C.I. Five Great Spiritual Events

(Written February 1949)

You (A.A.B.) have asked me what I considered the most important and significant events from the spiritual angle at this present time. This question highlights a theme which is exceedingly apposite, following as it does upon what I have just given anent the Great Renunciation (see pages 602-614) and its consequent revelation or (as the Christian churches call them) the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. The Christian resurrection is, however - from the angle of the great Lodge on Sirius - only a minor one and a passing resurrection, though the revelation subsequently accorded is lasting and permanent in its effects.

There are five great spiritual events in which all humanity is today sharing, and two which will take place later, when the first five have established their lasting effects.

These events are based upon a forced and not upon a spontaneous renunciation (as is the case in the true experience of the Renunciation Initiation); they will lead nevertheless to a revelation which is imminent in its dawning and which will confront humanity before so very long.

The war of 1914 - 1945 is over; its aftermath of suffering, famine, selfish reactions, suspicion and unseemly struggle for supremacy is equally as bad as the past war; the effects are more lasting, because the war has been largely transferred to the mental plane. The physical effects of war are far more easily obliterated than are the mental effects. The great question with which the Hierarchy is today faced is: Will the race of men succeed in renouncing their present material objectives and so prepare the way for a great revelation? The Coming of the Christ Himself is not the revelation which is to be accorded, but He will simplify the thinking of men so that a widespread illumination and [742] recognition of the revelation will be possible. The next few years will indicate the way the tide will turn, and whether the reactionary, material and selfish forces which have controlled for millennia of years will finally control. This reactionary and material spirit taints every department of human life, and the churches are no exception. Humanity can, however, learn its lesson and turn thankfully to the "way of righteousness" and to the hitherto unknown technique of right human relations.

I seek not to deal in detail with the evil which holds the world in thrall. Enough is already known and a small handful (small in comparison to the many millions) of hierarchical workers in all departments of life are struggling to awaken humanity to the risks they are running, and to the finality of the decision which the next two generations will be forced to make. More will come to the surface as we study present-day happenings from the angle of renunciation and resurrection.

I would like first of all to point out that:

1. The mass of the people are sound, but ignorant of the higher values; that can be slowly righted. They are negative as yet in action, and prone to words and not deeds. They are easily led and also easily swayed by imparted fears.
2. The evil in the world and that which is primarily guilty of swaying the masses at this time is focused through a few powerful men or groups of powerful men. No country is free from this control, or from this attempted control. These powerful groups are swayed in their turn by the forces of evil - forces which were not "sealed in their own place," because the plan of love and light and power still lacks positive and worldwide presentation.
3. The aspirants, disciples and spiritual workers of the world are not acting in full concert with the Hierarchy. They are swayed by fear, by a sense of futility and by a too acute understanding of the nature of the forces of evil with which they are confronted. The picture of what must be accomplished looms too large; there is little organized [743] cooperation among them, and no welding together into a united group for world salvage and service.

The spiritual opportunity is, however, emerging with increasing clarity in the minds of thinking men and women, even if it is not expressed by them in orthodox (so-called) terms or in recognized or spiritual terms. Perhaps a clear statement of that which the active spiritual Forces are seeking to bring about may prove helpful. If the Forces of Evil are active and organized, the Forces of Light are equally active, but not so well organized. The basic goal is the freedom and the liberation of mankind, but the spiritual workers are handicapped by the fact that men themselves must make free choice and decision in order to be free; they can only be liberated when they - as individuals and later as groups - liberate themselves from the expressed thought-control of the powerful dominating groups and from the fears which these groups intentionally engender. Freedom can never be conferred through totalitarian methods; liberation cannot come through a dictator or dictating groups. A realization of the manner in which the hierarchical forces are working and a recognition that all men are today immersed in vital spiritual happenings may serve to encourage the faithful and give a quickening vision to those who are struggling on behalf of human freedom.

What are the five spiritual events in which all are consciously or unconsciously participating? Let me list them:

1. The crisis of the ideologies.
2. The steady awakening of men everywhere to better understanding.
3. The growth of goodwill, as it reveals cleavages.
4. The partial sealing of the door where evil dwells.
5. The use of the Great Invocation.

These are the five deepest spiritual events happening in the world today. The two which lie ahead in the not too distant future (but which depend upon humanity availing itself of the present opportunity) are:

6. The closer Approach of the Hierarchy.
7. The imminent Return of the Christ. [744]

C.I.1. The Crisis of the Ideologies

Men are today confronted with conflicting and antagonistic ideologies or schools of thought, and automatically - according to their background, tradition, training and place of birth - they regard some one of these ideas as true and all the others as false and wrong. They are apt to forget that according to the locale of birth, the national mode of schooling and the nature of the national propaganda, so will be the chosen ideology or the imposed ideology. Very few people are free agents, even in the democracies. A man born in Central Russia, for instance, knows nothing but Communism; he cannot imagine another suitable form of government; again, a man born in the United States or in Great Britain boasts and is pleased that he was born in a democracy, but the accident of birth accounts largely for his attitude. Men need to remember these things and not blame each other for the place in which they are born! We have, therefore, ideologies and their opponents, great schools of thought and modes of government, confronted by organized opposition. One basic premise can be laid down: The platform of the leading ideologies is not necessarily wrong or wicked; it is the imposition by force and by a police state of an ideology, and its use by powerful men or groups for their own benefit, plus the keeping of the people in blind ignorance so that no free choice is theirs - which is fundamentally wicked and evil.

We have, for instance, the great crisis in the world today presented by the conflict between Communism and the democratic point of view. I mention this first because it is the one which is occupying a prominent position in the eyes of all men everywhere. This presents a dominant spiritual opportunity. The democratic attitude, dedicated as it claims to be to human freedom (however little of that freedom is yet truly attained) is - because of that freedom factor - sponsored today by the Hierarchy. Communism being an imposed ideology, forced on the people by totalitarian authority, is regarded as evil. It is not the [745] communistic theories which are necessarily wrong; it is the technique and the methods, rampant in the totalitarian lands, which are counter to the spiritual plan. Imposed Communism and all totalitarian methods imprison the human soul, and breed fear and hatred everywhere. Should the democratic principles therefore be imposed upon the world or any part of the world by a totalitarian regime, it would be equally wrong.

These conflicting ideologies are presenting clearly to the human consciousness certain great distinctions; these distinctions are found in techniques and methods far more than in the various tenets. Many of the people most violently fighting Communism could not tell you succinctly what those tenets are, but they are fighting - and rightly fighting - the totalitarian methods of cruelty, spying, murder, suppression and the lack of freedom. What they are doing in truth is fighting the abominable methods of imposing the rule of a few evil and ambitious men upon the ignorant masses, under the name of Communism. They are fighting the technique of exploiting the ignorant through misinformation, organized lying and limited education. They are fighting against the sealing up of nations within the confines of their own territory, against the police state, the lack of free enterprise and the reduction of men and women to automatons. This is the true imprisonment of the human spirit. The situation is, however, so pronounced and the evil so obvious (and the human spirit so basically and divinely strong) that it will eventually defeat itself; when the present group of totalitarian rulers (behind what you call the "iron curtain") die out a different state of affairs will gradually supervene and a true Communism (in the spiritual sense of the term) will take the place of the present wickedness.

On the other hand, the much vaunted democracies have much to learn. Men are not truly free, even in democratic countries; the Negroes, for instance, lack their constitutional rights in parts of the United States; and in South Africa, their educational facilities and their opportunity [746] to work and live as free men are not equal to those of the white race; in the southern states, the Constitution of the United States is infringed every day by those who believe in white supremacy - a supremacy which will be put to a crucial test when Africa awakes. This attitude of the United States and their failure to live up to the Constitution where Negroes are concerned, have greatly weakened the faith of other countries in the wonder of America, and the situation in South Africa is not honored by thinking men. I mention these two situations because there is widespread evil even in the democracies; a true house cleaning is sorely needed.

The imperialism of democratic Britain has badly marred an otherwise fine record on behalf of dependent peoples, but it is rapidly becoming a thing of the past, as Britain gives freedom of choice and democratic liberation to India, Pakistan, Ceylon and Burma. Each of those liberations was in the nature of a spiritual expansion of consciousness to the British people and a spiritual opportunity, of which only Ceylon and Pakistan show signs of being aware. Always, in every department of human living, the spiritual and the material aims are making their presence and their differences clearly felt; the spiritual issue, as I have lately pointed out to you, is the imprisonment of the human spirit or its freedom and liberation.

True Democracy is as yet unknown; it awaits the time when an educated and enlightened public opinion will bring it to power; towards that spiritual event, mankind is hastening. The battle of Democracy will be fought out in the United States. There the people at present vote and organize their government on a personality basis and not from any spiritual or intelligent conviction. There is a material, selfish aspect to Democracy (rampant today), and there is a spiritual aspect, little sought after; there are material and spiritual aspects to Communism, but its adherents know them not, and only a ruthless materialism is conveyed to them.

There is again the ideology of Socialism which is [747] regarded by some as a basic evil. Socialism can degenerate into another form of totalitarianism, or it can be more democratic than the present expressions of Democracy. These issues will emerge clearly in Great Britain, where the socialist point of view is gaining ground among the masses, but which at present is a mixture of nationalization of the public utilities and of free enterprise - a combination which may have true value, if preserved.

There are other ideologies in the political, social and economic fields but these with which I have dealt constitute a triangle of schemes undergoing national and political experiments in different countries throughout the world. All of them have a religious and spiritual side; all of them are tainted with materialism; one of them is wickedly totalitarian and is finding followers; another is the victim of the stupid lack of interest of its people; another is in the throes of an experiment which may or may not prove successful. Under the impact of these ideologies the spiritual growth of the human family is fostered, because the emerging spiritual factor (under the evolutionary law) is ever present, and always there is to be found a tendency towards God and divine expression. That is why the issue is stressed between Christianity and Communism - a controversy emphasized by the Roman Catholic Church, but one into which the communistic nations are already drawing the Protestant churches.

From the standpoint of the Hierarchy, these three ideologies are three aspects of one great spiritual event; the outcome of the interplay between them can eventuate in an increased spiritual approach to divinity or (if the Forces of Light do not triumph) they can drive mankind deeper into the pit or prison of materialism. The intense political interest of the Catholic Church, plus its gross materialism, acts as a great handicap to the steady gain of the spiritual position; if however, the Catholic hierarchy can renounce or relinquish its material and political aims and present the love of God in its beauty, it can do much to lead humanity out of darkness into light. If the United States can equally [748] renounce its gross materialism, it can give a lead to the world along spiritual lines which will be beyond anything yet demonstrated and, aided by Great Britain, the two great democracies, expressing right human relations and the fellowship of man, can do great things for the race. Great Britain is learning a sense of values, and being drawn away from materialism through great privation; it is hoped that she will consciously renounce materialism.

I would like to remind you here that the spiritual Hierarchy of our planet cares not whether a man is a democrat, a socialist or a communist, or whether he is a Catholic, a Buddhist, or an unbeliever of any kind. It cares only that humanity - as a whole - avail itself of spiritual opportunity. It is an opportunity which is present today in a more compelling way than ever before.

C.I.2. Man's steady Awakening to better Understanding

The general effect of these clashing ideologies and the result of the war among the world religions have started men thinking in every land. Men are emerging out of the mental lethargy which has characterized them for so long. The man in the street is today thinking, pondering, wondering, planning and deciding. In past centuries, it was only those who had benefited by education and those in the "upper brackets" who thought and planned. This tendency to thought indicates the coming into activity of a new and better civilization, and this is preparatory to spiritual events of major importance. The spirit of man, usually unconsciously, is driving onwards towards a more spiritual civilization and culture. I did not say towards a more religious expression of truth. A more spiritual interrelation is on its way and the establishing on a worldwide scale of right human relations indicates this. We shall have eventually a spiritual focusing which will be divorced from the present orthodox religions, but which will be in tune with the hidden, spiritual factor in all religions. Men are not, in reality, looking for the Christ to come as a religious leader; they look for Him to come to them in the field of [749] their greatest need, to point the way to resurrection and the revelation which will inevitably follow man's renunciation of the material values.

The prevalent spirit of expectancy and of a truly divine discontent are the guarantees that this second spiritual event is a real factor in our time. Many factors contribute to this awakening. In most countries, through the radio, through the newspapers, through books, magazines and travel, through lectures and forums and simplified human intercourse (to which the automobile and the airplane have greatly contributed) men everywhere are free to know and to understand. This is, of course, not true of those countries where the freedom of the human spirit is attacked. There are two ways in which that freedom of choice can be infringed: First, as in Russia, by keeping the citizenry in ignorance of world affairs, and secondly, by giving them biassed news and misinformation, or a garbled or distorted slant on world affairs, as is the case in most other countries, particularly in the United States. An instance of this can be seen in the fact that the Arabs never got a true hearing in the American newspapers or on the radio; the American people were "pressured" (I think that that is the word you use) into an acceptance of the Zionist position - the motive being oil and mineral riches.

But the mentality of man is daily developing and his ability to grasp world affairs is growing. That is one of the greatest of spiritual events and is the foundational fact which makes the life of the soul and the growth of intuitive perception possible on a large scale. This is a by-product of the clash of the ideologies, but is the true and beautiful result of the universal educational system which - faulty though it may be and is - has made it possible for all men to read, to write and to communicate with each other.

C.I.3. The Growth of Goodwill and the Revelation of Cleavages

The result of the world war, of disease, famine and pain, has developed a spirit of community in suffering and [750] in deprivation; this has led to a consequent understanding participation in human difficulties everywhere which is rapidly changing into a spirit of world goodwill.

This worldwide goodwill, when truly established and correctly organized, is the needed preliminary to revelation, for this coming revelation will be a planetary revelation, shared by all men everywhere. Unitedly all men realize, even today, the need to rise out of the prison of self-interest into the freedom of shared opportunity, and the factor which will bring about this resurrection is goodwill.

One interesting aspect of goodwill is that, as it develops in the human consciousness, it first of all brings a revelation of the existent cleavages which distinguish the political, the religious, the social and the economic life of people everywhere. The revelation of a cleavage is ever accompanied (for such is the beauty of the human spirit) by efforts along all possible lines to bridge or heal the cleavage. This is testified to by the thousands of groups and organizations working to end cleavages and to pull down the barriers to right human relationships. That these efforts may be faulty and fruitless is often of less importance than the fact that the attempts to heal, to help and to establish right human relations are everywhere being made. Modern psychology is an evidence of this, dealing as it does with the problem of the integration of the human being and the healing of the cleavages of his nature. One of the first things to be done is to educate the individual in the necessity to have goodwill not only to his fellowmen but also to himself. The emphasis of medieval Christianity upon weakness, wickedness and the innate sinfulness of the human being has today to be offset by a true appreciation of divinity in human form.

It is not possible to list the cleavages which represent men's failure to establish and hold good and decent relationships with their fellowmen; there are today cleavages between man and man, between group and group, and also between religions and between nations. The terminology which will express good relations, instead of these, already [751] exists: Union, United, League, Federation, Commonwealth, Right Understanding, Kindness, Human Welfare and many similar terms; they mean, as yet, but little. Some day, however, they will stand for certain substantial realities, but that day is not immediate. The concept of easier, unified and happy relations is nevertheless existent in the minds of many thousands everywhere, and the factual reality will materialize some day.

The first step is the wholesome recognition that cleavages exist; it is here that goodwill can do its most useful and necessary work. I do not intend here to stress the nature of that work or state how it should be carried forward. That I have done already many times. It is the cultivation of a spiritual attitude that is needed and the dedication, at all times, and in every possible way, to the will-to-good. The majority of the existent cleavages are now recognized; the delay comes in the task of bridging them and also in shouldering responsibility. Many nations, and especially the U.S.S.R. and the U.S.A., are prompt to adjudicate blame, to point out errors and to advise other nations what is wrong and how to put it right. They both need to clean house themselves and attend to the righting of the wrongs within their own borders. The same is true of all nations, but the others are not so openly engaged in telling other peoples what they should do. Why, for instance, should the U.S.A. deal with the problem of the Indonesian strife and seek to force the Dutch to do what Americans feel should be done, and (at the same time) give not constitutional aid to the just cause of the Negro minority within the States? Why accuse other nations of constant wrong doing, as does Russia, and of breaking treaties, when Russia fails on all points to keep her word or to cooperate in righting world affairs?

The task which the Hierarchy wishes to see accomplished at this time is the spread of goodwill; each person, community and nation should begin with a diagnosis of their own attitude towards goodwill, and then set an example by eliminating cleavages in the home, the [752] business, or the nation. Goodwill is contagious; once a definite start has been made in a pure and disinterested spirit, goodwill will permeate the world and right human relations will be rapidly established. The healing of cleavages is a practical matter. The Spirit of Synthesis, working through the great first ray Avatar (the Avatar of Synthesis) is closer to the Earth than ever before, and the clarity which will emerge in the Light of His Presence is already available; the tendency to integration can therefore be more easily fostered and a new synthesis attained among men. Before, however, integration and synthesis are possible, this first ray energy must work to destroy all that prevents integration and all that is hindering a needed synthesis. Human beings themselves must also destroy the prejudices, the animosities and the fixed ideas which have prevented synthesis, which have created cleavages and hindered right understanding.

C.I.4. The partial Sealing of the Door where Evil dwells

Just what do these words mean? More than I can tell you or put into words, for the problem of evil is too difficult a one for the average man to grasp. The problem of the Hierarchy (if I may put it both accurately and yet symbolically) is to liberate the good, free the beautiful, release the true and "immure in prison under seal" that which is not good, that which breeds ugliness and hate, and that which distorts the truth and lies about the future. I have chosen all these words with care; their meaning is obvious, but there are significances far too deep and dangerous for you to grasp.

It has been humanity - cumulatively and over millions of years - which has released evil into the world. Thoughts of hate, deeds of cruelty, lying words, sadistic action, selfish intentions and the foulest kind of ambitious selfishness have created a pathway to the "door where evil dwells." Evil is in reality of two kinds: There is that innate tendency to selfishness and to separation which is inherent in the substance of our planet; of it all forms are made and our planetary Logos inherited it from the residue left over [753] from a previous solar system. That is something unavoidable and something that provides mankind with a needed opportunity and one which men are well equipped to handle and control. There is that in them which can transmute and change it, and it is this that basically constitutes the Science of Redemption.

But humanity has not chosen to exert itself in this redemptive activity, and for thousands of years has been controlled by that which is material; it has thus constructed the "broad and easy way" which leads to the place where another kind of evil dwells - an evil which is not indigenous to our planet, an evil with which it was never intended that men should deal. For untold aeons, the Hierarchy has stood like a shield, guarding humanity. But with the coming of a greatly increased mental development, with the repudiation of the Hierarchy by the bulk of humanity, and by the prostitution of religion to material ends and narrow theological and mental tenets, the Hierarchy has been forced (much against its will) to withdraw some measure of its protecting power (though not all of it, fortunately for mankind). The way to the door where evil dwells was unimpeded, and humanity opened wide the door. The entrance for what might be regarded as cosmic evil was first opened in the decadent days of the Roman Empire (which was one reason why the Christ chose to manifest in those days), was opened wider under the corrupt regime of the Kings of France and, in our own day, has been opened still wider by evil men in every land.

Remember that the evil to which I refer here is not necessarily the foul and vile things about which people speak with bated breath. These are largely curable and the processes of incarnation eventually purify them. The true nature of cosmic evil finds its major expression in wrong thinking, false values and the supreme evil of materialistic selfishness and the sense of isolated separativeness. These (to speak again in symbols) are the weights which keep the door of evil open and which precipitated upon the world the horrors of war, with all its attendant disasters. [754]

The realization of what was happening did more temporarily to unify the world and heal the cleavages among nations than any other thing. The nations of the world allied themselves with the Forces of Light to a very large extent, and little by little, cosmic evil was forced back and the door which "conceals the place of endless death and hides the countenances of the Lords of wicked pride and hateful lust" was partially closed, but not entirely shut; its final closing and sealing is not yet accomplished.

There are certain areas of evil in the world today through which these forces of darkness can reach humanity. What they are and where they are I do not intend to say. I would point out, however, that Palestine should no longer be called the Holy Land; its sacred places are only the passing relics of three dead and gone religions. The spirit has gone out of the old faiths and the true spiritual light is transferring itself into a new form which will manifest on earth eventually as the new world religion. To this form all that is true and right and good in the old forms will contribute, for the forces of right will withdraw that good, and incorporate it in the new form. Judaism is old, obsolete and separative and has no true message for the spiritually-minded which cannot be better given by the newer faiths; the Moslem faith has served its purpose and all true Moslems await the coming of the Imam Mahdi who will lead them to light and to spiritual victory; the Christian faith also has served its purpose; its Founder seeks to bring a new Gospel and a new message that will enlighten all men everywhere. Therefore, Jerusalem stands for nothing of importance today, except for that which has passed away and should pass away. The "Holy Land" is no longer holy, but is desecrated by selfish interests, and by a basically separative and conquering nation.

The task ahead of humanity is to close the door upon this worst and yet secondary evil and shut it in its own place. There is enough for humanity to do in transmuting planetary evil without undertaking to battle with that which the Masters Themselves can only keep at bay, but [755] cannot conquer. The handling of this type of evil and its dissipation, and therefore the release of our planet from its danger, is the destined task of Those Who work and live in "the center where the Will of God is known," at Shamballa; it is not the task of the Hierarchy or of humanity. Remember this, but remember also that what man has loosed he can aid to imprison; this he can do by fostering right human relations, by spreading the news of the approach of the spiritual Hierarchy, and by preparing for the reappearance of the Christ. Forget not also, the Christ is a Member of the Great Council at Shamballa and brings the highest spiritual energy with Him. Humanity can also cease treading the path to the "door where evil dwells" and can remove itself and seek the Path which leads to light and to the Door of Initiation.

C.I.5. The Use of the Great Invocation

Some time ago I gave out to the world - under instruction from the Christ - an Invocation that is destined to become of major usefulness in bringing about certain great events. These are:

1. An outpouring of love and light upon mankind, from Shamballa.
2. An invocatory appeal to the Christ, the Head of the Hierarchy, to reappear.
3. The establishing on earth of the divine Plan, to be accomplished willingly by humanity itself.

Incidentally, these three events are relatively near and will be brought about by a conscious working out of the immediate phase of the plan, which it is the divine intention to bring about to a certain extent, before the reappearance of the Christ. The establishing of right human relations is the immediate task and is that phase of the Plan of Love and Light to which humanity can most easily respond and for which they are already evidencing a sense of responsibility.

Little attention has been paid to the factor of invocation as expressed by the people   of the world; yet down the [756] ages the invocative cry of humanity has risen to the Hierarchy and brought response. Some day a scientific study will be made of the great world prayers, spiritual statements and invocative appeals and their relation to world events; this relationship will become illuminatingly apparent and the result will be a closer linking of earth and the spiritual centers of love and life. This has not yet been done. Let me illustrate: The spiritual statement by Shri Krishna, to be found in the Lord's Song, the Bhagavad Gita, was an announcement, preparatory to the coming of the Christ. In that Song He says:

"Whenever there is a withering of the Law and an uprising of lawlessness on all sides, then I manifest Myself. For the salvation of the righteous and the destruction of such as do evil, for the firm establishing of the Law, I come to birth in age after age."

In the lawless and wicked period of the Roman Empire, the Christ came.

Another instance of a notable and most ancient invocation is to be found in the Gayatri where the people invoke the Sun of Righteousness in the words:

"Unveil to us the face of the true spiritual Sun, hidden by a disk of golden light, that we may know the truth and do our whole duty, as we journey to Thy sacred Feet."

To this we should also add the Four Noble Truths, as enunciated by the Buddha and which are so well known to all of us, summarizing as they do the causes and the sources of all the troubles which concern humanity. There are many translations of these truths to which I have referred; they all convey the same longing and appeal and they are all essentially correct as to meaning. During the Jewish dispensation, there was given a statement as to human conduct in the words of the Ten Commandments; upon these, human law has been based and upon them the laws governing the relationships of people in the West have been founded. It has eventuated in a somewhat narrow conception of Deity; these Commandments are didactic and [757] present the negative angle. Then Christ came and gave to us the fundamental law of the universe, the law of love; He also gave us the Lord's Prayer with its emphasis upon the Fatherhood of God, the coming of the Kingdom and right human relations.

Now the Great Invocation, as used by the Hierarchy itself, has been given out to the world. So reactionary is human thinking that the claim made by me that it is one of the greatest of the world's prayers and is on a par with the other voiced expressions of spiritual desire and intention will evoke criticism. That is of no importance. Only a few - a very few - in the early days of Christianity employed the Lord's Prayer, because it needed recording, expression in understandable terms, and adequate translation before its widespread use became possible. That effort took centuries to accomplish. Today, we have all the facilities for rapid distribution and these have all been employed on behalf of the Great Invocation.

The uniqueness connected with the Invocation consists in the fact that it is, in reality, a great method of integration. It links the Father, the Christ and humanity in one great relationship. Christ emphasized ever the Fatherhood of God and substituted it in place of the cruel, jealous tribal Jehovah of the nation to which He had gone for a physical vehicle. Christ was a Jew. In the 17th chapter of St. John's Gospel (which is another of the major spiritual statements of the world) Christ emphasized the relation of the Christ consciousness to the consciousness of Deity itself. He linked the concept of the Monad to the fully developed soul-infused personality, and the underlying unity existing between all beings in all forms and the Father. The possibility which He there expressed still remains distant, except in connection with the spiritual Hierarchy; it is good, however, to remember that They have achieved a goal towards which all true disciples and initiates are working. The Great Invocation relates the will of the Father (or of Shamballa), the love of the Hierarchy, and the service of Humanity into one great Triangle of Energies; [758] this triangle will have two major results: the "sealing of the door where evil dwells," and the working out through the Power of God, let loose on earth through the Invocation, of the Plan of Love and Light.

This is no idle dream. From the angle of the human consciousness, the vehicle of Light is, first of all, the great educational systems of the world, with their capacity for improvement and for the extension of science along the lines of the betterment of mankind, and not for its destruction as is so oft the case today; to this must be coupled the steady changing or conversion of scientific attainment, by the enlightenment which wisdom brings; this has in the past safeguarded human aspiration and human progress into light. In the light which enlightenment brings we shall eventually see Light, and the day will come when thousands of the sons of men and countless groups will be able to say with Hermes and with Christ: "I am (or we are) the light of the world."

We are told by the Christ that men "love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil." Nevertheless, one of the great emerging beauties of the present time is that light is being thrown into every dark place, and there is nothing hidden which shall not be revealed.

When we invoke the Mind of God and say: "Let light stream forth into the minds of men, let light descend on Earth," we are, voicing one of the great needs of humanity and - if invocation and prayer mean anything at all - the answer is certain and sure. When we find present in all people at all times, in every age and in every situation, the urge to voice an appeal to the unseen spiritual Center, there is a fixed surety that such a Center exists. Invocation is as old as the hills or as old as humanity itself; therefore no other argument for its usefulness or its potency is required.

The usual invocative appeal has hitherto been selfish in its nature and temporary in its formulation. Men have prayed for themselves; they have invoked divine help for those they love; they have given a material interpretation to their basic needs. The invocation, lately given to us by [759] the Hierarchy, is a world prayer; it has no personal appeal or temporal invocative urge; it expresses humanity's need and pierces through all the difficulties, doubts and questionings - straight to the Mind and the Heart of the One in Whom we live and move and have our being - the One Who will stay with us until the end of time itself and "until the last weary pilgrim has found his way home."

But the Invocation is not vague or nebulous. It voices the basic needs of mankind today - the need for light and love, for understanding of the divine will and for the end of evil. It says triumphantly: "Let light descend on earth; may Christ return to earth; let purpose guide the little wills of men; let the Plan seal the door where evil dwells." It then sums it all up in the clarion words: "Let light and love and power restore the Plan on Earth." Always the emphasis is laid upon the place of appearance and of manifestation: the Earth.

Already this Invocation is doing much to change world affairs - far more than may appear to your eyes. Much remains to be done. I would ask all students, all men of goodwill and all who are participating in the work of the Triangles and helping to build the network of light and goodwill, to do all that is possible to spread the use of the Invocation. The year 1952 will be a year of spiritual crisis and a year when it should prove possible to close more tightly the door where evil dwells.

The Invocation has been sent out by the combined Ashrams of the Masters and by the entire Hierarchy; it is used by its Members with constancy, exactitude and power. It will serve to integrate the two great centers: the Hierarchy and Humanity, and to relate them both in a new and dynamic manner to the "center where the Will of God is known."

I ask you, therefore, during the coming years to prepare to use and distribute the Invocation and make it a major endeavor. I would have you call all the people in every country in the world (whom you are in a position to reach) to a united voicing of the Invocation on the same day [760] in every land. (World Invocation Day was launched in June 1952, and is held annually on the day of the June (Gemini) Full Moon.) I would ask you to collect all that I have said or written anent the Invocation and then prepare a brief manual as to its use and purpose, putting a copy in the hands of all those who are willing to use it. A comprehension of its origin, meaning and potency will render it far more effective. The year 1952 should see a major turning point in the thinking of humanity, in human goals and human affairs. For implementing this I would ask you to work.

Here you have a short resume of the five most important spiritual results of the present century. The war itself has cleared the way for them. They are a natural and normal outcome of the war and have arisen (with the exception of the Great Invocation) out of the masses of the people and from their thinking; it was also their unvoiced demand and the appeal of their suffering hearts which brought the Invocation to them.

The two other spiritual events which I listed lie, as you know, still in the future. They are the closer approach of the members of the spiritual Hierarchy to our humanity, and the reappearance of the Christ. With these two points I will not deal. I have dealt with the last stupendous event in the book by that name; and in the book, The Externalization of the Hierarchy, I have dealt exhaustively with the emergence of the Hierarchy on to the physical plane.

I am anxious to have you concentrate on the work which is preparatory to these two "emergence"; seek to make the five spiritual events which are already within your working knowledge a definite part of your own spiritual endeavor.

Let humanity constitute your field of service, and may it be said of you that you knew the spiritual facts and were a dynamic part of these spiritual events; may it not be said of you that you knew these things and did nothing about them and failed to exert yourself. Let not time slip by as you work. [761]

C.II. Stanzas for Disciples

C.II.1. The Path

Seek not, O twice-blessed One, to attain the spiritual essence before the mind absorbs. Not thus is wisdom sought. Only he who has the mind in leash, and sees the world as in a mirror can be safely trusted with the inner sense. Only he who knows the five senses to be but illusion, and that naught remains save the two ahead, can be admitted into the secret of the Cruciform transposed.

The path that is trodden by the Server is the path of fire that passes through his heart and leads to the head. It is not on the path of pleasure, nor on the path of pain that liberation may be taken or that wisdom comes. It is by the transcendence of the two, by the blending of pain with pleasure, that the goal is reached, that goal that lies ahead, like a point of light seen in the darkness of a winter's night. That point of light may call to mind the tiny candle in some attic drear, but - as the path that leads to that light is trodden through the blending of the pair of opposites - that pin point cold and flickering grows with steady radiance till the warm light of some blazing lamp comes to the mind of the wanderer by the way.

Pass on, O Pilgrim, with steady perseverance. No candle light is there nor earth lamp fed with oil. Ever the radiance grows till the path ends within a blaze of glory, and the wanderer through the night becomes the child of the sun, and enters within the portals of that radiant orb. [762]

C.II.2. The Cup of Karma

There is a cup held to the lips of those who drink, by four great Lords of Karma. The draught within that cup must all be drained, down to the nethermost drop, e'er it is possible to fill the cup with a purer, sweeter one. The seven Lords of cosmic Love await the hour of filling.

The cup is naught. The draught within distils forth drop by drop. It will not all be drained until the final hour wherein the Pilgrim takes the cup. He lifts it from the hand of those Who, bending, hold it to his lips. Until that day the cup is held, and in inner blind dismay the Pilgrim drinks. After that hour he lifts his head; he sees the light beyond; he takes the cup and, with a radiant joy, drains to the very dregs.

The contents of the cup are changed; the bitter now becomes the sweet; the fiery essence then is lost in cool, life-giving streams. The fire absorbed within has burned and scarred and seared. The draught now taken soothes the burns; it heals the scars and permeates the whole.

The Four bend down and see the work. They release the cup of Karma. The tender Lords of Cosmic Love then mix another draught, and - when the cup is empty seen (emptied by conscious will) - they pour within that which is needed now for broader, larger living. Until the cup has once been used, filled, drained, and seen as naught, it cannot safely hold within that which is later given.

But when to utter emptiness the Pilgrim drains the cup then to the world in torment now he turns. With cup in hand (drained once, filled again, and refused to selfish need) he tends the need of struggling men who tread the way with him. The draught of love, of sacred fire, of cool, health-giving stream he lifts not towards himself but holds it forth to others. Upon the road of weary man he becomes a Lord of Power - power gained through work accomplished, power reached through conscious will. Through the cup of Karma drained he gains the right to serve.

Look on, O Pilgrim, to the goal. See shining far ahead [763] the glory that envelops and the light that naught can dim. Seize on the cup and swiftly drain, delay not for the pain. The empty cup, the steady hand, the firm and strong endeavor lead to a moment's agony and thence to radiant life.

C.II.3. The Listening Pilgrim

Listen, O Pilgrim, to the chanting of the Word by the great Deva Lords. Hush all earth vibration, still the restless strivings, of lower mind, and with ear intent hark to the sounds that rise to the throne of the Logos. Only the pure in heart can hear, only the gentle can respond.

The stormy sounds of all earth struggle, the shrill vibration of the watery sphere, the crashing note marking the place of thought, dims the sound and shuts out the tone. He who is silent, quiet and calm within, who sees all by means of light divine and is not led by light reflected within the threefold spheres, is he who will shortly hear. From out the environing ether will strike a note upon his ear unlike the tones that sound within the world terrestrial.

Listen, O Pilgrim, for when that sound strikes in colorful vibration upon the inner sense, know that a point has been achieved marking a great transition.

Watch then, O Pilgrim, for the coming of that hour. With purified endeavor mount nearer to that Sound. Know when its tone steals through the misty dawn, or in the mellow sunlight strikes soft upon the ear, that soon the inner hearing will become expanded feeling and will give place to sight and perfect comprehension.

Know when the music of the spheres comes to you note by note, in misty dawn or sunny noon, at cool of eve, or sounding through the deep of night, that in their rhythmic tone lies secret revelation. [764]

C.II.4. An Esoteric Fragment

Where is the gate, O Lanoo, which guards the triple-way?

Within the sacred heart of Him Who is the threefold Path. I reach the gate and pass within, entering thus the Heart, through the means of wide compassion.

How many gates are there, O Passer on the Way?

The gates are seven, each leading to the center of a great sphere of bliss. By the one who seeks to know, the first gate must be found. That entered, in periodic cycles he will find the other six.

You speak of wide compassion as the key that opens wide the gates. Explain in words the simplest the need that this involves.

The need of gentle mercy, which knows and sees yet understands; the need of tears of crystal to wash away a brother's sins; the need of fiery courage that can hold a brother's hand, and lift and elevate him though all the world cry "nay"; the need of comprehension, that has experienced and knows; the occult sense of oneness must guide unto the gate.

What else will lead a man to the portal of the Path?

Compassion first and conscious oneness; then death to every form that holds and hides the life; next wisdom linked with learning, and the wise use of the Word; speech of an occult nature and the silence of the Center, held in the noise of all the world.

Can you, O Lanoo, blend these thoughts into a threefold charge?

First Oneness, then the Word, and lastly Growth. [765]

C.II.5. Healing

A center of violet, orbed by yellow, melts into red. Yellow develops and protects. It ensheaths the nucleus. When you attain the significance of violet, the laws of health and magnetic alleviation will be no longer sealed. The seal is being loosed by the devas of the shadows; the yellow approaches the violet and the red progresses. The ranks approach and cooperation is possible. In loosening the seal the gateway opens. These three are the great Helpers and in Their hands lies knowledge for the next generation. Approach.

C.II.6. The Hidden Portal

An immense cone of fire is seen in the midst of an arid desert. A man stands in front of the scene in an attitude of indecision. The cone stands between the man and a fruitful country.

Rises the cone from out the arid waste. Naught but its heat is felt, naught but its glare is seen. Its flames have swept the country and left the desert bare. It radiates forth a fire that devours all before it. All green things die and the dwellers on the sphere recede before its flame, scorching and burning, cruel and superb.

White is its inner heart, red the surrounding flame, and yellow the spreading fire. Like a mantle of fierce heat it shuts out the vision and obscures the beyond. Like a pall of rosy red tinged with an orange deep it veils all the distance.

From out the country full and green, across the arid waste had traveled far the Pilgrim. Naught had he held and kept, naught save his strong desire, back on the road he might not go, but onward to the fire.

From out that cone of fire, echoing from its heart, swift to his ears a voice that said: "Behold the place of God."

From out the cone of fire a note fell on his ear that touched a chord within his breast, and awakened quick response. [766]

Press on, O Pilgrim, towards the flame; brave the fierce ardor of the fire; enter within the portal which is hidden by its light.

The door is there, unseen, unknown, watched by the Lords of Flame. Deep in the heart of yellow, close by the outer rim, lies the key that holds hid the secret. The threshold of that inner door, the step unseen that must be reached, will meet the feet within the fringe of flame. Put forth the hand and touch the door, knock thrice with pure intent. A voice will answer to that call. The words will sound: "Who is it seeks the way?"

C.II.7. The Key

Key the first lies hid under the Threshold, guarded by the Watcher. He who breaks in must stoop and seize after a search of strenuous decision. The hand that grasps the key must have the nail-mark through the center there located. When this is so, door the first will open.

Key the second lies across the Threshold, over the heap of thorns. From the centers in the feet must pour the blood that dissolves all hindrances. In the bloodstained feet and the nail-marked hands lies hid the secret. Seek you them. Then door the second will open to your touch.

Key the third lies half way up. Just at the level of the heart that key is seen. Before it can be seized and used the spear must pierce and thus the blood pour forth, cleansing and making whole. Only those thus purified can grasp the key and pass through door the third.

C.II.8. An Occult Message

The key is found; and with the pressure of the hands in service of the Light and with a beating heart of love, that key is turned. The door swings wide open.

With hasty feet the one who hastens towards the light enters that door; then waits. He holds the door ajar for those who follow after and thus - in action - waits.

A Voice sounds forth: My brother, close that door, for [767] each must turn the key with his own hand and each must enter through that door alone. The blazing light within the Temple of the Lord is not for all at the same moment or the same hour of each day. Each knows his hour. Your hour is Now.

So, brother, close that door. Remember, those behind know not the door has opened or the door has closed. They see it not. Rest on that thought, my brother, and passing through the door close it with care, and enter upon another stage upon the upward Way - alone, yet not alone.

C.II.9. The Crucifixion

In the mystic Heart, with its two lobes, lies the key to the reservoir. In the outgoing and the return the cross is made. Midway it stands, with the right hand and the left hand path on either side. There the man is crucified, with the two on either hand - one on the right and one on the left. In the apprehension of the key, in the opening and shutting of doors, lies life eternal. Know you and understand.

C.II.10. The Cross

In the Cross is hidden Light. The vertical and horizontal in mutual friction create; a vibrant Cross scintillates, and motion originates. When the vertical assumes the horizontal, pralaya supervenes. Evolution is the movement of the horizontal to upright positiveness. In the secret of direction lies the hidden wisdom; in the doctrine of absorption lies the healing faculty; in the point becoming the line, and the line becoming the cross is evolution. In the cross swinging to the horizontal lies salvation and pralayic peace.

C.II.11. The Chalice

The lower chalice rises like a flower of color dark or somber. Dull it appears to the outer vision, but within a light will sometime shine and shatter the illusion.

Chalice the second rises from out the lower sheath as does the flower from out the calix green. Of color rose it [768] is, and many shades thereof; and to the onlooker it seems as if the color might transcend the inner shining light. But this is but illusion which time itself dispels.

Chalice the third surmounts all and opens wide in time its outspread petals. Blue does it appear and blends with the rose, forming at first a deep impenetrable shade which shuts out the light.

Within the three, deep hidden in the heart, tiny at first yet ever waxing greater, shines the light divine. This light, through radiating heat and innate divine vibration, constructs for itself a sheath of iridescence. It emerges from the threefold chalice as a floating bubble alights on a flower.

Within this iridescent sheath burns the inner Flame, and in its turn it burns out the lower gross material. E'en as the Path is neared, clearer the light shines out. Forth through the chalice gross and dark that forms the foundation shines the light supernal, till all who see the radiation cry out within themselves: "Behold, a God is here."

Forth from the chalice rosy red shines the inner glow, till soon the red of earth desire becomes the glow of heaven's fire, and all is lost save aspiration that shades not the cup with karmic color.

Forth from the chalice blue shines and glows the inner light divine till all the forms are burnt and gone, and naught is left save one divine abstraction. Naught but the shells remain below, naught but the forms for use, and at the culmination what strange event is seen? Tarry, O Pilgrim, at the strange appearance, with bowed head watch the progress of the fire. Slowly the chalice threefold merges into an altar, and from that triple altar mounts the fire unto its Source. As mounts and spreads the inner flame, the beauty of the central sphere, lit with a radiance white, causes the worlds to stand and cry: "Behold, a God is here."

Ever the flames mount higher, ever the warmth streams forth, till - in the moment of the hour set - the flame destroys all, and all is gone, the work of ages passes, in a moment, into nothingness.

But forth from the fourfold fire, up from the altar of [769] the ages, springs the Liberated One, the Flame. Back to the fire of Cosmos springs the dual flame. Into the Three is absorbed the essence, and becomes one with its Source. The Spark becomes the Flame, the Flame becomes the Fire, and forms part of the great Cosmic blaze that holds the secret of the Five hidden within the heart.

C.II.12. A Fire Mantram

• The point of light within the glowing arc, O Pilgrim on the Way, waxes and wanes as application hard or not betrays the purpose within the heart.
• That point is ever there, unnoticed and unseen. Dark is the night and drear, and sore the heart of the unilluminated Pilgrim. Dark is the night but drearness is not felt when within the gloomy portal is seen the bright illusive light, the light that flickers ever on ahead, enticing with its gleam the Pilgrim ever onward.
• Six times the light may wax and wane, six times the glow is felt, but at the seventh glowing hour the Flame bursts forth.
• Six times the Flame bursts forth, six times the burning starts, but at the seventh hour the altar is lost sight of and only Flame is seen.
• Six times the circle of the burning fire, six times the roaring furnace burns and separates, but at the seventh naught is left save the ascending Flame, that mounts to the Triadal Spirit.
• Six times the Flame mounts up, six times the cloud recedes, but at the seventh naught is seen save everlasting fire.
• Six times the Flame absorbs the water, six times the moisture disappears, but at the seventh great absorption naught is left save iridescent fire.
• Three times the fire envelops, three times the sun recedes; at time the fourth the work is done, and naught is left save Flame primordial. That Flame absorbs, revolves, receives, and remains. When all that is has traversed the Flame, then Time is not.