074-079
[74] HUMANITY,
[75] HUMAN RACES,
[76] HUMILITY,
[77] HYLOZOISM,
[78] IDEAS AND IDEALS,
[79] IDENTITY
[Page 173]
[74]
HUMANITY
(1) The world is one world, and its sufferings are one; humanity is in truth a unity, but many are still unaware of this, and the whole trend of the present teaching is directed to the awakening of humanity to this, while there is yet time to avert still more serious conditions. The sins of humanity are also one. Its goal is one, and it is as one great human family that we must emerge into the future. I would emphasise this thought: it is as one humanity, chastened, disciplined but illumined and fused, that we must emerge into the future. Those who do not grasp this important fact, whether they are what is called belligerents or neutrals, will suffer deeply as a result of their non-participation in the fate of the whole. . . . The Hierarchy is not neutral. It is one with the right element in every nation, and set against all separative, isolationist and materialistic attitudes. Such attitudes prevent the apprehension of the true spiritual values, and hinder human development. Identification with all, and participation in world conditions - voluntarily and not from force - is the way out today for all peoples. Ponder on this. (9 - 65).
(2) The long fore-ordained work of humanity . . . is to be the distributing agency for spiritual energy, to the three subhuman kingdoms. This is the major task of service which the fourth kingdom, through its incarnating souls, has undertaken. The radiation from the fourth kingdom will some day be so potent and far-reaching, that its effects will permeate down into the very depths of the created phenomenal world, even into the mineral kingdom (9 - 124).
(3) The objective of the new social order, of the new politics, and the new religion, is to bring about the unfoldment of the human consciousness, to institute and bring to men's attention the higher values, and to end the reign of materialism. It is , after all, the goal which all true knowers and spiritually minded men down the ages, have set themselves - to bring in the rule of the kingdom of God, the control of the soul, whose nature is love, and to carry forward the work which Christ inaugurated, - the era of peace on earth, goodwill towards men. This is plainly indicated by the widespread emphasis upon world peace, as voiced by the great political leaders, and as worked for by the churches everywhere.
The peoples of the world today, are divided into four groups, from the angle of Those Who are seeking to guide humanity into the New Age. This is of course a wide generalisation, and there are many bridging groups between the four major divisions.
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First, the ignorant masses: These, through poverty, lack of employment, illiteracy, hunger, distress, and no leisure or means for cultural advantages, are in an inflamed condition. They are developed just enough to respond to the mental control and suggestion of slightly more advanced people. They can be easily regimented, influenced, standardised, and swept into a collective activity by leaders of any school of thought which is clever enough, and emotional enough, to appeal to material desires, to love of country, and to hatred of those who possess more than they do. They can be controlled by fear, and thus aroused to action by emotional appeal.
Knowing no better, and suffering so much, they are easily swept by the fires of hatred and fanaticism, and so they constitute one of the greatest and most innocent menaces of the present time. They are the playthings of the better informed, and are helpless in the hands of those who seek to use them for any purpose whatsoever. They can be reached most easily by emotional appeals and by promises, whereas ideas can make but little impact upon their consciousness, for they are not yet developed enough to do their own thinking. The bulk of them are young souls, though there are exceptions, naturally. It is not the idealism of the leaders and demagogues which impresses them, and impels them into action (usually of a violent nature), but the desire to retaliate, the longing to possess in the material sense, and the determination to be what is colloquially called the "top dog". They embody mob psychology, mob rule, and mob violence. They are helpless, exploited, and - because they are an unthinking, unreasonable mass of human beings - they present a very real problem, as we all well know, and all governments well realise. Blind, unthinking violence has hitherto been met by armed force. Such is the case today. The masses fight and die on the urge of inflammatory speeches and seldom know what it is all about. Their conditions must be bettered, but not through bloodshed and exploitation.
Secondly, the middle classes, so called, both higher and lower. These are the bulk of the nations, the bourgeoisie - intelligent, diligent, enquiring, narrow-minded, essentially religious, though frequently repudiating the forms of religion. They are torn and devastated by the economic conflict, and are, without exception, the most powerful element in any nation, because of their capacity to read, to discuss, to think, to spend money, to take sides. They form the bulk of the partisans in the world, the fighters for a cause, and are formed into great groups, either for or against this, that, or the other party. They love to recognise and choose a leader, and are ready [Page 175] to die for a cause, and to make endless sacrifices for their ideals, based upon the ideas presented to them by their chosen leaders.
I am not differentiating the so-called aristocracy into a group, because that is entirely a class distinction, based largely on heredity and capital, and the modern adjustments in nations, are rapidly fusing them into a large middle class. We are dealing with basic matters, with the groupings which are founded on major attitudes, and not on divisions which emerge when material resources are under consideration. The bourgeois mind is today, slowly and steadily, permeating the masses, the proletariat, and it is also penetrating into that circle which has hitherto been called the upper classes. It is found existing as a state of consciousness in the aristocracy of any nation, and absorbing them under the great present levelling process. Because of this levelling which is everywhere going on, the spiritual aristocracy can now emerge - an aristocracy based on a realisation of divine origin and goal, which knows no class distinction, and no separating differences. We are therefore dealing with human divisions, and not class distinctions.
This second group is the most fruitful field from which the new leaders and organisers are being drawn. They constitute an intermediate group between the world thinkers, the intelligentsia, and the masses of men. In the last analysis, they are the determining factor in world affairs. The masses suffer from world conditions, and from the situations brought about through the activity of this second group, as it responds in some way or another to the new influences, the new ideals, and the new controlling factors in the modern world. This great second group itself, suffers at the hands of those who seek to impose the new rhythms upon the peoples - the political groups, the religious idealists and fanatics, and the protagonists of the new social order and economic regimes (as interpreted to them rightly or wrongly by their leaders).
Because of their intelligence, due to the improving educational facilities, the ability to read, and the impact of the new methods of propaganda, the press and the radio, they provide the most powerful group in the world in each nation, and it is to them that the leaders make their appeal, and it is their backing and their partisanship which is demanded, and which means success to any leader. They are the ones who have the controlling vote in national affairs. They are today swept by uncertainty, by questioning, by deep-seated fears, and by the desire to see justice done, and the new order of things established. Above everything else they desire peace, stable economic conditions, and an orderly world. For this they are ready to fight, and [Page 176] are today fighting in every party, every group, and for every kind of political, nationalistic, religious, economic and social ideals. If they are not literally fighting, in the physical sense, they are fighting with words, speeches and books.
Thirdly, the thinkers of the world: These are the intelligent and highly educated men and women, who sense ideas and formulate them into ideals. These people speak the words, write the articles and books, and utilise all the known methods to reach and educate the general public, and thus stir up the bourgeoisie to activity, and arouse through them, the masses. Their function, and the part they play, is of supreme importance. From their ranks come those who are steadily influencing the trend of world affairs, sometimes for good, and sometimes for selfish ends. They play upon the human mind, as a musician plays upon his instrument, and the power of the press, of the radio, and of the public platforms, is in their hands. Their responsibility is enormous. Some few, more perhaps than might appear, are working selflessly under the inspiration of the new era. They are dedicated to the amelioration of human conditions, and the betterment of world affairs along certain lines, which seem to them (rightly or wrongly), to have in them the hope of the future, and the uplift of humanity. They are found in every government, party, society, and organisation, and in every Church and religious grouping. They constitute the most influential unit today, because it is through them that the large middle class is reached, swayed, and organised for political, religious and social ends. Their ideas and utterances percolate down through the upper and middle classes, and finally reach the ears of the more advanced of the undeveloped masses.
Fourth, the New Group of World Servers: These are the people who are beginning to form a new social order in the world. They belong to no party or government, in the partisan sense. They recognise all parties, all creeds, and all social and economic organisations; they recognise all governments.
They are found in all nations and all religious organisations, and are occupied with the formulation of the new social order. From the purely physical angle, they are not fighting either for the best in the old order, or for the betterment of world conditions. They consider that the old methods of fighting, and partisanship, and attack, and the ancient techniques of party battle, have utterly failed, and that the means hitherto employed on all sides, and by all parties and groups (fighting, violent partisanship of a leader or a cause, attacks on individuals whose ideas or manner [Page 177] of living is deemed detrimental to mankind) are out of date, having proved futile and unsuitable to bring in the desired condition of peace, economic plenty, and understanding. They are occupied with the task of inaugurating the new world order, by forming throughout the world - in every nation, city and town - a grouping of people who belong to no party, take no sides either for or against, but who have as clear and definite a platform, and as practical a programme, as any other single party in the world today. They take their stand upon the essential divinity of man; their programme is founded upon goodwill, because it is a basic human characteristic. They are therefore organising the men of goodwill throughout the world at this time, outlining to them a definite programme, and laying down a platform upon which all men of goodwill can meet.
They state and believe that their initial appeal has been of such a nature that, given the assistance of the trained minds to be found in the third group outlined above, and given the needed financial assistance to do the required educational work and goodwill propaganda, they can so change the world (through the sole agency of the men of goodwill) that - without war, without arousing hatred between men, and without attacking any cause or giving partisanship to any cause - the new order can be firmly established upon earth. (15 - 632/7).
(4) The consciousness of humanity is awakened everywhere; the most undeveloped races are in process of achieving education, involving necessarily the discovery of the mind; goodwill is being recognised as necessary to world unfoldment, and men are finding that "no man liveth unto himself" - or any nation either; they are registering the fact that it is simply common sense and the part of wisdom to better conditions for all men everywhere. This is a new attitude, and a fresh and most hopeful approach. Men are learning to know and understand each other; nations are arriving at a closer contact with one another; statesmen of all nations are wrestling together and in joint conclave with the problem of bettering human living conditions; everywhere there is thought, there is appraisal, and there is the struggle for freedom and for the truer values. What is all this but the effort of the soul of humanity to kill out disease, restore unhealthy areas to health, and eliminate points of friction? Is not this what the spiritual man who is ill is seeking to bring about in his own body, and what the healer is attempting to aid him to do? (17 - 610/1).
(5) Humanity is sick and awaiting healing. The healing will be brought about through the medium of the New Group of World Servers and by the men of goodwill, aided by the Hierarchy, from which planetary centre [Page 178] the healing energies will be drawn. . . . The sickness of humanity as a race, and as a result of aeons of wrong living, of selfish purpose and of greed, has produced a mass of physical ills; today millions of children are born, either openly diseased, or with the seed of disease in them. (17 - 663).
(6) The race as a whole stands now at the very entrance to the Path of Discipleship. The racial gaze is forward to the vision, whether it is the vision of the soul, a vision of a better life, of an improved economic situation, or of better inter-racial relationship. That this vision is oft distorted, that it is materially oriented, or only partially seen, is sadly true; but in some form or another there exists today an appreciable grasp of the "new and desirable" by the masses - a thing hitherto unknown. In the past, it was the intelligentsia or the elect, who were privileged to have the vision. Today, it is the mass of men. Humanity, therefore, as a whole stands ready for a general alignment process, and that is the spiritual reason which lay behind the world war. The "sharp shears of sorrow must separate the real from the unreal; the lash of pain must awaken the sleepy soul to exquisite life; the wrenching away of the roots of life from the soil of selfish desire must be undergone, and then the man stands free". So runs the Old Commentary in one of its more mystical stanzas. (18 - 498/9).
[75]
HUMAN RACES
(1) On the subject of inter-marriage, the best and soundest thinkers in both the white and black races at this time deplore mixed marriages. They mean no happiness for either party. When considering this subject it should be remembered, however, that inter-marriage between the white peoples and the yellow races (the Chinese and the Japanese) is equally unfortunate and - with the rarest exception - seldom proves successful and is never satisfactory where the children of such unions are concerned. (7 - 113/4).
(2) The political regimes of the world need orienting to each other; it has never been the divine plan that all nations and races should conform to some standard political ideology or be reduced to a uniform general form of government. Nations differ; they have different cultures and traditions; they can function adequately under varying and distinctive governments; nevertheless, they can at the same time attain a unity of purpose, based upon a genuine desire for the true welfare and progress of all men everywhere. (6 - 232).
(3) Inter-marriage between nations and races, the fusion of bloods for [Page 179] hundreds of years - due to migration, travel, education and mental unity - has led to there being no really pure racial types today. This is far more certainly the case than the most enlightened think, if the long, long history of mankind is considered. Sexual intercourse knows no impenetrable barriers, and people today have in them all the strains and the blood of all the races, and this (as a result of the world war, 1914-1945) will be increasingly the case. This development is definitely a part of the divine plan, no matter how undesirable it may appear to those who idealise purity of relationship, or how ruthless its application is at the present moment. Something intended is being brought about, and it cannot be avoided. The urge to mate becomes peculiarly strong when men are removed from their familiar settings, and experience the novelty of complete loneliness, when the normal inhibitions and customs, imposed by family relationships and national standards are removed, when danger of death is constantly faced, and the larger value submerges the lesser values and the usual conventional attitudes, and when the physical organism has been trained and brought by scientific treatment and heavy feeding, to the height of physical efficiency. I am speaking in terms of physical effectiveness and not of mental efficiency, which may or may not parallel the former. (17 - 222).
(4) . . . In saying this, I seek only to explain the phenomena which can be noted at all times when war is present, and which in the world war can be noted on a large scale. The armies of the world are everywhere, and are spread over every country; racial transmigration is a universal factor, both from the angle of military necessity, and from the plight of the civilians who find themselves in the path of war. This movement of millions of men everywhere, is one of the paramount factors which will condition the new civilisation, and its importance is based upon the fact that in twenty-five years' time men and women will be a hybrid race, whose fathers and mothers will be of every imaginable nation; white fathers will have had physical relation with women of every Asiatic or African origin, thus producing a fusion of blood which - if recognised and rightly handled and developed, from the educational angle, and with understanding - will express in embryo the nature of the sixth rootrace, and which will be in fact humanity without any racial or national barriers, with no so-called pure blood and exclusive castes, and with a new and virile sense of life, because of the infusion of stronger stocks with the weaker or worn-out types, and of the newer racial strains with the older and more developed. I hold no brief for the manner in which this is being brought about. It could have happened without war, and through a conviction that all men are equal and [Page 180] human, and that the mixture of races would solve many problems; war, however, has hastened the process, and the soldiers of all the armies of the world are having physical relations with women of all races, all civilisations and all colours. This must, whether regarded as right or wrong, according to the code of ethics and standards of the observer, produce an entirely new situation, with which the world of the future will have to cope; it must inevitably break down national prejudices and racial barriers - the first producing more effect than the latter during the initial stages. Inevitably a more homogeneous humanity will appear during the changes of the next one hundred years. Many attitudes and many customary reactions which today hold sway, will vanish, and types and qualities and characteristics for which we have as yet no precedent, will appear upon a large scale.
Whether the conservative and the so-called strictly "moral" people dislike this worldwide happening, has no bearing on the case. It has happened and is happening daily, and will materially bring about far-reaching changes. These inter-racial and mixed relationships have always happened upon a small and individual scale; they are now happening on a large scale. For the results of this due preparation must be made. (17 - 223/4).
(5) The emerging of a new racial type. The subjective outlines of this type can already clearly be seen. So glamoured are we by the form side, that many claims are made today that the new race is to be found in America. The new race is forming in every land, but primarily in those lands where the fifth or Caucasian races are to be found. . . .
Let me also make one definite statement at this point which may cause some surprise. The fifth kingdom in nature, the spiritual, will emerge out of the fifth root race. Such is the esoteric control of the Law of Correspondence. (12 - 118).
(6) The new racial type is far more a state of consciousness than a physical form; it is a state of mind more than a peculiarly designed body. In time, however, any developed state of consciousness invariably conditions and determines the body nature and produces finally certain physical characteristics. (12 - 119).
(7) Under the great evolutionary process, men and races differ in mental development, in physical stamina, in creative possibilities, in understanding, in human perceptiveness, and in their position upon the ladder of civilisation; this, however, is temporary, for the same potentialities exist in all of us without exception, and will eventually display themselves. These distinctions, which have in the past set peoples and races so far apart, are rapidly dying out with the spread of education, with the uniting discoveries [Page 181] of science bringing us all close together, and with the power to think, to read and to plan. (7 - 90).
[76]
HUMILITY
(1) I would like also to point out with all the clarity and power at my disposal, the very deep necessity for humility and its constantly recurring expression. I refer not to an inferiority complex, but to that adjusted sense of right proportion which equips its possessor with a balanced point of view as to himself, his responsibilities and his lifework. This, when present, will enable him to view himself dispassionately, and his presented opportunities with equal dispassion. Undoubtedly all disciples, you among them, have speculated upon your status and standing upon the Path, and upon the status of your co-disciples. That is, after all, both natural and human. Some of you are too humble in the personal sense, and not in the sense of true humility. By that I mean that you are so afraid of pride and bombast and an over-estimation of your capacities, that you are untrue to the realities, and belittle the power of your souls. (5 - 95).
(2) He needs also to cultivate that true humility which will force him to give all he has in selfless service, and then to forget that he has thus given of himself. He must have no thought of himself as a factor in the case. Only when detachment and humility are present, can a disciple really serve. (5 - 417).
(3) Think humbly, speak wisely, and work ceaselessly. (6 - 555).
[77]
HYLOZOISM
This theory recognises no so-called inorganic matter anywhere in the universe, and emphasises the fact that all forms are built up of infinitesimal lives, which in their totality - great or small - constitute a Life. Thus eventually we have that great scale of lives, manifesting in greater expression, and reaching all the way from the tiny life called the atom (with which science deals), up to that vast atomic life which we call a solar system. (14 - 149).
As to the significance of the word "life", our task is wellnigh insuperable, for no human being has, or can have, any comprehension of the nature of life until he has attained the third initiation. I repeat this with emphasis, and in order to impress upon you the futility of idle speculation upon this subject. (14 - 150).
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[78]
IDEAS AND IDEALS
(1) It is in this realm of ideas that humanity is not a free agent. . . . Once an idea becomes an ideal, humanity can freely reject or accept it, but ideas come from a higher source and are imposed upon the racial mind, whether men want them or not. Upon the use made of these ideas (which are in the nature of divine emanations, embodying the divine plan for planetary progress) will depend the rapidity of humanity's progress, or its retardation for lack of understanding. (9 - 8).
(2) Though materialism is still rampant, there are few people who are not animated by certain definite idealistic aspirations for which they are ready, when needed, to make sacrifices. This is a relatively new phenomenon, and one that should be carefully noted. Down the ages, great sons of God have ever been ready to die for an idea; today, whole masses of men are equally ready and have done so, whether it is the idea of a superhuman state, empire or nation, or some response to a major world need, or some potent adherence to some current ideology. This indicates phenomenal racial achievement, and the pronounced success of the Hierarchy to shift human attention into the world from whence ideas emerge, and on to the higher and the less material values. (9 - 113/4).
(3) Illusion, for our purposes, can be understood to signify the reaction of the undisciplined mind to the newly contacted world of ideas. This contact opens up from the moment a man has aligned himself, and brought the lower nature into touch with the higher. Ideas come to us from the plane of the intuition. The soul illumines the plane of the mind and the plane of the intuition, so that they stand revealed to each other, and their mutual relationship becomes then apparent. The mind of the man (which is slowly becoming the centre of his consciousness, and the major reality of his existence) becomes aware of this new and undiscovered world of ideas, and he seizes upon some idea or group of ideas, and endeavours to make them his own. At first, with the majority of people, and especially with the average mystical type, the appreciation of ideas is vague and nebulous, and frequently is arrived at from a second-hand angle. The illumination, coming through the medium of the feebly established soul contact, seems to the unaccustomed neophyte, to be of a supreme wonder and of vital moment. The ideas contacted appear to him of great marvel, and superbly unusual, and vitally needed by humanity.
But the mind is still self-centred, the contact feeble, and the alignment [Page 183] uncertain. The ideas are, therefore, only dimly sensed. But the uniqueness of the experience in the realised content of the mind of the disciple, leads him deep into the realm of illusion. The idea or ideas, which he has contacted are, if he could realise, only a fragment of a far greater Whole. That which he brings to their interpretation is inadequate. The idea which has emerged in his consciousness, through the partial awakening of his intuition, will be distorted in its descent to his brain consciousness in several ways. That which he brings to the materialising of the idea, and to its transformation into a practical working scheme, is as yet wholly unsuitable. The equipment does not suffice for accuracy. (10 - 54/5).
(4) Illusion demonstrates in seven ways usually:
1. Through wrong perception of an idea. The disciple cannot distinguish between an idea and an ideal, between an idea and a thought-form, or between an intuitive or a mental concept. . . . The cause is an untrained, unillumined mind. The cure is training in the technique of Raja Yoga.
2. Through wrong interpretation. . . . The cause is an over-estimation of one's mental powers. The sin, par excellence, of the mental type is pride, and that colours all activities in the early stages. The cure is the development of a cautious spirit.
3. Through wrong appropriation of ideas. Misappropriation of an idea is based upon the drama-making faculty, and tendency of the personality to the self-assertion of the little self. These lead a man to appropriate an idea as his own, to credit himself with its formulation, and to give, therefore, undue importance to it, because he regards it as his. . . . The cause is over-estimation of personality, and undue impress of personality reactions upon the sensed idea, and upon all who attempt to contact the same idea. The cure is a steady attempt to decentralise the life from the personality, and to centre it in the soul.
One point I would like to make clear at this point. Ideas very seldom come into the world consciousness, and into the human mind, direct from the intuitional levels. The stage of human development today does not yet permit this. They can come from the intuitional levels only when there is a very highly developed soul contact, a potent mind control, a trained intelligence, a purified emotional body, and a good glandular equipment, as the result of the above requirements. Ponder upon this thought.
Most ideas, when of a very high order, are stepped down into the consciousness of the disciple by his Master, and are imparted to him through mental telepathy . . . Again, certain great ideas are to be found existing as currents of energy upon the mental plane, and can there be contacted and [Page 184] forced into embodiment through the trained attention of disciples. These currents of mental energy, coloured by a basic idea, are placed there by the Hierarchy. When thus contacted and discovered, the neophyte is apt to regard his achievement in a personal way and attribute the idea to his own wisdom and power.
4. Through wrong direction of ideas. This is due to the fact that, as yet, the disciple does not see the picture as it is. His horizon is limited, his vision myopic. . . . Its cause is a small and non-inclusive mind. Its cure is the training of the mind to be inclusive, well-stocked and well developed from the angle of modern intelligence.
5. Through wrong integration of an idea. Every disciple has a life plan, and some chosen field of service. If he has not such a field, he is not a disciple. . . . All ideas sensed and contacted, need not necessarily be ideas with which every disciple should work. This the disciple does not always realise. He therefore seizes upon the idea, and attempts to integrate it into his plans, and tries to work with energies for which he is not temperamentally suited. He imposes an energy current upon his mental body, with which he cannot cope, and disaster follows. . . . Its cause is selfish grasping for the little self, even if this is unrealised, and the disciple is glamoured by the idea of his own selfless interest. Its cure is a humble spirit.
6. Through wrong embodiment of ideas. This refers primarily to the difficulties encountered by those developed souls who do touch the world of the intuition. . . . The idea is contacted, but is wrongly clothed in mental matter, and therefore, wrongly started on its way to materialisation. . . . The cause is lack of esoteric training in creative activity. Its cure is the application of fifth ray methods, which are the methods of the mental plane.
7. Through wrong application of ideas. How often does this form of illusion descend upon a disciple! He contacts an idea intuitively and also intelligently . . . and misapplies it. (10 - 57/64).
(5) Thus thoughts play their part, and the problem of ideas will be increasingly understood, until the time may come when we shall have our trained intuitives and thinkers who will be able to work directly in the world of concepts and bring through (for the use of the race) the pattern ideas upon which to build. In saying this I realise that I may be accused of romancing and of communicating the impossible; but time will demonstrate the truth of that which I predict. (12 - 115).
See also: (6 - 280/1).
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[79]
IDENTITY
Of one thing we can be sure, and that is that identity ever remains . . . Each one of us, in due process of evolution, forms part of one of the Heavenly Men, Who Themselves form the seven centres in that greater Heavenly Man, the Logos. Yet, though we are merged with the whole, we do not lose our identity, but forever remain separated units of consciousness, though one with all that lives or is. In like manner our Logos loses not His identity, even though He forms part of the Consciousness of the Logos of Sirius. In His turn, the Sirian Logos forms one of the seven Grand Heavenly Men, who are the centres in the body of ONE OF WHOM NAUGHT MAY BE SAID. (3 - 571/2).