise action and the establishment of right human relations. Just as the Great Lord of Love and Son of God, the Christ, used as His vehicle of expression on earth, the form of the Master Jesus, so this great extra-planetary Life, the Spirit of Peace, can be enabled, on a higher turn of the spiral, to use as His vehicle of expression, the form of the Christ, the Prince of Peace; thus His stupendous energies will be stepped down through the medium of the Lord of Love and become available to the mass of men.

I gave you later another Stanza of the Invocation, of great power which was suited to the conditions of war—a war which proved inevitable and unavoidable. This last Invocation was not so popular and not nearly so easily understood and for this there was very good reason. It was an invocation intended to evoke the Forces of Life just as the previous one invoked the Forces of Light and Love. It could only be successfully used by disciples, advanced thinkers and the Hierarchy itself. It was, however, given out to the public so as to familiarise them as far as possible with the concepts of liberation and life and in an effort to anchor upon Earth [398] a new point of focus through which life could be made to flow. This effort has not been totally unsuccessful.

At the time of the Full Moon of May and of June, it will be advisable to use both these Invocations and thus to fuse and blend into one united invocation the massed intent of humanity as a whole and the enlightened purpose of the disciples and the Hierarchy. This fusion of the two groups—Humanity and the Hierarchy—may then suffice to sound out such a potent call that life may be released on Earth instead of death and the love of God play its active part in the reconstruction of world affairs. If this can be successfully accomplished, two great revelations may then be speeded on their way:

1. A revelation of light and understanding to humanity as a whole, leading them to knowledge and enabling men to see the cause of the present catastrophe, for "in that light shall we see Light." In that light, humanity will know what to do and how to rectify past errors.

2. A revelation of life and of "life more abundantly" as Christ promised when on earth. This revelation will give to the thinkers, idealists, true leaders and disciples working in the world today, that spiritual energy which leads to right activity, sound leadership and inspired and inspiring living.

Such is another of the goals confronting the Hierarchy at this time. Such is the will of God for humanity and such is the intent and purpose of Shamballa. When the massed purpose of the Custodians of the Will of God and the massed intent of the souls of men can be synchronised, then the Great Approach will become inevitable and the Great Release will automatically follow.

The Task of the New Group of World Servers Today

The immediate task of the New Group of World Servers is to focus the massed longing, aspiration, desire and intent [399] of humanity so as to bring about the needed synchronisation at the time of the Full Moon of May and of June this year, and throughout the intervening weeks from the receipt of this communication (as far as you are concerned) until July first, approximately.

This they must do through their own clear thinking on current matters, by the cultivation of a receptive spirit, based on a willingness to learn, a readiness to let old preconceptions go and fixed ideas to disappear under the impact of new truths and new inspiration, and based also on a determination at all costs to recognise truth and presented spiritual developments.

I would ask all of you, therefore, to have an open mind, to redouble your belief in the fact of the spiritual realities, to have faith in the will-to-good of the divine purpose and to love your fellowmen; and—upon the plane of practical affairs and living—to do two things: Carry forward your due share in this physical plane war, aiding the armed forces of the United Nations to wage war to a successful finish, knowing that there are spiritual realities for which it is worth dying if need be, and that war on evil can be waged without hate and with right purpose; secondly, plan at the same time for those practical measures which, after the war is over, will aid the period of reconstruction and help rehabilitate humanity, and lead to a saner, better, truer way of living.

I would ask you also to take those measures in your individual life and in your environment, wherever possible, which will help make the work to be done at the time of the Full Moon in May and in June successful; to use both the Invocations constantly; do not use them as prayers or employing the energy of desire but as great challenging demands, employing the power of the will as you can muster it and focus it at a point of tension. At the time of the Full Moon gather people together for an act of fusion and of cooperation, thus aiding humanity and throwing your small individual effort behind that of the Hierarchy. I would ask you to recognise that, as a part of [400] the New Group of World Servers and as a person of goodwill you can act as a mediating factor between humanity and the Hierarchy, bridging the gap between the mass of men (stunned by suffering, blind to the higher issues, and inert) and the spiritual Group which is seeking so earnestly to bring them help and life. I would have you use, with all the power which in you lies, the creative imagination as you endeavour to do this and to believe that the sincerity of your purpose and the love of your hearts can and will help make possible the Great Approach and so hasten the Great Release. I would have you (from the time you receive this communication) think deeply on what I have said, to walk silently in the light of your souls, to radiate love, to seek clarity of vision and then, when needed, to speak to others with power and understanding.

I would, finally, have you realise that in the work now being done and as a result of the Great Approach you can aid in the focussing or anchoring of the new world religion, that universal religion which will be founded on all the past, which will consummate the work of the Christ and which will open up a fresh stretch (if I may use such an expression) upon the Path of Light which leads to God.

The New World Religion

All past divine revelations have brought humanity to the point where (spiritually speaking) man's essential divinity is theologically recognised, where the brotherhood of man and the Fatherhood of God are recognised ideals and where science has demonstrated the fact of an unfolding purpose and the existence of a fundamental, intelligent Agent behind all phenomena. Step by step man has been led through prayer, the voice of desire, through worship, the recognition of deity, through affirmation of the fact of human identity of nature with the divine, to a belief in the divinity of man. Orthodox religion emphasises the divinity of the Christ, and He Himself has told us (and the New Testament in many places emphasises it) that we also are divine, all [401] of us are the Sons of God and that as He is so are we in this world and that we are able to do still greater things than Christ did because He has shown us how. Such is the religious background of the spiritual thinking in the world. Therefore, taking our stand on these truths, acknowledging the fact of our divinity and recognising the glory of all past revelations and the still more glorious promise of the future, we can begin to realise that the time has now come for the presentation of the new step in this unfolding revelation. We can realise that to our past programmes of prayer, worship and affirmation, the new religion of Invocation and Evocation can be added, in which man will begin to use his divine power and come into closer touch with the spiritual sources of all life.

This new form of the one religion will be in fact the Religion of the Great Approaches—approaches between mankind and the great spiritual Centres which operate behind the scenes, between groups of workers on the physical plane and in the three worlds of human evolution and spiritual groups upon the inner planes, such as the Ashrams of the Masters and the egoic groups with which all human beings are in subjective—though usually unknown—relation.

The new religion will be one of Invocation and Evocation, of bringing together great spiritual energies and then stepping them down for the benefiting and the stimulation of the masses. The work of the new religion will be the distribution of spiritual energy and the protecting of humanity from energies and forces which they are not, at the particular time, fitted to receive. A little careful thought will show you how, at the coming Full Moon Festivals, these thoughts are present: the protection and liberation of humanity and the stimulation of mankind through the distribution and the transference of spiritual energy so that the right steps can be taken in any given period, leading mankind out of darkness into light, from death to immortality and from the unreal to the Real.

I would have you, therefore, add to your mental and spiritual activity the recognition that you are participating [402] in the task of anchoring the basic tenets of the new world religion—the flower and fruition of the past and the hope of the future.

More along this line, I may not write at this time. Later I will elaborate for you the greater and the lesser festivals of the spiritual year as they will gradually supersede the festivals of the present world religions in the East and in the West. (See: The Reappearance of the Christ, Chapter VI.) Much that you have learnt and gradually absorbed will then be seen fitting into the general spiritual plan. You will find that the spiritual year is divided into two periods (symbolic of spirit and matter); the period in which the Sun moves northward and the period when it travels on the southern way. You will find that the month divides itself into two periods likewise, that of the waxing and the waning moon and you will find the future emphasis laid throughout the world upon the Easter Festival, the Festival of the Risen Christ; upon the Wesak Festival, the Festival of the Buddha or of Illumination; and the June Full Moon, the Festival of Unification carried forward by the Christ, the Master of all the Masters and the Teacher alike of angels and of men.

Today, however, I seek to focus your attention upon the immediate task of cooperation with the Hierarchy and strengthen you to play your part in world salvage.

THE NEW WORLD RELIGION

May 1943

In the first part of my message under this title (see: The Reappearance of the Christ, Chapter VI) I had much to say about the form into which the great world religions in the East and in the West have crystallised and its consequent deterioration. It will be essential, therefore, to look at and appreciate the fundamental truths which that form has preserved, even whilst hiding them. It will be valuable for us to realise that within the churches men of God and disciples of the Christ have ever worked, laboured and suffered. They have seen and agonised over the distortions [403] and the misrepresentations. They have been hindered by the organisation, oft despised by the theologians, and have remained simple in the midst of learning. They have been loving and universal in their individual consciousness, among the separative and fanatical. They are the glory of the church—oft hated when alive and oft canonised after death. Their glory lies in the fact that they testify to the progress of the spiritual man and express in fullness what is in every evolving man; they are the flower of evolution and the tried representatives of God. In the indictment of the churches, given earlier, let us not forget the Christians found within those churches.

I would remind you that I write as one who believes in the great spiritual realities and who regards the unfolding spirit of man as the unshatterable evidence of the existence of "the One in Whom we live and move and have our being." I speak as one who believes in and loves the Christ and who knows Him to be the Master of all the Masters and the Teacher alike of angels and of men. I am one who looks to the Christ as the supreme expression of divinity upon Earth and who knows the extent of His sacrificial work for humanity, the wonder of the revelation which He brought, the imminence of His return and of His coming Assumption of spiritual rule in the hearts of men everywhere. I know that He has no pleasure in the great stone temples which man has built whilst His people are left without practical guidance or reasonable light upon their affairs; and I know too that He feels, with an aching heart, that the simplicity which He taught, and the simple Way to God which He emphasised have disappeared in the fogs of theology and the discussions of churchmen throughout the centuries. I know that He realises that the words He spoke have been lost in the labyrinths of the ecclesiastical minds which have sought to interpret them, and that the simple teaching of the Approach to God which He taught has been superseded by the pomp and ceremony of elaborate rituals.

To sum up: Because of the divergences of the many exoteric faiths, the multiplicity of the sects and cults in both [404] the Orient and Occident, and the quarrels of theologians over words, phrases and interpretations, the sons of God—in process of development—are left without the needed help to contact the Christ and His great group of disciples, the spiritual leaders of humanity; the way to Christ, the living, loving Expression of God, is not made clear to the seeker. Together, the two great Sons of God present to mankind—the One in the East and the Other in the West—a complete and perfect representation of Deity; by Their lives and words They guarantee to man the possibilities always latent in the human spirit.

Today the Christ and the Buddha wait until the hour strikes. Then Their united effort, plus the invocative appeal of all who truly know and truly love, will bring humanity the new revelation for which they wait.

The new world religion must be based upon those truths which have stood the test of the ages. This I said elsewhere and enumerated four of those truths:

1. The Fact of God

2. Man's Relationship to God

3. The Fact of Immortality and Eternal Persistence

4. The Continuity of Revelation and the Divine Approaches.

These four facts are basic realities and truths which have conditioned the masses of men for aeons. Human unhappiness is founded primarily upon man's inability to live fully in the consciousness of these four fundamental realisations. But they are steadily taking shape in human thinking, and for them the United Nations fights.

Two more great and foundational facts are also part of the human state of awareness.

5. The fact of our relationship with each other. This is as much a foundational spiritual fact as is God Himself, because it is linked with our knowledge of Him as Father.

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This relationship we call "brotherhood" and it expresses itself (or should I say, it will eventually express itself?) through human fellowship and right human relations. For this we work, and humanity is moving towards that relationship—and that in spite of the fact of war.

6. The fact of the Path to God. Awareness of this has been preserved for us down the ages by those who knew God and whom the world called mystics, occultists and saints. Opening out before aspiring men stretches the Way. The history of the human soul is the history of the search for that Way and its discovery by the persistent.

In every race and nation, in every climate and part of the world, and throughout the endless reaches of time itself, back into the limitless past, men have found the Path to God; they have trodden it and accepted its conditions, endured its disciplines, rested back in confidence upon its realities, received its rewards and found their goal. Arrived there, they have "entered into the joy of the Lord," participated in the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, dwelt in the glory of the divine Presence, and then returned to the ways of men, to serve. The testimony to the existence of this Path is the priceless treasure of all the great religions and its witnesses are those who have transcended all forms and all theologies, and have penetrated into the world of meaning which all symbols veil.

These truths are part of all that the past gives to man. They are our eternal heritage, and connected with them there is no new revelation but only participation and understanding. These are the facts which the World Teachers have brought to us, suited to our need and capacity at any given time. They are the inner structure of the One Truth upon which all the world theologies have been built, including the Christian doctrines and dogmas built around the Person of Christ and His teaching.

Dimly sensed by the evolving human consciousness hovers another emerging truth of a larger nature—larger [406] because related to the Whole and not just to individual man and his personal salvation. It is an extension of the individual approach to truth. Let us call it the truth of the Great Cyclic Approaches of the divine to the human of which all world Teachers and Saviours were the symbol and the guarantee. At certain great moments, down the ages, God drew nearer to His people and humanity (blindly and unconscious of their objective) at the same time made great efforts to draw near to God. On the part of God, this was intentional, conscious and deliberate; on the part of man, it was largely unconscious, forced upon him by the tragedy of circumstance, by desperate need and by the driving urge of the collective soul. These Great Approaches can be traced down the centuries, and each time one took place it meant a clearer understanding of divine purpose, a new and fresh revelation, the institution of some form of a new religion and the sounding of a note which produced a new civilisation and culture, or a fresh recognition of relationship between God and man or man and his brother.

A new definition of God was given us when the Buddha taught that God was Light and showed us the way of illumination, and when Christ revealed to us that God was Love through His life and service on earth. Today the knowledge aspect of illumination is being comprehended, but the inner meaning of love is only now dimly sensed. Yet light and love have been revealed to the world by two great Sons of God in two Approaches. A new Approach is on the Way, bringing us the next needed truth. We ask ourselves: What will it be? For it, the knowers and lovers of God and of their fellowmen are prepared; for it, the masses of men wait.

Some of these Approaches have been of a major nature, affecting humanity as a whole, and some of them are of less importance affecting only a relatively small part of mankind—a nation or a group. Those Who come as the Revealers of the love of God come from that spiritual centre to which the Christ gave the name "the Kingdom of God." Here dwell the "spirits of just men made perfect"; here [407] the spiritual Guides of the race are to be found and here the spiritual Executives of God's plans live and work and oversee human and planetary affairs. It is called by many names by many people. It is spoken of as the Spiritual Hierarchy, as the Abode of Light, as the centre where the Masters of the Wisdom are to be found, as the Great White Lodge. From it come those who act as Messengers of the Wisdom of God, Custodians of the truth as it is in Christ, and Those Whose task it is to save the world, to impart the next revelation and to demonstrate divinity. All the world Scriptures bear witness to the existence of this centre of spiritual energy. This spiritual Hierarchy has been steadily drawing nearer to humanity as men have become more conscious of divinity and more fitted for contact with the divine.

Behind this spiritual centre of Love and Light another centre is to be found, for which the West has no name but which is called in the East by the name Shamballa. Perhaps the Western name is Shangri-Lha—a name which is finding recognition everywhere and which stands for a centre of happiness and purpose. Shamballa or Shangri-Lha is the place where the Will of God is focussed and from which His divine purposes are directed. From it the great political movements and the destiny of races and nations and their progress are determined, just as the religious movements, the cultural unfoldments and spiritual ideas are sent forth from the hierarchical centre of Love and Light. Political and social ideologies and world religions, the Will of God and the Love of God, the Purpose of divinity and the plans whereby that purpose is brought into activity all focus through that centre of which we are each consciously a part, Humanity itself. There are, therefore, three great spiritual centres on the planet: Shamballa, the spiritual Hierarchy, and Humanity.