Light over Palestine

Laurence Newey

Touching and transmitting specific qualities of light is a skill that is slowly acquired along the path of discipleship. With enduring faith at the time of each full moon festival, we offer ourselves as a clear channel for the light of Hierarchy, and our sensitivity and ability to discern the quality of light available consequently grows. To enhance this facility and usefulness, we can determine the type of light in which we generally function through the examination of our thoughts, words and actions on a regular basis; these, after all, are the vessels into which we are constantly condensing the light by dint of our desires and imagination.

In this way we begin to assume responsibility for the degree of truth or falsity that we bring into the world, for both can be considered in terms of light, but differing of course in their beauty, strength, clarity and intensity. And because light can be revealing or blinding, so must we be discriminating in the truths that we radiate and convey. Different qualities of light are suitable for different stages of evolution, and in the same way that we would be unlikely to win any gardening awards if we subjected plants in our care solely to the light of a candle or a laser, the light that we wield in our relationships can be impotent or overwhelming if used inappropriately.

This principle of right sharing is an aspect of service that deserves some consideration. We naturally want to share the light of truth as much as we can to help others on their way. However, each truth carries its special energy and has to be adapted and rightly transmitted, otherwise it will be ignored, rejected, or exert undue pressure on another’s free will. Other truths are referred to in the Ageless Wisdom teachings as treasures that are “too valuable and frail to be exposed to the sight of many” and we are advised to keep them in the “locked seclusion” of our hearts. This does not mean that they are feeble and infirm in themselves but that there is as yet only a tenuous line of human consciousness linking them to the “centre which we call the race of men”.

Premature exposure of these truths, which we are only in the process of assimilating and being able to express ourselves, can cause a negative reaction from others that shatters the bridge we have built to them. It may only be a setback for us as we can refortify the construction with comparative ease, but for the recipient, the subjective scar could result in greater resistance to the truth unwisely imparted.

Rather, the light of such treasures has to be fully assimilated and converted into an inextinguishable fire within; then we can adapt and modulate its frequency to the needs of others. Appropriately shared truth can then harmonise and stimulate another’s energy field at the point where they stand on the evolutionary path. This has a correlation with the way that specific types of light energise electrons into higher orbits around the nucleus of the atom, and man is an atom when considered occultly. To use the light wisely and with power therefore, the heart has to be sufficiently sensitive to the need and receptivity of others.

We also have to be aware that impurities in the aura create spiritual blind spots and when encountered, compromise and adaptation are needed to fashion words into more suitable and digestible forms. For the initiate, who transmits truth directly through magnetic light, it is more a question of the right frequency to align and re-polarise the consciousness of those contacted. This process of enlightened guidance is a means of unfolding the seed of loving wisdom that exists in each and every one of us, and which can blossom into the immortal flower of the Christ consciousness, the perfect demonstration of harmony and balance, beauty and life more abundant. We can play a part in this by reaching up along the bridge to higher truth and drawing forth the light for our times – that which is needed to stimulate the Christ principle silently budding in human hearts.

As far as light is concerned, we read in Destiny of the Nations, that, “when Christ proclaimed…along with all world Saviours and Sun-Gods, that He was the Light of the world, He inaugurated a marvellous period in which humanity has been widely and universally enlightened… This has been true from several angles, even from the purely physical, for today we have a lighted world; everywhere lights are to be seen and the pitch dark nights of olden times are fast disappearing. Light has also descended on the earth in the form of the ‘light of knowledge’. Today, education whose objective is to lead all men and women on to a ‘lighted way’, is the keynote of our civilisation and is a major pre-occupation in all countries. The removal of illiteracy, the development of a true culture and the ascertaining of truth in all fields of thought and of research are of paramount importance in all lands…This period dates from Christmas Day, two thousand years ago, in Palestine. That was the greatest of all Christmas Days and its emanating influence was more potent than was any previous arrival of a Bearer of Light, because humanity was more ready for the light…” 1

In connection with peace and goodwill, we further read that “the major impulse driving the Christ towards special work was the desire to establish right human relations; it is also the desire — realised or unrealised — of humanity, and we know that some day the Desire of all nations will come, that right human relations will be found everywhere and that goodwill will implement that fulfilment, leading to peace in all lands and among all peoples.”2 Tragically, one of the most hostile places on the planet is the very area in which Christ incarnated two thousand years ago and here the battle for humanity’s soul continues to rage. The Israeli/Palestinian conflict is a symbol of every human being’s struggle to transmute the forces of the lower nature into the heart and shine its light abroad. The opportunities for peace continually come and go – just as in our individual consciousness, the light of the heart breaks in only to recede again as we fail to make use of it fully and we temporarily sink back into the twilight world of the personality. Over the decades, Middle East peace initiatives have appeared, the hope of peace growing with the inflowing light, but always the darkness has returned and intensified as the courage and will to utilise it seemed to falter.

In consideration of all this, it seems apparent that it is the right measure of truth and light that has to be sought in the Middle East; it must be just that which can be assimilated. Those involved in conflict resolution and peace initiatives rightly search long and hard to find the words and terms of balance and progress, with neither side losing face and with both sides benefiting. Compromise and adaptation have to be wrought out and deliberately worked into the language of agreements that are then closely scrutinised by politicians, lawyers and experts of all kinds on both sides. Hence final treaties can often be long, meticulous and well nigh incomprehensible in places; but this room for interpretation allows the negotiators to win the support and backing of those they represent. Initiatives that are wrought out in this way often still fail but their work forms a basis for future negotiations, and so it goes on, in a painfully slow progression towards peace.

It has been through a catalogue of such apparently failed peace initiatives that the ‘Geneva Accord’ has emerged as one of the latest and most thoroughly detailed plans for peace to date. It represents two and a half years of secret negotiations led by former Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin and former Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, resulting in a document that rises above past arguments and focuses on the vision of a settlement based on spiritual principles and mutual respect. It seeks to complement the official Road Map, and it has European backing as well as wide public support. And it is unique in that it seeks to mobilise the power of public opinion by directly enlisting the support of ordinary Israelis and Palestinians rather than relying solely on governmental channels.

This trend towards the mobilisation of public support is becoming an increasingly significant factor in current world politics and as such is welcomed by the more enlightened politicians. Recently at discussions about the Geneva Initiative in the post Arafat era, Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg’s deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs said “the actual problem is not that we do not know what the final status should be. Rather, it is about political will and beyond that, the scope for building majorities and gaining support.” He continued, “Indeed many problems in this world cannot be solved if only politicians are in charge of finding a solution. Let’s take the example of Ukraine where it is the determination and the will of the population which have put in motion the developments we are presently witnessing. The Geneva Initiative can of course not be compared to the mass protests in the streets of Ukraine but as in Ukraine any lasting solution in the Middle East must be carried by the people.”

We now find ourselves at another turning point on the road to peace in the Middle East, with the impending elections for a new Palestinian leader, and the re-elected US administration’s verbal commitment to the establishment of a Palestinian state. Along with this there is a growing worldwide public concern for light to be shed on this problem and for a workable solution to be reached. As the resolution of the Middle East situation is of such immense importance to humanity’s future, it seems appropriate to offer all the spiritual strength and vision we can in supporting constructive efforts towards this goal. In keeping with this, World Goodwill has made the ‘Geneva Accord’ the focus of its most recent service project, the Cycle of Conferences. It is an initiative that uses dynamic visualisation techniques to empower spiritual principles that are struggling to emerge. This esoteric service increases the potency of the ideas surrounding the Accord and strengthens the endeavours of those promoting them. Working behind the scenes, in the same spirit as the Hierarchy does, a sense of expectancy pervades these efforts and without any undue focus on end results, the work proceeds, undeterred by human failure and setbacks.

There is now a good measure of truth and light capable of manifesting in all areas of human living and it can be stimulated and enhanced by those who work with meditation and visualisation to direct the will-to-good into world affairs. Our full moon approaches to the Hierarchy are now blessed with an abundance of will energy available to use as a dynamic force for world peace and unity, and this is particularly so in Capricorn with its first ray quality. This power for good is now having a major effect on the spirit of our esoteric group work and seems to be perfectly encapsulated in the following stanza from the Ageless Wisdom, even though it is primarily meant to express some of the realisations of the first ray disciple when he takes the initiation of transfiguration:

"The Angel of the Presence stands within the light divine—the centre and the meeting place of many forces.
These forces meet and blend. They focus in the head of him who stands before the Angel.
Eye to eye, and face to face, and hand to hand, they stand. Will reinforces will, and love meets love. The will-to-power merges with the will-to-love and strength with wisdom meets. These two are one. From that high spot of unity, the One who is released stands forth and says:—
'I return from whence I came; from the formless to the world of form I make my way. I will to be. I will to work. I will to serve and save. I will to lift the race. I serve the Plan with will, the Whole with power.'"

This is a beautiful image to ponder as we bring spiritual light to bear on world affairs through group meditation. Our collective efforts form a bridge of consciousness to the Will, Love and Light that is held in solution by the Hierarchy, and which constitutes what is known as ‘the rain cloud of knowable things’. The Tibetan commented that, “in the many strands of light, woven by the aspirants, disciples and initiates of the world, we can see the group antahkarana gradually appearing, that bridge whereby humanity as a whole will be able to abstract itself from matter and form. This building of the antahkarana is the great and ultimate service which all true aspirants can render.”

It is through this bridge that the will-to-good can pour, and over this Christmas period, perhaps we can hold Palestine and Israel in our minds and hearts, evoking the Christ and visualising the Will-to-Good flowing in abundance throughout this part of the world bringing true peace. Ironically, Jerusalem, the name of the city at the heart of this long raging conflict, means “the place of peace”. True peace is not a passive state of affairs however, but a dynamic will based activity. This is why it is said that the one and only place of complete “peace” on the planet is ‘the Centre where the Will of God is known’, and it was to this centre that the Christ was referring when He said to His disciples: "I must go up to Jerusalem." The Christ had oriented Himself to that divine centre which has, in the ancient Scriptures, been called the "place of serene determination and of poised, quiescent will."

This offers a needed dynamic to our concept of peace – a focused harmony of intention that abides in the hearts of those who are consciously working to bring in a new era of right human relationships in the world. Let us bear this in mind as we reflect on the keynote of Capricorn “Lost am I in light supernal, yet on that Light I turn my back”. Together let the group stand and assimilate the light of Capricorn, modify and adapt it, and then direct it outwards to meet human need. As we do so, let us also bear in mind that we are strengthening the bridge of light to the Hierarchy through which the Christ – the true Prince of Peace – can make His reappearance and demonstrate once more through His living presence, why He is called the Light of the World.

1. Destiny of the Nations. A A Bailey pgs 147-148
2. Ibid pg 148.

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