An Esoteric History of Political Ideas  -- Part II

by Charles DeMotte

The Evolutionary Cycle of Political Ideas

Whereas the involutionary cycle of political thought was marked by the imposition of ideas and political rule on to the largely ignorant and docile masses whose consciousness remained at a relatively low point of development, the evolutionary cycle has been characterized by humanity’s gradual awakening to the realm of ideas and their incipient involvement in public life. The coming of the fifth root-race signaled the slow emergence of the West as the engine of social and political transformation, and was accompanied through the imparting of a new teaching.

The Christ signaled the advent of this new dispensation, which provided the thoughtform for Western Civilization. Drawing upon the legacies of earlier teachings, the Christ presented for the first time a fully developed idea of love, which would condition the culture, particularly of western man, for the next two thousand year cycle. Love is a radiatory phenomenon that attracts energies of a similar vibration and harmonizes or transforms that which is of a discordant quality. There is, as was mentioned earlier, a fusing and blending element to love.

Needless to say, Christ’s teaching (building upon those of the Buddha) was articulated along the second ray line of love-wisdom. The Church, which encapsulated Christ’s person if not the essence of his ideas, developed along sixth ray lines, and together with the ray energies of the decaying Roman Empire (given by one source as rays one and seven)12  provided the basis for the spread of Roman Catholicism, which proved to be the most powerful institution for much of the so-called Piscean Age, at least up through the seventeenth century, when the sixth ray of idealism and devotion began to wane and the seventh ray of ceremonial order and organization began to emerge.

Kingship as it developed later in the relatively barbaric West, characterized the lower vibration of the fourth ray (the personality ray of the Occident), with its emphasis on the energies of conflict. Whereas in the East the emphasis was placed on order and harmony, in the West there was constant warfare and division, beginning with the split of the Roman Empire following the emperor Constantine’s conversion to Christianity in the year 313 CE. The struggle for power in the West during the so-called Middle Ages between the Prince, Church and Nobility is a case in point. These conflicts had the positive effect of creating a corpus of law, which established precedents from which rights and privileges could be claimed and understood.

Monarchy in its various forms (one might almost say tyranny) persisted due to the feeble state of human consciousness, which for the masses of people had remained largely undeveloped since ancient times. Around the 12th century in Europe, however, there were signs that “a great leap forward” was about to occur. “There are times in the history of man,” wrote art historian Sir Kenneth Clark, “when the earth seems suddenly to have grown warmer or more radio-active.” By this he meant that in every sphere of life, philosophy, organization, technology, and politics, there was “an extraordinary outpouring of energy, an intensification of existence.”13 Among the many achievements of this age was the important principle of limited government contained in Magna Charta, a document which the English barons forced upon King John I in 1215. The Charter, in the words of historian Doris Mary Stenton, “marks the first long step towards constitutional kingship of a far later day.” 14 We can assume beyond a reasonable doubt that the impetus behind Magna Charta, as with all transformative ideas, flowed from the Hierarchy and was implanted in the mind of an advanced disciple, in this case most likely Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The streams of Greek, Roman, and Christian thought intersected in Europe during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, the era known as the Renaissance. The coming of the third ray in 1425, which is characterized by activity that gives form to intelligence, led to a broadening of human consciousness that sowed the seeds for future political developments. We must remember that the rays are in themselves, manifestations of seven ideas. The Tibetan observes that the impulse behind the Renaissance was responsible for modern humanism, which contains a spiritual subjective program and purpose.15 What came to be called Renaissance humanism, was not a body of philosophical thought, but a program of classical education, based on the seven liberal arts, which sought to integrate and elevate classical wisdom. Men such as Erasmus, Sir Thomas More, Martin Luther, Pico della Mirandola, who were clearly initiates and disciples of various degrees, were among the leaders in developing and publicizing humanist ideals.

The importance of systems of education, no matter how feeble, as providing the conditions for political evolution cannot be stressed enough. Within the framework of humanist studies, the idea of humanity developed as a fully developed concept. It is interesting to note that humanism originally referred to a belief in the human nature of Christ, and that humanity pertained to the disposition and conduct of one who had been trained in the seven liberal arts, as in the quality of one’s humanity.

The next important milestone in the evolution of political ideas occurred around 1575, the date given for the resurgence of second ray energy into human affairs. The prime quality of this ray, when applied to the political field, is integration and fusion. In counterbalance to the hatred and bigotry generated by Religious War in Europe, brought on by the Reformation and Counter Reformation, a spirit of toleration emerged among enlightened thinkers, who saw that social stability could come only through a more widespread acceptance of political and religious opinions. The infusion of toleration, particularly in Britain and The Netherlands, sowed the seeds for the rebirth of the democracy, which appeared as an embryonic ideal in the seventeenth century and expanded into a model of government in the eighteenth century.

The democratic ideal of fusing and blending political opinion, coupled with the humanistic ideal of liberty and the Rights of Man, brought about the American and French Revolutions. The revolutionary impulse, which was widely felt and experienced during the late eighteenth century, was abetted by the coming into manifestation of the fifth ray of science and concrete knowledge (leading to human liberation) in 1775. The American Revolution was a top-down revolution insofar as its impetus came from a number of enlightened thinkers (a significant number of them Masons: Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, George Washington, and the Marquis de Lafayette for example), who had a vision of American destiny and sought to establish a government by the people along spiritual lines.

The French Revolution, on the other hand, was a bottom-up revolution given that it was the outgrowth of a maturing of political consciousness within the body politic, leading to the formation of public opinion. The tension between old and new ideals precipitated a crisis, which, according to the Tibetan, produced a national crisis leading to “the rebirth of a civilization as an expression of a political culture at a particular point in evolution.”16  For this reason, the French Revolution had a more profound and spiritual impact upon the course of events. The releasing of thoughtforms surrounding the ideal of liberty galvanized human consciousness and so contributed to breakthroughs in science, the arts, and other endeavors during the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The slogan of the Revolution, liberty, equality, and fraternity, based upon Masonic ideals, spread beyond France to the rest of Europe and stimulated the seeds of incipient nationalism. In its more positive form, nationalism gave rise to national self-determinism, which was one of the pillars underscoring the League of Nations after World War I. Giuseppe Mazzini, (1805-1872), a Mason and a leading light in the movement for Italian Unification, saw nationalism as a synthesizing factor contributing to the brotherhood of Man. In outlining the principles of the League of Nations President Woodrow Wilson characterized it as a vision for the future hopes of mankind where peace would be realized and justice done, where strong nations would be restrained and weak nations made secure.17

The potent ideals of the French Revolution further contributed to the Atlantic Charter, put forth by President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in August, 1941, which provided the blueprint for the United Nations. According to the Tibetan Master D.K. in one of the Alice Bailey books, it was the Christ in 1945 that set in motion the forces of reconstruction, which were channeled by the Hierarchy into the United Nations. “The main object of the Hierarchy,” so we are told, “is to distribute these constructive, synthesizing energies that the theory of unity may slowly be turned into practice, and the word United may come to have a true significance and meaning.” 18

Humanism and changes in political thought giving birth to the ideal democracy preceded a more recent development that has affected the shape and form of political ideas, namely the increasing impact of Shamballa. According to one definition, Shamballa “is a world of pure energy, of light and directed force…”19  The Tibetan notes that modern ideologies (the word ideology means the body of ideas reflecting the social needs and aspirations of an individual, group, or culture) were formed during the mid-nineteenth century, due to the efforts of first and second ray workers, coupled with the Shamballa force, dating from 1825. We are told that ideologies are fostered by the desire of the masses as a means of bettering the human condition.20 As ideals in themselves, ideologies are reflections of the condition of human consciousness at a given point in time. It is for this reason that they are distortions of their original ideas and tend to be separative in nature.

There are three ideologies that have been influential in the modern world, which have correspondences to different forms of government. Each of these ideologies has some relation to one of the first three rays, or aspects of divinity. To begin with, there is rule by a dictator or totalitarian leader. The rise of dictatorships in the modern world, particularly during the first half of the twentieth century, replaced monarchy as the expression of first ray ideals. Using a vast technological apparatus of control, dictators often based their legitimacy on a principle, such as racial purity, as in the case of Hitler, or the dictatorship of the proletariat, with respect to Stalin. The totalitarian ideal, rooted as it is in the legacy of authoritarian kingship reflects a condition in which public opinion is largely at the rudimentary stage of instinctual development, or so beguiled and deceived so as to be largely unreceptive to conflicting patterns of political thought. It could be said that the tyranny and human suffering resulting from dictatorships, particularly during the inter war years of the last century, were a reflection of the negative reaction of humanity to the potent power of Shamballa, which intensified its destructive aspect.

Democracy developed as the second form of ideological expression. In practical terms rule by the people has meant rule by powerful interest groups. This is especially true in a country like the United States, while though paying lip service to the principles and ideals of popular sovereignty, is nevertheless ruled by corporate interests (the so-called military-industrial-educational complex), amounting to a virtual dictatorship by these interests.

The corruptions in such a system are twofold: 1. Public opinion is deliberately confused through over-stimulation and the spread of misinformation and so lacks the ability to think clearly, critically, and holistically about issues and, 2. There is an inherent weakness of the role of government, which is subordinate to economic power and is thus subservient to it. Policy is driven not by principle but by money, which reduces public life to an orgy of greed and materialism.

Enlightened political workers are thus confronted with two problems: 1. The problem of how to bring about clarity in public opinion so that the true will of the people can be expressed, and 2. The recognition of quality in the political field so that men and women with vision, integrity, and statesmen-like abilities can rise to positions of leadership.

The third and final form of ideological expression has been communism. All communist regimes in the modern world have also been totalitarian regimes, and as such have generated immense glamour in human thought. In reference to Marxist communism, the philosopher Leszek Kolakowski wrote that it “neither interprets the world nor changes it: it is merely a repertoire of slogans serving to organize various interests, most of them completely remote from which Marxism originally identified itself.”21

However, communism contains in it the principle of sharing and a celebration of the foundations of humanism that go back to the Renaissance. According to the Tibetan, communism is the one ideology that was created by humanity itself, and did not flow from ideas generated within the Hierarchy.22  It is nevertheless valuable for it represents the seed of a quality of soul that humanity will, it is hoped, bring to maturity at a future date. It was stated that in Great Britain the problem of socialism, defined as the social program that reflects the communist ideal, is being resolved through the balancing of the socialist program with free enterprise. Ultimately, the Tibetan noted, “the bridge will be built.”23

The problem with politics on a world scale is that it is a reflection of the consciousness of humanity, which has not responded sufficiently to grapple effectively with the myriad of problems, imposed by world conditions. In words attributed to H.G. Wells, “The future is a race between education and catastrophe.” This makes the work of those assisting the efforts of the Hierarchy in the political field, who serve to help synthesize the lines of communication extending from the other groups, especially those dealing with the scope of human consciousness, more difficult.

It has always been the objective of the Hierarchy to work with existing conditions within humanity and so guide the race in shaping its destiny. It is often during times of crisis that opportunities avail themselves for a closer cooperation between Humanity (expressed through their political leaders) and the Hierarchy. Such a time occurred during the Second World War. In the struggle against the forces of evil (expressed through the Axis powers) at the height of the War and in the post-war reconstruction phase, the Hierarchy  placed great hope in the three Allied powers to bring about a fusion and synthesis of energies, which would provide the basis for a future evolution of government.

Out of the British Empire there emerged the British Commonwealth of Nations, which was seen as a great experiment in free government whereby each Dominion would have complete freedom of choice, plus an equally complete and free interrelationship with one another, yet they would belong to a united commonwealth. Through Great Britain, so it was thought, the principle of right human government would emerge, utilizing the energies of Will or power.

Out of the United States there would come a slow blending and fusing of different races, ethnic groups, and nationalities into a miniature One Humanity. From this a new culture and civilization could emerge, which would be the result of right human relationships, and would provide a pattern for world relationships to develop. Right human relationships are foundation stone for implementing the energies of love-wisdom.

Out of the Soviet Union would come the great experiment of blending and fusing the diverse nations and races of Europe and Asia. The model for a world ideology, it was thought, would emerge out of Russia. It would not be the collectivized totalitarian dictatorship of the past, but one based on an educated public, equal in status, and incorporating the principles of liberty and Brotherhood (which is the true communistic platform). The bridging work of creating a global ideology involves the right use of the mind, employing the energies of active intelligence.

It goes without saying that humanity’s response to this vision has been far less than ideal, yet not without some intriguing possibilities. The Commonwealth of Nations disintegrated in all but its name in the decades following the War, resulting from indigenous nationalism, sectionalism, and anti-colonialism. It could be said, however, that the pattern created by the Commonwealth has become one of the models underscoring the formation of the European Union, which is beginning to emerge as a political entity. If the divinely inspired ideals that underscored the Commonwealth were adapted to experiments in fusing and blending nationalities within a nation-state, and states within regional confederations, then the goal of creating a unified global political system would be well served.

The process of creating a global melting pot in the United States continues apace and has advanced significantly over the past half century. Concomitant with the mixing of races and peoples is the blending and fusing of consciousness so that the United States, in microcosm, becomes the model for right human relations on a global basis. To this extent there is much work to be done. The egotistical, idealistic, and sometimes fanatical tendencies of the American nation still outweigh its responsibilities and mental outlook as a global citizen. Fortunately for the United States, wrote the Tibetan Master D.K., much pain and suffering lie ahead.

The fall of the Soviet Union and the resurgent nationalism that has led a number of former republics to become disengaged has brought about a condition that may have been anticipated but certainly not welcomed by the Hierarchy. Currently, Russia is experiencing much turmoil and it is hard to see its future course. It should ever be borne in mind that there is much innate spirituality in Russia. Madame Blavatsky, herself a Russian, predicted a great future destiny for this nation. Through its ability to bring high ideals into form, (sixth ray personality, seventh ray soul), Russia may be instrumental in formulating a new political philosophy based on occult and Theosophical ideas.24

The Spiritual Crisis Confronting Humanity

In February, 1949, in response to a question, posed by Alice Bailey concerning the important events in the future from a spiritual angle, the Tibetan outlined five spiritual events, which would affect all of humanity. These events were precipitated by the World War (1914-1918) and included: 1. The crisis of the ideologies, 2. The steady awakening of men everywhere to better understanding, 3. The growth of goodwill, as it reveals cleavages, 4. The partial sealing of the door where evil dwells, and 5. The use of the Great Invocation.25

The problem concerning the ideologies concerned the problem of imposing a doctrine of ideas on a people rather than seeing them as reflections of a certain line of thought subject to time and place. The problem of communism was not a defect in its ideology but its imposition by police state methods. The problem of democracy has little to with its fundamental principles and more to do with the selective application of constitutional rights and the subversion of the political process by powerful interests. The same could be said for the colonial subjugation by European nations against non-Western peoples and the authoritarian suppression of the masses by the Roman Catholic Church, all in the name of some ideological principle. An understanding of the relativity of ideologies and the need to subordinate them to the good of humanity offers, in the words of the Tibetan, “an opportunity which is present today in a more compelling way than ever before.”

For over a century observers of the human condition saw that the minds of men were beginning to awaken from the slumber of the ages and people had begun to take a more active part in public affairs. As man drives towards a more spiritual culture and civilization through becoming increasingly able to comprehend world affairs and demand greater rights, then he is less susceptible to indoctrination. Challenges to authority, brought on by the clash of ideologies, often produces rebellion and social disruption. However, these outer conditions often mask an inner reality whereby through mental stimulation, groups of people are experiencing the first faint flickers of soul light.

Mental stimulation leads to the emergence of goodwill through a recognition of existent cleavages. Increasingly it is becoming ever more clear that political life is divided between the old ideals of conservatives and reactionaries who seek to impose and perpetuate old thoughtforms, which restrict human evolutionary development, and more progressive forces that grasp the new vision and seek to generate new and creative ideals to guide humanity in its future development. One such thought is globalism. There are conservative elements who seek to subordinate international cooperation to national self-interest and those who foster cooperative initiatives between nations and peoples. Such cleavages tend to simplify and clarify thought, making the next step in accordance with the Divine Plan, more recognizable.

It was through the efforts of humanity, in cooperation with the Hierarchy and the energies flowing from Shamballa, which led to a partial closing of the door where evil dwells. The problem of evil needs to be comprehended both as a tendency towards selfishness, which lies at the heart of the human predicament, and the nature of cosmic evil, which, so we are told, first entered the planet during Roman times, and culminated during the Second World War. After the defeat of the forces of darkness (expressed through the Axis powers) the attention of these evil powers shifted to other venues (the Soviet Union and Zionism are two examples given).  However evil can be found in any country where powerful elements are seeking to curtail human freedom and pervert the will of the people to cruel and selfish ends. Most recently, the American empire, blinded by its own sense of self-righteousness and military power is undermining the drift towards world unity by its selfish tendencies. In counterbalance to the forces of evil we have the words of that great statesman, Kwame Nkrumah who created a vision for African unity. In issuing a proclamation for constitutional reform in 1953, known popularly as “The Motion of Destiny,” he set forth these comments:

Our battles shall be against the old ideas that keep men trammeled in their own greed; against the crass stupidities that breed hatred and inhumanity. The heroes of our future will be those who can lead our people out of the stifling fog of disintegration through serfdom, into the valley of light where purpose, endeavor, and determination will create that brotherhood which Christ proclaimed two thousand years ago, and about which so much is said, but so little done.26

In 1945, the third and final stanza of the Great Invocation was released. It has been said that this stanza of the Great Invocation was given out to the world under instructions from the Christ. Its purpose has been to reinforce the alignment between Shamballa, the Hierarchy, and Humanity, allowing for the outpouring of light and love upon mankind and, consequently, the establishing of right human relations upon the planet. The goal of workers in the political field, using first and seventh ray energies, is to bring order out of chaos so as to establish a new world order, which will provide the basis for a new culture and a new civilization. Right human relations are predicated on right leadership, which relates the principle of will or power to that of love. No one articulated the principle of the right use of political power better than Franklin D. Roosevelt, who in his inaugural address in 1933 stated:

…If I read the temper of our people correctly, we now realize as we have never before, our interdependence on each other; that we cannot merely take, but we must give as well; that if we are to go forward we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline, because, without such discipline, no progress is made, no leadership becomes effective…27

12.  R.F. Newbold, “The Rays of Ancient Greece and Rome,” The Journal of Esoteric Psychology, vol. 7, number 2 (1992), pp. 24-33

13.  Kenneth Clark, Civilisation:  A Personal View, (New York & Evenston: Harper & Row Publishers, 1969), p. 33

14.  Doris Mary Stenton, English Society in the Early Middle Ages (1066-1307), The Pelican History of England-3, (Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1962), p. 47

15.  Alice A. Bailey, The Externalisation of the Hierarchy,(New York, Lucis Publishing Company, 1957, p. 49

16.  Ibid., p. 112

17.  Hamilton Foley, Woodrow Wilson’s Case for the League of Nations, (Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, Inc. 1923), p. 146

18.  Alice A. Bailey, The Reappearance of the Christ, 1948, p. 93

19.  Alice A. Bailey, Discipleship in the New Age, Vol. II, p. 293

20.  Alice A. Bailey, The Externalisation of the Hierarchy, p. 127

21.  Leszek Kolakowski, Main Currents of Marxism, 3, (Oxford, New York, et.al.:  Oxford University Press, 1981), p. 530

22.  Alice A. Bailey, The Destiny of the Nations, p. 22

23.  Alice A. Bailey, The Rays and the Initiations, 1960, p. 633

24.  Alice A. Bailey, The Externalisation of the Hierarchy, pp. 130-31

25.  This section is taken from the appendix found in Bailey, The Rays and the Initiations, pp. 741-60.

26.  Brian MacArthur, ed. The Penguin Book of Twentieth Century Speeches, (Penguin Books, 1992), p. 255

27.  Ibid., p. 127