A Journey of a Lifetime: A Group Story – Chapter 1

We are all preparing a way for a future that will look considerably different from that which we have known in the past. Freedom is its keynote and responsibility its implement.

Journey of a Lifetime: A Group Story is an account of the journey of a group through more than thirty years’ work. This book presents a new perspective on world service, developed through the group’s experiment, recognising the subjective reality behind the outer world of living. The group recognises the value of ‘living life from the inside out’ with the understanding of the oneness of life and the transformative perspective that this realisation brings. Just as the personality is intended to reflect the soul, its higher counterpart, the group in the world is the outer expression of the living reality of the inner group. Here is a contribution to the world work as the world responds to the new incoming energies of Aquarius.   Copies of the book are available from Sydney Goodwill.

Over the next few months we will be posting the Chapters of this book. To begin here is:

CHAPTER ONE  Introduction: The New Day

The world stands on the threshold of that time indicated in various writings when a shift of conscious focus to a new goal is required. The movement is away from emphasis on the soul, which has received much attention and recognition, and onto the Life aspect, the one, the Monad. This shift of recognition to the Monad has been heralded by the impact of the Will, or Shamballa energy.

The Will is the highest aspect of divinity on our planet. It implements divine Purpose and manifests through the Plan. The Plan contains within it that which humanity needs to express within any particular time period. It is itself a reflection of the Purpose or the Will of God.

Various writings point to the new possibilities but the expected outcome is not stated nor is it revealed. It is therefore the task of workers in the new day to bring this next phase into experience and expression and give it form. This book describes the acceptance of this task in an experiment which unfolded through the life of one Group* over a period of more than thirty years and, at the time of writing, is still ongoing. It is not an experiment we set ourselves to do. It is an experiment we are.

We are challenged to find wording to elucidate the new phase. It cannot be merely a technical or academic essay which may tend only to invite study or discussion, as has invariably been the response in the past. Since it is based in our experience of the nature and elements of the New Era, this writing must attempt to convey the experiential while at the same time being accurate according to life principles.

The key to understanding is found when, having our life focus within the subjective world of the true being, the form no longer has the power to hold us. To eliminate form from our line of sight gives us the clue to understanding the diving Will, the next divine aspect awaiting our understanding. We may then become willing participants, co-operators, in assisting the emergence of that which is seeking expression on our planet, responding to Life’s new statement for this Era. The focus is beyond forms although it emerges into expression through those forms adequate to express its purpose in any new cycle.

Those forms which ‘stand between’ are of our own creation, both now and throughout time. Since they are products of our own creation they have no principled existence in their own right. When any form has served its purpose it must give way to that which can reveal a larger purpose. Any forms which do not reveal the essential unity of all life can no longer serve. In such a moment the experience of identification with Life itself bursts forth in all its brilliant possibility.

As we stand in this transitional moment between the Ages of Pisces and Aquarius we find we are recipients of new energies and influences flowing into our planet, offering us new challenges and opportunities in our expression of Life and its purpose in this tie. Many of the attitudes and concepts formed in the former Era no longer carry a forward movement; in fact they can be quite contrary. The valuable qualities endowed remain but the approach to life is changing considerably.

Let us cast our minds back to that previous time of transition between the Ages when the world entered the Piscean Era. Let us see if we may find some pointers to assist us in our present transitional time. The New Testament tells the story.

At the Last Supper, the Passover, which Christ shared with his disciples he made this statement: “Believe me, I shall not eat the Passover again until all that it means is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God” (Luke 22:16, J.B. Phillips). In other words, until we moved beyond ‘living the symbol’, mere observance or focus upon the external, instead of apprehending and expressing the essence, the spirit, the life revealed behind the symbol. Christ truly anticipated the potential for error in human identifications in the following 2000 years of time.

So Christ withdrew behind the scenes and the disciples set about carrying his message out into the world. But they also, like us, were products of the Age just passing and they initially began by endeavouring to put this ‘new wine’ into their ‘old bottles’. However, the inner plane took a hand to relieve them of the hindrances they were presenting to the work.

Firstly, there was Saul persecuting the Christians with a vengeance. He was on his way to Damascus with letters from the High Priest to the synagogues authorizing him to take prisoner and return to Jerusalem any followers of the Way. But on his journey, as he neared Damascus, a brilliant light blazed around him and he found himself confronted by the Christ who subsequently gave him the task of taking the message to both the gentiles and the Jews. Saul was transformed and became the Apostle Paul. We do not all experience such a blinding transformation and violent loss of our inhibiting conviction but then Paul was a violent man who was known inwardly to ‘storm the portals of heaven’.

Then there was Peter. His lifelong obedience to Jewish law would have prevented him from the understanding that Christ’s message was for all people and not exclusively for the Jews. But he was accorded a startling vision in which a great sheet was let down from the heavens by its four corners, containing all kinds of animals, reptiles and birds which he was invited by a voice to kill and eat. This happened three times and Peter answered that he would never eat anything common or unclean. The voice spoke to him again and advised him that he must not call common that which God had cleansed. While Peter was still puzzling about this vision three men arrived at his door, sent to Peter from Cornelius, a Roman centurion, requesting Peter to return with them so that Cornelius and all his household might hear the new message.

And thus was Peter parted from, moved beyond, his limiting beliefs which he had hitherto regarded as mandatory and never questioned, and he was enabled to present an unencumbered instrument for the presentation and promotion of the new day in his time.

Can we identify any ‘Peters’ or ‘Corneliuses’ in our day? Peter, indoctrinated by binding Jewish law, represents any in our time who have accepted a teaching and who may feel they have a monopoly on Truth. On the other hand, Cornelius, possessing no belief system, was not so restricted. He did not require any coaching or correction to recognize Truth. Truth will not survive, let alone thrive, as a monopoly. It needs no protector, no boundary, no advertisement, no argument. Truth just is.

We who would promote the esoteric or occult way need to take care that we are not modern day ‘Peters’.

As we stand on yet another new threshold in time what force may we call on to free us from the unrecognized hindrances that prevent us from revealing the Aquarian message?

In our time we are not likely to expect an audible voice out of heaven to point out to us the hindrances we hold which distort the new emergence. Besides, it is now the day of group endeavor rather than the time of individual leaders who go forth to teach and to preach. It is as a group that we are recipient of the Shamballa energy. This Will, with its powerful, expulsive and clarifying force, now directly impacts human consciousness. It is this force which acts to free us from these restrictive and separative attitudes and belief systems, if we will, and promotes that clarity of vision that apprehends the deeper and more expansive truths for which the world awaits. But we must also realise that this same force can intensify and reinforce the personal will which stands in the way of true group endeavor. The choice is ours.

A comparison of the diverse elements that condition the Ages of Pisces and Aquarius may yield further clarification of our time.

* The capitalized letter G throughout this book identifies the Group whose story is told in these pages.