3. The Great Approaches (The Coming New Religion) - Part 1
a. THE SOUL OF HUMANITY
It can be seen, therefore, that a very difficult interlude is now taking place in the world today. It is one wherein a process is being undergone by humanity which is similar to that which takes place so frequently in the life of an individual. The soul of the world is taking cognizance of outer affairs, preparatory to taking hold of the world situation. In the life of an aspirant, such interludes frequently occur. The personality is aware of conditions of difficulty and of turmoil. It has, however, had in the past moments of high spiritual revelation and of divine impulsation. It has been sure of its goal temporarily and it has known that the soul is the directing factor; some dim idea of the goal and of the purposes underlying those impulses which have been granted to it by the soul have been vouchsafed. But, for the moment, all that lies in the past. It seems as if the soul has retreated; that the period of contact and of surety has ended; and that nothing remains except difficulty, a sense of futility, and an urge to be freed from conditions. This is frequently of such intensity that all other interests seem dwarfed.
But the soul has not retreated and the inner spiritual conditions remain essentially unchanged. The divine impulses are still there and the soul is but gathering itself for a fresh effort and for a stronger and more determined preoccupation with the affairs of its shadow, its dim reflection, the personality.
What is true of the individual aspirant is equally true of [702] humanity, the world aspirant. In May, 1936, a great forward moving effort of the world soul took place and definite and unchangeable progress was made. This had a three-fold effect:
1. The lives of all true aspirants and disciples were subjected to a stimulating process, with definite and specific results of the desired nature.
2. The stimulation of the masses of men also took place; so that they could be enabled to respond more easily and truly to the impact of ideas. This also was uniquely successful.
3. The Hierarchy of souls who have achieved freedom and whom you call the planetary Hierarchy were able to approach closer to humanity and to establish a more definite relationship and a closer contact than had been possible at any time since mid-Atlantean times. This result was more universal than had been anticipated. This was the third of the "Great Approaches" made by the Hierarchy towards humanity. The success of these approaches is largely based on the intensity of the desire found in the world aspirants and among those who have, on their side, established also a "way of approach" through meditation and service. Their numbers being phenomenally greater than at any previous time, the year 1936 saw the Hierarchy make a step forward that was unprecedented (I had almost said, unexpected) in its experience. This was due to the world-wide activity of the New Group of World Servers.
I would like here to call your attention to the phrase I used above: "the Hierarchy of souls who have achieved freedom." I am not using that phrase in the ordinary sense. The aspirants and the disciples of the world employ it to signify the achieving of that liberty and that freedom which will [703] release them from the three worlds of human endeavour and make them free citizens of the Kingdom of God. With that point of view you are quite familiar, and you will recognise that in it there lies a large measure of selfish purpose—inevitable and some day to be eliminated, but at this stage definitely present and perhaps desirable because it provides the adequate incentive towards the needed effort. The freedom, however, to which I refer, is the achieved success of the soul to move and act and manifest with freedom in the three worlds, as well as on its own high plane. This is a point seldom if ever emphasised. The soul itself, the Ego, has its own task to do, which might be expressed as being the reverse of that with which the personality is familiar. It has to learn to be at home and to function effectively in the world of human living and there to carry forward the plan. Such is the task of the Hierarchy and I felt that a statement of their peculiar problem and the difficulty of free activity which it necessarily involves, would prove both of interest and of enlightenment to those who read these papers.
From this highest standpoint, the Hierarchy was enabled to make a definite step forward in 1936 as the result of the work done in the last fifty years; having made it, it became necessary to stabilise the position and from the point then reached to lay plans for the next move to be taken on behalf of humanity.
Thus we find the interlude with which we have been almost distressingly familiar. You may have been led to expect some great onward sweep, some clear time of reaping, or some spectacular climax of happenings. When all that occurred was an interim of relative silence and a period wherein nothing seemed to occur, it was natural for the majority to experience a sense of disappointment, a reaction which was almost equivalent, in some cases, to loss of faith, and a feeling [704] of emotional fatigue and mental futility which tried many to the utmost. It is wise to remember that these reactions do not affect the issue and in no way retard the event, though they may make the task of the approaching helpers more difficult and draw almost unnecessarily upon their spiritual resources.
These interludes of apparent silence, of inertia and of inactivity are part of the great preservative and constructive activity of the Hierarchy; they are both individual, group and planetary in nature. Aspirants must learn to work intelligently and understandingly with the law of cycles. They must not forget that they live in a world of seeming and have no real freedom in the world of reality.
In May, 1938, at the time of the full moon, the Council of the Hierarchy to which I have several times referred in the past, convened and the plans for the immediate future were laid down. I would remind you of something we are very apt to forget. The plans for humanity are not laid down, for humanity determines its own destiny. The plans to meet the immediate human emergency and the plans to make possible a closer relationship between humanity and the Hierarchy were established. The problem before the Hierarchy of Masters (speaking in a large and general sense) is to intensify the activity and the consequent potency of that hidden power. By thus bringing it to the fore in human lives, the needed changes in our civilisation can be produced. The average man works from the organisation angle and having visioned some illuminating idea, he begins to build the outer physical form which will house and express it. The planetary Hierarchy, working under the inspiration of the Divine vision as it is embodied in the Plan, seeks to evoke a response to that Plan in every human heart, and by fostering and fanning that response, to evoke not only a mental understanding but also an [705] aspirational desire. These together will produce finally the emergence of the Plan upon the earth and thus express a conditioning factor in human affairs.
When there are a sufficient number of people who are in conscious touch with their souls, then the sheer weight of their numbers, plus the clarity of their intentions and their widespread distribution over the face of the earth, must necessarily become effective. These people will then bring about changes of such far-reaching importance that the culture of the future will be as far removed from ours today, as ours in its turn is removed from that of the red Indians who roamed for centuries over the American continent and of whose possessions the white race took charge.
This then is the task of the Workers in the field of human affairs: to awaken the soul ray to potency in the life of each human being, beginning with those whose mental equipment and achieved integration would warrant the belief that—once awakened—they would use the new forces at their disposal with a measure of wisdom and planned constructive intention.
The questions we shall first discuss are as follows:—What are the psychological advantages of somewhat understanding the nature of the egoic ray? What intelligent use can be made by psychologists of the fact, if the soul ray is determined and recognised?
Early in this treatise we dealt with the general proposition of the value to psychology of a knowledge of the rays. We have considered the possibility of there being a scientific acceptance of the hypothesis of their existence, even if this recognition is only tendered provisionally. We must not forget that aspirants are increasing all over the world. Perhaps the simplest way to proceed is to state some of the [706] developments [706] which will manifest when the ray of the soul is admitted and recognised and developed. These will be:
1. The solution of the present world conflict. This conflict now amounts in the material sense almost to an impasse. The results of soul contacts on human beings and the effect to be seen in the personality life might be stated to be as follows:
a. Conflict, turmoil, opposed loyalties, inner warfare and a collision of divergent views.
b. A sensitivity to ideas. This amounts in the earlier stages to a flexibility of response, amounting almost to instability, and producing constant change of viewpoint. This leads eventually to a sensitivity to the intuition which will enable an individual to distinguish promptly between the unreal and the real.
c. A process of detachment. This is the difficult and painful process of laying down the lines of demarcation between the soul and the personality. This inevitably produces at first separation and divided interests, leading later to a submergence of personality interests in those of the Plan, and the absorption of personal desire in the aspects of the soul.
d. A period of creativity, due to the third aspect of the soul which is the creator aspect. This development will produce definite habit changes in the physical plane life of the aspirant. It will lead to the consecration of the disciple to certain types of endeavour summed up in the words "artistic career".
These four effects of soul activity, which are in reality only the pouring in of soul force, through the channel of contact which the man has opened, will give to psychology the four [707] major causes of the present world difficulty. Each of these causes holds latent within itself its own solution. The present conflict, the widespread response to widely different ideologies, the economic pressure leading to material depredation, a most certain creativity of all the arts in the world today, and a new standard of values, are all problems confronting the trained thinker and psychologist. These conditioning effects are all of them to be seen among men today.
2. The emergence of world government. This emergence will be the result of these "five areas of difficulty", and the consequence of a more general understanding of:
a. The causes of unrest.
b. The point in evolution reached by humanity.
c. The crises which must inevitably occur when man, the integrated human being, meets man, the spiritual reality.
d. The moment of opportunity which is upon us. This is the result of certain astronomical happenings, such as the pouring in of energy from a new sign in the Zodiac, and the shift of the earth's pole.
3. The development of the new art. This will be expressive of a sensitive response to ideas. The art of the past expressed largely man's understanding of the beauty of God's created world, whether it was the phenomenal wonder of nature or the beauty of the human form. The art of today is as yet almost a childish attempt to express the world of feeling and of inner moods and those emotionally psychological reactions which govern the bulk of the race. They are, however, to the world of feeling-expression what the drawings of the cave man are to the art of Leonardo da Vinci. It is in the realm of words [708] today that this new art is most adequately expressing itself. The art of music will be the next approach nearer to the truth, and to the revelation of the emerging beauty; the art of the painter and of the sculptor will follow later. None of this is the art of expressing ideas creatively, which will be the glory of the Aquarian Age.
4. The understanding of diseases of mystics, or the physical ills of the highly developed people of the world. These are predominantly psychological in character and may remain submerged in the realm of the mind and of sensitivity or they may work out as physiological effect with a definite psychological basis. These forms of physical disease are the most difficult to handle and are at present little understood. What do modern scientific investigators know of the distinction between those neurotic and psychological troubles which are based on personality integration, or on excessive soul stimulation, and those which are the result of wrong polarisation? On these matters we may not here enlarge as the theme is too vast. It can, however, be noted that a recognition of the soul ray (as it makes its presence felt in the personality), will very frequently lead to definite psychological trouble. It might be well to add here a word of warning. We must be careful not to let our desire for soul contact fool us at this time into believing that our present physical difficulties (if there are any) are the result of this soul contact. It would be quite surprising if this were so. They are far more apt to be the result of astral polarisation, of physical unwisdom and experimentation, and perhaps of the too rapid integration of the three aspects of the personality.
In these four points there is probably indicated enough to [709] make clear, or at least to suggest two important things. First, that much, if not all that can be seen going on in the world today, is caused by a greatly increased soul stimulation, to which the entire human family is reacting, even though, as individuals, they have not made a soul contact. This increased stimulation is due to two things—
1. A great many men, and the number is rapidly increasing, are making contact with their souls through an intense aspiration and—in many cases—very real desperation.
2. The Hierarchy of Masters is exceedingly active today, and this is due to two things:—
a. The demand on the part of humanity which has reached Their attention continuously for the past few decades, and which is calling out an inevitable response.
b. A stimulation of the planetary Hierarchy itself. This leads many in the ranks of the Hierarchy to pass through one of the higher initiations. They therefore become much more potent and their influence is much more magnetic and radiating.
If we take the four points above enumerated and apply them both to the individual and to the race, we will find the answers to many questions, and the potency of the effects can be noted.
A study of the egoic ray, when rightly understood, will give the clue to all that is happening today. It might be stated that, in the initial stage of this study, the theme should be approached as follows: A close analysis of the life, quality and characteristics of the aspirants in the world should be made from the standpoint of modern, academic, psychological research, but the fact of the soul should be accepted as a hypothetical possibility. From that premise, the investigator [710] can seek to understand the complexity of the nature of the men and the women under observation.
Some study of the psychology of the mystics (mostly those of the Middle Ages and therefore of the past), and some understanding of the phenomena which they experienced, has been carried forward. Little, however, has been done in connection with the mystics of modern times, with their higher mental equipment and their wider knowledge of the world. Nothing has been done really as yet in relation to the psychology of the occultist, who is only the mystic functioning on a higher plane—that of the mind. These are the brilliant people, normal in most of their expressions of life but possessing that something plus which differentiates them from the rank and file of their fellow men. They rise to the top of their profession, whatever it may be; they have outstanding creative ability in some department of the creative arts; they are phenomenally magnetic and influential in their effect on others; they unify and blend and gather around them groups of people.
This group of advanced people is coming increasingly under the influence of, and responding to, the energy of their souls. They do this either consciously through aspiration, meditation and service, or unconsciously, simply expressing their point in evolution and demonstrating the work done in other lives. This group might be regarded in many ways as supernormal. Its members are frequently misunderstood and it is difficult to account for all that they are and do. They dominate in world affairs, in the realm of art or in the world of business and are the guiding group in the world today. They are found active in government and in churches. They express predominantly a sense of responsibility, or a sense of synthesis, or a sense of God, or a sense of beauty, and modern psychology must answer the question: What is it that differentiates [711] these people from their fellowmen? Heredity, opportunity, environment and the state of the glandular equipment, are some of the reasons brought forth today, but the question really remains unanswered, and will so remain until some understanding is gained of egoic unfoldment, and of soul contact, with its consequences:—stimulation, integration, the inflow of energy, and the use of that energy, according to the predisposition of the man and his group response.
Much has been given in this Treatise on the Seven Rays which should serve to clarify the problem. The soul ray of an individual, the soul ray of a nation, the potency in time and space of an incoming or an outgoing ray—all these give hints and clues to the understanding of the problem and should eventually lead to a better handling of the human being and his equipment, both by himself and by those who are endeavouring to handle him.
Sometimes I ask myself what real use can be made of this teaching and whether the wealth of information is of real service. Knowledge when given must be used; it must be made of practical application in the daily life. Upon all of you who read these words, as they come fresh from my heart, my mind and lips, rests a duty of doing three things, which I give to you in the order of their importance:
1. The moulding of your daily lives upon the basis of the imparted truth, if it is to you indeed a truth. It is perhaps to you simply interesting, a fascinating side line of study; perhaps it is something which it pleases you to get because of its novelty and because it is a little different from the general run of teaching; perhaps it pleases you to get these instructions a little ahead of the rest of humanity. All these reactions are of small importance, [712] being those of the personality. They are perhaps the most probable reactions for the majority. If there is nothing deeper in your reaction than those I have mentioned, then these teachings are not for you, for the responsibility upon your shoulders is thereby very great; but if you are attempting, no matter in how small a way, to apply the truth as you see it to your own life, then they are for you.
2. The building of that structure of thought which will embody this newer teaching. You can—if you so desire—help construct the thought form of the New Age teaching. You do this, above all, by your thought; by your practical application of any truth, which you may have understood, to your personal life at any cost; by your sacrifice and your service to your fellow men and by the constant dissemination of any knowledge which you may possess.
3. Distribution of the teaching over a long period of time. Have you done anything along this line, thus shouldering your responsibility?
b. THE PRECIPITATION OF THE CRISIS
The plans as established by the Hierarchy concern primarily two things: first, the plans for bringing about world stabilisation. This is essential if the human being is to find adequate time for the unfoldment of his consciousness, and for the recognition of his soul. In these two latter requirements all successful hierarchical work is covered, as far as humanity is concerned. Secondly, the programme for the immediate future, with its definite physical plane adjustments and its tentative suggestion for world cooperation. Why do we use the word "tentative"? We use it because (as has oft been stated) even the advanced members of the Hierarchy [713] do not know finally the manner in which humanity will react, or the quality or the capacity of its ultimate achievement.
I have endeavoured above, carefully and simply, to express the immediate purpose of the hierarchical effort, as the Council met to prepare for the future. Is it possible for us to conceive the import of that phrase "for the future"? The past is gone, beyond recall; that fleeting moment which we call the present time is determined by that past of which it becomes a part in the flash of a second. It was the preparation for the future and the laying of those plans which will cover the coming destiny of humanity during the immediate decade which was of significant and engrossing importance to the assembled Masters, and also of basic interest to any student of the Ageless Wisdom and to the disciples of the Great Ones.
Only that is of importance to us which provides a needed momentum for action, and which will also give to the working disciple of the world a vision of sufficient clarity and an adequate incentive to enable him to work with sincerity and understanding. This is often forgotten. So much is said and written these days which purports to come from the Great Ones and which is stated to embody Their will and Their intention. It is based on astral sensitivity and astral reaction to the many thought forms found upon the astral plane; these include among their number many thought forms of the Great Ones. These thought forms necessarily exist, and are built by the devotion of the aspirants of the world, and by the selfish spiritual ambition of those aspirants. They are not constructed by the disciples of the world, for no man is admitted to the status of accepted discipleship until he has at least overcome the worst aspects of personal ambition. This freedom from ambition is proved or expressed by personal reticence and by freedom from the publicity-making activities of the aspirants of the world, and also by freedom from the [714] making of statements as to relationship or status. It might be well for us to ponder on these words.
The preliminary plans which the members of the hierarchical Council considered might be stated to be as follows, regarding those plans as spheres of cooperation for the Masters implicated and for those among men who are minded to serve in cooperative activity:
1. The reduction of the pressure upon humanity by the means of a steady stabilising of world thought. Today it is the fears of man—expressed in thought, and therefore frequently backed by action—which lead them into the impasse of war and into any form of destructive activity. The pressure is created by man's desire for betterment as well as by the spiritual downpouring of the soul. It is this dual activity of the higher and of the lower which produces the crisis. When these two meet there is, of course, no conflict; but there is, however, a sense of strain, a pressure which seems past endurance, and an impasse from which there appears no exit. This may be a difficult truth to grasp, but the present world crisis is largely brought about by the bringing together of these two types of energy. It is with this problem that the Masters are today grappling. A human aspiration and a condition of struggle towards improvement brings about a period in which the spiritual urge on the part of masses of men shows itself in three ways:
a. The urge to betterment already noted.
b. The organisation of the minds of men, so that new ideas can be gripped and understood.
c. The recognition by the spiritually minded that today is the day of opportunity.
[715]
Will it be of any assistance and any incentive towards renewed effort if we observe the words "the day", and not "a day?" This is a period of immense cyclic importance.
2. The renewed organisation of the New Group of World Servers. How far have we really yet grasped the task of this group, or the significance of its membership? It is a group of men and women who are upon the Path of Discipleship or upon the Path of Probation, and it is divided into two major divisions:
a. A group composed of disciples who are consciously working with the Plan and of those who, instructed by them, are consciously and voluntarily cooperating. In this latter category we can find ourselves if we so desire and if we are willing to make the necessary sacrifices.
b. A group composed of aspirants and world-conscious men and women, who are working unconsciously under the guidance of the planetary Hierarchy. There are many such, particularly in high places today, who are fulfilling the part of destroyers of the old form or of builders of the new. They are not conscious of any inner synthetic plan, but are selflessly occupied in meeting world need as best they can, with playing parts in the national dramas, or with persistently working in the field of education. The first group is in touch with the planetary Hierarchy and it works, if we might so express it, under hierarchical inspiration. The second is in closer touch with the masses of men and works more definitely under the inspiration of ideas.
The first group is occupied with the Plan as its [716] members can vision and grasp its essentiality, whilst the second works more definitely with the ideas which are today slowly emerging in the consciousness of the more sensitive members of the human family. These ideas are gradually instilled into humanity by the Hierarchy and by the senior workers in the first group. This first group is relatively small, and when first the information was communicated about the New Group of World Servers, (which was later embodied in the pamphlet, "The Next Three Years"), the number of conscious disciples was given as being under two hundred. Since then this number has materially increased owing to two causes: First: certain men and women are arriving at maturity. This has developed in them a recognition of their hierarchical status as disciples. Secondly: the unfolding of other human beings and their spiritual development as a result of the stimulation and the relatively successful work of the previous three years. The number of conscious disciples in the world today (1939), is nearly one thousand. We are here considering those disciples who are definitely working in the groups of those Masters Who are pledged to the present experiment.
It should perhaps be pointed out here that the entire planetary Hierarchy, though cognisant of the present endeavour and therefore participating in the plans of the Council, are not all occupied with the problem of humanity in this present moment of crisis. There are many other lines of activity and of evolutionary expediency and undertaking which must parallel the present endeavour. Work in relation to other kingdoms in nature (both subhuman and superhuman), and work in preparation for the period [717] which must succeed this present time of crisis must be continued as usual. In the higher levels of the New Group of World Servers, the many divisions of hierarchical effort are represented, but there are, nevertheless, a large number of disciples in the world today who are in no way associated with the present plans. This is a point to be remembered.
3. The awakening of the intelligentsia in all countries to the recognition of humanity as a prelude to the establishment of brotherhood. The unity of the human family is recognised by many, but before that unity can take form in constructive measures, it is essential that more and more of the thinking men and women throughout the world should break down the mental barriers existing between races, nations and types, and that the New Group of World Servers should itself repeat in the outer world that type of activity which the Hierarchy expressed when it developed and materialised the Group. Through the expression and impression of certain great ideas, men everywhere must be brought to the understanding of the fundamental ideals which will govern the New Age. This is the major task of the New Group of World Servers.
One of the objectives considered by the Council in May, 1937, was the method of deepening the hold these new ideas must have on members of the New Group of World Servers. Thus the stimulation of the spiritual life of the group members, and consequently their sensitivity to the Plan will be carried forward. They will then be not only consciously in touch with the plans, but they will be occultly imbued by them, and in this way the radiating influence of the Group will be greatly enhanced. This will bring about an outer expression of real [718] group importance and of such vital necessity that, during the next few years, the new ideas must become the ideals of the thinking level of the race. If this does not take place, the immediate salvaging of humanity will have to be postponed and a further period of distress and of widespread disciplining must then inevitably result. It is this urgency that is discussed in these pages, and it is this immediate need, and this momentous crisis with which the Hierarchy had to deal in its May Council of 1937.
4. The final aspect of the situation with which the Masters concerned dealt, is in fact, the precipitation of an imminent crisis. This precipitation is inevitable and its effects must be foreseen and dealt with in such a manner that its catastrophic results will be offset, and its subjective significances utilised to the full.
Having stated the four major points of consideration (which came before the Council in May, 1937, and which are all related to the impending world crisis), it is needful that we should point out two things:—
1. That this crisis is imminent and of epoch-making effects for two reasons.
a. The work carried forward during the previous five years along spiritual lines had been definitely successful. This has caused a vital spiritual awakening in every land, and was the result of the activity and work of the first division of the New Group of World Servers.
b. The strenuous efforts of the second division in the New Group of World Servers have also been successful. These people are far more the instruments of divine activity rather than conscious cooperators with the Plan.
[719]
2. That the Masters are not primarily concerned with the prevention of disaster to the form aspect of humanity, desirable as human beings might consider that objective. The salvaging of the form is but incidental to the Plan. The work of the Hierarchy is concerned with the expansion and awakening of the human consciousness, and that, in its turn, has an effect upon the form. It is possible (and so the Masters regard it) to lay such an emotional strain and mental stress upon the mechanism of human expression on the physical plane that the lessons cannot be adequately learned because the immediate physical stress is too great to permit the recognition and the assimilation of the significance of the event. Therefore the Masters, when meeting at the Council of May, 1937, had to consider the offsetting of the strain. Humanity can get too tired to react, and this fact constituted a definite problem with which the Hierarchy had to deal.
It will be apparent, therefore, if we have read the above intelligently and have endeavoured to synthesise it with the state of world affairs as far as we know it, that the problems before the assembled Council were three in number. More than these three, humanity cannot grasp nor do the facts concern them. There were necessarily many other problems, but they are of such a nature that we could not comprehend them, and it would not be possible to express these problems in words which would convey intelligible meaning to us. The three problems which came under consideration were:
1. The right resolution of the present crisis, so that equilibrium could be restored.
2. The stimulation of the New Group of World Servers so that they could—
a. Recognise the emergency,
[720]
b. Define the plan more clearly,
c. Become more sensitive to inner, subjective, spiritual impression,
d. Make the necessary sacrifices demanded for the success of the plan,
e. Radiate more effectively out into the world of humanity.
3. How to keep the forces which had been set in motion since 1914 within certain definite limits.
These forces are many in number and it is possible to indicate the nature of some of them. This is done, however, more for the sake of future understanding and future rational comprehension than because we can specifically do anything in particular in relation to them. Let me simply list them, and if we read with the eye of the inner vision open, and with our intuition alert and awake, perhaps some apprehension of the problems before the Council may dawn upon our minds. It is not possible to enlarge upon these forces, nor may we interpret them. We can simply state what are facts to the Hierarchy but which may only be an interesting supposition, hypothesis or chimera to us:
1. The cumulative forces of the great Piscean Age—powerful, fundamental and, at this time, destructive. To these forces the unenlightened masses react; for them they are the line of least resistance. When we say masses, we refer to all who do not truly think, but who believe and who accept on the lower or ordinary levels of consciousness.
2. The incoming forces of the Aquarian Age. These are having a wide and general effect upon the ethers around the earth, upon the vegetation everywhere, upon the waters of the planet, and upon all human beings in the world today who are learning to think. The Aquarian inspiration is being registered by all who come under the [721] influence of the new "schools of thought", so-called. The interpretation of the sensed ideals may be in error, but the power to respond to the new forces is there, and the effect upon the mind and brain is real and lasting. One of the first effects is the stabilising of emotional reaction.
3. Influential and potent forces pouring in at this time from the great stars Betelgeuse and Sirius. To these two influences, the disciples of the world in the senior ranks of the New Group of World Servers definitely react, and they produce a stimulation of the heart centre (Betelgeuse) and the head centre (Sirius). The secondary effect of these energies is upon the mineral kingdom, particularly upon that peculiar product, gold, and that enigma, money.
4. Venusian forces of great potency are also playing upon our planet. In this connection, I would suggest that astrologers would be well advised to pay more attention to the activity and the influence of Venus. Much emphasis has been laid upon Saturn and Mars in the charts now considered. In the future, equal emphasis will have to be paid to the planet Venus, which in the Aquarian age will supersede Mars as a basic influence.
5. The forces of the planetary entity who is beginning to stir in his long sleep, and is therefore causing much of the physical, cataclysmic phenomena of the present time. With this we have naught to do except to register the fact.
6. The energy of the united Hierarchy of the planet which has lately made one of its "Great Approaches" to the physical plane. This necessarily entails a more potent and significant and rapid pouring forth of the force of the Hierarchy with the subsequent stimulation of the higher centres in those sons of men who have reached the [722] point of their evolution where they are close enough to their own souls to be affected. They are then mentally polarised, and consequently react potently to this influence.
7. The energy of the New Group of World Servers, which (up to ten years ago) was a relatively negligible factor even though present, but which is now increasingly a force with which to reckon. From certain angles, the energy of this group constitutes the hope of the world, and the task of increasing that potency is the task which is being laid before us today.
8. There is also the powerful vibratory influence of those men and women in the world who are today active in world affairs. From the side of the Hierarchy and the use of spiritual energy, these men and women are regarded as doors into human life, because through them the energy of certain great world souls, world potencies and Masters can be expressed. There are many such, and one of the tasks before the Council is to balance these forces in such a manner that they do not upset world equilibrium beyond the point of the re-establishment of balance. Students need to remember that a Master inevitably takes certain risks and chances when He "occultly inspires" a soul and drives a man to unconscious cooperation with the Plan. We must remember, however, that there is no infringing of human freedom, even by a Master. Sometimes a disciple or a member of the New Group of World Servers will (metaphorically speaking) take the bit between his teeth, and this will produce disaster and frequently a temporary destruction of that part of the Plan with which he has been entrusted.
[723]
9. Certain forces which we (in our ignorance and lack of perspective), may call evil or black forces. In worldly parlance, these forces are connected with what is regarded as the black side of nature and of energy. They are wielded by great and powerful human beings, the majority of whom are out of physical incarnation. They work from the astral plane and primarily through the agency of groups. These groups—being composed of ignorant, unstable, selfish and ambitious men—provide an easy field for their efforts. For this so-called evil work, the average individual in the group is not responsible, though there is usually to be found in the group those who are willfully ambitious and selfish. Though the individual penalty is light, and the individual responsibility is small, yet the effectiveness of this method is very great. The result is in the nature of group obsession, which is a relatively new thing, but also is today becoming increasingly frequent.
These are some of the forces which are bringing about and constituting the world problem, and with these the Council has had to deal. All these forces are today playing upon humanity, and this whirlpool of energies is sweeping humanity into a period of definitely chaotic destruction, unless the Masters of the Wisdom, working through the New Group of World Servers in both its dimensions, can arrest the process and bring order into a distressed and agonising world.
Therefore, the May full moon Council of 1937 was one of real import and of vital significance. Just as the full moon of May, 1936, saw an effort of the Masters and of the world of disciples to approach nearer to each other and thus establish a closer rapport, so the full moon of May, 1937, witnessed the laying down of certain lines of activity which, if rightly apprehended, [724] and worked out into physical manifestation, could definitely change the present exoteric world situation. It also saw the re-stimulation of the New Group of World Servers, so that their group integration might constantly become more effective, and the personal lives of the group members become definitely more consecrated, more dedicated to humanity, and more influential in service. At the full moon of May, 1936, there was in evidence an inner, subjective, spiritual effort. This was definitely successful. The full moon of May, 1937, saw the establishing and the stabilising of the exoteric outer effect, of which the earlier effort was naturally and automatically the cause. Yet the problem remains ever the same;—can the inner condition, spiritual, potential, idealistic, subjective and sensed be so clearly formulated and considered that nothing whatever can stop its materialising through the medium of some constructive and living form upon the physical plane? Can the inner integration of the New Group of World Servers find exoteric expression?
A prolonged period of such moments and points of danger can, nevertheless, in itself constitute a momentous crisis. The fanning of the hot embers (if persisted in long enough) must eventually bring about a conflagration. What then can be done to institute those arrangements and outer understandings (based on the inner inspiration) which will end this cycle of danger points, and permit the racial consciousness to subside into a period of quiet and of freedom?
The Hierarchy is doing all that is possible, but under the plan of unfoldment for the Aryan Race, the activity needed for the creative work must be inaugurated and carried forward by disciples, working in the outer world and by aspirants to the path of discipleship, who register the world need and earnestly seek to cooperate. This is, therefore, a matter [725] for our consideration and for clear and skillful action in the immediate future.
As one contemplates the New Group of World Servers in its many departments—scattered all over the world and embracing the true and earnest seekers in every nation—there can be seen a body of men and women whose numbers and spheres of influence are entirely adequate to bring about the desired changes, if they care enough, are ready enough to make the needed sacrifices, and are willing to sink their organisation differences in the needed activity which would salvage the world, educate the race in a few simple and basic essentials, and so cooperate with each other that there would emerge a united inner movement—working out through the separated outer groups.
The Hierarchy held its Council during the week of the full moon of May, 1937. It could and did lay its plans for the helping of humanity. It could, and did mobilise and bring together every possible subjective agency and form of available energy for the stimulating of the human consciousness along right lines. It could, and did impress upon the disciples and aspirants everywhere the necessity of renewed and fresh efforts. But the development and actual functioning of the plans laid down and the actual working out into detailed expression of the intended ameliorative measures must be carried out by the New Group of World Servers, and by the men of good will throughout the world. Only by the united effort of the people of peaceful intention and of innate freedom from hatred can the forces of destruction be offset. These forces have been needed and useful, but the task they were intended to carry out has been accomplished, and that which is no longer required becomes, in its turn, a menace and a source of trouble.
[726]
c. STEPPING DOWN OF HIERARCHICAL METHODS
One of the first things which should be accomplished is the working out upon the physical plane of some of the achievements of the Hierarchy upon the inner side of life. For instance, each department and section of the Hierarchy is working together today as one unit. Though not all of the Masters and Their groups are occupied—as was earlier said—with the immediate problem of the human crisis, yet subjectively, all are engaged with the task of bringing order out of chaos and are working together (each in His own sphere and in the closest mental understanding), so that there are really no divided interests, no separate groups and no difference of opinion—no matter what Their diverse activities may be or Their specific undertakings. This condition must be duplicated, if possible, on the outer plane of physical life also.
Complete unanimity cannot be possible; complete subordination of individual and group interest to the general movement towards world understanding and stabilisation cannot as yet be achieved, owing to the selfish ambitions of group leaders, and the separative instincts of the senior workers in any group, who unduly influence the rank and the file of the membership. Yet a definitely closer rapprochement is far more possible today than at any previous time, and some real progress could be made towards mutual understanding if a sufficiently large number of the world aspirants and disciples desired it, if they were willing to participate in such an effort, and made the attempt to organise such a closer coming together and movement towards spiritual understanding. This would entail a restatement of the ideal on the part of each individual aspirant and disciple. It would involve a re-dedication of each of them to the immediate urgency of the Plan and to the demand coming to their ears of the world distress. [727] It would require the individual formulation of the ideals—sensed dimly or clearly—in terms of sacrifice and the resultant activity. These last few words indicate the attitude requisite and its needed consequences.
Therefore, one of the first things which would be of the next immediate assistance to be rendered to the Hierarchy of Masters (and this is only another way of saying, to humanity), is a widespread effort to get in touch with every group leader in the various towns, cities, and countries and continents. This refers to all those group leaders who are sensitive to what we might call the "doctrine of good will", and who can vision an ideal of group unity, carried forward without any attempt to disturb the normal outer group activity. This will entail the recognition of a common ideal; and the willingness to submerge (even if only temporarily) the points of difference and to emphasise the points of contact. Many might be willing to do this for the period of the emergency and as an interesting experiment, and thus endeavour to carry forward over a limited and stated time a united endeavour to spread good will and understanding in an effort to bring the hatreds of the world to an end. This will also entail the willingness to cooperate with all groups within a given radius of contact and the temporary relinquishing of personal ambitions and methods in order to meet the serious emergency by which humanity is faced. The basis of the possible success of such an effort consists in the fact that within each group are always to be found members of the New Group of World Servers. Upon this fact we can count, and we can depend upon the strength of the inner integration, produced by these synthesising "points of contact".
Another reason for the presumption of success lies in the fact that such an effort will only be the normal working out into physical expression of that which the Masters of the [728] Wisdom—distinctive as to Their fields of service, specific as to Their methods, and widely different as to Their ray and background of evolutionary development—have already established. This attempt on the part of all of us will, therefore, be a duplicating or a paralleling expression of an inner subjective fact. One of the facts upon the agenda of the Council was as to how They could more effectively stimulate the New Group of World Servers so that they could in turn see this vision with clarity, work with renewed optimism, and thus produce on earth the counterpart of the inner spiritual organisation.
The problem to be met by the disciples and aspirants in the world today is the possibility and right procedure, by means of a more specific and definite "push" or organised activity, to reach the leaders of groups everywhere. It would be well to discuss the ways and means to swing these leaders into a joint activity without interfering with their individual group purposes, loyalties and obligations.
Careful work must be put behind this effort. By this is meant considered mental work, subjective reflection, organised visioning and significant sacrifice. A start in this direction has already been made and the same general idea can be extended elsewhere and carefully developed. Group integrity, loyalties and purpose must be preserved, but the cooperation of the groups must be invoked in the task of spreading the healing energy of good will, which, as has been well and truly remarked, is the active principle of peace. And peace—not inert pacifism—is what is needed today.
Secondly, a plan should also be drawn up of such a nature that the various peace societies could at least temporarily be swung into an allied and paralleling activity. The leaders of the peace organisations could be approached with a definite and temporary programme, and their cooperation asked.
[729]
This programme of unification of the efforts of the more advanced groups in the world will demand sacrifice and satisfactory compromise on both sides, ours and the leaders of such groups, but where there is sincerity of purpose (and there is much) where there is a willingness to recognise the need for change in technique and terminology, then some definite progress can be made and the ranks of the men of good will, as organised under hierarchical impulse, can be greatly increased. It is not necessary for us to discuss in detail the methods which will be needed. Those who respond to this appeal will know the methods they should pursue. It is for those of us who do recognise the validity of this appeal to cooperate and aid, or to know clearly why we will not.