The esoteric sense of the New Group of World Workers
In the gathering together in the world at
this time of the new Group of World Workers, true caution must be
preserved. Each worker is responsible
for himself and his service and for no one else. It is wise to gauge and [Page 603] approximate
the evolutionary status, not upon claims made, but upon work accomplished and
the love and wisdom shown. Judgment
should be based upon an evidenced knowledge of the plan as it works out in the
wise formulation of the nest step ahead for the human race; upon a manifested
esoteric sense, and upon an influence or an auric power which is wide,
constructive and inclusive.
You ask me to define more clearly what I
mean by the words "esoteric sense".
I mean essentially the power to live and to function subjectively, to
possess a constant inner contact with the soul and the world in which it is
found, and this must work out subjectively through love, actively shown;
through wisdom, steadily outpoured; and through that capacity to include and to
identify oneself with all that breathes and feels which is the outstanding
characteristic of all truly functioning sons of God. I mean, therefore, an interiorly held
attitude of mind which can orient itself at will in any direction. It can govern and control the emotional
sensitiveness, not only of the disciple himself, but of all whom he may
contact. By the strength of his silent
thought, he can bring light and peace to all.
Through that mental power, he can tune in on the world thought, and upon
the realm of ideas and can discriminate between and choose those mental
agencies and those concepts which will enable him, as a worker under the plan,
to influence his environment and to clothe the new ideals in that thought
matter which will enable them to be more easily recognised in the world of
ordinary everyday thinking and living.
This attitude of mind will enable the disciple also to orient himself to
the world of souls and in that high place of inspiration and of light, discover
his fellow-workers, communicate with them and—in union with them—collaborate in
the working out of divine intentions.
This esoteric sense is the main need of
the aspirant at [Page 604] this time of the world history.
Until aspirants have somewhat grasped it and can use it, they can never
form part of the New Group; they can never work as white magicians, and these
Instructions will remain for them theoretical and mainly intellectual, instead
of being practical and effective.
This esoteric sense is the main need of the
aspirant at [Page 604]
this time of the world history. Until
aspirants have somewhat grasped it and can use it, they can never form part of
the New Group; they can never work as white magicians, and these Instructions
will remain for them theoretical and mainly intellectual, instead of being
practical and effective.
To cultivate this inner esoteric sense,
meditation is needed, and continuous meditation, in the early stages of
development. But as time elapses and a
man grows spiritually, this daily meditation will perforce give way to a steady
spiritual orientation and then meditation as now understood and needed will no
longer be required. The detachment
between a man and his usable forms will be so complete, that he will live ever
in the "seat of the Observer", and from that point and attitude will
direct the activities of the mind and of the emotions and of the energies which
make physical expression possible and useful.
The first stage in this development and
culture of the esoteric sense consists in the holding of the attitude of
constant detached observation.
The new Group of World Workers might well be
regarded in its outer ranks as a trained body of organised observers. I would divide the group into three divisions
and I do so in order that aspirants and chelas all over the world may be guided
in their knowledge as to where they stand individually and may, in sincerity
and truth, begin to work with intelligence.
They can be thus aided to place themselves.
First, there are the Organised Observers. These aspirants are learning to do two
things. They are learning to practice
that detachment which will enable them to live as souls in the world of daily
affairs and to understand the real significance of the words: to work without attachment. They are also, secondly, those students of
world affairs in one or other of the seven departments [Page 605] earlier
referred to when I brought the new group to the attention of the world. They are studying the signs of the
times. They investigate the great drama
of history in order to discover its main trend and so express to the ordinary
academic world and to the thinkers of the race what they see and understand.
Running all through human history is a triple
thread and in the interplay of these three threads the story of evolution is to
be found. One thread guides the thoughts
of man as he deals with the development of the form aspect, with the racial
trends, and it shows how undeviatingly the forms of races, of countries, and of
the fauna and flora of our planetary life have kept pace with the needs of the
slowly emerging sons of God. The second
thread leads us to an understanding of the growth of consciousness, and
indicates emergence from the instinctual stage into that of intellectual
awareness, and on to that intuitional illumination which is the present goal of
consciousness.
The third thread concerns the Plan itself and
here we enter the realm of the truly unknown.
What the plan is, and what the goal, is as yet totally unrealised except
by the highest adept and the most exalted of the sons of God. Until the illumined mind and the power of
intuitional response are developed in the human family, it is not possible for
us to grasp the basic concepts which are to be found in the mind of God
Himself. Until the highest point of the
Mount of Initiation has been climbed, it is not possible to vision the Promised
Land as it is. Until the limitations—the
necessary limitations—of the three worlds have been surmounted and man can
function as a free soul in the spiritual kingdom, that which lies beyond that
kingdom must remain hid to man just as much as the human state of being and
awareness remains a sealed book to the animal.
This is a salutary and needed lesson which all disciples should grasp. [Page 606]
But observers of times and seasons can make
rapid progress in intuitional growth if they persevere in their meditation,
train their intellects, and endeavour always to think in terms of
universals. Let them look at the
historical retrospect as part of the emerging preparation which will inaugurate
the future. Let them take heart of grace
as they recognise the fact that the kingdom of souls is steadily becoming a
physical plane phenomenon (do I speak paradoxically?) and will be known
eventually as a kingdom of nature and considered so by the scientists before
two centuries have passed away. These
"Organised Observers" form the outer circle of the new group and
their keynote is synthesis, the elimination of non-essentials and the
organising of human knowledge. Working
in the many fields of human awareness, they are distinguished by a
non-sectarian spirit, and by an ability to deal with foundational essentials
and to link up varying departments of human investigation into one organised
and unified whole.
Second, the next group in the new Group of
World Workers is that of the telepathic communicators. These are much fewer in number and are
distinguished by their relatively close interrelation with each other. They are primarily a linking or a bridging
group. They are gathered out of the more
exoteric circle of the organised observers, but have a wider scope of service
than they have, for they work in a more truly esoteric manner. They are in touch with each other, and with
the organised observers, but they are likewise in touch with the group of men
and women who stand at the very centre or heart of the world group. Their work is threefold and very
difficult. Steadily they have to
cultivate that detachment which characterises the soul which knows itself. Steadily they take the knowledge and
information accumulated by the organised observers and adapt it to the need of
the world, and give out the teaching.
They work effectively [Page 607] but always from behind the scenes, and
though they may be known in the world in this early stage of the work of the
new group, and though they may be therefore recognised as teachers, writers and
workers, later they will recede more and more into the background and will work
through the outer circle. They will
inspire them, and will place increasing responsibility upon their shoulders;
they will nurture the growth of telepathic interplay in the world and thus
weave those strands which will eventually bridge the present gap between the
seen and the unseen and so make the new world possible—a world in which death
as we know it will be abolished and a trained universal continuity of
consciousness be established. That is
why the emphasis is laid in training the members of this group in the new
group, upon telepathic sensitivity. The
members of this second circle of workers are taught to develop sensitiveness in
three directions: to the thoughts of men
in physical incarnation; to the minds of those who have passed over and who are
still in mind bodies, and thirdly to the group of spiritual Beings who stand as
the custodians of the evolutionary process and through whose hands the three
threads of developing life steadily pass.
Their task is exceedingly hard, far harder
than that of the first group and harder even than that of the last, for they
lack as yet certain powers and needed experience. Their centre of consciousness is the
intuition and not that of the synthesising intellect, and their state of
awareness is wide and inclusive. They
therefore can suffer more than the majority, and few there are who are not at
this stage too sensitive for their own comfort and too responsive to vibrations
emanating from the form aspect in all three worlds. Their state of detachment is not yet complete. They bridge, and therefore support infinite
problems and respond to world pain. They
see, if I may so express it, too much, for theirs is not yet the privilege [Page
608] of visioning with clarity the goal that lies two hundred years ahead. They sense the present need. They are responsive to the new tide of
spiritual force which is flowing in.
They carry the weight of humanity on their shoulders, and because they
are somewhat coordinated, they live in all three worlds at once, and this few
can do. They are aware of the urgency of
the present opportunity and also of the apathy of the many and for these
reasons they work under terrific pressure.
Third, the innermost group of all is that of
the members of the Hierarchy itself. I
care not the least whether these liberated souls are recognised as Elder
Brethren of the race, as Masters of the Wisdom, as the Cloud of Witnesses, as
the Christ and His Church, as Supermen or under any terms which the inherited
tendencies of humanity or tradition may choose to call them. They themselves care less. The petty quarrels as to their personalities
and names and status matter not at all.
But they are the intelligent forces of the planet; they express, because
of their state of expanded consciousness, the Mind of God; they embody the
intelligent principle, immutable and unchanging, and through them flows the
energy which we call the Will of God, for lack of better understanding. They know far more of the plan than do the
two outer circles in the new Group of World Workers, for they see clearly just
what is the next step which planetary evolution will guide the race to take
during the next two hundred years. They
do not occupy themselves with idle speculations as to the ultimate goal at the
close of a world age. This may surprise
you in view of the many speculations of the uninitiate. But so it is.
They know that there is a time and a season for all things, and looking
ahead and comprehending intuitively the goal for all kingdoms in the immediate
future, all their united effort is bent to one end—the cultivating of the
intuitional telepathic responsiveness of the Communicators who bridge the gap [Page
609] between them and the physical world.
These latter in their turn seek to employ the Observers, Knowers, Communicators,
and Observers—all working in a close if oft-times unrealised unity, and all
responsive (according to their degree) to the impulsion of the Mind and Will of
the Logos, the solar Deity.
Beyond this triple group stand the Thrones,
Principalities, and Powers with whom we need not concern ourselves. On the other side stands humanity torn by the
disasters of the past world war, bewildered by the social, religious and
economic pressure of the present, sensitive and responsive to the influences
and energies pouring in on the new tide of the Aquarian Age; unable to
understand and explain, and conscious only of a longing for liberty of thought
and of physical condition, snatching at every chance to gain knowledge and so
providing a fertile field wherein this new group can work.
We have seen that the objective of all inner
training is to develop the esoteric sense, and to unfold that inner sensitive
awareness which will enable a man to function, not only as a Son of God in
physical incarnation but as one who also possesses that continuity of
consciousness which will enable him to be interiorly awake as well as
exteriorly active. This is accomplished
through developing the power to be a trained Observer. I commend these words to all aspirants. It is persistence in the attitude of right
observation that brings about detachment from form, a subsequent power to use
form at will and with the end in view of furthering hierarchical plans and
consequent usefulness to humanity. When
this power to observe has been somewhat brought about, we then have the
aspirant joining that intermediate group of trained Communicators who stand
between the aforementioned groups (the exoteric groups and the group of
spiritual workers on the subjective plane), interpreting the one to the
other. It is well to remember that even
the members [Page 610] of the Hierarchy profit by the opinions and advice of
those disinterested disciples who can be trusted to rightly recognise and
interpret the need of the hour.
When this stage has been reached and a man is
in conscious touch with the Plan then true magical work can begin. Men and women, who are beginning to live as
souls, can undertake the magical work of the new age, and can inaugurate those
changes and that rebuilding which will bring about the manifestation of the new
heavens and the new earth, to which all the Scriptures of the world bear
eloquent testimony. They can then work
with forces in etheric matter and so bring into being those physical plane
creations and organisations which will more adequately embody the life of God
in the Aquarian Age which is now upon us.
(Alice Bailey,
A Treatise on White Magic, pp. 604-610)
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