The Destiny of the Nations

by Alice A Bailey

  It will be of value next if I connect up the three major planetary centres of energy with the five rays which are today working towards the consummation of the Plan for the race at this time. Three of these streams of energy are working powerfully in the world at this time and two others are struggling for expression. Of these latter, one is [11] struggling towards domination and the other is struggling to hold on to that which it has so long controlled. This refers to the incoming seventh ray and the outgoing sixth ray. They constitute, in their duality, the reactionary and the progressive forces which are seeking to govern human thought, to determine natural and human evolution and to produce widely divergent civilisations and culture — one of which would be the perpetuation and crystallisation of that which now exists and the other would be so entirely new, as an outgrowth of the present world upheaval, that it is difficult for the average student to conceive of its nature.

  These five energies together will determine the trend of world affairs. The problem before the Hierarchy at this time is so to direct and control these powerful activities that the Plan can be rightly materialised and the close of this century and the beginning of the next see the purposes of God for the planet and for humanity assume right direction and proportion. In this way, the new culture for the relatively few and the new civilisation for the many during the coming age will start in such a manner that the peoples of the earth can go forward into an era of peace and true development — spiritual and material. I would like to remind you that the fact that you see the world picture as one of outstanding chaos, of striving ideologies and warring forces, of the persecution of minorities, of hatreds which are working out into a furious preparation for war, and of world anxiety and terror does not really mean that you are seeing the picture as it is in reality. You are seeing what is superficial, temporal, ephemeral and entirely concerned with the form aspect. The Hierarchy is primarily occupied, as you know well, with the consciousness aspect and with the unfoldment of awareness, using form as a means only for the accomplishment of its designs. A closer study of the [12] forces which are producing the outer turmoil may serve to clarify your vision and restore confidence in God’s plan and its divine love and loveliness. Let us, therefore, consider these forces and their originating centres, and thus acquire perhaps a new vision and a more constructive point of view.

  THE INFLUENCE OF THE RAYS TODAY

  First: The most obvious and powerful force in the world today is that of the first Ray of Will and Power. It works out in two ways:

  1. As the will of God in world affairs, which is ever the will-to-good. Steadily — if you study human history intelligently — you will see that there has been a regular and rhythmic progression toward unity and synthesis in all departments of human affairs. This unity in multiplicity is the Eternal Plan — a unity in consciousness, a multiplicity in form.

  2. As the destructive element in world affairs. This refers to man’s use of this force of will which is seldom as yet the will-to-good in active expression, but something which leads to self-assertion (of the individual or the nation) and to war with its accompaniments — separation, selfish diplomacy, hate and armaments, disease and death.

  This is the force which pours into the world from the major world centre, Shamballa. Little is known of Shamballa. More will be known as you study this text and note how world affairs are taking shape before your eyes in accordance with my prevision (as presented to your limited [13] vision) and the obvious possibilities. These are necessarily the equally obvious effects of predisposing causes.

  Only twice before in the history of mankind has this Shamballa energy made its appearance and caused its presence to be felt through the tremendous changes which were brought about:

  1. When the first great human crisis occurred at the time of the individualisation of man in ancient Lemuria.

  2. At the time of the great struggle in Atlantean days between the “Lords of Light and the Lords of Material Expression.”

  This little known divine energy now streams out from the Holy Centre. It embodies in itself the energy which lies behind the world crisis of the moment. It is the Will of God to produce certain radical and momentous changes in the consciousness of the race which will completely alter man’s attitude to life and his grasp of the spiritual, esoteric and subjective essentials of living. It is this force which will bring about (in conjunction with second ray force) that tremendous crisis — imminent in the human consciousness — which we call the second crisis, the initiation of the race into the Mystery of the Ages, into that which has been hid from the beginning.

  The first crisis, as you have been taught, was the crisis of individualisation wherein man became a living soul. The second crisis is the immediate one of racial initiation, made possible (if you will but believe it) by the many individual initiations which have lately been undergone by those members of the human family who had vision and a willingness to pay the price.

  This particular and somewhat unusual ray energy is expressing [14] itself in two ways. Perhaps it would be more correct to say in two ways that are recognisable by man, because it should be remembered that these ray forces express themselves as potently in other kingdoms in nature as they do in the human. For instance, one phase of the destructive aspects of first ray force has been the organised and scientific destruction of forms in the animal kingdom. This is the destroying force, as manipulated by man. Another phase of the same force (which can be noted in relation to the unfoldment of consciousness in subtle and powerful ways) can be seen in the effect which human beings have upon the domestic animals, hastening their evolution, and stimulating them into forms of advanced instinctual activity. I mention these two phases as illustration of the effect of first ray energy in the animal kingdom, as expressed through human activity.

  The ways in which humanity itself is affected by this ray energy, as it expresses itself in a twofold manner, producing a twofold result, are as follows:

  1. There is, at this time, an emergence of certain powerful and dominating first ray personalities into the theatre of world activity. These people are in direct contact with this Shamballa force and are sensitive to the impact of the will energy of Deity. According to their type of personality and their point in evolution will be their reaction to this force and their consequent usefulness to the Lord of the World as He works out His plans of world unfoldment. The energy of the will of God works through them, though stepped down and often misused and misapplied, by their differing and limited personalities, and interpreted unsatisfactorily by their undeveloped consciousness. These people are found in every [15] field of human affairs. They are the dominant persons, and the dictators in every aspect of human living — political, social, religious and educational. Who shall say (until at least a century has gone by) whether their influence and their efforts have been good or bad. Where they flagrantly infringe the Law of Love, their influence may be powerful, but it is passing and undesirable, at least where that phase of their activities is concerned. Where they meet human emergency and need, and work along lines of basic restoration and the preservation of “units of synthesis,” their influence is good and constructive.

  I would here point out that real group love never demonstrates as hatred of the individual. It may work out as the arresting of the individual’s activities or enterprises where that is deemed desirable in the interests of the whole and if what he is doing is estimated as harmful to the good of the group. But the arresting will not be destructive. It will be educational and developing in its results.

  The true first ray personality who works in response to this Shamballa influence will have the ultimate good of the group deeply enshrined in his consciousness and heart; he will think in terms of the whole and not in terms of the part. That is the thing which he will endeavour to impress upon the racial consciousness. This may lead at times to ruthlessness and cruelty if the personality of the individual is not yet controlled by soul impulse. Such cases can frequently be seen. An instance of
this can be noted in the history of the Jews as found in the Old Testament. When the first ray was in control and passing through one of its rare cycles of activity we read that they butchered and slaughtered all their enemies — men, women and children, [16] putting them to the sword. The sword is ever the symbol of the first ray force just as the pen is of the second ray influence.

  I wish to remind you that I use the word “energy” in reference to the spiritual expression of any ray and the word “force” to denote the use to which men make of spiritual energy as they seek to employ it and usually, as yet, misapply it. I would point out that Ataturk, the Turkish dictator, within certain personality limitations of relatively negligible moment, made good use of first ray energy, and only the testimony of future historical records will indicate fully how wisely, sanely and disinterestedly he used this type of force for the attainment of first ray objectives. It might be apposite here to point out that such first ray exponents of force are often misunderstood and hated. They may and often do misuse the energy available but they also use it constructively within the desired limits of the immediate plan. I would also like to state that the lot of a first ray disciple is hard and difficult. There are disciples of Shamballa just as there are disciples of the Hierarchy and this is a fact hitherto not recognised and never as yet referred to in the current writings on occult subjects. It is wise and valuable to remember this. They are powerful, these disciples of Shamballa, headstrong and often cruel; they impose their will and dictate their desires; they make mistakes but they are nevertheless true disciples of Shamballa and are working out the Will of God as much as the disciples and Masters of the Hierarchy are working out the Love of God.

  This is a hard saying for some of you but your failure to recognise this truth and to respond to it does not affect the issue. It simply makes your individual lot and difficulties harder. [17]

  I would also remind you that the use of first ray energy inevitably means destruction in the early stages but fusion and blending in the later and final results. If you study the nations of the world today from this angle, you will see this Shamballa energy of will working out potently through the agency of certain great outstanding personalities. The Lord of Shamballa in this time of urgency, from love of the life aspect and from understanding of the Plan as well as from love of humanity, is sending forth this dynamic energy. It is form destroying and brings death to those material forms and organised bodies which hinder the free expression of the life of God, for they negate the new culture and render inactive the seeds of the coming civilisation.

  From this display of energy, unthinking humanity draws back in fear and likes it not. When full of personality hate and self-will, human beings seek often to turn this energy to their own selfish ends. If human beings (even the best of them) were not so undeveloped and so superficial in their judgments and their vision, they would be able to penetrate behind what is going on in the key countries in the world and see the gradual emergence of new and better conditions, and the passing away of the loved, but slowly decaying forms. The energy of Shamballa is, however, so new and so strange that it is hard for human beings to know it for what it is — the demonstration of the Will of God in new and potent livingness.

  2. The second way in which this dominant will impulse makes itself felt is through the voice of the masses of the people throughout the world. This will express itself through sound, as consciousness or love does through light. The sound of the nations has been heard as a mass sound for the first time. That voice today is unmistakably [18] expressive of the values which embody human betterment; it demands peace and understanding between men and it refuses — and will steadily refuse — to permit certain drastic things to happen. This “voice of the people,” which is in reality the voice of public opinion is, for the first time and with no recognition of the fact, being determined by the Will of God.

  Second: The next great energy which is making its potent contribution to the present world situation is that of the second Ray of Love Wisdom, Christ’s ray. This energy is poured into the world through the second great planetary centre which we call The Hierarchy. The energy which is concentrated in this centre and which is manipulated by the initiates and the Masters is making one of its cyclic impacts upon the Earth and — as I explained in Volume II of A Treatise on the Seven Rays — is also making one of its major cyclic Approaches to humanity.

  The energy flowing through the Hierarchy at this time — the energy of love — is seeking to blend with that which is flowing out of Shamballa and is needed in order to make the desired application of it. The problem of the Hierarchy at this time is to produce a wise and adequate fusion of the Shamballa and the hierarchial energies and thus temper destruction and bring to the fore the spirit of construction, setting in motion the building and rehabilitating forces of the second ray energy. The Shamballa energy prepares the way for the energy of the Hierarchy. Thus it has been from the beginning of time, but the cycles of the Hierarchy, though relatively frequent, have not coincided with those of Shamballa, which are rare and infrequent. As time progresses, the impact of the Shamballa force will be more frequent because men will develop the power to stand and [19] withstand it. Hitherto it has been too dangerous an energy to apply to mankind, for the results have worked out destructively, except in the first great Lemurian crisis. Its work has, therefore, been confined almost entirely to the Hierarchy Whose Members are equipped to handle it and to assimilate it correctly and also to use it for the benefit of humanity. Now the experiment is being attempted of permitting man to receive it and its impact, free from the mediation of the Hierarchy. It may prove a premature and abortive effort but the issues are not yet determined and the Lord of Shamballa, with His assistants and with the aid of the watching Members of the Hierarchy, are not discouraged over the initial results. Humanity is responding unexpectedly well. There has been much success along this line but the results do not appear with clarity to intelligent human beings because they refuse to see anything except the destructive aspect and the disappearance of the forms to which they have hitherto anchored their emotions, their desire, and their mental perceptions. They fail, as yet, to see the irrefutable evidence of constructive activity and of true creative work. The temple of humanity in the New Age is rising rapidly but its outlines cannot be seen because men are occupied entirely with their individual or national selfish point of view and with their personal or national instincts and impulses. I would here like to call your attention to the fact that the instinctual life of nations is something which remains to be studied scientifically and is a phase which leads inevitably to the individualistic life of nations — a matter of more immediate interest.

  The new forms are, however, being built and the Shamballa potencies, plus hierarchical guidance, are working towards ends which are definitely planned and which are working out favourably. The potency of love-wisdom, transmitted [20] by the Hierarchy, is playing upon modern humanity in a more intimate and close manner than ever before. The Directors of the Hierarchy are seeking to evoke an intelligent response from men and an indication that they are conscious of what is happening. Most of the response to the Shamballa activity is characterised by fear and terror, by sensitivity and distressingly developed reactions to the forces of hate and separation. Only a few, here and there, really grasp the vision of the future and realise what is going on, seeing truly the beauty of the emerging plan. It is with these few that the Members of the Hierarchy can work because they (even when lacking understanding) bear no ill-will or hatred to others. Love is a great unifier and interpreter.

  This energy of love is primarily concentrated (for purposes of hierarchical activity) in the New Group of World Servers. This group has been chosen by the Hierarchy as its main channel of expression. This group, composed as it is of all world disciples and all working initiates, finds its representatives in every group of idealists and servers and in every body of people who express human thought, particularly in the realm of human betterment and u
plift. Through them, the potency of love-wisdom can express itself. These people are frequently misunderstood, for the love which they express differs widely from the sentimental, affectionate personal interest of the average worker. They are occupied mainly with the interests and the good of the whole group with which they may be associated; they are not primarily concerned with the petty interests of the individual — occupied with his little problems and concerns. This brings such a server under the criticism of the individual and with this criticism they must learn to live and to it they must pay no attention. True group love is of more importance [21] than personal relationships, though those are met as need (note, I say, need) arises. Disciples learn to grasp the need of group love and to amend their ways in conformity with group good, but it is not easy for the self-interested individual to grasp the difference. Through the medium of those disciples who have learned the distinction between the petty concerns of the individual plus his interest in himself and the necessities and urgencies of group work and love, the Hierarchy can work and so bring about the needed world changes, which are primarily changes in consciousness. I have dealt somewhat in detail with these matters; the gist of them has, however, been embodied in the pamphlets sent out in the past few years.

  Third: the major energy upon which we shall touch here is that of intelligent activity — the potency of the third ray. This finds its expression through the third major centre on the planet; this centre, we call Humanity. The evocation of a loving intelligent response to the Shamballa impulse, stepped down by the Hierarchy, is that to which this world centre should respond. This is rapidly and, as I have told you, satisfactorily, happening. A definite world effect is being produced and the New Group of World Servers has given much aid in this. They have interpreted, explained and assisted the processes of evoking the latent love in human beings which, in its initial and unformed stages, exists in the form of an inchoate goodwill.