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Esoteric Psychology II - Chapter III - Humanity Today - The Great Approaches
3. The Great Approaches (The Coming New Religion) a. The Soul of Humanity It can be seen, therefore, that a very difficult interlude is now taking place in the world today. It is one wherein a process is being undergone by humanity which is similar to that which takes place so frequently in the life of an individual. The soul of the world is taking cognizance of outer affairs, preparatory to taking hold of the world situation. In the life of an aspirant, such interludes frequently occur. The personality is aware of conditions of difficulty and of turmoil. It has, however, had in the past moments of high spiritual revelation and of divine impulsation. It has been sure of its goal temporarily and it has known that the soul is the directing factor; some dim idea of the goal and of the purposes underlying those impulses which have been granted to it by the soul have been vouchsafed. But, for the moment, all that lies in the past. It seems as if the soul has retreated; that the period of contact and of surety has ended; and that nothing remains except difficulty, a sense of futility, and an urge to be freed from conditions. This is frequently of such intensity that all other interests seem dwarfed. But the soul has not retreated and the inner spiritual conditions remain essentially unchanged. The divine impulses are still there and the soul is but gathering itself for a fresh effort and for a stronger and more determined preoccupation with the affairs of its shadow, its dim reflection, the personality. What is true of the individual aspirant is equally true of [702] humanity, the world aspirant. In May, 1936, a great forward moving effort of the world soul took place and definite and unchangeable progress was made. This had a threefold effect: The lives of all true aspirants and disciples were subjected to a stimulating process, with definite and specific results of the desired nature. The stimulation of the masses of men also took place so that they could be enabled to respond more easily and truly to the impact of ideas. This also was uniquely successful. The Hierarchy of souls who have achieved freedom and whom you call the planetary Hierarchy were able to approach closer to humanity and to establish a more definite relationship and a closer contact than had been possible at any time since mid-Atlantean times. This result was more universal than had been anticipated. This was the third of the "Great Approaches" made by the Hierarchy towards humanity. The success of these approaches is largely based on the intensity of the desire found in the world aspirants and among those who have, on their side, established also a "way of approach" through meditation and service. Their numbers being phenomenally greater than at any previous time, the year 1936 saw the Hierarchy make a step forward that was unprecedented (I had almost said, unexpected) in its experience. This was due to the worldwide activity of the New Group of World Servers. I would like here to call your attention to the phrase I used above: "the Hierarchy of souls who have achieved freedom." I am not using that phrase in the ordinary sense. The aspirants and the disciples of the world employ it to signify the achieving of that liberty and that freedom which will [703] release them from the three worlds of human endeavor and make them free citizens of the Kingdom of God. With that point of view you are quite familiar, and you will recognize that in it there lies a large measure of selfish purpose - inevitable and some day to be eliminated, but at this stage definitely present and perhaps desirable because it provides the adequate incentive towards the needed effort. The freedom, however, to which I refer, is the achieved success of the soul to move and act, and manifest with freedom in the three worlds, as well as on its own high plane. This is a point seldom if ever emphasized. The soul itself, the Ego, has its own task to do, which might be expressed as being the reverse of that with which the personality is familiar. It has to learn to be at home and to function effectively in the world of human living and there to carry forward the plan. Such is the task of the Hierarchy and I felt that a statement of their peculiar problem and the difficulty of free activity which it necessarily involves, would prove both of interest and of enlightenment to those who read these papers.
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