24.Discipleship in the New Age,Vol. I - 03. SECTION ONE - PART 2 - ALICE BAILEY

SECTION ONE - DISCIPLESHIP IN THE NEW AGE - PART 2

The various groups in a Master's Ashram can fulfil certain functions and provide laboratories for specified work. Some can provide a demonstration laboratory of the trained observers of the world and can handle world glamour and illusion. Other groups can focus on the development of the telepathic faculty and become trained communicators. The objective before the Hierarchy at this time is to break and dissipate the world glamour. This has to happen on a world scale just as it happens in the life of every disciple. Just as a man shifts his focus of consciousness (when on the Path of Discipleship) on to the mental plane and learns to smash the glamour which has hitherto held him on the astral plane, so the problem before the Hierarchy today is to bring about a similar happening in the life of humanity as a whole, for humanity is at the crossroads and its consciousness is being rapidly focussed on the mental plane. A death blow must be struck at the world illusion for it holds the sons of men in thrall. By learning to break through the glamour in their own lives and to live in the light of the intuition, disciples can strengthen the hands of Those Whose task it is to awaken the intuition in man. There are many and different kinds of glamour and disciples are frequently surprised when they learn what is regarded as glamour by the Masters. I will enumerate a few of the more general glamours for you, leaving you to make any needed application and expansion of the idea from the individual to humanity as a whole. Here are the names of some of these glamours:

1. The glamour of destiny. This is a glamour which indicates to the one whom it controls that he has important work to do and that he must speak and work as destined. This feeds a pride which has no foundation in fact.

2. The glamour of aspiration. Those thus conditioned are completely satisfied and pre-occupied with their aspiration towards the light and rest back upon the fact that they are aspirants. Such people need to move onward on to the Path of Discipleship and cease their preoccupation and satisfaction with their spiritual ambitions and goals.

3. The glamour of self-assurance or of what might be called the astral principles of the disciple. This is the belief, in plain language, that the disciple regards that his point of view is entirely right. This again feeds pride and tends to make the disciple believe himself to be an authority and infallible. It is the background of the theologian.

4. The glamour of duty. This leads to an over-emphasis of the sense of responsibility, producing lost motion and the emphasis of the non-essential.

5. The glamour of environing conditions, leading frequently to a sense of frustration, or of futility or of importance.

6. The glamour of the mind and of its efficiency and its capacity to deal with any or every problem. This leads inevitably to isolation and loneliness.

7. The glamour of devotion, leading to an undue stimulation of the astral body. The man or woman thus glamoured sees only one idea, one person, one authority and one aspect of truth. It feeds fanaticism and spiritual pride.

8. The glamour of desire with its reflex action upon the physical body. This leads to a constant condition of fighting and of turmoil. It negates all peace and fruitful work and must some day be brought to an end.

9. The glamour of personal ambition.

There are many other glamours, both individual and world-wide, but these will serve to indicate a general tendency.

Those who are in preparation for initiation must learn to work consciously with glamour; they must work effectively with the presented truth, ignoring any pain or suffering or mental questioning which is incident to personality rebellion and limitation; they must cultivate that "divine indifference" to personal considerations which is the outstanding hallmark of the trained initiate.

I shall not deal further with the subject of glamour as it affects or might affect this particular group of disciples in my Ashram. The times are urgent and the need of humanity so great that there is no "space in consciousness" (to use an ancient occult phrase) for the reiteration of the known ideal, or to tell you again what needs to be done.

I would have you realise that there is no haste in the work which a Master carries on in connection with His disciples. There is no hurry in the work which I am proposing that we do together, but neither should there be any waste time or lost motion. It will become apparent to you that much that I seek to accomplish is related to thought control and to the activity of the creative imagination. The Hierarchy produces its effects upon the plane of appearances through the potency of its unified, conscious thinking. The establishing of such a condition of unified thinking within the New Group of World Servers is part of my major effort at this time; we can achieve little until that has been brought about.

So I summon you to a new phase of intense, inner living and dynamic thinking, but this time with a group objective—the objective of group fusion, group united thinking and group relation.... It is the inner life of reflection, the cultivated recognition of the soul and the reflective alignment of soul and personality which will determine the success of this work.

Third: There is another great mind power which has to be unfolded. It is one which characterises all liberated souls, no matter what their ray. This is the power to heal. This work is as yet in embryo and the group consciousness is as yet so young and unpolarised that it is needless for me to enlarge upon the possibilities ahead. When men can be trained to be unselfishly and divinely magnetic and radio-active, then there will be poured out upon the world certain divine forces which will vivify and reconstruct, which will eliminate the evil and heal the sick. Hitherto the attempts of men in the field of medicine, of healing and of the various forms of therapy have been the result of impulses to respond to these hovering forces, but that is all as yet.

These are the three major faculties which the spiritual man can unfold; other faculties and developing capacities are only expansions of these three—telepathic thought, receiving and transmitting; intuitive recognition of truth and its formulation into concepts by the mind, plus the later process of materialising that which has been intuited, the highest form of creative work; healing, with its understanding of energy and forces which will lead later to the rebirth of humanity.

Little by little, the picture of the possibilities and of the Plan will unfold before you as your minds increase in sensitivity and your brains become more responsive to mental impulses. Little by little, the disciples of the world will work at the reproduction—on the physical plane—of that which exists subjectively. Little by little, there will appear all over the earth, groups of illumined souls who can cooperate with the Masters with perfect freedom of intercourse because their responsiveness has been scientifically trained and developed. Their power to work in tune with or in unison with the Hierarchy, to cooperate with the group life of many other groups of disciples and to communicate light and revelation to the world of men will later be an accomplished fact and is already much more actively present and potent than you think. A little vision, brother of mine, makes the way of the disciple easier and hence I have enlarged somewhat upon the possibilities which we, with our prevision, regard as already facts in manifestation. Nothing can stop the eventual success of the Plan; it is simply a question of time.

One of the steps in training which lies ahead of you is the establishing of a closer contact with me, your Tibetan Teacher. This you must attempt with no formulated ideas as to what the results will be—if any are to be objectively realised. The results may be sensed by me alone on my side, or they may work out in certain specific realisations and even phenomena on your side. I indicate not the results of such an activity for the power of suggestion and the response of the creative imagination is a fruitful source of glamour.

I would, therefore, ask all of you who are my disciples to endeavour to make a contact with me at the time of the Full Moon each month. Make sacrifice in order to establish this monthly relation as I will make my adjustments to contact you. May I emphasise the necessity for holding the thought of that contact for three whole days prior to the Full Moon itself, with aspiration and with confidence and then for three days afterwards with expectancy. May I point out the prime importance of making this a group activity and not a personal contact. Enter upon the work with the realisation of your group relation with your fellow disciples and with me, for only in so far as you seek to contact me as a disciple in my group will the measure of your success be rated. This contact is not of the same nature as that direct and individual contact between a chela and his Master. Many of you are linked with your own Master, though temporarily working in my Ashram; your contact with me is intended to be a group contact and, as a group, you will seek to strengthen the tie between us. This, therefore, is an act of group service to be rendered selflessly and with no personal expectancy. Owing to the pressure of time and of urgency in service, I am one of several teachers who have pledged themselves for the next few years to keep the twelve hours prior to the Full Moon of each month open for contacts with their disciples, so that at any time during that twelve hours, the world servers and disciples can make an attempt to reach us. This will somewhat facilitate your work for you need not, therefore, keep the exact hour of the Full Moon, unless this is easily possible. Service in the world these days requires constant pressure and attention and the work is strenuous. It may not always be possible for you to make your approach at the exact hour of the Full Moon, though you can at that hour always—silently and interiorly—lift up your heart and eyes to the Eternal. But at some hour during the preceding twelve hours, you can make your approach. When you do so rightly, you will find me waiting. Go to your work with clear vision, a loving heart and an understanding love. Much can then be accomplished.

PART IV

As these groups of disciples become active in the world and their inner integration and group relationship become securely established, we shall have the germ of those characteristics which will dignify the New Age groups. I would ask you all never to forget that this group work you are attempting to do is in reality pioneer work and hence has all the difficulties which pioneer work inevitably and necessarily has. Thereby strength to grow is gained. As the number of these groups increases and the personnel is gradually supplied, the skeleton framework of a future structure will slowly emerge. How that structure will appear when completed is known only to the inspired vision of the architects. But the foundations must be set sure and deep; the framework must be true and rightly adjusted. These two requirements are all that any of you will see materialise in this present lifetime.

Have you realised, however, my brothers, what occult progress in the world you have been permitted to see during this present lifetime? Have you glimpsed the magnitude of the presentpush that is being made by the Masters and have you recognised Their plans taking shape before your eyes? Have you grasped the essentials of what the Great White Lodge has done during the past twenty-five years and the extent of the work in which disciples and aspirants everywhere have been permitted to share? I would like briefly to enlarge somewhat upon this so as to make the picture clearer to your eyes in order that you may cooperate with greater intelligence, for this is above everything else group work.

Slowly and gradually, as far as you are all concerned, I have gathered together a band of disciples upon the outer plane. As the group thoughtform integrated and disciples responded to my call, found each other and began to work together, it became possible for me to go forward with my chosen work and carry forward the plans which I set myself when I took a certain initiation.

First of all, the books were published and they came out in ordered sequence and provide a body of teaching and of truth which will serve the needs of the coming generation. It is for my disciples to safeguard this presentation of truth during this century and to see to it that the books are sent forth steadily upon their mission, until they are finally superseded next century by a newer and more adequate teaching.

Next came a happening of vital moment—of more moment than you can perhaps appreciate. An instruction upon the New Group of World Servers was sent out and given wide distribution by means of the pamphlet entitled The Next Three Years. This signalised the anchoring—if so I might call it—of the New Group of World Servers upon the physical plane. They are now in active existence. The group is slowly integrating and slowly making its influence felt in the primary work of educating public opinion—the only potent means of work and of far more potency and ultimate value than any legislation or emphasis upon authority.

Growing out of the integration of this new group, there is being formed in the world that "bridge of souls and servers" which will make possible the merging of the inner subjective Hierarchy of souls and the outer world of humanity. This will constitute an actual fusion or blending and will mark the initiation of the human family through the achievement of its foremost pioneering members. This is the true "marriage in the Heavens " of which mystical Christianity speaks and the result of this fusion will be the manifestation of the fifth kingdom in nature, the kingdom of God. In the past history of the race, a great event occurred which brought into manifestation the fourth kingdom in nature, the human kingdom. We stand now on the verge of a similar but still more momentous event—the appearance of the fifth kingdom, as a result of the planned activity of the New Group of World Servers, working in collaboration with the Hierarchy of perfected souls, and under the guidance of the Christ Himself. This will usher in the New Age wherein five kingdoms in nature will be recognised as existing side by side upon earth.

You have, therefore, been permitted to share in and watch the work of the Hierarchy to the extent of your individual spiritual contact and have seen the following spiritual events taking place:

1. The sending forth of the teaching for the New Age. This deals with the new psychology and with the control of the personality and with the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God.

2. The founding in embryo of those schools of esotericism which will embody the teaching for the new discipleship and make it practical in application. There are several of these schools and the Arcane School is one of the first. They prepare the way for the greater foundations, outlined in my book, Letters on Occult Meditation.

3. The recognition on a fairly large scale of the New Group of World Servers and their work.

4. The emergence—as yet only in symbolic indication—of the fifth or spiritual kingdom.

5. The forming of the skeleton structure of the new groups of disciples, the externalisation in embryo of the inner Ashrams. These in the New Age will multiply and so carry forward the work of integrating the inner and the outer groups and fostering the growth of the Kingdom of God on earth. This will bring to public attention the fact of the restoration of the Mysteries of Initiation.

The production of the outer form on earth, through the medium of books, of esoteric schools and the educating of public opinion has been committed to a group of us who form a part of the inner world government—disciples and initiates—and to this group, I play the part of secretary and of organising contact man—if I may use words which will mean something to your ears, versed as you are in physical plane organisation work; they mean little or nothing to us, versed as we are in the work of producing living organisms. This group to which I refer is composed of two oriental initiates (of whom I am one) and of five occidental initiates.

We will leave now the consideration of this general picture and return to the subject of the specific work that this particular group of my disciples can do. You must avoid the idea that you are working in a unique way and alone. This is not so. There are many today working intelligently with our plans, often isolated and alone. The main requirement in the group work which I seek at this time to emphasise is the most difficult one of a true impersonality. On two points, disciples in the past have ever been emphatic. They have seen and felt the need for reticence, where there is any inner spiritual experience, and have felt that the relating or the discussion of the spiritual and the higher psychic events in their lives produced a sense of loss and was against the occult law. They have equally demanded reticence about their personality lives, about their mistakes and failings, and have demanded it more loudly than the permission to be silent about their soul life. Their demand has been based on a true recognition that the discussion of a spiritual happening with those who do not understand has in it a great deal of danger—the danger of misinterpretation, of glamour and of illusion. The desire for reticence in the personality life is based usually on pride, on a fear of criticism, on terror of being derided, misunderstood and judged; these are all unworthy motives.

Among the disciples of the New Age groups and ever in a Master's inner Ashram, there is no need for this theory of reticence. You are co-disciples and co-workers. If any of you have in the past or may in the future become initiates, it will not affect your relation to your fellow-disciples in these groups. The knowledges of initiation cannot be passed on by word of mouth within the initiate ranks, for they are not communicated in speech or by letters. Only those who possess certain transcendental senses can take initiation and should they try to communicate the secrets and mysteries of initiation in symbol or form, you would fail to react to or to understand their meaning.

So, in this group of my disciples, let there be the recognition of unity of thought. Experience, thought, difficulties and problems can be shared, and the cultivation of a sympathetic understanding and of mutual aid in the spiritual life can be developed. Disciples are people of mature years from the standpoint of the soul, and, therefore, the pettinesses of life and small frictional difficulties will not be shared by you with each other. There should be no temptation to waste each other's time in idle talk. It is the broad and general outline of the plan for the outer work of these groups of disciples which should engage your thoughts and communications with each other.

The groups planned will be of many different kinds and their work will be diversified and varied. I have for some time desired to write a little more fully about the groups which are forming in the world today, under direction of the Masters. They will gradually make their appearance in the world and fulfil their destined mission. Four of these groups are already formed or in process of forming and the others will gradually be created to meet advancing need.

It is essential that members of these groups have a wider vision than they now have; their membership in any of the groups constitutes an act of service which they are rendering to the work which I and other members of the Hierarchy are carrying forward under the Plan. The individual disciple must not look upon his work as a marvellous opportunity for his own spiritual advancement. All true disciples are equally distinguished by a determination to make the groups successful and all are longing to get as much out of the group work as possible. All are genuinely animated by a desire to serve but also by a general satisfaction over the interest and opportunity offered by the group work. Along with these most normal and right reactions are to be found much ignorance as to the true significance of the work, a good deal of selfish pleasure and some ambition. This is natural, for no perfection is yet to be expected among disciples. If perfection existed, you would all be found working in a different relation to the Great White Lodge.

In order to clarify this group work which the Hierarchy plans and enable you to grasp the intent clearly, I will tell you something of the purpose which lies behind the groups and of the general plan into which it is desired that they fit. In the early stages of any hierarchical experiment, much difficulty is encountered, owing to the material with which the initiating agents (such as myself) have to work. Any new idea, especially if it embodies a purpose which can only materialise later when the Plan is further perfected, fails naturally to meet with full comprehension in the early stages.

I have said that these groups constitute an experiment. This experiment is fourfold in nature and a concise statement about it may prove helpful.

I. They are an experiment in founding or starting focal points of energy in the human family through which certain energies can flow into the entire race of men.

II. They are an experiment in inaugurating certain new techniques in work and in modes of communication. I would point out that in these last three words are summed up the whole story. These groups are intended to facilitate interrelation or communication as follows:

1. There is a group of what we might call Telepathic Communicators. These people are receptive to impression from the Masters and from each other; they are the custodians of group purpose and, therefore, closely related to all the other types of groups. Their work is largely on the mental plane and they work in and with thought matter and with the reception and direction of thought currents. They are also working at the facilitation of communication between individuals so that the rules and methods whereby speech can be transcended may become known and the new way of intercourse be brought about. Communication will eventually be:

a. Soul to soul on the higher levels of the mental plane. This involves complete alignment, so that soul-mind-brain are completely at-one.

b. Mind to mind on the lower levels of the mental plane. This involves the complete integration of the personality or lower self, so that mind and brain are at-one.

Disciples must remember these two distinctive contacts and bear in mind also that the greater contact need not necessarily include the lesser. Telepathic communication between the different aspects of the human being is entirely possible at varying stages of unfoldment.

2. Another group is that of the Trained Observers. Their objective is to see clearly through all events, through space and time by means of the cultivation and use of the intuition. They work very largely on the astral plane at the dissipation of glamour, thus bringing in illumination to mankind. Thus another type of energy is brought into play, producing another type of inter-relation and communication. This communication is between the plane which is the plane of illumination and pure reason (the buddhic plane) and the plane of illusion and glamour, which is the astral plane. The Trained Observers are asked to remember that their great task is to dispel the world illusion through the pouring in of light. When there are a sufficient number of groups, working along these lines, there will be found—upon the physical plane—certain channels of communication which will act as the mediators between the world of light and the world of illusion. They will be transmitters of that form of energy which will break up the existing glamours and illusions, and so dissipate the ancient deceptive thoughtforms. They will release the light and peace which will illumine the astral plane and dispel the illusory nature of its life.

3. The third group is that of the Magnetic Healers. These healers have no relation to the work of the so-called magnetic healers of today. They work intelligently with the vital forces of the etheric body. Much of their work is dealt with in the fourth volume of A Treatise on the Seven Rays. This group of healers must bring about the right healing of the personalities of individuals in all aspects of their nature. The work to be done is that of the intelligent transmission of energy to various parts of the nature—mental, emotional and physical—through the right organisation and circulation of force. Present day healers should endeavour to break loose from the modern and traditional ideas as to healing; they should recognise the stupendous fact that healing must eventually be carried forward by groups which will act as the intermediaries between the plane of spiritual energy (either soul energy, intuitional energy or will energy) and the patient or group of patients. Note this last point. The group idea must always be remembered by the students as they work; they must not work as individuals but as units in a coherent whole. This will distinguish the New Age methods from the past, for the work will be group work and, usually, for a group. Magnetic healers must learn to work as souls and not as individuals. They must learn to communicate healing energy from the reservoir of living force to the patient or patients.

4. The Educators of the New Age will come next. Their service is along the line of culture and they will work to bring in the new type of education. Their emphasis will be upon the building of the antahkarana and upon the use of the mind in meditation. Again—much of this new educational science will be given in the fifth volume of the series. They will act as communicators and transmitters of two aspects of divine energy—knowledge and wisdom. These must be thought of in terms of energy. This fourth group (whose work is concerned with the education of the masses) is a direct intermediary between the higher mind and the lower mind. They are concerned with the building of the antahkarana and their task is that of linking the three points of mental focus—the higher mind, the soul and the lower mind—so that there may be established a group antahkarana between the kingdom of souls and the world of men.

5. The fifth group will be that of the Political Organisers and will concern itself with political factors in every nation. They will work in the world of human government, dealing with the problems of civilisation and with the relationships existing between nations. The bringing about of international understanding will be their major objective. This group communicates the "quality of imposition," and an authority that is lacking in the other branches of this divine group activity. This work is largely first ray work. It will embody the method whereby the divine Will works out in the consciousness of races and nations. Members of this group will have much first ray energy in their equipment. Their work is to act as channels of communication between the department of the Manu and the race of men. It is a noble task, my brothers, to be channels for the will of God.

6. The workers in the Field of Religion form this group. Their work is to formulate the universal platform of the new world religion. It is a work of loving synthesis and it will emphasize the unity and the fellowship of the spirit. This group is, in a pronounced sense, a channel for the activity of the second Ray of Love-Wisdom, that of the World Teacher—an office held at present by the Christ. The platform of the new world religion will be built by the many groups, working under the inspiration of the Christ and the influence of the second ray and these—in their totality—will constitute this sixth group.

7. The seventh group is that of the Scientific Servers. They will reveal the essential spirituality of all scientific work which is motivated by love of humanity and its welfare, 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 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. You will note here, consequently, the possibility that this group's main initial work will be concerned with the problem of reincarnation. That problem deals with the taking of an outer garment or form under the Law of Rebirth.

8. The Psychologists will form this next group and they will be concerned with the revelation of the fact of the soul and with the new psychology which will be based upon the seven ray types and the new esoteric astrology. Their major task will be to relate, through approved techniques, the soul and the personality, leading to the revelation of divinity through the medium of humanity. They will act also as transmitters of illumination between groups of thinkers and as illuminators of group thought. They transmit energy from one thought centre to another and, above everything else, they transmit the energy of ideas. The world of ideas is a world of dynamic force centres. Let this not be forgotten. These ideas have to be contacted and noted and their energy has to be assimilated and transmitted.

9. This ninth group will be composed of Financiers and Economists. They will work with the energies and forces which express themselves through the interchange and the values of commerce; they will deal with the Law of Supply and Demand and with the great principle ofSharing which ever governs divine purpose. They will be the great psychometrical workers, for a psychometrist is one whose soul is sensitive to the soul in others and in all forms of life. The principle of Sharing which must govern economic relations in the future is a soul quality or energy and hence their work of relating soul with soul. They also evoke the soul of the past, linking it with the present and finding it likewise indicative of the future.

10. This is the group of Creative Workers. They are communicators between the third aspect of Divinity, the Creative Aspect—as it expresses itself through the creative work and in response to the thought world—and the first aspect, Life. They link and blend life and form creatively. They are closely related to the ninth group because today, unknowingly and without any true understanding, they are bringing about a concretisation of the energy of desire; this in its turn brings about the creation of things. Incidentally, therefore, they are concerned with the concretisation of money. Their work is also largely philosophical and concerned with the task of relating—factually and scientifically—the other nine types of groups so that they may work creatively upon the physical plane and the divine Plan may clearly appear as a result of this synthesis which they bring about.

III. These groups are also an externalisation of an inner existing condition. They are an effect and not a cause. That they themselves may have an initiatory effect (as they work out into manifestation upon the physical plane) is no doubt true; but they are themselves the product of an inner activity and of a subjective aggregation of forces which must perforce become objective. The work of the disciples who find their place in these various groups is to keep in close rapport with ten inner groups which form, nevertheless, one large active group. This group force will then pour through all the various groups just in so far as the disciples in the groups do the following things as a group:

1. Keep en rapport with the inner source of power.

2. Never lose sight of the group objective.

3. Cultivate the dual capacity to apply the laws of the soul to the individual life and the laws of the group to group life.

4. Use all the forces which may flow into the group in service; they must learn, therefore, to register those forces and use them correctly. The hints given below as to the centres which these ten groups will use must be studied. The right use of these centres will take place only when there is a greater group unity established among the members of the individual groups and among the groups as a whole. You ask why is this so, my brothers? Because the force flowing in might prove too strong for the individual disciple to handle alone, but the force is shared by the group if there is complete group at-one-ment. In this way, each disciple can serve the group and his objective eventually becomes:

a. At-one-ment with his group brothers.

b. Alignment with his soul and with the inner group which is the subjective cause of the outer groups.

c. The expression of the particular technique which his group should eventually embody.

The groups will use the following centres in their work:

Group 1.—The head, heart and throat centres.

Group 2.—The head, heart and solar plexus centres.

Group 3.—The head, heart and ajna centres.

Group 4.—The head, ajna and throat centres.

Group 5.—The head and heart centres and the centre at the base of the spine.

Group 6.—The head, heart and solar plexus centres. This is necessarily the same as in Group 2.

Group 7.—The head, throat and sacral centres.

Group 8.—The head, heart, solar plexus and throat centres. This group of disciples will be the first to use four centres in their work as they are in a curious sense, the mediators of thought between the other groups. They are peculiarly a linking group.

Group 9.—The head, heart, throat and sacral centres.

Group 10.—The head, heart, sacral centres and the centre at the base of the spine.

I wonder, my brothers, if the following sequence of statements will convey anything to your minds? It is a statement of fact and is not the least symbolic in its terminology—except in so far as all words are inadequate symbols of inner truths.

1. Each group has its inner counterpart.

2. This inner counterpart is a completed whole. The outer results are still only partial.

3. These ten inner groups, forming one group, are related to the Ashrams of the Masters and are each of them expressive of or governed by ten laws, embodying the controlling factors in group work. A law is an expression or manifestation of force applied, under the power of thought, by a thinker or group of thinkers.

4. These ten inner groups, embodying ten types of force and working synthetically to express ten laws, are an effort to bring in new and different conditions, and hence produce a new and better civilisation. The Aquarian Age will see consummation.

5. The outer groups are a tentative and experimental effort to see how far humanity is ready for such an endeavour.

IV. These groups are also an experiment which has for its objective the manifestation of certain types of energy which will, when effectively functioning, produce cohesion or at-one-ment upon earth. The present distraught condition in the world, the international cataclysm and apparent impasse, the religious dissatisfaction, the economic and social upheaval and the appalling effects of war are all the results of energies that are so potent—owing to their immense momentum—that they can only be brought into rhythmic activity by the imposition of stronger and more definitely directed energies.

The groups are intended to work together eventually just as the various departments of a great organisation work effectively together as a unit. They must function smoothly and intelligently within themselves and also in their inter-relation with each other. This will become possible when the individual members in the groups and the individual groups of disciples lose sight of their own identities in an effort to make this hierarchical work possible. In this type of group work, the feelings, reactions, wishes and successes of the individual most emphatically do not count. Only that is regarded as of importance which will further group effort and enrich the group consciousness.

PART V

The Hierarchy sanctioned the starting of these groups in the year 1931. The members of these groups have been slowly chosen since then and are endeavouring, since their inclusion in this ashramic work, to work together in complete unity of purpose and of relationship. It may be of interest to you to know a little of how we approached the subject.

As you all know, I am a second ray disciple, an initiate of a certain standing—the grade of which in no way concerns you, though many of you have personally and interiorly ascertained who I am. If the teaching which I have given you and the books which I have given to the world do not suffice to win your confidence and your attention, then knowing that I am an initiate of the third degree, or a Master, or a Boddhisattva or one of the Buddhas close to the Throne of God will in no way aid your comprehension and will only hinder your development. For many lives I have been close to the Master K.H.; in discussion with Him, we have often wondered how we should aid in the inauguration upon earth of those newer types of work which will be distinctive of the New Age and yet would be close enough to the comprehension of the advanced aspirants and the world disciples so that their cooperation would be evoked and their intelligent help forthcoming. What were the requirements for which we should look and what should be the technique to be applied in the New Age for the raising of the consciousness of men? We decided that four things must, first of all, distinguish the group work which should be done and should characterise the disciples to be chosen for training. These were: Sensitivity, Impersonality, Psychic Gifts, Mental Polarisation. I do not make mention of aspiration, of selflessness or of the desire to serve. They are fundamentals and basic essentials and, where they do not exist, there is no use in proffering the type of assistance which we are seeking to give.

You will note that, as you look back over the spiritual history of the race of men during the past two thousand years (which is far enough for our purpose), that the following methods have been consecutively used to reach men's minds spiritually:

1. The method of raising the consciousness of an individual so that he became a Knower. Individual salvation and the emergence of outstanding individuals with spiritual sense, vision and achievement to their credit has characterised the mystical history of the past. Some of these people emerged along the way of the heart, the mystical way; such were Shri Krishna, St. Francis of Assisi, and all those Knowers whose way was the Way of Love. To these can be added Milarepa of Tibet and Lao Tze of China. Such also have been many of the saints of the church in the West. The Bhagavad Gita has been the book which has embodied this way superlatively.

Others emerged along the way of the mind and were the intellectual Knowers. Theirs is the more strictly occult way and it has become increasingly the way of our present day aspirants. The reason for this is that the polarisation of the race is shifting ever more steadily on to the mental plane. Some of the individuals on this way of the mind were Sankaracharya, the Apostle Paul, and Meister Eckhart. Today, many are coming out along this way under the name of science. There were also those outstanding individuals, such as the Christ and the Buddha, Who combined both ways in their perfection and Who towered above Their fellowmen from the heights of Their achievement. They swayed hemispheres and centuries, whereas the lesser sons of God swayed countries, specific types of mind and lesser periods of time.

2. The second method employed for raising the consciousness of the race was through groups, gathered around a teacher who (to a greater or less degree) was a focal point of energy either

a. By the power of his soul contact or

b. By that contact and being also a channel through which some member of the Hierarchy could work.

Through the example of these teachers, through their teaching, through their successes and their failures, those whom they gathered to them could be taught, their vibration could be increased, their consciousness expanded and the group could become a magnetised centre of force, of purpose and of spiritual light—the degree of this being dependent upon the purity of the note sounded and the selflessness of the lives shown. The mental calibre of the group also had its effect, for the average vibration and polarisation established the note for the group as a whole.

An experiment is now being made to shift the focus of the groups inwards and yet, at the same time, to increase their potency by permitting no individual leader to be found at the group centre upon the outer plane. All in the group are to be gathered together as free souls. Together, they will learn; together, they will stand with impersonality; together, they will render service to the world. You must remember, however, that any person who takes the position that the work to be done is only upon the inner planes and that he is working solely from mental or spiritual levels of consciousness is not right in his conception of the process. Inner work which does not work out into objective activity upon the physical plane is wrongly oriented and inspired.

These new types of groups will work together under the conscious guidance and suggestion of a member of the Great White Lodge. Note the word "suggestion," my brothers. If these groups were subjected to the authority of such a member, then the objective of all the work undertaken would fail to materialize. An occult law would have been broken. Free, intelligent assistance is what we are asking from all our disciples today, and we leave them free to render it or not as they like and in the manner which may seem best to them. I am your teacher. I make suggestion. I offer instruction. I indicate the way to the goal and to the field of service. I point out to you what we, the Teachers upon the inner side, seek to see accomplished. Temporarily and of your own free will, you have indicated your willingness to serve and to cooperate in my plans. Beyond thus indicating the way and the service, I will not go. It is for all of you, my disciples, to work out in joint collaboration and in the closest understanding the way that my suggestions and my hints should be utilised. I do not interfere.

First of all, I call for a deeper love and comprehension between the members of the group. This is necessary in order that the internal structure of the group may be more firmly and closely integrated.

Next, you must learn to work on the levels of meditation with greater clarity and power. So much of your meditation work is selfish. Do you realise that? Is not your attitude very often to be expressed in the following terms: When I am meditating, what will the Tibetan give me at this time? Will he give me something which will make me a better disciple? Will the meditation which he may give me interest me more than the one I am now doing? Will a change in meditation bringme better results (probably of a phenomenal kind!) or a new revelation or fresh enlightenment and enable me to achieve my goal? Few of you in this particular group in my Ashram as yet really work in meditation upon those levels where creative work is done. May I point out that until you can begin to do this, the work which I seek to do through all of you is largely at a standstill. The object of any meditation which I may assign to you is to enable you to have power in meditation so that you will no longer be pre-occupied with yourselves and your own problems but you will become unified with your group for group work and eventually for still wider group purposes—my purposes, as your teacher and a world worker and server.

With what kind of instrument, therefore, can I now work? Every true teacher asks himself this question as he studies the grouping of souls with which he has associated himself and which he seeks to serve and aid. As integration of the group takes place, the pre-dispositions and the basic tendencies of the massed group qualities emerge and can be studied; weaknesses can then be offset and right indications fostered....

I have earlier pointed out to you that the basic qualities for which we look are sensitivity, impersonality, psychic capacity and mental polarisation. Upon these I would like very briefly to enlarge and then I will lay before you (for your understanding interest and possible collaboration) the plans for future group activity. These plans can materialise if you can make the necessary adjustments and submit yourselves to the discipline and the training which will make greatly increased usefulness possible.

I have stated that the first requirement is sensitivity. What exactly is this? It does not mean primarily that you are a "sensitive soul"—the connotation of which usually means that you are thin-skinned, self-centred and always on the defensive! Rather do I refer to the capacity whereby you are enabled to expand your consciousness so that you become aware of ever- widening ranges of contact. I refer to the ability to be alive, alert, keen to recognise relationships, quick to react to need, mentally, emotionally and physically attentive to life and rapidly developing the power to observe upon all three planes in the three worlds simultaneously. I am not interested in your personal relations where they concern your wrong personality sensitivity to depression, to self-pity, your defenses, your so-called sensitivity to slights, to misunderstandings, your dislike of your environing conditions, your hurt pride and qualities of this kind. These all cause you bewilderment and let loose in you the floodgates of compassion for yourself. But you do not need me to deal with them; of them you are well aware and can handle them if you choose. These faults are interesting only in so far as they affect the life of your group; they must be handled by you with care and with the open eye that senses danger from afar and seeks to avoid it. The sensitivity which I want to see developed is alertness to soul contact, impressionability to the "voice of the Teacher," an aliveness to the impact of new ideas and to the delicacy of intuitional responsiveness. These are ever the hallmark of the true disciple. It is spiritual sensitivity which must be cultivated; this is only truly possible when you learn to work through the centres above the diaphragm and to transmute solar plexus activity (which is so dominant in the average person), turning it into heart activity and the service of your fellowmen.

Impersonality, particularly for high grade integrated people, is peculiarly difficult to achieve. There is a close relation between impersonality and detachment. Study this. Many cherished ideas, many hard won qualities, many carefully nurtured righteousnesses and many powerfully formulated beliefs militate against impersonality. It is hard for the disciple—during the process of his early training—to hold earnestly to his own ideals and to pursue forcefully his own spiritual integration, and yet remain impersonally oriented towards other people. He seeks recognition of his struggle and achievement; he longs to have the light which he has kindled draw forth a reaction from others; he wants to be known as a disciple; he aches to show his power and his highly developed love nature so that he may evoke admiration or, at least, challenge. But nothing happens. He is looked upon as no better than all the rest of his brothers. Life, therefore, proves dissatisfying.

These truths of self-analysis are seldom definitely faced or formulated by any of you and, therefore (because I seek to help you) I formulate them for you and face you with them. It is hard for intelligent men and women to see others closely associated with them dealing with life and problems from a totally different angle to their own—handling them in a weak or stupid way (from the angle of the disciple) and making apparently serious errors in judgment or technique. Yet, brother of old, why are you so sure that you are right and that your point of view is necessarily correct? It may be that your slant on life and your interpretation of a situation needs readjustment and that your motives and attitudes could be more elevated or purer. And even if they are—for you—the highest and the best that you can achieve at any given time, then pursue your way and leave your brother to pursue his. "Better a man's own dharma, than the dharma of another." Thus does the Bhagavad Gita express this truth, telling the disciple to mind his own business.