This essay discusses the importance of choosing essential tasks and urgent actions in order to fulfill humanity’s needs.
By: Roberto Assagioli (Assagioli Archives – Florence)[i] Original Title: Il Lavoro Future – Fino al 1975 e Oltre. Translated and Edited With Notes by Jan Kuniholm
Abstract: This essay discusses the importance of choosing essential tasks and urgent actions in order to fulfill humanity’s needs. It emphasizes the need to maintain the level of inner and outer work achieved during specific periods and to actively use the energies released by Christ. The text also highlights the need to develop love and will, and to discriminate between lower and higher manifestations of energy. It mentions three “saving recognitions” that must be spread to humanity: the recognition of world meaning, the existence of the Spiritual Hierarchy, and the recognition of the Plan. The text emphasizes the importance of cooperation with the Hierarchy, both through internal action (such as meditation and invocation) and external action (such as irradiation and external service). It suggests making use of available resources and modern techniques for spreading spiritual teachings and methods, including the collection and use of money. The text also emphasizes the importance of building relationships and contacts with young people and utilizing Aquarian energies to create bridges between generations. The text concludes with inspirational quotes and the call to work from the eternal, in the present, for the future.
Given today’s immense needs and the corresponding great opportunities, we tend to be hesitant and find it very difficult to choose the most important tasks to be fulfilled from among the various possibilities. There are some instructions that can help us. The first is a phrase from Master D.K.:[i] “Discrimination between the essential and the non-essential.” This is enough to make people put aside everything that is secondary and non-essential, and therefore we should always use this yardstick and reflect, “Is this essential, given the present conditions and needs?”
Another test is urgency. In the book Leaves of Morya’s Garden [ii] Vol. II, it is said:
“Each person being tested must say what he considers most urgent.”[iii]
Another statement in this direction is given in one of D.K.’s books. He says, about the darkness in which we do not see the light before us:
The beauty of the immediate, the glory of the present opportunity, and the need to concentrate on the task and duty of the moment are the rewards of proceeding in the seemingly impenetrable darkness.[iv]
But we can also be more specific. The most important thing is not to give up after the culmination of the inner action, aspiration and invocation that are carried out during the period of the three full moons of April, May, and June.[v] Let us strive to maintain the level achieved and continue the inner and outer work. Let us avoid a repetition of what happened after 1936, when after the intensive use of the first Invocation, men of good will slowed down their efforts. Let us actively use the energies released by Christ[vi] — and through Him — at the Full Moon in June.
According to our preparation, the quality of our Ray[vii] and our abilities, we can freely choose to do our part in one or another of the aspects of world service to which we have been called. We can focus either on some immediate task or on preparing the field for future planting. The preparation of the field is as urgent as the immediate task; both must be accomplished: the immediate and the preparation of the field. At the proper season the farmer knows that preparing the soil is urgent in order to obtain a future harvest.
This pertains as much to those whose bodies are old and who still have only a relatively short time to work on the physical plane as it does to younger people. Let us realize that life is a process and that there is much that is enduring and interdependent in the various cycles, both of our individual evolution and that of humanity as a whole. But it is even more important to know that we work as much within incarnation as we do outside of incarnation.
Disciples can work even more actively and effectively behind the scenes, just as the Masters do; that is, by projecting and directing currents of thought, creating thought-forms and radiating them. In his instructions to his disciples, D.K. urged those with only a short period of physical life left to continue their spiritual work intensively so that there would be no interruption in it when they passed to the other side.
There are specific directions as to what we can do now. “Five specialized energies” have been made accessible to humanity:
The Energy of Love-Wisdom
The Energy of Will or Power
The Energy of Active Intelligence
The Energy which Produces Order
The Energy of Right Human Relations [viii]
Now humanity has a responsibility to make right and active use of these powerful energies, and to do efficient work in every field. D.K. wrote:
It involves hard business sense on the physical plane, a practical commonsense, a cessation of the constant presentation of a beautiful future in a mythical heaven of idleness and uselessness. The bringing in of the Kingdom of God, the preparation for the coming of the Christ and the salvaging of mankind demand courage, organisation, business acumen, psychology and persistence; it needs trained workers and much money; it calls for carefully considered programmes, possessing long range vision, plus sensible modern procedures. It is to this that all with true vision and a love of humanity are called today; it means the spreading of an intelligently cultivated goodwill and the fostering of those conditions, attitudes and points of view which will inevitably bring about right human relations. [ix]
The need to develop love and will has already been frequently mentioned, but in our service it is essential to develop and use the energy of love to balance the energies of mind and will, and then to use the energy of will in order to be able to do the necessary work effectively.
We must always discriminate between the lower and higher manifestations of the descending energies, and between the destructive and constructive manifestations of each energy, and not only that of the Seventh Ray[x] and Aquarius. Through the enlightened mind and also intuition, we can first see how to make use of the higher manifestations of this Ray and energy, and then how to transmute and sublimate the lower manifestations into higher ones.
The inflowing energies are also subject to distortion when they are absorbed and utilized by humanity. An example of this is the current distortion of Seventh Ray energy that is being used to impose totalitarianism and establish uniformity, whereas the true expression of the Aquarian quality of universality should be order through unanimity. Unity presupposes freedom: freedom to unite; that is, a freely accepted common purpose. This is the Principle of Unanimity, and is the opposite of the uniformity now being imposed. This is a current example of the misuse of the Aquarian energy that is flowing in, and we must do all we can to highlight such distortion and exploitation, and keep alive the thought-forms of the new influences, both individually and for humanity.
Three Saving Recognitions
D.K. gives another specific indication of what needs to be done. Until 2025 there are three “saving recognitions” — as they have been called — that must be announced and spread to humanity. The recognition of meaning by the world, the recognition of the Spiritual Hierarchy, and the recognition of the Plan. They begin to permeate the consciousness of humanity and can be presented in exoteric, neutral terms that are acceptable to every open mind and awakened heart. [xi]
Let us begin by considering the world’s recognition of meaning; that is, that life has meaning, or significance. Among young people today there is a lot of searching for meaning. Sometimes it is a frantic search, but the very fact that they are searching shows that they are open to the existence of meaning. Many people live aimlessly, without even being aware of the problem, so their lives are temporarily “meaningless,” and they will then be offered an experience that they will have to live through. Those people are only temporarily ineffective.
So first we have the recognition that there can be meaning, and then the subsequent search for it. Various writers, psychologists and thinkers have emphasized this, and Victor Frankl[xii] in particular has done so very effectively, because he demonstrated it in his own life. For he was interned in a Nazi concentration camp for many months under the most terrible conditions. There he had a spiritual awakening. He realized the meaning of life and saw that he himself, and those to whom he could communicate the conviction that life has meaning, survived, while others did not. His book From Death-Camp to Existentialism is an admirable testimony to the value and importance of realizing the meaning of life under the most dire external conditions.
The second recognition is that of the existence of the Hierarchy. This too can be presented in a purely exoteric way, highlighting the existence of the great men of the past and present, the geniuses, heroes and great spiritual Instructors. It is a fact that there has always been a minority of higher beings far more evolved than the rest of people. Now there is also the growing recognition of the highly gifted children and youth; they demonstrate their qualities so clearly that even reluctant parents and teachers have to admit their superiority.
There is an elite, there is a level above that of ordinary humanity, and at the highest levels there is the Spiritual Hierarchy, composed of human beings who have achieved higher evolution, but who are still human in the sense that many among them have physical bodies and can communicate with the rest of humanity. Therefore, the existence of the Hierarchy can be presented without making use of this term, but through the recognition and appreciation of the presence of a spiritual aristocracy in humanity. Etymologically, the word “aristocracy” means “rule by the best,” and the admiration for men such as Einstein, Schweitzer, Gandhi, Kennedy, Martin Luther King and others shows the natural and spontaneous tendency to recognize, admit and admire superiority.
The third recognition is that there is a Plan. This too can be presented exoterically and scientifically. Here astronomy comes to our aid; for it shows that there is an admirable cosmic order in the universe. The ability to predict exactly when and how eclipses will take place, the knowledge of the great law of gravitation, etc., all prove that there is an order in the physical world. Einstein recognized this and expressed it very well; he said that his religion consisted in the recognition and admiration of this cosmic order that obeys precise mathematical laws, some of which he himself discovered.
But it would be absurd to recognize that there is a cosmic order on the material plane, and then to assert that on the higher levels of existence there is only chaos and disorder. The fact that mankind creates crises and disorder certainly does not prove the non-existence of a higher order, or that this disorder is not just a transitory phase, a change to something higher. Even in the evolution of plants and animals, there are periods of crisis and change, but these are steps toward a higher integration and order.
These three “saving acknowledgments” — the acknowledgments of world meaning, Spiritual Hierarchy, and Universal Plan or Order — are subjects for spoken and written word, and for meditation and service.
If there are Beings Whose realization, power and love are greater than ours, it is self-evident that we should try to cooperate with Them. Beyond that, we are also called to cooperate with the Hierarchy, particularly now in the present world crisis. It has been said that separated from the Hierarchy, humanity today cannot overcome or cope adequately with the present crisis. This must be kept in mind by the world’s disciples and aspirants in their efforts to collaborate in human liberation and to evoke divine intervention.
Cooperation with the Hierarchy can take various forms, which are well known. The two major means are: internal action and external action.
And here is a brief summary of the forms alluded to earlier:
Internal action consists of telepathic contact with the Higher Beings, seeking to draw near to Them and to be inspired and directed by Them. All the techniques that are the raison d’être of our Group are needed for this action. Meditation and invocation in all their aspects; invocation of Their help, with the faith that it will produce the corresponding evocation in response. Receptive meditation, creating silence to receive this response. Also reflective meditation in order to intelligently interpret and fully express the inspiration that is received. The work of the Group therefore fully meets the present need and is service to humanity.
At this point we must speak of the “Saving Force.” At the present time we do not see any external manifestations of it. The few inspired leaders who worked in the recent past are dead, and no major figure has appeared in their place. This is an intermediate period of darkness in which the Higher Powers seem to be waiting to see what humanity can do for itself, and whether its invocative power is adequate. This period has been compared to the symbolic three days before Christ rose from the grave and appeared to his disciples. This seems to describe the present period well. Let us frankly recognize that in the present time the negative aspects are very evident, but this is a transitional period that has its purpose. Therefore, emphasis must be placed on the invocation of the Saving Force, which is not currently operating on the physical plane. This realistic recognition is helpful and answers the question of why we see no manifestation of any Saving Force.
External Work. In doing this we use the energies that are received or activated in us. Remember that the available energies are not only received from above but are also latent in us, in our souls, and potential in our Monad.[xiii] Therefore, what we receive from above adds to what is already in ourselves and arouses it. Sometimes even without help from above our energies can be awakened and activated by the urgency of need, compassion, and the will-to-good.
In this regard, let us remember that the main method of our Group’s work is irradiation. In our materialistic civilization, even those who are spiritually oriented find it difficult to recognize the value and effectiveness of the magical power of internal action of irradiation, and to make use of it. The essential points of this have been set out in the sixth set of the Meditation Group for the New Age, First Course,[xiv] and also in the booklet: The Science and Service of Blessing.[xv] In them can be found the practical directions for using this means of internal action.
Then there is the external expression, the external service on the physical plane. For this there is a special opportunity and facility, due to the descending energies of the Seventh Ray, the Ray that relates the spiritual and the material through a descending line of energy. We can see this in action in all of humanity’s technical advances and the trend toward organization and efficiency. But men use these energies mainly, if not exclusively, for material ends and with selfish motives. It is our task to use them instead for spiritual service, and in this regard we can make some useful suggestions.
There is already a great deal of material available, but it is not used as it could and should be. To make a material analogy, it is as if a factory piled up a quantity of its stockpiled products in its warehouses because of insufficient distribution. So the problem is not so much in producing new “goods” (although this must continue), but rather in making full use of those already available, adopting modern techniques of organization, communication and information to spread the spiritual teachings and methods mentioned above. This is definitely a much needed spiritual activity, and at the same time a way of active service that counterbalances study and meditation. We always remember these three basic pillars: study in a broad sense, meditation, and active service.
The latter also includes the collection and use of money. Unfortunately, there is a real “anti-money complex” among many people belonging to spiritual movements. They justify it by the bad use that is made of money in general, but this is not a valid justification. As with technical means and machines, everything in fact depends only on the motives with which we use them; if these are altruistic and humanitarian, money then becomes an effective means of spiritual action. This was clearly explained in the book The Reappearance of the Christ,[xvi] and in the pamphlet: Money and Spiritual Life.[xvii] Therefore all available means of dissemination — whether by the spoken and written word or by images (radio, television, film) — should be adopted, symbolically placed “on the altar of service,” and used with at least as much skill and resourcefulness as they are employed for commercial purposes.
Another important point is relationships and contacts with young people. The reasons are obvious. Young people are in a state of effervescence; energies stronger than themselves are being poured into them, and they do not know how to use them and often employ them in destructive ways. If we are able to channel those energies into constructive activities, this has a twofold benefit: the energy is first of all rightly used, and then we get effective collaborators for both the present and the future. If young people are approached in the right way, then they will often “respond” and cooperate, but we need to go out to them on their own ground and search together for new methods and activities. The important point is to do joint research; then they can teach us a lot since they are particularly receptive to the energies coming from the Seventh Ray and Aquarius, whose powers are new and difficult to use. We should recognize those among them who are “unconscious disciples.” Often these people do not become aware that they are such until they mature, and therefore we can be very helpful to them by helping them discover who they are internally.
In trying to make contact with young people we need to use the Aquarian energies (universality and camaraderie). These help to create a bridge between the individual and the Universal. They can be used in team and group activities, and to make the connection between elders and youth. Thus we can find “common ground” and point to inner realizations in exoteric language.
To conclude, here are some inspirational quotes: the first two are from the book Leaves of Morya’s Garden:
Think about how beautiful tomorrow is; thus will you learn to look forward . . . . If you could daily save half an hour for the future![xviii]
(This is not asking a lot, but I don’t think we all do it!)
“Each new day offers new possibilities for implementing limitless development.”
Master D.K. wrote, “Always the radiance increases, until the path ends within a blaze of glory.”[xix]
And finally we recall the triumphant statement contained in Human and Solar Initiation
. . . the day will dawn when . . . the sound of the perfected universe will resound to the uttermost bounds of the furthest constellation.[xx]
After this cosmic vision, let each of us consider what we can do:
“FROM THE ETERNAL, IN THE PRESENT, FOR THE FUTURE.”
[i] Master D.K. (Djwal Khul), a.k.a. “The Tibetan,” was a name that first appeared in the theosophical writings of Madame Blavatsky. Djwal Khul was reputed to be a Tibetan lama and was still living when he began telepathically transmitting teachings to Alice Bailey in 1919. Roberto Assagioli was a member of the circle of people who worked with Bailey and interacted directly with Master D.K. through Bailey up to her death in 1949.—Ed.
[ii] Leaves of Morya’s Garden by Nicholas Roerich was first published in two volumes in 1924-1925 and editions are still available. It contains a series of messages received by the author from a spiritual teacher named Morya, written in a poetic and evocative style, often compared with works by Rumi and other mystical poets. Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947) was a Russian painter, writer, philosopher and theosophist. —Ed.
[iii] Taken from the original English edition Book 2, online edition by Agni Yoga Society 1952/1979, p. 85. —Ed.
[iv] This passage is translated from the Italian since the original English version cannot be located by this editor. —Ed.
[v] The three full moons referred to here are the focal points of three festivals celebrated by Theosophists: Easter, celebrating the risen Christ (April); Wesak, celebrating Buddha (May); and the Feast of Goodwill, celebrating the spirit of humanity (June). —Ed.
[vi] The author’s reference to Christ here is not connected to any formal organized Christian church, sect, creed or doctrine, but is used in the context of Theosophy as exemplified in the teachings of the books published by Alice Bailey. —Ed.
[vii] See Note 9 below on The Seven Rays. —Ed.
[viii] Bailey, Alice, The Externalization of the Hierarchy, New York, Lucis Trust, pp. 644 ff. —Author’s Note. Taken from the original English in the online edition at www.Lucistrust.org —Ed.
[ix] ibid. pp. 650-51. —Author’s Note.
[x] “The Seven Rays” is an esoteric teaching of seven basic manifestation of reality and life force. Assagioli wrote elsewhere that “The chief cosmic function of the Seventh Ray is to perform the magical work, to fuse together Spirit and Matter, so as to produce the manifested form by which Life will unveil the Glory of God.” (Considerator, The Seven Rays: A Synthesis). The energies of Aquarius refers to the energies that manifest “universality, brotherhood, vitality, dynamism and joy,” according to another of the author’s writings. —Ed.
[xi] Note that this language suggests that none of this “esoteric” material was or was intended to be hidden, as the public presentation of the Alice Bailey work made obvious. However, as Assagioli indicated in a different essay, his work and that of his students was to present this material in an “exoteric” language that was suited to people who did not participate in the esoteric work. —Ed.
[xii] Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) was an Austrian psychiatrist and holocaust survivor. —Ed.
[xiii] Archive Doc. #5129 suggests that “the Monad” refers to a stage of synthesis of immanence and transcendence by the Soul. It may be a synonym for “spirit.” This is an esoteric teaching that is only hinted at in this note. —Ed.
[xiv] This series of publications was issued by Meditation Mount, Ojai, CA. —Ed.
[xv] This booklet was published in 1968 by Sundial House, Tunbridge Wells, UK. —Ed.
[xvi] first published in 1948, current editions are available from Lucis Trust. —Ed.
[xvii] This is Doc. #21932 in the Assagioli Archives. —Ed.
[xviii] Leaves of Morya’s Garden, Book 2, op.cit. pp. 92-93. —Ed.
[xix] Source Unknown. —Ed.
[xx] p. 4 of the online edition in English, at https://www.lucistrust.org/online_books/initiation_human_and_solar_obooks/chapter_introductory_remarks . —Tr.
[i] The original document was not found in the Archives by this editor. This edition is based upon the undated text found at www.psicoenergetica.com. The content suggests that this essay was intended for students who had some familiarity with Assagioli’s esoteric work and his connection with Alice Bailey and other associates. —Ed.
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