ASHRAMIC
ADJUSTMENT TO EXOTERIC LIVING
October
1949
The Externalization of the Hierarchy (continued)
We now come
to another point in our study of this subject: This concerns one of the most
difficult problems confronting the Masters at this time; it presents also an
unique problem to the Christ. The daily physical life of the Masters, of the
Christ, and of those Members of the Hierarchy (initiates and accepted
disciples) Who function in physical bodies, has had its orientation upon the
subjective levels of life; the majority of Them, and particularly the senior
Members of the Hierarchy, do not as a rule intermingle largely with the public
or walk the streets of our great cities. They work as I do from my retreat in
the Himalayas, and from there I have influenced and helped far more people than
I could possibly have reached had I walked daily in the midst of the noise and
chaos of human affairs. I lead a normal and, I believe, useful life as the
senior executive in a large lamasery, but my main work has lain
elsewhere—widespread in the world of men; I reach this vast number of human
beings through the medium of the books which I have written, through the groups
which I have started and impulsed, such as Men of Goodwill and the Triangles,
and through my disciples who talk and spread the truth as I have sought to
present it.
So it has
been with the work of all the Masters, except two or three Who have undergone
special training in order to do some special preparatory work for the
externalisation of the Hierarchy. The English Master is one of these, and
another Master also Who works, relatively unknown, in North America. I have
referred to Him before as the Master P.—though that is not, in reality, His
initial.
This rule
of solitariness or of withdrawing applies to all the Masters and to the Christ,
for it is in the solitude of the mind, and as far as possible in the solitude
of physical location, that the various branches of the great White Lodge have
chosen to work ever since Atlantean days. It is not the solitude of a
separative spirit, but the solitude that comes from [Page
683] the ability to be non-separative, and from the faculty of
identification with the soul of all beings and of all forms. This can best be
accomplished in the intense quiet of those "protected" areas where
the Masters in the various branches of the Brotherhood have chosen to dwell.
This solitude and physical isolation enables Them to work almost entirely from
the level of the buddhic or intuitional plane, perfecting the Science of
Impression, influencing and working through those minds which are susceptible
to Their mental impression. This applies equally to Masters in physical
vehicles and to Those Who have "no anchorage" in the three worlds; it
applies also to disciples who are in or out of the body, according to their
destiny, immediate karma or form of service. St. Paul, for instance, was in the
initiate stage of learning rightly to withdraw and to work in what Patanjali
calls "isolated unity" when he spoke of himself once as "being
caught up into the third heaven" and there learning the untold beauties of
the divine life.
The
problem, therefore, before the Masters and Their disciples is to work (when the
externalisation takes place) in the midst of physical plane existence, no
longer withdrawn, isolated and protected, but functioning openly in the middle
of events and physical realities and all the diversity of contacts which the
three worlds present. It is perhaps helpful to remember that when the Christ
was in physical presence on earth two thousand years ago, the population of the
world was relatively small compared to that today; contact between peoples was
practically nil, and where it existed was usually of a strictly military or
commercial nature, with a somewhat exclusive interchange of scholastic ideas
and personnel between the rare centres of learning. It was easy in those days
to withdraw into the desert and to disappear into the unfrequented place and to
recharge and revitalise the spirit, to touch again closely the Sources of
inspiration on the higher levels of consciousness, and thus reorient the
working instrument in the three worlds to the higher field of contact and
inspiration. Much of this can be noted in the Gospel story of the life of
Christ and of the Master Jesus.
[Page
684]
When the
Christ reappears and the Hierarchy externalises itself on earth, conditions
will be totally different; there are today no empty spaces; the population of
the world is enormously enlarged and is growing from year to year; no locality
is isolated or unattainable; the jungles are open territory to the explorer and
to the numerous commercial agents; vast cities cover the planet and oceans are
traversed by multitudes of ships; the airways of the world are travelled by
millions of passengers annually; the land is divided into minute sections by
railroads, highways, speedways and myriads of lesser roads and streets. In
fact, every living unit in the world is in touch with thousands of other units
and can—through the many means of information—be in touch with millions; the
news presses grind out the news from hour to hour and the eyes of millions are
ceaselessly glued to the printed page at all hours of the day or night; the
ears of other millions are daily and hourly attuned to the voice of the radio.
Only the inner perceptive sense remains inactive, for only advanced humanity
lives constantly in touch with the world of spiritual perception and intention.
The
conditions, therefore, confronting the Hierarchy constitute a serious and drastic
problem. As far as we can, we will attempt to consider these conditions, for
some understanding of the problem is necessary if right work is to be done.
Necessarily,
the problem is one of a change in the orientation of perception but not
necessarily in modes of living or in any definitely physical plane adjustments.
Hierarchical orientation has for some centuries been one of a very strict
internal consolidation, in order that the magnetic aura of the Hierarchy may
unfailingly respond to impression from Shamballa, and also be of so potent a
nature that it can form a protective screen around the human family. Forget not
the nature of the protective service which the Masters have assumed on behalf
of mankind, standing between humanity and the emanations and influences and the
magnetic aura of the Black Lodge.
This
internal consolidation has been greatly strengthened [Page
685] during the past one hundred years. Because of this, and because of
the resultant clarity of impression and of the potent out-going influence, the
Plan for humanity—as a Whole—was imparted with emphasis to disciples in the
Ashrams, and by them was formulated clearly and presented to humanity.
H.P.B. (one
of the first working disciples to go forth on the externalisation impulse and
with first ray energy driving him) gave the background of the Plan, under
impression from me; the more detailed structure and the sweep of the
hierarchical intention have been given by me in the books which A.A.B. has
introduced under her own name to the public (in so doing acting under my
instructions). For the first time in human history, the purpose of past
events—historical and psychological—can be clearly noted as the foundation for
all present happenings, thus bringing the mysterious Law of Karma in an easy
manner to public attention. The present can also be seen, indicating the way of
the future and revealing clearly the Will-to-Good which is animating the entire
evolutionary process—a process in which humanity (again for the first time) is
intelligently participating and cooperating. It is this cooperative
participation, even if unconsciously rendered, which has made it possible for
the Hierarchy to grasp the opportunity to bring to an end the long silence
which has persisted since Atlantean days; the Masters can now begin to
undertake to renew an ancient "sharing of the secrets," and to
prepare humanity for a civilisation which will be distinguished by a constant
intellectual perception of truth, and which will cooperate with the
externalised Ashrams in the various parts of the world.
The
internal consolidation is now being somewhat loosened, if I may use such an
inadequate expression, and a majority of the Members of the Hierarchy are
withdrawing Their close attention from reception of impression from Shamballa
and are now orienting Themselves—in an entirely new and directed manner—to the
fourth kingdom in nature. At the same time, a very powerful minority of Masters
are entering into a much closer association with the Council of Sanat Kumara.
[Page
686] In this way the
potent and dynamic influence of Shamballa will be strengthened instead of
lessened by the reorientation of the majority of the Masters and initiates.
These statements have, of course, implications which will not be understood by
you and which will necessarily pass unnoticed; you will respond, however, to
the realisation that the minority—in renewed and closer contact with
Shamballa—have to master the technique of relationship; this will entail much
use of the sacrificial will. The reason is that They are (on a higher turn of
the spiral) submitting to a forcing process which will make great demands upon
Them, but which will serve to release the majority to a new and more potent
form of immediate Earth service. In other words: a few of the Masters and
higher initiates are undergoing a special and applied stimulation and are
undertaking work for which the united Ashrams, in their higher brackets, have
hitherto been responsible. This subjects Them to a great strain and forces Them
to use the will aspect of Their divine natures in entirely new and unknown
ways. They relinquish much, in order to enable the entire Hierarchy to give far
more in radiance, guidance, and magnetic invocative strength than has even
before been the case.
The
majority of the Masters and initiates, in Their turn, also relinquish much in
order to work exoterically among men. They subject Themselves voluntarily to an
active stimulation from the senior "contacting minority" but
relinquish the "joy of Shamballic contact". Temporarily, the training
which the majority have been receiving in "cosmic orientation," in
the use of the will-to-be (a meaningless phrase to you), and in the "bliss
of receptivity to the will-to-good of Sanat Kumara" is given up. The entire
attitude of the group of Masters, initiates and disciples who are to be
responsible for the externalisation of the Hierarchy and for the preparation
for the reappearance of the Christ is focussed upon the expert use of the
Science of Contact. This time, the science is used upon a wide and telepathic
scale, with the souls of men, and upon the technique of expressing spiritually
the nature of "isolated unity" in the cities, jungles and the [Page 687] massed inhabited areas of the earth. This
involves, as you can well imagine, the use of an expert ability to remain
untouched by the evil rampant upon the physical plane, and yet to remain in
complete sympathetic and understanding contact with all humanity and with all
events that affect humanity. It was prophecy which impelled the Christ to say,
when last in public appearance among men, that His disciples were "in the
world and yet not of the world"; Christ depicted in simple yet profoundly
revealing terms the life of the Members of His Ashrams (the entire Hierarchy)
when again He would walk with Them in the plain sight of humanity. He pictured
Them as one with the Father (the Council of Life in Shamballa), and yet as one
with Him (as the hierarchical Head), and as one also with all that breathes and
that inhabits form. I advise all disciples who seek to cooperate with the
impending activity of the Hierarchy to study with care the seventeenth chapter
of the Gospel of St. John; this was written by that disciple of love, under the
influence of the energy emanating from the buddhic vehicle of the Christ, which
is also—as you have been told—identical with the buddhic vehicle of the Buddha.
The identity of the two vehicles is symbolic of the entire teaching anent
"isolated unity" and divine participation, which the Masters in Their
Ashrams are teaching Their disciples of all grades, these days, as the first
step toward the externalisation of Their activities.
[...]
Again, the Members of the Hierarchy are not only sensitive to impression from the two other planetary centres (Shamballa and Humanity), but They are acutely aware of the Forces of Evil which are fighting furiously against the externalisation of the spiritual work. The energy which cosmic evil generates is active along three main channels:
1. From the centre of cosmic evil upon the cosmic astral plane. Of this centre you can know nothing, and its emanations and its magnetic aura can only be understood and recognised or interpreted by the senior Masters and by initiates of still higher rank. As the potency of the astral plane (which is so familiar to us all) weakens, and glamour and illusion are negated by a rapid spiritualising of humanity, the power of cosmic evil will correspondingly weaken and the Forces of Evil will be unable to reach the planet with their present easy effort. It is against the impact of this emanating evil that the Hierarchy stands in protection of humanity. Hitherto it has been the task of Shamballa, working through the Hierarchy, to protect humanity from the "intention to destroy" of the cosmic Forces of Evil, but—in the coming cycle and as a result of the triumph of the Forces of Light in the world war—the potency of Shamballa can be combined with that of the "protecting Agents of Light."
2. From the Black Lodge which is the externalisation of the centre of cosmic evil on Earth. Just as the White Lodge is the representative or correspondence of the cosmic centre of light upon Sirius (the true Great White Lodge), so the Black Lodge is also representative of ancient and cosmic evil. The Black Lodge is also far more advanced in externalisation than is the White Lodge, because materialism and matter are, [Page 689] for it, the line of least resistance. The Black Lodge is therefore far more firmly anchored upon the physical plane than is the Hierarchy. It requires a much greater effort for the White Lodge to "clothe itself in matter and work and walk on material levels" than for the Black Lodge. Owing, however, to the spiritual growth of mankind and to the steady, even if slow, orientation of mankind to the spiritual Hierarchy, the time has come when the Hierarchy can materialise and meet the enemy of good upon an even footing; the Hierarchy need not be further handicapped by working in substance whilst the Forces of Evil work both in substance and in matter. Once the reappearance of the Christ and of the Hierarchy is an accomplished fact, these Forces of Evil face sure defeat. The reason for this is that the trend of human living and thought is turning steadily towards the subjective spiritual values, even if these values are interpreted in terms of material well-being at present and of better living conditions for all—with peace and security also for all. The Black Lodge or the planetary centre of evil works almost entirely upon the astral plane, and is impressed directly and guided in detail from the cosmic astral plane.
3. From the negative or purely material forces of the planet, which are not necessarily either good or bad but which have been used instinctually and oft unconsciously by humanity for purely material ends, and are therefore basically anti-spiritual and subject to the influence of human desire—a desire oriented towards selfishness, and therefore towards separateness. This form of evil is being combated today by the New Group of World Servers. Of this battle you know something because every thinking man and woman is immediately implicated.
I have spoken of the evil present in the planet in very simple terms, and there are phases of it to which I have not referred; the interlocking and inter-penetrating of the grades of evil are far more numerous and intricate than you surmise.
A. Bailey, The Externalization of the Hierarchy, p.p.682-689
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