New Era of the Soul

As the rate of change moving through our world seems to accelerate, we are reminded that life in all its aspects is constantly unfolding. Time is a concept we use to order and manage our response to this unfolding expression of life as it sweeps through everything in the rhythmic cycles of a continual creative process. We may deny, resist and even actively oppose the realisation of the ebbs and flows of this great tide of life, but it cannot be stopped. We might try to ignore our inextricable part in it or we can consciously participate in its evolutionary movement.

There are those coming to the fore now who see more clearly the direction of this mighty tide. They clarify what is needed to enable our world to ride the waves to a new shore, to a new and firmer footing on which to build the next, more enlightened phase in our planetary story. They are beginning to flower among the young people who are forthrightly addressing the global issues that previous generations have bequeathed them. Among their ranks are leading lights such as Greta Thunberg clarifying the urgent need to address climate change, Malala Yousafzai drawing attention to the need for education of women, and the many others inspiring and leading movements of change above and beyond any concern for their personal comfort.

These inspiring young ones are opening the way into a new civilisation. They bring a sense of values based on the needs of the planet and its inhabitants above any personal discomfort they may experience in pursuing their mission. They stand on the truth of a greater vision and wield the power of the heart identified with the whole of life which it serves. They embody what has been foretold such as expressed in the Agni Yoga writings:

Rather than regard the heart as personal property, it is preferable to convince oneself that the heart is not entirely one’s own organ but has been granted one for attainment of the highest communion. Perhaps if people began to think of the heart as something on loan from Above they would handle it with greater care.
A certain hermit emerged from his solitude with a message, saying to everyone he met, ‘You have a heart.’ When he was asked why he did not talk about mercy, patience, devotion, love, and all the beneficial foundations of life, he replied, ‘Just so long as we don’t forget the heart, the rest will come.’ Indeed, how can we turn to love if there is nowhere for it to dwell? Or where will patience lodge if its dwelling is closed? So to avoid torturing oneself by seeking virtues that find no application, one has to build a garden for them, a garden that will open up thanks to an understanding of the heart. Let us stand firm on the foundation of the heart, and let us understand that without the heart we are no more than discarded husks.” Heart, sloca 389

Our response to world changes can vary according to our sense of who we are and what our part is in the unfolding story of our world. We might churn around as victims of chaotic forces, like flotsam swirled by conflicting tides; we might react by clinging to a known shore and hiding in its small pools; we might even attempt to build defences to protect our familiar patterns from the rising surge. But the planetary Life is mightier than our little human designs and It pursues a greater destiny for us – if our vision is large enough to recognise the role we might play towards a more beautiful world that supports the evolutionary progress of us all.

We live our daily lives within an expanding sense of context as we eat food and use utensils grown or created anywhere in the world. Events in far places can have immediate effect in a deeply personal way on our day-to-day living. We are operating as a global civilisation and what happens anywhere on the planet has significance for us all, for the whole. There is more to take in and respond to in each moment thus making our lives more fast-paced and full. We speed up our thinking and acting as we are bombarded with information from all corners of the whole in which we live. There is a faster rhythm to the external life and it draws forth a sharper focussed attention and, through necessity, develops our capacity to discern and choose. The higher vibratory rate of our responsiveness urges a movement of our sense of who we are into a more subtle point of being and stillness at the heart of the whirling movement of the outer world.

From this still point at the heart we can recognise that our planet has the means to support all the natural kingdoms in harmony, if we can muster the combined will to work with it. And this shared will-power is growing in momentum as individuals, groups and organisations unite in common purpose and begin to respond to the mighty Heart beating behind the outer tumult of change. This Heart enlivens the great Embodiment which is our world and of which we are – each and every one – integral and participating parts: drops in an ocean of purposeful life.

This new tide coursing through the veins of the world is the tide of “life more abundant”. And it brings with it the arrival of Those Who embody and radiate a new expanded sense of being that holds the whole world in the heart. This sense of being is not constrained by any religion or philosophy and yet reflects through wherever peace, kindness, harmony and wholeness are revered and practised. This is the Presence of the Soul at-one with the soul in all things. The Soul shines through the heart as the Sun shines through the solar system and brings Life to our beautiful blue planet, Earth. This mighty principle moves through all things:

Just as the sun is the heart of the system, the human heart is the sun of the organism. There are many sun-hearts, and the Universe represents a system of hearts; that is why the cult of Light is the cult of the heart. To understand this abstractly means to leave the heart out in the cold; but as soon as the Light of the sun-heart comes alive, the need for the magnet’s warmth will make it shine forth like a true sun. It has been said: ‘Let your heart lead you in crossing Santana.’ That is how you can make the concept of the heart resistant to the cold. You can look upon the rhythm of the heart as the rhythm of life. The Teaching about the Heart is as bright as the sun, and the warmth of the heart speeds as swiftly as a sunbeam. Everyone has felt astonishment at how a ray of the rising sun can instantly insulate everything from the cold. The heart can do the very same thing!
I am speaking of the warmth of the heart now that it is especially necessary. A thought surging forth in aspiration sets space on fire, while the warmth of the heart is a constant hearth. Courage dwells in the warmth of the heart—remember this! The manifestation of the dark forces acts like frost on a sown field. Only the heart’s warmth provides a radiant shield. But just as we conduct tests on light waves with delicate care, we should approach the heart with caution and solicitude.” Heart, 62

It is with such caution and solicitude that our young heart-warriors are leading the way into the new Era of the Soul. How will we live in a world where the Soul is paramount over the previous separations and categorisations of concrete mind? How subtle will be our exchange! And how warmed by the central Heart will we be so that we might reflect that great inclusive and sustaining power throughout our world. This poet has caught the joy of it:

I heard singing in the earth this morning
and a song among the fluttering leaves,
the scarlet sky was full of music.
I thought I was born into a new world
as I stepped out on a trail to the sea.

the sea was alight with a fire of gold,
the waves chanting song towards the land
singing a message of dear pristine love,
birds dipped and soared in musical notes.
I was seeking a new world today.

I turned back home to my customary life
but the roses trembled in the sunlight
while gulls dipped and a melody soared.
what is this sense of an unknown world?
I asked the lark, I asked the rushing wind.

a new world comes sang the prescient bird,
a new earth arises the soulful wind sang.
in the green grass an advent I heard then
a song of renewal, a music of destiny.
it was earth’s own pure voice,
the bright music of birth.

~ From the website New Waves of Light at: https://newwavesoflight.org/poems/

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