A Bridge of Compassion:
The Jewish Archetype Toward a Universal Spirituality


Uta Gabay

This paper was presented at the 18th annual conference of the University of the Seven Rays on "The New World Religion – Toward an Universal Spirituality".

I want to base my whole message on one fundamental distinction, which helps me as a field worker in Jerusalem to stay out of drama and judgment. It is the distinction between an archetypal pattern and the human souls which are incarnated within it at any given time.

Imagine the human kingdom as a matrix of light. And way above the human kingdom, on the archetypal plane, imagine a certain archetype being created, a certain combination of qualities, made up of astrological and rayological energies and perhaps other attributes. This archetypal design is precipitated into the human matrix. Here it approximates into the form of an ideology on the mental plane, a religion on the emotional plane and a race or a nation on the physical plane.

Within the human web there are many different archetypal patterns, some beautiful and some raw, some only vague and in the making and some very set and hard. These patterns interact as they are played out by human beings and they come and go with the centuries.

A soul is drawn to incarnate within a certain archetypal pattern, due to reasons of karma and service. For each incarnation the appropriate archetypal setup is chosen. As long as an archetypal pattern holds interest and a charge, souls will play it out within the human kingdom, being enriched by it and contributing to the archetypal pattern according to their stage of evolution.

The Jewish archetypal pattern is one of the oldest and outstanding patterns in the human weaving. Many human souls periodically participate within it. It is well to remember that many who are not born into Jewish bodies in the present incarnation have played in the past and will play in the future a part in this pattern.

This Jewish pattern is so old and still we haven't figured it out. It still remains an esoteric riddle. What is so difficult about it?

This archetypal pattern seems to span an extremely wide spectrum, from the highest to the lowest. If we take the rayological and astrological information given by the Tibetan, we get an extraordinary picture: the soul, conditioned by the 1st Ray and Virgo, whose soul ruler is Vulcan, is high up in abstract realms, and the personality which is conditioned by the 3rd Ray and Capricorn, is deeply rooted in matter. Both Capricorn and Virgo are Earth signs, which at the same time express the highest spiritual possibility – in Capricorn it is the mountain top of initiation and in Virgo "the Christ within, the hope of Glory".

As one of the oldest signs, Virgo holds the achievement of the previous solar system for us: the form-building aspect, which protects and nurtures the spirit within. Vulcan is the soul ruler of Virgo, and he rules the form and thereby enables the will of God to become manifest through the medium of form.  With such a wide-ranging archetypal combination, the Jewish race functions as an anchor for the manifestation of God, as a kind of vertical axis, connecting the highest to the lowest. This works itself out on the physical plane as the Jewish race and on the emotional plane as the Jewish faith, and on the mental plane as the Jewish genius.

What also adds to the complexity of this archetypal design is that it is a hard line combination, featuring none of the softer rays and signs. It is a tall order. According to the Tibetan, it is a complexity which warrants hierarchical attention.

This archetypal pattern can be seen as a catalyst, bringing humanity's focus on the important issues. Perhaps we can say that it expresses Humanity at its "thickest".  There is a joke in Israel which is expressive of this: "A Jew is like anybody else, only more so." – the Jews are more ancient; more stuck in matter and old forms; they have a more pronounced ego; their mental and creative brilliance is outstanding; three of the major religions have emerged from them ….  The well-known channeled entity Kryon (through Lee Carol) suggests that a soul who wishes to incarnate into the Jewish race commits to do so for a number of times. This is an interesting idea to contemplate, which may add a facet to our understanding of the intensity and outstanding adhesive power of this archetype.

As the solar plexus center of Humanity, according to the Tibetan, the Jewish archetype is a hotspot of human drama, now focalized in the State of Israel. It magnifies and brings to the surface unresolved human conflicts. Here are lessons of concreteness, materialism, ego, which still need to be learned by humanity.

Self-assertion is a trait which is strongly developed within the Jewish consciousness. This might be seen as a solar plexus expression of the Jewish soul's 1st Ray quality.

Could it be possible that precisely because of this quality of self-assertion the Jewish race had been chosen so often as the carrier of new truths to be imparted to Humanity (Abraham, the founder of monotheism; Moses, whose laws are still running the world; the Christ; Einstein, Marx, Freud)? Perhaps this ego substance, this sense of self, was a rare achievement in the past, which could be used to anchor and concretize new truths.

Today, however, it is obvious that this solar plexus expression of the 1st Ray Jewish soul must be raised into the heart. It is locked into this emotional fixation due to trauma. The prolonged and continuing chain of trauma, or trauma vortex, which has been created over the millennia between the Jews and the non-Jews, is a result of an extremely solid and powerful archetype meeting softer and less solid archetypes, which have rejected the powerful impact. The trauma keeps the archetypal pattern hard and separative. However, there is also some development towards softening, healing and resolution.

What follows is a rough overview of what is going on today, in 2004, in terms of consciousness in Israel. This is necessarily very general and incomplete. The situation is extremely complex.

Out of a total population of 6.570.000, there are 5.060.000 Jews, 1.022.000 Moslems, 139.000 Christians and the remainder comprised of Druze and others.

Very roughly it can be said that about 15% of the Jewish population in Israel are orthodox or fundamentalists; about 35% are traditional, (which means varying degrees of adherence to doctrine and observance); and the rest, about one half, is secular or non-affiliate. Within the secular section are included those Jews who are drawn to other faiths or to the New Age.

I will now attempt to describe some of the main thoughtforms characterizing Jewish orthodox belief:

Orthodox Judaism is based on the belief of "Divine Revelation", given to the Hebrew people at Sinai. As such the Torah is seen as ultimate Truth, not to be altered in any way. It is a moral, ethical and spiritual code expressed by a set of laws, the "Mitzvoth"; it is believed that when all Jews will adhere to them precisely (in ways defined by the rabbis or teachers of old) the Messiah, the savior, will come and God's kingdom will reign on Earth. There are 613 laws to observe in daily life.

The Jews are seen as a "priestly nation", ordained by God, and empowered through obeying the law and carrying out the Mitzvoth, to be a model for Humanity and to redeem Humanity.

Some orthodox Jews hold that whatever land the Jewish people held in the times of the Bible is their birthright and it is their duty to gain it back.

A very extreme Orthodox minority holds that the state of Israel is unlawful, since it should only come about when the Messiah will come. So they are actually against the state of Israel.

Genetic purity is seen as highly important and conversions are not encouraged. Intermarriage is considered a grave sin, calling for excommunication.

Orthodox Judaism is a patriarchal structure, considering women as inferior to men.

Out of the many different God images in the bible, the orthodox Jews seem mainly to experience him as a stern father, who must be obeyed. He is the judge, the awesome power, whose righteous rage must be feared, because he punishes non-observance individually and collectively.

Due to the belief in collective redemption and collective punishment, among Orthodox circles there is zero tolerance for any other way to live Jewishness. Non-orthodox Judaism is considered an abomination and heresy, standing in the way of redemption.

 Today the Rabbinate, the official representative of the Jewish religion, is really the epitome of separatism and holding on to an obsolete form. This form holds people who are influenced by it mental prisoners. All Israeli citizens are under the Rabbinate's restrictive legislation concerning family matters.

The more advanced human beings and especially the disciples, who are born into the Jewish archetypal pool, struggle hard to free themselves and others from the crystallized thoughtform and its implications on the physical plane. There is a lot of work being done on all levels to open it up to the light.

The world is mainly aware of the political arena, with all its difficulty and apparent hopelessness.

In the arena of religion, three main areas of hope can be distinguished: There is modern Judaism, and there is the growing interfaith activities. Both are more active outside of Israel, but also growing increasingly within the country. Thirdly, there is the openness of the young generation to all walks of the New Age scene.

In progressive Judaism of the 21st century, the Torah is an inspired guidebook for living an ethical life to the highest level of one's human ability. The laws are seen as a tool towards this end – to be a support, not a straightjacket. They are to be reviewed and revised by each generation to be appropriate and viable within the modern context.

Progressive Jewish communities strive to be inclusive, accommodating all those who wish to be part of them, regardless of gender, color or sexual orientation. These communities are increasingly led by women. Most of them exist in USA and Europe, but they are also growing in Israel.

Interfaith organizations in Israel and abroad are on the increase. They are very active, featuring regular meetings and forums of all kinds which are attended by hundreds of people - Jews, Moslems, Christians and any other faith. The emphasis is on getting to know and to honor each other as human beings and on learning about the customs of the other faiths. Through worshipping together and through many activities towards peace the separating walls are dissolved and true tolerance is being built.

Another positive feature is the growing openness of secular Israelis to all respects of the New Age and especially to the religions of the Far East. Many young people travel to India straight after the army, sometimes for half a year or longer. Also, many of the international New Age teachers and methods, from the East and the West, find an anchor point in Israel, for spiritual development and for healing. Most of the New Age methods which are developing in the USA and Europe are represented in Israel and have a substantial following.

The more established groups, like many forms of alternative medicine and the Anthroposophists' educational and agricultural systems, have become part of the mainstream.

There are also groups of Free Masons and Theosophists and a few Arcane School students. Recently a few Bailey books have been translated into Hebrew. There is an official translation of the Great Invocation in Hebrew. A number of spiritual groups work along the lines of the Bailey teachings.

To people who are sensitives, the land of Israel itself speaks loudly. The Temple Mount, which is called Mount Moriah, is perceived as a strong 1st Ray vortex. At its side is situated the Wailing Wall, the Jews' most sacred site; on top of it is the Dome of the Rock, one of the important Moslem holy places, and all around it are many churches from all branches of Christianity. The density – physical, emotional and thoughtform-wise, is extraordinary. The thoughts and prayers of so many people from all over the world are sent there daily, with very mixed motives, ranging from the most materialistic supplication to the purest prayer for world peace.

Qumran, the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls of the Essenes were found, today attracts growing interest from all over the world. The Essenes and their teachings and their texts throw new light on the history of the Jews and the Christians and may well be a bridging element between Judaism and Christianity. Furthermore, the Essenes are considered by spiritual sources to be forerunners of the Piscean Age and the fieldworkers who prepared the ground for Christ's mission in Palestine. The world's interest in them may perhaps bring this enlightened part of their history more into the forefront of Jewish consciousness. This may have a healing effect.

Around the Sea of Galilee where, according to Edgar Cayce and other New Age sources, Jesus the Essene has spent much of his life, a 2nd Ray sweetness is felt. In this area Jews and Arabs get along in a much more natural way than in any other place in Israel.

These energies - the 1st Ray energy from the Temple Mount, the energy of the Essenes and the Galilean 2nd Ray energy, and others, which seem anchored in the land itself, are accessible and can be profitably used by disciples.

This has given a rough outline of what is going on in Israel at present.

What can be done to help this hard archetypal nut to fulfill its destiny and find its right place in humanity?

Around 60 years ago, at the end of the Holocaust and before the foundation of the state of Israel, the Tibetan offered a solution to the Jewish riddle. It seemed to him then that time and non-separativeness were the cure. He proposed that the Jews as a race should assimilate on the physical and national level with the rest of Humanity, and only retain their religious identity. And the Gentiles were asked to meet them more than half way, with tolerance and acceptance.

Well, it seems that Humanity was not ready for this solution – neither the Jews, nor the Gentiles. The old form and the escalation of trauma proved too strong for resolution at that point.

So, instead of merging on the physical and national level with the rest of Humanity and only retaining their religious identity, the Jews have now built their own state and have become a nation again. They have again brought down the archetype into pronounced physical expression.

Apart from being an opportunity to work on the archetypal complexity more focusedly, the existence of the Jewish state, may yet have an important role to play in human development at this stage. Or, if the needed lessons will not be learned, the Jews may lose their state once again and a new round of trauma will have to be trodden.

I leave the dealing with the physical/political arena to other field workers and concentrate on the religious/consciousness aspect of the riddle.

The Tibetan said Orthodox Judaism is obsolete. This of course can be said about the fundamentalist aspect of all religions. The problem of "Divine Revelation" is common to all religions and ideologies. Even the Bailey books are no exception. If we feel we have to stick to the letter, we crystallize and densify the outer form, creating a problem in the way of growth, becoming fundamentalists.

So Jewish fundamentalism should be treated like any other form of fundamentalism, by taking a firm and clear stand opposite beliefs and behavior which interfere with human freedom.

On the other hand, Judaism as a religion must be honored, like any other religion. Religion is the approximation of the divine archetype on the emotional (3rd chakra) and tribal (2nd chakra) plane. Younger souls, which are still mainly emotionally oriented, need this "container", which can be called religiosity: it is the highest ideal that one can grasp on the emotional plane, plus its working out into religious practice. That's what formal religion is about. A 2nd chakra tribal need is involved here. The younger the souls, the more will they be centered around this need, and the more fundamentalist will be its expression.

In the transition period towards universal spirituality the aspect of religiosity, which forms part of all religions, must be honored. Christian 2nd chakra tribal consciousness resonates with Christmas and church bells etc. and the Moslem 2nd chakra resonates with their holy places and prayers, etc., and the Jews have their customs and practices which make their heart sing and give them a sense of belonging.  Here we could even take the great affection which the Bailey students have for the "Blue Books", and their daily reciting of the Great Invocation, as another example of the same sense of religiosity, a 2nd chakra expression, only that with disciples there is less emphasis on this. (Perhaps we could even say that the 2nd chakra of some of us has been challenged by the Lucis Trust's giving out of the adapted version of the GI a few years ago…?)

To challenge or to judge anyone's tribal consciousness or sense of belonging easily causes knee-jerk reactions of fear - contraction or lashing out.

There is a great need for harmlessness and caution with anything pertaining to tribal belonging, especially when there is a lot of trauma. Assimilation cannot be forced. I think that in our work of healing it is wise to refrain from directly addressing 2nd chakra tribal belonging. It is safer and more effective to stimulate and nurture the higher expressions of the archetype.

So my understanding is that beyond taking a firm stand against its negative effects on others, orthodox Judaism is better justify alone. Modern Judaism in its various trends should be supported instead. Modern Judaism opens the constricted container so the young souls who still need a sense of tribal belonging can breathe and grow. It is a critical mass of modern Jews that will loosen the grip of orthodox-fundamentalist Judaism.

In addition to this gradual softening inside, the Interfaith activities help to build a bridge to the outside, to the other religions.

Moreover, the younger expressions of the New Age, like much of the channeled material, which comes with a lot of love, and New Age fairs and festivals, are hugely popular in Israel. They hold great appeal to emotionally-polarized Jews who are more open, giving them a taste of another, perhaps sweeter or softer religious experience.

All this will eventually help the souls which are incarnated in Jewish bodies and influenced by the Jewish thoughtform to free themselves from total identification with this temporary container.

This work is being done by men and women of good will and by aspirants.

Now what is the contribution that the disciples can make to solving this riddle? Here are a few points which I think are the responsibility of the spiritual workers.

The task of the spiritual workers in Israel in the area of religion is to offer to secular Israeli Jews, who are more mentally oriented and who are often hateful of religion as they know it, a valid alternative, which is inclusive of their roots, but shows a way out of the contracted, crystallized thoughtform, into the light of the New Age. For these secular Israelis a mental bridge must be built. The emerging universal spirituality must be presented to them in a way which appeals both to their often repressed spiritual longing and to their keen intellect. I find that a good way to do this is founding the whole of universal spirituality on modern psychology and the constitution of man. We in the Jerusalem School for Universal Spirituality are busy along these lines, using 5th Ray building material on the wings of a lot of 2nd Ray love wisdom.

Everything points to the great need for 2nd Ray energy. The solar plexus focus of the Jewish race must be lifted into the heart. The hard line 1st and 3rd rays must be balanced by the 2nd ray. The very male doctrine and practice of Judaism must be infused by the Feminine. The World Teacher, whom the Jews have over-looked 2000 years ago due to their preoccupation with 1st and 3rd ray glamors, but for whom they wait along with the rest of humanity, expresses the 2nd ray, and it is to this quality that they must become more receptive.

The disciples of the world can contribute by practicing the 2nd Ray approach when dealing with the Jewish theme and can perhaps make it the focus of their meditation, like for example in the 2nd Ray AAMP meditation (Ashramic Assistance Meditation Program, a service activity of the University of the Seven Rays), esoterically infusing the Jewish consciousness with 2nd Ray energy.

As part of this 2nd Ray work, on the way from trauma to healing, a clearer idea of the Jews' unique contribution to Humanity must be gained and acknowledged. Here the esotericists of the world can contribute much, by non-judgmental pondering towards a completed point of view.

Can we open ourselves to and affirm that which is of beauty and of value in the Jewish faith? The 1st + 3rd Ray virtues of a keen understanding of cosmology and its practical application in everyday life deserve acknowledgement. One example is the very central Jewish rule to set aside time for the Divine. In Jerusalem especially there is a meditative atmosphere on Shabbat and on various holidays. On Yom Kippur, the Day of Judgment, the whole nation enters into meditation or introspection. Many Jewish holidays are held at the time of the Full Moon.

Also, the laws or mitzvot are actually an ancient attempt at White Magic, or precise co-creation. There is much knowledge of the laws of manifestation within the Jewish consciousness. This is demonstrated in the brilliance of the Jewish mind which has done so much for the advancement of Humanity. The Jews are very good at perceiving high ideas and bringing them down into physical practical manifestation. Their wide-spanning vertical axis must be understood, appreciated and consciously used, by Jews and Non-Jews, as an important asset for Humanity.

So our work as disciples, apart from 2nd Ray infusion, is to understand the nature and the role of the Jewish consciousness from an archetypal perspective and formulate this understanding in a way which can gradually be absorbed into the thinking and the feeling of Humanity, in order to end the trauma vortex and help the Jewish race to find its right place in Humanity.

I will end with the 3rd Rule of Harmlessness, as a guide line for solving difficult esoteric riddles:

"Blend with Thy brother's soul and know him as he is. Only upon the plane of soul can this be done. Elsewhere it feeds the fuel of his lower life. Then focus on the Plan. Thus will he see the part that he and you and all men play. Thus will he enter into life and know the work accomplished".

Uta Gabay
Founder and director of Hechal,
Jerusalem Centre for Universal Spirituality

utagabay@gmail.com
Hechal.org@gmail.com

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