The New Idealism - Building Unity
Our study has so far focused upon certain major issues in the worldwide aspiration for unity and peace. But we need to stand back from specific issues if we are to understand the broader patterns of change that are now reshaping world affairs on a scale that has no parallel in our recorded history. Only then can we see that the cause – the fulcrum around which progress towards unity revolves – is a change that is taking place in the consciousness of millions of men and women. Increasingly it is becoming clear that behind the tension in the world there lies a fundamental division between two approaches to life.
The Separative Approach
One approach is based upon the idea of obtaining the maximum advantage for the self (be it a person, a group, an institution or a nation) with little concern for the interests of the greater whole. It represents a separatist and self-centred way of thinking that tends to be against fundamental change and reform; a way of thinking that seeks power through exploiting fear, inertia and materialistic desires. This approach finds expression in nationalism, with a commitment to the furthering of specific national goals regardless of the welfare of the global community. It has also recently manifested in international terrorism.
There are today countless groups and individuals in every field of living who are working from this perspective to maintain their entrenched position and prestige, or to gain power in order to enforce their particular ideas upon others. Undoubtedly a significant percentage of the general public favour this approach which, broadly speaking, embodies the reactionary force in human affairs.
The Inclusive Approach
At the same time an alternative approach is now gaining rapidly in influence with support from all levels of society. This approach is charged with a new idealism that is finding response in the hearts and minds of people everywhere;
an idealism that is in essence an attitude change, a new understanding that releases the individual into an inclusive and holistic world view. Inherent in this view is a belief in the equality and value of all people. It affirms our capacity to realise the interdependence of the one humanity and to resolve the problems we face with goodwill and cooperation.
The values upon which this approach to life is founded are inspired by a sense of brotherhood and synthesis; by a feeling of oneness with humanity and a sensitivity to human need. The common purpose that underlies all efforts towards world betterment is recognised as being of far greater significance than the points of difference. The experience of oneness generates a sense of shared cooperative endeavour between all people of goodwill – a sense of unity.
A keynote of this way of thought and feeling is a very basic and simple realisation: the awareness that progress
towards this attitude to life cannot be enforced by an external authority – it must be evoked from within each person, preferred and freely chosen. The means by which change is promoted is seen as being as significant as the change itself, for means and ends are experienced as being integrally related. Education and understanding are therefore the means to awaken people to the new idealism; not coercion and force.
Because this network of all who are building world unity and cooperation is relatively unstructured, it has no leader and no dogma, and it may seem nebulous, and far less influential than the powerful reactionary forces prominent in world affairs. But such is not the case. The network may be only loosely co-ordinated rather than organised, and it does not have vast numbers of established institutions promoting its humanitarian objectives, but still it is not without form or power. For wherever there are men and women in whom the new idealism is a lighted and living force we can identify its impact and
influence. At the heart of all programmes for reform in any field we will find dedicated people who share the
commitment to a new world society, and are working to manifest justice and the spirit of brotherhood.
Perhaps it is in the movements that are pioneering new frontiers for humanity, such as those related to ecology, human rights, alternative life-styles, philanthropy and social reform, that we can most easily recognise the network. But we can also know that the new attitude is present in every field, infusing and uplifting consciousness, orienting it to the values of sharing, cooperation and integrity in relationships.
The Significance of the New Approach
The significance of this alternative approach is now widely recognised. It has been given a number of labels by different writers: the “Fifth World” by Keith Suter; the “Aquarian Conspiracy” by Marilyn Ferguson; the “second tier” in spiral dynamics by Don Beck and Christopher Cowan (for more information on spiral dynamics, see The Development of a Hierarchy of Wise
Compassion below).
The New Group of World Servers
The writings of Alice A. Bailey explore a broader network in consciousness: the new group of world servers. Both the outer and the more subjective characteristics of this group are placed in a global, spiritual perspective, with emphasis upon the values and qualities the group is pioneering for humanity as a whole. The new group of world servers is defined as including “every man and woman in every country ... who is working to heal the breaches between people, to evoke the sense of brotherhood, to foster the sense of mutual inter-relation, and who sees no racial, national or religious barriers.”
The group acts as a synthesising factor within humanity, embodying a subjective unity that links the divergent efforts of all people of goodwill into one coherent whole – a stable unifying centre within human consciousness.
This group gives the word ‘spiritual’ a wide significance; they believe it to mean an inclusive endeavour towards human betterment, uplift and understanding. They give it the connotation of tolerance, religious inclusiveness, and all trends of thought which concern the development of the conscious potential of the human being. It is without a terminology or Bible of any kind; it has no creed or any dogmatic formulations of truth. The motivating impulse of each and all is love of God as it works out in love of one’s fellow human being.
The work of this worldwide network of servers brings order out of chaos, and helps to resolve the widely separative issues of modern life into some kind of stability. Through the impression and expression of certain great ideas, their major task is to bring people everywhere to an understanding of the fundamental ideals which will govern the new age: ideals such as goodwill; right human relations; unanimity and group endeavour for the good of the whole; the essential divinity of every person; and the right mode of spiritual approach to the Divine in a time when the barriers in thought between different religions are being recognised as illusory. Anew global civilisation based on these ideals can free humanity from the shackles of a pronounced materialism.
The function of this new group is to balance the forces leading to disintegration and destruction by embodying in itself the forces of integration and construction. They will eventually offset the tendency (so prevalent at this time) towards racial hatreds, and the teaching given out will tend to negate the present ideas which are powerful in producing the current cleavages and barriers in thought, thus causing separation and war. Where there is an appearance of a group or groups expressing ideas which potently emphasise one angle of public opinion and one aspect of life, there must inevitably appear, under the law of balance, that which will offset it. At the present point in human history, the groups which foster the spirit
of cleavage and which build up barriers to impede freedom of the spirit, have appeared first. They do their needed work, for they too are included in the Plan. Then, under the law, there must appear the group or groups which embody those ideas which lead to integration and constructive building. They will swing the world on to a higher turn of the spiral; they will heal the breaches, break down the barriers, and end the cleavages.
The Separative Approach
One approach is based upon the idea of obtaining the maximum advantage for the self (be it a person, a group, an institution or a nation) with little concern for the interests of the greater whole. It represents a separatist and self-centred way of thinking that tends to be against fundamental change and reform; a way of thinking that seeks power through exploiting fear, inertia and materialistic desires. This approach finds expression in nationalism, with a commitment to the furthering of specific national goals regardless of the welfare of the global community. It has also recently manifested in international terrorism.
There are today countless groups and individuals in every field of living who are working from this perspective to maintain their entrenched position and prestige, or to gain power in order to enforce their particular ideas upon others. Undoubtedly a significant percentage of the general public favour this approach which, broadly speaking, embodies the reactionary force in human affairs.
The Inclusive Approach
At the same time an alternative approach is now gaining rapidly in influence with support from all levels of society. This approach is charged with a new idealism that is finding response in the hearts and minds of people everywhere;
an idealism that is in essence an attitude change, a new understanding that releases the individual into an inclusive and holistic world view. Inherent in this view is a belief in the equality and value of all people. It affirms our capacity to realise the interdependence of the one humanity and to resolve the problems we face with goodwill and cooperation.
The values upon which this approach to life is founded are inspired by a sense of brotherhood and synthesis; by a feeling of oneness with humanity and a sensitivity to human need. The common purpose that underlies all efforts towards world betterment is recognised as being of far greater significance than the points of difference. The experience of oneness generates a sense of shared cooperative endeavour between all people of goodwill – a sense of unity.
A keynote of this way of thought and feeling is a very basic and simple realisation: the awareness that progress
towards this attitude to life cannot be enforced by an external authority – it must be evoked from within each person, preferred and freely chosen. The means by which change is promoted is seen as being as significant as the change itself, for means and ends are experienced as being integrally related. Education and understanding are therefore the means to awaken people to the new idealism; not coercion and force.
Because this network of all who are building world unity and cooperation is relatively unstructured, it has no leader and no dogma, and it may seem nebulous, and far less influential than the powerful reactionary forces prominent in world affairs. But such is not the case. The network may be only loosely co-ordinated rather than organised, and it does not have vast numbers of established institutions promoting its humanitarian objectives, but still it is not without form or power. For wherever there are men and women in whom the new idealism is a lighted and living force we can identify its impact and
influence. At the heart of all programmes for reform in any field we will find dedicated people who share the
commitment to a new world society, and are working to manifest justice and the spirit of brotherhood.
Perhaps it is in the movements that are pioneering new frontiers for humanity, such as those related to ecology, human rights, alternative life-styles, philanthropy and social reform, that we can most easily recognise the network. But we can also know that the new attitude is present in every field, infusing and uplifting consciousness, orienting it to the values of sharing, cooperation and integrity in relationships.
The Significance of the New Approach
The significance of this alternative approach is now widely recognised. It has been given a number of labels by different writers: the “Fifth World” by Keith Suter; the “Aquarian Conspiracy” by Marilyn Ferguson; the “second tier” in spiral dynamics by Don Beck and Christopher Cowan (for more information on spiral dynamics, see The Development of a Hierarchy of Wise
Compassion below).
The New Group of World Servers
The writings of Alice A. Bailey explore a broader network in consciousness: the new group of world servers. Both the outer and the more subjective characteristics of this group are placed in a global, spiritual perspective, with emphasis upon the values and qualities the group is pioneering for humanity as a whole. The new group of world servers is defined as including “every man and woman in every country ... who is working to heal the breaches between people, to evoke the sense of brotherhood, to foster the sense of mutual inter-relation, and who sees no racial, national or religious barriers.”
The group acts as a synthesising factor within humanity, embodying a subjective unity that links the divergent efforts of all people of goodwill into one coherent whole – a stable unifying centre within human consciousness.
This group gives the word ‘spiritual’ a wide significance; they believe it to mean an inclusive endeavour towards human betterment, uplift and understanding. They give it the connotation of tolerance, religious inclusiveness, and all trends of thought which concern the development of the conscious potential of the human being. It is without a terminology or Bible of any kind; it has no creed or any dogmatic formulations of truth. The motivating impulse of each and all is love of God as it works out in love of one’s fellow human being.
The work of this worldwide network of servers brings order out of chaos, and helps to resolve the widely separative issues of modern life into some kind of stability. Through the impression and expression of certain great ideas, their major task is to bring people everywhere to an understanding of the fundamental ideals which will govern the new age: ideals such as goodwill; right human relations; unanimity and group endeavour for the good of the whole; the essential divinity of every person; and the right mode of spiritual approach to the Divine in a time when the barriers in thought between different religions are being recognised as illusory. Anew global civilisation based on these ideals can free humanity from the shackles of a pronounced materialism.
The function of this new group is to balance the forces leading to disintegration and destruction by embodying in itself the forces of integration and construction. They will eventually offset the tendency (so prevalent at this time) towards racial hatreds, and the teaching given out will tend to negate the present ideas which are powerful in producing the current cleavages and barriers in thought, thus causing separation and war. Where there is an appearance of a group or groups expressing ideas which potently emphasise one angle of public opinion and one aspect of life, there must inevitably appear, under the law of balance, that which will offset it. At the present point in human history, the groups which foster the spirit
of cleavage and which build up barriers to impede freedom of the spirit, have appeared first. They do their needed work, for they too are included in the Plan. Then, under the law, there must appear the group or groups which embody those ideas which lead to integration and constructive building. They will swing the world on to a higher turn of the spiral; they will heal the breaches, break down the barriers, and end the cleavages.