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SECTION TWO - THE GENERAL WORLD PICTURE - Part 8

And we, the teachers on the inner side, who for aeons have aided in the preparation of humanity for the coming age of peaceful cooperation and brotherhood, see all this future hope imperilled. Aggression and the rape of peaceful nations go steadily forward, as nation after nation crumbles under the iron heel of Germany, grinding the peoples of the world and sweeping them into slavery on a scale of serfdom and cruelty that the world has never before seen. As those who sought to arrest German progress succumb to treachery and pain and desert their comrades, the machine of evil marches on; neutral nations, resting back upon their peaceful intent and the claims of civilisation, are absorbed by the forces which impose the German demand for living space, and are thus denuded of liberty, of territory, and of all economic resources. And, at the same time, the greatest and most powerful neutral nation in the world arms for defence of its territorial rights, but refuses to arm for the defence of human liberty.

Do I speak too strongly to those of you who are not participating in this planetary war? I speak with clarity because I seek to arouse you to the true issues whilst there is yet time. I seek to arrest in you the idea that the western hemisphere is the seat of all civilisation, the custodian of [236] the best that there is in humanity, and that the spiritual future of humanity lies in the cherished land of liberty. Liberty is a thing of the human soul and is found throughout the entire human race. Civilisation is a universal human right and not the prerogative of one nation. I tell you that humanity is everywhere spiritually minded and that the new race, the coming civilisation, and the new age culture will be found throughout the world—the universal inheritance of the human race. But everywhere humanity is the victim of propaganda—a propaganda which can only be seen in its true light when men think in terms of human liberty; when they together take the needed steps to ensure human happiness, and learn in so doing to face world conditions as they are, not hiding their heads in a dream world of their own making. The world of the future, of which men in all lands dream, is more than a possibility if men will shoulder their just responsibilities and together make it a fact in human experience. But such a world will not be possible for many long years if Europe goes down in the crash of battle and under the impact of the German war machine. It will emerge into realisation when there are enough people in the world who think clearly, see the vision truly, act intelligently, and meet force with force, which is the only method which the forces of aggression can understand.

Today the forces of evil have swept over France, Belgium, Holland, Norway, Poland, Finland and Roumania. Nothing has arrested their progress—neither truth nor armed might nor sacrifice. Today Great Britain stands with a handful of her allies upholding the banner of human liberty. With her stand France (for France is still loyal in her thousands to truth and liberty), Poland, Holland, Norway and Belgium—all represented in that small fortress of the Forces of Light which is the British Isles. Behind stand their great empires with their resources as yet untouched. Behind them again stand the spiritually minded peoples in every nation, and behind them all stands the Hierarchy of Light. In this interlude prior to the final struggle I write to those [237] who are looking on with sympathy but without sacrifice and I ask you: Where do you stand?

I bring to you some of the contrasts in this war, in all simplicity and in an effort to enable you to choose right action.

The first great contrast might be called the way of appeasement and the way of aggression. The method of peaceful discussion was tried by the peace-loving peoples of France and Great Britain, and the way of aggression, developed for many years, is the way of Germany, of Russia, and in a lesser degree of Italy. I would remind you that it is to the eternal credit of the Allies (e'en though it lacked worldly common sense) that their preparations for war proved inadequate in the face of German preparedness. They were not one-pointed in their war effort, for the higher value of world civilisation engrossed them and the activities of their empires, which live at peace within themselves. They have made many grievous errors in the past (as have all peoples), but the way of expiation and of sacrifice is theirs, willingly accepted, and their reward is the freedom of humanity.

I will give you another contrast, growing out of the above. This is the emphasis upon a new world order within a rapidly changing world. The Allies uphold one point of view; the Germans, another. It is for this new and better world and the bringing in of the conditions wherein peace can be possible and the new world order developed that today the men of vision fight and die. The contrast is the enforced world order, emphasised by the so-called "German super-race," which will centralise the world around Germany, for the aggrandisement of Germany, for the expansion of the German living space and the supply of Germany's economic need—an order enforced by terror, by cruelty and death, ignoring the needs of humanity as a whole and the rights of all other nations, and sacrificing the whole world, if need be, to the glory of Germany. With this German-enforced rule and order, her greed for territorial expansion and her ruthless acquisition of the goods and possession [238] of other nations, I would ask you to contrast the expressed aim of the Allies, reiterated again and again in the speeches of the statesmen of both France and Great Britain and summed up in the words of a great Englishman, a government official and an aspirant to right and truth:

"We shall use all our influence when the time comes in the building of a new world in which the nations will not permit insane armed rivalry to deny their hopes of fuller life and future confidence nor be forever overborne by grim foreboding of disaster. The new world that we seek will enlist the cooperation of all peoples on a basis of human equality, self-respect and mutual tolerance. We shall have to think out many things that lie on the route of international contacts—social, political and economic—and find means of reconciling the necessity of change in a constantly changing world with security against the disturbance of the general peace through resort to violence. To this order that we shall create, all nations have their contribution to make, and a great responsibility both in thought and action will rest upon our people. We, not less than others, have our lesson to learn from past failures and disappointments."

I would have you note the recognition, by this spokesman for the Allies, of the need of change, the realisation of the coming world order and the humble statement anent past mistakes.

I would call your attention very briefly also to the contrast in the methods employed: cruelty versus kindness, merciless bombing and machine gunning on the one side, and the constant refraining from attack upon the enemy by the Allies, for fear of killing the defenceless; I would call your attention to the broadcast from Great Britain, warning the Germans to take cover when they hear the British planes over Germany. I would call your attention to the reticent but truthful propaganda which lays no [239] emphasis upon that which could stir up hate, and the lying information from Berlin and conquered cities. It is not my purpose to do more than indicate these contrasts which grow out of a widely differing subjective attitude to humanity. It is, however, of value for us all to face them in the process of clarifying issues. The basic contrast between freedom of speech, thought and action which distinguishes the democracies, and the cruel suppression of all liberty of thought and personal activity which controls the masses in Germany today, is too well known to require emphasising by me. But I bring these contrasts to your attention, asking you to recognise your responsibility to stand behind those who fight for liberty and to end the activity of those who are the enemies of all human freedom.

I would ask you to exercise your imagination in an effort to visualise a world in which there is a complete defeat of the Allies, expressing as they do the ideals for which the Forces of Light have ever stood. I would remind you of two things: First, that these Forces were defeated in the earlier phase of the conflict thousands of years ago, and secondly that—if They again go down to defeat—it will be largely due to the unpreparedness and to the pacific attitude of the neutrals of the world. Had the Allies been ready (and that in itself would have indicated attitudes similar to those now being expressed by Germany) and had the neutrals stood together from the outbreak of hostilities and proclaimed as one voice: This thing must not be—Germany would then have been arrested in her triumphant progress.

The Allies, however, were not prepared for the onslaught of the forces of evil; on the physical plane, their position was not impregnable. The neutrals at the same time have chosen and are still choosing the negative and weak way; and through fear, a misplaced idealism, or a separative spirit, plus the failure to grasp the acuteness of the world crisis and its significant implications, have placed humanity in a position of imminent though not inevitable disaster. These are points which require careful consideration and consequent readjustment of the attitude of those who are doing [240] nothing to further the efforts of the Forces of Light and of the men of goodwill throughout the world.

What shall be done to stop the progress of aggression, of selfish nationalism and cruel attack upon the weak and the defenceless? These qualities are rampant in Germany. They are to be found in a lesser extent in many other nations and selfish nationalism is to be found in all to some degree, even when unaccompanied by militancy or paralleled by a true idealism. It is self-interest, short vision, and prejudice that basically govern neutrality and make the neutral nations, including the Americas, arm for defence but refuse to fight for human welfare. How, then, shall we awaken the world to the realities of the situation and so focus and direct a great world effort to throw off the yoke of the dictators as they seek to dominate the lands outside their own? How shall we free humanity to take its next step forward, without fear and terror and only conditioned by a world which is seeking unitedly to do that which is best for the whole, and not simply that which is best materially for the part? These are the questions with which we are today confronted. Desperately and fearfully, men are seeking a solution and turning hither and thither for help and comfort. Shall the demand, so widely prevalent at this time, for divine intervention, rise so strongly to heaven that it will perforce draw forth a response and, at the same time, deprive mankind of its right to settle its own affairs, decide its own issues and make progress by the method of trial and error, by the success of its own clear vision and its firm determination to find the right way out of the situation? Such intervention is possible, but it is not deemed desirable by the Forces of spiritual knowledge. They are therefore holding Their hand, feeling that this time humanity must be encouraged to battle to the end on behalf of its hope and its vision. Men pray for peace but will not pay the price of peace. Calmly praying and leaving the work to other men, forces or God, is the easy way, satisfying the emotional nature, but not involving clear thinking. Humanity has come of age; the child stage is over, and for [241] weal or woe, for good or ill, men must decide for themselves the way that the world, their governments and their social order must go.

A new world order is possible, and there are certain steps which need to be taken if the vision of this new world is to enter into the realm of accomplished fact. Certain angles of the vision I can—with the greatest brevity—point out to you; I can indicate the sign posts on the way to the future world order. I shall find myself in the position of assuring you at the same time that every step of that way will entail a fight, the overturning of that which is old and loved and the destruction of that which is inhuman, selfish and cruel; I shall have to impress upon you the prime and initial necessity to overthrow the entrenched forces of aggression as they function today through the medium of the totalitarian powers.

First, I would ask you all to ponder on the vision of this new world order, preserving an open mind and realising that this new mode of living hovers over humanity and will materialise when selfishness is defeated, right human relations are correctly envisaged, and the ideal of this new world order is divorced from all nationalistic concepts and aspirations. It will not be an American world, or a French world, or a British world, or a totalitarian world. It will be the outcome of the civilisation which is passing and the culture which is the flower of that civilisation, but at the same time it will be neither of them. It will be a human world, based on right understanding of correct human relations, upon the recognition of equal educational opportunities for all men, for all races and all nations, and upon the fundamental realisation that "God hath made of one blood all the peoples upon the earth." It will be a world in which racial distinctions and national unities will be recognised as enriching the whole and as contributing to the significance of humanity. Such distinctions and nationalities will be preserved and cultured, not in a separative isolation, but in the realisation that the many aspects of human unfoldment and differentiation produce one noble [242] whole, and that all the parts of this whole are interdependent. All will comprehend their relation to each other in one progressive, synthetic, human endeavour, and the enterprise of united living will produce an interior work which will flower forth in the production of a beauty and a richness which will distinguish humanity as a whole. In this all will share, with wisdom and a planned efficiency, offering to the planetary life and to each other that which they have to contribute. This will be made possible because the whole of mankind will be recognised as the essential unit and as being of greater spiritual importance than the part.

This is no idle and visionary dream. It is already happening. Embryonic movements toward this world synthesis are already being made. There is a dream of federation, of economic interdependence and of religious unity, plus social and national interrelation which is rapidly taking form, first in the minds of men, and then in experiments. There is a tie of united purpose, felt by many in the political and economic fields, which is no wish fulfilment or fantasy but indicative of an emerging reality. It is felt and recognised by thinkers everywhere, and has worked out in the field of government through the medium of the federation of the British Dominions and their relation to Great Britain, and in the federation of the United States of America. It finds itself distorted and parodied in the concept of the superstate with which the dictators of the world glamour their peoples. But the links are being forged which will draw down the vision and precipitate on earth the pattern of things as they should be in this next world cycle.

When this vision of the new world order has been grasped by the men and women of goodwill throughout the nations, and has become part of the life and mind of every disciple and aspirant, then the next step will be to study the factors which are hindering its materialisation. For this a broad tolerance and an unprejudiced mind are essential, and these qualities are rare in the average student and the small town man. Past national mistakes must be faced; [243] selfishness in the spheres of both capital and labour must be recognised; blindness, nationalistic ambitions, adherence to ancient territorial demands and assumed rights, inherited possessiveness, the refusal to relinquish past gains, disturbances in the religious and social areas of consciousness, uncertainty as to the realities of subjective and spiritual life, and the insincerities which are based on glamour and fear—all these factors are woven into the life pattern of every nation, without exception, and are exploited by the evil forces and evaded by the well-meaning but weak people of the world. These must all be seen in their true perspective. The eyes of the people who seek to work under the Forces of Light must be lifted from the world of effects into the realm of causes; there must be appreciation of the factors which have made and conditioned the modern world, and these predisposing factors must be recognised for what they are. This sizing up of the situation and this recognition of blame and responsibility must preface every attempt to bring down into active being the new world order.

This new world will not come as an answer to prayer or by the passive wishful thinking and expectation of the peace-loving idealist and mystical visionary. They point the way and indicate the needed objective. It will come when the mystic and the man of vision awakens to the need of the hour and comes down from the world of dreams, of theories, and of words into the hard arena of daily and public life. He must be willing to fight for that which he desires and knows to be good and true and right, and must stand firm against those who seek to distort the vision and to arrest its appearance, arming for battle so that final disarmament may be possible.

A clear vision of the future world order (in broad and general outline but not in detail), an intelligent recognition of the hindrances and impediments which block its appearance, and a willingness to take the necessary steps upon the physical plane and to pay the required price and tender the demanded sacrifices are essential attitudes, prior to the elimination of the hindrances which stand in the way of the [244] coming new world. It is a practical vision—long desired, much discussed and clearly outlined. The hindrances appear to be many, but they can all be summed up in the one word Selfishness—national, racial, political, religious and individual selfishness.

The practical aspect of the mode of elimination of the hindrances can also be simply stated. The vision will appear as fact on Earth when individuals willingly submerge their personal interests in the good of the group; when the group or groups merge their interests in the national good, when nations give up their selfish purposes and aims for international good, and when this international right relation is based upon the total good of humanity itself. Thus the individual can play his part in the bigger whole, and his help is needed, and thus the sense of individual futility is negated. To the most unimportant man in the most unimportant national unit there comes the call for sacrifice and service to the group of which he is part. Eventually humanity itself is thus swung—again as an integral unit—into the service of the Planetary Life.

In the above you have an attempt to portray the wider vision with its demanded, practical effort, and also an indication of the larger possibility which faces humanity. It is in truth for this the Allies fight and against which Germany today rallies her war machine.

What now of the immediate present, and what can the individual do to aid the cause of humanity and arrest the tide of evil? If he is fighting already upon the side of the Forces of Light and of the Allies, he knows his destiny and service. But what of those who question what they can do, and yet are eager to see clearly and to play their part when right vision is theirs? To them I would say the following things:

1. Eliminate prejudice, national pride, and religious antipathies out of your consciousness. The past mistakes of the Allies, as history gives them, are facts which they themselves do not deny. They stand not alone in selfishness, for [245] the same faults taint every national record. But they stand today for a new and spiritual order, based on a desire for synthesis, right methods of government and the good of the people. The unhappy past of all nations is today used as an alibi by those who do not choose to shoulder responsibility, or to sacrifice anything for the cause of humanity. A recognition of our own shortcomings and a spirit of tolerance and forgiveness are needed by all today.

2. Refuse to be afraid of any results of right and positive action. Fear lies behind much of the dissenting attitudes today, and fear kills truth, hides the vision and arrests right action. The great Leader of this Christian era has warned us not to be afraid of those who kill the body, but to fear only those who seek to kill the soul. The forces of aggression are slowly and ruthlessly killing out love and hope (qualities of the soul) in the conquered lands and in Germany. This, along with the great humanitarian plea, is sufficient reason to impel all men of goodwill to take up arms on the side of the Forces of Light. I would commend this to your imaginative attention. To put it even more practically, I would ask you if you would care to have your children subjected to the educational processes of the Nazi regime—with its crushing of all humanity, its emphasis upon pride of race and its cult of cruelty? Can you then stand idly by or simply resort to prayer and talk about the beauties of peace when the little children in the appropriated lands come under the soul-killing system of Germany? Refuse, then, in their interests, to be afraid.

3. Having sensed the vision, recognised the hindrances, and dealt with innate prejudice and fear, it will then become apparent to you what (in the face of this dangerous crisis) you must do. It is not for me to tell you what it is. The details are for you to decide; the methods which you must employ will become clear to you; the humanitarian issues will become increasingly plain to you; you will then range yourself on the side of the Forces of Light, and will uphold the hands of those who are fighting for world peace and security, preparatory to the inauguration of the new world [246] order. This you will do with no thought of self. You will face life truly and sincerely, with a fully dedicated sacrifice of time, self, money and, if need be, of life. You will realise dynamically that the attitude of the passive onlooker is not that of the agent of the Forces of Light or of a lover of humanity.

4. You will also learn to keep your mind free from hate, refusing to hate the deluded sinner even when imposing upon him the penalty of his sin. Hate and separation must cease, and they will cease as the individual aspirant stamps them out in his own life. The great error of the neutrally minded and of the pacifist is his refusal to identify himself constructively with human pain. Even when he reacts with violent emotion over the suffering, for instance, of little children in this great war, and of the defenceless refugee, he does not truly care enough to do anything about the situation, involving as it does sacrifice. This sounds harsh, but is a needed statement of fact. Sympathy which does not produce positive action of some kind becomes a festering sore.

Thus, by thought and word and deed, the lover of humanity will enter the battle against evil; with complete self-forgetfulness, he will take up the cause of humanity, hiding not behind the sense of futility and seeking no alibi in a misinterpreted idealism. He will face the facts of the present situation in the light which streams from the vision itself. He will then press forward into the age of right human relations, of spiritual unity and shared resources with complete confidence because his sense of values is adjusted. He knows that humanity has a divine mission which must be carried out on the wings of love, through understanding action, selfless service and the willingness to die in battle if that is the only way in which his brother can be served and freed.

Having now presented the attitude towards the present world crisis which seems to me consistent with all that I have taught in the past and in line with the teaching of the [247] Hierarchy, and having made clear the basic dualism which underlies this conflict, and pointed out the lines of demarcation which are clearly emerging, I now call upon all of you to stand with the Forces of Light.

These are difficult and terrible days. Men and women are needed who have the courage and the insight to stand with steadfastness and to take the steps which are needed—no matter what they may be—to bring this war to an end. Vast sections of humanity can do no more than acquiesce in the unhappy fate which has overtaken them. They are unable to think or pray or even to summon faith to their aid. They feel without hope. For them, you must think; for them, you must pray; for them, you must have faith and—above all else at this time—for them you must act. The work of reconstruction lies in the future. The demand today is for the building of a bulwark of defence around humanity; then—having fulfilled every physical plane requirement—to stand immovable. But you must stand with faces turned towards the enemy of the souls of men, ready to do battle, literally and physically, ready to take every needed step to drive the enemy back, and ready to sacrifice to the uttermost so that he may advance no further.

Your work will, therefore, be of a threefold nature. On the levels of mental consciousness, your vision of the need and of the future will be clear, inspiring you and enabling you to be a source of strength to all around you; your faith will see behind the obvious to the "substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," as the initiate, Paul, expresses it; your thought will then be anchored in right action, soul directed. On the emotional side of life, you will find no time for idle tears or for vague, sympathetic talk, because you will be completely identified with what is going on and all emotional energy will be directed to the pursuit of every available mode of practically alleviating the pain. The heart energy will be occupied with the task of giving understanding help so that there is no scope for the usual emotional solar plexus reactions. On the physical plane you will not be occupied with the problem of what to do, [248] because every physical effort, time, and personality emphasis will be directed to the shouldering of your due share in arresting the forces of aggression from any further advance. This might mean fighting in the ranks of the Allied Armies, or it might mean driving an ambulance under Red Cross auspices; raising funds to succour the refugees; speaking on public platforms or to groups upon the issues at stake, or participating in some form of national effort to bring aid and strength to the Allies. Whatever it is, it will call for all that is in you and all that you are, integrated and directed to a sustained, substantial, one-pointed effort.

It will throw your will-to-good behind every attempt to frustrate the activities of the evil alliance which you may find in your environment; it will lead you to work with watchfulness for the good of your own country, whilst at the same time swelling the tide of the national effort to end war through the tangible victory of the Forces of Light. Ponder on these words.

The goodwill effort of the world, which I sought earlier to inaugurate and to synthesise, has passed through a negative stage and through an interlude wherein it was not possible to work actively. The needs of the New Group of World Servers calls it now into a renewed positive activity. The rediscovery and the immediate sustaining of the members of this group must be undertaken anew. In all lands they must be reached, if possible, and rehabilitated with wisdom, and re-established subjectively. They must be aided objectively and again inspired to work in order that they may form the nucleus of the Forces of Reconstruction when the Forces of Light have won the victory over the forces of aggression. This is the first point which I would ask you to consider doing.

The second thing is to begin the dynamic use of another Stanza of the Great Invocation. That which you have hitherto used has now served its immediate purpose, though it can again be called into use after the war is over. I give you now another set of phrases which can (if rightly used) invoke the Forces of the Divine Will on to the side of the [249] Forces of Light. It is not easy to give an adequate translation or paraphrase of this power-mantram, nor is it easy to step it down sufficiently so that it can be safely used by all, yet at the same time preserve its challenging, dynamic quality. The following sentences will suffice, however, and if used by you with focussed intention and with the attitude of a sacrificial personality (held silently dedicated in the light of the soul), much power may be generated. Along the lines of power which you may thus succeed in setting up may come that which is needed to release humanity from the thraldom of evil, provided the nature of the sacrificial will is somewhat understood by you.

Let the Lords of Liberation issue forth.

Let Them bring succour to the sons of men.

Let the Rider from the secret Place come forth,

And coming, save.

Come forth, O Mighty One.

Let the souls of men awaken to the Light,

And may they stand with massed intent.

Let the fiat of the Lord go forth:

The end of woe has come!

Come forth, O Mighty One.

The hour of service of the Saving Force has now arrived.

Let it be spread abroad, O Mighty One.

Let Light and Love and Power and Death

Fulfil the purpose of the Coming One.

The Will to save is here,

The Love to carry forth the work is widely spread abroad.

The Active Aid of all who know the truth is also here.

Come forth, O Mighty One and blend these three.

Construct a great defending wall.

The rule of evil now must end.

If, therefore, you will say these three stanzas with a focussed affirmative will, a great potency may be released for [250] the salvaging of humanity and the immediate defeat of the forces of aggression. But I would reiterate that the use of these words must be accompanied by the dedication of your personality life to the cause of humanity, and by the transmutation of your personal will into the sacrificial will of the soul.

Finally, I would ask you to get in touch as soon as you can with the headquarters of the goodwill work and indicate also your willingness to cooperate to the fullest extent with the Forces of Light. This will serve practically to focus your effort. I would ask you also to make it possible to disseminate this article on the widest scale that is possible, so that the use of the new Invocation may be widespread. There are many to whom it could be sent, and it would arouse them anew to fresh activity and hopeful effort. I would ask you to use this new Invocation with faith, for it blends into a magnetic unity the forces of the divine Will-to-Good, the Love which underlies the efforts of the Hierarchy, and the Intelligent Activity of humanity, thus creating a reservoir of power into which the energy of the three divine centres can pour and upon which the Forces of Light can draw. The saying of this Invocation is not a substitute for the physical plane effort on your part; it is complementary to that, and the more you are serving upon the physical plane, the more effective will be your use of the new Invocation.

I said earlier that the war could have been averted from expression on the physical plane had the disciples and aspirants of the world measured up to their opportunity and responsibilities. The Great Invocation was rendered relatively powerless, from the angle of dynamic usefulness, because the majority of those who used it turned it into a peace prayer. It was instead a great spiritually militant invocative demand. This must not happen with this Stanza of Invocation. It is a demand; it is also an authoritative affirmation of existent fact; it sets in motion agencies and forces hitherto quiescent, and these can change the face of the world battlefield; it invokes the Prince of Peace, but He [251] carries a sword, and the effects of His activity may prove surprising to those who see only the needs of the form aspect of humanity.

That strength and enlightenment may be yours and the power to stand and the ability to fight for the release of humanity is the prayer and the appeal of your brother, the Tibetan.

THE GREAT INVOCATION - Stanza Two

September 1940

It has seemed to me after due thought that it would serve a most useful purpose if I elucidated somewhat the theme of the new Invocation and dealt also with the idea of divine intervention. There is much loose thinking in this connection, due to the truth as well as the misinterpretation of the Christian teaching anent the return of the Christ. Men's theological, analytical minds have distorted God's revelation, and I would like to do something to produce a wiser attitude to the reality of this inevitable return. This loose thinking prevents much intelligent and cooperative work. I would remind you that the success of invocation and the true efficacy of prayer are dependent upon clear thinking and not upon emotional desire or a powerful wish complex. They are dependent, too, upon a certain dynamic freshness and enthusiasm which it is hard to attain in a time of stress and strain. The present time is peculiarly hard. Perhaps a clearer understanding of the nature and purpose of divine intervention may clarify somewhat the issue.

To the casual thinker and the untrained occult student it might appear that—given an almighty Deity or Planetary Logos—He could with little trouble and much usefulness and compassion intervene in this sad world situation and bring to an end the warring of the nations through the medium of some spectacular happening, some dramatic cataclysm of natural process or some supreme appearing which [252] would work much good. It might, it could be argued, conclusively convince the attacking, aggressive groups that their day is ended and that their efforts had better be drawn to an immediate finish. Would that it were so relatively simple a matter; but the laws of nature, the free will of humanity itself and the inevitability of karma combine to prevent an intervention in just these terms. This does not mean that some form of intervention may not be possible but it must conform to law; it must not interfere with humanity's right to handle its own affairs, and it must be timed in such a way that the best and maximum results can be attained.

I would like first of all to touch upon the three points which I have made above—natural law, free will and karma. In so doing I may succeed in clearing up some of the confused thinking of many students.

Natural law is the inevitable working out upon the physical plane of forces and energies which have long been generated. People are apt to think that these must lie outside of human control and constitute part of the inscrutable will of God, and that with them man has naught to do. When it is realised that certain aspects of natural law are concerned purely with the forces—subterranean, superficial and aerial—of our planet, the premise will be seen as correct in the present condition of the mental attitudes of the race and will remain so for a very long time. There are, nevertheless, causes and effects which can come under the category of natural law which are yet not so far removed from human control. For ages man has generated energies which must inevitably produce events upon the physical plane, evoke response upon the plane of the emotions, and induce mental reactions. It is here that natural law and the law of karma meet and interact upon each other.

There are many people today who find an alibi for themselves in the present world situation, and a consequent release from definite action and responsibility, by saying that what is today happening is simply karma or the working out of cause and effect, and that there is nothing, therefore, that they can do about it; they take the position that [253] it is not their affair, and that in due course of time the process will be worked out and everything will be all right again. The slate will then be cleaner and incidentally they will not have been embroiled, but will have safely (even if uncomfortably) looked on. In so doing they overlook the third aspect of this same law, to which we have given the name of free will. It is the right use of free will and its understanding expression which must eventually straighten out and adjust the working out of karma and transmute that which now works such evil and havoc in the world into a demonstration of good and of the successful foundation for the pursuit of true happiness. Therefore, those who are looking on at the tragic sufferings of humanity and who refuse to be implicated, and thus succeed in evading responsibility as an integral part of the human family, are definitely storing up for themselves much evil karma. In some way they must learn participation, because the present situation has in it the seeds of release for humanity when the nature of evil is somewhat grasped, and above all when the oneness of humanity and the rights of human beings are truly recognised. Those who war against the race of men and who seek to wrest from them their God-given goal of freedom must be driven back from whence they came. Those who refuse to share in that struggle for freedom will be left out of the gains of freedom, even if it only means within their own home limits, in their life habits and in their private circumstances. When I here speak of "being driven back from whence they came" I am using phrases in both the simple and the occult sense.

It is therefore the free will and the will-to-good of humanity which must actively end the present conflict. One of these, the first, concerns man's responsibility to man; the other, rightly understood, concerns the right relationship of man to divine purpose, his right orientation to the divine goodwill, and his correct participation in its expression. Where these conditions exist, there can be drawn forth an act of divine intervention.

Natural law is today producing great changes in nature [254] through the effects of aerial and physical combat, through the results of the fluid movement of whole sections of the world population and through the effects of vast economic changes and processes. Conditions have been set in motion which must now work out to their predestined end, and it is the task of those who guide humanity spiritually to see that out of the surface evil and material activity good may eventuate, and that out of the wicked, materialistic intent lying behind the present aggressive activity of certain groups ultimate good may be engineered and the evil activity ended. But this possible good will be the result of the spiritual activity of those who know the law and who understand the purpose of the will of God; it will be wrought out in spite of, and not because of, the brute force and the selfish goals of the world aggressors; these embody and ensoul the materialistic forces of the planet in a manner utterly new in expression.

Free will involves a basic understanding of the lines of world cleavage; it concerns right choice and consequent correct action for the group and is determined every time by that which is right for the whole and not so much by that which is right for the part. Humanity is only now reaching the point where free will can be of significant importance. There has been little free will to date. This is definitely the needed demonstration at this moment. It is the lack of true free will which is today holding up the final activity. This is a statement of importance and it is here that the great and free neutrals can give a right lead to human affairs. Aggression, fear, terror, foreboding and the numbness that comes from undue and ceaseless mental and physical pain are stultifying and negating free will in many sections of the world at this time. There is no free will in many parts of Europe today.

Prejudice, the misinterpretation of presented facts, false and overemphasised idealism, racial and nationalistic thoughtforms and the withdrawing fear of responsibility are hindering the expression of free will in the less damaged parts of the world. Moral unpreparedness and the [255] refusal to relinquish the many and differing misinterpretations of truth or of Christ's teaching are hindering many people today. Release for humanity will come when the so-called good people of the world give up their pet theories and their beloved ideals and grasp the essential fact that entry into the Kingdom of Heaven and into the new age will take place when mankind is truly loved and selflessly served, and when the true, divine purpose is seen and humanity is found to be one indivisible whole. Then petty nationalisms, religious differences and selfish idealisms (for that is what they often are as most people are idealists because they seek to save their own souls) are subordinated to human need, human good and the future happiness of the whole. The simplification of the attitude of men is the crying need at this time. Ideologies must go; old ideals must be relinquished; petty political, religious and social schemes must be discarded, and the one driving purpose and the one outstanding determination must be the release of humanity from the imposition of fear, from enforced slavery and the reinstatement of men in freedom and with due opportunity to express themselves through right human relations. This is not as yet possible and it is the appalling situation of terror, of slavery and of imposed and penalising rule which is breaking the heart of humanity and causing deep distress and questioning in those whose hearts are not yet so broken.

As to Karma, what man has made he can unmake. This is oft forgotten. Karma is not a hard and fast rule. It is changeable, according to man's attitude and desire. It is the presenting of the opportunity to change; this grows out of past activities, and these rightly met and correctly handled lay the foundation for future happiness and progress. The present situation is the fault of all peoples in all countries (particularly the more intelligent) and includes also the great neutrals if the Law of Rebirth and of joint responsibility means anything at all. Karma is not all that is bad and evil. Men make it so through their stupidities. There are today great forces of evil seeking expression in the world; [256] these emerge out of the past and seek to determine and bring about a very evil future wherein selfishness, material objectives, and the good and well-being of one race out of the many must be imposed upon the world—a world which innately revolts against such an imposition and distortion of reality. The force of evil example is shown in the fact that two other races seek abjectly to copy or aid the forces of aggression, focussed at this time through the aggressor race.

At the same time, the forces of good are seeking to offset this imposition of material selfishness and are now at bay with the issue still undecided—except upon the mental plane. It has yet to work out as the triumph of good upon the physical plane. When those who are not so drastically implicated in the present conflict relinquish their selfishness, their prejudices and their interpretations and see the basic duality of this conflict in its true light, they will throw the weight of their influence increasingly on the side of goodwill and right human relations; then the bad karma which they apparently placidly accept for others and reject for themselves will be changed into the good karma which is the true destiny of humanity and will usher in the new era of joy and of peace and spiritual synthesis—that synthesis which we call brotherhood.

It is because of the delay in right understanding, and the slowness of many to appreciate the true situation, that Those Who guide the race and work on the spiritual side of life have been unable to do much up to date except spiritually strengthen the hands of the workers with the Forces of Light. The faith of many has kept the door ajar, yet even these have forgotten frequently that "faith without works is dead." It is only when faith finds active expression upon the physical plane in right cooperation and sacrifice (even unto death) that the door can be forced wide open and divine intervention become possible. It is only when the vision and dream of peace—which beguiles so many well-meaning people—gives way to the determination to take every possible means to achieve that peace in practical [257] ways upon the physical plane that the inner spiritual forces will be enabled to work also more actively on earth.

Curiously enough, they are often hindered today by the idealists, who love their ideals more than they love humanity and who cling to their special interpretations of what they think Christ meant, at the same time excluding that real love which characterised His every act and which would drive them into active, selfless service to the Forces of Light. They do nothing to bring the conflict to an end because they are preoccupied with their own dreams, ideals and interpretations; when they can let these go because of love of humanity, then the new vision will come and the world will be saved; the Forces of Light will find potent expression and the forces of aggression will go down to defeat.

Given, therefore, an eventual fusing of vision and physical plane activity (the major need at this time), what form is it possible for the hoped-for divine intervention to take? I make no prophecies. All that I seek to show is that the blocking or hindrance is to be found today on the side of humanity. It does not lie on the side of the forces of light, life and love; it is not to be found on the side of Christ and His disciples or of the Masters of Wisdom, as these (under diverse names) constitute the spiritual Hierarchy of the planet. Call Them by what name you choose, the most cherished belief of humanity is that there exists in the world always and for ever a hidden Reality, Those Who have conquered death, Who possess illimitable powers to help, and Who can be reached by prayer and invocation.

It is the potency and grasp of things material and the fact of undivided focus upon the physical plane that has given the forces of aggression so much success up to the present time. These forces, through their very potency, have fused and blended together a group of seven men who personify in themselves great and specific aspects of material forces (connected with the seven types of energy in their lowest and most material expressions) and their manifestations—war, fear and cruelty. They are united by one point [258] of view and by one goal, and hence their success. (It is interesting that, again in their case, there appears inevitably an initiatory seven—the base and dark parallel of the initiating Seven who lead human beings into light and who are symbolised in the seven Masons who constitute a Lodge of Masons.) They are the custodians of forces which control them and over which they themselves have no slightest control. You ask who these seven are: Hitler, von Ribbentrop, Goebbels, Goering, Hess, Himmler and Streicher—names well-known to you all. These men embody and personify the forces of aggression and rule by fear not only the enslaved nations but also their few allies who are not by any means in the same category of power—fortunately for them.

When those who are on the side of the Forces of Light and of non-aggression can see their goal with equal clarity and are equally and uniformly united with the objective of ending oppression and slavery and of freeing humanity, then we shall see also an embodiment of spiritual force which will bring disaster to these potent seven. Such a unification of objective and of purpose is possible and needed; and when it does take place, the force generated and the power let loose upon the physical plane will be of so stupendous a nature that human liberation will rapidly be brought about.

It is for this that I have worked and for this I have sought to arouse all of you. This spirit is growing among the allied forces, though the falling away of France was inevitable. France was animated by somewhat selfish purposes—the security and safety of France more than with the integrity and happiness of humanity, and this led to an inevitable collapse; France is learning, however, and its unshakable masses and its spiritual nucleus will save the day for the broken nation. The neutral powers are still selfish (though they seek by philanthropy to veil it), but they are rapidly awakening to the true issues, and when there is real synthesis of goal and of purpose and a true unification of vision upon the mental plane, of fixed and unalterable desire upon the emotional plane, and a dedication to practical effort [259] upon the physical plane, then there will be hope that the embodiment of "the desire of all nations" will appear.

That embodiment is one mode in which divine intervention can take place. The Prince of Peace will lead His people—through war—to peace. Those who think only in terms of peace as they understand it and desire it are apt to forget the Biblical implication that the Prince of Peace takes a definite part in the battle of Armageddon (now in full progress). After achieving victory, He will then lead His triumphant cohorts through the gates into "Jerusalem," the city of peace. The symbolic and practical significance of this is becoming increasingly apparent. This notable event can and will take place when the free will of the people, blended by invocation and prayer, can make this possible.

Divine intervention could also take the form of a cataclysmic happening which would bring aggression to an end through destruction. It would probably be at such a cost of human life that there is definite hesitation over employing it by the custodians of natural law and the workers who understand divine purpose, apart from the fact that humanity has now reached the point in evolution where the expression of human free will is definitely possible. The use of cataclysm was the method employed in Atlantean days, as you well know from the tales of the flood; and through the flood there was almost complete destruction of the civilisation of that time. It is hoped that such a drastic step will not be needed today, though there are ancient prophecies which foretell the possibility of the destruction of this world at this time through fire—instead of flood. Which of the two methods—divine embodiment and natural cataclysm—will be employed will really be decided by humanity through its use or non-use of free will and understanding. If humanity fails to unite under the banner of the Forces of Light against the forces of material aggression and selfishness, then the "fiery ordeal" might be unavoidable.