Right Human Relations in a Time of Rending

Right Human Relations in a Time of Rending

Some years ago a dear friend shared this story:

An anthropologist tells of a game he played with some African children. He put a basket of fruit under a tree. Then he gathered all the children some distance away and told them that whoever got to the basket first could have all the fruit. When he said, “ready, set, go,” instead of racing against one another, the children grabbed one another’s hands, ran to the tree together, divided the fruit among themselves, and enjoyed the feast together. When the anthropologist asked them why they did this, the children responded, “Ubuntu.”

Ubuntu is an African word that is difficult to express in English, but is sometimes translated as, “I am because we are.” Fundamentally it is belief in an invisible and universal bond of sharing that connects all people. We become ourselves by sharing ourselves in community. As students of the Ancient Wisdom, we understand this as group consciousness, the soul’s expression in our daily lives. This we experience as love, linking between personality consciousness of separateness and spiritual consciousness of the Whole.

Recognition of this universal bond of sharing that connects all people is at the heart of right human relations, so essential to the work we have given ourselves to. This recognition requires that we know we are expressions of divinity; we are other than appearance, other than the circumstances of our lives, other than our feelings or our beliefs. As Pierre Teilhard de Chardin has said, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Many of us may have pondered how this possibly can be working out in these troubled times when the universal bond of sharing seems to be so far from our experience.

Divinity expressing in time and space is rhythmic and cyclical. In the tiny rhythms of heartbeats and breaths, in the cycles of sun and moon, in cycles of astrological influence, and the great cycles of the precession of the equinox divine energy is emerging and withdrawing. In each of these cycles forms are built, destroyed, and rebuilt to be more adequate expressions of divinity. In this process of change and evolution the cause of our current turmoil can be found, as well as our hope for right relations. Our current situation has been described in ancient archives as “A time of rending, when the mountains, which have sheltered, fall from their high places and the voices of men are lost in the crash of and thunder of the fall.”1 Such periods usher in a particularly significant period of divine activity; in this the basis for assured hope in the future is found. Despite appearances, “the white magic of right human relations cannot be stopped; it must inevitably demonstrate effectively, because the energy of the seventh ray is present.”2

Last month we had a wonderful presentation on the cycles of the Divine Rays, expressions of Divine Purpose. Rays going out of and coming into manifestation cause great fluctuations in the energies being experienced by humanity. Currently the 6th Ray of Idealism and Devotion is slowly passing out and the 7th Ray of Ceremonial Order is coming into manifestation. The great potency of these two rays is so equally balanced that we see a seeming inability for our human differences to be resolved. Forms built to express 6th Ray energies are no longer adequate and must eventually give way to new forms being built to express 7th ray energies, but the transition is not easy. The idealism of the 6th ray focused in individual service and sacrifice. The inclusivity of the 7th ray brings in the concept of group service and sacrifice, given within the group to the group ideal. For this we must learn to work with right motive, mental control, and brotherly love; all of these will express as harmlessness, the positive attitude of mind that thinks no evil and harms nothing, the most potent force in the world today.

As human beings we struggle with the current chaos at the level of form, yet it is at the level of energy that causes are found. This, of course, is not assigning fault, but is recognizing the effects of divine energy working out through changing forms. At this level, the relation between the 6th and 7th rays is harmonious, for the 6th ray has fostered the divine vision and the 7th will materialize it. From the form side this works out in “great revolutions, gigantic cataclysms, and fundamental upheavals” in politics, religion, and education. From the energy side coordination between the envisioning and the manifesting energies is of great beauty.

It is important to remember that destruction is an aspect of the 1st Ray of Spirit and truly beneficent, corresponding to the Law of Sacrifice at the level of Soul. In the relation between the immediate past and the immediate future is the working out of the Plan. Perhaps in recognition of the beauty of this Plan we will find our way beyond the emotional turmoil currently so prevalent.

One of the effects of the 7th ray is “to establish in a new and intelligible way the ever-existent sense of relationship and thus bring about upon the physical plane right human relations. The agent of this is goodwill, a reflection of the will-to-good of the first divine aspect. Of this first Ray of Will or Purpose, goodwill is the reflection.” 3 Goodwill is man’s attempt to express the loving will of God in daily service and as such is one of the most basic spiritual qualities of a human being. It is at the heart of right human relations. People of goodwill are those who think and act with a measure of loving understanding and of concern for the well-being of all. Goodwill nourishes the spirit of understanding and fosters cooperation.

There are no problems or conditions that cannot be solved by the will-to-good. Goodwill offsets hate and overcomes the great heresy of separateness. It recognizes and responds to the universal bond of sharing that connects all people. Sincerely practiced, goodwill is

potentially a powerful force for social change, but its potential is rarely appreciated. Men and women of goodwill can have tremendous influence on public opinion and potentially can be the richest asset in any nation. We are told the results of goodwill, creatively and practically applied, will be peace on earth.

We are here today because of our shared interest in the work of Triangles, a service of goodwill. Many of us are committed to a daily practice of linking in thought with two others to visualize a triangle of light, visualizing the energies of light and goodwill circulating through the triangle and pouring out through the network of light that encompasses our entire planet. This visualization engages the creative imagination, linking divine purpose and form, helping establish right human relations, spreading goodwill, and transforming the mental and spiritual climate of our planet. We then repeat the Great Invocation, which forms a channel for the downpouring of light and love into the consciousness of humanity.

Our divine planetary center, Humanity, has an essential contribution to make to the transforming of human consciousness in this heart-rending time of transition. At the heart of our contribution is the work of establishing right human relations; at the heart of this work is goodwill. Although we work as individuals, we are linked with each other as the children in the story are, running as one to reach the fruit. As we make our way through the many challenges we are not without guidance, from our studies, from our group, from our souls. The Mantram of Unification may also serve as a guide: to that which we may affirm, to that which we may accomplish, and to that which we may invoke.

The souls of all are one and I am one with them.

I seek to love, not hate; I seek to serve and not exact due service; I seek to heal, not hurt.

Let pain bring due reward of light and love. Let the soul control the outer form, and life and all events And bring to light the love that underlies the happenings of the time.

Let vision come and insight. Let the future stand revealed. Let inner union demonstrate and outer cleavages be gone. Let love prevail. Let all people love.

OM

Thank you everyone…