ARCANE SCHOOL CONFERENCE

New York 2 & 3 May 2015

Keynote:

Let the group onward moveout of the fire, into

the cold, and toward a newer tension

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ARCANE SCHOOL CONFERENCE

OPENING ADDRESS SATURDAY MAY 2, 2015

The Way of Release

Christine Morgan

Let the group onward move out of the fire, into the cold, and toward a newer tension. This is a challenging keynote, if ever there was one, so weve got our work cut out for us this weekend. The keynote is from the rules for group initiation rule one specifically, which concerns passage out of the burning ground and into a clearer light.

So what are the initial impressions that these words convey? For those who feel theyre passing through a burning ground a sense of future relief maybe? An image that comes to mind is the

transition that occurs at the end of a scorching summers day. As the heat and light dissipate, so do the surroundings give way to a new perspective. In the cool night air, the canopy of stars emerges.

There is a feeling of inner expansion as thoughts turn away from the concerns of the day to the

mystery of the countless points of light burning in the overarching darkness.

Similarly, after the personality has experienced all that life in the physical world has to offer, there is

a feeling of being overheated burnt out, depleted. Accordingly, the daily concerns lose their appeal and the cold light from a new world within starts to glimmer on the horizon of consciousness. As the

inner search continues, innumerable spiritual lights are sensed radiating deep within the universal

mind. These lights lead the aspirant out of the heat of the personality life towards the cold fire of the

Solar Angel. This however, all takes place without divorcing him from daily living. Everything is

interconnected and the function of the inner life of searching is not in order to escape the known

world, but to touch and apply the energy of the soul realms to it, in cooperation with the forces of

evolution.

As the psychologist Christopher Bache wrote even as the self-dies, a deeper form of individuality is being liberated[for] it is not individuality itself that is the illusion but a sense of being isolated from the whole". The techniques of esoteric training lead step by step into this community of

consciousness or at least thats what it says on the tin! At times many of us may feel that we are experiencing the rage of a burning ground experience but not having much success in passing out of

it. Perhaps that's not surprising though as the whole of humanity is passing through a world burning

ground at this time and, as part of humanity, we should expect to be included in this.

The pain and sorrows of the world are shared by all, the instantaneous transmission of worldwide

events is resulting in a community of suffering, awakening compassion in millions of hearts. Its difficult to watch the natural disasters, the desperate refugees and migrants, terrorism and the

despoiling of the earths resources without feeling deep sadness and despair within. Its tough to engage with the chaotic energies of modern life without getting sucked into the maelstrom. But these

are the times we are living in a time when tremendous forces are pouring into the planet and concurrently stimulating good and evil. Its an ordeal alright, but also a time of unprecedented opportunity. People of goodwill in their hundreds of thousands are getting stuck in and serving in

some way; the challenge for esotericists is to do likewise and serve humanity through the direction of

energy in meditation. Having this goal in mind changes the perspective of spiritual training. Passing

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through our own individual burning ground has to be for one aim only the aim of becoming better equipped to help humanity as a whole pass through the world burning ground and into a clearer light.

Inevitably Arcane School students will pass through burning grounds because the training

accelerates spiritual unfoldment. The training enables regular impacts on the student, lighting up the

fires of aspiration and burning up all the dross. Common sense and moderation must be practised,

keeping in control of the process and not allowing it to become a spiritual drama. Feeling engulfed in

the flames of a burning ground can kindle the glamours of fanaticism and self-absorption. The

unwary aspirant can become engrossed with his own psychological pain and the heat of the

purificatory fires then becomes the all-absorbing theme of the personality whereas the personality itself should be lost to sight in the glory of the One."

There are many different burning ground experiences, and as the name suggests, they are all related

to psychological heat. The rule associated with this keynote uses the idea of temperature to indicate

different stages of group consciousness. The fire that burns at the heart of the group life esoterically

tempers each disciple and proceeds to burn up all hindrances. It tempers the mind like steel, firing it with the strength and resilience of the group will. At the same time the heat causes a rising up

within each disciple, elevating him into a new found state of freedom. This elevation corresponds to

The Law of Expansive Response, about which an ancient stanza says:

Above the clouds of earth, a sign shines forth.... Only the eye of vision sees this sign Only an understanding of the law which elevates and lifts can teach the man of fire and son of water to

enter into mist. From thence he climbs on to the mountain top and there again stands free. It is

a freedom, triple in its kind, which greets the man who passeson to the burning ground of sacrifice. The sun augments the fire; it dissipates the mist and dries the earth. And thus the

work is done.

In this way consciousness expands and rises towards the causal body and later identifies with the

Triad. Just as the air above a physical fire expands and rises through the transmutation of the

elements within it, so the fire at the heart of the group life transmutes the elements of thought raising

the mind into the realm of universal love.

It is right spiritual temperature that governs this process. The temperature of something varies

according to the kinetic energy of its particles, and its interesting that the term degrees of freedom is often used in physics to describe this rate of motion the more energy the particles have, the more they dissociate themselves from one another, to where a substance may undergo transfiguration such

as ice into water, water into steam etc. Similarly, increasing degrees of freedom are achieved by the disciple as the fire of the Solar Angel, and later the Monad, causes rapid vibration in the vehicles

of consciousness. The point of transfiguration and a rising out of the personal self culminates in more

expansive states of consciousness.

When this takes place through group initiation, we have the dichotomy of the group moving into the cold while simultaneously, the group love permits the warmth of energetic moving out. The group has risen into a more energised state of consciousness through increased vibration and now has

to stabilize in the pure cold light of reason that emanates from the buddhic plane. As it does so, the

warmth of the group love and compassion radiates out to fire the world with the spirit of relationship and likewise to stimulate human consciousness towards new degrees of freedom.

We learn that a consideration of the purpose of heat, when divorced from moisture, results in the

ability to use the dry alchemical fires to aid the evolutionary process. The moisture of the astral body, which expresses itself through the emotional nature, does not enter into esoteric work. Instead

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it is the dry fires of Agni, Lord of the mental plane fanned by the airy love of Indra, Lord of the

Buddhic plane, that burn the disciple up in joy and bliss. For those advanced initiates who specialise

in this particular path of work, it culminates in the passage through a triple burning-ground that is

found "upon the mountain top, being kept alive and flaming by all the winds of heaven," and which

results in the destruction of the causal body. It is a beautiful image to hold in the minds eye and serves to elevate the collective group consciousness to fleetingly touch the nature of a future reality.

These are just a few of the ideas and imagery that flows out of the keynote which is meant more than

anything to stimulate our imagination and powers of creative visualisation. We should never

underestimate the power of these two faculties, and what the Arcane School group is contributing in

service to the world through their use. Discipleship groups who respond predominantly to the second

ray of Love-Wisdom are developing in particular the creative imagination. In the Tibetans words: Those sons of men who at this time search for the heat of the love nature of the human unit and who add to that search a cultivation of a vivid imagination and an intense power to visualise are

working towards responsiveness to heat and a knowledge of rhythm.

The willingness to dedicate the use of the creative imagination to work with the energy that pours

through the group heart is true sacrificial work. Paradoxically, for those whose will-to-love is strong

enough to comply with the rhythm of group life and work, it leads to true freedom - in the Tibetans words, Obedience lies ahead, with freedom in its hand." The entire circle of the ashram, its inner and outer service, is governed by complete and utter freedom. It is by our limited ideas of this

freedom and a grudging or partial response to it, that we hold ourselves back from fully experiencing

it. Group love is truly sacrificial and where it exists, the hold of the little will lessens and the

consciousness is lifted into the light of the fiery jewel that burns bright with loving purpose at the

heart of the group.

Rule One speaks of the group both standing with focused intent within the fire of mind, yet

moving into the cold and toward a newer tension. There is no real paradox here though, as it is

from a point of intense stillness at the centre of the ones being that forward spiritual motion takes

place. While the petals of both the individual and the group egoic lotus vibrate ever more rapidly,

within the central jewel a point of stillness is found. It is at this point of stillness where the spiritual

tension steadily grows. Here the mounting tension forms a laya point in one of the planetary veils a

door of initiation that the group has, in fact, created through its own concentration, and through

which it is occultly ejected into a new dimension of awareness.

Such is the journey of a discipleship group coming under the Laws of Group Elevation and

Expansive Response. Spiralling ever onwards into new fields of awareness within the body of a

Heavenly Man, disciples approach the heart of the spiritual sun, the source and moderator of spiritual

temperature throughout all the planes of the solar system, our true home. We move as one band of brothers into the airy expanses of the mind, evoking compassion in others and an ever growing will-to-love that can fire the entire world with the spirit of relationship.

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Group Consciousness and Existential Refuge

Michelle Pearce

Group consciousness is foundational for achieving our keynote for the year. In many respects group

consciousness is budding all around us in a diversity of forms. The Tibetan predicted that the pull to

group consciousness by the impact of the Aquarian energies combined with the direct impact of the

Shamballa Will upon humanity could cause some powerful and possibly disruptive groups. Groups

can be motivated by selfish harmful purposes as well as by goodwill and unity. It is obvious that we

have groups of both kinds in the world today. The largest group is arguably what we call the NGWS,

that worldwide group of men and women motivated by human need and goodwill, by a vision of

harmony and unity, and by the soul urge to serve the greater whole in selfless ways. Within the large

group we find a multitude of smaller groups who have identified specific goals or ways to bring

goodwill into human civilization.

The most self-focused and dogmatic groups strive to be at the center of everyones attention, often

promoting fear through violent public displays broadcast for millions to see. What Im talking about

here are organized groups like ISIS rather than the mass protests that are occurring rather

spontaneously. Energy follows thought and these displays of violence and torture create fear and

draw attention thus feeding energy to the group identity and purpose. But, in the long run, despite the

power they have to control emotional forces through fear, their displays are awakening the heart

center of humanity as their harmful ideals and methods pull at the heart and minds of billions of

good-hearted people. These groups are the dweller to the Presence of the NGWS. In a very real way

they are the natural result of increasing light and loving unity beginning to take hold in the world.

They thus create a great crisis of opportunity for thinking men and women of goodwill everywhere

in the world by bringing to light the significance of goodwill and focusing the need and demand for

right relations.

In the middle of this spectrum of group consciousness between the polar opposites of groups of

goodwill and groups of separatism are the many shared realities within corporate organizations and

social groups of all sorts. Each group has some central idea, purpose, or desire that is the magnet that

attracts its members and around which they function in cooperation and collaboration. This idea of

relative shared realities is not a new idea. It is at the heart of social psychology and anthropology.

Shared realities can be fluid, they can shift and change as focus and purpose changes. They are

characterized by shared awareness and shared ideas, beliefs, and identifications.

The subway is a wonderful laboratory for the observation of the fluidity of awareness, shared

realities, and group behaviors. There are people who are focused inwardly with a book or listening to

music with headphones and dyads or small groups engaged in conversation. Each small group or

individual is creating a psychic world defined by thoughts and focused awareness. When something

suddenly happens that draws the awareness of everyone in the subway car to the same thinga sick

person, a disruptive loud person, significant overcrowding or delay then everyone focuses attention

on the same event and interaction opens up as one community. Yesterday on a shuttle bus rushing to

meet the morning train, we encountered construction completely blocking the road. As the driver

contemplated what to do, everyone had the same thought at the same moment, all stated together,

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well walk from here. No problem. Unexpected events provide opportunity for a united focus.

Though the events are most often tragic, the united purpose, the experiencing of united thoughts and

purpose is both uplifting and affirming.

Through large groups of open-hearted people united in purpose, the energy of compassion flows. It is

experienced as inspiration, livingness, goodwill and right purpose and expressed as right relations

and loving understanding. The Law of Compassion is a basic truth inherent in the nature of divinity

and is the foundation of brotherhood and the expression of the inner unity (EH p. 288). Through

that great law working out in human groups, right relations and loving understanding are achieved.

The important observation is that each group or created reality has some shared purpose, or idea that

is a focal point or magnet around which the group activity and interplay occurs. For the AS, that

focal point is the Teachings given in the books by Alice Bailey and the shared purpose is selfless

spiritual group service. The teachings rightly engaged with leads to shared experiences and through

which a great field of thought substance is formed for the reception and expression of energy and

ideas. It is also important to recognize that this teaching is meant to be a tool for group development,

group experience and group service. Its power is that it has the magnetic capacity to attract the souls

who are feeling the pull of the Law of Attraction and the need to evolve into group consciousness

and group service.

When we engage with them with discipline, with an open mind and a willingness to experiment with

its practical application and use, then we gradually find the soul of all life, experience it, and

ultimately become a part of a group field of subtle energetic substance expressive of the highest

levels of human potential and inherent divinity--energies desperately needed by humanity today.

Through the group can flow what each individual needs to be of greater service and what humanity

needs to move forward into a better future. As a whole and as a group the disciples and world servers

are called on to appreciate the current crisis and the opportunity that exist. (Externalizations of the

Hierarchy p. 305). It is the demand of humanity that will evoke the potency of the Avatar of

Synthesis and the return of the Christ that will speed the world crisis to its conclusion, but it is

entirely the decision of the world disciples and aspirants whether the demand is strong enough.

Identification with this serving group and its responsibilities is often a process of transformation, and

like identification with any group, can be a rocky path as by its very nature it often precludes

identification with other groups. Identification as a Christian precludes identification as a Muslim.

Identification as a victim of human violence precludes identification as an empowered creative soul.

Identification with certain groups, purposes, and ideals doesnt always preclude identification with

other ideals, there can be overlap; however, group identities often inform each other. Someone

identified with a liberal oriented parenting group, for example, would not also be identified with a

fundamentalist-parenting group. Identification as a soul and with a soul group is a process that

disrupts the very fabric of the personality life with its particular group life, ideals and identifications.

Aspirants on the spiritual path inevitably experience existential conflicts and crises. These crises, as

we know, are quite necessary as places of opportunity and instability through which one becomes

aware of the possibility for a reorientation and subtle change in direction needed to move into deeper

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soul identification and group consciousness. This transformation almost always involves confusion

and discomfort as the inner psychic field becomes unstable in preparation for a shift.

For the Buddhists, the idea of refuge offers great solace, strength, and the courage to be both selfless

and fearless. In a paper posted online on the nature of refuge, Khenpo Kartha Rinpoche states that

everyone needs some sense of refuge, protection and stability; refuge is not merely literal and

general worldly protection, but is concerned with certain existential realities that continue to confront

us. Taking refuge is the beginning of the sane spiritual path.

Through study, meditation, and service Arcane School students find, align with and take refuge in

their souls as places of very real qualities, energies, and a new fresh state of consciousness. Many

then go on to discover their ashramic soul groupgroups united by quality, service and purpose.

Both offer places for existential refuge during the difficult and rocky parts of the spiritual path. The

soul group is a place where the inspiration, selflessness, courage and fearlessness needed to serve

with stability, strength, and joy is found. The group life is the eye in the center of the storm from

which we can serve with clarity, power and loving understanding.

Recognition of the group can also inform the group mind and assist the group to move forward, to

tighten up its striving, and move together to a point of higher tension, despite the surrounding world

being filled with distractions, cross-currents, and crises. It isnt peace that the world needs, but

change. It takes a united group to be able to move forward into the clear cold loving reason of our

highest potential in a way that it becomes a real and tangible quality and state of consciousness from

which we can help humanity. What the group needs is united focus and directed purpose that leads to

more skillful striving rather than over-striving in wrong directions or the flagging of tension that is

inevitable when the group loses its united focus.

Perhaps as a group we can contemplate if now is the right time to recognize more consciously and

intentionally the nature of the group. Perhaps we can recognize that the service of each individual is

the natural expression of the group lifealive with the aspiration to selflessly serve, motivated by

the will to good, and embodying the Law of Compassion. There is a hint in the teaching that should

be very helpful for us in this regard. It states that: the manifestation of the ego on the mental plane

(or the causal body) is not the result of energy emanating from the permanent atoms as a nucleus of

force, but is the result of different forces and primarily of group force (p. 480 R&I).

It is easy to think of ones soul as an individual soul moving forward on the spiritual path through an

individual effort. But it seems the truth is something far different and that the idea of being a person

separated from everyone else is simply an illusion of the personality identified with a physical body.

Psychology has come to recognize that the personality is formed within a group, typically a family

group, but also a larger surrounding community that is an interconnected social network.

The idea of personality unconditioned by group life and forces is an illusion. I can only be a victim

when someone else is an abuser. You are the peace-maker only if someone else is a terror-maker. If

the personality is formed as an integral part of an interconnected whole, then certainly the inherently

group conscious soul is as well. We know consciousness expands and becomes more interconnected

and group conscious as it evolves. If the ego or soul body is in fact the product of group forces, then

true spiritual achievement occurs not from individual effort but from group effort. How is it that we

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can recognize this more consciously and thus engage more fully with it? We need a new vision of

ourselves as group life and consciousness, achieving as a group, and serving as a group.

Our group has developed some identifiable qualities, qualities that include: seeking, striving,

sacrifice, sensitivity, selfless service and significant spiritual strength. These qualities are our

heritage as a shared group consciousness. An integral part of our group life is centered on the will to

good that is the impulse from which we serve and that provides a focal point so that the little human

wills in the group can synthesize with the group spiritual will strengthening both the individual and

the group purpose and life. Each soul so synthesized through the identification of his or her spiritual

will and purpose with the groups will and purpose creates exponentially greater life, power, and

purpose. And through the synthesis into the group will the quality of refuge is found. In a great

dynamic spiral of service the group uses its attained qualities and achievements to evoke what it

needs to continue to lift itself into greater spiritual identification, synthesis, and service.

Many students have expressed over the past year a sense of renewed purpose, new life and energy.

Recognitions, thoughts and attitudes such as these lift the group into greater awareness and onward

into the group quality of clear cold loving reason. As the group achieves release into the clear cold

reason it becomes a refuge for not only the group members striving and serving in the world but for

the entire group of disciples and world servers at the heart of the NGWS, and for humanity as a

whole, a refuge sorely needed to bring courage, strength and fearlessness so that the group disciple

perceives the crisis and opportunity and assists humanity with a powerful invocative demand for

what is needed to move forward into a more united and harmonious future.

From a place of clear cold loving reason current needs are seen accurately and with spiritual strength

and fearlessness the invocative demand to meet those needs is made, a demand that must be met.

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Student Panel: Learning to Work from a Point of Spiritual Tension

Tension, when focused rightly, is the great releasing Power. So many disciples focus tension wrongly

and release energy in the wrong direction andfrom the wrong location. Right tension is brought

about first by correct orientation; this necessitates a true sense of values and freedom from those

minor preoccupations which produce extension instead of tension.

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A Students Experience of Spiritual Tension

Suzanne Lorge

In my two years as a student of the Ancient Wisdom, the externals of my life have changed quite

rapidly and permanently. This in and of itself is not remarkable; major life changes happen to us all.

As a relatively new student of the Arcane School, however, as these life changes happened, I felt

called upon to respond to the external, objective world in a way that was new and unfamiliar to me,

to be of service through study and meditation even as some hindering glam

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ours were growingor seemed to be growingin strength around me. Because I was meditating practically every single day and reading the Alice Bailey books during these changes, I was able to

start developing a calm center from which I could navigate the fine line between glamour and reality.

To be clear, I aspired to navigate this fine line, and sometimes I was able to do so successfully and

sometimes not, most often not. I am not being overly self-critical here. Until I began my esoteric

studies, I did not even understand that this is the primary challenge of being humanto bring all aspects of my being under my minds control in order to facilitate the evolution of humanity. By this I mean that if I can radiate more light and do less harm, I am helping to raise the collective vibration

of our human kingdom.

I have trouble finding the words to describe the experience of working from a place of spiritual

tension like this. I can liken it to getting a new pair of glasses. These new glasses reveal to me many

small, quiet things that have always been there but that I had never noticed before. For instance, after

Id been studying awhile I became aware of a connection that I feel to all things in my environment, no matter what their importance in my personal life might be. Even if I have no direct connection

personally to a person or a plant or an animal, I can feel connected to them nonetheless. Ill be riding the train and notice that a particular person had a very strong, kind presence, or Ill be watering my plants and notice that these plants are robust, living things that respond immediately to moisture, or

Ill be walking in the park and notice some bugs working very intently and purposefully on some type of insect-world task. The more I paid attention to the people and things in my immediate

environment, the less I could deny that something is driving everything around us. Everything

around us is in motion, full of unseen energy. And the more I sought to understand these unseen

energies, the more joy Id feel. I now understand that these people, plants and animals are in the process of performing acts of service in the world, and somehow I had been given the glasses that let

me see this.

Similarly, these glasses reveal that other things that had seemed important to me were actually of

little consequence and perhaps even a bit clownish. Regarding human accomplishments, for instance,

I dont react anymore in the way that I have been socialized to react when I read about or encounter someone or something that exudes a lot of glamourI more often than not just feel a little bit tired from it. And its easier now to see through the veil of illusion that surrounds most human endeavors. This growing ability to see through the veil of glamour is no less true than for my own veil of

glamour, during the Evening Review. During the Evening Review I have many disappointing

moments when I realize how motivated I am by glamour-filled desires. I still find it easy to get

caught up in the temptations of the astral planecompetition at work, the sadness and elation of romantic tales, the longing for material comforts. But today, I am much less tempted by the astral

plane than I was two years ago, and I can say that many of the astral temptations that have heretofore

driven me in this incarnation have fallen away. They have fallen away because as a student I am

becoming more aware of the spiritual responsibilities that I bear in this incarnation. From that place

of responsibility, every thought, word, and action comes under scrutinymy own scrutiny. No one is telling me what is right or wrong or meting out punishment if I do not follow some set of rules.

Not only am I responsible for my choices, but I am responsible for determining whether or not these

choices are in alignment with the spiritual plan for my lifewhich, I believe, fits into an even larger and more glorious plan for humanity.

So, this is a tall order. And in the day-to-day, I can only manage the small pieces of this larger

undertaking. For instance, when I buy something now I ask myself, what is the effect of my purchase

on the world at large? Does this purchase direct my personal energy toward a more spiritual end or

toward a more personally selfish end? When I go to work each day I ask myself, is this where I

should be? Is this where my desire to serve is leading me? In what way am I being called to serve

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here, right where I am, today? And then finally, are my thoughts, words, and actions not only

harmless and appropriate to the reality of the situation, but are they in response to a higher call to

service?

Before I became a student, my idea of sacrifice and serving humanity was to go to jail or on a hunger

strike for a cause, or to fight crime and oppression, or to join a monastery and pray for the world

from a distance. These can all be acts of service, certainly, but so far, I have not been called to serve

in this way. So far, I have been called to adjust my daily thoughts and behaviors, to be generous and

giving with my time and money, to think before I speak, to remain silent and wait for guidance,

rather than acting just to act or speaking just to speak. No grand gestures. I believe, though, that

oftentimes the smallest gesture has the grandest impact.

*****

Learning to Work from a Point of Spiritual Tension

Lee Smith

Our topic afternoon, Learning To Work From A Point of Spiritual Tension, is a deeply subjective

process that varies with each of us according to our individual compositions for we each have our

different physical, astral and mental bodies which make up our personality vehicles. Some of us find

ourselves easily emotional and readily laugh or cry at the drop of a hat, while others of us remain

rather aloof and detached regardless of the circumstances. We each, in fact, have our own often fluid

points of tension as we proceed through our daily lives, from family to work to friends, before we

end each day.

How do we as students in the Arcane School review our individual constitutions and find a point

of spiritual tension from which we can work?

How can the group onward move- out of the fire of the mental plane as we leave the personality

behind, into the cold fresh air of the buddhic plane and toward a newer tension, as expressed in our

keynote for 2015? In essence, how can we each and all make our subjective life more objective?

Our individual lives and upbringing have a lot to say about that, for they greatly condition our

response. I myself, for example, was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1945. Around age 6 my family

moved to Illinois where, in 1955, I met a young Chinese boy whose family had escaped from

Mainland China by fleeing first to Hong Kong and then finally re-united with his farther, who had

years earlier established a hand-laundry in Glen Ellyn Illinois. Larry Goon and I became best friends

immediately, and with that friendship I began my life-long journey into Asian studies. Both my heart

and my head became immersed in all things Oriental!

From 1964 through 1970 I attended The University of Illinois where I majored in Asian Studies. I

learned Japanese and, when I met and married a girl from Medan, Sumatra, I took a year of

Indonesian. Now that I think about it, my whole college career was my way of responding to the

Vietnam War for I also studied Buddhism and was deeply impressed with Dr. Edward Cones studies

of the Heart of Perfect Wisdom The Prajnaparamita Hrdaya. As I sounded the Mantra: Gate, Gate,

Paragagte, Parasamgate, Boohi-Svaha! I could actually feel my Brahmarandra and heart

pulsate! I was beginning to find my individual point of Spiritual Tension.

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Later, as a new student in the Arcane School in the early 1980s, I found the daily meditation routine

to be quite Spiritually Galvanizing, for my morning meditation began my days with a definitely

heightened spiritual awareness which is hard to describe. There was a potent current of etheric

energies coursing from my head downwards, from the inside-out, which was deeply calming.

Through it I became one with everything. Its stimulation remained for about an hour or so as I

showered, ate breakfast, and then drove to work--but, as I neared work--I could literally feel my

spiritual stimulation dissipate. As I would park my car, walk into the building, and sit down at my

desk, I found I could counter this dissipation by silently sounding and deeply reflecting upon The

Great Invocation.

As the years passed by, my spiritual routine at work became less subjective and more objective: I

placed the Golden Lotus postcard of the Great Invocation in a lucite holder in a prominent position

on my desk; I would softly sound the noontime recollection ay my desk (and also the five oclock

mediation if was working late) and as a result over the years coworkers became aware of the

Arcane School and even wished me well as I took annual leave to attend the conference. I could

literally feel my spiritual life strengthen.

However, recognition and approval of ones spiritual life from others does not in itself help one to

learn to work from a point of spiritual tension it merely improves the environment in which that

work proceeds. The Key, The Tibetan tells us, is INTENSITY. Intensity, or working from a point

of tension, brings in the flood-tide of revelation, and it is then possible for a disciple to learn on a

short day what might otherwise take months or even years to learn. Right tension is brought about

first by correct orientation, he goes on to tell us, you would find it of value to discover where your

extensions are and then retreat inward to the point of tension from which you can consciously and

effectively direct soul energy( DINAI, 734-35).

This, the Tibetan concludes, is the true esoteric work each has to discover that point of spiritual

tension for himself (IBID).

The further I progressed in The Arcane School, the more I found myself drawing diagrams,

especially The Constitution of Man, for there I found what I might call an etheric skeleton upon

which I could visually place the many deep comments of the Tibetan and thereby make sense of

them. Without realizing it as such, through the intensity I mustered-up in drawing a diagram and then

applying particular quotations to its various parts. I was in fact creating and learning to work

through my own individual point of tension. For the diagrams greatly simplified and clarified my

thoughts on the Ageless Wisdom. When those diagrams were applied to the mantras we all sound

regularly, then the innate and palpable strength of those mantras increased greatly; after all, the

Etheric Skeleton of the constitution of man is, in fact, the etheric body of you, me, and each and

every human being. When our collective etheric body is visually recognized, and when matric

sounds are applied in rhythmic progression throughout our body, how can we not be deeply,

consciously impressed as our point of spiritual tension palpably heightens!

Among your program material you will find a blue envelop with an orange card inside. It is a card I

designed in 2007 and shared at a previous Arcane School Conference. It is entitled The Manifesting

Monad Expressing Itself through the Affirmations of the Disciple, and it shows a diagram of the

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constitution of man within the orange background of Our God is a Consuming Fire of the logic

plane expressing itself through the blue triangle of the monad upon his own plane all the way down

through the barely perceptible violet-colored physical permanent atom on its own plane. The

Affirmation of The Disciple is thus an affirmation plane-by-plane that we actually are Divine.

What we have to do is to consciously realize our continuous and unbroken expression of our divinity

as we progress from the formless working into the worlds of form via The Affirmation of the

Disciple. As we do so, we will be making our subjective life ever more objective, for we will each

and all In Our Own Place be learning to work from our own point of Spiritual Tension.

Please keep these thoughts in mind as you, at home, first visualize the constitution of man and then

sound The Affirmation of the Disciple. For I think that you too will find your point of spiritual

tension does indeed heighten.

*****

Working from a Point of Spiritual Tension

(Due to extenuating circumstances this talk was not delivered at the conference)

Ginny Deangelis

Working from a Point of Spiritual Tension is both the easiest and the most difficult dynamic facing

every disciple. It is achievable quite simply through intuitive visualization. For example, you see me

as a human being. I see me as a soul living within the form of a cross and functioning within a field

of souls.

This simple visual technique allows me to immediately connect vertically and serve horizontally on

the physical and material planes. It also serves as a constant reminder of my childlike philosophy,

Happy thoughts equal a healthy body. Over the years, Ive annoyed a lot of people with my

incurable optimism; but this simple four-word mantra really works.

There are many other mantras, but we dont have the time to go through them right now. So, let me

give you a second mantra that is quick, powerful, and effective: I am my soul, my soul knows only

goodness, and only goodness comes to me. This mantra encourages acceptance of ALL outer events

as living expressions of Light and Love, ever moving towards highest good.

Now lets review: with these two mantras, I have established direction and connection to the One

Source and Ive ensured optimum performance within the mental/physical vehicles.

Not so hard, right? Now comes the enduring challenge the great nemesis each of us must face and

the lifeblood of our very humanity: the emotional vehicle.

My Grandmother was a remarkable woman for many reasons not the least of which was her

endless patience and tolerance with my incessant questions of why? She raised me to believe in

and to embody a simple, straightforward life approach. The only disease on Planet Earth is fear, born

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of ignorance, and violence is never the answer, especially emotional violence. Fear, anger, apathy,

and guilt are all distorted expressions of reactive emotional violence.

Facing truth, speaking truth, embracing truth is the herculean challenge confronting each of us,

especially when you question whose truth?

As living souls, we are under contractual obligation to work within our planetary limitations,

including the endless stream of illusions, in order to effect evolutionary changebut this is not the

same as buying into them. Example: sympathy versus empathy. A sympathetic ear may provide a

momentary band-aid stroke in a difficult situation; but it will bring no long-term relief simply

because it cannot see clearly the significance of the experience. Empathy, on the other hand, allows

us to connect with our brother or sister and aid them in effecting necessary change. This is a hard

lesson to learn, but it cultivates within the disciple a deeper understanding of non-personality and

develops a wider outreach of service.

Right use of the emotional vehicle becomes the key that unlocks the door leading to the spiritual

pathway the source of true, enduring joy.

I have learnt only one clear way to disarm emotional demons, and believe me I am willful enough

to have tried all other avenues. The only approach that works is non-violence, disarmed of all

weaponry (mental, physical, and emotional), and stripped naked of all defenses.

It requires willingness, acceptance, and obedience. There is no guarantee of understanding only an

acutely increased and heightened awareness. In Foster Baileys book, Reflections, youll find a

beautiful mantra that addresses this very purity of intention. Ill leave it to you to discover, based

upon the aphorism of seek and ye shall find.

In review, we identified location as the center of the cross, we have established direction as

vertical attention with horizontal outreach, now comes focus. God thinks in equations and

equations are Universal. So our focus is universal, not personal.

DK calls pain, all pain, the smashing of the form and the reaching of the inner fire. Smashing is

a guy thing. I would say dismantling; a kinder, gentler way. But the goal remains the same:

reaching the inner fire which is the true residence of spiritual tension. The initial contact can be

terrifying. Over time, this place of residence becomes your true home.

In esoteric terms, tension always precedes crisis and crisis is viewed through a lens of opportunity. In

the beginning, the opportunity is to become accustomed to living in two different realities: the not-

self and the Self. Your ability to adapt will be tested at every turn.

Once rooting and stability is assured, you will realize that this finely-tuned point of balance at the

center of the cross has become a portal into worlds beyond. Your test then becomes the power of

choice: will you walk the narrow razors edge leading to the Group? Or will you wander down

highways and byways of self-delusion, spiritual pride, and eventual downfall?

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As many of you already know, Mabel Collins book, Light on the Path, is a timeless primer on this

very test. There is another Mabel Collins book that will aid you immeasurably when you join the

Inner Group. It is called When the Sun Moves Northward and I have practiced this program, in

conjunction with Arcane School work, for many years. It speaks to the fellowship of group work on

subjective planes in ways that are remarkably attuned to DKs work.

In a very real sense, we are all followers of those who have come before and forerunners of those yet

to be. So let us tread mindfully and intentionally into the footsteps which beckon. In the words of

Teddy Roosevelt, which seem to carry an other-world meaning and are uncannily appropriate, Walk

softly and carry a big stick. Thank you and times up!

*****

Towards an Age of Lighted Reason

Steve Nation

Let the Group onward move out of the fire, into the cold, and toward a newer tension. In any point of tension, energy is being generated, held for future use, and focused A point of tension is a storehouse of power.

The definition of tension as a storehouse of power lies at the core of our group work throughout the

three Arcane School conferences this year. In order to assess the quality or note of tension held by a

group we need to be able to imagine with some degree of reality and definition how things might

appear through the eyes of the Soul. Only through this perspective of altitude can we begin to

comprehend something of the role any particular storehouse of power might be playing in the

evolution of consciousness.

So, with this in mind, can we together imagine ourselves now as if we are part of the group mind that

is the Arcane School, on the periphery of the ashram, preparing ourselves to explore the newer

tension that humanity as a whole is headed towards? Imagine a future when, as is prophesied, the

tension of mind and heart at the center of intelligent thought and activity is characterized by the

quality of lighted, inclusive reason, of intuitive perception. What would such a tension in the mind of

the Group of World Servers look like? How would it be different from the field as we know it today? And how would this affect the culture and civilization?

History records one Age of Enlightenment in Europe when secular reason and analysis replaced the

dominant pattern of mythical and religious thinking within the intelligentsia. Reason is defined by

Websters Dictionary as the power of the mind to think and understand in a logical way; the proper exercise of the mind, or intelligence. It was this faculty of logical, deductive reasoning that was

empowered, overshadowed, stimulated in cultural and intellectual circles in Europe during the late

17th

and 18th

centuries and it changed the course of history.

Over the centuries that followed the enlightenment there was a shift in the cultural life away from the

power of established authorities and dogmas. Educated individuals finding the truth through

research, experiment and rigorous analysis became thought leaders and sources of innovation in

every field of life. Education itself became a value. Assumptions about the divine order were

questioned and submitted to testing.

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Consider the electrical tension of the mind that this era of Enlightenment represented. It is as if the

ancient injunction of the Buddha, To Be a Lamp Unto Yourselves, took a hold of the small fraction

of the population of Europe that was educated. As a result of this electrification of the mind a whole

new world was born.

Now we are in process of transitioning into a new Enlightenment. This is happening in part at least

because true reason and experimentation has lost much of its authenticity in the dominant institutions

of the corporate post-industrial complex. Science and inquiry is too often fueled by investors who are

looking for short-term profits and too often restricted by unproven and unquestioned dogmatic

assumptions. More importantly the logic of the old patterns of knowledge is unable to respond to the

challenges of interdependence.

The Enlightenment of the 17th

and 18th

centuries ushered in an Age centered on the exploration of a

world of separated entities. Knowledge was the knowledge of separation; the part over and above

and beyond the whole. Today the quest for knowledge is becoming preoccupied with the knowledge

of relationships between separated parts; understanding whole systems, environments and ecologies.

We are approaching an age where the mind is grappling with the mysteries of interdependence and

wholeness. This is most obvious in the climate debate but it is also the case in medicine, science, the humanities, politics, economics and international relations. There is a recognized need to see the

whole picture and to base policy and action around this vision of the whole.

So as we visualize the state of tension of the mind of the group of intelligent people of goodwill in

the future we need to be looking at vertical ways of thinking in which clear rational thought is

informed by intuition illumining the spirit within the form and revealing all the vital, living relationships existing between part and whole.

It is through this quality of lighted reason that the New Group of World Servers is in process of

demonstrating, and of learning how to demonstrate the Glory of the One.

In the ageless wisdom understanding, intuitive perception is the result of an alignment between the

conscious awareness of the individual and the love petals of the soul which carry the Triadal energy

of buddhi or divine, reasoning love. Buddhic energy brings direct knowledge, or reason that is

imbued with love, understanding and wisdom.

Intuitive reason and logical, rational reason are not mutually exclusive, although they represent

different epistemologies, different ways of knowing and different approaches to knowledge.

In A Comprehensive Dictionary of Psychological and Analytical Terms intuition is defined as direct

and unmediated knowledge and immediate or innate apprehension of a complex group of data.

Intuitions occur to a person without any known process of cogitation or reflective thinking. There is,

in the words of the Dictionary of Psychology, immediacy to the process.

The Jungian psychologist, James Hillmans classic book The Souls Code: In Search of Character and Calling presents a clear outline for a psychology that includes the intuition and other aspects of

Soul as a positive dynamic factor. Drawing on the stories of influential individual servers he makes

an important point about intuition and the way it works:

It does not advance by thought, step by step; intuition is clear, quick, and full. Like a revelation it comes all at once, and fast. It is quite independent of time just as myths are timeless, and fall apart when we ask of them temporal questions such as "When did this

occur?" [pp. 98-9]

15

But as psychology affirms, and as we ourselves will know, what we may think is an inspired

intuition might not be a case of direct knowledge at all. Sudden insights may be wrong, they may

come from selfish, hidden or illusory notions, they may lead to fixations bearing no relation to the

Real or the Good, Beautiful and True - so flashes of insight need to be tested with common sense,

logic and rational argument.

Alice Bailey adds that a characteristic of Intuitive knowing is that it brings us into touch with ideas

that carry the DNA of the Plan these are ideas that reveal future possibilities and carry an impulse to help bring those possibilities into fruition. Recognition of the Plan brings with it a dynamic willful

energy for human sensitivity to the Plan is all about recognizing what can be done now to help move forward towards the future world of sharing and right relations. What is possible and

achievable now, in todays world, and with todays circumstances?

If we want to help bring an idea into expression in the world we have to draw on all the creative

faculties of mind logic, reason, strategy, learning how to work with cooperators and so on. The task is to take what we know intuitively to be true, those few kernels of truth that we actually know

within ourselves, and adjust these truths to the world need at the time in which we are living speaking, writing and actively working with the idea in such a way that the essential life at the core

of the idea, its divine seed, is exposed for all to see while the details of its application change and adapt depending on the circumstances.

It is this balanced approach, ensuring that direct knowledge is in fact direct, and working with this

knowledge in ways that truly serve the needs of the time that constitutes the future possibility of a

Coming Age of Lighted Reason. The physicist, Arthur Zajonc, speaks of the urgent need for an

Epistemology of Love as a replacement for the outmoded Epistemology of Separation Meditation as

Contemplative Inquiry: When Knowing becomes Love, p. 179.

Separation still dominates knowledge in the halls of learning, the professions and sciences. But the

new way of knowing is strongly in process of emerging. It is already very much alive and active in

those same halls of learning, professions and sciences. We can see it in phenomena like the

Mindfulness movement; like the initiatives in Contemplative Education spreading throughout the

universities in this country; like the Presencing movement in organizational life or like the

Interspiritual New Monastic Movement in theological and religious circles.

In order to resolve the problems of our time we need to be able to see and understand something of

the wholeness of life; we need to be able to identify the livingness flowing through inter-acting,

interdependent organisms, organs, creatures, species, peoples, nations and cultures binding them together into whole systems, hierarchies and orders of creation.

An Age of Enlightened Reason can be expected to be characterized by giant leaps in our

understanding of intuitive perception and in the role that intuition plays in new knowledge. For

example, revelations often come following years of work when a body of knowledge and

understanding is built up in a specific field. From this depth of knowledge about detail as well as

patterns of relationship, what we might call enlightened scientific teams trying to solve a particular

problem can begin to enter into the life, the livingness of the object of their investigation, creating an

invocative tension that leads ultimately to a moment of unusual intuitive insight exemplified perhaps by the astronomer Fred Hoyle who reported that he had been working on and struggling with

a problem of quantum mechanics. Driving alone he was reflecting on the problem, cogitating and

trying to think it through when, he writes, my awareness of the mathematics clarified, not a little, not

even a lot, but as if a huge brilliant light had suddenly been switched on. How long did it take to

become totally convinced that the problem was solved? Less than five seconds.

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DK refers to a Touch of Enlightenment that the Soul brings to the purified personality when Soul and Personality are in process of fusing and uniting a light is engendered on the mental plane which fadeth not away [EP II, p. 269]. This is the light which we can except to condition a future

Age of Lighted Reason. It will produce simplification, merging and synthesis in the mind EP II, p.

391.

In the Alice Bailey book, Esoteric Psychology, Volume II, [pp. 393 96] there is a passage on inclusive reason which helps us understand something about the quality and tension of mind that is

emerging amongst intelligent thinkers in the Group of World Servers. This is a mental capacity

which enables the detail of the sensed Whole to be grasped in meticulous entirety. Imagine a future

where more and more of us are able to see the detailed unity of life, in all its diverse levels and layers

of expression; to see and understand the beauty in relationship and the divine pattern of nested

hierarchies. As the mind of thinking servers moves into a tension of inclusive reason the synthetic

detail of the manifested Life is already beginning to be revealed we can expect it to become the basic understanding around which a new Age of Light, a new Enlightenment, takes shape.

*****

The Soul and the Smart Machine: A Spiritual Future and Artificial Intelligence

Evert Boer

Cold Metallic Era

When we picture a computer, the phrase cold and calculating comes to mind. This is probably

because we realize instinctively that a machine does not really have emotions, empathy, compassion

or love. It is true that a computer can be programmed, currently, to emulate human emotions, but it

does not really feel. In fact, a computer does not really think as a flesh and blood human does

either. Alan Turing, a British pioneer in computer science credited with the idea of artificial

intelligence, created a Turing Test wherein a computer could be said to think if a human

interrogator could not differentiate between its responses and that of a human. To date, no artificial

intelligence program has passed this test.

Definitions

Before considering the service that smart machines and artificial intelligence are currently providing

and how they might be used in the future for the common good of the whole, a few definitions may

be beneficial. Intelligence is defined as the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. In a

computer, we are really talking about the software or set of computer instructions (algorithm) that

enables this ability. This software is currently created by humans rather than occurring naturally,

which is basically the definition of artificial. In contrast to an emulation of general human

intelligence, or AI, smart machines are limited or specialized systems that are programmed to

perform tasks traditionally conducted by humans in an effort to boost efficiency and productivity. An

example of a smart machine would be what we call a robot that can be found on different assembly

lines, such as in the automobile industry.

How Will AI Be Used In Service To The Whole?

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Currently there are a number of smart devices in use in the medical field. These include smart

implants that utilize onboard information processing components. The most common and widely

used implants are the pacemakers and defibrillators to improve heart function and the cochlea

implants for extremely hard of hearing or deaf individuals. Auditory brain stem implants and cochlea

implants use electrode arrays to stimulate neurons in the cochlear nucleus complex in the lower brain

stem or within the cochlea. A visual prosthesis can create a sense of image through the electrical

stimulation of neurons in the visual system. Researchers are investigating and experimenting with

motor neuroprosthetics to help restore movement for people with motor disabilities. Applications

could include traumatic brain injury, paralysis, and spinal cord injuries. An early success of Artificial

Intelligence in medicine was in medical diagnoses utilizing rules based systems. As more and more

data is collected, analyzed and collated, accuracy will undoubtedly increase.

In the future transportation will increasingly become safer. We already have examples of smart cars

that utilize rear view alarms, blind spot monitoring, anti-lock braking systems, parking assistance,

etc. The future could well see robotic or self-driving cars and automated highway systems (AHS)

that would construct magnetic lanes to guide the vehicles. Highway computers could supervise

traffic and guide the cars to avoid collisions.

Because of the enormous and ever growing storage capacities and processing speeds in todays

supercomputers, the use of large and increasingly complex data sources and compilations have

allowed scientists and forecasters to create and use models that attempt to predict, with escalating

accuracy, weather forecasts as well as detecting and documenting climate trends. This ability to

forecast droughts, floods, and other weather phenomena will be important to determine where aid is

required and to direct resources to mitigate the consequences and avoid the disasters which are

becoming increasingly common due to climate change.

In Alice Baileys book, The Problems of Humanity, the topic of sharing the worlds resources is

presented as a necessity for the well-being of the whole and as a possibility in the new age. I quote

from the chapter entitled International Unity, There was a timea hundred years or more ago

when a just distribution of the world's wealth would have been impossible. That is not true today.

Statistics exist; computations have been made; investigation has penetrated into every field of the

earth's resources and these investigations, computations and statistics have been published and are

available to the public. The men in power in every nation know well exactly what food, minerals, oil

and other necessities are available for worldwide use upon just and equitable lines. It is in this just

distribution of the worlds resources that the uses of big data and forecasting models made possible

by super computers could excel while smart machines and transportation systems could automate the

process.

Robots can work in situations and environments too dangerous for humans. Besides exploring Mars,

defusing bombs, checking the structural integrity of buildings for first-responders, they can be used

in situations like the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.

The Tibetan has indicated that in the golden age which lies ahead, the masses will be faced by the

problem of leisure, a leisure which smart machines could certainly play a role in creating as they take

over the drudgery of grueling labor and long hours. He further indicates that servers on Ray V, the

18

ray of concrete knowledge or Science are rapidly coming into prominence. They are, and I quote

knowingly and unknowingly, leading men into the world of meaning, and their discoveries will

eventually end the present era of unemployment, and their inventions and improvements, added to

the steadily growing idea of group interdependence (which is the major message of the New Group

of World Servers) will eventually ameliorate human conditions so that an era of peace and leisure

can supervene. The operative word is can because the result of the tensions generated will depend

on Humanitys reaction to the possible revelations of the spiritual meaning and significance behind

the inventions or ideas materialized into the form side of manifestation.

Will It Have A Liberating Or Imprisoning Effect On Human Consciousness?

Whether Artificial Intelligence and smart machines will have a liberating or imprisoning effect on

human consciousness will depend upon mankinds reactions to and use of these tools, and whether

they indeed remain tools. There are a number of different schools of thought regarding the threat that

artificial intelligence might pose to the existence of humanity. They range from philosopher,

cognitive scientist and logician Noam Chomskys assertion that artificial intelligence is nevertheless

just a program or algorithm written by a human and that the idea of a singularity often mentioned

by futurists is science fiction, to dire warnings of the existential threat, rivaling climate change and

nuclear war, that artificial intelligence represents.

So what exactly is this singularity that is predicted and warned about by even luminaries such as Bill

Gates, the founder of Microsoft, Stephen Hawkins, physicist, and Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla motors?

Singularity is defined as a point in time when intelligent machines will greatly exceed human

intelligence. This singularity is predicted mainly on the basis of Moores law, which observes that

over the history of computing hardware, the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit

doubles approximately every two years. This law is named after Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel

Corporation and has basically held true from his first formulation in 1965 to the current day. This

doubling eventually reaches exponential growth that result in an intelligence explosion causing the

singularity.

In one scenario, intelligent machines will achieve a form of self-awareness, or experience something

similar to the individualization through which animal-man became a human being. Elon Musk

compared this eventuality as akin to summoning the demon, an interesting observation as the

Tibetan described the true black magician as a soulless entitya being in whom the Ego isas we

understand the term todaynon-existent. The overriding concern expressed by Stephen Hawkins

and Bill Gates is that artificial intelligence would take off on its own and redesign itself at an ever-

increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldnt compete and would

be superseded."

Other futurists see a developing danger--even without considering whether artificial intelligence

would become self-aware--by virtue of what computers can and will be able to do, as opposed to

what they might or might not be. Computers far outstrip us in capabilities such as focus, patience,

processing speed and memory. We have already seen the results of automated computer trading that

caused a massive fluctuation in the stock market. Artificial Intelligence, linked to the Internet,

programmed to integrate and analyze data from many sources, connected to other computers, could

19

make human research and technological development obsolete and rapidly come to dominate our

world in one way or another.

Because the initial programming is done by humans in these ever more complex programs, errors are

unavoidable in these algorithms which can cause unexpected and extremely consequential results,

since a computer will follow instructions to the letter at lightning speeds even if unexpected disasters

are the effect.

To mitigate these dangers presented by super intelligent machines, institutions are already starting to

consider how to program friendly AI which does what we want even as they continue to improve

their intelligence. This would of necessity include firmware as well as software and require

cooperation between countries and corporations involved in AI research. Unfortunately, currently

the field is dominated by those invested in increasing the power of AI rather than considering safety.

Humanity must remain the masters of this technology. The mantram of unification states it best:

Let the Soul control the outer form, and life and all events.

Social Challenges and Moral Dilemmas

One of the very real social challenges due to the ever increasing capabilities of computers and their

complex algorithms is the seductive nature of this technology. An example is Internet Addiction

Disorder or more commonly called Problematic Internet Use. For some people cyber relationships

and communications have become more important than real face to face, person to person

communication and interaction. Other individuals have traded actual living and enjoyment of nature

and the real world around us with virtual reality. Adventure games have frequently replaced real

outdoor activities requiring exercise and physical contact with plants, trees, animals, rivers, oceans,

awe inspiring scenery and natural beauty.

Another very real concern is privacy. To grow, we need the ability to experiment and gain

experience through trial and error and consequently mistakes are inevitable. We have to be able to

forget the things which lie behind, but when every adolescent transgression, thoughtless posting,

careless experiment or hasty decision becomes an indelible record which follows us everywhere, is

accessible by all and affects our future possibilities, this freedom diminishes and our past imprisons

us within the ever expanding big data capacities of our technological age. We even, unknowingly

sometimes, invite the very collectors of our personal data into our homes and automobiles, through

our use of smart machines, such as smart televisions that include microphones and video cameras,

are connected to the Internet, and have the capability to record our conversations for parsing by third

parties such as advertisers.

Finally, in closing, I would like to briefly mention Transhumanism and Post humanism, because they

intersect and in many ways, are a natural outgrowth of Artificial Intelligence. Nick Bostrom, founder

of the Future of Humanity Institute, a research group within the University of Oxford, defines

Transhumanism as the intellectual and cultural movement that affirms the possibility and

desirability of fundamentally improving the human condition through applied reason, especially by

using technology to eliminate aging and greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and

psychological capacities. Many Transhumanists speculate that a post human could be a symbiosis

of human and artificial intelligence, or even an uploaded consciousness which they believe might be

20

possible once all of the neuron connections in the brain have been mapped and replicated within a

computer.

In esoteric studies we also view the human species poised to make an evolutionary leap, but into the

Fifth Kingdom, the Kingdom of Souls, the Kingdom of God. We seek to fuse with the Soul and not

with a machine. We do not consider aging a disease, but rather as a pathway leading to liberation

from a vehicle that has outlived its usefulness and towards the gift of rebirth. We do not seek the

immortality of the personality. We consider the brain as simply a tool used by the mind, itself a

vehicle for a unit of consciousness. In many ways, the Internet, the Worldwide Web, networks, the

Cloud, and the intelligence represented by smart machines and AI, are distorted and external

reflections of internal realities.

By means of our etheric bodies we are already networked with everyone through the etheric vehicle

of the planet itself. And although the information contained within the big data systems stored in the

Cloud, available at the touch of a key, is certainly a valuable tool towards gathering the knowledge

required before we can attain wisdom, we also strive to become aware of the Raincloud of

knowable things referred to by Patanjali, accessible through the intuition and according to the

Tibetan, in time scientists will begin to realize that it is the true source or fount of all ideas and of

the inspiration which makes their work possible.

So may we be as the seeker described in the book, Through the Gates of Gold, by Mabel Collins: he

sees within his thought the finer qualities of spiritual truth, which is beyond the action of our mental

machinery, and then instead of entering on the treadmill of intellectualisms he rests on the broad

back of the eagle of intuition and soars into the fine air where the great poets found their insight.

*****

SUNDAY MAY 3, 2015

The Perceiver on the Way: Humanity, Discipleship and the Fourth Ray

Kathy Newburn

Those of us who study the teachings of the Tibetan know that the year 2025 is important. On the

25th year of every century a conclave takes place within the spiritual Hierarchy of the planet wherein

important decisions are made and this conclave will be no different. This is a time of preparation for

the externalization of certain members of the spiritual Hierarchy and this conclave will take stock of

humanitys progress in preparing for this event and its said that the timing for the externalisation will be decided. The year 2025 also spells the end of the sixty year period known as the Stage of the

Forerunner, which is the new group of world servers time to help prepare human consciousness for these events. But perhaps 2025 is less well-known for the fact that it will be the time within the

various cycles of the rays when there will be an incoming of the fourth ray. And it is this third point

that I would like to share a few thoughts about today.

When the rays come in and out of cyclic manifestation it is said to be because the great musician of

the universe is moving the keys and sounding another note and bringing about another turning of the

great wheel. So when we think of this event from the macrocosmic level it is really a very simple

and also very beautiful moment.

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When a ray cycles in it brings with it all that which is attuned to it. It brings in the zodiacal and

planetary influences associated with it. It brings in the colors and the sounds associated with it. It

brings in the flora and fauna that resonate with it and it also brings in the individual human beings

who are coming forth along that ray line.

The fourth ray is of particular importance to humanity were told because this ray governs the soul of that great entity we call humanity. So spiritually speaking it would seem that the incoming of the

fourth ray will have a profound effect upon the soul of our kingdom, the fourth kingdom, on this

fourth planet in the solar system.

We know that we are passing through a great time of initiation on our planet--initiation human and

solar. Its not just the great Life that ensouls our planet that is passing through an initiatory process but it is likewise individuals here and there who are taking themselves in hand and the possibility of

initiation is held out to them.

The fourth ray is the vehicle for the inpouring of illumination and so it, therefore, aids the initiatory

process. The clear, cold light of buddhi is related to the fourth ray and will be an instrumental factor

in the forcing process that is initiation that is occurring on Earth.

The fourth ray is said to be the refiner, the producer of perfection within the form and the temple of

God. It is that which houses the light. Of this ray it is said, Sound and the soundless One meet in an infinite point of peace. Time and the timeless One negate the thoughts of men.

It is the ray of the seeker, the searcher, the sensitive reflector of beauty. This ray energy brings these

gifts to humanity, not only to those who function on this ray but to all seekers of truth. The fourth

ray facilitates the inner work of bridge building.

Ancient peoples used myths, legends, astrology, painting, rituals and dramas to convey spiritual

truths. Today the focus is more upon words but as the fourth ray comes into manifestation we can

expect a renaissance in the arts as this influence combines with that of the seventh ray to produce the

artists in excelsis.

Today the arts quite often stimulate the lower chakras, but as we move forward we will increasingly

see artists coming into incarnation whose vehicles will be of such a calibre that they will be able to

touch increasingly subtle vibrations, tapping into archetypes of beauty that are awaiting

precipitation. Art ideally should provide the viewer with a portal into the higher realms--a type of

transportative and decidedly spiritual experience.

The fourth ray harmonizes the harshness in our world, fosters right relationships--perhaps through

initial conflict--and eventually aids humanity to turn towards peaceful solutions to world problems

and towards the cultivation of goodwill.

The fourth ray is the linking agent, linking the three higher rays of aspect with the four lower rays

including itself of attribute. The ray linking parallels the linking quality of humanity itself as the

linking agent between the kingdom of God and the three lower kingdoms of the animal, vegetable

and mineral worlds.

We have some understanding today of whats it is like to witness the outgoing of a ray influence as we are living through the final years of the sixth ray dispensation. We can see as this energy passes

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out its action crystallizes and the lower aspects of its manifestation, such as fundamentalism--which

we see on all sides. But we dont have a familiarity of what its like to witness the influx of a ray energy and how it might possibly manifest in our world.

I found it quite interesting to hear Steve speak yesterday of the Age of Enlightenment and it just so

happened that this age coincided with the incoming of the seventh ray in 1675. There was a real

thrust and push for change during this period. This age was a time of reason, analysis, and

individualism rather than an age of authority. Of course it is difficult to pinpoint with exactitude the

particular qualifying influences of any historical period but clearly the ingress of the seventh ray

coincided with a big shift in consciousness.

So perhaps we can expect a real shift in our planetary life when this fourth ray comes in, highlighting

its qualities of beauty, harmony, clarity of perception, and a yearning for peaceful solutions to

problems.

It should be noted that the incoming of the fourth ray to which we are referring is that of the ray

influence of a minor cycle of that ray. Because the major cycle of that ray has been in place for

several thousand years already. So the Tibetan is talking about the influx of the ray energy along the

line of a minor cycle. The major cycle of the fourth ray will be in place for another 40,000 years. So

he seems to indicate that when a ray energy comes into manifestation in a minor cycle it has a

particular manifestation for humanity as it seems that we cannot tap into the ray energies of a major

cycle alone.

Another idea that was given to me in the title of this talk was that of the Perceiver on the Way. This is the first of the Fourth Ray Lords names and so we could assume that this phrase has something quite important to convey about the quality of this influence. Perhaps one could

hypothesize that through the influence of this ray we will become better perceivers, better observers

and therefore we will be better in touch with our soul because it is the soul that is the Observer, the

Undying One and the Perceiver. The Perceiver sees clearly and as evolution proceeds is able to

impress the mind with light and the mind, in turn, becomes the unifying agent of the three lower

bodies. Then as the brain aligns with the mind, the channel becomes clear and direct from soul to

brain and the worker in white magic emerges.

The work of the fourth ray will be to enable humanity to see more clearly and this through the

dissipation of glamour. Because of the present tremendous potency of the world glamour incident to

the continuing clash between the forces of light and the forces of materialism, the astral and lower

mental planes are clouded with waves of distortion preventing us from seeing things as they truly

are. Instead we see as if through a glass darkly. Seeing all things misshapen and through a condition of astral reversal. But despite and perhaps because of this situation, humanitys powers of discrimination are beginning to develop. As the Tibetan wrote, Disillusioned and deglamoured humanity awaits the coming revelation. So this disillusion that we see all around us and perhaps feel within ourselves and this deglamourization which tends to bring at times negative effects is in

actuality good and part of the Plan.

Humanity holds a pivotal role in our planetary life. Our destiny is to become the planetary light

bearer and it is through the group of world servers that this becomes possible of realization. The new

group is governed by the sign Taurus and the planet Mercury, the Messenger of the Gods -- both of

which are fourth ray in nature. So we can hypothesize that this incoming of the fourth ray will have

a potent effect upon the new group, strengthening the groups intuitive and telepathic abilities and enabling it to be impressed by and to work in alignment with hierarchical intent.

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The fourth ray will surely return to us the beauty of the daily life, of the small things, the joy of the

present moment, as opposed to the fragmentation, the noisiness and disharmony of so much of

contemporary life. The fourth ray is also the ray of contrasts, of highs and lows, of rushing forward

with daring and intensity of feeling, but also of cowardice and paralysis. Therefore, when this

influence is strong it can be difficult to maintain emotional balance and poise which are so necessary

to traverse the spiritual path.

The fourth ray is the ray of poetry and surely many of our poets were conditioned strongly by the joy

and the curse of this ray influence that is related not only to harmony but also to crisis. The poet

finds significance in the small things in life and seizes them and sometimes immortalizes them.

Heres a portion of Ode to a Nightengale by the heartfelt poet John Keats, which demonstrates some of the intense feelings of the fourth ray person:

Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget

What thou among the leaves hast never known,

The weariness, the fever, and the fret

Here, where men sit and hear each other groan;

Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last gray hairs,

Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies;

Where but to think is to be full of sorrow

And leaden-eyed despairs,

Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes,

Or new Love pine at them beyond to-morrow.

But then Keats continues with a somewhat more uplifting feeling as the nightingale flies away.

Adieu! Adieu! Thy plaintive anthem fades

Past the near meadows, over the still stream,

Up the hill-side; and now 'tis buried deep

In the next valley-glades:

Was it a vision, or a waking dream?

Fled is that music:Do I wake or sleep?

The goal of the fourth ray is to create, but steadily the emanating source of those creations shifts and

eventually arrives at the release of the hidden splendour--Let the outer glory pass away and the beauty of the inner Light reveal the One. Let dissonance give place to harmony, and from the centre

of the hidden Light, let the soul speak: Let the word roll forth: 'Beauty and glory veil Me not. I

stand revealed. I am.'" As the World Teacher moves outward onto the physical plane its said the present emotional chaos will be reoriented and a new calm will descend through the waters of the

astral-etheric planes. This process will be aided by the gifts of the 4th ray:

Its said of this time, Then will the sons of men respond. Then will a newer light shine forth into the dismal, weary vale of earth. Then will new life course through the veins of men and then will their

vision compass all the ways of what may be.

So peace will come again on earth, but a peace unlike aught known before. Then will the will-to-

good flower forth as understanding and understanding blossom as goodwill in men. The Reappearance of the Christ, pp. 13-14

*****

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Cells within Cells: From Micro-organisms to Spiritual Groups

Kathleen Postle

Let us start with the quote we are to consider in this talk: The cells in Their bodies [the seven

heavenly men] are made up of the units of the human and deva evolutions in the same manner (only on

a higher turn of the spiral) as the bodies of human beings are made up of living organisms, the various

animated cells, or the lesser lives. This is a basic fact in occultism, and the relationship between the

cells in the human vehicles, and the cells in the bodies of a Heavenly Man, will be productive of

illumination if carefully studied.

Humanity has not always known or understood this idea, and even today it is not widely understood,

yet the very fact that we are here today discussing it means that our vision has increased. It means

there has been a process of revelation and recognition, leading to a higher tension and greater

understanding and ability to respond. As we come together as a group we magnify that response.

We humans are cells in the body of the Heavenly Man. As Humanity is governed by the 4th

Ray of

Harmony through Conflict, our purpose is to adapt and purify ourselves and thereby purify the body of

our Planetary Logos by spiritual striving, right human relations, and de-densification. This also

requires periods of conflict before Harmony can develop.

I study bacteria and am struck by the way that As above, so below applies so well to them as cells in

our human bodies, as we humans are cells in the body of the Planetary Logos. What are bacteria? For

our purposes today, we will define them small relatively simple single celled organisms that we cant

see with our naked eyes. Bacteria were Forerunners of life on this planet. Very early in the life of our

Earth, they prepared the way by using sunlight and photosynthesis to add oxygen to the atmosphere.

It is interesting that it took major revelations and quite a bit of time before we humans even recognized

t