It is perhaps not so obvious that this process of revelation and recognition, which has been going on literally forever, guarantees the existence of the unseen, but real, world of principle. Over the millennia the continuing chain of revelation and recognition has been and is today the means by which evolution, or the unfolding of The Great Revelation, occurs. Revelation flows from the world of principle into the world of mutability, from the world of Being into the world of becoming. Gradually and, from our very limited point of view, excruciatingly slowly, the model becomes a progressively clearer manifestation of the Principle that is progressively revealed.

This is the big picture, the cosmic picture. This picture has to be seen suspended in infinite space and infinite time. It has no beginning that we can imagine, no big bang, no comprehensible starting point, and no comprehensible end.  It is simply Life, and it simply is.

However, as we well know, all things, including the process of revelation and recognition, are relative. There are, therefore, from our comparatively narrow point of view, several levels upon which this process has very definite meaning.  To get in touch with these relatively (to us) important aspects of the Great Unfolding, we must first of all recognize the existence of this process. So, the revelation of this process, the recognition of the process of revelation and recognition on our part, are crucial, for we have a vital role to play which signifies an urgent need for action upon our parts. Let me illustrate.

When Christ was first revealed, only a small handful of people recognized Him for what He was: an Avatar, a messenger who was carrying the next piece of the Great Revelation. Simply seeing Him was not recognizing Him. Those few that did recognize Him recognized not so much the physical person, but the message He was carrying, the quality of consciousness and relationship values that He revealed through His day-to-day living. According to the Bible, which gives the best historical records of the short but action-packed period between His birth and crucifixion, His message was rather simple. It called for living and relating to one another in a way that was entirely new for folks in those days and, because it requires a relatively significant shift in consciousness, it is still new to many, many people today—some 2000 years later. To love your neighbor as yourself has meaning to the intelligent, self-conscious individual. To the group-conscious intuitive that simple statement takes on a whole new level of understanding and significance.

A great burden fell on the shoulders of those who did recognize the message that He was. The burden was that since they were the fields upon which this revelation had been impressed they, in turn, were called upon to reveal it to others. As Morya has pointed out, “Blessed are the burdens, by them we grow.”

Since that time, the group of people who recognize Christ (again, not the person but the consciousness and relationship values the person modeled when He was in Galilee) has grown considerably. Today there are many millions of people on the planet who recognize Christ, who recognize the tenets of Right Human Relations, of brotherly love, of universal interdependence, of the fact of the One Humanity and the intrinsic, essential divinity and value of each individual.

It has been the effort to bring this message, first modeled by the simple carpenter in Galilee, to the forefront of human thinking that has driven human evolution and has made what we call human history for the past 2000 years. It is the continuing struggle to bring these ideas, these ways of seeing, these Truths into play on the field of human relationships that constitute the challenge before us today. It is the same struggle, the same challenge that we have been facing for 2000 years.

This effort, this continuing struggle, occurs in a place, but the place is not in time. It is a place in consciousness.  Again, let me illustrate.

Visualize for a moment a large circle. Label it as Being. Now, under it, visualize another large circle and see it intersecting or overlapping about a quarter of the way into the first circle. Label this second circle becoming.  The sphere-shaped area generated by the two intersecting circles is created by the process of revelation and recognition. This sphere of relationship is many things. It is the area in consciousness where the exchange of principle into idea, and ideal, occurs. It is the crucible of creation, the point of birth, the place of emergence into and out of form. It is a doorway between the two worlds. It is, perhaps most importantly, the place in consciousness where revelation is impressed upon the clear plate of mind.

When a person steps upon the Path, he or she enters irrevocably into this area. This is the secret place within the heart where the first pledge is made, the place where seeking ends and service begins, for this is the location of the Path of Discipleship and Initiation.  In the bridging of the worlds of Being and becoming, this process of revelation and recognition, the engine of evolution, creates the field within which the process we call discipleship and initiation occur. It is within this area that the world of the personal self, the personality, a being who is becoming, is (through a many-leveled and always-deepening series of revelations and recognitions) transmuted, transformed and finally transfigured so that it resembles exactly the Spiritual Being that we truly are.

So, what does all of that have to do with you, with me, with us?

Well, if you are one of those who have put aside the sandals of the seeker, who have heard the clarion call of the soul and have said yes to that call; if you are one of those who have made the commitment to service, this has everything to do with you. There is, first of all, the fact that we are, all of us, irrevocably dedicated to living within the field of life that we call the Path. Perhaps to our amazement, we discover that the Path is nothing more nor less than the great chain of revelation and recognition. The Path is relative to each of us, each in his or her own individuality, as we move ever more closely through our own uniquely constructed series of revelations and recognitions to the final, blazing realization of our essential Oneness. 

The disciple is one who lives within the furnace of the process of revelation and recognition. It is a furnace because it is a place of fiery energy, a place that makes demands upon those who enter its presence. The process of revelation and recognition demands that it be continued. For those who, through strenuous effort and a steady rhythm of approach, fit themselves for contact with the real, for contact with the world of Being, with the Presence, there is the obligation to become messengers. These ones who penetrate the world of Being by making a place for the world of Being to penetrate their minds and hearts are obligated to carry the light, the understanding, the strength into the world of becoming. They are, if they will be, the Way for those who are approaching after them. In their own gradual transfiguration from self-conscious intelligentsia into group-conscious intuitives, they show the way by becoming the way in service to their fellow men.

Herein lies our burden. Herein lies the sense of urgency. Many of us sense the approaching opportunities. From my little point of view, these approaching opportunities are the most significant that humanity has perhaps ever faced and, certainly, no point in the history of the past 5000 years has been so pregnant with possibilities. Never have we been more capable, never have we been better prepared. Let me share an imaginative list of these possibilities:

¨  Christ consciousness, by which I mean group consciousness, is at long last beginning to be recognizable in human interactions and in the wills of the people who are in positions of power in the world. In other words, solar fire is beginning to replace fire by friction in the process of creating human institutions.

¨  Parallel developments are occurring in the physical sciences. Imagine— or, perhaps I should say, realize— that the worldwide web is actually a manifestation of solar fire.

¨  Imagine a worldwide civilization driven by group-conscious people, a system designed and run by solar fire rather than fire by friction—a system, to put it into more generic language, designed and run by love and cooperation rather than competition.  I think we are on the verge of such a system—a system that includes everyone within the circle of adequate food, housing, clothing, education and healthcare. As the grip of self-consciousness on the minds of men loses its ages-long hold, and the 6^th and 3^rd Rays continue to withdraw, they will be replaced by a burgeoning sense of the whole, by a group-conscious vision and the growing power of the 1^st, 2^nd, and 7^th Rays.

¨  Look for the elimination of boundaries of all kinds, but especially of those between countries. This will come about as a result of the growing realization of the interrelatedness and interdependence of all peoples.

¨  Look for great and deep changes in the ways humans relate to the rest of the planet’s kingdoms. This, too, will come about as a result of our growing vision of group wholeness. There will be an understanding of mankind’s place and role on planet Earth with the consequent acceptance of the responsibilities for the health of the planet. When He said, “Love thy neighbor as thy self,” He wasn’t just talking about the Joneses. He was talking about all of our neighbors, in all of the kingdoms.

 

All of these visions of the coming new order, of course, have to do with the externalization of the Hierarchy and the reappearance of the Christ. To go back to the beginning of this little talk, in order for there to be a revelation there must be a recognition. Recognizing Christ never did have anything to do with seeing the person.  It always had to do with seeing the principles, the quality of consciousness.  Maybe this was Thomas’ problem so long ago.  He was looking for a guy rather than a Life. He was looking for a person rather than a Way.  But, I guess, in the end, he got the picture, too.

Anyway, Christ—not a guy, but a Way, a Life—is very evident for those who have the eyes to see. The externalization of the Hierarchy, of course, has to do with us, with our ability to reveal the Hierarchy, with our skill in action and, of course, with our courage. The big question is, do we have the courage to reveal what we know, in our heart of hearts, we are? Do we have the courage to share with our brothers and sisters what we have seen in that space between the two worlds? Do we have what it takes to model the Christ?—because, in actuality, the Christ is the Hierarchy.

The need for truth to be revealed—that is the urgent need before us today. It is the call. It is our burden and our opportunity, just as it was 2000 years ago in Galilee. Today, unlike then, we have all kinds of help with this little effort. There is, for example, the inflowing Shamballa Force. In our case this is a stream of “enlightened enthusiastic will” flowing from Shamballa directly into humanity. This force is available for those who have the courage and joy to pick it up and use it.

You may think it strange that I see joy as a necessary condition for the living use of the Shamballa Force, but it is the only protection we have when we step into the flame.  Without joy there can be no detachment, no discrimination, no dispassion…but then, as Morya has repeatedly pointed out, “Joy is a special wisdom.”

I think it is useful to raise this call into consciousness at this time. It is urgent, more so now than at anytime in the recent past, mainly because the opportunities are so rife.  Attempting to be a revealer of truth in today’s world carries all the dangers that have ever been associated with that role and, for that reason, many are called but few select themselves—few respond.

Timidity, fear of looking or sounding foolish, fear of being seen as different and maybe even a little weird, fear of making a mistake, of getting it wrong—all sorts of fears stand in the way of our service, stand in the way of the urge of our souls, stand in the way of our souls’ need, of our souls’ demand to breathe, to live. To the soul, to serve is to live.

Remember that, as Morya (again, tirelessly) points out, “A mistake in daring is always more easily remedied than is abject mumbling.” Realize, he says, that mistakes become steppingstones to a new victory, and let us not confuse the fear of action with the need for caution, for careful planning and consideration of the options. Let us act, courageously and carefully. I hope that all of us can be counted in the ranks of the self-selected—the ranks of the creative and courageous respondents—and, toward that end, I want to leave you this evening with a comment from Helena Roerich:

 

There is nothing higher than creativeness, and there is no greater joy. Therefore—create and rejoice! I send you my best thoughts and courage. Be daring in creative flight. In spite of my own numerous practical warnings to you, I sometimes feel like whispering, “Create courageously!”

Letters of Helena Roerich

Vol. I, p508.

Tom Carney

Aquarius 2000