Fundación Psicoactiva - 2024 Wesak Program

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Call to Esoteric Groups in Preparation for 2025

Dear friends and co-workers,

This is a call to esoteric groups in preparation for 2025 (with the updated list of signatories).

The year 2025 is the time when the Spiritual Hierarchy will meditate and precipitate plans for humanity for the next century. This is the centennial “great download”.

The world group, as the ajna center of the planet, has the opportunity and the responsibility to play a conscious role in this planetary event.

In imitation of the annual Wesak ceremony of contact, disciples of the world may use this climax point to come into alignment with each other, forming “certain geometrical shapes” to become a living “receptive lens” for the Hierarchy and a pulsating “channel of contact” for Humanity

To be as prepared as possible we suggest practicing together in the remaining time.

We recognize that In order to manifest our innate capacity to function as conscious parts of the worldwide living organism of the World Servers Group, our groups have to become more sensitive to each other’s notes and to practice skills of telepathic attunement between our groups.

Therefore we invite your group/s to join an experiment of intergroup telepathic alignment during the coming Leo-Sirius Festival on August 17-21.

We envision the participating groups keeping a conscious alignment with each other during the five days of the Leo Full Moon, while pursuing their own specific service activities. All participating groups would meet online at the beginning and at the end of the five day Full Moon period. During this period the groups will be encouraged to experiment with widening our circle of subjective contact, cultivating a finer sensitivity to each other and to the subjective energy infrastructure which we together hold.

We think of this experiment as a kind of “dress rehearsal” in preparation for next year’s opportunity to be of service to Humanity and the Spiritual Hierarchy of the Planet.

We invite you to get more details about this proposed experiment and our groups’ ideas about the unfolding opportunities of the period of 2024-2026 here >>>

We hope this call will resonate with you. Please share this invitation within your groups. And please let us know about your intentions for further coordination.

In the Light of the One Work,

Circle of Groups: 

2025 Initiative, the Blue Rose Sisterhood, Community of Living Ethics (Italy), the Esoteric United Nations, the Hechal Group, The Hill Center (USA), Meditation Mount (USA), the Morya Federation, the Northern Light Society, TPS-POP International Group (The Planetary System-Planetary Order Prototype), Sydney Goodwill (Australia), The University of the Seven Rays.

Contact [email protected] for more information.

Great Invocation Translation : Nepali

April-June 2024

The Three Spiritual Festivals - 2024

The sun’s symbolic passage through the zodiac brings into focus the subtle energies it represents and marks the year’s spiritual progress. The higher interlude of this annual cycle begins in Aries with the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere and continues through Taurus and up to the solstice at the close of Gemini. The three festivals of Easter, Wesak and Goodwill celebrate the fresh divine energies that set the tone for the service initiatives to come.

The Easter Festival brings the restoration of life force from the mind of God, stimulating creative mental activity; the Wesak Festival follows with enlightenment emanating from the heart of God related to divine understanding and love-wisdom; and, from the will of God, the Festival of Goodwill vitalises constructive forces, synthesising energies, that help transform theoretical unity into a practical, spiritual unity – the divinity within humanity. These festivals focus on the divine vibration received and offer the opportunity to consciously engage with the renewed spiritual influences, facilitating their fuller expression in personal and group life.

Further information about the Three Spiritual Festivals, their meaning and influences is available via the links below. For information in printed form, please use the contact details at the bottom of this page.

www.lucistrust.org/3sf/how_can_we_help   www.lucistrust.org/3sf       www.lucistrust.org/3sf/resources

Festival of Easter (Aries)        . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     25 March 2024

Festival of Wesak (Taurus)    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .       23 April 2024

The Festival of Goodwill,

Christ’s Festival and World Invocation Day (Gemini)  . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .      23 May 2024

See https://www.lucistrust.org/events for the actual days of the Festival Meetings held by Geneva, London & New York headquarters

Triangles is a world service activity in which people link in thought in groups of three to create a planetary network of Triangles of light and goodwill. Using a world prayer, the Great Invocation, they invoke light and love as a service to humanity. Further information is available on request from Triangles.

The Triangles Bulletin is for people of goodwill and is published four times a year in Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Triangles is an activity of the Lucis Trust, a non-profit educational charity which exists to promote right human relations.

For further information and literature write to Triangles:

Suite 54                                     Rue du Stand 40                          866 United Nations Plaza

3 Whitehall Court                        Geneva                                      Suite 482

London SW1A 2EF                     CH-1204                                    New York NY 10017                  

UK                                           SWITZERLAND                        USA

www.lucistrust.org/triangles

March 2024

Triangles Resources GENEVA – LONDON – NEW YORK

Information about Triangles is available in various languages with each of the centres mentioned above serving specific languages and geographical areas. 

Geneva – Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian & Spanish (Mainly for Europe, plus other areas as needed)

London – English & Greek (for Europe, the Commonwealth and the Middle East)

New York – English, Spanish & Japanese (for the Americas, incl. Canada, Japan & the Far East)

The multilingual website, www.triangles.org, provides downloads of both introductory and more advanced literature, such as the Techniques of Triangles booklet, a compendium full of helpful information on the work of Triangles. This booklet has recently been revised with electronic copies currently available in English or Greek. Other translations are in progress. www.lucistrust.org/uploads/triangles/Techniques_of_Triangles_-_updated_2024.pdf

The website also includes both recent and archived Triangle Bulletins as well as access to audio and video recordings, information about Triangles’ social media presence and access to the monthly Triangles Webinar. An additional feature is the online bulletin board created for the sole purpose of helping people find Triangle partners.

The Planetary Network - March 2024

Initiatives for Change - www.iofc.ch

The Caux Initiatives of Change Foundation's vision is a just, peaceful and sustainable world in which people act from a sense of global interdependence and responsibility. International and local training and conferences are organised and coordinated, bringing together a true diversity of people from around the globe to engage effectively and innovatively in the promotion of trust, ethical leadership, sustainable living and human security. In all its activities, IofC seeks to create a confidential space free from judgment, where individuals can speak freely regardless of their cultural, spiritual, social or economic background.

Individuals and organizations are encouraged to act according to a common set of human values. This creates a strong basis for true dialogue, common decision-making and self-development. The Foundation’s core values include the absolute respect for human dignity as well as truthfulness, solidarity and care at every level of personal and public life. Silent reflection is recommended as a means to access creativity and inspiration. Personal and global change is understood to be the result of individuals having the power and the responsibility to self-reflect and align their actions with their values, thus ‘being the change’ they want to see in the world.

The Multiple Dimensions of Triangles

Triangles can be thought of as energy in motion, actively engaged in the process of creation. The activity creates movement in time and space and symbols like Triangles represent this motion in more than one dimension. Creation is not instantaneous: it takes time. It is first an idea, then a group of thoughts and then finally a manifested form of reality. This is also how Triangles exist in multiple dimensions.

When we work with our Triangles work, we might visualize them on a flat surface or on a two-dimensional plane, with three equal sides and three points. But these Triangles are sacred geometric representations of cosmic patterns of energy and universal truths. Cosmic energy comes into manifestation through multidimensional triangular relationships, reflecting the creative life force and the invocational process.

All of nature is multidimensional but the symbols used to represent energy in manifestation can only suggest its living and dynamic nature. How can we understand a Triangle as energy, alive and existing in multiple dimensions? To understand the purpose of Triangles and why they are needed at this time on our planet, we can consider how this purpose is already being expressed through their formation and the network they create.

International Triangles connect distant parts of the world involving different time zones and help the living Triangles network to expand in time and space. The energies are invoked by the loving cooperation of a group. By forming a Triangle together, we demonstrate the light and goodwill that we want to see in the world. Does a Triangle create loving cooperation, or does it represent the love and cooperation that already exists within the group creating it? Are we making Triangles or are we being made by them?

Although it remains largely unseen, humanity is becoming more loving and cooperative because of the invocative work of Triangles. The daily invocation brings this energy into manifestation. The power of invocation is truly multi-dimensional. Triangles then exist in the past, the present and the future, in space and in time. We invoke Triangles through loving cooperation and Triangles are an invocation of love and cooperation, and therefore they exist in many dimensions.

* * *

“I wonder if you can grasp at least partially and symbolically the fact that these triangles must not be thought of as placed, static and eternally the same, or even as three dimensional. They must be regarded as in rapid movement, revolving eternally in space and ceaselessly moving onward and as of the fourth and fifth dimensional extension. There is no way of depicting them or of bringing them visually to your attention, for only the inner eye of vision can imagine their progression, position or appearance.” (Esoteric Astrology, p. 417 – relating to major triangles of constellations, zodiacs and planets that affect humanity)

Triangles Webinar: Broadcast on the second Monday of every month

www.lucistrust.org/triangles/webinar

Active Light, a Life Intention

Know thyself  – as is well-known, these words were inscribed above the entrance to the temple of Apollo in Delphi, indicating that the way to God is through knowledge of the self. Western and Eastern philosophy, religions and esoteric schools alike have taken this maxim as guidance. In their differing approaches, they all found that the concept of ‘self’ is elusive and cannot be described as a material thing.

So, what is this self through which the gates to the divine can be opened? And how does the limited fearful self, with its memories and desires, relate to the ‘true’ self that connects us to God and our fellowmen? In Saint Augustine’s moving ‘Confessions’ – a long prayer and loving surrender to God – he describes the self not as a thing, but as a process. A process of active light and understanding, piercing through the passivity of darkness and ignorance. And, indeed, it is a wonderfully encouraging thought that light, also in its material sense, is an active and creative power, whereas darkness is a passive and ‘waiting’ phenomenon.

Saint Augustine concluded therefore that ‘freedom’ and ‘free will’ are only to be found in the surrender to this active light and that acting upon the desires of the little self or, in his words, ‘sinning’, is not a matter of free will at all, but of passivity. Freedom consists in stepping out of the darkness of this slavery and consciously choosing to follow the light. There have been some religions or philosophies, however, that believed light and darkness to be opposing energies of equal strength. Most famous are the Manicheans, who were convinced that a powerful, though not omnipotent Good (God) was opposed by an equally strong Evil (Devil). They saw humanity, the world and the soul as the eternal battle grounds of God and the Devil. This is in contrast to other religious and philosophical teachings that identify evil as an illusion and a product of humanity’s ignorance. In other words, they state that darkness is the absence of light and understanding, and not a power by itself.

Esoteric teachings indicate that only when we use our free will to choose to serve the good for all humanity can we develop the highest form of knowledge, the intuition, through which we can see the world as active light and all its forms as containing that spiritual light. And, within that light, we can understand that the whole of the Universe is but the Larger Self. We can make darkness visible (through conscious perception) and then are able to see our next steps ahead. We can become conscious of our own passivity and see our place in this Larger Self. And then, when we surrender to this active, spiritual light and accept it as our sole life intention, we can truly radiate this light through our Triangles “upon the sons of men who know not yet  they are the Sons of God,”¹  and know that we are preparing the way for the Coming One.

1. The Reappearance of the Christ, A.A. Bailey, p.13

Reflections on: The Incoming Seventh Ray of Ceremonial Order and Ritual

Cosmic Rays: Gifts for the Aquarian Age

Three Spiritual Festivals 2024 Cosmic Rays: Gifts for the Aquarian Age

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Dear co-worker,

Amaterasu, one of the most powerful cosmic rays ever detected, struck the Earth’s atmosphere in 2021. Named after the sun goddess in Japanese mythology, Amaterasu means “shining in heaven”—and this is where she seems to have come from, her trajectory tracing back to a vast region of empty space known as the Local Void. Scientists are baffled as to how such a powerful cosmic ray could suddenly appear out of nothing. And even if this were not the case, as one analyst put it:

“Things that people think of as energetic, like supernova [exploding star], are nowhere near energetic enough for this… what the heck is going on?” ¹

From the esoteric perspective, a clue to the mystery lies in the relationship between the cosmic rays known to science and the seven rays of esoteric science which are “the sum total of the divine Consciousness”—the “seven channels through which all being in… [the]… solar system flows.”

In this present cycle, it is the seventh ray of Ceremonial Order that is currently growing in power, the influence of which is most potent upon the physical plane. And it is through this channel that the cosmic rays familiar to modern science are finding their way to earth. In Alice Bailey’s Esoteric Psychology Vol I, we read:

“It is under the influence of the incoming seventh ray… that we shall discover new cosmic rays. They… are always present in our universe, but they use the substance of the incoming ray energy as the path along which they can travel to our planet and thus be revealed.” ²

Cosmic rays originate from the subjective realms of the universe, and as they precipitate into the earth’s atmosphere they produce “air showers”—cascades of charged particles and electromagnetic radiation that, in the case of Amaterasu, were picked up by detectors spread across the desert in Utah. Air showers provide us with wonderful symbols of the age of Aquarius—an air sign with the spiritual keynote:

“Water of life am I, poured forth for thirsty men.”

Furthermore, one of this sign’s planetary rulers—Uranus—embodies the energy of the incoming seventh ray of Ceremonial Order, enabling new cosmic rays like Amaterasu to have a powerful effect on human behaviour. Returning to the information on cosmic rays in the book, Esoteric Psychology:

“The interest being shown today in the so-called cosmic rays indicates a scientific recognition of the new incoming seventh ray energies. These rays, pouring through the sacral centre of the planetary etheric body, have necessarily an effect upon the sacral centres of humanity, and hence the sex life of mankind is temporarily over-stimulated, and hence also the present over-emphasis upon sex. But hence also (and this must be remembered) the keen impetus now being mentally expressed which will eventually result in man’s thinking through to a solution of this problem of sex.” ³

While there has been much intellectual research and discussion on problems related to sex, new problems keep surfacing—a notable example being the issue of gender confusion and fluidity— particularly in young children. This difficult and troubling phenomenon may well be related in some way to the incoming qualities associated with the seventh ray of Ceremonial Order causing disturbances in the collective sacral centre of humanity. And speaking in general terms, changes seem to be occurring in the way many people are experiencing gender in modern societies. Of concern though, is that in our highly sexualised world society, children are surrounded by sexual imagery and content in almost every area of life, resulting in the erosion of childhood innocence. Children today are presented with many conflicting messages concerning gender, for in modern times its definition has become far more to do with social and cultural differences between the sexes than biological ones. A remarkable definition is posted on the World Health Organisation’s website:

“Gender refers to the characteristics of women, men, girls and boys that are socially constructed. This includes norms, behaviours and roles associated with being a woman, man, girl or boy, as well as relationships with each other. As a social construct, gender varies from society to society and can change over time…. Gender identity refers to a person’s deeply felt, internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond to the person’s physiology or designated sex at birth.” ⁴

Whatever our own views on this may be, the answer to wrong lower identifications with the physical sex of the body lies in lifting consciousness away from the body nature. Given that a feeling of incompleteness is one of the main characteristics of gender dysphoria, encouraging the aesthetic sense in young children would surely be of more assistance than ever-earlier sex education. The feeling for beauty and wonder in nature helps to nurture in the child a strong sense of identity with the soul of all things, including the soul of humanity as a whole, where the solution to the problem of gender lies. As human consciousness is steadily raised towards the Kingdom of Souls, masculine and feminine energies are synthesized into a perfected unity, as the Christ will undoubtedly demonstrate when He reappears. For the Christ is the “perfected human being”— Who unites the highest expression of the positive and negative forces of creation within His own Being and wields them in service of the Divine Plan. This too is the glorious destiny that lies before each and every human being at some point in the future, no matter how distant it may seem.

With this in mind, psychological progress towards this unification seems evident in many of the creative thinkers of the race who are embracing more of the higher, spiritual characteristics of the opposite sex within themselves. As far as longer-term changes in the human organism are concerned, an interesting and challenging prophecy to contemplate is to be found in the book Esoteric Healing:

“the dense physical externalisation of this [sacral] centre is to be found in the gonads, the human organs of generation—viewing them as a basic unity, though temporarily separated in the present dualistic expression of the human being…. Eventually, in the Divine Hermaphrodite (later to appear) you will have another combination.” ⁵

Current

Future

Returning to the book, Esoteric Psychology, we learn that:

“other cosmic rays will play upon our earth as this seventh ray activity becomes increasingly active, and the result of their influence will be to facilitate the emergence of the new racial types.” ⁶

Elsewhere, the following traits are described in connection with this evolutionary development:

“The intuition will be awakening, and will be more prominent than now, but the outstanding characteristic will be the ability… to think in abstract terms, and to use the abstract mind.” ⁷

Because esoteric training has the same objective of awakening the abstract mind, those who are following its threefold discipline of meditation, study and service are likely to find themselves sensitive to the influence of the new incoming cosmic rays. This represents an added stimulus to contend with—accelerating progress but also intensifying the psychological challenges of treading the path. It is just one of the many new factors to bear in mind should any period of unaccustomed psychological tension be experienced or fluctuations in the quality of subjective awareness. Following a path of esoteric training at this momentous time in planetary history is without doubt a test of spiritual tenacity. However, those who have the will to persevere in the great endeavour are presented with an unparallelled opportunity to take a significant step forward on the path of spiritual unfoldment and increase their capacity to serve.

The higher spiritual interlude of the year marked by the full moon festivals of Aries, Taurus and Gemini, is the most opportune time to do this by working with the new cosmic influences that are seeking entrance into human consciousness. The ability to “think in abstract terms, and to use the abstract mind” is facilitated by the waves of energy or “gift waves” that are circulating throughout the realm of the planetary mind at this time. The bridge of consciousness that is forming between the Spiritual Hierarchy and the human kingdom is thereby strengthened, preparing the way for the reappearance of the Christ—the great hope for humanity in these troubling times.

In the light of group consciousness,
Lucis Trust

1. The Guardian Article
2. Esoteric Psychology, Vol I, pp.369–70
3. Ibid, p.280
4. World Health Organization, Gender and health
5. Esoteric Healing, pp.179–80
6. Esoteric Psychology, Vol I, p.370
7. A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, p.456

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Registration: 2024 Arcane School Conference (London)

Fill in the form below to register for the 2024 Arcane School Conference in New York which takes place May 25-26.

For more information visit the conference page.

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Registration: 2024 Arcane School Conference (Geneva)

Fill in the form below to register for the 2024 Arcane School Conference in Geneva which takes place May 18-19.
For more information visit the conference page.

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Registration: 2024 Arcane School Conference (New York)

Fill in the form below to register for the 2024 Arcane School Conference in New York which takes place April 20-21.
For more information visit the conference page.

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Arcane School Conference 2024

Keynote: Let the group dedicate itself anew to the service of the Coming One and do all it can to prepare human minds and hearts for that event. We have no other life intention.   NEW YORK April 20-21 VIEW PROGRAMME Register in-person > Register online (Saturday) > Register online (Sunday) >      GENEVA May 18-19 VIEW PROGRAMME Register in-person > Register online (Saturday) > Register online (Sunday) >      LONDON May 25-26 VIEW PROGRAMME Register in-person > Register online (Saturday) > Register online (Sunday) >    ABOUT THE ANNUAL ARCANE SCHOOL CONFERENCE The Arcane School  provides training for new age discipleship through a well-established distance learning programme. Students from around the world deepen their alignment with the principles of the Ageless Wisdom through esoteric meditation, study and service as a way of life. The annual Arcane School Conference is held in New York, Geneva and London during the higher interlude of the year, the three spiritual festivals.  Meetings in New York are on a weekend close to the Wesak Festival at the time of the Taurus full moon. Meetings in Geneva and London take place on two consecutive weekends close to the Festival of Unification, the Christ Festival, at the time of the Gemini full moon. The three conferences include a morning session for Arcane School students only. Afternoon sessions on Saturday and Sunday are open to all. The Conferences are designed to build a group field of thought, radiating the energies of the Plan into the minds and hearts of humanity. A meditation outline, Letting in the Light, is used. Each conference includes talks by Arcane School students and members of the headquarters group, and has a session for small group discussion.

2024 Full Moon Talks - London

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The following programs are available for listening online.

1. Recordings of Triangles Webinar programs: Please click here

2. Recordings of “Inner Sight” radio programs related to the service of Triangles:

2024 Full Moon Talks - New York

2024 Full Moon Talks - Geneva

Talks given through the Geneva Headquarters are in French and can be accessed on the French version of this page.

WEF Davos 15-19 January 2024

Cycle of Conferences Download the Visualisation Dear Co-worker,   The Cycle of Conferences is placing a focus, beginning today, on the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. The theme ‘rebuilding trust’ acknowledges the absence of trust in human affairs at this time – and when viewed in the context of the Davos conference it draws attention to the will to build trust as the essential ingredient in the creation of a more just, equitable and sharing economy at local, national and global levels. Why Focus on the Davos Conference?   Many consider the World Economic Forum and its annual Davos meetings as, at best, a talking shop for powerful corporations and vested economic interests. While this is an undeniable aspect of the meetings, a deeper look reveals that more enlightened interests have a strong presence at Davos, and with so many world leaders and influential thinkers together in one place, an opportunity exists for the principles of right relations to influence the thinking, planning, and life-mission of participants.   While there are many spaces where powerful economic groups work with the sole goal of perpetuating their own interests, regardless of the impact on the well-being of humanity and the earth, the World Economic Forum is centred around a vision of ‘A Global Economy that Works for Progress, People and Planet.’ In the words of WEF founder, Klaus Schwab, such an economy requires “a form of capitalism in which companies do not only optimize short-term profits for shareholders, but seek long term value creation, by taking into account the needs of all their stakeholders, and society at large.”     During the period immediately following World War II, the Tibetan noted that it was “essential that all aspirants and disciples throw the weight of their spiritual development and the light of their souls on the side of the Forces attempting to plan for the good of humanity, and who regard the welfare of the whole as of far greater importance than any national situation or demand.” The Externalization of the Hierarchy, p. 450.   Read more about the Cycles Visualization and the WEF   Rebuilding Trust There is no more central issue at the heart of the multiple challenges that have coalesced into what is often referred to as the polycrisis of this time than the breakdown of social trust. While the WEF deliberations at Davos will largely focus on developing policies to help facilitate transparency and accountability as ways of rebuilding trust, the heart of the issue is the presence or absence of goodwill in all fields of relationship. For this to happen there is  a need for the leadership of  business, governance, institutions and civil society at all levels to develop and exercise a transparent will-to-good. A key part of the Cycles work is to clarify understanding of and recognition of this transparent will. Our work with the 2024 Davos Annual Meeting begins today and ends on January 19th. Visualisation WEF Annual Meeting 2024 Cycles Support of the Plan Cycle and the World Economic Forum 2024 Related Sites and Articles: Cycle of Conferences WEF Report on the State of Global Cooperation in 2024 Klaus Schwab: What is Stakeholder Capitalism? World Goodwill Newsletter 2022#3: John Fullerton on Regenerative Economics WEF White Paper 2021: Rebuilding Trust and Governance

Cancer Full Moon (Sunday 21 July)

AI as a Convergence of Technologies

Co-founder and CEO of knowledge technology company, Shelf, Perrotta has 12 years of experience as an AI practitioner. A former US Peace Corps volunteer and Founders Institute mentor, he has spoken and written about the responsibilities, challenges and future opportunities of AI.

While AI can be scary, the reality is that it has been developed by us. We create models that drive AI, and these models are not something outside of us. They do not control the world. The responsibility really lies with us to ensure that those who are developing the models are held accountable.

Ever since the advent of writing, there has been a momentum of force driving the development of technologies that augment our ability to think, create, build, communicate, and manifest collectively. AI is a part of this momentum, and is the result of a convergence of technologies, acceleration, and change.

Five macro trends are currently driving the development of technology. Each trend builds on the other, and they are in a motion that is accelerating. Because they are very decentralized, they are, at this point, beyond any single human’s control.

First: the evolution of computers which began with the abacus 5,000 years ago has accelerated very quickly over the last several decades through the development of the microchip. This physical object is the foundational building block on which all digital devices, data and AI are built.

Second: the development of the cloud has made AI the fastest adopted technology in human history. Before the cloud hardware for major projects would take weeks to set up and cost tens of thousands of dollars. Now, any type of computing resource can be instantly accessed faster, at much less cost, and at scale.

Third: the cloud has led to global connectivity and the acceleration of mobile and connected devices, including wireless-enabled wearable Fitbits.

Fourth: all these devices are generating tons of data. As the data increases exponentially, and the countries producing the data expand, we discover new patterns and recognize connection points within the data.

Fifth: an exponentially increasing computing power, an exponentially increasing number of devices and exponentially increasing amounts of data that we can process, see patterns, and understand in new ways has led to what we are today calling AI: the wide range of “intelligent” behaviours that are modelled and derived from data.

2023 was the breakthrough year when these trends crossed the threshold for affordability and adoption and for the first time, through Generative AI, models neared human performance in writing, summation, sensory perception and so on. Updating a quote from Steve Jobs, we can say that if a computer is a “bicycle for our minds”, then AI is the equivalent of a supersonic jet.

Video at:  https://bit.ly/3v2UB3q

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Individual Responsibility in the Age of AI

Andrew Binstock, an open-source software developer, is a former editor-in-chief of Java Magazine. Early in his career he was head of technology forecasts for Price Waterhouse.

In 1999, when the internet was becoming popular, but the web was still very immature, Price Waterhouse was getting a lot of pressure from clients to forecast what effect the internet and the web would have. Our reply, which I think has been validated, is that the internet would make you more of who you are. That is, if you’re a hard worker, it will allow you to do more work. If you’re lazy, it will help you find ways to be even lazier. And if you love to cook, you’ll be able to cook in ways you never thought of, and so on.

Today, we are in the same place in relationship to AI that we were in 1999 with the Internet. We’re on the threshold of enormous changes and upheaval. As with the Internet, those changes will reach every corner of our lives. And they will impose responsibilities on us. If I were pressed to make one safe assumption about the effects of AI, I’d say: It will make you even more of who you are, but it will require more from you than the internet required.

Chief among those requirements will be new responsibilities: in the workplace and in the larger consumption of information in daily life. Mark Twain once observed, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes”. It is going to be very important not to be part of lies’ rapid travel, and to be faster at helping truth put on its shoes. How do we avoid helping a lie travel? The first thing is not to share content whose veracity we don’t know. Not on social media, not on email, not in spoken word. This seems like an obvious thing until some unusual piece of information comes our way that happens to fit our preferred narrative. Then we want to share it with everyone.

The age of AI will bring wonderful developments but will impose a series of disciplines on thinking people who will need to improve their skills in the workplace and to improve discernment in all other areas, especially online. The latter requires effort. And like you, there are many times when I and others would like to share something without having to verify sources and check details. Careless sharing of this kind, as well as intentional sharing by bad actors, is how lies get halfway around the world so quickly.

Video at: https://bit.ly/3v2UB3q

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Technology Supporting Social Cohesion

Lisa Schirch is Professor of the Practice of Peacebuilding and Technology at the University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs. With 30 years in peace-building research, policy advocacy, practice and teaching, her current research focuses on positive roles for technology in ‘peacetech’ and ‘digital peacebuilding’.

In a recent article I wrote that the road to hell is not paved in gold, it is paved with code. Code is not neutral. The design of platforms determines their impact on society. It is shaping our human behaviour, showing us some content and not others, and making decisions that steer humanity in one direction or the other.

In my research, there are three narratives of what to do about harmful content online. The first, the user-centred narrative, is voiced by tech platforms who say that their platforms are neutral mirrors, simply reflecting user-generated content and developing algorithms based on your search history. The companies say they can’t generate pro social content.

The second narrative calls for the regulation of tech design. People who used to work in Facebook, Meta and Google are part of a new generation of people arguing that the design of digital spaces needs to be regulated to remove the focus on the few people who are fighting and promoting hate online.

The third narrative is Social Cohesion by Design where technology platforms are designed to really serve humanity and be pro-social. Such platforms already exist, and we can amplify public support for them. The Council on Technology and Social Cohesion which I helped set up is bringing together people from tech companies, peace-building professions, conflict resolution, mediation, government, and business to explore how support for pro-social technology can be incentivized.

Today, there are many technology platforms being designed for deliberation aimed at decreasing polarization and producing social cohesion. One such platform is Remesh which has been used by the United Nations to help publics in Yemen, Tunisia, and Libya talk with each other and deliberate the policy options in their country: what is possible and how they might move into the future? Remesh uses artificial intelligence to make what thousands of people are saying digestible so that large groups can be listened to at scale. This gives individuals a sense of agency that they can participate in the decisions that affect their lives, and it also helps policy makers decide which policies are sustainable and have public support.

Another platform, Polis, is used by governments to bring together polarized groups of people and use AI algorithms to find the common ground. Polis helps people see not only what everybody is saying, but where everybody agrees. Finding out where there is agreement is the key to peace building and successful peace processes.

Video at: https://bit.ly/3v2UB3q

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Solar Geomagnetic Activity and Emotional Intelligence

Susan Manewich is a researcher, teacher and author who has worked for 20 years in leadership consulting, emotional intelligence, and resonant technology. She is President of the New Energy Movement. Her several books include (as a co-author) Hidden Energy: Tesla-inspired Inventors and a Mindful Path to Energy Abundance.

In a number of articles about the rapid electromagnetic and geomagnetic changes happening on this planet, I discuss the strong similarities between planetary chaos, human emotion, and behavior as it relates to different solar cycles. In 1960, for example, during the previous solar cycle, there were a lot of war protests and consciousness raising movements, but there was also a lot of chaos. Much of what we’re seeing today mirrors some of that previous solar cycle. The sun, our star is what really gives life to us (including our human bodies) here on planet Earth. And the sun is going through some huge changes. I have a 15-20 year background of studying Emotional Intelligence, and there is just an amazing, strong relationship between our emotions and solar geomagnetic activity.

The Earth’s magnetosphere (the protective shield around the planet) protects us from what I’m calling “pops from the sun”: solar flares, coronal mass ejections, or even some of the solar wind. It’s critical that we have that shield. But the shield is weakening, and our capacity to handle these ‘pops’ is becoming challenged. Right now, we are in the process of reaching a solar peak in Solar Cycle 25 with the potential for more chaos, people acting irrationally, more war. But also, the potential for a rise in awareness. And so, you’ve got these emotional breakage points, but you also have some higher states in consciousness. It is as if through the weakening of the magnetosphere veils are being lifted and we’re having to contend and deal with things that maybe are more charged.

In addition to the weakening magnetosphere, there is a wandering of magnetic poles on our earth right now and it looks as if the sun will have its pole shifting in the next couple of months – all causing instability and weather extremes.

The Schumann resonance, the Earth’s background hum, is also very active and not as stable as it likely has been in the past – and this relates to brainwave states. The changes on the planet and the shifting alignment with the sun, the Cosmos and this Earth all relate to us as human beings. I can’t help but think about the dawn of this new day that Alice Bailey spoke about, it’s here. Considering new energy technology, we are at the precipice of this dawn, with change being really driven by the intelligence of the universe, the intelligence of the cosmos.

Video at: https://bit.ly/3NDPSeP

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Major Impacts from Science and Technology

Emmanuel Ransford is an epistemologist, independent researcher in quantum physics, lecturer, and author of numerous books. He explores foundational questions concerning the Quantum Universe and Consciousness. Ransford is a Professional Affiliate of the Galileo Commission.

Let’s reflect on four major areas where advances in knowledge and technology are having a major impact on our lives.

• Physics enables us to understand and explore the universe. It has even made it possible to send objects and people to the moon. Our greatest technological marvels are based on quantum physics. In parallel, the discovery by Albert Einstein of the equivalence between matter and energy (E = mc2) has made nuclear power stations and medical imaging possible. But these achievements have led to an explosion in our destructive capacities, and our nuclear weapons can destroy humanity at the touch of a button... Less serious but more present in our daily lives, the unprecedented electromagnetic pollution that surrounds us is a cause for concern, as we are unaware of its long- term effects on health.

• Chemistry has revolutionised our everyday lives. We owe it plastics, which are so versatile and so useful that they are omnipresent. But chemicals disrupt and pollute the environment. This is all the more worrying because many of them, especially plastics, are not biodegradable. Those used in the home present a risk to public health, particularly because of carcinogenic substances (aldehydes in cleaning products, etc.).

• Biology and medicine, combined with hygiene, have considerably improved the human condition. The spectacular decline in infant mortality and the increase in longevity bear witness to this. It is even possible today to eliminate certain genetic diseases using a technique called CRISPR [= clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats], which makes it possible to insert snippets of DNA into a genome. But the CRISPR technique carries the risk of going awry. It makes it possible to produce “tailor-made” children that would possess specific traits! Ethical supervision is clearly necessary. Furthermore, medical practice has encouraged the emergence of bacterial strains resistant to antibiotics (“antibiotic resistance”), which are a major health threat.

• The world of the virtual and of artificial intelligence is magical. It includes the internet, social networks, generative AI, chatbots and Chat GPT. But the virtual world, which is invading our daily lives, is threatening many jobs by rendering certain professions redundant. It is irresistibly penetrating our private lives - which are becoming less and less private - and threatening our freedoms. It offers dictatorial regimes great opportunities to control their populations. The virtual world also makes it possible, as never before, to create and disseminate fake news backed up by totally credible artificial documents (photos, videos, etc.). The potential for harm is immense!

Video and transcript at: https://bit.ly/3Tt2vgx

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The Power of Thinking for Oneself

Inspired by the writings of Alice Bailey and Agni Yoga as well as their own research, authors, trainers and lecturers, Frédérique and Patrice Brasseur, have developed Psychosophy (‘wisdom of the soul’) as a way of exploring the crossroads between philosophy, spirituality and psychology.

We are all co-responsible at one level or another for everything that happens, because it is the consciousness of all of us that generates the worlds in which we live. Educating ourselves to the primacy of consciousness over forms means putting an end to concrete pseudo-solutions and giving our full attention to the power of human consciousness.

Let us therefore not be afraid of the distressing picture that the world presents to us today, or of what is going to happen tomorrow, because everything is a teaching trajectory and in the long term can help the consciousness of people to evolve towards fairer relationships. If today we can be worried about the many fake news stories circulating and growing on the Net, if the manipulation of information, images and sound continue to grow, it inevitably leads humanity to have to develop mental discernment. This is a tremendous breakthrough that is taking shape and will allow us to leave behind the world of “I like-I don’t like” that is so dear to the emotions. This will force humanity to think more and more, which will lead to a reduction in the chain reactions that all too often poison human relationships.

In the same way, the advent of Chat GPT, this formidable programme capable of producing articles or essays by drawing on all the recorded knowledge of the world, by delving into the memory of the knowledge acquired by mankind, is not to be feared; it is an intelligent, highperformance tool, an outstanding compiler that will be able to be used by mankind, but it will never be able to invent anything new, because it does not think.

Alice Bailey referred to humanity’s problem being not that it’s thinking is wrong, but that it does not think. So here we really are, faced with the need to understand what it means to think. This is how we are going to have to gradually differentiate between the knowledge compilation capabilities of ChatGPT, and the real power of thinking for oneself.

We could multiply the examples of what appear to us to be the dangers arising from the progress of applied science and technology to the lives of a growing number of individuals. All right, if we look only at the factual and event-driven appearance of our civilisation, there is cause for concern. But if we look at what is happening from the point of view of consciousness, we realise how much we are learning and how much we are evolving.

Video and transcript at: https://bit.ly/3Tt2vgx

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Distinguishing the Real from the Unreal

Elissawa Carpazio worked in business applications of IT. She has been a departmental head in several international companies. She is also a student in psychotherapy, bereavement, and end-of-life care, and a hospice volunteer.

We can feel the enthusiasm of scientists when they talk about technology developments. They show us the potential they want to work out to help and advance humanity. They are animated by a goodwill that pushes them to do their part to improve living conditions. Their presentations are fascinating and tempting.

Fear of the new leads to petrification. Keeping everything the same means freezing everything. The seed of the spirit needs freedom to express itself and begins to rebel when it is imprisoned by artificial rules created out of fear and designed to keep everything as usual. Evolution goes forward. New developments are needed. And yet it is a tightrope walk to want to help humanity by means of technical achievements. It is so easy to get caught up in devilish spirals and lose sight of the real goal, spiritual realisation. Due to the fragmentation of the complex world, the vision of the bigger picture is lost, and we often end up with pseudo-solutions that run counter to the actual intention.

Especially in this time of innovations showing tempting possibilities, it is important to develop discrimination to distinguish the real from the unreal. We encounter delusion and manipulation everywhere. It is fascinating to see what technical possibilities are available. Yet it’s difficult to decide what is morally justified and what is not. Science is not truth, but rather a structuring of knowledge, and the knowledge is always in the field in which one is searching. Like everything, science is also part of the system, caught in a web of obligations, liabilities, and interests. The ethical discussions conducted by science are very profound and attempts are made to foresee and weigh all possible effects, but the views held and the effects to which attention is drawn are always dependent on one’s own worldview. Since the prevailing worldview is materialistic, morality alone will not get us anywhere, because every logic of argumentation moves within this worldview and looks there for the moral legitimisation for actions.

The outer form, the body, must be seen for what it is, a means to an end. We are to make use of form to express the divine nature. We have made great advances in science, but still operate on the physical plane. In a time of transformation, it is the view of the world that needs to be transformed. We need to incorporate the idea of the spiritual world into our view and into discussions.

Video and transcript at: https://bit.ly/3Tt2vgx

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What it Means to Be Really Human

Edi Billimoria is an author and lecturer who encourages the cross fertilization of ideas in fields of science, religion, and perennial philosophy. A trustee of the Scientific & Medical Network and Advisor to the Network’s Galileo Commission, he recently published, in 4 volumes, Unfolding Consciousness : Exploring the Living Universe and Intelligent Powers in Nature and Humans.

As one world, our pressing need is for a renaissance and a restitution of what it means to be really human. This has been caused by the global monopoly of scientific materialism, where knowledge is dominated by secular values.

In the darkest days of 1943, while speaking to a Jewish Seminary, Albert Einstein put his finger on the problem: “we should”, he said, “take care not to make the intellect our goal. It has of course powerful muscles but no personality. It cannot lead, it can only serve, and it is not fastidious in its choice of a leader. This characteristic is reflected in the qualities of its priests, the intellectuals. The intellect has a sharp eye for methods and tools but is blind to ends and values. So, it is no wonder that this fatal blindness is handed on from old to young and today involves a whole generation.”

The problem is the excessive worshipping and acknowledging of intellect at the expense of the higher human qualities. While we have derived enormous benefit from science and technology we have forgotten the Key—the perennial philosophy—which reveals the spiritual origins and the true nature of what it means to be really human in a living universe.

The tragedy for me is that scientists of legendary status have pointed out the limits and limitations of science and technology taken to extremes, but their wise words have been almost totally ignored.

In modern times the finest examples I can think of are Max Planck and Schrodinger. In one of his wonderful books, What is Life?, Schrodinger said the scientific picture is very deficient. For while science can tell us about how waves of compression and rarefaction strike our eardrums and then by a neurological process, a salty fluid exudes from our eyes, it is ghastly silent about why, and how an old song can move us to tears. It is even more silent about the Great Origins and the questions we ask about divinity and ‘Where am I going?’

What it means to be human has constituted the backbone of the perennial philosophy of all ages and all cultures since time immemorial. Whether expressed through the mystery teachings of the ancient Indians, The Egyptians, the Greeks, or in its wonderful modern format, through such titanic works as those of Rudolf Steiner, Madame Blavatsky, Alice Bailey, this timeless philosophy points out, the distinction between the human body and the human being.

Video at: https://bit.ly/3NDPSeP

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No Scientific Breakthroughs in the Last Hundred Years

Mintze van der Velde is Director of Lucis Trust and World Goodwill in Geneva.

Science and technology are not the same thing. This, together with many other profound insights, was beautifully explained by my late friend Dr. Jim Ryder, in a talk called The Garment of God at the Arcane School conference in 2018. Of course, science and technology are related. Sometimes scientific breakthroughs give rise to technological progress and sometimes progress in technology helps science to advance.

As an example, I will only mention here the technological progress made with our telescopes. The first optical telescopes appeared in the 17th century and were of course earth based. In the present time, however, we have telescopes in space (including among others, the Hubble and James Webb telescopes) allowing us to look into space beyond the visible part of the spectrum with stunning results, complemented by large arrays of telescopes on earth giving equally stunning results. The images we obtain nowadays on an almost daily basis give us a picture of the universe that also on an almost daily basis raise more questions than answers.

This evolution of telescopes has been paralleled by scientific advancements but for approximately the last century there have been no significant scientific revolutions. The latest are the emergence of quantum mechanics and Einstein’s relativity theories. Of course, the discovery of the Higgs boson, gravitational waves, black holes and many others have made headlines in the press, but these are more exercises in communication than scientific breakthroughs: they fill in the details of our theories developed about a century ago.

Video and transcript at: https://bit.ly/3NDPSeP

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Uniting Masculine Science with Feminine Nature

Laurence Newey is Lucis Trust Vice-President.

Since the dawn of the industrial age, the onward march of science and technology has brought great gifts to humanity but further undermined the instinctive spiritual relationship that human beings once had with the land, fauna, and flora. As the large-scale burning of fossil fuels began in earnest to power incredible new machines, it sparked the beginning of what can only be called a disintegrative worldview, which is now being directly reflected back at us through the Earth’s polluted and dysfunctional ecosystems.

Even so, it is only a perceived life threat to the whole of humanity – a common enemy in the form of global warming – that has caused sufficient alarm for the nations of the world to start rallying around the new mindset of ‘sustainable development.’ And while we might say that this represents humanity waking up from its disintegrative dream state, it still has to adjust its vision to the dawn of a new day and see things in a different light. For the notion of sustainable development remains connected to the mindset that placed humanity in its dire position in the first place – the concrete, scientific mindset of measurement and control that can, so easily, isolate itself from the balancing, feminine energy of the intuitive mind. We might regard the current scientific approach as a transition period that may help to limit the damage, but as yet, it contains no impelling vision – no narrative worthy of forming a new, integrated worldview that unites masculine science with feminine Nature.

Video and transcript at: https://bit.ly/3NDPSeP

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Education is Paramount

Christine Morgan is Lucis Trust President.

In this digital era, it is all too easy for our eyes to be drawn downward and locked in a state of ‘fascination’ with the products of technology. Whether it is the virtual world of computer-generated realities or the more widespread addiction to smartphones, electronic messaging and social media, a balance needs to be restored. Technology provides wonderful tools that can enhance human interaction and the trend towards unity, but it can also lure us deeper into matter and division. ‘Virtual reality’ aptly describes the deception and illusion that lies along this path.

All things start in the realm of consciousness before they manifest outwardly, so the role of education is paramount in creating a safe and ethical space in a world which has so rapidly become a digital community. There are the intractable problems of misinformation, disinformation, the unregulated use of the internet as well as the use of algorithms with conscious or unconscious bias, and the effect of A.I. on the creative industries. Regulation isn’t easy although a start is being made in earnest, but perhaps the best solution is to recognise the vital need for tackling these issues early on.

Education is about increasing light and the understanding of who we essentially are as human beings. If we live in a filter bubble or echo chamber which only allows us access to the thoughts of others similar to us, we are deprived of life-affirming challenges. By encouraging open discussion around complex issues, we can become better informed and more inclusive.

Video and transcript at: https://bit.ly/3v2UB3q

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World Goodwill Newsletter 2023 #3 - Human Responsibility in an Age of Transformation: Forging a Moral Direction in Science and Technology

World Goodwill Newsletter 2023 #3

Human Responsibility in an Age of Transformation:
Forging a Moral Direction in Science and Technology

It is difficult to exaggerate the impact that science and tech-nology have played, and are playing, in human development. As our creative power has surged new discoveries have brought great gifts - yet there have also been enormous downsides. Moves to a machine-based world are impacting our relationship with the worlds of spirit and soul, and this is having increasingly negative effects on the qualities of goodwill and integrity in all areas of relationship, including our relations with the other kingdoms of nature.

In November 2023 World Goodwill’s annual seminar took a deep dive into this theme, exploring the role that wisdom and morality have to play in science and technology, and essentially asking the question: What is Human Responsibility in an Age of Transformation?

This issue of the Newsletter includes brief edited extracts from presentations delivered during the three events broadcast from Geneva, London and New York. To explore the issue further there are videos, including illuminating panel discussions, and some full transcripts at www.worldgoodwill.org.

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January-March 2024

The Great Invocation - December 2023

*Many religions believe in a World Teacher, a “Coming One”, knowing him under such names as the Lord Maitreya, the Imam Mahdi, the Kalki Avatar and the Bodhisattva. These terms are sometimes used in versions of the Great Invocation for people of specific faiths.

Triangles is a world service activity in which people link in thought in groups of three to create a planetary network of Triangles of light and goodwill. Using a world prayer, the Great Invocation, they invoke light and love as a service to humanity. Further information is available on request from Triangles.

The Triangles Bulletin is for people of goodwill and is published four times a year in Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Triangles is an activity of the Lucis Trust, a non-profit educational charity which exists to promote right human relations.

For further information and literature write to:

December 2023

Confidence – The Outer Expression of Inner Faith

Aplomb, assurance, boldness, courage, firmness, nerve, self-possession, self-reliance – these are some of the many synonyms for confidence – a positive and admirable quality. It is seen in experts of all descriptions.  At its best, it is a sunny quality that shines out including others in a cheerful, lighted assurance that all is, and will be, well. Like a powerful magnet, confidence draws all into its wake.

Its source can arise from a wealth of natural talent, good fortune or accumulated experience and skill. Founded on these favourable outer conditions, however, such confidence can be susceptible to the unending changes of modern lives and then what was a constant and secure presence can become a fleeting illusion, a disturbing impairment and insecurity. It is also true that, for some of us, confidence may always have been, and still remains, a relatively rare experience while insecurity is not. In competitive environments, the losers far outnumber the winners, and unfavourable circumstances, whether mild or severe, also contribute to a lack of assurance, however confident one may appear to others.

It may not be so obvious, but confidence does not need to depend on these exterior conditions. There are spiritual foundations for a much more dependable confidence. It requires a shift in the way we look at this and the perspective that can be given by another synonym for confidence. That word is faith. In common usage, it seems that faith is a far less popular word than it once was, and it does not seem to have the shimmering appeal of confidence. One dictionary definition says that faith is belief (without proof). Such definitions suggest a worldview dependent on the physical senses and an underlying implication that spirit cannot give rise to manifestation, or that belief is merely baseless doctrine or imprudent trust.

In contrast to this, Triangles service considers spiritual consciousness to be the medium for initiating material consequences. This is the foundation for a network of lighted goodwill and spiritual teachings, that resonates with the premise of this Biblical passage, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." [Hebrews 11:1-6 King James Version]  The world of the spirit shines through this. Every Triangles worker builds with this confidence that thought is creative and via this lighted thought goodwill is distributed. In this work, we have every confidence. With connected points of light, a network is built for creating right human relationships – at its centre, an alignment of hearts forming a path for the expected avatar, the Coming One.

***

"In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." Have you ever noticed the occult significance of these words? Quietness refers to the necessary condition of the astral or emotional body, and confidence, which is the outward expression of an inward faith, describes that of the mind. … Quietness leads to a right reflection in the quiet pool of the emotional life and this in the light of the soul. Confidence is the expression of the personality faith in the fact of the soul and of the Plan. ‘Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’ These desired realities, when reflected in the emotional nature, evoke aspiration and develop faith. Discipleship in the New Age, Vol. I, A.A. Bailey, p. 339

The Sacred Fire of the Heart

Fire is the most perfect symbol of life itself. On higher planes, it is the fiery breath which gives perpetual motion to the universe. It is the electric fire which thrills throughout all manifest creation becoming latent energy in matter and intellect (knowledge) on mental levels. Fire is the life and the lives which construct every visible thing in the universe from the planet itself, to humankind which makes itself and shapes the environment, to the smallest units of conscious expression.

Fire permeates every plane and every divine process; it is both the origin and the death of every material thing. Fire is the impelling force of evolution and the outstanding quality of Deity. It is thus a great perfecting agent—it purifies, consumes, constructs, vivifies, and absorbs. This universal fiery impulse is rooted in the One Heart, magnetic and radiatory, utterly connected and indivisible from the innumerable individual sparks which comprise it.

The purity of this great heart can be manifested only through the agency of fire. While love is, in one sense, the greatest law manifesting in this system, by its nature, it is also a living fire, inseparable from the many creative lives and agencies through which it circulates. The man or woman, when inspired by the fire of love, finds identification with all that lives and breathes. This occurs through union with the soul, whose very nature is characterized by spontaneous love, group consciousness and service.

It is this soul alignment and fiery inspiration which evokes the call of service to which the Triangles worker responds. In so doing, the server aligns his or her will with a great planetary effort to circulate the sacred fire of the One Heart unimpeded throughout the earth and all its kingdoms. This circulation of love and life is the basis of right relationships—human and planetary. Its goal is an enlightened civilization working, building toward the Earth becoming a great station of supernal light within the cosmic scheme.

In this circulation of sacred fire, the Triangles network is a vital part carrying these spiritual energies as enlightened goodwill through the ethers for all humanity throughout the planet. The real living fire of the network is the group of Triangle members themselves. As Triangle workers appropriate the essence of this inner fire and submit themselves to its purificatory effects, the true nature of the soul is sensed more deeply and the spiritual energies can be distributed more freely. The united fires of head and heart underlying the network destroy the barriers to the free flow of love and illuminate the way ahead for humanity.

Triangles Webinar Broadcast

on the 2^nd Monday of each month

www.lucistrust.org/triangles/webinar 

Altitude in Attitude

From a psychological perspective attitude refers to a state of mind that determines an individual’s view of both the inner and outer life, conditioned by thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and values. Psychology today is largely the study of the mind and behaviour, but it once concerned the study of the soul. Indeed, the word psyche has been described as the animating spirit or soul which is in harmony with the attitude of mind of all who are oriented towards the soul high on the mental plane, as is the aim in Triangles service.

The mind can either be “the slayer of the real” or in tune with the real – a duality that depends on whether the orientation of the mind is focused on a higher plane or becomes immersed in the vales of glamour, illusion or maya.  When reaching the higher levels of the mental plane the thinker develops an …intuitive recognition of reality, which resolves the differentiated parts into a unit, producing illumination. This illumination reveals the essential oneness which exists on the inner side of life and negates the outer appearance of separativeness.1 The significance of this reality for the future of humanity cannot be overstated.

Attitudes condition individuals, communities and the entire world. Described as hindrances in the Ageless Wisdom teachings, wrong attitudes can be overcome through the cultivation of right thought founded on timeless spiritual values and principles, and this has the power to uplift human consciousness leading to right relationships.  Attitudes are not fixed provided the mind is open to new ideas, and in this regard, meditation founded on the Raja Yoga, “the Kingly Science of the Mind”, helps individual attitudes to rise above swirling emotions and lowly thoughts of anger, hatred, vengeance, and material desires. Thinking at this higher altitude is like looking through a wide-angle lens that reveals a more inclusive worldview. Increasingly, imaginative thinkers are understanding that all human communities and the whole of the natural world, with all its kingdoms, are interdependent parts of our beautiful planet. To recognise this interconnected whole and put this understanding to practical effect in daily life is Humanity’s responsibility and purpose. Attachment to the material life may still be strong yet the subjective stirrings of the soul are emerging, and people everywhere are seeking meaning beyond the world of appearances. 

Swinging back and forth between the real and the unreal is part of our dual life, but when minds are oriented towards “…the great theme of Light that underlies our entire planetary purpose”2 the eternal values of the soul can be brought to life. For Triangles co-workers the attitude of constructive spiritual thought is full of lighted goodwill and purposefully employed daily on a worldwide scale for the benefit of all.

  1 Esoteric Psychology, Vol. II, A. A. Bailey, p. 417
  2 The Rays and the Initiations, A. A. Bailey, p. 142

2023 Cycles of Conferences 30 November - 12 December

Cycles of Conferences
30 November - 12 December 2023

Download the Visualisation for this Conference

"As we stand at the precipice of history, considering the gravity of the challenges we collectively face, we remain mindful of the legacy we will leave for generations to come. We ardently implore all decision makers assembled at COP28 to seize this decisive moment and to act with urgency, weaving a tapestry of shared action and profound responsibility. The urgency of the hour demands that we act swiftly, collaboratively, and resolutely to heal our wounded world and preserve the splendor of our common home. In the process, we need to bring back hope for future generations. Together, we extend our open arms to all people, inviting them to embark on this journey towards a future of resilience, harmony, and flourishing for all life on Earth." 

Abu Dhabi Interfaith Statement for COP28

Dear Co-worker,

The Cycle of Conferences is placing a focus, beginning today, on the UN Climate Change Conference taking place this year in Dubai. An international environmental treaty, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, was negotiated at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Under the terms of this Treaty nations agreed to "stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system".

Although the Treaty does not set legally binding limits on the greenhouse gas emissions from individual countries, it provides a framework for all 198 parties (governments plus the EU) to negotiate protocols that could set binding limits on greenhouse gases. For this reason, the annual UN Climate Change Conferences have become the key space where multilateral negotiation and discussion of climate change matters takes place. It is hard to over-emphasize the significance of these conferences in the complex world of international diplomacy as humanity struggles to respond to the challenges of living in an interdependent world.

The numbers of government heads of state, ministers and officials attending the annual COP meetings continues to increase as the public demand for action to reduce greenhouse gases increases, especially in the face of the acceleration of extreme floods, droughts, and other climate events. In addition to this, representatives of civil society groups from around the world gather for associated side events designed to influence the negotiations, and the worlds media outlets attend en masse.

This years Conference has added significance because it will mark the conclusion of the First Global Stocktake following the Paris Agreement in 2018. Stocktakes, which take place every 5 years, involve a two-year process of assessing data to determine “the world’s collective progress towards achieving its climate goals.”

The Mental and Spiritual Atmosphere of the Conference

In 1945 Alice Bailey published a message in which the Tibetan spoke of the many world conferences that would come after the War as “functioning groups”, responding to the “stimulating and energising” impact of divine energies carrying the Will of God. The intensity of these energies would, he suggested, be reflected in a “clash of minds”, and we should “bear this in mind” as we “study and read reports” of the conferences.

In the Cycles work we focus our attention on the mental atmosphere created by those conference attendees who are motivated by goodwill and who share an “unselfish intention and a broad point of view”. The seeds of living will energy that are projected into the thoughtform under construction at the conference will then help to strengthen “and endow with potency” the path towards a world of right relations.

The COP28 gathering in Dubai is an opportunity for the governments and people of the world to freely choose to act in ways that reflect a deepening and maturing of humanity’s will to take care of the earth and become a true steward. The keynote for reflection reminds us of the shared destiny of our species to become an intelligent loving intermediary between the higher states of planetary consciousness and the sub-human kingdoms.

Our work with the UN Climate Conference begins today and ends on December 12th. As a contribution to this work, in addition to the visualization, it will be helpful for participants to explore the thinking, discussion and debate concerning the Conference, perhaps using some of the resources listed here.

Visualisation   |   COP28   |   UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

Related Sites and Articles:
World Goodwill
Cycle of Conferences
The Elders: Climate Action 2023
Towards Climate Balance: World Goodwill Newsletter 2022 #2
Electric Climate : World Goodwill Newsletter 2009 #4 – The Heavens
What is COP28 and Why is it Important?

World Goodwill Seminar 2023 London

World Goodwill Seminar 2023 New York

World Goodwill Seminar 2023 (November 11, 2023)

 

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ABOUT

The sense of responsibility is one of the first indications that the soul of the individual is awakened. The soul of humanity is also at this time awakening en masse…  

Emergent technologies are having a powerful impact on our modern way of life. They are rapidly transforming practically every facet of human endeavor, augmenting humanity’s capacity equally to create, build, and bridge, as to destroy and cause harm. Thus the intensity of human crisis felt in our modern times. Underlying these crises is a growing sense of the vital need for clear moral direction.

During three online events we will explore moral issues raised by these new technologies and consider how the growing debate of these issues is testing and awakening humanity’s spiritual discrimination. At the same time, we will discuss some of the ways in which technology and science are being used to facilitate integration among humanity and to further the path towards right relations between humanity and other kingdoms of nature. In the wise development of communication networks, in educational technologies, medical interventions, the production of new materials, bio-engineering and so many more areas, science and technology are making positive contributions towards an emerging world culture driven by principles of unity, sharing and cooperation.

The dawning ‘Age of Transformation’ must be as much a spiritual transformation as a material one, directed by the soul, the voice of the conscience, and awakening the full moral force of human consciousness.

Join us for 3 events, broadcast from three planetary centres, in a day of online discussions, reflections and meditations.

 

World Goodwill Seminar 2023 Geneva

Human Responsibility in an Age of Transformation: Forging a moral direction in Science and Technology

World Goodwill Seminar (Geneva Schedule)
 11 November, 2023 
Geneva - London - New York

“...when perfected forms and organised vehicles and dynamic power are related and unified, then we shall have a full expression, at the point of deepest and densest concretion, of the mind of God in form, with a radiation which will be dynamically effective.” Alice A. Bailey Esoteric Psychology, Vol I, p.226

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GENEVA
10 am - 1.00 pm CEST

Online ZOOM event.
Translation into French, Spanish, Italian, German, Dutch, Russian and English

Transcripts of the talks for download

Schedule & Programme
Geneva

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10:00 am CEST

Introduction and opening talk
World Goodwill Geneva  

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10:25  am CEST

The Human Being as a Machine - the Machine a Human Being?
Elissawa Carpazio

Elissawa Carpazio is trained in IT for business applications. She has been working as head of accounting, controlling & administration in several international companies. She studied in parallel psychotherapy, bereavement and end-of-life care and works as a volunteer in a hospice..

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10:50 am CEST

Science and Technology: Putting Human Beings back at the Centre  
Emmanuel Ransford

Emmanuel Ransford is an epistemologist, independent researcher specialising in quantum physics, and lecturer. After studying science and graduating as an engineer and statistician, Emmanuel turned to quantum physics. He was fascinated by the foundational questions it raised. He has written several books in French and English.
https://galileocommission.org/category/authors/emmanuel-ransford

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11:25 am CEST

5 Minute Break

 

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11:30  am CEST

Science, technology and consciousness
Frédérique and Patrice Brasseur

Frédérique and Patrice Brasseur inspired by the works of Alice Bailey, Agni Yoga and their own inner research, offer teachings in the form of texts, conferences and specific training courses. Keen to reveal the essence behind existence, the subtle behind everything that is manifest, their work supports those who wish to see beyond the visible, to listen to what is still inaudible, to identify and understand the energies that drive us, to embrace them and move in the direction of their flow to promote the advent of the common good.
www.editionssolidair.com | www.psychosophie.com

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12:00 pm CEST

Visualisation

 

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12:05 pm CEST

Group Discussions in Breakout Rooms

 

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 12:50 pm CEST

Group Meditation
Meditation to strengthen the hands of all world servers, and invoke energies of lighted goodwill and cooperation into world affairs.

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1.00 pm CEST

Closing

Reflections on: Human Responsibility in an Age of Transformation: Forging a Moral Direction in Science and Technology

2024 Moon Charts and Meeting Schedules

2024 Moon Chart  Europe/Australia Click to view/download document in PDF

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2024 Moon Chart GMT/Geneva Click to view/download document in PDF

 

2024 Meetings London Click to view/download document in PDF

2024 Meetings New York Click to view/download document in PDF

2024 Meetings  Geneva Click to view/download document in PDF

 

 

Meditation: Strengthening the Hands of the New Group of World Servers

MEDITATION: STRENGTHENING THE HANDS OF THE NEW GROUP OF WORLD SERVERS

I. GROUP FUSION:

I am one with my group brothers and all that I have is theirs.
May the love which is in my soul pour forth to them.
May the strength which is in me lift and aid them.
May the thoughts which my soul creates reach and encourage them.

II. ALIGNMENT:

We recognise our place, as a group, within the heart centre of the new group of world servers. Mentally extend a line of lighted energy towards the spiritual Hierarchy, the planetary heart centre; to the Christ, the "heart of love" within the Hierarchy; towards Shamballa, "where the Will of God is known".

III. HIGHER INTERLUDE:

Hold the mind focussed for a few moments on the planetary role of the new group of world servers mediating between Hierarchy and humanity, responding to hierarchical impression and meditating the Plan into existence.

IV. MEDITATION:

Reflect on the seed thought:
Through the impression and expression of certain great ideas, humanity 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.

V. PRECIPITATION:

Visualise the precipitation of the will-to-good, essential love, throughout the planet, from Shamballa, through the planetary heart, the Hierarchy, through the Christ, the new group of world servers, through all men and women of goodwill everywhere in the world, and finally through the hearts and minds of the whole human family.

VI. LOWER INTERLUDE:

Consider the many ways in which the "power of the one Life" and the "love of the one Soul" are working out in the world through members of the new group of world servers, so building the "thoughtform of solution" to world problems.

VII. DISTRIBUTION:

As the Great Invocation is sounded, visualise the irradiation of human consciousness with light and love and power:

From the point of Light within the mind of God
Let Light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.

From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.

From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men-
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.

From the centre which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.

Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.

OM OM OM

Science is our meditation on the nature of the universe

The Electrification of the Planet and the Coming of the New Age: Thoughts from Alice A. Bailey

Technology and the Christ Force

Click for booklet in PDF | Click for links to Related items

Technology and the Christ Force

 

Dear co-worker,

In 1800, the experiments of William Hershel revealed the existence of light beyond the visible spectrum. Because the wavelength of this light was slightly longer than that of the colour red, it became known as infrared – infra meaning “below” and “beyond”. The following year, Johann Ritter discovered light beyond the other end of the visible spectrum with a shorter wavelength than violet. He christened this light ultraviolet – ultra also meaning “beyond”. As the wavelength of light gets shorter at this end of the spectrum, it vibrates at a higher frequency carrying more energy; so it is fitting that over time, the term ultra has taken on the meaning of “extreme”, conveying the sense of energetic intensity associated with ultraviolet light.

In esoteric science and philosophy, the place of violet in the spectrum is of prime importance in connection with great cycles, the energy it carries marking the ending of one cycle and the beginning of another. We are living in such a time now, for the Violet Ray – the seventh Ray of Ceremonial Order – is cycling into power and inaugurating a new era. Such a cycle is said to be even more dramatic if it occurs when the Sun is entering Aquarius and the Earth is experiencing “moments of planetary crisis”, as is the case now; for then the right conditions exist for the manifestation of “light supernal”.

This manifestation of light supernal results from the blending of all of the seven rays of life through the “violet Ray of Ceremonial Law or Order”. This is “a synthetic ray when manifested in the…[lower] worlds”, its objective being “to bring about illumination and the establishment of order upon the Earth.” The Alice Bailey writings go on to say that the first step taken to maximise the effect of this precipitating light was the giving out of the Great Invocation; and the second step will be the reappearance of the Christ:

"Who will act as the lens through which the light can be focussed and adapted to human need”.¹

All of this helps to explain why today’s world is so tumultuous – it is a time of transition in which a great new cycle of energy is clashing with an old one. We can also begin to appreciate the significance of ultraviolet light, both symbolically and practically in connection with the reappearance of the Christ. The energy of the seventh ray that this light carries has already been instrumental in the inauguration of the information age with its useful applications in electronic communications and information processing as well as in many areas of science and medicine. Its potential as a new worldwide energy source has also been explored by two highly qualified teams reporting that their experimental research released tremendous amounts of high energy ultraviolet light that could be converted into electricity. As a result, the engineering companies concerned – Aureon Energy and Brilliant Light Power – have acquired significant financial backing and anticipate entering the world market around 2025.²

While many previous claims of new energy sources have failed to produce results, perhaps the time for successful demonstration is now approaching as the influence of the seventh ray of Ceremonial Magic or Organisation continues to intensify? The violet devas ³ are naturally responsive to the influence of the seventh ray to ‘make manifest’ and they may provide the vitality required to externalise this potential on the physical plane. Moreover, we are told that, when the Christ comes, “the group of violet angels or devas who work on the four etheric levels will be especially active”. While this statement may refer to a select group of deva lives, as all of the violet devas of the etheric planes are on the evolutionary path, an overall intensification of their activity through the worldwide implementation of a new ultraviolet energy source could be a portent of tremendous significance in relation to the reappearance.

Expanding on this hopeful vision, the groups of violet angels or devas who are “pledged to the service of the Christ”, have the work of contacting and teaching humanity along certain lines. This includes the teaching of “superhuman physics”; demonstrating the existence of a “superconscious world” and how to expand consciousness to include it; the stimulation of etheric vision so that the infrared and ultraviolet gamut of colours become a natural part of human vision; and the efficiency of violet light in curing sicknesses which originate in the etheric body, including how to:

“nourish the body and to draw from the surrounding ethers the requisite food”.⁴

As we ponder these violet devas in relation to the reappearance of the Christ, a question naturally arises about the new technologies of this era and if they have a specific role to play in the Christ’s work and the implementation of the Divine Plan? There are certainly huge moral issues that surround new, emerging technologies that have the power to manipulate the forms of the fauna, flora and even the microbial life of the planet. And while bioethicists, social scientists, policy makers and risk experts are deliberating the many new issues that are arising from biotechnology, the overall path of development, the direction it should take, and in whose interest it should be taken, are not discussed as frequently and openly as needed.

But to focus on a more positive vision, the manipulation of the mineral kingdom is very much part of humanity’s service to the Plan, which is to develop its sensitivity to the vital force that makes plants grow; in other words, it is to prepare the life inherent in minerals for their future transition into the vegetable kingdom. While the incorporation of electric circuitry into metals may be seen as part of this awakening process, a more advanced stage lies in the direct application of etheric force to machines through the human aura. This possibility was first demonstrated by the inventor John Worrell Keely in 1872; and as Helena Blavatsky commented at the time:

“Keely’s difficulty has hitherto been to produce a machine which would develop and regulate the ‘force’ without the intervention of any ‘will power’ or personal influence, whether conscious or unconscious of the operator. In this he has failed, so far as others were concerned, for no one but himself could operate on his ‘machines’.”⁵

In a book entitled, Scientific Religion, (1887) Laurence Oliphant, author and former member of the British Parliament, related Keely’s “new force” to a “spiritual quickening” taking place in humanity along with certain “organic changes in man now in progress” which signified the beginning of a new moral future:

“A new moral future is dawning upon the human race – one, certainly, of which it stands much in need.’ In no way could this new moral future be so widely, so universally, commenced as by the utilizing of dynaspheric [etheric] force to beneficial purposes in life…”

Oliphant goes on to describe a new divine power descending on earth that we might equate with Alice Bailey’s writings on the “energising Will-to-Good” from Shamballa:

“…a spiritual wave is at present rolling in upon the world of a character unprecedented in its past history… Before very long it will break; and the object of this book is to prepare men’s minds for a crisis in the history of the planet which cannot, I think, be very long deferred… It will… bind together… those who fight for the Powers of Light against those who fight for the Powers of Darkness…” (Introduction, pp.1–8)

The tidal wave of the Shamballa force did indeed break, resulting in two world wars. And two more direct impacts from Shamballa were predicted for 1975 and 2000, which surely account for much of the good as well as the evil that is still rising to the surface of human consciousness. However, behind the dark clouds that continue to obscure humanity’s vision of “the beautiful, the good and the true”, the new morality is shining strong. The aura of the new group of world servers is able to bear the tension of the will-to-good, while millions of individuals are responsive to the inherent energy of goodwill. But how might this all work out in connection with future technology? Perhaps more directly than we might at first think, according to Rudolf Steiner:

“Moral development will enable humanity to generate energies that will be very different from those that are now to be found at the physical level. Keely set his engine in motion with vibrations created in his own organism. Such vibrations depend on a person’s moral nature. This is the first hint of a dawn for a technology of the future. We will have engines in the future that are only set going by energies coming from people who have moral qualities. Immoral people will not be able to set them going. Purely mechanical mechanism must be transformed into moral mechanism.”⁶

The idea of “moral mechanism” gives us much to ponder, and in doing so, the work of Dale Pond deserves some consideration. In the late 1990’s Pond put an engineering team together to build a dynaspheric machine based on Keely’s original model. When it was first displayed at a new energy conference in Denver, Pond recounts how, to his surprise, the machine would only come to life when those gathered around it were of a positive mental disposition – a joyful state – when those of a more concrete-minded, skeptical temperament came close, the energy field collapsed, and the machine stopped working. Furthermore, sensitive people – nearly always women – experienced a quality emanating from the machine that they could only describe as Love. This has led Pond to devote the rest of his life to researching this phenomenon in terms of “sympathetic vibratory physics”⁷

We can usefully apply this physics of sympathetic vibration to an important esoteric triangle highlighted in Alice Bailey’s writings. This is comprised of the energetic Will-to-Good of Shamballa, humanity and the mineral kingdom. These three have a very close rapport with each other from the angle of the Plan. Humanity’s role is to establish a sympathetic vibration between Shamballa and the mineral kingdom, and it requires machines in order to do this. When the “principle in man which can control and guide etheric vibratory force” is awakened and used to control the machines of the future, so will forms be created in the mineral kingdom in line with the following prophecy:

“when perfected forms and organised vehicles and dynamic power are related and unified, then we shall have a full expression, at the point of deepest and densest concretion, of the mind of God in form, with a radiation which will be dynamically effective.” ⁸

In the companionship of the One Work,
Headquarters Group Lucis Trust

1. A.A. Bailey, Discipleship in the New Age Vol II, p.426
2. Aureon Energy website, https://aureon.ca/ | Brilliant Light Power website, https://brilliantlightpower.com/
3. Deva: from the root div “to shine”. A Deva is a celestial being – whether good, bad, or indifferent. Devas inhabit “the three worlds”, which are the three planes above us. There are 33 groups or 330 million of them. H.P. Blavatsky, The Theosophical Glossary.
4. A.A. Bailey, The Externalisation of the Hierarchy, pp.508–9
5. H.P. Blavatsky, Secret Doctrine, Vol 1, p.562, Kindle edition
6. Hints of Future Etheric Force Technology, Anthroposophy.eu
7. Dale Pond, The Keely Legacy, Sympathetic Vibratory Physics, Extraordinary Technology Conference 2004, YouTube
8. A.A. Bailey, Esoteric Psychology, Vol I, p.226

 

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October-December 2023

The Great Invocation - September 2023

*Many religions believe in a World Teacher, a “Coming One”, knowing him under such names as the Lord Maitreya, the Imam Mahdi, the Kalki Avatar and the Bodhisattva. These terms are sometimes used in versions of the Great Invocation for people of specific faiths.

Triangles is a world service activity in which people link in thought in groups of three to create a planetary network of Triangles of light and goodwill. Using a world prayer, the Great Invocation, they invoke light and love as a service to humanity. Further information is available on request from Triangles.

The Triangles Bulletin is for people of goodwill and is published four times a year in Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Triangles is an activity of the Lucis Trust, a non-profit educational charity which exists to promote right human relations.

For further information and literature write to:

www.lucistrust.org/triangles                                                               

Expanding the Circle of Love

A clear perception of identity is vital for groups and nations as well as for individuals, and although it is most often considered in terms of self-actualisation or self-development, the phrase 'ever-deepening identity'1 more acutely indicates its spiritual dimension. One asks the eternal question of ‘Who am I? and the initial response may seem to be no more than a pin point of light but as our understanding deepens, so too does our ability to relate to other individuals and groups. In contrast to this, however, identities of a tribal nature between nations or between those of a different ethnicity, faith or ideology seem to be on the ascendant. The sense of belonging that is part of this group awareness operates as waves of thought, desire and emotions that have the effect of dividing and separating ‘our’ group from all ‘other’ groups

Yet, as with everything in life, there is also another higher aspect of group awareness that is abundantly present in today’s world. This is marked by a sense of identity and belonging with all who recognize and are touched by the Oneness of Life in all its rich diversity. Triangles work grows out of this sense of group awareness, identity and belonging. It affirms that at a time when forces of separation are playing a powerful role in human affairs, transforming, redeeming and uplifting forces need to be developed and employed with skill and potency. Participants come together around their shared love for the whole of planetary Life with all its subtle and un-subtle dimensions and the wish to serve and be useful to that Life.

In this way Triangles exemplifies the higher sense of group awareness characterized by the words of the Christ recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, that where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.2 It is this universal spirit that stands at the centre of a heightened group awareness – not only greater than the sum of the parts but creating a bridge into the transcendent and the sacred spiritual dimensions. Group awareness then becomes group radiation, and when this occurs groups are able to serve as carriers of Light and Love emanating from those realms where the Ancestors, Masters and Rishis are to be found

This group awareness holds within itself an essentially selfless quality: it retains its identity as one group with shared aims and characteristics but has a greater, overall identity with the regenerative qualities of life, and it includes all who share in the subjective service to humanity and its destined journey towards increasingly right and good relations. This is an ever-deepening identity – the more the group consciously grows into this identity, and the more those in the group attend to this growth, the greater is the expansion of group identity

1. Margaret J Wheatley – consultant, author and public speaker
2. The Bible, Matthew XVIII.20.

An Affirmation of Love
In the centre of all Love I stand.
From that centre I, the soul,will outward move.
From that centre I, the one who serves will work.
May the love of the divine Self be shed abroad
In my heart, through my group, and throughout the world.

From the Unreal to the Real

It seems that humanity has reached a maximum point of identification with its vehicles of expression and many lives are focused on the things that surround them. For a great many, reality is what is perceived through the senses, that which can be seen, measured and touched. In this state of consciousness, we first notice and then react to these experiences that give us pleasure or displeasure. These, in their turn, generate forms of attachment through their attraction or repulsion; the Buddha taught that both these cravings and aversions are obstacles to achieving freedom from suffering. Due to such insatiable pursuits of individualistic pleasure and the forgetfulness of the common good, lives based on material satisfactions have led to the acute crises experienced today.

In this materialistic civilization, many are driven by a deep emptiness and feel that life is meaninglessness. There is immense suffering in this vacuum-like state, but in contrast to this negativity, a very positive change may arise. For it is here that the soul can make itself felt and thus begins a path of reflection which intensifies the search for the world of meaning. As a result, external events are no longer an exclusive focus of consciousness and that which lies behind these sensory experiences is deliberately sought. This leads us to find a greater depth and spiritual value in experiences, to gain greater knowledge and to achieve a greater focus in the world of meaning. It also allows entrance to the soul’s love-wisdom, linking the material and the spiritual realms. This powerfully relates the individual to increasingly elevated aspects of spiritual life. Perhaps it is for this reason we have been told that meaning is the "antechamber of liberation" – by its discovery, we recognize the unity of life and realise that the path we now travel leads us from the individual to the universal.

One of the stated goals of spiritual teachings is “to make the world of phenomena recede into the background of consciousness whilst the world of meaning becomes more vital and real.”1 This search impels us to question ourselves about the purpose of all our experiences and to query the meaning behind the events surrounding us. This practice leads to the recognition of the significant influences that condition our environment and to the perception of them, not as facts and circumstances, but as the manifestations of subtle energies.

Learning to penetrate external events to discover their meanings sheds light on a hidden world in order to assist in the redemptive process. The physical world is a symbol of what happens in the internal worlds, which we must observe as precisely as possible. Studying the world of meaning eventually opens the portal that leads to Life as energy itself. The group service of Triangles contributes to the redemptive process with the Light and Goodwill that it evokes and assists those who seek the world of meaning and work within it.

1.Discipleship in the New Age, Vol. II, p. 141

The Shoreless Sea of the Indivisible All

“Life is drawn from below, and from above the source renews itself, the sea is always full and spreads its waters everywhere.” Thus the deity is compared to a shoreless sea, to water which is “the fountain of life”.*

In the most mundane sense, we refer to space as the empty container of physical relationship. Yet, it is neither empty nor solely physical; it is a shoreless sea encompassing every plane and including the life and lives which dwell thereon. Space is therefore an entity, the Life which pours through the diversity of creation. Despite this diversity, it remains one and indivisible – a paradox to the purely concrete mind. This Life is independent of its creation yet the means whereby it is sustained – immanent in all forms yet transcendent in nature. Space thus is First or Causeless Cause, that which gives rise to spirit and the whole world of manifestation. It is a great symbol of absolute reality. It is also the absolute container of all that is whether manifested or unmanifested. In the purely abstract sense, it is the Great Breath, the perpetual and ceaseless motion of the universe, eternity itself – formless, immutable, eternal, the one invisible and unknowable deity.

These primordial waters of space, the Great Deep, are the archetypal Mother – water being a common symbol of nourishment and the source of life. These waters of abstract space in the highest sense are referred to as Akâsa, a primordial substance also called the Celestial Virgin-Mother of the visible universe. It is the diversification of this matter which produces every dimension on every plane.

In manifestation, this becomes the etheric web thrilling throughout every minute atom of the “shoreless sea” of space, connecting every manifested form with every other. The ether is a manifested web of life, and it affirms the fact of the one Life expressed in inconceivable diversity. This web permeates and connects every plane and therefore is key to the unimpeded relationship and wisdom which the Plan seeks to manifest. The Triangles network works within the great fabric of this web of life spanning the material, the psychological, and the spiritual. To truly work within the fabric of space, Triangles workers take their stand within this shoreless sea extending their consciousness in every direction: above, below, within, and without. But it is the group nature of the effort which truly produces that “movement upon the face of the waters” whereby Heaven manifests on Earth and Earth is raised up into Heaven.

Space, as a great symbol and ever-present fact, is our best means of comprehending the One Life, its origin, purpose, and more importantly how we, as Triangles workers, can cooperate with it.

*Zohar iii., 290 as quoted in The Secret Doctrine, Vol. I, 356

September 2023

World Goodwill Newsletter 2023 #2 - Towards a New Spirituality: Building bridges for an integrated world

World Goodwill Newsletter 2023 #2

Towards a New Spirituality: Building bridges for an integrated world

In a world of diversity, we stand at a crossroads, seeking a new spirituality that bridges the gaps and unites us as a global community. We realize that our planet is a single entity, interwoven by shared challenges and a collective destiny. Metaphorical bridges represent our journey toward functional and conscious integration.

We must transcend narrow belief systems, embracing our cultural tapestry. Creating structures for integration requires open spaces of dialogue and collaboration, where ancient wisdom meets modern innovation. These structures foster compassion, tolerance, and respect, erasing divisions of religion, nationality, and ideology. Building bridges for an integrated world demands courage, humility, and a commitment to harmony. We must acknowledge our interconnectedness, nurturing a sense of belonging to a global family. Together, we strive for a sustainable future, woven by the understanding that we are interdependent threads in the fabric of existence.

This Newsletter hopes to engage your creative thought  and inspire right action in a spirit of Goodwill.   §

Download the Newsletter in PDF

Human Rights Law: An Integrated World View

Julia Häusermann is the Founder  and President of the international nonprofit association ‘Rights and Humanity’.

My experience during the Ethiopian famine of the early 1980s, and among people fighting for their very survival in many countries since then, has been that when the chips are down, many people will go out of their way to assist others and share their last crumb with those in need. These displays of natural goodness and sharing indicate, perhaps unconsciously, an innate recognition by so many people of the inherent value of every human life. They also show the presence of a powerful goodwill in millions of people around the world. This goodwill seeks the best for everyone, or at the very least, the minimization of fear and suffering wherever possible. This perception of human value and sensitivity lies at the heart of the best that humanity has produced over the millennia of its existence. It includes all true philosophies and spiritual traditions, and the best that has been manifested in the arts – literature, music, visual arts, and so on.

Over the past two or three centuries, this has developed into a keen understanding of what have now come to be called human rights. The West certainly does not have a monopoly on human rights. There is a long history of proclamations of rights to be found in other cultures and traditions across the world. But for the West, the first well-known formulations were the French Assembly’s 1789 ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man,’ and Thomas Paine’s 1791 book, ‘The Rights of Man.’ Human rights law as we understand it now has its origins in these early attempts at formulation. It was developed and gradually became embedded in the national laws of a number of countries, such as laws abolishing slavery, enfranchising women, and protecting children from exploitation in the workplace. However, after the atrocities of the Nazi regime and other more recent and flagrant abuses and genocides, it is now realized that the protection of human rights cannot be left to the nation-state alone.

To mitigate this problem, the energetic efforts of Eleanor Roosevelt after the Second World War led to the successful completion and acceptance by the global community of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), as a ‘common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations.’ This lifted the protection of human rights out of the national sphere into the growing consensus of the world community – ‘the international enthronement of human rights,’ as Winston Churchill described it. The UDHR, with its 30 articles, presents an understanding of the fundamental universality of human rights. Human rights are not earned; they are innate. They transcend all the limitations of national identity and customs. Every man, woman, and child is entitled to enjoy their human rights simply by virtue of being human. It is this universality of human rights that distinguishes them from other types of rights, such as citizenship rights or contractual rights.

On a dull day when the rain is beating on your windows, it can be inspiring to reread the UDHR. Its vision is of a world of equity and justice premised on the equal worth and dignity of all human beings, regardless of any label attached to them such as gender, race, or religion.

But the UN did not stop with this vision. Over the last 75 years, Member States have developed the international legal protection of human rights and enunciated clear obligations that have been voluntarily accepted to a greater or lesser extent by all states. The worldwide consensus on human rights provides a framework for global action rooted both in law and morality. Today, all United Nations member states have ratified at least one of the nine core international human rights treaties, and 80 percent have ratified four or more, giving concrete expression to the universality of the UDHR and international human rights.

While human rights treaties form a part of international law, they differ from many state treaties in that it is the individual who is the beneficiary of the laws, rather than states. On the contrary, it is states that have the legal obligation to protect the enjoyment of human rights for everyone, everywhere.

Human rights include all those rights necessary for survival and dignified living, such as the rights to life and liberty, and the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being. Human rights also cover those rights and freedoms necessary for creativity and for intellectual and spiritual development. These include the right to education and access to information, freedom of religion, and of speech, expression, and association. They also include all those rights necessary for liberty and physical security, like freedom from slavery and torture. It shouldn’t be necessary to add (but we will) that all these rights must be enjoyed equally by women, men, and children without any form of discrimination. Given these understandings, human rights are gradually becoming the ‘new normal,’ despite much of the negative news that filters through to us on our televisions and computer screens these days.

Human rights law now provides both a global ethic and a moral and legal imperative. Looked at in this way, it is clear that the whole foundation of human rights is an embodiment of spiritual principle, and as such, is one of the important signposts for humanity to recognize and follow as it journeys into the future. It is, therefore, a foundation for right relationships on the international, national, and individual level. It will guide people in their personal relationships, in their sense of responsibility as constructive citizens, and in the growing sense that so many people are now experiencing of being responsible citizens of the global community and the world as a whole.

It is obvious that one cannot legislate for people to be good or kind! Goodwill and right relationships have to be the spontaneous expression of the awakening heart and the enlightened mind. Nevertheless, enacting international treaties about human rights and creating legal structures on a national and international level, by their very existence, help to enforce them. Not only that, but human rights law provides a framework for NGOs and individuals to play their part in protecting human rights. This work mostly involves monitoring and protesting violations of these rights. In addition, the real threat of the condemnation of transgressor states by the international community presents a reality check for those who determine to willfully follow a path that ignores the rights of others.

In my own work over three decades, I have used this framework to successfully influence global and national policy and practice by advising UN agencies and governments to adopt a human rights approach to issues such as development and poverty elimination, health services, and women’s empowerment. Human Rights Law really presents an integrated worldview for the betterment of the human condition. It will help not only to evoke into expression the latent goodwill that lies at the heart of every person, but also to reinforce the idea that this practical goodwill should also be present at the heart of the principles and policies that motivate all government policies and administrations. Roll on the day!  §
 

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Transforming Food Systems

The thought, energy, and resources (capital, labor, creativity, and so on) directed towards resolving the major problems facing our interdependent world continue to be largely motivated by competition between separate entities primarily devoted to their own interests (corporations and nation-states among others). However, at the same time, there is an abundance of energy targeted towards building more cooperative and just relations. The focus and creativity of many of these initiatives are some of the most heartening aspects of these times.

Most initiatives aiming to solve world problems focus on material solutions. Considering the material focus of the centuries-long era we are transitioning out of, this is not surprising. There is less recognition of the need to transform the spirit and quality of relationships, aspirations, and perspectives that are driving the problems.[1] 

The understanding that the evolutionary crisis we are confronting as a species is essentially a spiritual crisis has been steadily growing in recent decades. As Otto Scharma from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology notes, ‘You cannot change the system unless you change the mindset or the consciousness of the people who are enacting that system. The real question is, how do you do that?’ [2]

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, agreed to by all nations, are sometimes thought of as erring in their focus on quantifiable material targets – missing the deeper changes needed in consciousness and drawing attention away from the critical question, ‘How do you change established mindsets?’

The SDGs essentially bridge from the materially focused spirit of the present towards something new. Without some grounding in the mindset of the past governments, major sectors of business and industry, professional bodies, and local authorities (the power centers of modern societies) would never have considered them as anything other than aspirational and visionary, and would certainly not have endorsed and engaged with the goals to the extent that they currently do.

The new, and some would say ‘spiritual’ or (as the UN puts it, ‘transformational’) element in the Goals is that they are interdependent. In other words, it is a whole-systems approach to human development and addressing the problems of humanity, centered on understandings of the rights and freedoms of all human beings, alongside a recognition that the Goals apply to both the local and global levels. They equally seek to address challenges in poor and wealthy areas. This integrated approach is leading nations and peoples to the fundamental realization that the Earth is One and Humanity is One – and the problems we face require us to think and plan from that perspective.

It is also worth noting that there are goals and targets aimed at a transformation of values, such as Goal 12 to ‘Ensure Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns.’ This requires widespread public changes in understanding what is valuable and desirable. It has led, for example, to the German Federal Government’s National Programme for Sustainable Consumption, aiming to ensure that consumers have a wide choice of environmentally friendly and socially viable products and services.[3]

Agriculture, food production, and distribution are being transformed by local and global problems of hunger, health, biodiversity loss, environmental pollution, and the growing divide between extreme wealth and extreme poverty. They are also being transformed by a whole-systems vision. While changes are happening at a far slower pace than many would like, these are areas where a new spirituality of wholeness and integration is beginning to have a significant impact.

From an Ageless Wisdom perspective, the interdependent crises of hunger, poor nutrition, and environmental devastation reflect a need to transform the quality of relationships within the human family and between the various kingdoms of nature. But as Scharma asks – how do we do this, and do it at scale, when it really requires an ability to think and participate in life from the perspective of the soul or Buddha nature? Through the lens of eight ‘Acupuncture Points for Social Transformation’ (including Soil, Food & Climate Justice; Consumption and Planetary Wellbeing; and Governance and Democracy), the Presencing Institute operates a wide range of laboratories with participants from around the world experimenting with techniques to transform ‘underlying operating systems from ego-system to eco-system awareness.’ [4]

Pioneering farmers, nutritionists, and thinkers from a wide variety of indigenous, spiritual, and ethical backgrounds have, for decades, been evolving approaches to agriculture focusing on the quality of food produced and on care for and love of the natural world. Their discoveries are now beginning to have an impact on national and global plans for a more sustainable and regenerative approach to agriculture. One of the most influential leaders in this is the Rudolf-Steiner-inspired Biodynamic Agriculture movement, highlighting that agri-culture ‘is not only about cultivating farming land, processing and trading good food, but also about the development of humans and the earth.’ The Biodynamic Federation Demeter International, headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany, represents 36 national organizations with over 7,000 farmers in 65 countries.[5] As Harvard Divinity School scholar Dan McKanan points out, the whole environmental movement has been ‘enriched by anthroposophy’ to the extent that biodynamic farming is now a major player in the organic movement.[6]

Based in the Egyptian desert, SEKEM is inspired by anthroposophical thinking. Working with an overall vision of establishing an ‘Economy of Love,’ it includes a network of biodynamic farms, trading companies producing organic and biodynamic products, a Waldorf school, and a community school for children from disadvantaged groups, as well as the Heliopolis University for Sustainable Development. When the founder returned from Austria to his homeland of Egypt in 1975, he was inspired to establish a program for social, cultural, and spiritual renewal, blending Steiner’s ideas with Islam and ancient Egyptian thought – the name Sekem means ‘vitality from the sun.’ [7]

Perhaps the most notable example of an emerging spiritual consciousness impacting approaches to Sustainable Development Goals on food production, nutrition, and poverty eradication is the Conscious Food Systems Alliance – ‘a movement of food, agriculture, and consciousness practitioners’ convened by the UN Development Programme. Membership includes a diversity of groups like Food Sense Wales – aiming to influence how food is produced and consumed in Wales, the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development, Ghana – bringing indigenous perspectives to community development work, and Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies, Sweden – ‘a world-class sustainability center for research, teaching, and impact.’ Alliance members share a goal of ‘supporting people from across food and agriculture systems to cultivate the inner capacities that activate systemic change and regeneration.’ Transforming food systems, the Alliance suggests, requires work ‘not only on policy, research, and project implementation, but also on the inner drivers of individual, collective, and institutional behaviors.’ [8]

From small local groups to major initiatives at a global level, there is today a growing sense of global responsibility and a well-honed will to think and act in terms of the well-being of whole systems.   §

1. BBC Radio 4, Shared Planet (1 October 2013)
2. The Conscious Food Systems Alliance, Transforming Food Systems from Within  
3. BMEL, National Programme for Sustainable Consumption
4. u-school, Acupuncture Points
5. Biodynamic Federation, Demeter
6. D. McKanan, Eco-Alchemy: Anthroposophy and the History and Future of Environmentalism. University of California Press, 2018, pp. xv – xv
7. Sekem
8. The Conscious Food System Alliance

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Integrating Science, Technology, and Nature?

Since the dawn of the industrial age, the onward march of science and technology has brought great gifts to humanity but further undermined the instinctive spiritual relationship that human beings once had with the land, fauna, and flora. As the large-scale burning of fossil fuels began in earnest to power incredible new machines, it sparked the beginning of what can only be called a disintegrative worldview, which is now being directly reflected back at us through the Earth’s polluted and dysfunctional ecosystems.

Even so, it is only a perceived life threat to the whole of humanity – a common enemy in the form of global warming – that has caused sufficient alarm for the nations of the world to start rallying around the new mindset of ‘sustainable development.’ And while we might say that this represents humanity waking up from its disintegrative dream state, it still has to adjust its vision to the dawn of a new day and see things in a different light. For the notion of sustainable development remains connected to the mindset that placed humanity in its dire position in the first place – the concrete, scientific mindset of measurement and control that can, so easily, isolate itself from the balancing, feminine energy of the intuitive mind. We might regard the current scientific approach as a transition period that may help to limit the damage, but as yet, it contains no impelling vision – no narrative worthy of forming a new, integrated worldview that unites masculine science with feminine Nature.

As the poet and political activist Muriel Rukeyser wrote, ‘The Universe is made of stories, not of atoms.’ Humanity thrives on narratives that give it a sense of place and perspective in the scheme of things.  The public speaker and author Charles Eisenstein is a good example of the many scientifically minded storytellers who are building bridges from the dominating mindset of controlling global warming through the reduction of carbon emissions towards a new way of thinking about Nature altogether. Acknowledging that global culture is immersed in a destructive ‘story of separation,’ his work presents a ‘story of interbeing’ drawing on ideas from Eastern philosophy and indigenous peoples. He writes of:

‘An emerging understanding among many environmentalists that we have made a scientific, strategic, rhetorical, and political error by reducing the ecological crisis to climate, and the climate crisis to carbon. Earth is best understood as a living being with a complex physiology, whose health depends on the health of her constituent organs. Her organs are the forests, the wetlands, the grasslands, the estuaries, the reefs, the apex predators, the keystone species, the soil, the insects, and indeed every intact ecosystem and every species on earth. If we continue to degrade them, drain them, cut them, poison them, pave them, and kill them, earth will die a death of a million cuts. She will die of organ failure—regardless of the levels of greenhouse gases.’ He goes on to say: ‘Conservation does not mean to ‘use more slowly’ or to ‘save for later.’ What the word really means is to serve with. To serve together. To serve what? To serve life. It is a rhetorical error to frame environmentalism in any other way than to make it about love of nature, love of life.’ [1] 

This raises the interesting question of how do we serve Nature in an evolutionary sense – what is Her goal, and how can science and technology fit into the picture in a wholly positive way? This question is intriguing, especially in the light of esoteric teachings, as becomes apparent from the following passage from the Alice Bailey writings:

‘…the next twenty five hundred years will bring about so much change and make possible the working of so many so-called ‘miracles’ that even the outer appearance of the world will be profoundly altered; the vegetation and the animal life will be modified and developed, and much that is latent in the forms of both kingdoms will be brought into expression through the freer flow and the more intelligent manipulation of the energies which create and constitute all forms.’ [2]

Since this was written (1930s), humanity’s creative power has surged, and science and technology’s manipulation of the mineral kingdom has moved on to the forms of the fauna, flora, and even the microbial life of the planet. In fact, the wide concept of biotechnology encompasses a range of procedures for modifying living organisms for human purposes. A practice that has its origins in the domestication of animals and the cultivation of plants has progressed step by step through the ages to the fledgling new science of synthetic biology. This is no less than the design (or redesign) of biology itself – the vision being a world-changing, world-saving green technology. However, the legitimacy of treating living nature as just another material for engineering needs to be of greater concern to humanity. While bioethicists, social scientists, policymakers, and risk experts are deliberating the many new issues that are arising from biotechnology, the overall path of development, the direction it should take, and whose interest it should be taken in are not discussed as frequently and openly as they should be.

This concern is being highlighted by the artist and designer Dr. Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, known for artworks that explore the relationship between humans, technology, and nature. Her work is an examination of the human impulse to design a ‘better’ world: ‘Design is the transmission of ideas through things,’ she says, ‘but how do we judge if new ideas are good things when the designs themselves become invisible?’ This comment refers to the new path of bioengineering, which, rather than creating tangible products, designs changes in the way that nature behaves over time. From the perspective of esoteric science, the answer as to whether an idea is a good thing or not lies in the last part of the passage quoted from Alice Bailey’s writings and the question: does it help to bring into expression that which is latent in any particular lifeform and seeking expression?

While it is difficult for humanity to even understand the meaning of this question at its current stage of development, the fact that there are many ethical debates taking place in the life sciences these days is an encouraging sign. Ultimately, it is the purpose behind humanity’s actions that decides whether an action is morally good or not. And this is where the importance of Dr. Ginsberg’s work lies – in using her art and design work to ask ‘disruptive questions’ and stimulate debate on what ‘better’ means in the context of creating a ‘better’ world. ‘The imperative of our times,’ she says, ‘is to ask better questions about the path humanity is on. It is to use human creativity to solve better problems, not to be constantly addressing problems arising from wrong relationships with the planetary environment.’

To give a practical example, her latest installation is called Machine Auguries at the Toledo Museum of Art. It addresses the crisis of dwindling bird populations over the decades due to the effects of noise and light pollution. The installation asks the question, ‘What will there be without birds?’ At the start, a lighting array mimics the colors of a sunrise, and as the hues begin to shift, a robin sings, only to receive a machine-generated response. Eventually, only a machine-generated dawn chorus remains, and the spectator is left, under the bright light of the gallery, to experience being ‘in the absence of nature’ and the innermost questions and feelings that arise from this.

This, and many other of Daisy Ginsberg’s installations, address some of the many problems that are arising from the conflicted relationship we have with nature and technology, and the growing overlap between the real and the unreal. Can humanity grasp the opportunity that this presents to reexamine what it wants and values in life? Can the future see the emergence of an integrated world vision that embraces the perspective of ecologists like Charles Eisenstein, who see the Earth as a living superorganism and use science and technology to serve her by stimulating her further unfoldment?

The answer to this, as with all the many problems of humanity, lies in the growth of goodwill. The ‘Will’ is the most powerful force in the universe, and when human will is correctly aligned with the Divine Will, it is an unstoppable force. And as the force of goodwill is applied to all forms in all kingdoms of Nature, so might we see the steady forward march towards the abstract, superphysical levels of reality, and that which sits atop Plato’s hierarchy of being as the ultimate form – The Form of the Good.   §

1. Charles Eisenstein, How the Environmental Movement Can Find Its Way Again
2. Alice Bailey, Esoteric Psychology I 83
3. Ref: Synthetic Aeshetics, On Shaping the Future through Design, Designing Nature
4. Ref: Daisy Ginsberg, Machine Auguries 
5. Plato’s Form of Good, 1000-Word Philosophy, An Introductory Anthology 

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The Convergence of Spirituality and Psycho-energetic Practices in the Field of Psychology

Vincent Claessens is a psychosynthesis-practitioner and trainer, as well as author of the book « La Mosaïque de l’Être.

Psychology is a relatively recent human science. It emerged at the end of the 19th century in Europe and the USA. During the 20th century, five main currents developed. To explain these different approaches to psychology, Roberto Assagioli likened the personality to a house: Behaviorists studied the ‘exterior,’ that which is directly visible and measurable in human behavior. Psychoanalysts have probed the foundations of the house, penetrating the depths of the unconscious to explain what it is about past traumas that may have created a narcissistic wound, the symptoms of which appear in a roundabout way in the present. The somewhat pessimistic and reductive vision of the human being conceived by orthodox psychoanalysis was counterbalanced by a new movement in the 1950s, humanistic psychology.

Humanistic psychologists do not deny the existence of childhood trauma but, at the same time, acknowledge the possibility of overcoming it with the aid of qualities inherent in consciousness, such as empathy, resilience, the search for meaning, etc. They study the different levels of human need. They see the ‘psychological house’ as having several floors.

Transpersonal psychology emerged from this concept in the 1960s, exploring the spiritual dimensions of the psyche. Psychosynthesis is part of this. It is an integrated approach to the human being and a spiritual vision that opens up the study of the psyche to new perspectives. At the top of the house of the psyche, we can conceive of a terrace that allows observation and a conscious link with the macrocosm.

Psycho-energetics is the fifth current gaining popularity today. It studies the interactions and transformation of all kinds of energies, both microcosmic and macrocosmic. The study of the seven rays of energy and their psychological expression is part of this new psychology. This understanding can lead us to a deeper understanding of ourselves. Understanding ourselves better enables us not only to transform ourselves but also to adjust our attitudes and behavior in our interactions with others.

Having a perception of how the universal energies manifest themselves in our lives can lead to healthier relationships. For example, we may find it difficult to understand someone’s particular behavior. But very often, we evaluate that person from the limited perspective of our own personal experiences and preferences, which form a filter through which we observe; this creates our subjectivity, which in turn leads to our inability to understand others. Moreover, we tend to interpret other people’s behavior through the prism of our values and our psychological idiosyncrasy, which is why it is so important to know the forces and energies that condition us in order to look at the world more objectively. The study of the seven rays contributes to a better understanding of the complexity of a whole range of psychological attitudes and behaviors.
Transpersonal psychosynthesis proposes exercises that aim to create harmony within and around us, through various stages of a journey that leads us to consciously realize our spiritual potential, in order to express the rays of energy in positive qualities. Certain energy transmutation techniques used in psychotherapy have an important place in psycho-energetics. Here the aim is not only our individual well-being but also our commitment to improving the world (the two are linked).

Spiritual qualities such as compassion, benevolence and altruism are beginning to attract academic attention. Stanford University has set up the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE). It proposes an approach to developing compassion. Let’s see how this applies to the ecological crisis:

1. Responsibility: What in my life is contributing to the suffering of the earth? 
2. Sensitivity: Visualise the end of human, animal and plant suffering and its effects in the future. 
3. Motivation: What kind of world do I want to live in (taking into account what the world needs)?
4. Action: What action can I take?

Compassion allows us to avoid the dead ends of eco-anxiety, fatalism or indifference. We can then understand the practical usefulness of transpersonal psychology and its extension, psycho-energetics.

Psycho-energetics should not be seen as a discipline developed solely from psychology. To get a fuller picture, it should be seen as drawing on several disciplines, such as esoteric philosophy, astrology, neuroscience, ecology and, to a certain extent, certain ideas from quantum physics. Psycho-energetics does not consider human beings in isolation. It studies them in their relationships with their social environment, with nature and with the universe. This is where it comes close to ecology, since it shares a common notion: interdependence, which is not just an intellectual concept, but a real, observable fact of which we are becoming increasingly aware as we look at nature and climate change.

Interdependence allows us to perceive the organic unity between various elements of a larger whole. This brings us closer to the holistic vision of the great spiritual traditions. Whether Amerindian, Buddhist, or shamanic, they all have insisted on essential unity. The fact that the interdependence of each element that makes up our world is now being revealed before our very eyes should help us to move away from the materialistic, separatist vision that has prevailed since the 17th century towards a more inclusive vision of reality.

Scientific materialism still conditions us to think that consciousness emerges from the brain, as if it were the result of the evolution of cerebral matter. But this paradigm is changing. Many researchers now admit that this conception cannot explain certain psychic phenomena.

At this time of transition and multiple changes, our current questioning, our reflections, our observations and our intuitions tend to call into question the purely materialistic approach. An inner revolution is underway, and major changes will flow from this opening up of consciousness towards more human and spiritual values.

‘The future world order will be the effective expression of a fusion of the inner spiritual way of life and the outer civilised and cultural way of acting.’ [1]   §

1. Alice Bailey, The Externalisation of the Hierarchy, p. 194

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July-September 2023

The Science of Union

by John Hinds                                    

The Argument

1.       Yoga (or Union^[1]) is a science.[2]

2.       Science is based on the consensus of a community of experts; different fields of knowledge have developed different accepted methods of investigation.

3.       Only experts who have qualified themselves by preparation and training are qualified to rightly assess knowledge in the area of their own expertise.

4.       The consensus of a community of experts in acquiring intellectual knowledge may be mistaken; it is always based on incomplete knowledge. All intellectual knowledge is relative and is never fully complete.[3]

5.       Knowledge is a function of being. Even given the limitations of incompleteness, we can only know what we are willing to know and which we are equipped, or have equipped ourselves to know.

6.       In order to equip ourselves for the Knowledge of Union, or Yoga, certain preparations need to be made. In addition to intellectual preparation, certain purifications of character and of mind must be realized.

7.       Rationalism demands that for knowledge to be truly ours, we must verify it for ourselves and must not rely on consensus or opinion.

8.       Yogic knowledge can be verified by oneself given that the necessary preparations have been made.

9.       Those who have made such preparations and purifications of character are the experts in the field of Yoga.

10.     There is a broad underlying consensus among those who have acquired the knowledge of Union as to the nature of such knowledge, albeit, across different times and cultures the manner in which yogic insights have been expressed varies and may vary in underlying details. Such variations in perception are found in all sciences.[4]

11.     Those who have not made the necessary preparations are therefore not qualified to pass judgment on the validity of such knowledge.

12.     When Knowledge of Union has been acquired, the intellect assents to it as valid knowledge.

13.     Thus, Knowledge of Union may be demonstrated but cannot be truly conveyed by means of the intellect alone.[5]

The Science of Union

Yoga (or the process of “Union of the Self”) claims to be a science. How valid is this claim? To answer that, we need to know: what is yoga, what is union, and what is science.

Perhaps the easiest to answer is what, in practice, yoga is. It’s often stated that yoga means union. It comes from the same basic root as “yoke”. The sort of yoga most people are familiar with is Hatha Yoga. In Hatha Yoga you work with the physical body. Its aim is the unification and coordination (balancing and health) of the physical body. Today there are many variations of Hatha Yoga with different names, but all these yogas (focusing solely on physical development), are basically some variation of Hatha Yoga.

There are other types of yoga as well. These are more spiritual in nature (defining ‘spiritual’ as what is, for you, your ‘next step ahead’ in development) as they aim to reach union with—‘Reality’—the ‘Ground of Being’—God—‘Self-Realization’—or however you want to name and define it.[6] It is these types of yoga that will be subject of this essay. One might delineate Ultimate Reality as R, and the slices of Reality that science deals with as R_r. In Eastern philosophy and religion to realize the true nature of the Self is equivalent to realization of ultimate reality. This is not to limit the notion of Union; any process that has as its aim this Union or Realization, and which can demonstrate results may be considered a type of yoga. Some, of course, are more formally systematic than others.[7] A purely intellectual pursuit of knowledge or a Christian mystic’s devotional practices may all be considered forms of yoga aimed at the knowledge of Union. There are many paths to the one goal. Nor are traditional means the best for everyone. Humanity evolves, albeit slowly, and what suited our grandparents may not suit us today. The first step toward finding that path is to Inquire the Way.

In terms of more traditional, formal yogas, Bhakti Yoga aims at union through devotion and is focused on loving devotion towards any ideal of a personal God. (As the Yoga Sutras of Patánjali put it, “By intense devotion to Ishvara, knowledge of Ishvara [i.e, a personal deity] is gained.”)

Jnana Yoga is the path of knowledge. One strives to arrive and union through a path of questioning the true nature of the self, reality or the ‘ground of being’, often with a guide. This might be the path of the scientist or philosopher.

Karma Yoga is union through action for its own sake, learning to act for the good without personal attachment.

Raja (Royal or Kingly) Yoga is union through control of the mind, as indicated in Patánjali’s Yoga Sutras.

A final, lesser-known yoga is Agni Yoga. This yoga strives for union by means of Agni or spiritual fire, also thought of as psychic energy, integrated into the “Living Ethics” of one’s day-to-day life. It this respect it is similar to karma yoga.[8]

Union

In the present context any effort that has “self-realization” “self-purification” or “enlightenment” as its goal may be considered a type of yoga. As all the spiritual yogas, or steps toward Union, have the same goal, spiritual Union or self-realization, and as they also seem quite subjective, on what basis can they be considered to be a “science”. What exactly qualifies as a “science”?

Science

Science may refer to a general body of knowledge confirmed by experiment and consensus. It may also denote systematic inquiry with the aim of expanding and refining knowledge.

The current consensus of most scientific inquirers favors an approach to knowledge that is objective, and verifiable. (The word ‘objective’ itself suggests a reality apart from the consciousness of the observer, a condition difficult to demonstrate as Bertrand Russell noted when he wrote that “Space and time are subjective; they are part of our apparatus of perception”.) To repeat something in a scientific experiment is the most commonly accepted way to verify it. Not all portions of reality are subject to the test of repeatability, however.

It would be a mistake to think that this is the only valid way knowledge can be verified, or that this method can be applied to all possible types of knowledge. As Aldous Huxley noted, “science is almost impotent to cope with the particular case, the isolated instance. Promoting their methodological ineptitude to the rank of a criterion of truth, dogmatic scientists have often branded everything beyond the pale of their limited competence as unreal and even impossible.”[a] In other words if science (as it is currently understood) lacks the means to study something, it tends to be ignored.

Scientific Knowledge

Science attempts to acquire knowledge systematically, rationally, and through agreed upon methods of verification.

A “Rational” approach to knowledge through inquiry makes the following assumptions:—

(1) “Reason” (using the mind to think and form judgements by a process of logic^[9]) is the chief means of knowledge inquiry and final judge of its validity.

(2) For knowledge to be truly our own we all must inquire and gain knowledge for ourselves, and not accept some external authority. (In other words we must do our own thinking.) Knowledge which cannot be rationally demonstrated, or which reason tells us must be false, must be rejected.

Of course, reasoning may be faulty, or may be based on assumptions which are only partially true, (or which might even be shown eventually to be completely false). Some of our assumptions may not be capable of any immediate proof or disproof by reason. So even reason has its limits. Karl Popper’s notion of falsification[b] suggests that for a theory to be considered scientific it must be able to be tested and conceivably proven false. Popper’s fundamental premise suggests that anything we “know” might be proven to be false at some future point.

It is safe to say that most of what we “know” is not our knowledge at all according to these criteria. We take it on faith that the sun is some 93 million miles away, and that the earth is round. This is a kind of “group knowledge”; it is more accurate to call it a consensus. We haven’t ourselves measured the distance of the sun from the Earth and few would even know how to do it. The Ptolemaic system of the planets held sway for thousands of years; few questioned it. We also believe, against the direct evidence of our senses and, of ordinary sense, that the Earth is round. Recall that at one time the belief that the Earth was flat was the commonly accepted consensus. We have many more reasons for accepting a round Earth as a fact than the ancients did, but even today there are a few ‘flat Earthers”. So, there is almost never universal agreement on anything.

Thus, most of what we accept as knowledge is not really our knowledge at all, and all group knowledge/consensus can be mistaken; it is always incomplete, and it may or may not be subject to a direct test of its validity.

The study knowledge, how it is acquired, and whether is can be verified is epistemology. Epistemology shows that no system of knowing or of acquiring knowledge can be complete. In other words, human ideas and methods of inquiry are never completely true. At best they are true as far as they go. (Newtonian physics is a good example. It serves us well for most things but not so much when dealing with the very large, such as galactic distances—where it has been superseded by Relativity, or the very small—the world of sub-atomic particles—which Quantum Theory describes.) Therefore, if all our knowledge is at best only partially true; it is more realistic to think of knowledge as being useful or not useful. Certain ideas or ways of solving knowledge problems are more useful than others in particular situations. Often framing a problem in the more useful way is halfway toward solving it.[c]

The data in different fields of inquiry requires different approaches. Things that can be observed directly, and repeated (like the effect of sunlight on a given plant, or the rate of acceleration of a body falling in the atmosphere) are fairly straightforward, but many things, even in the physical world, may not be directly observable, or else they are unique, unrepeatable events.

But not everything is directly observable with our senses or even with the most sophisticated scientific instruments. Can we directly observe the mind or measure and quantify love? Physicists often study things that cannot be observed directly by their effects.[10] In psychology where it is often necessary to study things indirectly, there is a concept called ‘construct validity’ by which the existence of something that cannot be directly observed may be inferred by a number of specific effects that point to its existence, (according to a predicting theory or hypothesis).

The main problem is how do you manage to make different people’s subjective experiences “objective”? (In other words how does one reach a consensus about them, which in the last analysis is what “objective” really means.)

To further complicate things quantum physics indicates that the very act of observation changes things and the idea that there is an observer completely detached from what is observed is one of those convenient fictions science chooses to act on “as if” it were true.

The Map is not the Territory. ^[11]

We create mental maps or metaphors about reality as we see it; form theories about it; make predictions, and are constantly surprised when the theory or mental map turns out to be wrong or that it does not explain half as much as we had assumed it did.

Many still believe (without any compelling evidence) in a completely “materialistic” model of reality (in the R_r sense). It used to be that this model was basically mechanistic. The universe was like a great machine or clock. Once all its parts and motions were understood you could theoretically predict the next state of the system. Modern physics and quantum theory have quashed that. In fact, the more we know about quantum realities the curioser and curioser it gets. Nevertheless, many still believe that ‘someday’ a Grand Unified Theory of Everything (GUT) will manage to explain it all: The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything... But this belief seems to be becoming more and more controversial as it involves some unproven, and unprovable metaphysical assumptions:

First, that there can be one final intellectual answer to ‘explain’ Reality (whatever that may mean).

Second, that the human intellect is equipped to know, find and formulate that answer. In other words, we are assuming that there is a correspondence between the object as it is represented in the consciousness of the observer and the object as it “really is”. This is one of the great metaphysical assumptions that science makes. Another is that our minds, senses, inputs, scientific instruments and what-not are capable of giving us anywhere near a complete picture of reality. Truly, we don’t even know what we don’t know.

The third assumption is that things can be adequately understood as absolutely separate entities. This allows the examination of the parts without reference to the whole. This does allow one to study things in isolation but it cannot claim to be any sort of complete knowledge. We can no longer believe, for instance that the observer and the observed are absolutely independent and have no effect on each other, as experiments in Quantum Physics have demonstrated.

In psychology what is known as “Experimenter Effect” (the influence of a researcher’s conscious, and unconscious, expectations on subject responses and research outcomes) is very real and is the reason behind “double blind” studies in medical research—to minimize the Placebo (or Expectancy) Effect on outcomes. It has been estimated that anywhere from 25% to 50% of a medicine’s efficacy can be due to expectancy.

The Lens of the Mind.

All knowledge whether it be classed as ‘objective’ or ‘subjective’ ultimately comes through the aperture of the mind, not the senses. In fact, sense data alone, without some organizing principle such as the brain/mind provides is meaningless.

In earlier days in psychology, one way of exploring the world of the mind and the psyche was “the method of introspection”. This was developed in the 19th Century by Wilheim Wundt. Wundt tried to make the process of introspection as structured and precise as possible. Observers were highly trained and the process itself was highly controlled.

This approach has certain benefits but also limitations. Even among scientists working in the same field, there is often no consensus about facts observable with the five senses or what the results of a particular experiment may mean. So the problem becomes even more acute when dealing with subjective states of mind, which are subject to many sorts of bias, and where there is no clear means of corrective comparison. One cannot even be sure that one is talking about the same thing, even if the same words are used. This limitation is not confined to the method of introspection alone. In personality research terms like ‘the self’ are bandied about, but there is no clear consensus among different theoretical schools as to what that term really means. And this is one of the most fundamental concepts!

In psychological research the method of introspection has been largely abandoned. This is unfortunate as there are certain experiences that can be researched in no other way. But the fact that it is not formally used in research, and has a number of confounds in reaching community consensus, does not invalidate it as a source of knowledge.[12]

An added complication is the fact that not all knowledge is accessible to everyone. Some knowledge requires special training, or preparation. Furthermore, we are conditioned to accept some knowledge as a result of personal or cultural beliefs, our genetic inheritance, and our temperaments. Some kinds of knowledge are more acceptable to people of certain mental temperaments than others. Scientists in this regard are no less biased in this regard than any other group, despite their liking to think of themselves as coolly objective. Things that lie outside the accepted scientific paradigms tend to be ignored or rejected. The more fundamental an idea threatens established norms, the greater the opposition.

Thus it may be said that knowledge is a function of being. We can only know what we are willing to know, and what we are equipped, or have equipped ourselves to know.

Unlike Western culture today, where philosophy is considered to be a purely intellectual pursuit, in the East and among the Western philosophers of the ancient world, it was accepted that philosophical ‘wisdom’^[13] depended on the development not only of one’s mind, but one’s character. In line with this idea, knowledge of Union demands certain preparations and purifications of character and of mind to be realized.

In his anthology, The Perennial Philosophy, Aldous Huxley by-passed the professional theologians and philosophers:

“The reason for this is very simple. The Perennial Philosophy is primarily concerned with the one, divine Reality substantial to the manifold world of things and lives and minds. But the nature of this one Reality is such that it cannot be directly and immediately apprehended except by those who have chosen to fulfil certain conditions, making themselves loving, pure in heart, and poor in spirit. Why should this be so? We do not know. It is just one of those facts which we have to accept, whether we like them or not and however implausible and unlikely they may seem. Nothing in our everyday experience gives us any reason for supposing that water is made up of hydrogen and oxygen; and yet when we subject water to certain rather drastic treatments, the nature of its constituent elements becomes manifest. Similarly, nothing in our everyday experience gives us much reason for supposing that the mind of the average sensual man has, as one of its constituents, something resembling, or identical with, the Reality substantial to the manifold world; and yet, when that mind is subjected to certain rather drastic treatments, the divine element, of which it is in part at least composed, becomes manifest, not only to the mind itself, but also, by its reflection in external behaviour, to other minds. It is only by making physical experiments that we can discover the intimate nature of matter and its potentialities. And it is only by making psychological and moral experiments that we can discover the intimate nature of mind and its potentialities. In the ordinary circumstances of average sensual life these potentialities of the mind remain latent and unmanifested. If we would realize them, we must fulfil certain conditions and obey certain rules, which experience has shown empirically to be valid. …. And it is mainly to these, because there is good reason for supposing that they knew what they were talking about, and not to the professional philosophers or men of letters, that I have gone for my selections.”[d]

Regarding higher states of consciousness, and other means of awareness beyond the intellect and the five senses, the only question about them is, Do they exist or not? Nothing is more unscientific than to assume something does or does not exist without an investigation into the facts.

As Huxley demonstrated in The Perennial Philosophy, among those who have acquired the knowledge of Union there is a broad underlying consensus regarding the nature of such knowledge, albeit, across different times and cultures the manner in which insights into the nature of Reality (R) have been expressed has varied, and may vary in underlying details. Such variations in perception are found in all sciences.

There is ample testimony and consensus (cf. The Varieties of Religious Experience[e], Mysticism[f], The Perennial Philosophy[g] or the Yoga Sutras of Patánjali) as to the nature and the means of acquiring knowledge of Union. It does not require ‘faith’ (in the sense of believing without evidence), but practice, and it is verifiable in one’s own personal experience.

However, as implied earlier, the intellect is equipped to study and understand the parts (R_r) but it can never grasp the whole (R). Thus, the normal intellectual approach to the whole of Reality R, or the Ground of Being, is inadequate.

Given all this, how does one hope to acquire the knowledge of Union?

Undertaking the Journey

The potential to consciously evolve is a rare human gift. Buddhists traditionally believe that Enlightenment can only be achieved through life in the human state. You begin where you are. There is no guarantee that you will acquire the final awareness of the ‘Ground of Being’, as Huxley puts it. You will, however, develop greater insight and awareness as you progress. Only the sorts of people William James called the geniuses of religion or the saints seem to achieve the higher stages of Union. But to undertake the quest, whether or not you reach the final goal has its own rewards.

The quest for Union or to know the Self, will bring about a revolution in your way of life if you pursue it. And, if you pursue it, you must make the choice to make it a part of your life for the rest of your life, or it will get you nowhere.[14] Even if you come short of the ultimate goal you will find the pursuit of this knowledge will bring many insights and rewards, along with challenges, along the way.

As the practice of mindfulness and its benefits is becoming widely known, that might be one place to begin. Grasping the basic concept, simple as it seems, can be elusive. What mindfulness requires is the development of the attitude of an observer of your own experiences, thoughts, feelings and judgments by simply noting them, without judgment and without necessarily needing to change them.

I often had patients whom I believed could have been helped immensely by meditation, but who were unable to get past the stage of dealing with the incessant distractions, mind-wanderings or feelings of anxiety that inevitably arose. To no avail, I would point out that learning to master the distractions is itself part of the process. One becomes a master by mastering. The frustrations or even the anxieties, hitherto masked by an abundance of distractions, proved too much for them and they gave it up. Usually, one will consider undertaking the journey only when it is clear that one’s life is not working or if one has ‘divine discontent’ a dissatisfaction with the usual explanations and a desire to know Reality as it is.

Many of the patients I worked with wanted a clear roadmap for change with each step laid out like a cookbook recipe—we almost never dealt with the bigger question of Union—but it just does not work that way. It’s more like a determination to climb a mountain. The destination as you stand at the mountain’s foot seems formidable and the peak far off or hidden in the clouds. Nevertheless if one is determined to make the attempt one begins by learning what one can about this mountain; mountain climbing; learning from others’ experiences and gathering such tools and guides as may be needed. Once you reach the first level, things will look different; you will be different because you will have learned from the first ascent. Now the challenge is to get to the next level and the process is a similar one, plus what you have just learned and what you can learn from your new perspective. And so on. In fact, one of the things traditional yogas teach is developing the tools necessary to achieve Union through our own acts and the power of our minds focused on the goal.

One of these tools is love. Not love in the usual sense of human affection, which is based on feelings, attractions, preferences, but rather the ideal of Christian Love, called agape. This is a love that is essentially disinterested, or not self-interested. It is an ideal; few reach it.

It is built into form to have preferences. A square peg does not prefer a round hole. Many of our filters and preferences operate even before we are aware of them consciously. Likes and dislikes are normal and we find them throughout the natural world. Agape asks that we transcend these built-in limitations. Many traditions have taught that striving toward this love is the shortest way to achieve unitive knowledge.

If I believed that indeed there was anything supernatural, that is above nature, I would call this love a supernatural virtue. As it is, I will have to be content in calling it supernormal. It is rare, but throughout history there have been people who achieved it to a greater or lesser degree.

As the anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing[15] put it thus, using the traditional terms of the Christian mystic:

“of God Himself can no man think. And therefore I would leave behind everything that I can think, and choose to my love that thing that I cannot think. For why?—He may well be loved, but not thought. By love may He be had and held; but by thought never.”

Putting it in modern terms, the intellect alone is incapable of grasping R, the Ground of Being or Ultimate Reality. Aspiring to love in the Agape sense, puts you on the path toward knowing. The attempt helps bring about the changes and helps create the tools for change, and further insights. At no point is one asked to cast aside one’s knowledge or one’s mind. The final arbiter is you yourself. The Science of Union is the quest to apprehend Reality as it is. What can be more scientific than that?

Final Thoughts

To learn something truly new requires the attitude of the ‘beginner’s mind’: nonjudgment, keen observation, and persistence in the face of obstacles—and obstacles will come! The same might be said of almost any new discovery. Whatever path you try, learn what you can from others who have followed similar paths, but realize ultimately you can rely only on yourself and your own experience. How can you know the path you are following is the right one for you? Aside from anything else you may experience or learn in your life journey,—Is it expanding your awareness? Making you a better, more accepting, more loving person? If it does not—leave it alone!

Regarding the formal practice of Indian Yoga, Swami Vivekananda has said, “…is it practical? .... Yoga says it is practical .... Supposing it is not—suppose there are doubts in your mind. You have got to try it. There is no other way out....” “I am always asked the question: ‘Shall I give up meat?’ My Master said, ‘Why should you give up anything? It will give you up.’”

In other words as Augustine said, “Love God and do what you will”. You will find things you outgrow many things; they will fall away because there is no longer anything in you that attracts them. Vivekananda again: “Those who practice [yoga] hard will get many other signs. ... and when these things come, know that you are progressing very fast”. “It is much easier to do anything upon the external plane, but the greatest conqueror in the world finds himself a mere child when he tries to control his own mind. This is the world he has to conquer—the greater and more difficult world to conquer. Do not despair! Awake, arise, and stop not until the goal is reached!”

The Kesamutti Sutta, relates the following discourse of the Buddha, Gautama Siddartha,

“Thus I have heard. Once the Buddha was wandering in the Kosalan country and came to a town of the Kalama people called Kesaputta.

“After giving him praise as the Exalted One, a Fully Enlightened One, perfect in wisdom and practice, the people asked how they could separate true teachings from false teachings.

 ‘Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor upon rumor; nor upon what is in a scripture; nor upon surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor upon specious reasoning; nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over; nor upon another’s seeming ability; nor upon the consideration, “This monk is our teacher”.

Kalamas, when you yourselves know: “These things are good; these things are blameless; these things are praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness,” then enter on and abide in them.’ ”

“The journey of a Thousand Li begins beneath your feet.” Lao-tse.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matt. 5:8.

Footnotes

The Great Invocation - June 2023

*Many religions believe in a World Teacher, a “Coming One”, knowing him under such names as the Lord Maitreya, the Imam Mahdi, the Kalki Avatar and the Bodhisattva. These terms are sometimes used in versions of the Great Invocation for people of specific faiths.

Triangles is a world service activity in which people link in thought in groups of three to create a planetary network of Triangles of light and goodwill. Using a world prayer, the Great Invocation, they invoke light and love as a service to humanity. Further information is available on request from Triangles.

The Triangles Bulletin is for people of goodwill and is published four times a year in Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Triangles is an activity of the Lucis Trust, a non-profit educational charity which exists to promote right human relations.

For further information and literature write to:

www.lucistrust.org/triangles                                                               

June 2023

Sharing Group Thought - June 2023

We invite you to share your insights on Triangles by post, email or online at triangles.org

Living a life in service is a clear and definitive way of how we visibly choose to do good and contribute to humanity and society in a manner that is upbuilding. Although this choice brings with it responsibility, it also brings with it the support of numerous unseen forces, a flow of energy that works with and through us as human beings. It is our willingness to be a vessel that attracts a flow of power in a unified approach to make a positive difference. It is this collective and unified consciousness that is the center of us all and part of our true nature, a place where there is no separation between us, where we all have access to limitless potential in line with a greater and more universal plan. Each of us brings our part and plays our role. This is what attracts me to the idea of forming a triangle - 'where two or more gather in His name, He is there'.                                                             USA

With Incomparable Grace

In esotericism, where much that is pursued is invisible, a certain realm of being holds us steady as we move through meditations, study, and the conversations about the building of a better world. That plane is surely mental and beautifully powerful, capable of redesigning the shape of the future. But that mental imaging needs to merge with something a little softer, a little more accessible to those of us who seek to lift the trajectory of human activity and thinking. This other something that is merging with the plane of the mind is the realm of the heart, and in their coming together, these two form an inner relation that is synthetic. These two worlds weave magically into and around each other like the roots of trees, unseen yet creating manifest life anew in an intriguing process that can be called grace.
An attempt to define grace, however, is like trying to bottle the sun. It might be something that, in essence, is a shimmering connection between head and heart, an intuitive resonance at the center of one’s being, and perhaps more akin to intuition than knowledge. It doesn’t seem to be something that can be commanded, but instead it seems to be a state that is bestowed spontaneously – through the rough and tumble incongruity of life, arriving unexpectedly in a split second of silence.

The Triangles network seems to be informed by this kind of alchemy. The merging of mind and heart in the shape of a simple triangle but perceived as a symbol of transformation. And in Triangles service that transformation is the etheric life-web of the world, as indicated by the esoteric blue-print of the earth. The weaving threads of lighted intentions carry the goodwill from countless Triangles like the roots of millions of trees intertwining to create countless points of grace. This grace rightly becomes a synthesis that is stronger and greater than the combined strength of the individual points, and its potency arises from the lighted goodwill of hearts and minds focused together on an enlightened remaking of the world.

All humanity shares the capacity for this thing called grace – a jewel to take to heart. The spectrum includes those who are not like us at all. This grace is a potential that embraces the highest and the most humble, sages and novices, the enlightened and the non-believers, the homeless, the broken and lost. In the end, we are all strangers in good company with this one elegant thing in common. Like the sun escaping from that bottle, grace can blossom in a word, a gaze, or a gesture and leave one stunned by an experience that will live with us for the rest of our lives.

One Flame with Many Sparks

The spiritual aspirant follows a path into the light and with this comes a deeper realisation of the abundance of Life. In contacting the light within oneself, there comes an awareness of the connected nature of light and its universality. This energy of the universe flows through all forms – there is but “One Flame with many sparks of differing brightness within that Flame.”[1] The light is one, and the energy is one – such is the glory of the great eternal Light.

Through daily spiritual practice, we become gradually accustomed to this abundant energy which pours into the waiting and receptive mind. We begin to recognise that this energy works through us, that it radiates out into the world through our minds and hearts. It is not a light we acquire for ourselves: it is light that we tune into in order to share with others. And as it illumines our minds, we begin to see that within which stands as a barrier to the light, our imperfections that distort and diminish the radiatory power that inspires us to walk this purificatory path. The light, therefore, has redemptive power that brings transformation, greater understanding and a more inclusive vision. Gratitude, generosity of spirit and a desire to share light, love and understanding come to those who touch the light. Its abundance is recognised, for light is seen emanating through individuals and groups everywhere. Thus, the divine Plan is more deeply sensed and a desire to serve that Plan is evoked.

Triangles is a wonderfully effective way to serve the Plan and share the abundant energy contacted through spiritual practice. Each Triangle fits within the great network of light and goodwill and has a powerful effect on the network because each Triangles member, as he or she links with the two other points of light, is in contact with the One abundant light. That abundance floods the network of light and goodwill through the intention, attention and expectation of all its members and conveys that light and goodwill to the hearts and minds of people everywhere so that they have an increased ability to anchor the Plan on earth.

When the increasing numbers of those who work with light on behalf of humanity become sufficiently united, their radiation will surely be felt in all the kingdoms of nature. This is the "life more abundant" of which the Christ speaks[2] and humanity’s goal to transmit this spiritual energy to the lower kingdoms will eventually see its triumph and bring light, love and Life to all the Earth.

1. Discipleship in the New Age, Vol. II, p. 626
2. A Treatise on White Magic, p. 91

Till the Silence Turns Golden

We are living in extraordinary times. Ill-will and suffering, short-termism and selfish motives, falsehood and cruelty are evident everywhere. Yet if we open our eyes properly, we can see that this is being more than balanced by the presence of an increasing and dynamic goodwill. This goodwill passionately advocates and embodies the long view and the absolute necessity for an enlightened selflessness that works out in an energetic creativity. There are magical demonstrations of this in every field of human interest and endeavour. It is the best evidence that the heart of humanity is not only sound, but alive and active, rhythmically infusing human consciousness with the higher energies of love, understanding and compassionate goodwill. When these are accompanied with an unshakeable hope and altruism, then we see practical visionaries at work and loving service at its best. We also glimpse the Christ consciousness developing within humanity.

One of the ways in which this new consciousness is manifesting in the world today is in humanity’s recognition of the interdependence of all life on earth. This vital connection is not confined to spiritual experience; it is also central to most mundane interests and activities too. The arts, for example, embody diverse cultural qualities and perceptions in wonderful creations using words, music, the visual arts, dance, architecture, not to mention the new and imaginative uses of digital technology. Friendly competition draws out the best in the participating athletes all around the world. Scientists demonstrate a world-wide collaborative effort to understand life from the smallest subatomic particle to the mind-boggling immensity of the entire Cosmos. Even international trade and finance operate on the basis that all human lives are inextricably linked into a system of mutual dependence. And religions, which used to have such a divisive and destructive effect, are now developing genuine mutual respect and together are sounding the note of humanity’s conscience.

Outworn ideologies and selfish nationalism are still too readily seen in politics. The results of this are only too clear for us all to see as conflict and war blights the lives of so many. These wars, conflicts, suspicions and mistrusts bring inconceivable pain and trauma – a sort of global “self-harming”. The remedy must surely be to evoke the Christ principle in us all, for this is the releasing energy that will bring about the “healing of the nations”. In the words of the poet, R S Thomas*:

Let us stand, then, in the interval
of our wounding, till the silence
turns golden and love is
a moment eternally overflowing

This is why in our daily triangles work, we affirm with confidence: “May Christ return to Earth!

*R S Thomas: No Truce With the Furies (1995)

World Invocation Day Video 2023

As we seek to do our part in building right relations in the world, let us also invoke the aid of higher spiritual forces. The Great Invocation is a world prayer for all people of goodwill of all faiths. Please use it on World Invocation Day, June 3, 2023.

Watch the original video on World Invocation Day

Watch another video on World Invocation Day

Help promote World Invocation Day. Share this information with others.

Great Invocation Translation : Thai

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World Invocation Day 2023

World Invocation Day
3 June 2023

World Invocation Day is a day of prayer, of focused spiritual contact, when people of all faiths and spiritual paths join together to make an invocative appeal to Divinity. This united appeal, focalized through the sounding of the Great Invocation, calls for light and love to flow into human consciousness so that the soul of humanity can be born on earth. We invite you to join the many thousands around the world in observing this day through the use of the Great Invocation.

* Many religions believe in a World Teacher Who is to come in the future (hence ‘Coming One’), knowing Him under such names as the Lord Maitreya, the Imam Mahdi, the Kalki avatar etc. These terms are sometimes used in versions of the Great Invocation for people of specific faiths.

worldinvocationday.org

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Global Conflict and the Road to Right Relationship

Dr. Charika Marasinghe is a Human Rights and Child Rights Consultant and a Trustee for the Vishva Niketan International Peace Centre in Sri Lanka.

The seeds of love as well as hatred do not grow in the soil of Mother Earth but in the hearts and minds of us human beings, her children, who are endowed with a consciousness that no other living species is blessed with. All divisions based on race, religion, creed and class are erected in the hearts and minds of people and not in the man-made bricks and concrete walls of the outer world. If we are to experience outer peace with the human, animal and plant world we need to transcend our ego-centric ways of thinking in terms of ‘me’, ‘I’, ‘mine’, ‘my family’, ‘my religion’, ‘my race’, ‘my village’ and ‘my country’ to an all-embracing universal consciousness that honours and respects the wellbeing of all sentient beings. Those who wish to see a peaceful, sustainable, just and happy world must exercise their intellectual and spiritual capacities on the solid foundation of universal consciousness. The process of awakening this universal consciousness needs to take place from conception in the mother’s womb throughout life – childhood, adolescence, maturity, old age to ultimate and inevitable death. Awakening this universal consciousness does not only apply to the individual. It applies equally to families, groups, schools, workplaces, communities – both urban and rural – nations and the human population in the world as a whole.

The Buddha made the radical discovery that we do not exist as separate beings. He saw that ‘self’ is a delusion which causes suffering and alienates us from freedom and the mystery of life. The doctrine of causality called ‘paticca samuppada’ or dependent co-arising, the most profound exposition of the Buddha, succinctly elaborates the reality of life – the existence of self and world in terms of mutually conditioning and interdependent psycho-physical events that arise and pass away.

To quote:

…in dependence upon feeling there is craving; in dependence upon craving there is pursuit; in dependence upon pursuit there is gain; in dependence upon gain there is decision-making; in dependence upon decision-making there is desire and lust; in dependence upon desire and lust there is attachment; in dependence upon attachment there is possessiveness; in dependence upon possessiveness there is stinginess; in dependence upon stinginess there is safeguarding; and because of safeguarding, various evil unwholesome phenomena originate – the taking up of clubs and weapons, conflicts, quarrels, and disputes, insulting speech, slander, and falsehood.’
Mahanidana Sutta DN 15

The proper response to global conflict is the road to right relationship. This needs to be forged by identifying the footprints which the generations before us, who have walked on this road, have left behind. Humanity may have survived on the planet earth even thus far amidst the most aggressive form of conflicts and wars across millennia, because the generations before us have established wholesome ideas and the conditions that were conducive to human flourishing. At the same time there are also muddy footprints on the road left behind by some previous generations that had contributed to the disruption of the stability of our world. Building right relationship should begin in the hearts and minds of each and every one of the eight billion people now on our planet earth, or at least a critical mass of the population.

Enduring outer peace that will end global conflict can only be attained when individuals achieve inner peace – the cessation of conflict within themselves. Two and a half millennia ago the Buddha recognized the noble truth of cleansing the mind from evil and nurturing a pure mind:

‘All mental phenomena have mind as their forerunner; they have mind as their chief; they are mind-made. If one speaks or acts with an evil mind, ‘dukkha’ (suffering or unsatisfactoriness) follows him just as the wheel follows the hoofprint of the ox that draws the cart.’
Verse 1: Dhammapada

‘All mental phenomena have mind as their forerunner; they have mind as their chief; they are mind-made. If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness (sukha) follows him like a shadow that never leaves him.’
Verse 2: Dhammapada

Our quest for creating a universal consciousness that propagates the wellbeing of all – humans, flora and fauna, and even the air we breathe, the water we drink and the soil we sow has been threatened in a way unprecedented in the history of humanity. The so-called ultra-capitalist economic policies and consumer-driven economic systems, undemocratic and highly dominating and authoritarian geopolitical ideologies, structures, toxic systems and centralized bureaucratic processes have consolidated political and economic power. Natural resources and monetary wealth are concentrated in the hands of a few who are rich and the powerful at the local, national, regional and international levels by marginalizing and ostracizing the poor and the powerless. The dependency mindset created by the so called ‘financial aid’ and the entrapment of ‘debt restructuring’ has put the lives of present and future generations in the developing world on the guillotine. This deadly trend is on the verge of destroying the age-old spiritual web of highly enriching and empowering faith traditions in the world – perhaps even beyond resurrection. Humanity is left with no time to waste. The road map towards right relationship must be discerned and put into action. The world is in desperate need of effecting a non-violent social transformation by empowering village and urban communities to address the root causes that precipitate conflicts at both micro and macro levels.

The social, economic and political inequalities and injustices have caused suffering, frustration, unhappiness, and disharmony within so many communities. The transformation of consciousness of individuals and communities toward compassion and peace represents an essential step toward building a just and peaceful world. While transforming the egoistic mind set to an all-embracing universal consciousness, we also need to work towards liberating the impoverished, underprivileged and marginalised people from the entrapment of powerlessness, helplessness and hopelessness, and help them to discover their own potential and strength to uplift their lives for the better. In rebuilding the lives of village and urban communities, first and foremost we need to ignite the collective community spirit in the hearts and minds of people.

In human society at all levels, four inter-related vicious processes operate; the Buddha named them as psychological alienation (chanda), aversion (dvesha), fear (bhaya) and delusion (moha). The Buddha’s exposition on the Four Divine Abodes (Four Brahma Viharas) – Loving Kindness (Metta), Compassion (Karuna), Altruistic Joy (Muditha) and Equanimity (Upekkha) – offer an excellent prescription to heal our hearts and minds from ego-centric and self-centred ailments and expand our consciousness to embrace all sentient beings. This community spirit can also be awakened through the Buddhist concepts of sharing (dana), pleasant language (priya vachana), constructive activity (arthacharya) and equality (samanatmata).

Let us resolve to make a genuine commitment during our lifetime to put wholesome footprints on the road to right relationship that will change the destiny of present generations and the generations to come and make the planet ‘earth’ a liveable and peaceful abode for all life.   §

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Group Consciousness Through Conflict

In considering a road from conflict to right relationships, we need to ask ourselves if we want right relationships in the first place. For one thing, right relationships do mean that one’s privileges will be reduced and that a self-centred egoïstic attitude will have to be left behind. They also require that one gradually lets go of the idea of profit. So we should ask again: do we want to go down that road? Considering the alternative and taking common sense into account, it seems fairly evident, but taking a clear stance on the topic is paramount.

The spiritual teachings of the Ageless Wisdom suggest that the choice has already been made for us; we live and move and have our being in the body of a Deity from Whom the law of compassion – expressed as right relationships, loving understanding or actively demonstrated love – derives, as an integral part of Their nature[1]. Nevertheless, pondering on this topic from the point of view of desire is relevant because our emotions play a large role in our emergence out of conflict and into harmony.

In the context of the evolving consciousness that we are as individuals, groups or as the larger group-comprising-subgroups that we call humanity, we need to recognize that we do not always put right relations before our own self-interest – we know that from the experience of our own lives. In today’s world ethics are challenged, if not blatantly mocked, and as a civilisation we may shamelessly orient our compass around tangible objectives rather than more subjective, eternal ones. Our civilisation is quite materialistic, the world thoughtform is quite materialistic, our values, it too often seems, are indexed on the stock market. Our civilisation is the result of the evolving human state of consciousness and grows out of its survival instinct, its appetites, its ambitions. We ask who in their right mind would sacrifice for the good of the whole? Who will put Spirit first? Can that much even be asked of the churches? In this climate, what should be expected of individuals, people of power, or nations? We have never removed greed and separativeness from the roots of our relationship to life, so how are we expected to find our way out of conflict?

Yet, as Alice Bailey convincingly expresses, the energies of soul life progressively condition all our interactions upon the physical plane. It should thus be understandable that even people of pure motive and intention, and of high principle, can be impelled into antagonistic activities[2].

Reflecting on these views, conflict comes to be seen as a necessary consequence of evolution. A consequence of the broadening of consciousness according to the following pattern: expansion, contact, conflict, friction and mediation, bringing about harmony through conflict, in an expanded state of consciousness. This view depicts the human family flourishing as one. This is the big picture. A picture too easily forgotten when we allow ouselves to be mesmerized by conflict, and when we let our identity become crystallised on the gains we seek to levy or the losses we seek to avoid.

Therefore, while conflict is an undeniable fact of life and unfolds before our very eyes on planes of varied subtlety, we need to train ourselves to lift our gaze above and beyond, into the world of meaning. There, with the right orientation and correct information, we can let meaning cloth itself into a wisely inspired understanding for the conflicts we experience. We can try to perceive the inner unity of all things and its workings in diversity. This process will orientate and inspire the sentiency of the little lives we ourselves are composed of. In other words, it will inform and direct the processes of our collective imagination to let us see and feel and touch the promise of right relations.

Likewise, it will help us to precipitate the idea of right relations into a lovable ideal, and seek to transmute the qualities in ourselves that are inimical to the process of harmonization through conflict by imagining how their beneficent expression would feel and how they might be expressed in our relationships.

This is a practical endeavour, and it is our responsibility. Although global conflict may arise from the greed and power of a few and from their leadership over numerous people, real power lies in the hands of the masses that have educated themselves. It is mind tainted by desires that rules the world and it is right desire and right perspective that will lead us from darkness to light, out of the present-day glamour into the light of Reality.

We are arguing that we don’t really have a choice in walking the road to right relations, but we can definitely slow the process and suffer thereby, or pace our progress rightly. It is up to us. This is our free will, our goodwill. Finally, as right relations rely on transmuting the consciousness of the individual self into the consciousness of the soul or the Ego, we understand how the idea of right relations goes hand in hand with the idea of group consciousness. Yes, our progress involves relinquishing our individual treasure troves and some loss of identity, but it bears the promise of the eternal prosperity of shared wealth in its many forms, consciousness being foremost. Is this not desirable enough?

Ultimately, we are encouraged to fan the fires of our hearts and to transmute love, from personal love, to love of mate and of family, to love of one’s entire environment, and through patriotism to love of the entire humanity. Thus does the transmutation of our astral life lead through conflict, to an extended consciousness[3].   §

1. Adapted from Alice Bailey, The Externalisation of the Hierarchy 288
2. Alice Bailey, Esoteric Psychology II 86
3. Alice Bailey, A Treatise on Cosmic Fire 954

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From Conflict to Harmony: Towards a New Paradigm of Human Relationship

Human civilizations throughout history have been marked by cycles of war and violent conflict, each being eventually resolved only for another to emerge in due course. Research into the underlying causes of conflict, the nature of the human psyche, and the various structural and sociological correlates of war have brought the human mind to an understanding of the many mechanisms which produce and perpetuate violent conflict.

Today, humanity is in possession of the key that can resolve war and violence into the ordered harmony and beauty emblematic of its higher nature. This key, however, must be appropriated and turned, and this requires the application of a transformed human will, dedicated to the establishing of a new paradigm of living and thinking reflective of man’s highest virtue and innate beneficence. This is still a work in progress. Humanity has achieved an intelligent apprehension of the problem of war, and action is being taken on a large scale to remedy its underlying causes. This is laying the foundation for a culture of goodwill and right relationship in which humanity’s creative potential, strong in its diversity and unbreakable in its unity, can flourish.

The principle of conflict is inherent in even the smallest atom of substance and reaches its fullest expression in the intelligent discrimination of the human mind. In the life of the individual and in humanity as a whole, this principle produces the various crises and tensions leading, often after intense struggle, to expansion and inclusion. Conflict inevitably produces right relationship and a universal spirit of goodwill, yet such an outcome is not automatic. Only when both desire and will are present to sufficient degree, can the crises which conflict produces be resolved into the “better angels” of human nature.

Such mastery requires knowledge and understanding of conflict at every level, and contemporary studies of violent conflict at the international level have produced an entire body of knowledge on the subject, insight into which can be seen in various definitions¹ which have been put forward. Most of these focus on divergence and incompatibility of interests or objectives, based on perceptions and beliefs of the parties.  A more complete understanding comes when these definitions are examined alongside two closely linked elements: violence and peace.

The World Health Organization defines violence² as “the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation.” The absence of direct or personal violence (e.g., intentional/overt physical harm) does not mean peace. There are many forms of indirect violence which are present in ‘silent’ conflicts, and if left unrecognized can give rise to violence in its more direct form. One of these, structural violence³, is found in the unequal distribution of power, resources and rights between groups (Johan Galtung’s classic example: “if people are starving when this is objectively avoidable, then violence is committed”). Another, cultural violence⁴, occurs when values, language, ideology, religion, and overall worldview within a society enable or justify the existence of direct violence (e.g., apartheid in South Africa).

Peace⁵ is often conceptualized⁶ into negative and positive components. Negative peace is “the absence of violence or fear of violence” while positive peace includes “the attitudes, institutions and structures that create and sustain peaceful societies.”

Negative peace focuses on the elimination of direct violence, while positive peace seeks to eradicate indirect (structural, cultural) violence as well. The utility of a positive peace paradigm is that it channels attention to other important elements of society such as economics, well-being, inclusiveness, and justice where the underlying causes of direct violence and war often lie. The link between peace and conflict can be further understood through Edward Azar’s Protracted Social Conflict theory⁷ which illustrates how the deprivation of human needs underlies social conflicts.

The academic study of international relations has produced three major worldviews which seek to understand the behavior and policy decisions underlying a whole range of state actions—the most consequential being the decision to engage in armed conflict.

Realism⁸ is based on the concept of self-interested states competing for power and security. It is critical of abstract moral discourse which interferes with political reality. Liberalism⁹ posits that the expansion of democracy, economic relations and multilateralism across the world are conducive to peace and that international institutions are a means through which a whole range of international actors can cooperate. Constructivism¹⁰ stresses how culture, ideas, collective values, and social identities shape international politics. Non-state actors including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), transnational activist networks, and individuals gain relevance as they promote new ideas and values.

No single worldview can fully account nor predict the dynamics between international actors. Realism does not account for improved international relations and increased cooperation, as it sees international relations as a constant state of anarchy and a relationship as a zero-sum game. Liberalism fails to recognize that many democratic governments survive only when they maintain military power and security, and that transitions to democracy can be violent. Constructivism does not clarify the social conditions and power structures that allow for changes in values.

What is needed is a perspective which is not bound by any one worldview but is able to bridge between them, which resolves these outwardly incongruent modes of thought, vision, and action into an ordered system of paradigms reflecting the multi-faceted and diverse nature of human thought. Such synthetic thinking is itself being precipitated by the conflict between these competing ideologies—by the recognition of the futility of any one of them to explain international relations in its fullness, and that together they better approximate the truth.

The principle of conflict underlies human evolution and becomes an asset when raised up into the light of the soul thus producing a union within the self and with others. When focused exclusively on the many differentiations of the outer form, conflict becomes the enemy of love and right relationship, rather than the force which produces growth, wisdom, knowledge, beauty and all the many qualities made possible through the sorrow and strife of the human experience.

The key to the transmutation of conflict into opportunity and achievement lies in the right application of goodwill. Goodwill is the conditioning factor in all human relations; it is love in expression. It is the foundation of true peace which can only be achieved through the right handling and management of conflict. Yet, the cessation of violent conflict is only the first step to producing the right conditions in which humanity’s spiritual potential to create, to build, to love, and to radiate that “peace which passeth understanding” can go forward. When the pure and disinterested spirit of goodwill finds expression, it quickly spreads; all that prevents synthesis and hinders right understanding fades and is replaced by a harmony in which love, direct from the Heart of God, enters the hearts of all.   §

1. Pruitt, Dean, Rubin, Jeffrey, and Hee Kim, Sung. Social Conflict: Escalation, Stalemate, and Settlement. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2004.
2. World Health Organization, World report on violence and health, November 2002
3. The Open University, Questioning crime: social harms and global issues
4. J. Galtung, “Cultural Violence”, Journal of Peacce Research, Vol. 27, No. 3. (Aug., 1990) pp. 291-305.
5. United Nations, Peace means dignity, well-being for all, not just absence of war - UN officials, September 2014
6. Vision of Humanity, Defining the Concept of Peace: Positive & Negative Peace.
7. Ramsbotham, O. (2005). The analysis of protracted social conflict: A tribute to Edward Azar. Review of International Studies, 31(1), 109-126.
8. Korab-Karpowicz, W. Julian, “Political Realism in International Relations”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2018 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.).
9. Doyle, Michael W. Liberal internationalism: peace, war and democracy. The Nobel Prize.
10. Cristol, Jonathan, 2019. Constructivism. Oxford Bibliographies

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Disarmament and the Way towards Peace

MD is a diplomat with 12 years of experience, currently working in nuclear and disarmament affairs.

“Since wars begin in the minds of men and women, it is in the minds of men and women that the defences of peace must be constructed”
UNESCO Constitution

Disarmament as a vision
We live in a world where spiritual vision and aspirations are still behind reality, and disarmament is part of that dynamics.

The UN Charter holds the vision on this:

“Article 1
The Purposes of the United Nations are:

1. To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace;

2. To develop friendly relations among nations […]

3. To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems […]

4. To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.

More specifically, one of the most relevant documents of the disarmament world is the final document of the (first) Special Session on Disarmament or SSOD-1 (1978). Despite the Cold War, countries agreed on specific disarmament goals that years later led to several treaties, such as those on chemical weapons, biological weapons, arms trade, nuclear non proliferation or tests, etc. There are new challenges today (i.e., firearms violence, artificial intelligence or a nuclear disarmament treaty), but much of what can be negotiated has already being identified and discussed years ago. The UN Secretary General’s Agenda for Disarmament is a more contemporary example of what can be done.

The current crisis
However, as it is well known, the UN system is facing a power crisis, as humanity is experiencing a crisis, and this conditions effective results on disarmament. With diplomacy still organized around nations, almost all diplomats attend the meetings with instructions from their capital, instructions which are part of a broader national strategy that does not change much along time. There is a lot of space for the mind and pre-structured statements, and little space for the heart. National interests come before a more global approach. Nations still consider they are in charge and problems must be solved at their dimension.

The result is what we see today: there are at least 101 armed conflicts being waged in the world¹, practically one out of every two countries. Global military expenditure is on the rise, with a record of $2.13 trillion in 2021², mostly concentrated by a handful of countries whose weapons are enough to blow up the planet several times. The Conference on Disarmament has not been able to reach consensus on negotiations since 1997, and the war in Ukraine has expanded political differences and stagnation to almost all disarmament forums. Most recently, even human survivability has been put at stake, with the idea of a nuclear war being mentioned by government officials from nuclear weapons states.

The motivations behind this reality can be understood: we are dealing with the survival fear of nations and the “defense” built to face it. At the root lies the illusion of separation, where mistrust gives space to a feeling of threat to which more military power looks like the most “reasonable” answer.

On the contrary, dialogue in bilateral meetings (both technical and political), regional or multilateral forums, high-level visits, confidence-building measures and disarmament negotiations seem to loose ground. The solutions are still there, but the energy to catalyze change is not. All this accounts for a crisis with no traditional solution within reach, something that disturbs all sensitive human hearts.

Towards Peace?
A spiritual perspective tells us that, in order to move out from this stagnation, we need to unveil a deeper perspective, with Love and Peace at the core of a radical impulse towards change and Peace.

Arguably, no disarmament negotiation alone can solve this. We are in need of an integral plan that deals with disarmament, justice, environment, global debt, hunger and others, topics that can be summed up in the Sustainable Development Goals. A plan that maybe could be agreed on is a UN Global Conference, of which the Paris Peace Forum is an interesting example at the national level³.

In any case, in order to reach that “energetic allowance”, inner contact must kindle human hearts and spark goodwill. At the diplomatic level, we need to look for and support spaces of dialogue, where people can meet and changes happen.

If direct meetings cannot take place, we need to be open for third countries, organizations or mediators to facilitate confidence-building measures and transparency that can gradually dispel negativity and manifest the light of the soul.

The mental complexities and diplomatic stagnation around disarmament must not disappoint us. Possible solutions are there and those involved know them. For those interested, inner support to such events is an important service. For those serving in the diplomatic field, intuition and love are as important as instructions and forms, and every event is an opportunity for energies to come in and dynamize the whole field, triggering unseen commitments and progress.

In the end, humanity is One, and longs for Peace. Let us just allow for that to happen.   §

1. The Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, Today’s Armed Conflicts
2. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, World military expenditure passes $2 trillion for first time
3. Paris Peace Forum

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April-June 2023

Registration: 2023 Arcane School Conference (London)

Fill in the form below to register to join us in person at the 2023 Arcane School Conference in London which takes place June 3-4.
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March 2023

The Three Spiritual Festivals

The sun’s symbolic passage through the signs of the zodiac brings into focus the subtle energies they represent, and this tracks the progress of the spiritual year. The higher interlude of this annual cycle begins in Aries with the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere and continues through Taurus and up to the solstice at the close of Gemini. This whole interlude carries fresh divine energies setting the tone for the service initiatives of the unfolding year and is celebrated by the three festivals of Easter, Wesak and Goodwill.

In general terms, Aries (Easter) stimulates mental processes and relates to divine love; Taurus (Wesak) stimulates the sensitive nature and is associated with wisdom; and Gemini (Goodwill) vitalises etheric substance and relates to spiritual unity – the divinity within humanity. These festivals focus on the divine vibration received and offer the opportunity to consciously engage with the new spiritual influences to facilitate their fuller expression in the personal and group life.

Festival of Wesak (Taurus) ....................................................................................... 5 May 2023

The Festival of Goodwill, Christ’s Festival and World Invocation Day (Gemini) ....... 3 June 2023

Please check locally for the actual days of the Festival Meetings

Further information about the Three Spiritual Festivals, their meaning and influences is available via the links below. For information in printed form, please use the contact details at the bottom of this page.

www.lucistrust.org/3sf/how_can_we_help  
www.lucistrust.org/3sf      
www.lucistrust.org/3sf/resources

Triangles is a world service activity in which people link in thought in groups of three to create a planetary network of Triangles of light and goodwill. Using a world prayer, the Great Invocation, they invoke light and love as a service to humanity. Further information is available on request from Triangles.

The Triangles Bulletin is for people of goodwill and is published four times a year in Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Triangles is an activity of the Lucis Trust, a non-profit educational charity which exists to promote right human relations.

For further information and literature write to Triangles:

The Planetary Network

ServiceSpace - https://www.servicespace.org/

This is an organization run entirely by volunteers. It encourages people worldwide to do small acts of service with the aim to stimulate humanity’s fundamental generosity and to create both inner and outer transformation. Their projects include a daily positive news service, an acts-of-kindness portal, and a gift-economy restaurant. They act cooperatively to create service opportunities and support each other in their chosen service initiatives.

They started by helping non-profits with technical services and over recent decades, ServiceSpace has become an umbrella for many other generosity-driven projects, encouraging people to contribute in meaningful ways to the world around them. This platform has now been expanded to allow people to stay connected with others interested in service and to participate in service opportunities through their projects, as well as organizing their own local service events. Through small, collective acts, they work to transform themselves and the world.

Unity of Life Meditation Group -1632 A G. Tuazon St., Sampaloc, Manila, The Philippines www.lucistrust.org/worldwide_network/list_of_groups/asia_and_pacific/unity_of_life_meditation_group

The group is formed as a Unit of Service – an association of individuals who share the aim of the Lucis Trust in promoting a future based on spiritual values and principles, and they bend their efforts and understanding to actively serve this purpose. Group meditations for the new and full moon periods are being held as well as other healing meditations. Some of their activities included collaborating with a group of doctors to provide medical access for a remote community and working with an orphanage by helping with the cleaning, the provision of food and reading stories to the children.

 In October 2022, the group joined with other Units of Service in Korea, Japan and Vietnam to present a webinar which was the first Asian Esoteric Community Gathering. This led to a joint agreement to link up every Sunday to visualise their regional community as points of light and to say the Great Invocation. The second Asian Esoteric Gathering and Esoteric Easter (Aries Full Moon) Meditation is now being planned in cooperation with Esoteric Tokyo, South Korea, Ageless Wisdom Vietnam and Sydney Goodwill Australia. The theme will be The Use of the Great Invocation in Fostering Spiritual Unity and will conclude with the Aries Festival. Everyone is invited to attend via Zoom on Sunday, 9 April 2023.

For full details, Christopher See at [email protected] or Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/582327970476026?ref=newsfeed

The Worldwide Network of Servers is located throughout the world. They are servers whose activities are inspired by the teachings of the Ageless Wisdom based on the books of Alice Bailey. For further information on Units of Service and other serving groups associated with the Lucis Trust,  please see the Lucis Trust website page using the following link:  lucistrust/worldwide_network

In Alignment, Inspiration

In this fast-paced and congested world, the impression of not having enough time for what we strive to achieve is a well-known experience. With the haste and stress included, living with one eye on the clock takes its toll. It is to counteract this energetic depletion and imbalance that quiet reflection is sought. In this way, one can regain more control, connecting more closely to his or her intended course and individual spiritual alignment.

Alignment is also an essential aspect of creative group work. It forms the foundation for the Triangles network and other forms of service as the connection to higher spiritual energies. These energies are available to each person as soul emanations as well as the vital energies of divine realms from more enlightened beings who seek to aid humanity. Connection and meaningful relationship to these higher influences are aided through the practice of meditation which directs thought toward that which is divine and trains the mind to focus. It has been described as “a technique of the mind which eventually produces correct, unimpeded relationship; this is another name for alignment.”¹ It creates the space in which mental stillness can be cultivated and intensified and where the persistent and patient focus on a chosen topic allows extraneous concerns to be silenced. It is within this still point of focused and constructive tension that the mind can be impressed by higher spiritual energies.

One expression of deep inner silence is the capacity to listen with an aligned and unwavering receptivity focused on that which is being conveyed. This poise creates a non-judgemental space for enlightened goodwill to enter and to await both assimilation and the formulation of the appropriate response. Within a religious context, this same stillness might be described in terms of faith and communication in prayer. Mother Teresa once referred to this when she was asked what she did when she prayed. She answered that she listened. Then, being asked what God did when she prayed, she replied that He listened.

Such profound inner quiet as this, like the silence needed for meditation, is eventually established through persistence and by patiently dismissing wayward thoughts and emotional interference. When such inner calm is achieved, even fleetingly, a profound stillness can reveal itself. The emptiness of this space is not lifeless, nor is it truly empty, but rather its quality suggests that it is akin to magnetism. Finely attuned, it attracts a certain level of vibration favourable to abstract perception and spiritual communication unbounded by words and perhaps most easily expressed in the energies of light and love. These same energies are those that the Triangles meditations circulate in service to humanity.

¹ Esoteric Healing, by Alice Bailey p. 620

In Adversity, Strength

“It is worth remembering that the time of greatest gain in terms of wisdom and inner strength is often that of greatest difficulty.”¹ Hence, the expression “strength through testing”. Testing and training of the body brings physical strength; emotional strength develops through the steady detached and harmonising rhythm of the soul. And through the right development and use of the mind, the strength of the soul can be known; the mind being an instrument used by the thinker, chooses and rejects thought forms at will. Thus, through strenuous spiritual testing the individual and the group can tap into the sustaining and enduring energy of the soul to be applied spontaneously in service.

What is the mysterious force that drives the human being forward to overcome seemingly overwhelming obstacles? There is an inner world of spirit that can be accessed through the right orientation of the mind bringing a strength of purpose and the will-to-persist in creative work whilst forgetting all lesser concerns. This guiding power is like a magnetic compass through which the whisper of the soul is known, and it keeps the aspirant steady on the straight and narrow path that leads towards a higher reality.

To understand the true nature of this inner strength of purpose, we must turn to the spiritual teachings that shine like a beacon of light throughout the ages. According to the Agni Yoga teachings, the aspirant learns to rejoice at obstacles which will multiply resourcefulness tenfold.² This guiding light is the higher self which overshadows the personality during each incarnation bestowing a fragment of that inner reality on the physical plane, limited by time and space.

The Triangles meditation work, drawing on the inner light, uplifts the vibratory quality of the etheric vehicle of the planet, the force or vital body that permeates every part of the physical vehicle. According to the “…aliveness or the sluggishness of the etheric body so will be the corresponding activity of the physical body.”³ Energy flows and circulates more freely through a triangular structure because the forces of a triangle are distributed evenly along its three sides. This strengthening is confirmed by engineers who build triangular structures that provide immense support and stand the test of time and the forces of nature.

It therefore comes as no surprise that the light and goodwill, evoked in group meditation by triangles workers all over the planet, develop through a sense of shared purpose and solidarity. It is a sacrificial service that strengthens the etheric network and lets in the light. When the vehicles of expression given to man are in alignment with the soul, human consciousness is uplifted, and the spiritual climate of the planet is transformed.

1. The Essence of Wisdom, The Dalai Lama (2012). p.74
2. Agni Yoga, S. 72 (adapted)
3. The Light of the Soul by Alice Bailey pp 218-219

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Synthesis, Shamballa, Hierarchy, Humanity

A co-worker has prepared a collection of quotations from the Alice Bailey books on the synthesis between the three planetary centres Shamballa, Hierarchy and Humanity.

Download the 126-page paper here.

Shamballa, Hierarchy, and Humanity

Quotations from the works of Alice A Bailey on the Synthesis of the three Planetary Centres

This 126 page collection of quotations on the synthesis between Shamballa, Hierarchy and Humanity, the three planetary centres identified in the Alice Bailey writings, has been prepared by a student. No attempt has been made to classify these quotations into specific themes or subjects. They are drawn from eight of the 24 books published by Alice Bailey and presented in the order of the date of publication of the eight titles. The compiler has given a descriptive title to each selection. 

Download here.

Focusing the Divine, Electric Will

Three Spiritual Festivals 2023 Focusing the Divine, Electric Will

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“What is the WILL? Can ‘exact science’ tell? What is the nature of that intelligent, intangible, and powerful something which reigns supreme over all inert matter? The great Universal Idea willed, and the cosmos sprang into existence. I will, and my limbs obey.”¹ Helena Blavatsky

Dear co-worker,

In Isis Unveiled, Helena Blavatsky writes of a Sufi ascetic, who, in her words, “has attained to that state of purification at which the spirit becomes nearly freed from its prison, and can produce wonders. His will, nay, a simple desire of his has become creative force, and he can command the elements and powers of nature. His body is no more an impediment to him; hence he can converse ‘spirit to spirit, breath to breath.’ Under his extended palms, a seed… will germinate instantly, and push its way through the soil… Is this a miracle? By no means… the fakir, coming to the help of nature with his powerful will and spirit purified from the contact with matter, condenses, so to speak, the essence of plant-life into its germ, and forces it to maturity ahead of its time. This blind force being totally submissive to his will, obeys it with servility…”.²

Madame Blavatsky described ‘Will’ as the “one and sole principle of abstract, eternal MOTION, or its ensouling essence”. “The Will creates”, she said, “for the will in motion is force, and force produces matter.”³ Three Spiritual Festivals 2023 3 These profound words not only demystify some of the magical phenomena recounted in religion and myth – they equally point towards the science of the future. As the world today would seem a magical place to our distant ancestors, so too would the world of the coming centuries seem to us. Humanity will doubtless uncover more of Nature’s secrets to enable amazing changes in the quality and structure of the planet. In such a time, humanity will no longer seek to exploit Nature, but to give to Her in harmony with the energy of the divine Will that thrills throughout the cosmos. The potential for such transformation lies in each and every one of us and is eloquently portrayed in the mantram, “The Affirmation of the Disciple”:

I am a point of light within a greater Light. I am a strand of loving energy within the stream of Love divine. I am a point of sacrificial Fire, focussed within the fiery Will of God.

These words affirm the individual as part of a universal current of Will energy, electrical in essence, carrying love to all parts of the system and lighting up (to a greater or lesser degree) every unit of consciousness it passes through. Science is already close to uncovering new electrical laws of nature that will help humanity understand this in terms of the electric will of Divinity. Some intuitive thinkers are noting, for instance, that the recently discovered filaments that link galaxies together in one vast network in the heavens are akin to the nervous system of a great Being. And as scientific discoveries steadily reveal more evidence of this, philosophy will consider the implications in terms of human purpose and meaning; in fact, the Alice Bailey writings predict that the present philosophical schools will eventually be replaced by “those who will in deed and in truth be cosmologists… Philosophic students will endeavour simultaneously to link [the scientific and religious] schools of thought, and to demonstrate the factor of intelligent adaptation of the electrical phenomena which we call matter…to the life purpose of a cosmic Being.”⁴

Admittedly, this inspiring vision may seem remote considering the present divide between science and religion. However, an imminent discovery that will move things along is the phenomenon of 4 Three Spiritual Festivals 2023 ‘biological transmutation’. Evidence suggests that, in the metabolism of living organisms, chemical elements can be transmuted into other elements. Despite a long history of experiments demonstrating this phenomenon, current scientific theory holds that the creation and transmutation of elements can only take place in the colossal temperatures and pressures thought to be generated in the core of stars. Indeed, nuclear physicists all over the world are collaborating to emulate such a process through the construction of huge nuclear fusion reactors like JET and ITER. The aim of these reactors is to force the nuclei of atoms together and release tremendous amounts of atomic energy in the process to satisfy the energy requirements of modern civilizations. In contrast to this, a small number of scientific thinkers believe that low energy nuclear fusion reactions are quietly taking place through the metabolic processes of all living things.

If biological transmutation can be proved, it would support the view that the universe is alive and conscious – its building forces constantly creating and transmuting matter in line with some majestic purpose. Such a realization might offer religious thinkers new perspectives on the subject of redemption too – how and why the soul’s journey towards the Divine necessitates the steady refinement of its form of expression. Here we see prospects for collaboration between science and religion in the redemptive process; while the new world religion will concern itself with the invocation and evocation of energetic qualities that stimulate the growth of human consciousness towards the Divine, the new science will be concerned with the transmutation of the forms in which that takes place.

This is outlined in the book Discipleship in the New Age, where we read:

“… They [the scientific seed group] will reveal… [that]… which relates science and religion and brings to light the glory of God through the medium of His tangible world and His works. They have a most interesting function but one which will not become evident for a long time – not until the building forces of the universe are better understood. This will be co-incident with the development Three Spiritual Festivals 2023 5 of etheric vision. This group will act as a channel of communication or intermediary between the energies which constitute the forces which construct the forms and fabricate the outer garment of Deity and the human spirits.”⁵

While the development of etheric vision mentioned in this passage may lie some time ahead, for those developing an esoteric understanding of the way the universe evolves, it is clear that a key factor in cooperating with the Divine Will is ‘vision.’ This is indicated in the idea of FOCUS in the Affirmation of the Disciple: “I am a point of sacrificial Fire, focused within the fiery Will of God.” Focus concerns inner vision and outer transmission through the All-seeing Eye of Shiva. It is through the awakening of this ‘third eye’ that true inner vision becomes possible. Through this eye, the initiate looks within to behold the Divine Plan and then, looking outwardly, the energy of Will is directed to guide the activities of the deva lives who are the building agents on the planet. Through this eye, thought structures are directed upon their intended path of service; and through this eye, specific energy currents are transmitted to help and stimulate the work of the New Group of World Servers.

The Eye of Shiva is starting to awaken in all who practice meditation, for just as the physical eye formed in response to the impact of the Sun’s rays, so too, is this eye awakened through the stimulating light of the Soul. The Eye of Shiva forms a force-triangle with the two physical eyes through which the energies of the Plan can be consciously directed by the trained esotericist. And in this connection, it is encouraging to learn that science has confirmed Plato’s belief that the physical eyes transmit light as well as receiving it. In the words of astrophysicist, Michael Clarage:

“Life emits light…. We have light shooting out of our eyes…. Now we have proof that our eyes emit light. To a physicist this was always an obvious possibility since all receivers are also transmitters. A radio antenna can send a signal or receive the same signal, it has to work both ways…. When electric currents change light is produced. When light is absorbed, electric currents change. Light and electric currents 6 Three Spiritual Festivals 2023 are two sides of the same coin. We have within us antennas [DNA] whose combined length happens to be the right size to resonate with the entire body of the sun, the planets, all the comets, even out to the heliopause. Who could believe such a thing? How could there be a connection with the life of a person and the entire Solar System? Whether any one of us can knowingly receive these signals or is capable of intentionally broadcasting up to the whole solar system is a good question. I dare say it’s a very important question.”⁶

Michael Clarage goes on to describe an experiment in which someone is placed in a dark room. A photon detector is placed against the area of the visual cortex and a baseline reading is taken. If the person is asked to imagine a bright light, the photon count will immediately shoot up. “Your brain”, he says, “gives off more light when you imagine light!” Putting all this together, we have the scientific foundation for all esoteric work. In meditation, light accumulates in consciousness – light that can be sculpted by the imagination and transmitted to the world on a stream of divine, electric, Will.

As the chemist and physiologist, Jan Baptist van Helmont declared, “The will is the first of all powers… The will is the property of all spiritual beings and displays itself in them the more actively the more they are freed from matter.” As we move towards the three spiritual festivals, the incoming light intensifies and opportunity increases; therefore, may we all renew our efforts to overcome personal desire, and with renewed commitment, work in compliance with the great esoteric truth: The eye directs, the will streams forth, matter obeys.

In the companionship of the One Work,
Lucis Trust

1. H. P. Blavatsky, Isis Unveiled, Vol I, p.144
2.  Ibid, pp.139–140
3. https://theosophy.wiki/en/Will
4. A. A. Bailey, A Treatise on White Magic, p.339 and A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, p.430
5. A. A. Bailey, Discipleship in the New Age, Vol I, p.39
6. Michael Clarage, The Light of Life, https://www.thunderbolts.info/wp/2022/05/14/michael-clarage-the-light-of-life-thunderbolts/

 

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World Goodwill Newsletter 2023 #1 - Global Conflict and the Road to Right Relationship

World Goodwill Newsletter 2023 #1

Global Conflict and the Road to Right Relationship

Conflict is a natural consequence of interaction in our present evolutionary stage but when perpetuated, it impedes the potential for harmony. It is mainly caused by communication breakdowns and trust issues ensuing from the differing perceptions, understandings and desires held by individuals and groups. Learning to see and address the bias inherent in the mechanisms we employ to overcome the limitations imposed by these differences, is vital for improving our ability to practice conflict resolution.

Right relationship depends on the recognition of the universal interconnectedness lying at the centre of our existence. Thoughts and actions have a ripple effect. Participants in global disputes who recognise the essential unity of life, can transform the quality of all associated interactions, generate clarity of thought and allow the will-to-cooperation to take root – all needed to affirm humanity’s single purpose and identify how to break down barriers.

This Newsletter hopes to engage your creative thought and inspire right action in a spirit of Goodwill. §

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Three Spiritual Festivals 2024

Meetings & Broadcasts in London, New York and Geneva

Physical meetings and online ZOOM broadcasts

EASTER FESTIVAL / ARIES Mon 25 March, 2024 - 03:00:05 AM (New York) Mon 25 March, 2024 - 07:00:05 AM (London) Mon 25 March, 2024 - 08:00:05 (Geneva) Lucis Trust Meetings: New York Sunday, 24 March, 3.00 pm EDT  Lucis Trust, 866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 482, New York, NY 10017 Meeting Details; Broadcast Details London Sunday, 24 March, 03.00 pm GMT Lucis Trust Library, Suite 54, 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EF Meeting Details  Broadcast Details Geneva Sunday, 24 March, 18.30 CET LUCIS TRUST - Rue du Stand 40 (1er), 1204 Genève Meeting Details; Broadcast Details WESAK FESTIVAL / TAURUS The Taurus full moon takes place on Tue 23 Apr, 2024 - 07:48:44 PM (New York) Wed 24 Apr, 2024 - 12:48:44 AM (London) Wed 24 Apr, 2024 - 01:48:44 (Geneva) Lucis Trust Meetings: New York: Tuesday, 23 April, 7.00 pm EDT Venue: 3 West Club, 3 W 51st St. New York, NY 10104 Meeting Details; Broadcast Details London: Tuesday, 23 April, 6.30 pm BST Lucis Trust Library, Suite 54, 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EF Meeting Details  Broadcast Details Geneva: Tuesday, 23 April, 18.30 CEST LUCIS TRUST - Rue du Stand 40 (1er), 1204 Genève Meeting Details; Broadcast Details CHRIST'S FESTIVAL / GEMINI WORLD INVOCATION DAY The Festival will be observed on Gemini full moon Thurs 23 May, 2024 - 09:52:54 AM (New York) Thurs 23 May, 2024 - 02:52:54 PM (London) Thurs 23 May, 2024 - 15:52:54 (Geneva) Lucis Trust Meetings: New York Wednesday, 22 May, 6:00 pm. EDT Lucis Trust, 866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 482, New York, NY 10017 Meeting Details; Broadcast Details London Wednesday, 22 May, 6:30 pm. BST Lucis Trust Library, Suite 54, 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EF Meeting Details  Broadcast Details Geneva Wednesday, 22 May, 18.30. CEST LUCIS TRUST - Rue du Stand 40 (1er), 1204 Genève Meeting Details; Broadcast Details

THREE SPIRITUAL FESTIVALS Introduction Easter Festival Wesak Festival Christ’s Festival World Invocation Day Videos Wesak 2024 New World Invocation Day 2024 (3 minutes) World Invocation Day 2024 (6 minutes) Festival of Humanity Video (9 minutes) Wesak talk 2023 (New York, London, Geneva) Broadcasts Live broadcasts of meetings Arcane School Conference New York - Geneva - London   Meditation Letting in the Light – outline Cards & Literature Available at no charge for distribution Meditation at the Full Moon Introduction 2024 Moon Charts and Meetings

Service of the Plan Resources Psychology

Study Six - Department of Education (Psychology)

Additional Resources

“Modern exoteric science knows much about the outer form, or matter aspect, and its electrical nature. Esoteric science knows much about the nature of the subjective energies and the qualities which colour and condition the form. When these two knowledges are brought intelligently together, we shall evolve a truer and more accurate psychology and a new science of human culture. Then the work of unifying man – man, the psychic entity, and man, the conditioning soul – will go rapidly forward.” Alice Bailey, Esoteric Psychology Vol I, p. 120

Webinar videos can be viewed here.

Video 1: Welcome and Visualisation; Colour and the Seven Rays, Christine Morgan, President, Lucis Trust. 28:38

Citing the reference (above) from the Alice Bailey book, Esoteric Psychology I, the webinar is introduced as an attempt to explore the state of the general field of psychology today and consider ways in which psychology is externalizing the soul principle and incorporating esoteric ideas.

This first video explores the theme of colour and the seven rays and the impact this has on human consciousness. It includes a visualisation, ‘The Sun upon the Square’.

TEXTS 

New Moon Meeting (London) Friday January 20, 2023

Meditation at the time of the New Moon.
Just as there is a higher and a lower interlude in the annual cycle, so in the monthly cycle, the full moon occurs at the higher interlude and the new moon at the lower interlude. At the new moon, we concentrate on how the Plan can be manifested; we focus on the many ways in which the "power of the one Life" and the "love of the one soul" are working out through the servers of the world. The theme of meditation at the new moon is:  Strengthening the Hands of the New Group of World Servers.

The New Group of World Servers
Composed of all men and women who work for equality of opportunity, justice, inclusiveness and right relationships, the new group of world servers functions in every field of human endeavour and in all parts of the world.  For the most part they work, unrecognised, to meet not only human need, but the welfare of all living things, through an understanding of our planetary interrelationship and of the power of goodwill to bring about constructive change. 
 

 Watch a Live broadcast of the Meeting

New Moon Meeting (New York) Friday January 20, 2023

“STRENGTHENING THE HANDS OF THE NEW GROUP OF WORLD SERVERS”

Meditation is the primary form of service for those following a spiritual path. It is a means of cooperation and alignment with hierarchical intent. The new moon period follows upon the cycle of out-breathing in the rhythmic cycles of the breath; it is a time of pause wherein together we can establish a soul-mind-brain alignment.  During this period we work in thought to concretize the ideas and impressions received at the time of the full moon period and undertake the sometimes difficult process of translating them into practical plans that can be of service in the world. The effect of this meditative effort is to enhance the many ways in which the “power of the one Life” and the “love of the one soul” are working out through all true servers everywhere. The meeting will include an exploration on the theme The Gift of Understanding, followed by meditation and group discussion. Please call or email us if you will be attending, or contribute your thoughts prior to the meeting we will share them with the group when possible.

Listen to a Live broadcast of the Meeting

The Noble Whole
New Moon in January

As we move through our individual journeys down the evolutionary pathway, gliding along with us is the ever-present yet often hidden impulse toward a unified planet. Though achieving this goal seems impossible at times, we can find encouragement and very specific guidance in the accumulated wisdom of those who have come before us.

Emphasis is put on the strength of the whole, and on the potential contained within the minds and hearts of those who seek the higher values. Mystics and dreamers have always been with us. They, perhaps more than any other segment of the population, have always provided us with possible pathways forward. But it is for us, the do-ers, the makers, to take the dreams and place them squarely on the path of everyday life.

At the time of the Aquarius New Moon, we consider our role as an individual united with millions of individuals, in the playing out of this epic journey of fulfillment.

Further

• Lucis Trust Bi-Annual Letter, In Search of a New Culture: Perspectives on Human Flourish
• World Goodwill Blog, Culture and Development: A Bridge to the Future 
• World Goodwill Newsletter 2011 #3, Cultural Sensitives – a new vocation for a world of intermingling cultures
• Lucis Trust Autumn Booklet, Reflections on a Culture of Human Flourishing 
• World Goodwill Blog, Sustainable Development Goals – Planning for a Culture of Goodwill

Moment of Truth. Regenerative Economics: New Ways of Seeing, Thinking, Being, Leading and Managing For the 21st Century

John Fullerton, an unconventional economist, impact investor, writer, and philosopher, is the architect of Regenerative Economics. In 2001 after a successful 20-year career on Wall Street where he was a Managing Director of JP Morgan, he listened to a persistent inner voice and walked away. In 2010 after a deep inner search, he created the Capital Institute to explore the future of economics and finance.

At the end of a paper I wrote in 2008, The Relevance of EF Schumacher in the 21st Century,  I quoted a sentence from Tolstoy’s The Kingdom of God is Within You. It sums up what I've been trying to do ever since I first read it.

"The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity by contributing to the establishment of the kingdom of God, which can only be done by the recognition and profession of the truth by every man".

Neoclassical economics (which guides most economic decision making today) is grounded in Newtonian physics, but while physics has been updated by the advances of our scientific understanding, the “patches” made to neoclassical economics do not deal with its flawed foundational assumptions.

The crux of the matter boils down to a very simple, self-evident truth, which is that infinite growth of material throughput on a finite planet cannot go on forever. So called “problems” such as climate change and inequality are in fact mere (but deadly) symptoms of the system design flaw. So, we need to change the economic system. That is the core of my work. And as Monica Sharma, who spent her career at the United Nations, suggests, if you want to change the world, you need to change systems, and to do this you need to work at three levels: the problem solving level, the system level, and the consciousness level, all at the same time. The real power is in the inner work, because the system we have arises out of the level of consciousness of the culture that it is born into, and our problems are in fact uniquely designed by the system that created them.

Einstein said, “It is the theory that determines what we are able to see”. What I think he means is that, not only is it true that “seeing is believing” as we all can relate to, but also, “believing is seeing.” In other words, our belief systems, our ideological and theoretical belief systems, blind us to even seeing things as they are.

The idea of a regenerative economy is premised on three important assumptions. First, the economy is a living system, albeit an unhealthy one. Second, there are universal patterns and principles that describe how all living systems that have sustained themselves in the real world actually work. That's living systems science and it is now rigorously being studied, and of course is aligned with our latest understanding of physics as well, most notably that relationships are primary, not separate parts, and that everything is connected to everything. And finally, premise number three, if our human economy is to be sustainable, to be a living system not a system in collapse, and more importantly to thrive and be healthy and whole over the long run, it too will need a system design that aligns with these same patterns and principles.

Evelyn Underhill’s book, Mysticism, describes three types of mystics: the first type goes to the mountaintop in search of God, the second falls in love with God and the third is conscious of a strange spiritual seed within. As the seed develops, the mystic who is the spiritual alchemist moves to “higher levels of character and consciousness”. “Regeneration”, Underhill writes, “is their watchword”.

At this moment of profound transformation, I have great confidence that the universe is pulling us toward this idea of transformation. We all are spiritual alchemists at this moment, and economic transformation is “The Great Work” of our time.

Click here for video footage and transcript
World Goodwill Newsletter 2022 #3 - In Search of a New Culture

2023 Full Moon Talks - Geneva

Talks given through the Geneva Headquarters are in French and can be accessed on the French version of this page.