The Rays and the Initiations

by Alice A Bailey

  We have, for instance, the great crisis in the world today presented by the conflict between Communism and the democratic point of view. I mention this first because it is the one which is occupying a prominent position in the eyes of all men everywhere. This presents a dominant spiritual opportunity. The democratic attitude, dedicated as it claims to be to human freedom (however little of that freedom is yet truly attained) is—because of that freedom factor—sponsored today by the Hierarchy. Communism being an imposed ideology, forced on the people by totalitarian authority, is regarded as evil. It is not the communistic [745] theories which are necessarily wrong; it is the technique and the methods, rampant in the totalitarian lands, which are counter to the spiritual plan. Imposed Communism and all totalitarian methods imprison the human soul, and breed fear and hatred everywhere. Should the democratic principles therefore be imposed upon the world or any part of the world by a totalitarian regime, it would be equally wrong.

  These conflicting ideologies are presenting clearly to the human consciousness certain great distinctions; these distinctions are found in techniques and methods far more than in the various tenets. Many of the people most violently fighting Communism could not tell you succinctly what those tenets are, but they are fighting—and rightly fighting—the totalitarian methods of cruelty, spying, murder, suppression and the lack of freedom. What they are doing in truth is fighting the abominable methods of imposing the rule of a few evil and ambitious men upon the ignorant masses, under the name of Communism. They are fighting the technique of exploiting the ignorant through misinformation, organised lying and limited education. They are fighting against the sealing up of nations within the confines of their own territory, against the police state, the lack of free enterprise and the reduction of men and women to automatons. This is the true imprisonment of the human spirit. The situation is, however, so pronounced and the evil so obvious (and the human spirit so basically and divinely strong) that it will eventually defeat itself; when the present group of totalitarian rulers (behind what you call the “iron curtain”) die out a different state of affairs will gradually supervene and a true Communism (in the spiritual sense of the term) will take the place of the present wickedness.

  On the other hand, the much vaunted democracies have much to learn. Men are not truly free, even in democratic countries; the Negroes, for instance, lack their constitutional rights in parts of the United States; and in South Africa, their educational facilities and their opportunity [746] to work and live as free men are not equal to those of the white race; in the southern states, the Constitution of the United States is infringed every day by those who believe in white supremacy—a supremacy which will be put to a crucial test when Africa awakes. This attitude of the United States and their failure to live up to the Constitution where Negroes are concerned, have greatly weakened the faith of other countries in the wonder of America, and the situation in South Africa is not honoured by thinking men. I mention these two situations because there is widespread evil even in the democracies; a true house cleaning is sorely needed.

  The imperialism of democratic Britain has badly marred an otherwise fine record on behalf of dependent peoples, but it is rapidly becoming a thing of the past, as Britain gives freedom of choice and democratic liberation to India, Pakistan, Ceylon and Burma. Each of those liberations was in the nature of a spiritual expansion of consciousness to the British people and a spiritual opportunity, of which only Ceylon and Pakistan show signs of being aware. Always, in every department of human living, the spiritual and the material aims are making their presence and their differences clearly felt; the spiritual issue, as I have lately pointed out to you, is the imprisonment of the human spirit or its freedom and liberation.

  True Democracy is as yet unknown; it awaits the time when an educated and enlightened public opinion will bring it to power; towards that spiritual event, mankind is hastening. The battle of Democracy will be fought out in the United States. There the people at present vote and organise their government on a personality basis and not from any spiritual or intelligent conviction. There is a material, selfish aspect to Democracy (rampant today), and there is a spiritual aspect, little sought after; there are material and spiritual aspects to Communism, but its adherents know them not, and only a ruthless materialism is conveyed to them.

  There is again the ideology of Socialism which is regarded [747] by some as a basic evil. Socialism can degenerate into another form of totalitarianism, or it can be more democratic than the present expressions of Democracy. These issues will emerge clearly in Great Britain, where the socialist point of view is gaining ground among the masses, but which at present is a mixture of nationalisation of the public utilities and of free enterprise—a combination which may have true value, if preserved.

  There are other ideologies in the political, social and economic fields but these with which I have dealt constitute a triangle of schemes undergoing national and political experiments in different countries throughout the world. All of them have a religious and spiritual side; all of them are tainted with materialism; one of them is wickedly totalitarian and is finding followers; another is the victim of the stupid lack of interest of its people; another is in the throes of an experiment which may or may not prove successful. Under the impact of these ideologies the spiritual growth of the human family is fostered, because the emerging spiritual factor (under the evolutionary law) is ever present, and always there is to be found a tendency towards God and divine expression. That is why the issue is stressed between Christianity and Communism—a controversy emphasised by the Roman Catholic Church, but one into which the communistic nations are already drawing the Protestant churches.

  From the standpoint of the Hierarchy, these three ideologies are three aspects of one great spiritual event; the outcome of the interplay between them can eventuate in an increased spiritual approach to divinity or (if the Forces of Light do not triumph) they can drive mankind deeper into the pit or prison of materialism. The intense political interest of the Catholic Church, plus its gross materialism, acts as a great handicap to the steady gain of the spiritual position; if however, the Catholic hierarchy can renounce or relinquish its material and political aims and present the love of God in its beauty, it can do much to lead humanity out of darkness into light. If the United States can equally [748] renounce its gross materialism, it can give a lead to the world along spiritual lines which will be beyond anything yet demonstrated and, aided by Great Britain, the two great democracies, expressing right human relations and the fellowship of man, can do great things for the race. Great Britain is learning a sense of values, and being drawn away from materialism through great privation; it is hoped that she will consciously renounce materialism.

  I would like to remind you here that the spiritual Hierarchy of our planet cares not whether a man is a democrat, a socialist or a communist, or whether he is a Catholic, a Buddhist, or an unbeliever of any kind. It cares only that humanity—as a whole—avail itself of spiritual opportunity. It is an opportunity which is present today in a more compelling way than ever before.

  2. Man's steady Awakening to better Understanding

  The general effect of these clashing ideologies and the result of the war among the world religions have started men thinking in every land. Men are emerging out of the mental lethargy which has characterised them for so long. The man in the street is today thinking, pondering, wondering, planning and deciding. In past centuries, it was only those who had benefited by education and those in the “upper brackets” who thought and planned. This tendency to thought indicates the coming into activity of a new and better civilisation, and this is preparatory to spiritual events of major importance. The spirit of man, usually unconsciously, is driving onwards towards a more spiritual civilisation and culture. I did not say towards a more religious expression of truth. A more spiritual inter-relation is on its way and the establishing on a worldwide scale of right human relations indicates this. We shall have even
tually a spiritual focussing which will be divorced from the present orthodox religions, but which will be in tune with the hidden, spiritual factor in all religions. Men are not, in reality, looking for the Christ to come as a religious leader; they look for Him to come to them in the field of [749] their greatest need, to point the way to resurrection and the revelation which will inevitably follow man's renunciation of the material values.

  The prevalent spirit of expectancy and of a truly divine discontent are the guarantees that this second spiritual event is a real factor in our time. Many factors contribute to this awakening. In most countries, through the radio, through the newspapers, through books, magazines and travel, through lectures and forums and simplified human intercourse (to which the automobile and the airplane have greatly contributed) men everywhere are free to know and to understand. This is, of course, not true of those countries where the freedom of the human spirit is attacked. There are two ways in which that freedom of choice can be infringed: First, as in Russia, by keeping the citizenry in ignorance of world affairs, and secondly, by giving them biassed news and misinformation, or a garbled or distorted slant on world affairs, as is the case in most other countries, particularly in the United States. An instance of this can be seen in the fact that the Arabs never got a true hearing in the American newspapers or on the radios; the American people were “pressured” (I think that that is the word you use) into an acceptance of the Zionist position—the motive being oil and mineral riches.

  But the mentality of man is daily developing and his ability to grasp world affairs is growing. That is one of the greatest of spiritual events and is the foundational fact which makes the life of the soul and the growth of intuitive perception possible on a large scale. This is a by-product of the clash of the ideologies, but is the true and beautiful result of the universal educational system which—faulty though it may be and is—has made it possible for all men to read, to write and to communicate with each other.

  3. The Growth of Goodwill and the Revelation of Cleavages

  The result of the world war, of disease, famine and pain, has developed a spirit of community in suffering and [750] in deprivation; this has led to a consequent understanding participation in human difficulties everywhere which is rapidly changing into a spirit of world goodwill.

  This worldwide goodwill, when truly established and correctly organised, is the needed preliminary to revelation, for this coming revelation will be a planetary revelation, shared by all men everywhere. Unitedly all men realise, even today, the need to rise out of the prison of self-interest into the freedom of shared opportunity, and the factor which will bring about this resurrection is goodwill.

  One interesting aspect of goodwill is that, as it develops in the human consciousness, it first of all brings a revelation of the existent cleavages which distinguish the political, the religious, the social and the economic life of people everywhere. The revelation of a cleavage is ever accompanied (for such is the beauty of the human spirit) by efforts along all possible lines to bridge or heal the cleavage. This is testified to by the thousands of groups and organisations working to end cleavages and to pull down the barriers to right human relationships. That these efforts may be faulty and fruitless is often of less importance than the fact that the attempts to heal, to help and to establish right human relations are everywhere being made. Modern psychology is an evidence of this, dealing as it does with the problem of the integration of the human being and the healing of the cleavages of his nature. One of the first things to be done is to educate the individual in the necessity to have goodwill not only to his fellowmen but also to himself. The emphasis of medieval Christianity upon weakness, wickedness and the innate sinfulness of the human being has today to be of offset by a true appreciation of divinity in human form.

  It is not possible to list the cleavages which represent men's failure to establish and hold good and decent relationships with their fellowmen; there are today cleavages between man and man, between group and group, and also between religions and between nations. The terminology which will express good relations, instead of these, already [751] exists: Union, United, League, Federation, Commonwealth, Right Understanding, Kindness, Human Welfare and many similar terms; they mean, as yet, but little. Some day, however, they will stand for certain substantial realities, but that day is not immediate. The concept of easier, unified and happy relations is nevertheless existent in the minds of many thousands everywhere, and the factual reality will materialise some day.

  The first step is the wholesome recognition that cleavages exist; it is here that goodwill can do its most useful and necessary work. I do not intend here to stress the nature of that work or state how it should be carried forward. That I have done already many times. It is the cultivation of a spiritual attitude that is needed and the dedication, at all times, and in every possible way, to the will-to-good. The majority of the existent cleavages are now recognised; the delay comes in the task of bridging them and also in shouldering responsibility. Many nations, and especially the U.S.S.R. and the U.S.A., are prompt to adjudicate blame, to point out errors and to advise other nations what is wrong and how to put it right. They both need to clean house themselves and attend to the righting of the wrongs within their own borders. The same is true of all nations, but the others are not so openly engaged in telling other peoples what they should do. Why, for instance, should the U.S.A. deal with the problem of the Indonesian strife and seek to force the Dutch to do what Americans feel should be done, and (at the same time) give not constitutional aid to the just cause of the Negro minority within the States? Why accuse other nations of constant wrong doing, as does Russia, and of breaking treaties, when Russia fails on all points to keep her word or to cooperate in righting world affairs?

  The task which the Hierarchy wishes to see accomplished at this time is the spread of goodwill; each person, community and nation should begin with a diagnosis of their own attitude towards goodwill, and then set an example by eliminating cleavages in the home, the business, [752] or the nation. Goodwill is contagious; once a definite start has been made in a pure and disinterested spirit, goodwill will permeate the world and right human relations will be rapidly established. The healing of cleavages is a practical matter. The Spirit of Synthesis, working through the great first ray Avatar (the Avatar of Synthesis) is closer to the Earth than ever before, and the clarity which will emerge in the Light of His Presence is already available; the tendency to integration can therefore be more easily fostered and a new synthesis attained among men. Before, however, integration and synthesis are possible, this first ray energy must work to destroy all that prevents integration and all that is hindering a needed synthesis. Human beings themselves must also destroy the prejudices, the animosities and the fixed ideas which have prevented synthesis, which have created cleavages and hindered right understanding.

  4. The partial Sealing of the Door where Evil dwells

  Just what do these words mean? More than I can tell you or put into words, for the problem of evil is too difficult a one for the average man to grasp. The problem of the Hierarchy (if I may put it both accurately and yet symbolically) is to liberate the good, free the beautiful, release the true and “immure in prison under seal” that which is not good, that which breeds ugliness and hate, and that which distorts the truth and lies about the future. I have chosen all these words with care; their meaning is obvious, but there are significances far too deep and dangerous for you to grasp.

  It has been humanity—cumulatively and over millions of years—which has released evil into the world. Thoughts of hate, deeds of cruelty, lying words, sadistic action, selfish intentions and the foulest kind of ambitious selfishness have created a pathway to the “door where evil dwells.” Evil is in reality of two kinds: There is that innate tendency to selfishness and to separation which is inherent in the substance of our planet; of it all forms are made and our planetary Logos inherited it from the residue left over [753] from a previous
solar system. That is something unavoidable and something that provides mankind with a needed opportunity and one which men are well equipped to handle and control. There is that in them which can transmute and change it, and it is this that basically constitutes the Science of Redemption.

  But humanity has not chosen to exert itself in this redemptive activity, and for thousands of years has been controlled by that which is material; it has thus constructed the “broad and easy way” which leads to the place where another kind of evil dwells—an evil which is not indigenous to our planet, an evil with which it was never intended that men should deal. For untold aeons, the Hierarchy has stood like a shield, guarding humanity. But with the coming of a greatly increased mental development, with the repudiation of the Hierarchy by the bulk of humanity, and by the prostitution of religion to material ends and narrow theological and mental tenets, the Hierarchy has been forced (much against its will) to withdraw some measure of its protecting power (though not all of it, fortunately for mankind). The way to the door where evil dwells was unimpeded, and humanity opened wide the door. The entrance for what might be regarded as cosmic evil was first opened in the decadent days of the Roman Empire (which was one reason why the Christ chose to manifest in those days), was opened wider under the corrupt regime of the Kings of France and, in our own day, has been opened still wider by evil men in every land.