(A.A. Bailey, The Externalisation of the Hierarchy,  pp. 631-642, 1957 — SECTION FOUR, STAGES IN THE EXTERNALISATION OF THE HIERARCHY.)

"April 1948

This is the last Wesak Message which I intend to give you. In 1949, I shall have completed thirty years of carefully planned and meticulously outlined work; this work I undertook under cyclic law (related to the periodical giving out of the esoteric teaching) in order to aid humanity and the work of the Hierarchy, to both of which I happen to belong.

On November 19th, 1919, I made my first contact with A.A.B. (much to her distress and dismay), and I have worked steadily with her ever since. The books which I then planned have been well-nigh finished; the various phases of the work which were a part of the preparation for the reappearance of the Christ have taken form and should go forward with gathering momentum during the next twenty years.

The two major ideas which it was my task to bring to the attention of humanity everywhere throughout the world have been securely anchored (if I may be permitted to use such a term), and these constitute by far the most important aspect of the work which I have done. These formulated ideas are:

1. The announcement of the existence (hitherto unrecognised) of the New Group of World Servers. This is an effective group of workers, intermediate between Humanity and the spiritual Hierarchy of the planet.

2. The statement, sent out lately, in connection with the Reappearance of the Christ, and for the immediate consolidation of the work of preparation.

All else that I have done in the service of the Hierarchy is of secondary importance to these two statements of spiritual fact.

The fifth volume of A Treatise on the Seven Rays remains to be finished, as does the second volume of Discipleship in the New Age; there is nothing else; what remains, therefore, can easily be accomplished before my term of thirty years comes to an end. Other work awaits me under the reorganisation of all the hierarchical efforts incident to the reappearance of the Christ and the closer relationship which will then be established between humanity and the Hierarchy. The work of hierarchical reorganisation is at present largely internal and concerns not humanity at this time.

I have made it entirely clear to all of you what is the work which you should do and I have no intention (in this final message) of pleading with you to do it—beyond asking you to carry on where I leave off. I refer of course to my exoteric work.

That the work which I am now doing was definitely ending in 1949 was quite unknown to A.A.B. and has no relation whatsoever to the fact that her health is precarious. It has, however, some relation to the fact that she has resumed more active work as a disciple in the Ashram of her own Master, after twenty-eight years of service in mine. Before I began the work of the past three decades, I knew exactly the time I had in which to bring about the results desired by the Hierarchy; all has been meticulously carried out under a most clearly visioned plan.

First, there was the necessity to find the nucleus of people through whom I had to work; the first step was therefore the writing of certain books which would carry the new teaching, and act therefore as a selective agent for the discovery of those who would work in the new emerging cycle.

The starting of the Arcane School by A.A.B. was only incidental to this objective; its aim is to train those disciples who can implement the Plan and thus prepare for the reappearance of the Christ; the Arcane School can therefore provide a trained body of workers.

Ten years after that, I began to expand the range of contacts, and the teaching began to reach thinkers on continents other than the American. As a result, I began to form my own Ashram and to find people in all countries who were disciples, qualified as such, but who needed the impact of the influence of a second ray Ashram. When this was done, the major part of the second decade of my work became possible, and I therefore wrote a pamphlet entitled The New Group of World Servers. In it I called attention to the fact that there existed upon the Earth, in every nation, men and women who (in some form or another) recognised the spiritual Hierarchy of the planet, who had a quality of non-separateness, definitely present or else rapidly developing, and who were gathered together in no limiting organisation but primarily by their trend of thought and the habit of their activity. They constituted a group who were subjectively, spiritually, practically and openly creating a new form of human relationship. This new relation resulted in mutual understanding and a mental cooperation which recognised no barriers or national limitations. On the inner side of spiritual incentive and endeavour, they work today as one group; on the outer side of world affairs, they may not be aware of each other physically, or arrive at any open contact, yet they are animated by the same principles and are carrying forward—in all nations and in every great department of human thinking and planning—a similar work.

In this decade of my work, two major activities were inaugurated: the creation of the Triangles and the formation of Men of Goodwill,* and these are just on the verge of a major creative activity. They constitute an effort to energise and relate members and adherents of the New Group of World Servers (and particularly in the organisation of men of goodwill), to find and mobilise the groups formed by the New Group of World Servers throughout the world, so as to bring added strength to all of them by swinging into a massed effort men of prayer, men of good intention, and those who believe in the divine will-to-good, plus those who implement it through love—no matter what they mean by that vague term. Thus a nucleus of a great synthesis was brought about in this second decade, and it will have lasting effects upon human living and design. Owing to planetary frustration and the enhanced activity of the Forces of Evil, the work of the Triangles and of the men of goodwill has been more slowly formulated than had been originally expected, but this has been through no fault of theirs; this period of frustration will be over before very long and a greatly increased momentum will be the result. For this increased response upon the part of the public, you should now lay your plans.

In the third and final decade of my work, the time and opportunity came to announce, in a new and more emphatic manner, what all the world religions have proclaimed, that—with due preparation and the establishment of a pronounced tendency towards right human relations—the time had come when the Christ could again appear and take His rightful place as World Teacher. The emphasis has never before been laid upon the needed work of preparation. The results of this pronouncement have not yet had time to make themselves felt, but the next ten years will reveal the full import of what has been done.

With that pronouncement my planned work was brought to a finish; the book** which will indicate the proximity of this happening and the lines along which the new world religion will be promoted is now in the press. I would call your attention to the fact that the general concept of a World Saviour (always attached to the office of the Christ, no matter by what name the exalted Son of God may be called in any world cycle) is in reality closely related to the far more important function of World Teacher. People love to be saved, for it ignores their own immediate responsibility, which teaching definitely emphasises. It must be remembered that it is the teaching given by the Christ which saves humanity—not any symbolic death upon a cross. Men must save themselves by their reaction and their response to the teaching given in its purity by the Christ; this is a point which should be forcefully instilled by all of you; it is not man-made interpretations which save a man, but his self-initiated application of his own understanding of the teaching. This must be brought today to the consciousness of as many human beings as the followers of the Christ can reach.

Here you have a brief account of the work which I undertook on behalf of the Hierarchy and for the Christ, Whom I most reverently regard as my Master. This work has not been unsuccessfully carried forward; many of you who read these words have done what you could to help and of this I am not unmindful nor is the Hierarchy ungrateful. Perhaps—with a still clearer picture in your minds—you will find yourselves able to do still more.

I intend to indicate (still briefly) what should be done in the next two decades, but would like first of all to touch upon the state of the world and refer to its condition, because they have both handicapped hierarchical effort and particularly what I sought to do (which was a major hierarchical enterprise), and yet at the same time they have cleared the way in a most extra-ordinary manner for the appearance of the Christ.

When I began my exoteric work in 1919, I had not expected to be frustrated by the second world war, or rather by the final phase of World War I. The Hierarchy had hoped that the lesson had been severe enough to force those changes which were essential to the future of mankind. But humanity had not learned the needed lessons. As I have often told you, the Hierarchy—because of the divine principle of free will in humanity—cannot foretell how men will act in times of crisis; the Hierarchy cannot enforce the good way of life against normal human desire, for this good way of action must come from out the very depths of human thinking and feeling, and must emerge as a free and non-supervised endeavour; the Hierarchy may not take those possible steps which will prevent men making mistakes, for it is through those mistakes that men learn "by the means of evil that good is best," as your great initiate-poet has expressed it. All that the Hierarchy can do is to present the needed teaching which will direct man's thinking along right lines, to point the way of true relationships, and at the same time demonstrate objectively the nature of the bad way. This the Hierarchy has always done. As a spiritual group, They can and do set Their faces against selfishness, greed, and against all that seeks to imprison the human spirit and impair its freedom. To illustrate—the Hierarchy demonstrated against the totalitarianism which the two great Powers, Germany and Japan expressed when they precipitated the second world war. This They still do and will continue to do when any aspect of totalitarian greed and aggressiveness in any form (subtle and undeclared or openly demonstrated) attempts to limit the freedom of the individual, the free spiritual man, no matter what his point in evolution.

Toward the end of the second decade of my work, totalitarianism reared anew its most evil head, and perforce, the Hierarchy took sides against this primary principle of evil, though never against any group of human beings. Please note this. The point I seek to make is that the Hierarchy is inflexibly against any demonstration of the principle of non-freedom, no matter what form it takes, but is ever on the side of humanity. The spirit of evil which animated German actions evoked every possible opposition from the Forces of Light and from their source, the Hierarchy. Today this totalitarian evil is expressing itself through the planning of the Russian oligarchy, through the Zionist movement, and through all groups which seek to fetter and imprison the spirit of man; but the people under the sway of this evil influence and the scheming of these evil groups are never regarded in any light different to that of the rest of mankind. They are looked upon as glamoured, or as weak and ignorant (which they undoubtedly are), but they are never separated off in the thinking and planning of the Hierarchy from the rest of mankind. The evil must not be permitted or allowed to triumph, but the unhappy and glamoured exponents of this evil are loved, along with the rest of mankind. This is a point which is hard for the illogical thinker to understand, but it expresses most truly the attitude of the Christ and of all who serve His cause.

With the focussed entrance of greed and of totalitarian ruthlessness into the world arena, much that I had planned and much that all of you were attempting to do, met with frustration; the work of all disciples was in many ways greatly hindered and handicapped, though not from the long range vision, but only from the angle of short range action. I would ask you to have this in mind. The vision stands even when immediate action is blocked.

Today it would appear, from all the indications and from the dominant world trends, that the still unconquered greed of certain of the more powerful nations is undeniably rampant, and that we are therefore facing another period of frustration and of major world difficulty. Feeling against Russia is running high among the Western Powers and is largely her own fault, though it is primarily based upon two main factors—one of them bad and the other good.

The bad reaction is based on the same old triplicity of fear, greed and jealousy and—from the angle of those three phases of selfishness—is entirely justified. That fact, in itself, supplies a major difficulty. Think this out.

The good reaction is based on the frustration of the idea or concept of developing a unified peaceful world—a world in which there would be no war and in which men could live at peace with each other and in security, and in which men everywhere could work, relatively unopposed, towards right human relations. This super-world and this unified humanity is a true ideal, but is not a feasible project.

Spiritual workers should face the various world alternatives:

1. An all-dominant Russia, whose regime would cover the planet, enforcing her totalitarianinterpretation of communistic doctrine (there is a right and true interpretation), refusing freedom to the individual in the interest of the State, and—because of a low opinion of the human masses—everywhere standardising her interpretation of democracy.

2. A world in which all nations live in an armed armistice, in which distrust is forever rampant and inwhich science is prostituted to the art of destruction. In this world an explosion must and will eventually take place which will destroy humanity as once before it was destroyed, according to the Bible and the other world Scriptures and the hierarchical records.

3. A world in which the United States proves itself to be the controlling factor, after wiping out Russia,which she can well do if she acts now. It will be a predominantly capitalistic world, run by several nations but headed by the United States. A capitalistic nation is not necessarily wrong; capital has its place, and Russia (the enemy of capitalism) is by no means free from capitalistic bias. The motives of the United States are very mixed motives: greed of money or its equivalent, such as oil, and at the same time sincerely good intentions for the establishment of human freedom in a democratic world—modelled, of course, on American democracy. Other motives are an appreciation of the armed fist and, at the same time, a longing for economic sharing and for that essential kindness which is such a strong American characteristic—a mass characteristic. These mixed motives will produce eventually a very confused world, one in which it will be found that humanity has learned very little as the result of the World War (1914-1945) and is acquiescent to the cycle of well-intentioned money control.

4. A world divided into "blocs" for mutual aid and economic sharing. Of this, the proposed treatybetween Great Britain, France and the Benelux countries is a tentative sample, though tainted by objectionable motives, from the angle of the Hierarchy. Fear is the major factor producing this treaty, but it has in it nevertheless the seeds of hope. There is nothing intrinsically wrong in any group of nations standing together for mutual aid and economic cooperation. The wrong factor comes in when they stand united against any other group of nations, and therefore against any group of human beings. It is this attitude, engineered and fostered by Russia, which has lead to the relatively new concept of blocs against. Along this line, and with this attitude of antagonistic groupings, only disaster can lie.

Blocs in themselves can be good and proper if they follow lines of natural cleavages, of language differences and of cultural distinctions. They can be essentially right if they are formed for economic, educational, religious and social aims and can therefore provide no true cause for alarm. Such blocs would be cultural and not militaristic, economic and not greedy, and they could provide a normal and progressive movement away from the separative nationalism of the past and towards the distant creation of the One World, and the One Humanity. This will some day be seen, but the time is not yet. Mankind is not ready for some super-government, nor can it yet provide the unselfish and trained statesmen that such a government would require. As yet, there are more seeds of danger in this concept than there are of helpfulness. Nevertheless, it is a dream which will some day materialise, after the creation and the functioning of blocs have proved how men should work and live together.

The United Nations is still the hope of the world and can remain so; it is a great field of experimentation, but is suffering today from an initial error. That error was the admitting of a totalitarian Power into its nations. For seven long and terrible years the Forces of Light had been fighting totalitarianism. In the early days of the post-war period the Nations compromised with principles and admitted Russia to the United Nations. Had they proceeded to unite all the other nations of the world on the sure ground of economic reform, of needed national reorganisation and of regional groups (a better term than "blocs"), Russia would have been forced to conform, for her very existence would have been at stake. An initial error can lead to much trouble, and it is this type of trouble which the United Nations today faces.

I have here given you the possibilities with which the work is challenged and confronted, and again I must refuse to foretell what will happen. It is not permitted. I have felt it necessary to summarise the situation because it is in this world that you and all men of goodwill will have to work for the next twenty years; this period of settlement will not be an easy one in which the disciples of the Christ have to prepare for His appearance. The two decades ahead of you are those in which you must bring to fruition the seeds which I have planted. Though I shall not be actively and outwardly working with you or communicating with you as I have done over the past thirty years, you will have my books (which will then be finished) and the relation which I now hold to you and to all the activities which I have helped you to inaugurate will remain basically the same; it will be more subjective but many in the world today know the means of reaching me.

The Christ, Whom I serve as a disciple, and the spiritual Hierarchy, of which I am a member, are drawing steadily nearer to humanity; in the past I have used the statement to reassure you, "The Hierarchy stands"; today I say to you, "The Hierarchy is near."

The work that must be done in the two coming decades is as follows, and I shall not enlarge upon it because you have been trained to do it; you know what to do and the responsibility is yours—as will be my unfailing help.

1. Prepare men for the reappearance of the Christ. This is your first and greatest duty. The mostimportant part of that work is teaching men—on a large scale—to use the Invocation so that it becomes a world prayer and focusses the invocative demand of humanity.

2. Enlarge the work of the Triangles so that, subjectively and etherically, light and goodwill mayenvelop the earth.

3. Promote ceaselessly the work of World Goodwill, so that every nation may have its group of menand women dedicated to the establishing of right human relations. You have the nucleus, and expansion must be undertaken. You have the principle of goodwill present throughout the world; the task will be heavy indeed but far from impossible.

4. Undertake the constant distribution of my books, which contain much of the teaching for the NewAge. In the last analysis, the books are your working tools and the instruments whereby you will train your workers. See that they are kept in steady circulation.

5. Endeavour to make the Wesak Festival (at the time of the May Full Moon) a universal festival andknown to be of value to all men of all faiths. It is the festival in which the two divine Leaders, of the East and of the West, collaborate together and work in the closest spiritual union; the Christ and the Buddha use this festival each year as the point of inspiration for the coming year's work. See that you do likewise. The spiritual energies are then uniquely available.

6. Discover the members of the New Group of World Servers, whenever possible, and strengthen theirhands. Look for them in every nation and expressing many lines of thought and points of view. Remember always that in doctrine and dogma, and in techniques and methods, they may differ widely from you, but in love of their fellowmen, in practical goodwill and in devotion to the establishing of right human relations they stand with you, they are your equals, and can probably teach you much.

And now: What shall I say to you in closing, my comrades, my brothers and my co-disciples? I have said to you so much over the past years that there is little left to say; you have all you need wherewith to carry on the work, impulsed from the Hierarchy, through what I have attempted to do. I can only say that I have confidence in you and that I expect no slackening of effort from you. You are dedicated and consecrated and will remain so, for the closeness of the Hierarchy and the nearness of the Christ indicate to you increased sources of strength.

May the blessing of the One Whom we all serve rest upon you all and upon all disciples everywhere, and may you do your full share in helping men to pass from darkness into light and from death to immortality." [642]

———————
{*} Since 1951 this work has been carried forward under the title of World Goodwill.
{**} The Reappearance of the Christ.

♦

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