Sydney Goodwill Goodwill is love in action
he Journey Continues is a sequel to Journey of a Lifetime: A Group Story and continues the account of the group’s journey through more than thirty years’ work. We continue to post a chapter each month. Here is this month’s chapter. Please Note: Copies of the book are available from Sydney Goodwill.
CHAPTER TWO – The Group as a Single Entity
It began to dawn upon the Group that the group Entity itself had moved on. It no longer had concern for or was even aware of the individuals that comprise the Group. Just as the soul does not care or notice whether the personality is happy or sad, so the group Entity expressing at outer levels and comprised of all the individuals concerned, does not give two hoots whether the individual within the group form is happy, sad, fulfilled, noticed or whatever. The group members truly began to understand what is meant when it is said that the whole is more important than the part. It was recognised as a necessity and as inevitable. The individual members, merged with the Group, became expressions of the group purpose, life and work, the parts incorporated within the whole.
Just as we notice that whenever we act upon recognised opportunity and move into action guided by spiritual impression or new thought, doors seem to open before us – new and broader vistas appear – oft-times revealed through various events or happenings, so the Group found life making revelation in various ways.
In the usual course of events we may not have seen significance in certain happenings but with the Group in rhythm with a new phase and acting as one, a single being, subtle pointers were apprehended in their import by all members simultaneously.
When Journey of a Lifetime was published a new realisation, a new phase, was already beginning to emerge in the Group awareness. At a meditation meeting held in March 2001 the group member who had prepared the talk for the evening found she had forgotten to bring the talk with her. It was a most unusual meeting. ‘The talk’ was given by almost everyone present rather than one person speaking to and for the rest. Although it was not considered that we need continue this method in the future, it did not go unnoticed by anyone that the Group symbolically and actually had become a single entity. And one group member did comment on the distinction between ‘preparation’ and ‘readiness’ as each one spoke from the inner reservoir.
As this realisation continued to unfold everyone became aware of the fact that the group is an entity complete in itself. As an entity it has its own life. And all realised that we are all moving together within this entity. It does not matter where anyone’s point of realisation may be. There is a sense of responsibility that this is a task we are all performing together.
The Not-self
Moving another step onward in the work can always bring its challenges and difficulties. A challenge that confronts some individuals in the work is presented by the reaction of personalities, closely associated with them in their outer lives, who sense the movement and fear they are being left behind or not included in common interests. These workers become aware of clinging hands.
We cannot respond to emotional coercion but it is another thing to observe these close associates upon the inner plane and ask ‘Do they know themselves as they truly are?’ If we can ‘hold them’ within that inner area where they really do know themselves and then turn our eyes to the clinging hands, we will see that these hands exist in the dimension of the not-self and we may recognise what a disservice we actually do if our response is in the emotional world. We help no one to move onward by reinforcing their misunderstanding of the true nature of life.
This understanding is also applicable to the group life itself. At the point the Group in question now stands we note that the group Entity does not address or acknowledge the not-self. If the group vehicles are the sum total of the vehicles of the individuals in the group then the group entity initially had a not-self. The group entity is going through expansions of consciousness, through into greater awareness, a continuing expansion, and treats its vehicles in much the same way as an individual at this point. That is why the group entity no longer acknowledges the not-self.
The group entity is no longer interested in individual affairs or what any individual may still be addressing in the lesser life. This does not mean that there may not be someone in the group doing battle with something in the outer life. However, where the group entity may have made allowance before, now it no longer sees such battles or knows them to exist. At this point the individuals in the group are unified in service within the group entity and there is no interest in or focus upon separate individual considerations.
This is a great advance as far as the value of that group is concerned and therefore what it can do and achieve in the work. It has arrived at a point where it is a most usable group and it is the responsibility of every individual member to refuse admittance of ‘noise’ into the group life. And what is ‘noise’ but the intrusion of personal thoughts and requirements? This is not a demand for perfection.
If, for comparison, we consider that great group, the spiritual Hierarchy, we will note that all are incorporated – from the Christ at the centre to the most inexperienced workers at the periphery. Thus all areas and levels of consciousness are represented and available in the work – from the highest realisation to the understanding closer to and needed by humanity as a whole. This great serving group therefore has within it every valuable quality, needed knowledge, and experience to further the divine Plan for the time. Personal affairs, however, are never admitted into the Ashram.
