| Read
The Great Invocation Here...
THE GREAT INVOCATION
The beauty and the strength
of this Invocation lie in its simplicity, and in its expression
of certain central truths which all men, innately and normally,
accept--the truth of the existence of a basic Intelligence
to Whom we vaguely give the name of God; the truth that behind
all outer seeming, the motivating power of the universe is
Love; the truth that a great Individuality, called by Christians
the Christ, came to earth and embodied that love so that we
could understand; the truth that both love and intelligence
are effects of what is called the Will of God; and finally
the self-evident truth that only through humanity itself can
the divine Plan work out.
This entire Invocation refers
to that impending, overshadowing and revelatory storehouse
of energy, the immediate cause of all events on earth which
indicate the emergence of that which is new and better; these
events demonstrate the moving onward of the human consciousness
into greater light.
The usual invocative appeal
has hitherto been selfish in nature and temporary in its formulation.
Men have prayed for themselves; they have invoked divine help
for those they love; they have given a material interpretation
to their basic needs. This Invocation is a world prayer; it
has no personal appeal or temporal invocative urge; it expresses
humanity's need and pierces through all the difficulties,
doubts and questionings straight to the Mind and the Heart
of the One in Whom we live and move and have our being-the
One Who will stay with us until the end of time itself and
"until the last weary pilgrim has found his way home."
From the point of light within
the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.
In the first three lines,
we have reference to the Mind of God as a focal point for
divine light. This refers to the soul of all things. The term
soul with its major attribute of enlightenment includes the
human soul and that consummating point of light
which we regard as the "overshadowing"
soul of humanity. That soul brings light and spreads enlightenment.
It is necessary always to remember that light is active energy.
When we invoke the Mind of
God and say: "Let light stream forth into the minds of
men, let Light descend on Earth," we are voicing one
of the great needs of humanity and--if invocation and prayer
mean anything at all--the answer is certain and sure. When
we find present in all people at all times, in every age and
in every situation, the urge to voice an appeal to the unseen
spiritual Centre, there is a fixed surety that such a centre
exists. Invocation is as old as humanity itself.
We are told by the Christ
that men "love darkness rather than light because their
deeds are evil." Nevertheless, one of the great emerging
beauties of the present time is that light is being thrown
into every dark place, and there is nothing hidden which shall
not be revealed. People recognise the present darkness and
misery and consequently welcome light. The illumination of
men's minds so that they can see things as they are, can apprehend
right motives and the way to bring about right human relations
is now a major need. In the light which enlightenment brings,
we shall eventually see light, and the day will come when
thousands of the sons of men and countless groups will be
able to say with Hermes and with Christ: "I am (or we
are) the light of the world."
From the point of Love within
the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.
In the second three lines,
the Heart of God is involved and the focal point of love considered.
This "heart" of the manifested world is the spiritual
Hierarchy--that great transmitting agency of love to every
form in the divine manifestation.
Love is an energy which must
reach the hearts of men and which must fecundate humanity
with the quality of loving-understanding; that is what is
expressed when love and intelligence are brought together.
When disciples are working
under the recognition of the Christ, there will then come
the time when He can again move among men in a public manner;
He can be publicly recognised and thus do His work on the
outer levels of living as well as upon the inner. Christ said
when bidding farewell to His disciples: "Lo, I am with
you always, even unto the end of the days."
When Christ comes, there will
be a flowering in great activity of His type of consciousness
among men; He will let loose into the world of men the potency
and the distinctive energy of intuitive love. The results
of the distribution of this energy of love will be two-fold:
First, the active energy of
loving-understanding will mobilise a tremendous reaction against
the potency of hate. To hate, to be separate, and to be exclusive
will come to be regarded as the only sin, for it will be recognised
that all the sins as listed, and now regarded as wrong, only
stem from hate or from its product, the anti-social consciousness.
Second, countless men and women in every land will form themselves
into groups for the promotion of goodwill and for the production
of right human relations. So great will be their numbers that
from being a small and relatively unimportant minority, they
will be the largest and most influential force in the world.
From the centre where the
Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men--
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.
In the third three lines,
we find a prayer that the human will can be brought into conformity
with the divine will, even though that may not be understood.
There is indication in these three lines that humanity itself
cannot as yet grasp the purpose of God, that aspect of the
divine will which seeks immediate expression on earth. But
surely, as the purpose of the Will of God seeks to influence
human will, it is expressed in human terms as goodwill, as
living determination or as a fixed intention to bring about
right human relations.
The divine will, as it is
essentially, remains the great mystery. Even Christ Himself
struggled with the problem of the divine will, and addressed
Himself to the Father at the moment when He first realised
the extent and the complexity of His mission as world saviour.
He then cried aloud: "Father, not my will but thine be
done." Those words marked
the relinquishing of the means through which He had been attempting
to salvage humanity; it indicated to Him what might at that
time have appeared to be an apparent failure and that His
mission was not accomplished. For nearly two thousand years,
He has waited to bring that mission into fruition. He cannot
proceed with His assigned mission without reciprocal action
by humanity.
This Invocation is peculiarly
and essentially Christ's Own Mantram and its "sound has
gone forth" to the entire world through the medium of
His enunciation of it and through its use by the spiritual
Hierarchy. Now its words must go out throughout the entire
world by means of its enunciation by men everywhere and its
meaning must be expressed by the masses in due time. Then
Christ can again "descend on earth" and "see
of the travail of His soul and be satisfied."
From the centre which we call
the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.
In the fourth three lines,
having invoked the three aspects or potencies of Mind, Love
and Will, we have indication of the anchoring of all these
powers in humanity itself, in "the centre which we call
the race of men." Here, and here alone, can all the three
divine qualities-in time and space-express themselves and
find fulfillment; here and here alone can love be truly born,
intelligence correctly function, and the Will of God demonstrate
its effective will-to-good. By humanity, alone and unaided
(except by the divine spirit in every human being), can the
"door where evil dwells" be sealed.
This final line of the fourth
stanza is perhaps in need of explanation. This is a symbolic
way of expressing the idea of rendering evil purposes both
inactive and ineffectual. There is no particular location
where evil dwells; in the Book of Revelations, the New Testament
speaks of evil and of the destruction of the devil and of
the rendering of Satan impotent.
The "door where evil
dwells" is kept open by humanity through its selfish
desires, its hatreds and its separateness, by its greed and
its racial and national barriers, its low personal ambitions
and its love of power and
cruelty. As goodwill and light stream forth into the minds
and hearts of men, these evil qualities and these directed
energies which keep the door of evil open will give place
to a longing for right human relations, to a determination
to create a better and more peaceful world and to a world-wide
expression of the will-to-good. As these qualities supersede
the old and undesirable ones, the door where evil dwells will
symbolically slowly close through the sheer weight of public
opinion and through right human desire. Nothing can possibly
stop it.
Thus the original Plan will
be restored on earth. Simultaneously, the door into the world
of spiritual reality will open before mankind and the door
where evil dwells will be closed. Thus through the "centre
which we call the race of men," the Plan of Love and
Light works out and strikes the death blow of evil, selfishness
and separateness, sealing it into the tomb of death forever;
thus also the purpose of the Creator of all things will be
fulfilled.
Let Light and Love and Power
restore the Plan on Earth.
It is apparent that the first
three stanzas or verses invoke, call for, or appeal to, the
three aspects of divine life which are universally recognised--the
mind of God, the love of God and the will or purpose of God;
the fourth stanza points out the relation of humanity to these
three energies of intelligence, love and will, and mankind's
deep responsibility to implement the spread of love and light
on earth in order to restore the Plan. This Plan calls mankind
to the expression of Love and challenges men to "let
their light shine." Then comes the final solemn demand
that this "Plan of Love and Light," working through
mankind, may "seal the door where evil dwells."
The final line then contains
the idea of restoration, indicating the keynote for the future,
and that the day will come when God's original idea and His
initial intention will no longer be frustrated by human freewill
and evil, pure materialism and selfishness; the divine purpose
will then, through the changed hearts and goals of humanity,
be achieved.
DEEPER MEANING OF THE GREAT
INVOCATION
The Great Invocation if given
widespread distribution, can be to the new world religion
what the Lord's Prayer has been to Christianity and the 23rd
Psalm has been to the spiritually minded Jew. There are three
approaches to this great Prayer or Invocation:
1. That of the general public.
2. That of the esotericists, or of the aspirants and the disciples
of the world.
3. That of the Members of the Hierarchy.
First, the general public
will regard it as a prayer to God Transcendent. They will
not recognise Him yet as immanent in His creation; they will
send it forth on the wings of hope--hope for light and love
and peace, for which they ceaselessly long. They will also
regard it as a prayer for the enlightenment of all rulers
and leaders in all groups who are handling world matters;
as a prayer for the inflow of love and understanding among
men, so that they may live in peace with one another; as a
demand for the working out of the will of God--a will of which
they can know nothing and which ever seems to them so inscrutable
and so all-inclusive that their normal reaction is patience
and a willingness to refrain from questioning; as a prayer
for the strengthening of human responsibility in order that
the recognised evils of today--which so distress and trouble
mankind--may be done away with and some vague source of evil
may be harnessed. They will regard it finally as a prayer
that some equally vague primeval condition of blissful happiness
may be restored and all unhappiness and pain disappear from
the earth. This is, for them, entirely good and helpful and
all that is immediately possible.
Secondly, esotericists, aspirants
and spiritually minded people will have a deeper and more
understanding approach. To them it will convey the recognition
of the world of causes and of Those Who stand subjectively
behind world affairs, the spiritual Directors of our life.
They stand ready to strengthen those with true vision, ready
to indicate not only the reason for events in the various
departments of human living, but also to make those revelations
which will enable humanity to move forward out of darkness
into light. With this fundamental attitude, the necessity
for a widespread expression of these underlying facts will
be apparent and an era of spiritual propaganda, engineered
by disciples and carried forward by esotericists, will mature.
This era began in 1875 when the fact of the existence of the
Masters of the Wisdom was proclaimed. It has been carried
forward in spite of misrepresentation, attack upon the concept,
and scorn. Recognition of the substantial nature of the available
evidence and the appearance of an intuitive response by occult
students and many of the intelligentsia throughout the world
has been helpful.
A new type of mystic is coming
to be recognised; he differs from the mystics of the past
by his practical interest in current world affairs and not
in religious and church matters only; he is distinguished
by his lack of interest in his own personal development, by
his ability to see God immanent in all faiths and not just
in his own particular brand of religious belief, and also
by his capacity to live his life in the light of the divine
Presence. All mystics have been able to do this to a greater
or less degree, but the. modern mystic differs from those
in the past in that he is able clearly to indicate to others
the techniques of the Path; he combines both head and heart,
intelligence and feeling, plus an intuitive perception, hitherto
lacking. The clear light of the Spiritual Hierarchy now illumines
the way of the modem mystic, and not simply the light of his
own soul; this will be increasingly the case.
Thirdly, both of these groups--the
general public and the world aspirants in their varying degrees--have
among them those who stand out from the general average as
possessing a deeper insight and understanding; they occupy
a no-man's-land, intermediate on the one hand between the
masses and the esotericists and, on the other, between the
esotericists and the Members of the Hierarchy. Forget not,
They also use this great Invocation and that not a day goes
by that the Christ Himself does not sound it forth.
The use of this Invocation
or Prayer and the rising expectancy of. the coming of the
Christ hold out the greatest hope for man-kind today. Great
Sons of God have ever come on humanity's demand and always
will, and He for Whom all men wait today is on His way.
INVOCATION AND PRAYER
The science of invocation
is in reality the intelligent organisation of spiritual energy
and of the forces of love, and these, when effective, will
evoke the response of spiritual Beings Who can work openly
among men and thus establish a close relation and a constant
communication between humanity and the spiritual Hierarchy.
It might be said that invocation
is of three kinds. There is the massed demand, unconsciously
voiced, and the crying appeal, wrung from the hearts of men
in all times of crisis such as the present. This invocative
cry rises ceaselessly from all men living in the midst of
disaster; it is addressed to that power outside themselves
which they feel can and should come to their help in their
moment of extremity. This great and wordless invocation is
rising everywhere today. Then there is the invocational spirit,
evidenced by sincere men as they participate in the rites
of their religion and take advantage of the opportunity of
united worship and prayer to lay their demands for help before
God. This group, added to the mass of men, creates a huge
body of invocative applicants, and at this time their massed
intent is in great evidence and their invocation is rising
to the Most High. Then, lastly, there are the trained disciples
and aspirants of the world who use certain forms of words,
certain carefully defined invocations and who--as they do
this--focus the invocative cry and the invocative appeal of
the other two groups, giving it right direction and power.
All these three groups are, consciously and unconsciously,
swinging into activity at this time and their united effort
guarantees a resultant evocation.
By invocative prayer or aspiration--it
matters not what word is used--spiritual energies are tapped
and brought into activity, and by clear thinking, directed
thought and mental perception, they can be made objects of
human desire.
This Invocation is essentially
a prayer, synthesising the highest desire, aspiration and
spiritual demand of the very soul of humanity itself. It must
be used in that way.
When the trained disciple
or the aspirant in training uses it, he will assume the attitude
of meditation--that is an attitude of concentration, spiritual
direction and receptivity. Then he will pray. He assumes the
attitude of meditation (an inner mental attitude and firm
assumption), but employs the method of prayer which is a potent
means of establishing and maintaining right spiritual and
human relations. When in the attitude of meditation and using
the implement of prayer (by means of the Invocation), he attains
a relationship with the mass of humanity not otherwise possible,
he can implement their recognised though unvoiced need, and
he also allies himself with the spiritual Hierarchy Who are
evoked by the desire of the mass of men.
A gigantic group meditation
is going on in many different phases upon our planet. All
the meditating units and the reflective groups are related
to each other through unity of spiritual motive; they are
seeking closer cooperation and endeavouring to bring their
meditation work--consciously or unconsciously--into a state
of positive universal quiet, so that the formulation of spiritual
desire can be carried successfully forward, and the reception
of spiritual energy can be a united reception. A great effort
towards alignment is going on through individual prayer, meditation
and invocation, which, as it strengthens, can serve all humanity.
Each can aid through the regulation
of thought and ideas, through the cultivation of a loving
spirit and the use of the Great Invocation whereby these spiritual
forces and energies--so sorely needed--can be invoked.
Concentrate upon the Invocation
from the point of view that it embodies the divine intent
and summarises the conclusions of the thinking of God. Concentrate
your meditative thinking and your reflective power upon them.
Look for the underlying abstract idea in this Invocation.
It is there. Use its phrases as "stepping-stones"
to certain levels of thought not hitherto attained.
ORIGIN OF THE INVOCATION
Man invokes divine approach
in various ways: by means of the inchoate, voiceless appeal
or invocative cry of the masses; and also by the planned,
defined invocation of the spiritually-minded, oriented aspirants,
the intelligently convinced worker.
Little attention has been
paid to the factor of invocation as expressed by the people
of the world; yet down the ages, the invocative cry of humanity
has risen to the spiritual Hierarchy and brought response.
Let us illustrate: the spiritual statement by Shri Krishna,
to be found in the Lord's Song, the Bhagavad Gita, was an
announcement, preparatory to the coming of the Christ. In
that song He says:
"Whenever there is a
withering of the Law and an uprising of lawlessness on all
sides, then I manifest Myself. For the salvation of the righteous
and the destruction of such as do evil, for the firm establishing
of the Law, I come to birth in age after age."
In the lawless and wicked
period of the Roman Empire, the Christ came.
Another instance of a notable
and most ancient invocation is to be found in the Gayatri
where the people invoke the Sun in the words: "Unveil
to us the face of the true spiritual Sun, hidden by a disk
of golden light, that we may know the truth and do our whole
duty, as we journey to Thy sacred feet."
To this we should also add
the Four Noble Truths, as enunciated by the Buddha and which
are so well known to all of us--summarising as they do the
causes and the sources of all the troubles which concern humanity.
There are many translations of these truths; they all convey
the same longing and appeal and meaning. During the Jewish
Dispensation, there was given a statement as to human conduct
in the words of the Ten Commandments; upon these, human law
has been based and upon them the laws governing the relationships
of people in the West have been founded. Then Christ came
and gave to us the fundamental law of the universe, the law
of love; He also gave us the Lord's Prayer with its emphasis
upon the Fatherhood of God, the coming of the Kingdom and
right human relations.
Today, humanity stands at
a peculiar and unique middle point, between an unhappy past
and a future which is full of promise if the reappearance
of the Christ is recognised and preparation for His coming
is undertaken. The present is full of promise and also full
of difficulty; in the hands of human beings today and in the
immediate future, lies the destiny of the world and--if it
may be reverently said--the immediate activity of the Christ.
The agony of war, and the distress of the entire human family
led Christ, in the year 1945, to come to a great decision--a
decision which found expression in two most important statements.
He announced to the assembled spiritual Hierarchy and to all
His servants and disciples on earth that He had decided to
emerge again into physical contact with humanity, if they
would bring about the initial stages of establishing right
human relations; He gave to the world (for the use of the
"man in the street") one of the oldest prayers ever
known, but one which hitherto had not been permitted to be
used except by the most exalted spiritual Beings. He used
it Himself for the first time, we are told, at the time of
the Full Moon of June, 1945, which is recognised as the Full
Moon of the Christ, just as the Full Moon of May is that of
the Buddha. It was not easy to translate these ancient phrases
(so ancient that they are without date or background of any
kind) into modern words, but it has been done, and the Great
Invocation may eventually become the world prayer.
So reactionary is human thinking
that the claim made that it is one of the greatest of the
world's prayers and on a par with the other voiced expressions
of spiritual desire and intention will evoke criticism. That
is of no importance. Only a few--a very few--in the early
days of Christianity. employed the Lord's Prayer, because
it needed recording, expression in understandable terms, and
adequate translation before its widespread use became possible.
That effort took centuries to accomplish. Today we have all
the facilities for rapid distribution and these have all been
employed on behalf of this Great Invocation.
HUMANITY?S DESTINY
These few thoughts may serve
to make this Invocation live afresh in your minds and take
on a new and vital livingness. It is uniquely related to all
true and ancient beliefs. It holds out hope for the future
and it is of present import and of practical importance. It
is not vague or nebulous. It voices the basic needs of mankind
today--the need for light and love, for understanding of the
divine will and for the end of evil. It says triumphantly:
"Let light descend on earth; may Christ return to earth;
let purpose guide the little wills of men; let the Plan...seal
the door where evil dwells." It then sums it all up in
the clarion words:
"Let Light and Love and
Power restore the Plan on Earth." Always the emphasis
is laid upon the place of appearance and of manifestation:
the earth.
You will already have noted--as
you have studied the Invocation--a close relation between
the first stanza and the final one; humanity's destiny is
to be the exponent of the mind of God, thus expressing active
intelligence, motivated by love and implemented by will. That
time has not yet come, but if human timing is correct and
right desire is potent enough, for the first time in human
history this destiny can be publicly recognised and people
can be swept increasingly and voluntarily into an activity
which is particularly their own destiny. That again is one
of the primary objectives of the Invocation; its steady use
will bring about an inclusive view of spiritual development
and impart a synthesis to human thinking which has hitherto
been lacking. As "light shines forth into the minds of
men," the divine Plan will be more widely sensed and
the will-to-good will be more widely desired and invoked.
'This great invocative cry
is a threefold cry. It is the cry for light upon the way and
light to flow into the dark places of the earth; it is also
a cry for more love in the world as voiced by the men of goodwill
and of humanitarian attitudes; it is finally, the intuitive
appeal of the aspirants and the disciples in the world for
the expression of the Will of God. Average instinctual humanity,
the men and women of goodwill, and the disciples of the world
are all concerned in this invocation, bringing in the attributes
of instinct, intelligence and intuition. All are blended in
the Great Invocation. Have also constantly in mind this basic
fusion, now finding voiced expression, and take courage from
the massed approach to the source of all life, love and light.
Nothing can withstand the united demand of men everywhere
in their graded and serried ranks.
The momentous significance
of this presentation of a cosmic, planetary and individual
alignment exercise, prayer or invocation is that it provides,
as a result of its correct use, a spiritual inflow right to
the very heart of humanity and from the highest sources.
The uniqueness connected with
the Invocation consists in the fact that it is, in reality,
a great method of integration. It links the Father, the Christ
and humanity in one great relationship. Christ emphasised
ever the Fatherhood of God and substituted it in place of
the cruel, jealous tribal Jehovah. In the 17th chapter of
St. John's Gospel (which is another of the major spiritual
statements of the world), Christ emphasised the relation of
the Christ consciousness to the consciousness of Deity Itself.
He linked the concept. of the Spirit to the fully developed
soul-infused man; and the underlying unity existing between
all beings in all forms and the Father. The Great Invocation
relates the will of the Father, the love of the spiritual
Hierarchy and the service of Humanity into one great triangle
of Energies. This triangle will have two major results: the
"sealing of the door where evil dwells"; and the
working out through the power of God, let loose on earth through
the Invocation, of the Plan of Love and Light.
This Invocation is also unique
in the sense that it invokes all the three divine aspects
simultaneously.
No one can use this Invocation
or prayer for illumination and for love without causing powerful
changes in his own attitudes and his life intention; character
and goals will be changed and life altered and made spiritually
useful. "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he"
is a basic law in nature; the constant turning of the mind
to the need for light and the prospect of illumination cannot
and will not be ineffectual.
The spiritual Hierarchy of
the planet cares only that humanity, as a whole, avails itself
of spiritual opportunity. It is an opportunity which is present
today in a more compelling way than ever before. The Great
Invocation has: been given us at this time of opportunity
for our use in cooperation with Those who use it on behalf
of humanity.
The Invocation belongs to
no one individual or group. It belongs to all humanity. Tens
of thousands of people of goodwill throughout the world are
using it every day.
The climax to this continuous
invocatory appeal is the day of the full moon of June. (This
is the full moon of Gemini sometimes occurring in May. The
time of the full moo. is recognised throughout the world and
is not affected by calendar differences.)
On this day a simultaneous
and worldwide voicing of the Invocation sounds forth as a
great outpouring invocative appeal on behalf of all humanity.
The Festival of June which
is so uniquely Christ's and which emphases His relationship
to humanity, in reality covers three whole days, each with
a different keynote:
1. The keynote of Love in
its hierarchical sense--free from sentiment, emotion and personal
emphasis--a love that sacrifices and understands, that acts
with strength and decision and that works on behalf of the
whole and not in the interests of any group or individual.
2. The keynote of Resurrection, emphasising the new note of
livingness, of the living Christ and of that "life more
abundantly" which the war has made possible by forcing
a return to the real values.
3. The keynote of Contact, of a closer relation between Christ
and His people, between the Hierarchy and Humanity.
The word "keynote"
has been deliberately chosen and signifies the sound which
preceded each major inflow at the May Festival, these energies
will be released at a solemn ceremony on each of the three
days. At each ceremony the Christ will say the Invocation
alone, and then the united Hierarchy will intone the stanza
alone, invoking light, love and the will-to-good (one on each
of the three days). The result of this solemn three days of
invocation will be followed by a climaxing day wherein the
Hierarchy will unitedly, and led by the Christ, pronounce
the entire Invocation, each stanza with its appropriate keynote,
again sounded in unison.
Let Light and Love and Power
restore the Plan on Earth.
(The
Great Invocation Kundalini Meditation)
|
