Let us now consider the intuition, which is the
opposite of illusion, remembering that illusion imprisons a man upon the mental plane and
surrounds him entirely with man-made thought-forms, barring out escape into the higher
realms of awareness or into that loving service which must be given in the lower worlds of
conscious, manifested effort. The major point I would seek to make here is that the
intuition is the source or the bestower of revelation. Through the intuition, progressive
understanding of the ways of God in the world and on behalf of humanity are [136]
revealed; through the intuition, the transcendence and the immanence of God is
sequentially grasped and man can enter into that pure knowledge, that inspired reason,
which will enable him to comprehend not only the processes of nature in its fivefold
divine expression but also the underlying causes of these processes, proving them effects
and not initiatory events; through the intuition man arrives at the experience of the
kingdom of God, and discovers the nature, the type of lives and of phenomena, and the
characteristics of the Sons of God as They come into manifestation. Through the intuition,
some of the plans and purposes working out through the manifested created worlds are
brought to his attention, and he is shown in what way he and the rest of humanity can
cooperate and hasten the divine purpose; through the intuition, the laws of the spiritual
life, which are the laws governing God Himself, conditioning Shamballa, and guiding the
Hierarchy, are brought to his notice progressively and as he proves capable of
appreciating them and working them.
Four types
of people are subject to revelation through the awakening of the intuition:
- Those on the line of the world saviors. These touch and sense the divine plan and
are pledged to service, and to work for the salvation of humanity. They are found
expressing different and varying degrees of realization, stretching all the way from the
man who seeks to reveal divinity in his own life and to his immediate small circle
(through the medium of the changes and effects wrought in his personal life) to those
great Intuitives and world Saviors, such as the Christ. The former is motivated in all
probability by some one intuitive crisis which entirely remade him and gave him a new
sense of values; the latter can, at will, rise into the world of intuitive perception and
[137] values and there ascertain the will of God and a wide vision of the Plan. Such great
Representatives of Deity have the freedom of the Holy City (Shamballa) and of the New
Jerusalem (the Hierarchy). They are thus unique in their contacts and there have been
relatively few of Them as yet.
Those who
are on the line of the prophets. These touch the Plan at high intuitive moments and
know what the immediate future holds. I do not refer here to the Hebrew prophets, so
familiar to the West, but to all who see clearly what should be done to lead humanity out
of darkness into light, beginning with the situation as it is and looking forward into a
future of divine consummation. They have a clear picture in their minds of what is
possible to accomplish, and the power to point it out to the people of their time. They
necessarily range all the way from those who have a relatively clear vision of the cosmic
picture and objectives to those who simply see the next step ahead for the race or the
nation. Isaiah and Ezekiel are the only two of the Hebrew prophets who had true prophetic
and cosmic vision. The others were small, but intelligent men who, from analysis and
deduction, assessed the immediate future and indicated immediate possibilities. They had
no direct revealing intuition. In the New Testament, John, the beloved disciple,
was privileged to gain a cosmic picture and a true prophetic vision which he embodied in
the Apocalypse, but he is the only one who so achieved and he achieved because he loved so
deeply, so wisely and so inclusively. His intuition was evoked through the depth and
intensity of his love - as it was in his Master, the Christ.
Those who
are the true priests. They are priests by spiritual calling and not by choice. It is
the misunderstanding of the province and duties of a priest which has led all the Churches
(in the East and in the West) to their [138] disastrous authoritarian position. The love
of God, and the true spiritual incentive which recognizes God immanent in all nature and
peculiarly expressing that divinity in man, is lacking in the bulk of the priesthood in
all the world religions. Love is not the guide, the indicator and the interpreter. Hence
the dogmatism of the theologian, his ridiculous and profound assurances of correct
interpretation, and his oft-times cruelty, cloaked by his claim of right principles and
good intentions. But the true priest exists and is found in all religions. He is the
friend and the brother of all and, because he loves deeply, wisdom is his and (if he is of
a mental type and training) his intuition is awakened and revelation is his reward. Ponder
on this. The true priest is rare and is not found only in the so-called "holy
orders".
Those who
are the practical mystics or occultists. These, by virtue of a disciplined life, an
ardent aspiration, and a trained intellect, have succeeded in evoking the intuition and
are, therefore, personally in touch with the true source of divine wisdom. This, it is
their function to interpret and to formulate into temporary systems of knowledge. There
are many such, working patiently today in the world, unrecognized and unsought by the
unthinking. Their need today is to "assemble themselves" in this hour of the
world need and so let their voice be clearly heard. These people are resolving the sense
of duality into a known unity, and their preoccupation with reality and their deep love of
humanity have released the intuition. When this release has taken place, no barriers are
felt and true knowledge as a result of revealed wisdom is the gift which such people have,
to give to their race and time.
These are
the four groups who are exchanging illusion for the intuition. This is the initial
resolution of the pairs of opposites, for there is no such resolution without the aid of
the intellect, because the intellect - through analysis, [139] discrimination and right
reasoning - indicates what should be done. |