The Destiny of the Nations Page 5
It is through the correct development of spiritualism along psychological lines and the withdrawal of its emphasis upon phenomena (which is its outstanding characteristic and emphasis today) that the true nature of death and of the hereafter will be revealed. But it is in connection with spiritualism that I can best illustrate the lower expression of the incoming seventh ray influences. The work of the seventh ray is, as you know, the relating of life and of form, but when the emphasis is laid upon the form aspect then the wrong procedure eventuates and the work of the black magician can begin, and his objectives come unduly into play. This is what has happened in the spiritualistic movement; its investigators are occupied with the form side of life and [44] its adherents with the satisfaction of their emotional desires (again related to the form side) so that the true import of the movement is in danger of being lost.
Spiritualism, in its lowest and material aspect, is a low grade expression of the seventh ray and is — for the masses — definitely a line of least resistance, and, therefore, of no great spiritual importance to their evolutionary development. The masses of the people are today Atlantean in their consciousness and are only slowly emerging into the Aryan point of view. This must change and the mind activity be rapidly enhanced or else true spiritualism will be unable to express itself and — through the present spiritualistic movement — there can be let loose upon the world forces and entities of a most undesirable character. The negativity of the majority of those who are interested in spiritualism and the entire negativity of the bulk of the mediums throws the door wide open to very definite dangers. Fortunately, there is a movement within spiritualistic circles to right this obvious danger and to shift the present emphasis upon phenomena into the world of true values and right understanding. The subject is too vast a one for me to deal with here, except in illustration of the points which I am endeavouring to make, but one hint I will give. If the societies and organisations, connected with the spiritualistic movement and the psychical research groups, would seek for and find the natural sensitives (and not the trance mediums) and those who are naturally clair-audient and clair-voyant and would study their disclosures, their words, their reactions and their modes of working they would discover much about some of the natural and normal powers of man — powers which have been in abeyance during the period wherein mind development has been the objective and which humanity shares with two great groups of lives — the Members [45] of the Hierarchy and the animal kingdom. Ponder on this. If, therefore, these societies would concentrate on the intelligent and mental psychics and rule out all trance conditions it would not be long before revelation would come. The trance condition is undesirable, separates the medium from his soul and definitely relegates him to the realm of the negative, of the uncontrolled and of material forces. This development, however, the forces of materiality will prevent if possible because the moment there is positive intelligent understanding of the world on the other side of the veil, there is no fear of death and then the major aspect of their power and their hold on humanity will disappear.
If you have followed intelligently what I have said, two points will emerge with clarity in your minds in relation to the initial and immediate activity of these two rays — the sixth and the seventh. First, that entire groups of people are increasingly susceptible to their influence and this inevitably leads to these groups (responsive to either the sixth or the seventh ray forces) being in opposition to and antagonistic to each other. The problem is that, owing to the developed sensitivity of the race, this antagonism is now upon a world-wide scale. Hence much of the present conflict of ideas, and the opposing ideologies, and hence also the feud between the old inherited traditions and the ancient forms of civilisation, of government, of religion on the one hand and of the newer emerging ideas on the other. These new concepts should usher in the New Age and will eventually revolutionise our modern life and standards. They will relegate the old ideas to the same position as the ideas which governed the race one thousand years ago have today assumed in our consciousness.
Second: The situation is still further complicated by [46] the fact that both these rays influence and express themselves (as is ever the case) in a dual manner and have always a lower and a higher form of manifestation, which is a correspondence in this connection to the personality, and the egoic expression of every human being. In the case of the out-going ray, the higher form (which is ever the first to manifest in germ) is rapidly disappearing or is being absorbed into the newer idealism, thus contributing all that is best to the new presentation of truth so that the emerging culture will be properly rooted in the old. The lower forms are, however, tenacious and dominant and because of this they definitely constitute today the major problem of the Hierarchy, so much so that they require the calling in of the first ray (or the Shamballa force) in order to effect their destruction. Bear this in mind as you study the world situation. The lower forms of the seventh ray expression are still in an embryonic stage. This you can see clearly if you consider the one to which I choose to refer — the spiritualistic movement — which began to take shape only during the last century and has achieved its curiously phenomenal growth only because it started upon the American continent. The United States of America was the centre of old Atlantis and hence inherited a psychic and ancient religious form which was existent and potently alive in that part of the world for many centuries.
In spite of these facts, the higher and more living energy of the seventh ray is the most active at this time and its resultant idealism and consequent New Age concepts are playing upon the sensitive minds of the race and preparing humanity for a great and much needed change. The work of the Ray of Ceremonial Order is to “ground” or make physically visible the results of bringing spirit and matter [47] together. Its function is to clothe spirit with matter, producing form.
THE NATIONS AND THE RAYS
In connection with this discussion which governs and influences the leading nations of the world, the student should bear in mind the fact that all are today primarily conditioned by the Law of Cleavages; however, advanced groups in every nation are beginning to respond to the Law of Understanding. This is a law which will eventually emphasise the eternal brotherhood of man and the identity of all souls with the Oversoul. This will be recognised in the racial consciousness, as well as the oneness of the Life which pours through, permeates, animates and integrates the entire solar system. This Life functions in and through all planetary schemes, in all their kingdoms of forms and with all that can be included under the phrase “form life.” That phrase contains three basic ideas: the ideas of life, of form and of evolution.
The functioning of the Law of Loving Understanding will be greatly facilitated and speeded during the Aquarian Age which we are considering; it will eventuate later in the development of a world-wide international spirit, in the recognition of one universal faith in God and in humanity also as the major expression of divinity upon the planet and in the transfer of the human consciousness from the world of material things to that of the more purely psychic. This will lead in time and inevitably to the world of spiritual realities. It should be remembered that (for advanced humanity) the sequence of the recognition of these expansions of consciousness is as follows:
1. The world of psychical living. This requires the recognition, by the brain consciousness, of the need for mental [48] and spiritual control, as the first step.
2. The world of mental unfoldment.
3. The world of the soul or ego, the individualised man. When these recognitions are established in the aspirant, then there comes the recognition by the disciple of the Master Who should guide him.
4. The control of the physical plane life by the soul.
5. The functioning and the utilisation of the psychic powers and their place and part in the field of intelligent service.
6. The interpretative faculty of the illumined mind.
7. An inspired creative life upon the physical plane.
In that
development of the racial consciousness, the process does not necessarily follow the above seven stages and sequence. This is owing to the stimulation and consequent sensitising of the form aspect through the increased radiation and potency of the dynamic New Group of World Servers; their ranks are filled by those who have passed, or are passing, through the stages of aspirant and disciple, thus learning to serve. Psychic unfoldment in the masses parallels the spiritual unfoldment of advanced humanity. This can be seen going on today on a large scale everywhere and it accounts for the tremendous growth of the spiritualistic movement and for the enormous increase in the lower psychic powers. Old Atlantean magic and the lower psychism are upon us again in the great turning of the wheel of life, but this time good may eventuate, if the world disciples and the spiritually-minded people measure up to their opportunity.
Today there are many thousands coming under the influence of this Law of Loving Understanding. Many in every nation are responding to the broader synthetic brotherly note, but the masses as yet understand nothing [49] of this. They must be led in right ways gradually by the steady development in right understanding of their own nationals. Bear this in mind, all of you who work for world peace and right human relations, for harmony and for synthesis.
All of the great nations are controlled by two rays, just as is the human being. With the smaller nations we need not concern ourselves. All the nations are controlled by a personality ray, which is the dominant potent and main controlling factor at this time, and by a soul ray which is sensed only by the disciples and the aspirants of any nation.
This soul ray must be evoked into an increased functioning activity by the New Group of World Servers, for this is one of their main objectives and tasks. This must never be lost to sight. Much could be written about the historical influence of the rays during the past two thousand years and of the way in which great events have been influenced or brought about by the periodic ray influence. Interesting as it is and indicative of the present national trends and problems, all that I can now do is point out the energies governing each nation, and leave you to study and note their effect and to comprehend their relation to the present condition of the world. One thing I would point out and that is that those rays which govern a particular nation and which are at this time actively working are very potent, either materially or egoically; some of the problems may be due to the fact that certain rays, governing certain nations, are not at this time active.
A close analysis of the following will reveal certain lines of racial understanding.
NationPersonality Ray Soul Ray National Motto
India 4th Ray. of Harmony through Conflict 1st Ray of Power I hide the Light
China 3rd Ray of Intelligence 1st Ray of Power I indicate the Way.
Germany 1st Ray of Power 4th Ray of Harmony through Conflict I preserve.
France 3rd Ray of Intelligence 5th Ray of Knowledge I release the Light.
Great Britain 1st Ray of Power 2nd Ray of Love I serve.
Italy 4th Ray of Harmony through Conflict 6th Ray of Idealism I carve the Paths.
U. S. A. 6th Ray of Idealism 2nd Ray of Love I light the Way.
Russia 6th Ray of Idealism 7th Ray of Order I link two Ways.
Austria 5th Ray of Knowledge 4th Ray of Harmony through Conflict I serve the lighted Way.
Spain 7th Ray of Order 6th Ray of Idealism I disperse the Clouds.
Brazil 2nd Ray of Love 4th Ray of Harmony through Conflict I hide the seed.
There is a natural rapport indicated between the present personality rays of Germany and Great Britain, yet a relationship can be seen also between France and Great Britain through their esoteric national [51] mottoes and also between the two symbols which are also theirs. The symbol for France is the fleur de lys, which she adopted centuries ago under divine guidance, which symbol stands for the three divine aspects in manifestation. The symbol for Great Britain, under the same divine apportioning, is the three feathers, carried as the arms of the Prince of Wales. The scintillating and brilliant French intellect with its scientific bent is accounted for by the interplay of the third Ray of Active Intelligence with the fifth Ray of Scientific Understanding. Hence their amazing contribution to the knowledge and the thought of the world and their brilliant and colourful history. Be it remembered also that the glory of the empire which was France is but the guarantee of a glory of divine revelation which lies ahead in the future; it will never be theirs until they cease living in the wonder of their past and go forth into the future to demonstrate the fact of illumination which is the goal of all mental effort. When the intellect of the French is turned towards the discovery and the elucidation of the things of the spirit, then they will carry revelation to the world. When their egoic ray dominates the third ray and when the separative action of the fifth ray is transmuted into the revealing function of this ray, then France will enter into a period of new glory. Her empire will then be of the mind and her glory of the soul.
It is obvious that the governing faculty of the Ray of Will or Power is the outstanding characteristic of Great Britain. England is an exponent of the art of control and her function has been to produce the first tentative grouping of federated nations the world has seen and to demonstrate the possibility of such a grouping. The United States is doing a somewhat similar thing and is fusing the nationals of many nations into one federated state with many subsidiary [52] states, instead of subsidiary nations. These two powers function in this way and with this wide objective in order eventually to give to the planet a system of groupings within one national border or empire, and yet with an international implication which will be symbolic of the coming new age technique of government. The second Ray of Love or of Attraction governs—from the soul angle—the British Empire and there is a relation between this fact and the fact that the astrological sign Gemini governs both the United States and London. The fluid, mercurial, intuitional mind is closely allied with the divine aspect of love and understanding, producing attraction and interpretation.
It is interesting to note that the fourth Ray of Harmony through Conflict which before long will come into power again, is to be prominent in the destinies of India, Germany, Italy, Austria and Brazil. It is for this that there is so much preparatory turmoil in four of these countries. The sixth Ray of Idealism is potent in Russia, the United States, Italy and Spain. It is the fanatical adherence to an ideal which is responsible for the potent changes in these four countries. In Germany and Italy the harmonising of the fourth ray, working through conflict, is also to be seen. Hence we have in all these countries a process of “breaking-down” and of destruction of old forms prior to an adequate responsiveness to the influence of the incoming ray. It should be remembered that as with individuals, so with nations — the reaction to an increasing influence of the soul ray is ever accompanied by a breaking down period; this demonstration of destruction is, however, only temporary and preparatory.
India hides the light and that light, when released upon the world and revealed to humanity, will bring about harmony in the form aspect; things will then be clearly seen as [53] they are and will be freed from glamour and illusion; this harmonising light is sorely needed in India itself and when it has been manifested it will bring about the right functioning of the first Ray of Power or Government. The will of the people will then be seen in the light. It is in this connection that Great Britain will emerge into renewed activity for her personality ray and India’s soul ray are the same. Many British people are subjectively linked with India, by past incarnations and association; the quarrel between Great Britain and India is largely a family affair in the deepest sense of the term and hence its bitterness. As you know, there is a close link between the fourth and second rays and this again emerges in the relationship between England and India; a destiny is there which must be jointly worked out.
The static stabilising tendency of Germany showed for instance in her futile effort to preserve a racial purity now, as then, impossible. This static
quality is due to her first ray personality; her fourth ray energy was responsible for her effort to standardise and harmonise all the elements within her borders to the point of regimentation. This has been the line of least resistance for Germany, for though the first ray is not in manifestation at this time, yet the bulk of the people in power in Germany during the past world war (1914-1945) were all on the first subray of the seven rays and hence they were inevitably the transmitters of first ray energy. It is for this reason that Great Britain can contact the German race and handle the people in that sad country more understandingly than can the other nations or Great Powers. They share similar qualities and one of the services which Great Britain can render at this time is to come to the aid of world peace and live up to her motto, “I serve,” by acting as an interpreter. [54]