Questions/answers/comments about the Great
Invocation
The Great Invocation is an ancient formula, translated by Hierarchy
for the use of mankind to invoke the energies which will change our
world.
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There are three forms of mantras, or words of power: Prayer,
Invocation and Affirmation. The Lord's Prayer is, as the name
suggests, a prayer, a (largely) emotional supplication to the Divine
to supply our daily needs of food, protection, guidance and so on. It
is passive, asking God to do all, implying therefore that God is
separate from us. The Great Invocation is not prayer but a mantram
whereby God's energies ---- through His Representatives ---- the
Buddha, the Christ and Shamballa ---- are consciously invoked, by an
understanding of the ideas of the Invocation and by the intent of the
will. This is an entirely new factor and reflects a higher approach.
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Q. (1) Should the Great Invocation always be said in English or can
the various groups around the world translate it into their own
language? (2) Are there 'official' translations into other
languages? (3) If so, what languages and who has provided the
translations? (4) Would the mantric/invocatory qualities be
compromised through translations undertaken by persons other than the
Masters?
A. Already the Great Invocation has been translated into many
languages and is used in these various languages by groups and
individuals around the world. There is no obligation to use the
English version. In my experience, there are several translations in
some languages, and, according to my information, they differ somewhat
in quality and 'style' -- the more devotional people
translate the Invocation more devotionally, for example -- but it
still works perfectly well as far as Hierarchy is concerned, which,
after all, is what matters.
More importantly, many groups and individuals change the wording, and,
therefore, the meaning, to suit their own prejudices and beliefs. This
I believe to be a profound mistake and misuse of the Invocation. For
example, many 'new-age' people do not believe in the
existence of evil on the planet and change the line: "And may it
seal the door where evil dwells", or leave it out altogether, as
if, by ignoring the fact of evil, it will just not manifest. The
"evil" meant in this line is that wrought by the Lords of
Materiality whose role is the upholding of the matter aspect of the
planet -- that is their domain. "Sealing the door" ensures
the restriction of these Lords of Matter to that domain alone. This is
the "chaining down of the Beast" (in the Book of
Revelation) "for a time and half a time".
Other than the first version in English given through Alice Bailey,
the Masters Themselves do not make translations of the Invocation.
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Q: Could you please explain the line in the third stanza: "Let
purpose guide the little wills of men"?
A: The stanza begins: "From the centre where the Will of God is
known, Let purpose guide the little wills of men." This refers
to Shamballa, the earth's highest spiritual centre. It is in
etheric matter, and within it sits the Council of the Lord of the
World, Sanat Kumara (the Ancient of Days of the Bible). From Shamballa
issues the Plan (of evolution of all kingdoms) which embodies the Will
and the Purpose of our Planetary Logos, "The Purpose which the
Masters know and serve", as the last line of the stanza states.
If the Purpose of God, invoked through the Invocation, guides
"the little wills of men" then the little separate wills
of men (and of course women) will come at last into correct alignment
with the Divine Will and the Plan of Love and Light will work out. All
that we do as a race is in response (adequate or inadequate) to the
divine energies of Will (or Purpose), Love and Light released into the
world by the Spiritual Hierarchy of Masters.
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Q: I have some difficulty with the Great Invocation. My difficulty
stems from the statements in it: "From the point of Light within
the Mind of God, let light stream forth into the minds of men."
That puts God out there to me. I think God is in every one of us.
It's the energy you talked about. So I'm not comfortable
using it.
A: God is both out there and within. The Christ taught that God is
within. Nevertheless, the general view of God in the western world is
to see God as out there, transcendent, above and beyond its creation,
having no real contact with that creation, to be worshipped and prayed
to from afar. The eastern approach is quite different. It is to the
God within. The eastern religions have taught that God is everywhere,
that there is nowhere where God is not. God is in all creation -- men,
animals, trees, everything. There is nothing in the manifested world
which is not God. All beings and the space between all beings are God,
"closer than hand or foot, closer even than the breath" --
God immanent. Both approaches are right. God is both transcendent and
immanent. In a new world religion, the Christ will bring together
these two concepts of God. He will synthesize them and show that God
is transcendent, above and beyond man and all creation, while at the
same time intrinsic, immanent in all creation. Both concepts are true,
and both can be held simultaneously even if they seem to be
contradictory. That will be the basic approach to God of the New World
Religion. Christ comes as the World Avatar uniting East and West
precisely through that double concept of God.
The Great Invocation does not really refer specifically to God. It
says: "From the point of Light within the Mind of God."
The Light within the Mind of God is an energy embodied in this world
by a great Being -- the Buddha. You are invoking the energy from Him.
God always works through agents -- those who have manifested so much
of the immanence of God in their own being that they can actually
embody certain great energies. The Buddha embodies the Light or Wisdom
of God. He is still on this planet in a great centre called Shamballa.
He is the point of Light within the Mind of God, the embodiment of the
light, or wisdom principle on this planet.
So you are not making God transcendent at all. You are seeing God in
terms of His Representatives. The Buddha and the Christ are
Representatives of God, embodiments of two aspects of divine energy:
Wisdom and Love.
The Love of God is a great energy originating in the sun. It holds the
particles of matter in the universe together and holds the units of
humanity together. Humanity may not yet realize that the cement, the
cohesive force which ties us together, is Love. That is why Love
"makes the world go round", as we say. Without it, we
would all literally fall apart. The world is falling apart now because
there is not enough love in the world.
Actually, there is an abundance of love, but we do not express it. We
do not manifest the energy of love. It is pouring into this world
daily, hourly, in tremendous potency from the One who embodies it, the
Christ. But where you have non-utilization and non-manifestation of
that energy, you have chaos.
Love is an active force. It becomes love only when it is in action. It
is no good saying: "I love you. I love everyone," and then
actually giving nothing, doing nothing, to redress the awful
imbalances in the world situation. Millions are starving in a world of
plenty. Where is the love? We do not have the right to say "I
love" while we do nothing to change the poverty, starvation and
human degradation which exist in the world.
When you say: "From the centre where the Will of God is
known", you are invoking the energy from Shamballa. Shamballa is
the centre where God reflects Himself on this planet. When you use
that line in the Great Invocation, you are actually invoking the
energy of Will, which embodies the Purpose of God. Flowing through us,
it becomes manifested and usable in the world. You are seeing God in
real terms, manifesting potently in the Buddha, in the Christ, and
most potently of all in Shamballa. These are realities.
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Q. In the Great Invocation is the phrase: "...restore the Plan
on Earth". Which Plan? What should be restored?
A. To quote the Master DK (A Treatise on White Magic, by Alice A.
Bailey, pp 403/4): "The Plan as at present sensed, and for which
the Masters are steadily working, might be defined as follows: It is
the production of a subjective synthesis in humanity and of a
telepathic interplay which will eventually annihilate time. It will
make available to every man all past achievements and knowledges, it
will reveal to man the true significance of his mind and brain, and
make him the master of that equipment, and will make him therefore
omnipresent and eventually open the door to omniscience. This next
development of the Plan will produce in man an understanding --
intelligent and co-operative -- of the divine purpose for which the
One in whom we live and move and have our being has deemed it wise to
submit to incarnation. Think not that I can tell of the Plan as it
truly is. It is not possible for any man below the grade of initiate
of the third degree to glimpse it, and far less to understand it ...
All can therefore strive towards achieving continuity of consciousness
and at awakening that inner light which, when seen and intelligently
used, will serve to reveal other aspects of the Plan, and specially
that one to which the illumined knower can respond and usefully
serve."
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Q: What is 'the door where evil dwells?
A: The line from the Great Invocation: ''And may it seal
the door where evil dwells,'' refers to the sealing off to
their own domain (upholding the matter aspect of the planet) of the
Lords of Materiality, or, as we call it, evil. This is done by lifting
humanity above the level where they can be used by these forces.
The Christ consciousness is an energy embodied by the Christ for this
period of human crisis. Since His decision to reappear, announced in
June 1945, this has flowed into the world in enormous renewed potency.
"May Christ return to Earth" should now be said in relation to the
Spiritual Hierarchy as a whole... there are sixty-three Masters
connected with the human evolution.
Of these, some two thirds will eventually take Their places among us,
slowly, over some twenty years. The Invocation forms a telepathic
conduit which draws Them, under law, into the world.
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Q. The last line of the Great Invocation, "May Light and Love
and Power restore the Plan on Earth", implies that at some point
in the past the Plan was manifest on Earth. Was this the case, and if
so, when?
A. The Plan is considered by the Hierarchy to have been manifesting,
more or less correctly, during the period from middle to late
Atlantean times, that is, up until around 100,000 years ago. That was
a time, however, when the Masters of that period worked openly in the
world, thus able to influence and guide humanity directly. With the
externalization of Their work now (that is what the reappearance of
the Christ and the Masters actually entails) the Plan will once again
be restored, this time with the conscious participation of humanity.
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Q: DK says that the Great Invocation was the inaugurating mantram for
the 7th ray.
A: Precisely. That is it: invoking. The 7th ray works through ritual,
incantation, magic ---- ritual that invokes the energy, in this case,
from the Buddha, from the Christ and from Shamballa. These forces are
invoked into the world to bring about the transforming process of
creating the new structures, so that the will, the plan, the purpose
---- all the ideas of brotherhood, justice, sharing, right
relationship and co-operation, which remain ideals ---- can take shape
on the physical plane, creating the new structures, and be made
manifest by 7th ray energy. When that energy is there, it can happen.
The function of the 7th ray is precisely to make the ideal manifest.
It synthesizes by relating spirit to matter; it is utterly, totally
practical.
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Q. Are there additional verses to the Great Invocation and will any of
them be revealed in the future?
A. The Great Invocation as used by humanity today is a translation (by
Hierarchy) -- into terms that we can use and understand -- of an
ancient prayer or mantram first used by Maitreya in 1945. Couched in a
sacerdotal tongue older than any known on earth, it is only seven
mystic phrases long. As humanity advances over the next 2,500 years,
newer versions will be released, each embracing more and more of the
occult meanings of the original mantram.
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TRIANGLES
Potent as it is, it can be made even more so if used in triangular
formation. If you wish to work in this way, arrange with two friends
to use the Invocation, aloud, daily. You need not be in the same town,
or country, or say it at the same time of day. Simply say it when
convenient for each one, and, linking up mentally with the two other
members, visualize a triangle of white light circulating above your
heads and see it linked to a network of such triangles, covering the
world.
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[Suggested VISUALIZATION for use with the Great Invocation]
Another very potent way, which can be used in conjunction with the
triangle, is the following:
When you say the first line: "From the point of Light . .
.", visualize (or think of, if you cannot visualize) the Buddha,
the Embodiment of Light or Wisdom on the planet. Visualize Him sitting
in the lotus position, saffron robe over one shoulder, hand raised in
blessing, and see emanating from the heart centre, the ajna centre
(between the eyebrows), and the upraised hand of the Buddha, a
brilliant golden light. See this light enter the minds of men
everywhere.
When you say the line: "Let Light descend on Earth",
visualize the physical sun, and see emanating from it beams of white
light. See this light enter and saturate the earth. When you say:
"From the point of Love . . .", visualize the Christ (the
Embodiment of Love) however you see Him. A good way is to see Him
standing at the head of an inverted Y-shaped table: , with each arm of
the of the same length. (That table exists in the world, and the
Christ presides at it.) See Him standing, arms raised in blessing, and
see emanating from the heart centre and the upraised hands of the
Christ, a brilliant rose-coloured light (not red). Visualize this rose
light entering the hearts of men everywhere.
When you say the line: "May Christ return to Earth",
remember that this refers to the Hierarchy as a whole and not only to
the Christ. He is the heart centre of the Hierarchy, and although He
is now among us, the remainder of the Hierarchy (that part of it which
will externalize slowly over the years) still must be invoked, so the
magnetic conduit for Their descent must be maintained.
When you say: "From the centre where the Will of God is
known", (which is Shamballa) visualize a great sphere of white
light. (You can place it, mentally, in the Gobi desert, where it is,
on the two highest of the four etheric planes. One day, when mankind
develops etheric vision, which it will do in this coming age, this
centre will be seen and known, as many other etheric centres will be
seen and known.) Visualize beams of light streaming from this
brilliant sphere, entering the world, galvanizing mankind into
spiritual action.
Do this with focused thought and intention, your attention fixed on
the ajna centre between the eyebrows. In this way you form a
telepathic conduit between yourselves and Hierarchy and through that
conduit the energies thus invoked can flow. There is nothing better
you can do for the world or yourselves than to channel these great
spiritual potencies.
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Q: Where did the visualization for the Great Invocation come from, and
why is there no visualization for the fourth stanza?
A: The visualization was given to me by my Master for the use of
Transmission groups and anyone else who wishes to use it. No
visualization was given for the fourth stanza, which relates not to a
source of energy but to its working out in the world.
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Q. Could you please explain what is meant by "holding the mind steady
in the light"?
A. This is a term connected with the meditation process. Through
meditation correctly carried out, the antahkarana, the channel of
light between the physical brain and the soul, is gradually built and
strengthened. By means of that channel, the soul light is anchored in
the head of the disciple. This is seen as a brilliant light within the
head during meditation. With the attention drawn inward and upward in
that light, the mind is held 'steady', that is, without thought or
movement of the lower mind. In that condition of thoughtless focused
attention the intuitive levels of the mind can come into play;
gradually, this becomes an instinctive, fixed condition, needing no
formal meditational 'going within' to bring it about.
Many people believe that any thought or idea that enters the mind
during 'meditation' comes from the intuitional, soul level and is
guiding their actions.
This is by no means the case. It is extremely difficult for the
average aspirant or disciple to "hold the mind steady in the light"
for long enough to invoke the intuition, and the 'guidance' which most
people receive is that of their own lower minds via the subconscious.
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Answers/comments given by Benjamin Creme
Copied from Share International material
http://www.share-international.org
The Great Invocation http://www.mindlight.info/gi.htm
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"What actions are most excellent? To gladden the heart of a human
being, to feed the hungry, to help the afflicted, to lighten the
sorrow of the sorrowful, and to remove the wrongs of the injured."
Prophet Mohammed
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"Man must change or die. There is no other course."
The World Teacher http://www.share-international.org
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