Politics in the Light of Initiatic Science

Politics in the Light of Initiatic Science II

It is visible that a tremendous work is going on, today, and it will be carried on with increasing intensity, if not by adults, then by the young. For it is the young who will find it impossible to endorse the obsolete conceptions that are the cause of all wars and who will force adults to see things from a broader perspective. Young people are coming to the fore; they are going to turn the world upside down in Russia as well as in America; they will bring about a tremendous revolution. Political leaders too often imagine that the destiny of a country is in their hands. They may be able to comfort themselves with this illusion for a time, but not for long. All those who have believed that everything depended on them, have come to a bad end. Tyrants always come to a bad end; they cut off a few heads but, in the end, others come along and then it is their turn to lose their heads. In reality, the destiny of mankind is not ruled by human beings, however mighty, but by very exalted Entities who watch over the world and control the course of events.

Think of all those mighty empires that once subjugated the world: they have all disappeared and been replaced by others. Yes, there are other intelligences, other forces working towards a goal that is unknown to us. Human beings should be much humbler, therefore, otherwise they are bound, sooner or later, to bite the dust. None of the innumerable secret societies that once believed they were going to rule the world has ever succeeded, and most of them have ceased to exist. Whereas the great Initiates, those who serve God's design, although they have often been scorned and massacred, have kept their ideal intact. For God's design is always the salvation, liberation and happiness of mankind.

My dear brothers and sisters, the Universal White Brotherhood exists to remind human beings that they are children of the same Father and the same Mother. Why should they slaughter each other? Why should they work against each other? It is monstrous, insane! You are obliged to agree with this conclusion: once you accept this truth you cannot continue to be seperate and to detest each other, it's illogical. You must either live according to this truth or you should reject it - it would be more honest. Perhaps, if people had neither the same father nor the same mother, it would be permissible to massacre each other, but to behave like the Christians, who profess to believe that we are all children of the same Father and Mother, and who continue, in spite of that, to massacre Christians and non-Christians alike. Such a thing simply should not be. It is a terrible contradiction!

Human beings seek happiness, success and wealth for themselves and are always ready to spring to the defence of these things, believing that, if they don't, they will lose them. Only thirty years ago, the Frenchman who dared to suggest that his people should seek reconciliation with the Germans would have been shot. And now that the idea is accepted, neither the French nor the Germans are in danger of being shot for making friends, visiting each other - and even bringing a few little France-Germans into the world! Why shouldn't it be the same with all the other nations? The fact that the French and Germans are friends has not really changed things very much; they still have other enemies who are just waiting for the chance to devour them. If we are really to be out of danger, therefore, the unity we need must be much broader in scope. Otherwise, neither arms nor diplomacy will be capable of saving poor, suffering humanity. But the day will come when the dangers that threaten men will be so great that they will be forced to be friends. Yes, even the United States and Vietnam, even Israel and the Arab countries.

The only way for human beings to solve their problems is to live a brotherly life, and this is the life that I am offering them, a life which will give them an expanded consciousness and greater intelligence, happiness and joy. But the poor things cannot see this. The Brotherhood opens vast horizons to them; it offers them a family and immense wealth, but they refuse to leave their own little burrow, their egoism and darkness, their lower nature. They say, 'I don't need a Brotherhood; I don't need to learn any of that; all I want is to live my life freely and independently.' In reality, what they are defending in this way is their sloth and egoism, a wanton, undisciplined way of life, because that is what suits them.
The trouble is that human beings have no real touchstone by which to guide themselves; they are still babies. If they were adult - spiritually adult - they would recognize that it is their predilection for comfort and facility, their desire to 'enjoy' life that is the source of all misfortunes. But, as they have never analysed themselves, they still prefer this attitude, because it dispenses them from making an effort or trying to improve. Well, I must warn them that, as long as they have this attitude, they will never make any progress because they are behaving like children. Children always prefer something agreeable, pleasant, sweet; their intelligence is not sufficiently developed for them to understand that the sweet things of life won't help them to evolve. Sometimes, in order to develop and become strong and intelligent, we have to accept something bitter, some quinine. Some people have even sought martyrdom deliberately, because they knew that human beings evolved more rapidly in difficult conditions. To be sure, I am not going to ask you to go to such lenghts, but I do ask you to understand that you must break with this philosophy of separativeness that so many people adopt in order to be, as they think, free and independent. You will never be free that way; on the contrary, you will be slaves, slaves to your own whims and weakness.

True development can only take place in a collectivity. When you are always alone there is nothing to make you control yourself or help others. You can sleep all day, go unwashed and live in squalor and disorder. Some people prefer to live in sordid conditions; they fell comfortable that way, but in a collectivity it would be frightful! You have to be clean and presentable so as not to be offensive to others; you have to be friendly, patient and tolerant. Some people tell me that they need to be alone because they have so much work to do. Come on now! Don't think you can fool me so easily: I can see the reflection of that 'work' in their faces, and it is nothing but laziness, pleasure, the life of the astral plane or of even lower, subterranean regions in which they spend their time raising the dust and stirring up the mud and the tadpoles. But one fine day they are going to wake up to the fact that they are completely enslaved, that they have been working for their enemies, for entities of darkness they don't even know. It is these entities that order them about: 'Get me this or that to eat. No, I don't like that; go and get me the other thing, etc.' And they are forever running about, trying to satisfy what they take to be their own desires. Yes, and this state of affairs will continue until they finally realize that they have compromised their future and their own happiness by feeding and pandering to their worst enemies.

You must be aware that every human being is inhabited by two types of entity, and if they don't know which ones to nourish, they end by being completely dominated by the entities of darkness. In order to milk them to the last drop, to get the last scrap of meat off them, these entities tell them, 'You're free! You can do what you please', and the poor fools are convinced that they have been 'liberated' as they would say. They don't realize that, on the contrary, they thave been enslaved. Man can be free, but not by surrendering to all his desires. As long as people understand freedom in the manner of children, they will never know liberty, only slavery.

Do as you please, therefore, but, sooner or later, you will be obliged to arrive at the same truths that I am giving you today. And the sooner you get there the better! You have already had so many costly experiences, is there any point in going on in the same way? Couldn't you find a better kind of experience? I am continually astonished by people's mentality: they say, 'But its important to sample all kinds of experiences'. I agree. Absolutely. But why do you experiment only with dark, negative things? You must at least be honest about it, and if you insist on sampling everything, then you must also sample luminous, spiritual things. If you really feel that you must try everything, why limit yourself to only one aspect?

Man, unfortunetly, always concentrates on one side of things - usually the worst side - and neglects the other. When a philosopher - a self-styled philosopher - declares that there is nothing in life for man but emptiness and despair, that God does not exist or that, if He does, man has no way of communicating with Him, the masses rush to follow him. And yet, even if there is an element of truth in that point of view, wouldn't it be equally true to say the exact opposite? Why do human beings confine themselves to one aspect - and always the worst? There are always two sides to everything and you must look at both. A human being has two natures, one that is celestial and the other that is infernal, and you must study both of them. Yes, but you must give first place to his celestial nature.

Now, have you really understood what I have been saying? Have you understood that the Universal White Brotherhood is a truly terrible place, as unpleasantm, indigestible and tough as can be? If you have understood this, then you will come here to practise and get into training, to develop to the full every aspect of your being - will, heart, intellect, soul and spirit - and, one day, you will become true sons and daughters of God.

Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov

Politics in the Light of Initiatic Science III

God is above all considerations of race or nationality. He has not created human beings to be Jews, Arabs, Christians or Buddhists: He has created them; that's all. It is they who, because of the conditions in which they evolved, were obliged to form clans, families, societies and nations. One day these distinctions which lead to so much hostility will disappear and men will feel themselves to be citizens of the world.

Isn't this the healthiest and most desirable thing we could possibly wish for? Where is the political leader who would contradict me? I can demonstrate to you, mathematically, scientifically and historically, that certain points of view are obsolete.

Now that we are living in an age in which man has reached the moon, isn't it about time we decided to change certain things? One fine day we shall meet the inhabitants of the moon. You will tell me that science has discovered that there are no inhabitants on the moon. But there are! In fact, they are more scientifically and technologically advanced than man. Why did the astronauts find no sign of them?

Because, knowing in advance that they were going to have visitors, they hid away in their underground homes. Yes, because, if human beings are capable of reaching the moon, they are also perfectly capable, sooner or later, of doing to its inhabitants what the Spanish did to the Aztecs and Mayas. They still do it, wherever they go; there's not much difference, in fact, between cannibals and so-called civilized people. If they don't actually eat their fellow men, they devour them in other ways. Ah, I know that you like cannibals...shall I tell you a story about them?

One day a delegation of cannibals turned up at the United Nations, saying, 'We demand a hearing; we have some complaints to make. We have learned from the newspapers and television (as you see, cannibals are very civilized and up-to-date) that you help people who are starving. You send them supplies of wheat, rice and coffee, etc. but you have sent us only a dozen missionaries. That's not enough; we ate the last of them a long time ago and now we're hungry. Why can't you apply a little Christian generosity to our case, too!' How logical!

You will say, of course, 'But human beings learned not to eat each other a long time ago!' Oh, you know, there are many cases to prove that the twentieth century is not really so far removed from cannibalism. Put human beings in certain situations and you will see how highly evolved they are. Besides, to eat someone is no worse than all the other things people do. No one has yet studied all the various forms of cannibalism such as the different ways in which men and women 'eat' each other.

Let people do as they please; let them swindle and destroy, if they want to, but they must never forget that it is not they who control the situation. There are other entities, above us, who watch over mankind and guide it in its evolution. Some men and women have devoted sixty, seventy, even eighty years to studying the will of their superior - the boss, the general or the minister - but these are purely human wills and they have wasted their time. I have devoted my whole life to studying the will of God and now I know it. And you, too, can know it.

And now, my dear brothers and sisters, remember all this and think about what I said in the beginning about simplicity and complication. By moving away from simplicity and unity and towards diversity, men's spirits sank into the realm of the roots, and roots live in the darkness and cold of the subterranean world. It is time, now, to climb back up into warmth and ligth, into the realm of the flowers. And in flowers, too, they will find quantities of different forms, colours and scents.

When you move away from the sun, everything is cold and dark and life diminishes. When you get closer to the sun, there is more light, more warmth and more life. In the same way, those who move away from God have no more warmth, no love, no light, no wisdom and no life: they become crystallized. This is why they are incapable of understanding or feeling, incapable, even, of doing anything. Or, if they do succeed in doing something, it si always destructive. But those who, like the Initiates, have turned back towards the Deity, are again blessed with light, warmth and life and they accomplish marvels, even to the point of raising the dead. It is so simple; even children can understand. So why can't the philosophers? If they understood they would not stray so far from the Source. Do you imagine that what people read in books nowadays helps them to get closer to the Source? No, there is too much that is negative in books, too many elements that are destructive of faith, love and morals, that demolish all sense of the sacred and the divine. You must read other boooks or, rather, you must read the only book that is really worthwile: the book of nature. And you must get ever closer to the spiritual sun so as to be warmed, illuminated and vivified.

Unfortunetly, human beings do just the opposite: they do all they can to get further away and nothing to get closer. And then you hear them say, 'I don't understand what's happening; I don't know where I stand any more'. Certainly, to say this does not speak well for anyone and yet I have heard it or read it in the letters of quantities of people. I have always answered these people kindly so as not to offend them but, if I had given them my true diagnosis, I would have said, 'I'm not surprised that you don't understand what's happening to you. In fact, you will understand less and less, because you are going in the wrong direction!' Then there are those who complain that they can't bear other people; they just don't love others. And my diagnosis of what ails them is no better: it is as though they handed me their identity card on which I read, 'I'm and idiot, an imbecile, a monster!' The printing on the card actually reads, 'Doctor So-and-so, Professor Such-and-such, Minister of this-or-that' but what I see is quite different: it says, 'Imbecile'. Why? Because they are incapable of loving others. Can you imagine! And whom do they love? Themselves, of course, and even then they do it very badly. Then, again, there are those who say, 'I don't seem to be able to make an effort any more; I'm weak, paralysed'. What has brought them to such a state of weakness? The fact that they have surrendered to the inferior beings who inhabit them and who have bound them hand and foot so that, now, they are helpless. This, too, is a terrible thing to have on one's identity card. There, this is how I understand things and, if you wish, you can come to understand them in the same way. If you do, it will be all the better for you, for no one will ever be able to mislead you again; no one! I shall give you the yardsticks, the criteria you need and you will be able to look at someone and say, 'My friend, you can't fool me any longer; it's too late. I see through you!' But begin by using these yardsticks and criteria for yourself, first of all. There is no hurry about applying them to others; we can see about that later.

Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov

Politics in the Light of Initiatic Science IV

I know that when people who keep abreast of what is going on in the world listen to my lectures they find that the things I talk about have no connection with current events. They say, 'What on earth is he talking about? If he knew what was going on in Spain or Portugal or the Lebanon - even in France - he wouldn't waste his time talking about such insignificant things.' Well, this remark only shows how little they understand, for what I am giving you is, on the contrary, the foundation of all the rest. What I give you are the methods, means and keys you need to solve all of life's problems.

What good would it do if I talked to you about world events? There are already so many people who do that, but they never have any solutions to offer. All they do is reel off statistics and make statements and reports which are no use to anyone. Besides, the Lord alone knows if they are accurate! So, for my part, I leave all those questions to others and concern myself with essentials, with things that will be valid for all eternity. Human beings have a physical body, a will, a heart, an intellect, a soul and a spirit, and the great question is to see how he must work with these elements which will always be part of him. Yes, for the rest of eternity, whatever else may occur in the world, every human being is going to be faced with the same problems: how to think, feel, act, love and create.

The subject I choose to talk about, therefore, is the one most important subject there is: human beings. Other people don't see the importance of this; they waste their time and energy on things that will soon be forgotten. I am always amazed to see how human beings have this tendency to be fascinated by trivialities. A new government, for instance, gets them all worked up, but how long is that government going to last? A few months later it will be changed and they will have to switch their attention to the next one! As for political parties, they come and go and change their names, and if you don't know their names or who their leaders are, everybody looks down on you! No one minds if you know nothing about the divine world, that is unimportant, but not to know the names of party leaders, not to know what their latest squabbles are about, what they said to each other on television, etc., that is disgraceful! How petty and pathetic it all is! What can any of that contribute to the real future of human beings, that is to say, to their peace, light and immortality?

You will say, 'But people are interested in politics because they want to help the country'. I know, but that is not the way to help it; no one has ever helped humanity in that way. They are deluding themselves if they think that all these political discussions and dissensions are capable of helping humanity, because they are not. They have never produced anything but discontent, anger, strikes and revolutions. What has ever been improved by politics? Hospitals are overflowing, criminal cases flood the courts and we shall soon need one policeman for every inhabitant. I shall show you, one day, through the power of our Teaching, that there are other means that we can use to solve all these problems.

You will find thousands of people in the world who think that politics takes priority over everything else. But, although they think of nothing else, day and night, what solutions have they ever found? None, except to belong to a party. Ah, that is important; it is a great feather in your cap to belong to a political party! But does that party hold the solutions to the world's problems? Does it have the right philosophy, the right outlook? Nobody asks themselves that. Once they are members of a party, tehy feel strong and secure and self-complacent. Yes, but their complacency may not last long; if their party is beaten at the polls they are going to be completely deflated. Their glory was nothing but a soap bubble!
Do you agree with me? No, I don't think you do! Well, have it your own way, but let me tell you that as long as the synarchy is not established, it is no good counting on any of the myriad forms of anarchy. Believe me, all the different tendencies manifesting themselves today are, to a greater or a lesser degree, tendencies towards anarchy. Of course, I know that the French will not approve of me if I say this; if only they could realize how far they are from the truth! The fact is that they like having something to do even if it serves no useful purpose. At least they keep busy; they're not idle; they're doing something to kill time. True, it is good to be active, but they could, at least choose the best kind of activity.

If you start talking about politics in public, in the street or in the train, for instance, you will find that everybody, young and old alike, is ready to voice brilliant political ideas. But, Heavens above, their lives are so restricted and so bound up in their personality, what ideas can they possibly have? And if you listen to the leaders of the political parties, you will hear each of them in turn accusing the others of working for the ruin of the nation and the grief of its citizen, whereas he, of course, is selflessly devoted to his country! Is all this sincere? Are they really talking about the interests of the country and their fellow citizens or are they seeking their own interest, hoping to be elected for their own sakes? Once they are elected, of course, the truth will out! And, unfortunetly, that truth will simply be 'more of the same'. It is because people cannot agree about what constitutes 'the good of the country' that there are so many political parties: new parties crop up every day. We need to seek an overall view, a view of the unique, ultimate goal; this is something that has never been found or even envisaged. Instead of fixing our sights on a unique and final goal, each individual focuses on one particular aspect and is ready to do battle in defence of a partial, temporary ideal which will soon be replaced by something else. For great upheavals are on the way and human beings will be obliged to understand that their vision of reality was distorted. The invisible World, of course, knows this; that is why these upheavals will be permitted: for the good of mankind.

I am not saying that everybody is completely wrong; no, each one sees things correctly from his own point of view. But they are all mistaken in respect to the whole. An egoist, who pays no attention to other people's interests, arranges things in such a way as to satisfy his own appetites and desires. Inevitably, others rebuke him for this but he cannot understand their criticism because, from his own point of view, what he is doing is perfectly reasonable, logical and legitimate. And this is exactly what happens with political parties. What they say is all perfectly true and logical from their point of view, but when seen from a universal point of view, from the point of view of the whole, it is not quite so true!

When a child wants to do something he is convinced that it is only normal and right and he gets a nasty shock when his parents forbid it or punish him for doing it. From his point of view, with the degree of understanding that is his, what he wants seems to be logical and legitimate, so he is furious with anyone who stands in his way and refuses to let him do what he wants; he thinks that they are both wicked and stupid. And this is exactly what happens in the world. Everybody tries to impose his will on others: 'To my mind it's like this' and 'to my mind it's like that'. Yes, but 'your mind' is terribly limited! What we need is to broaden the scope of our minds and become capable of seeing things not only from our own personal point of view and according to our own needs and wishes, but from other people's point of view too, and of using their point of view to modify or complete our own.

Only when we do this shall we discover the truth and realize that everybody is both right and wrong: that is to say that they are all right from their own point of view, but not from the point of view of the cosmic collectivity.

As long as man is not sufficiently broad-minded, impersonal and highly evolved, he can only see things from his own point of view and his 'personal truth' will be only a fragment of the whole truth. Political parties are neccessarily in error, therefore, for they all see things only from their own point of view. When they begin to see reality as it truly is they will be less proud of their original ideology. For my part, I try to see things not only from my own point of view but from the point of view of those who are more advanced, and this explains why my view of things is true. Those who make no effort to cultivate this higher point of view are bound to get things wrong and, sooner or later, life itself will prove it to them.

I am not opposed to politics, but I understand it differently. If power is in the hands of someone who knows nothing about the structure of man or his links with all the different powers of the cosmos, how can you expect him to do anything really good for his country? If he has not done so for himself, how can he do so for a whole nation? How can a fool instruct others? How can a weakling bear other people's burdens? How can someone who is impure purify others? It's impossible! And it is also impossible for politicians to bring happiness to their people if they have never been instructed in an Initiatic school, for only in such a school can they learn that, before anyone can be a true political leader, he must have a profound knowledge of man and nature and a profound respect for divine law. Also, he must be free from all ambition, all personal passions.

Everyone talks about serving his country but that is often nothing but words; they are mainly interested in their pocketbooks, their prestige and their power, and are ready to fight their way to the top with hoof and claw and nail. The rare few who are more enlightened but who are not prepared to fight tooth and nail to get to the top are ignored. As I say, I am not against politics, but for me the only valid form of politics is that of the Initiates who have studied human nature and know all its strenghts and weaknesses, who know what it needs and what spiritual, emotional, moral and economic conditions are most conducive to its fulfilment. As long as this knowledge is lacking, politics can only lead to conflict.

Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov

Politics in the Light of Initiatic Science V

Even Karl Marx, who is so revered and appreciated, who has so many faithful followers - even he will lose all prestige before long, and all his acolytes with him! Yes, because the problems of humanity cannot all be resolved by class warfare and the colective ownership of the means of production, etc. I am not saying that Marx was not a genius; he was. You can't deny it. But he did not live a divine life and that he was not an Initiate. I realize, of course, that we need people who are qualified in every aspect of social and economic life, but most important of all, we need the leadership of Initiates who may know nothing about these specific problems but who understand the essentials.

Does this astonish you? Take my case, for instance. No one on earth is as ignorant as I am about political organization, economics of finance. I know nothing about any of that! But one thing I do know, only one: how to keep the water flowing! That's all. And water can be relied on to find its own channels and to make it possible for a whole culture to spring up and develop: plants, animals and men. The important thing is to keep the water coming and not to bother about the rest. And that is what I do: my work is to keep the water flowing and then you - like the plants, birds, trees and animals that form a community at the site of a spring - each one of you can find your own niche. It is not up to me to find a place for you; that is not my job. In fact, that is why I have absolutely no talent for organization. My only care is to ensure that there is plenty of water, for where there is water, the rest takes care of itself. And water is love: love and life!

As long as economists and politicians forget about the need for water and think that all they have to do to improve the situation is set up a good organization, create new institutions and new structures or new administrative posts, the process of death and disintegration will continue. Whatever is done on the purely external, organizational level will be ineffectual if nothing is done to ensure the flow of water. This is why it is essential that there should be someone at the top who is rich in light, knowledge and love, for then every branch and every department will know how to contribute to the success of the whole.

You can see this phenomen so clearly in your own life. Perhaps you don't know exactly how to set about whatever it is you have to do, but you love it, you love your work, and in this case you will succeed and do it very well, because love always finds a way. But if you don't love it, you will never be any good at it, however hard you try. Some women, for instance, read all kinds of cookbooks and use all the best ingredients, but the meals they turn out are inedible. Why? Because they hate cooking! And then there are others who never read a cookbook and who manage, no one quite knows how, to turn out delicious meals with the most ordinary ingredients. The answer is simple: they love doing it. It's a question of love. Of course, I am not a child: I know that the organization involved in running a country is extremely complex. Yes, but if everything is to run smoothly ther must be light, there must be love, there must be water. When the flow of water is assured everyone receives the inspiration he needs to find his own special role.

Look what happens when a group of people meet to discuss a joint project. If the members of the group love each other it will be much easier for them to understand each other, and by the end of the meeting, everything will have been settled and their plans will meet with success. But if they come to the meeting without love, in order to contradict, criticize and oppose the ideas of others, they will never find any solutions. This is what happens in many committees, simply because there is no love between the members. And here, in the Brotherhood, if some of you have never managed to settle certain problems satisfactorily, it is because you simply haven't understood the Teaching; I want to make this quite clear to you. For, when you are really inspired by love, it often takes just five minutes to resolve problems which, without love, will stay unresolved for years.
Why are human beings still so blind? And to think that they have such a high opinion of themselves! Believe me, if you are incapable of solving you problems, you have no cause to be so pleased with yourselves. If you are capable of solving them, alright; but, if not, you would do better to find a quiet spot in which to reflect on what it is in you that makes it impossible: your lack of love. The trouble is that people don't believe in the power of love. They only believe in the power of the intellect, in the power of a critical mind. For my part I have no faith in the effectiveness of such things; in fact, they are dangerous. Bring a little more love to the situation and your problems will be solved immediately and everyone will go their separate ways, happy and astonished that it was all so simple.

You must have seen two people discussing something: have you noticed how they both talk at the same time? No wonder they end by coming to blows! Yes, because they don't listen to each other. They are both so full of themselves that they are incapable of listening to anyone else, they get more and more irritated and impatient and lose their self-control to such an extent that they actually start to fight. Really, people have on psychology or pedagogical sense! If they had any intelligence at all they would know in advance what the outcome was liable to be and avoid reaching that point. An intelligent man begins by manifesting love and good-will and listens to what someone is saying to him; in this way he calls out the best in the other person and their problems can be resolved.

But, to get back to the question of politics: I assure you that, as long as political leaders are ignorant of Initiatic Science, they are bound to make mistakes. Of course, as the public has no yardstick by which to judge, they are full of admiration. They say, 'Did you hear how So-and-so put the other fellow down? Wasn't it splendid? He really blasted him; it was magnificent!' And all the ignorant fools are thrilled. Yes, but an Initiate who saw that would not be thrilled at all. With the blind, anything goes; they will swallow anything, but an Initiate will not be taken in. Whom do adolescents choose as heroes? Those who are violent and destructive, those who are quickest on the draw! And the masses are exactly like adolescents.

You must not expect much from politics, therefore, until political leaders have studied Initiatic Science; there will be more and more difficulties, conflicts and misunderstandings and they will be unable to find solutions. They think that they don't need the light of this science. Well, they will see whether they need it or not; there are some surprises in store for them that will force them to be more mature in their attitudes and then they will understand that this science is not to be scoffed at.

Yes, I have to tell you the truth even if some people don't like to hear it. As long as the truth about mankind, the universe and the Creator is unknown, any solutions that may be found will be only partial, makeshift and temporary; they cannot be perfect, they will always involve certain inconveniences. If Râma instituted a Golden Age during which mankind enjoyed centuries of peace and prosperity, it was because he had been instructed in Initiatic Science by a mysterious being who guided and advised him. Eventually, the light of that Science was lost and, once again, anarchy and violence took over and has reigned, now, for many thousands of years.

Today, it is neither moral qualities nor intelligence that has the upper hand, but force. Everybody wants power because everybody is persuaded that power, the use of force, is the surest way to achieve success. But let me tell you that it is the very worst way. Power must never be first; it must always be last. A synarchic form of government puts love, wisdom and truth in first place, and power and economic interests are seen as secondary in importance. But, in today's world, this order is reversed: power and economics are given priority, and this is why the situation is going from bad to worse and, whatever people may think, it will not right itself because this order is contrary ot the laws of the cosmos, to the universal order.

The only type of organization that reflects the structure of the univers is a synarchy. All other systems of government are expressions of anarchy and this is why the world is in such disarray. Men will never succeed in establishing peace and order in society if they continue to act in contradiction to the divine laws, in contradiction to the principles that govern the structure of the universe. It is impossible! I want to uproot these false notions from your minds. The master Peter Deunov said to me one day, 'You are the great demolisher'. And what do I demolish? Your old, antiquated notions. And if there are still some who hope to succeed without the light and through the use of violence, let me demolish that hope once and for all: if they continue to cling to it, it will be their downfall. In fact, you will see this; everyone, beginning with themselves, will see it.

This is a lecture that could revolutionize men's consciousness. Yes, because light is the most powerful revolutionary force that exists. No force is more revolutionary than the light. Many highly evolved beings have avoided speaking about these things because they knew how narrow-minded and limited human beings were and how dangerous it would be to reveal truths that were so far beyond their grasp, so they refused to enlighten the masses. But the time has come, now, for the whole of mankind to know these truths.

So, let's concentrate on the heart of the matter. If a man refuses the Teaching of the Universal White Brotherhood, which reveals the existence of a higher but absolutely real world, he can never be a good head of State, because he will always be subject to impulses and ambitions dictated by self-interests, vanity, a desire for revenge, etc., and, in these conditions he can never make his people happy. To be sure, anybody can pull the wool over people's eyes and prevent them from detecting their true motives with well chosen words and gestures, noble phrases and speeches about the safety of the fatherland, the happiness of its citizens, true justice, etc., etc. But the reality? Well, the reality is not for public consumption: as you can well imagine, if they showed themselves as they really were and made no secret of their lust, their will for power and so on, no one would accept their leadership. They know that. That is why they bluff and lie and pretend to be what they are not.

In the past, men such as Genghis Khan, Attila and Tamerlane could get what they wanted even tough they showed themselves exactly as they were. But, in those days, the mentality was not the same and the more unjust, cruel and pitiless a leader showed himself to be, the better his chance of success. Whereas, nowadays, you cannot do that; you have to show that your goals are acceptable, reasonable, generous even, otherwise you will be defeated. That is why people take great care to conceal their fangs behind a show of good manners so as to attract their victims and then... 'all the better to eat you with, my dear!' Yes, because their victims are without intuition, without intelligence, without knowledge. With a little perseverance, you can win over almost anyone, even by dishonest means, as long as you don't show yourself as you really are.
If you want to find people who are absolutely disinterested, you must turn to the great Initiates who have proved themselves, who have purified themselves and endured great suffering, but who have conquered and emerged victorious. No one else is worthy of your trust. You can trust a man only if his higher nature has triumphed over his lower nature, not otherwise. Otherwise, whatever he may tell you, be on your guard! I don't ask you to trust and believe me or to follow me. All I ask is that you come and live with me for a while and see for yourself. If, when you have spent months or years with me and seen how I live, you conclude that you can trust me, then you are free to follow me. But I have never told anyone to follow me from the very first day.

If you accept the Universal White Brotherhood, you need look no further; this is where you will find happiness. Surrounded by so many brothers and sisters, bombarded by so many loving looks and friendly smiles, how could you be anything but happy? But, if you prefer to be alone in your own little hole and to cling to your philosophy of universal isolation, you will never be happy. People think they will find happiness by isolating themselves, but happiness is impossible in isolation. Happiness is to be part of a collectivity; only when you are part of this universal brotherhood, of this immensity, can happiness slip into you... and it will never slip away from you again. All those poor wretches who continue to believe that they will find happiness by isolating themselves from others, by being selfish and personal... the only thing in store for them is death and disintegration.

Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov

Politics in the Light of Initiatic Science VI

Does anyone ever think to scratch the surface and try to discover the secret ambitions that motivate those who wave flags and make high-flown speeches? No, they dash off to listen to them and are swept off their feet and follow them with enthusiasm. If only they could see what wolves, what wild boars are behind that smooth facade! But they see none of that; they have no judgement, no intuitive sense. It is a case of the blind leading the blind, and you know what the Gospel says: 'If the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.' Unfortunetly, it is only years later that people realize that their blindness has led to catastrophe. Look at Hitler and Stalin and a host of others: they were monsters, murderers - and yet people acclaimed them and flocked to them!

I too am working for a political goal, but for one that is not inspired by my personality. It is sad that there are still so few people ready to understand these ideas. Try talking to them about a policy inspired by the individuality, a policy of generosity, disinterestedness and light: no one would take you seriously. But talk to them about destruction and arson, and thousands of people will enthusiastically agree. This is why - forgive me for saying this - but this is why human beings still need to suffer. No other explanation is possible: they will need to suffer and, one day, through suffering, they will find the way. You think that I am being cruel in saying this but, I assure you, although it gives me great pain to say it, it is true: human beings still need to suffer before they are ready to understand. If you need proof of this, just look at how they behave when a messenger from Heaven comes to instruct and help them: do they listen to him? Not a bit of it! Not only do they refuse to listen to him, but they imprison or crucify him or send him to the stake. But when a monster who is bound to bring them suffering comes along, they welcome him with open arms, acclaim him as their saviour and give him all the powers he needs to destroy them. Isn't it obvious that human beings need to suffer? They go looking for suffering.

But let's get back to this question of the personality and the individuality. The annals of Initiatic Science tell us that many human civilizations have already been wiped out and that the culture and technical skills of some of these civilizations - the Atlanteans, for instance - were far more advanced than ours. If they disappeared it was because of this perpetual tendency of the personality that drives people to try to dominate and subjugate others by force.

Unfortunetly, this tendency is becoming more and more evident in the modern world and this bodes ill for the future of humanity. Wherever you look you see nations or political factions intent on dominating and crushing others, and increasingly lethal arms are being manufactured in ever greater quantities. If there is one type of industry which is never short of work it is the arms industry. Every country manufactures arms for themselves and for sale to others and, today, Africa is stocked with arms bought from other countries who, apparently, have never paused to consider that it will be they who suffer the consequences. This is what the human personality leads to. And this is why human beings must be instructed in the Teaching of the Universal White Brotherhood and shown how to use the tendencies of their personality in the service of their individuality.

Yes, if mankind is to be saved, this light needs to be propagated throughout the world. Otherwise you may be sure that Cosmic Intelligence, who dwells in eternity, is not likely to be unduly concerned about the disappearance of one more human race. So many others have already disappeared that if this one goes the same way through its own fault it will not trouble Cosmic Intelligence at all; It will simply use the few surviving individuals to start all over again. It is up to us not to destroy ourselves. If we persist in doing everything we can to bring destruction upon ourselves, Cosmic Intelligence will be quite undisturbed; It will let us go our own way without interference.

Humanity has reached a very high degree of development, that is obvious, and it owes this development to the powers of the intellect. Of itself the intellect is neutral, neither inherently good nor evil, but when the personality controls it - and this is usually the case - it becomes a very effective tool for the accomplishment of its most villainous schemes.

Thanks to the extraordinary development of men's intellectual faculties, the personality is more and more successful in manifesting its most evil tendencies: the will to monopolize everything for itself and wipe out whoever and whatever stands in its way.

When I listen to some of the speeches by the leaders of political parties or trades unions, I can hardly help laughing. Whatever they do, it won't do any good. Why not? Because they themselves are not an example for anyone to follow, they are motivated simply by their own ambitions, their own prefudices; they are ruled by their personality. You will say that they are very intelligent people and very good speakers. Yes, I know; but that is not enough. They know all about politics, history and economics, but they are subjugated by their personality. When their individuality takes command, yes; then they will accomplish something useful. But do they even suspect that they have an individuality, a higher nature, and that it must be allowed to take control?

The present state of things will go on for years and years: there will be republics, democracies, wars, devastation and revolution. There are even some who are preparing for a third world war. But when human beings are almost at their last gasp, when they are so exhausted and worn out that they begin to long for a new order, then, perhaps, the great Masters and Initiates will come and assume the leadership and, in the presence of such splendour and justice, everyone will be ready to submit and obey. For mankind loves justice and order; if it has always been incapable of establishing a just, ordered society it is because, instead of choosing a ruler of a higher order, it has always chosen someone from the rank and file. If you choose your leader from the common or garden ant population he will never be anything but an ant. Human beings have never understood that they should choose a being of another species. They always choose leaders from their own ranks and those leaders are, of course, capable of making speeches, arguing and biting, but nothing more, because they know nothing about Initiatic Science. In fact, not only do they know nothing about this Science, but they do everything possible to preserve and deepen their ignorance.

Everything could be magnificent and marvellous, but you have to understand the reality of things. It is true that, in the past, when there were kings, the population was the victim of much injustice and cruelty and endured great tribulations. But is the situation any better today? Can you prove that it is better? In some cases, I admit, it certainly seems to be better. But behind this apparent progress it si actually worse, for human beings don't realize what they are missing. They are free to rub along in life, to eat and drink and amuse themselves, but this freedom is not really progress; it is still a form of servitude. Young people, especially, want to be free but only in order to do all the wild things that come into their heads. They fail to see that this makes them the slaves of their baser inclinations and that they will be obliged to keep feeding them. They are outwardly free, yes; but they are inwardly bound. This is how human beings understand freedom. But that is not enough, it is not enough to win external freedom by means of war and revolution. It is inner freedom that has to be won, freedom from one's own weaknesses, one's own greed, one's own vices.

I have often compared this situation to that of a ship with its captain and its stokers. The stokers, who work below decks, are not in command; they are not able to see where the ship is going or to keep it on course; they haven't been given the necessary faculties. But they are fully able to keep the ship moving; everything depends on them. In the same way, a country depends on the masses for, if they were not there to do the work, everybody would starve to death, including the aristocracy. But it is no good expecting the common people to be clairvoyant and omniscient; that is impossible. Their job is to sow and reap, without them, the result would be famine. But without the aristocracy, without the captain at the helm, the result would also be disastrous. In creating men's bodies, Cosmic Intelligence has designed them in such a way that they are living examples of the pattern that should be followed in all social organization. As a matter of fact, human beings have succeeded in groping their way towards a pattern that bears some resemblance to this ideal, but it is still very far from perfect. There are always those who rule and those who are ruled but they are not always where they should be.

The element that is lacking is a true respect for the right order of things in man himself and in society. I don't combat my inner populace; on the contrary, I take good care of them and keep them clean and tidy. Yes, my people are well looked after but they know that there is an aristocracy above them and that they have to obey it. No revolutionary songs about chopping off the heads of aristocrats for them! Quite the contrary, they respect and obey them.

Actually, I am in favour neither of an aristocracy nor of a democracy, but of an order that exists throughout the universe and is reflected in our own bodies. Why didn't Cosmic Intelligence put our belly on our shoulders and our head between our legs? It put the head above and the belly below and now people want the belly to be on top and the head anywhere except in its rightful place. No, you must understand that a universal order exists which is not exactly the same as that which human beings would like to establish.

The crime of human beings is to want their own order, their own system, their own point of view to take precedence over that of Cosmic Intelligence. Their personality is so avid to have the upper hand and impose its will that it is ready to topple the Lord Himself from His throne. It is man's personality that is the cause of all misfortunes; it has already led to the destruction of several civilizations.

The question is very serious, my dear brothers and sisters. You must study this question of the personality and the individuality.

Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov

Politics in the Light of Initiatic Science VII

The book of Genesis tells us that one night, while Jacob was asleep with his head on a stone, he had a vision of a ladder pitched between earth and heaven, and going up and down the ladder was a host of Angels. This is how Jacob received the revelation of the celestial hierarchy that links earth to Heaven. The earth is linked to Heaven and an uninterrupted flow of exchange takes place between them which is rarely mentioned, even by Initiatic Science. For example, when Moses wrote, 'In the beginnning God created the heavens and the earth', he did not mention any exchange or intercourse between them. One might conclude from this that heaven and earth were quite separate. In fact, this is what human beings have often thought: that heaven and earth were two distinct, even alien, realities. The truth is, on the contrary, that they are in constant communication, without this communication nothing would make sense.

Heaven and earth, or if you prefer, sun and earth. Between the two there is an ongoing exchange and it is this that produces life. At the moment, we cannot see very much of this exchange. All we see are the sun's rays that reach us, on earth, we see nothing of what rises from earth to the sun. Only clairvoyants are able to see the multitude of beings who descend from higher regions to do their work with the plants and stones of earth and who, once their work is done, rise again to the heavens. Actually, there is a quite a lot of extraordinarily beautiful and poetic literature on this subject and, one day, the whole of mankind will be capable of seeing these creatures who come and go between earth and the sun - and even more distant regions. When this day comes we shall enjoy perfumes and quintessences as yet unknown and hear the music that resounds throughout space, for everything in the universe sings. Everything in the universe is music.

But let's get back to this idea of hierarchy, for it is extremely useful for our inner life. If we know that everything - from the stones of the earth to God Himself - is linked hierarchically, and if we keep this structure constantly in mind, we are bound to act accordingly and do what is right, for we see that everything fits in to that order, that organization, that system. Hierarchy is a state of perfect harmony in which each element is in place. This applies in every domain and, if most human beings are so unhappy, it is because they do not respect this hierarchy. Their belly is where their head or their heart should be and vice versa. There is no order.

Suppose you go to a village and look for the school. Even if you don't know where it is, you won't need to ask your way: you can go straight towards the shouts and screams you hear coming from the children and there will be the school. But then, all of a sudden, the noise ceases and silence reigns. What has happened? The school master has arrived, that's all, and all the little ragamuffins that had been climbing on the desks and benches and making so much noise, are sitting in their places looking like little plaster saints. Isn't this a manifestation of hierarchy?

Hierarchy means everything and everyone in his place. And, as I say, this is true in every domain: in our bodies (in which water must not get into the lungs, for instance, nor air into the stomach), in towns and cities, in government departments, in the army, in an orchestra, etc.

Every human being has a place that is his by right. Unfortunetly, this right is not respected in present-day society in which the worthiest and most intelligent people are unknown, whilst those who are violent, corrupt and unscrupulous are in command. Even in men's inner lives this hierarchy is rarely respected: the entities and forces that should be in command are absent and others have usurped their posts. I assure you, this is so. Look at anyone you like. who rules him? Do you imagine that he is king of his own realm? Not a bit of it; he is languishing in a prison cell where he receives barely enough bread and water to keep him alive, while others - dark, chaotic, unknown forces - rule in his stead. Naturally, he suffers from their tyranny and is constantly ill-treated, but he is obliged to obey them. Actually, he is not sufficiently conscious to understand that he is no longer the captain; although his ship is drifting out of control he believes that he is still at the helm.

Until man once again accepts this notion of a heavenly hierarchy, he will continue to drift towards anarchy. This is what is so serious: external anarchy does not matter so much, but inner anarchy is very serious. It is because of this inner anarchy that hospitals, mental homes and prisons are always full of patients and criminals.

Listen well to what I am saying. you can travel throughout the world, you can explore all the regions of space, you can enrol in all the schools of Heaven, and everywhere and always you will find this notion of hierarchy with God in command at the summit and all His creatures standing ready to carry out His commands. And, when you achieve this hierachy in your own inner life, everything within you will sing. Your very cells will sing and you will feel yourself cradled, born up by an extraordinary state of harmony and music.

But this harmony will not be restored until everyone and everything is where they should be and, to achieve this, we have to begin at the beginning and put the heart and the intellect back where they belong. Most human beings are ruled by their emotions and passions, their intellect can do no more than say 'Amen' and hasten to obey. But this is anarchy! And people don't even know it; in fact, if you tell them that they are living in anarchy, they take it as an insult. But I repeat: as long as the heart and intellect are not in their respective places, it is the reign of anarchy. Have you ever wondered why Cosmic Intelligence placed our heads above our hearts? As I have already told you, it is exactly the situation of the ship in which the captain is up on the bridge and the engines below decks. Our engines drive us forward but it is the captain who decides what course to steer. Our engines are our heart, our feelings; it is they that move the ship, but they don't know what direction to take unless they are enlightened by someone else, and that someone is the captain, our head, which is on a higher level and can see where it is going. If you reverse their positions and put the engines up on the bridge and the captain down in the bowels of the ship, that will be the end of it, for the ordinary seamen have not been trained to do the captain's work.

Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov

Politics in the Light of Initiatic Science VIII

Everything is hierarchical. Even in the constellations of the Zodiac: some stars correspond to the head of Aquarious and others to the feet; in Aries, some correspond to the horns and some to the hoofs. Or, take a river: from its source to its mouth a river is hierarchical. Even in a tree, from its roots to its flowers, everything is hierarchically organized.

You will ask, 'But how do we know where things belong? It is a very complicated science.' Let me illustrate it for you: what is the first thing you must do if you want to transform a desert into a fertile plain?

Find water. Bring in water and allow it to flow, and everything else, plants, animals and men, will find their place. The flowing water is the stream of life. Allow water to flow, allow life and love to flow and don't worry about what kind of trees will grow where or what birds will come and sing in their branches. Some may say, 'Yes, but I want to know in advance exactly where that clump of grass will grow and on which branch the bird will perch to sing its song'. For goodness sake! If you wait to find out all these details before making up your mind to open the sluice gates, the centuries will go by and there will still be no flowers growing and no birds singing. Let the water flow, therefore; the water of life, the living water of love, and you will see how the hierarchical order begins to take root in you and everything slips into place; everything will start singing and blossoming and it will be the Kingdom of God.

From now on, therefore, work at this notion of the hierarchy that reaches all the way to the throne of God and try to see how you can achieve it within yourselves. You will have to pray and implore and struggle but, at least, the Spirit of God that you have been begging and praying for will begin to dwell in you and transform everything within you. When He comes, even if it is only for a second, everything will start to vibrate joyously, in harmony. But this cannot happen in the absence of your head. Without the head, there can be no hierarchy; only if the head is where it should be can it be achieved. It is possible for you to transform everything within you, all the impulses, currents and forces within you, but only by putting the head where it belongs, by putting the Lord at the summit of that hierarchy.

The idea of hierarchy is deeply rooted in human nature; even animals recognize it: they choose the strongest, most intelligent or most handsome of their number to be their leader and then obey him completely. Even animals know that worth must be recognized and respected. It is only human beings who have lost their sense of worth; they are too proud. Humility, you see, is a recognition of a hierarchical order. A person is humble when he recognizes superiority in another.

Of course, if I insist so much on this notion of hierarchy, it is because I always have in mind the inner hierarchy. A person can be at the top in external things and at the bottom inwardly. You can be at the top in society simply because you are rich or learned, but to be at the top in the eyes of the divine world you have to see this: you cannot make the spirits and forces that dwells in you obey you if you are not superior to them. They immediatly know exactly who and what you are and, if you are no better than they are, nothing you can do will make them obey you. Even if you try to give them orders in the name of Jesus, they will scoff at you:'We know who Jesus is, but they will give you a good trashing.

When one knows about this hierarchical order one is obliged to work honestly instead of being full of recriminations. To be angry and indignant about not getting what you want will get you nowhere if you never work on yourself in order to earn it. The hiearchy that exists in the spiritual domain will not be moved by anger and revolt. In human society, you may be able to get to the top by striking out at others and making a lot of commotion: you can see this in revolutions, wars and insurrections. But that kind of behavior won't get you anywhere with the spiritual world; the only way is hard, persevering, tireless work. In this way, yes; it is possible to rise to a level where you can command your own inner forces as well as the forces of nature and, one day, you can be a divinity. In the physical world, to be sure, human beings push and shove and pull other people down in order to take their place because they do not know the laws of hierarchy; on this level there is neither humility nor hard work nor understanding, only violence and darkness but this is not conducive to the evolution of those concerned.

This is a law: human beings my receive only what they deserve and must receive all that they deserve. This is a universal law, a law promulated by the Twenty-Four Elders. The forces of nature know exactly what you do, what you are capable of and what you deserve and they organize things so that, sooner or later, you receive exactly what you deserve. But most human beings know nothing about this law; they don't believe in the existence of just, clairvoyant beings of a higher intelligence who honour the law, so they resort to evil, violent, treacherous means to get what they want and, eventually, of course, the forces of nature have to reach them a hard lesson. Ininitiates know this. That is why they never waver from their path; they know that the difficulties and misfortunes they meet on the way are only temporary, that these difficulties are useful, sometimes even necessary and that, in the long run, they will be rewarded as they deserve.

No one can take the place of another. God has given every single creature a particular vibration and a particular place in the universe. On the physical plane, of course, someone who is unscrupulous and dishonest can eject a rival and take his place but, on the spiritual plane, that it is impossible. The place thath God gives to each one is exactly the place he deserves. In this respect, justice is always absolute; there can be no unfairness. No creature can ever take the place of another, therefore, but each one must grow and develop so as to reach the perfection that God has envisaged for him and, when he reaches the fulfilment intended by God, he will be unique and irreplaceable for all eternity. No other creature in the whole universe will be the same. Even if others are more important, each one is king in his own domain, because it was God who gave him that domain.

Through his life, each creature secretes a particular quintessence which belongs to no one else. Other individuals may be greater but their quintessence is of another nature, so so one can replace or substitute for another. Every single creature is irreplaceable.
The best people often appear to be treated unjustly by life but, if they really are 'better' and if they are undeterred by their difficulties, Heaven and earth have sworn to give them their due. This has always been so for everyone, and it will always continue to be so.

What have we got to worry about, then? There is no need to worry about is whether these forces are intelligent or whether they have gone to sleep and forgotten about us. The only thing we need worry about is whether we are doing our work as we should, for these entities are perfectly capable of doing theirs and, when the time comes, they will give us the kingship that is our due.

Picture a young prince who, from his earliest years, has been entrusted to a family of peasants to be brought up in a simple, rigorous way of life. He doesn't know that he is heir to the throne and he goes to work every day dressed in rags and with just enough food to keep body and soul together. One day, after years of hard work, his apprenticeship is over and a procession of courtiers comes to fetch him away in a gorgeous coach, He can't understand what is happening; he thinks it is all a mistake; he doesn't realize that he had only been sent there so that he would learn to work hard, get up early and live soberly (Because, of course, you know how young princes behave if they are brought up in luxury: they grow up to be lazy, capricious and cruel!). When the prince gets to the palace and the courtiers want to know what he would like for lunch, he asks for some bread and cheese, an onion and some water. Naturally, they are in despair at this because the royal chef had already prepared a banquet of lobsters and turkey with the best wines. And suppose I were to tell you that you are all princes and princesses, sons and daughters of God, that God has entrusted you to a family of peasants - symbolically speaking - and that, one day, He will send an official delegation to fetch you. Yes, but on condition that you have worked well; otherwise your apprenticeship could last for centuries.

So there you are, there is nothing for it but to change the head and comply with that new head, and then everything else will change, too. We see this so often, even in everyday life. If a new President is elected, for instance, he immediately forms a new government with new ministers and a whole new administration.

Why does he do this? Why doesn't he leave the same men in charge? Because he knows that it is impossible: the law of affinity, of magnetic attraction makes it necessary to inaugurate a new hierarchy, a new order. If the new leader is a gangster, he will give all the important posts to his own men, and a period of disorder and gangsterism will ensue. This is a universal rule: as soon as someone new takes command, he dismisses the old staff and gives their jobs to his own cronies, his own family and friends. How can you object that it is useless to change the head, that things will always be the same? Not at all, once the head is changed, everything else changes; every post is taken over by someone who is in agreement with the head. If the new head is a crook, therefore, all the other crooks will come out of hiding and give him their support and, if he is a saint, all the other saints will rally round him and fit into his administration as though they were old friends.

You can see, now, why the very best thing for a disciple to do, is to place the best and most magnificent Head of all - that great White Head whose beard and hair are described in detail in the Cabbalah - at the summit of his being. If a disciple succeed in giving the Lord the very highest place within him, Angels and Archangels will also come and dwell in him to keep the Lord company. The Almighty cannot bear to be in the company of demons, so they are immediately dismissed and His Heavenly hosts come and sing round Him. It is impossible that it should be otherwise!

The only true transformation, the only true alchemy, the only true magic is this: to change one's head. And, in order to change his head, a disciple must, at the very least, be ready to say, 'I don't wish to be in command. I want to be a servant; I want to work and to obey. I want the Lord to come and dwell in me.' And then he must work as hard as he can for this to come about. In the end, when He sees that conditions are right, the Lord will come and, when He comes, all the spirits of light will come with Him and fill all the available space. You see how simple it is? You only have to change the head and all the rest changes, too; It cannot be otherwise. How could the Lord, once He had decided to dwell somewhere, find Himself all alone or in the company of demons? Unthinkable!

Wherever He goes He is accompanied by a retine of extraordinarily beautyful entities. If you take the trouble to understand the meaning and value of the hierarchy, you will be capable of fantastic realizations.

Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov

Politics in the Light of Initiatic Science IX

I have already spoken to you, many years ago, about the underground kingdom of Agartha and the fantastic civilization that has flourished there for thousands of years. This hidden kingdom in in communication with the surface of the earth; there are openings in many different countries in the world: at the Poles, in South America, Mongolia and Tibet, and even in France, in the Pyrenees. From time immemorial, especially in the countries of the north, there have been legends that tell of a land beyond the icy wastes of the Pole in which it is always springtime. And, according to a tradition known to Initiatic Science, the aurora borealis is produced by very highly evolved beings who dwell in that kingdom with the light from the centre of the earth.

There have been people who were aware of the existence of Agartha. There was even a film, LOST HORIZONS, which was about Shangri-La, the land of perpetual youth. In every country teh tradition has existed and, whether in Greece, India, Egypt or elsewhere, this mysterious subterranean kingdom has given rise to belief in a land of eternal youth and happiness which has been known, sometimes, as Agartha and sometimes as the Land of the Holy Grail, Thule or the Garden of the Hesperides.

Today, more is being said and written about Agartha but, not so many years ago, it was virtually unknown. A Russian writer, Ossendowski, published a book called Beasts, Men and Gods in which he recounts what he learned about Agartha in the monasteries of Tibet. But it was the Marquis Saint-Yves d'Alveydre who made the most striking revelations in his book, The Mission of India in Europe. Saint-Yves d'Alveydre was writer, a scholar and an Initiate; he was capable of out-of-body travel and, in his book, he tells of how he visited and saw Agartha for himself. He gives many extraordinary details about this subterranean kingdom, about how it is lit by a kind of internal sun, about the trees and flowers growing there and about the animals and men who live there, just as on earth. He describes the libraries and archives which stretch for miles and which contain the whole history of the human race. Yes, there are some amazing books there, books written by great Initiates and containing great secrets. These books were taken away from human beings but they are still there, in Agartha, and only those who are sufficiently evolved have the right to go and read them.

Everything that has happened in the world since its beginning is recorded and preserved in these archives. All that has disappeared from the face of the earth and that we believe to be lost to us for ever, is there, in those archives. If you wonder what some historical figure was like, this is where you will find the answer. And you, too, are there, in miniature. For there is a copy of every one of us and it is kept there so that we can be studied. Every single thing that happens here is reflected in miniature in Agartha, in fact, at this very moment, the Agarthans know that I am talking about them.

Some people, who have done some research in this connection, think that the first Gypsies (or Romanies) were banished from Agartha and that it is from there that they draw their special knowledge of the Tarot, for example, which they hand on from generation to generation. It is also believed that the Aghartans first came from Atlantis and Lemuria. Before the continent began to submerge - some researchers put this at fifteen thousand years ago - they are said to have fled in their extraordinary machines and taken refuge in the bowels of the earth, where they built cities and settled down.

To be sure, there are all kinds of extravagant theories about Agharta, but I am not interested in knowing whether they are true or false. What does interest me is the underlying philosophy, the priniciples on which this kingdom is founded and how to propagate this philosophy amongst human beings to understand that if they continue to follow their false philosophies, they will soon come to a bad end.

The kingdom of Agharta is organized and ruled with immense wisdom and its millions of inhabitants live in prosperity, peace and happiness, free from disease and old age. Saint-Yves d'Alveydre describes this organization in detail. At the top, he says, is a trinity of beings: the Brahâtma, the Mahâtma and the Mahanga (whom Ossendowski calls the Brahytma, the Mahytma and the Mahynga). Authority belongs to the Brahâtma, power belongs to the Mahâtma and the Mahanga is in charge of organization. And, as the government of Agharta is patterned on that of the universe, below this supreme trinity is a group of twelve persons that reflect the twelve signs of the Zodiac; under them is a group of twenty-two, reflecting the twenty-two principles of the Logos with which God created the world and, finally, there is a group of three hundred and sixty-five, reflecting the three hundred and sixty-five days of the year, etc.

I have reflected and meditated for years and years about Agartha and worked constantly to make contact with this invisible kingdom and, although you may not believe this, the time has come to tell you that I am bringing you the same pattern of organization that prevails there and which is known as synarchy. It is high time that human beings realized that they have never yet found the best type of government and that only a synarchy, a government of Initiates, can solve all their political, social and economic problems.

I am offering you the same culture as that which exists in Agartha. I have never been in a position to reveal it fully because I know that if I divulged it, it would seem so remote, so unthinkable, that I would be in danger of being locked up. I assure you, if I were to say all that I know I would soon find myself in an asylum. This is why I dare not reveal certain things to you. But it is all here, in my head and, little by little, I am leading you into this world of Initiatic truths. In any case, if you are honest, you cannot help but admit that everything I have revealed to you so far has been true. I leave you free, therefore, to do as you wish.

But one thing is absolutely true, and that is that I am bringing you an entirely new culture. The Teaching of the Universal White Brotherhood has the mission to introduce the philosophy of Agharta into the world. There is a tradition that after Râma had established the Golden Age on earth, he went to live in Agharta. Many other great spirits such as Buddha, St John, even the famous alchemist, Nicholas Flamel, also went to Agharta when they left this world. But one thing that people don't know is that there are Aghartans who have reincarnated on earth in our day in order to bring us their science, their organization and their form of government: government by Initiates.

I can tell you about how the Aghartans live, how they are born and how they understand love. They know how precious sexual energy is, for instance, so , instead of squandering it, they use it to rise to greater heights of perfection and become divinities. As a matter of fact, the true doctrine of Tantra-yoga, which is so widely known in Tibet and India, comes from Agartha. Very few Westerners understand - still less practise - this form of yoga correctly. Many of those who have tried it, in fact, have only succeeded in making themselves ill and destroying their emotional balance. Be careful, therefore: I don't advise you to embark on experiences in this area. Study well, prepare yourselves, purify yourselves and, when you are ready, the extraordinary science that these beings possess will be revealed to you.

The Science of the Aghartans also includes the most advanced discoveries of physics. They are capable of seeing and controlling all that happens on earth. In fact, if they wanted to, they could unleash the power of the four elements and wipe out the whole of humanity. Fortunetly, they are too peace-loving and much too highly evolved to do so. It is also very likely that flying saucers, whose existence is no longer in doubt, come not from other planets but from the centre of the earth via the North or Sout Pole. Many observers in the Arctic and Antarctic regions have seen flying saucers coming or going in the direction of the Poles.

In any case, the Aghartans have some extraordinary means of transport and it is particularly interesting to note that it was in 1945, after the atomic bomb that wiped out Hiroshima, that they began to manifest themselves more frequently. They come to keep an eye on us; they are concerned because they know that human beings are quite capable, in their folly, of wiping out humanity and, of course, if this happened it would also affect them. It is possible that, within the next few years, they decide to show themselves and give human beings some messages, some warnings. And it is also quite possible that they will take some of you back with them so that you can see the splendour of their land for yourselves before coming back to earth. So far, none of those who have visited Agharta have ever come back. But the Aghartans are very, very kind and generous: you need have absolutely no fear of them. They have overcome all human weakness.

To be sure, quite a number of pilots have tried to pursue their flying saucers but they are surrounded by a magnetic field that makes them invulnerable: if they are pursued by a plane, they can throw out rays that make its engines cut out. They always work with light. Their source of power is light, and it is with this that they neutralize all hostile forces. They apply the Initiatic rule that it is light that must be our protection against harmful elements. Before very long, human beings will begin to discover many of their secrets.
I have been telling you this for years: the only thing you must study is light, for light is all-powerful.

Science has recently discovered the power of the laser, but there are many more discoveries to be made. One day, all the revelations I have made to you will be recognized and published at large. So far, they have not been taken seriously because they have not been confirmed by orthodox science. Instead of sensing their authenticity inwardly, instead of touching them, as it were, with their soul and spirit, human beings are so over-intellectual that they prefer to wait for the verdict of science before believing even the greatest truths. But, I repeat: sooner or later, all that I reveal to you in my lectures will be scientifically proved. This is already beginning, in fact, with experiments that are being made in Russia; the other countries are behind Russia in this but they, too, will come to accept the reality of the aura, clairvoyance and the power of thought.

Technicians have perfected instruments that can now measure some so-called 'para-psychic' phenomena and this means that people will be obliged to accept the results recorded by them. Human beings don't trust the instruments placed in them by the Creator: they ignore them completely, preferring to wait for the verdict of an external instrument, whereas it should be just the other way round.

Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov

Politics in the Light of Initiatic Science X

As I have said, I am interested in Agharta from a philosophical point of view, because of the pattern of organization, government and collective life it presents. We, too, should work for the collectivity with the same disinterestedness and the same tireless love as the Aghartans so as to form a single family on earth, so that there shall be no more boundaries, no more war, no more poverty. When this is achieved, the interests of individuals will be protected. In a prosperous, healthy collectivity, each individual member also thrives, whereas, if only a handful of individuals prosper within a collectivity riddled by poverty and dissension, they will always be at risk, for their prosperity is not built on anything firm and lasting. This is why, when we see that every individual is interested only in his own well-being and cares nothing for that of others, we can be sure, in advance, that it is an unstable situation. If human beings would only make the effort to forget about themselves a little more and devote themselves to the good of the collectivity, the interests of every individual would be protected. For the good of the individual is in the good of the whole. This is why I keep telling you that you don't know where your own best interests lies; your behaviour proves this and, sooner or later, it will be your downfall.

The life of the collectivity surrounds, dominates and rules us. We can never be free and independent of it. This means that you must stop trying to find a comfortable little niche for yourself because it can never be anything more than a stop-gap. Unfortunetly, human beings are still a long way from this expanded consciousness. They are like insects: as soon as something goes wrong they scuttle off into their little hiding places thinking that they will be safe there. Well, that is fine, it is something that we have inherited from the insects, but surely we are capable of changing just a little. To be sure, human beings have already made progress where the collectivity is concerned, but not enough: they continue to massacre each other. Their consciousness has expanded slightly, that is true, but the situation has not really changed much. In the past, one man would be killed where, today, millions are killed at one stroke. That is progress for you! Ah, yes; human beings have made great progress. They have built much bigger towns, for instance, but their inner nature is unchanged: each person remains isolated in his own little hole. They are still 'troglodytes' just as they have always been: isolated, divided and hostile.

The solutions men need must be sought on a higher level, in the spirit, in light. As long as they keep trying to solve their problems without that light, even the most far-reaching political and social transformations will never be truly effective for they will always contain the germ of a personal interest which runs contrary to the collective interest and which will end by contaminating all the rest. Men must consult that eternal wisdom that the Aghartans consult and that I myself always consult, and it will show them what to do. As it is, even the Church doesn't consult this higher wisdom; it has substituted its own interests for the interests of the Lord. This is why the prophecies of Fatima are so terrible for the Church. But people no longer believe in anything; self-interest and money have priority over everything else.

I know very well that, because of this, the system that I bring you has no chance of being either understood or applied. In fact, if certain authorities realized that our Teaching was based on the synarchy, they would be quite capable of trying to close us down. They hate the synarchy! The Age of Aquarius is coming closer and bringing with it its Teaching of the collectivity.

The synarchic order will be established and will probe itself. Every system has to prove itself and, when it turns out to be ineffective, is replaced by another and then another, and so on. This is how men grope their way forward until, eventually, they find the right solutions. In reality, instead of continuing with an endless succession of painful and very costly experiments, it would be possible for men immediatly to adopt a system that has been in existence for thousands of years. Unfortuneatly, at the moment, everyone wants to experiment and discover the great truths for himself. True, this is one way of doing it.

Eventually, everyone will reach his goal this way, but it will take a very long time - hundreds if not thousands of years. The Creator has given all human beings the same ability to arrive at the truth, but the time that this takes is not the same for all. Those who accept to be instructed and guided by a Master save themselves a great deal of time, expense and suffering, whereas those who refuse this rapid and effective means will arrive at the same truths but thousands of years later.

They prefer to tread a lone path; they want to be free and refuse to submit to or follow anyone else and, although they will eventually reach their goal, it will take them a very long time.

This attitude is particularly prevalent amongst intellectuals. Every now and then, one finds an exception to the general rule, but they are rare. I myself am one of those exceptions. Fortunately for me, Providence saved me by depriving me of all kinds of intellectual faculties that others have received in abundance. This is why I have been so ready to accept the wisdom of others who were more advanced, whereas those who have great intellectual gifts believe themselves to be capable of doing things by themselves. It seems to me that Providence has not been quite so kind to them: they refuse every authority and rely exclusively on their own resources, with the result that it will be thousands of years before they discover the truth.

In a few years from now some very important discoveries will be made. The only question is whether there will be enough human beings capable of understanding and feeling them and putting them into effect in their lives. It says in the Bible that everything will be revealed at the end of time. And this time is near. Of course, when it says 'the end of time', we must not imagine that it means the end of the world. The end of the world has already been announced time and again - even the date has been specified - and people have been struck with terror and prepared to die. And then the fateful day arrived and passed... and the world went on as usual. Occasionally some minor upheaval occured, but the world continued to go round. Mankind will never completely disappear. Human beings are tough, don't worry! They can survive anything. But there is no doubt that there will soon be all kinds of upheavals and changes and that it will be the end of an era. In his book, Beasts, Men and Gods, Ossendowski tells of how, one evening, he was with a caravan of camels, crossing a great plain in Mongolia when, all of a sudden, everything fell silent (Saint-Yves d'Alveydre mentions the same phenomenon): men and beasts stood still, even the birds did not fly. His guide explained that this awed silence fell over the sanctuary in his subterranean palace in Agharta to pray. Very few human beings have ever seen the King of the World but, every now and then, he has appeared on the occasion of a religious holiday and his appearance is always accompanied by great prodigies. He has also made certain prophecies, some of which have already been realized and others of which are still to come. Yes, the King of the World does exist and he is waiting for the right moment to manifest himself. Also, as I have already told you, some beings from Agharta have incarnated in the world today in order to carry out the plans of the invisible World. Many of them are working, even now, for a world government.

Try to understand what I am telling you: above is the New Jerusalem, the Ierouschalaïm Hadascha of which St John speaks, and below is Agharta whilst we, human beings, are between the two. When the New Jerusalem descends and Agharta rises from below, the Kingdom of God will be established amongst men. Agharta, like the New Jerusalem, denotes the inner life. It was to Agharta that the alchemists referred when they used the word VITRIOLUM, each letter of which is the initial letter of a word in the Latin sentence: 'Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem Veram Medicinam', which means, 'Visit the bowels of the earth; rectifying you will find the hidden stone, the true medicine.' Agharta is also this inner earth into which we must penetrate, for man is made in the inner image of the universe and all that exists outside him exists, also, inside him.

Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov