Alice Bailey & Djwhal Khul - Problems of Humanity - V - The Divine Approaches







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Problems of Humanity - Chapter V - The Problem of the Churches





5. The Divine ApproachesTo all these above truths,
essential to human unfoldment, must be added another. This truth is only as yet dimly
sensed because it is a larger truth than any hitherto presented to the consciousness of
mankind. It is larger because it is related to the Whole and not to individual man alone
and his personal salvation. It is an extension of the individual approach to truth. Let us
call it the truth concerning the great Cyclic Approaches of the divine to
the human; of these all world Saviors and Teachers are the symbol and the guarantee. At
certain great moments down the ages, God drew nearer to His people and humanity at the
same time made great, though oft unconscious efforts to draw near to God. From one angle,
it might be regarded as God transcendent recognizing God immanent, and God in man reaching
out to God in the Whole and greater than the Whole. On the part of God, working through
the Head of the spiritual Hierarchy and its Membership, this effort was intentional,
conscious and deliberate; on the part of man, it has been in the past largely unconscious,
forced upon humanity by the tragedy of circumstances, by desperate need and by the driving
urge of the immanent Christ consciousness.
These great Approaches can be traced down the centuries; each time one took place, it
meant a clearer understanding of divine purpose, a new and fresh revelation of divine
quality, the institution of some aspect of a new world faith and the sounding of a note
which produced a new civilization and culture or a fresh recognition of relationship
between God and man or man and his brother.
Back in the dim past of history (hinted at through symbolism and in the Bibles of the
world) there was a first major Approach when God took notice of man and [150] something
happened - under the action and will of God the Creator, God transcendent - which affected
primeval man, and he "became a living soul". As the yearning urge towards
an undefined and unrealized good made itself felt in the inchoate longings of unthinking
man (literally unthinking at that stage), it evoked a response from Deity; God drew near
to man and man became imbued with that life and energy which, as time went by, would
enable him to recognize himself as a son of God and eventually to express that sonship
perfectly This Approach was signalized by the appearance of the faculty of mind in man. In
man was planted the embryonic power to think, to reason and to know. The universal
Mind of God was reflected in the tiny mind of man.
Later, we
are told, when the mental powers of the early humanity warranted it, another Approach
between God and man, between the spiritual Hierarchy and humanity, became possible and the
door into the Kingdom of God was opened. Man learned that the way into the Holy Place
could be entered through love. To the mental principle was added - again by the
force of invocation and responsive evocation - another divine attribute or principle, the
principle of love.
These two great Approaches made it possible for the human soul to express or manifest
two aspects of divinity: Intelligence and Love. Intelligence today is flowering through
knowledge and science; it has, however, not yet unfolded on any large scale its latent
beauty of wisdom; love today is only just beginning to engross human attention; its lowest
aspect, Goodwill, is only now being recognized as a divine energy and is still a
theory and a hope.
The Buddha came embodying in Himself the divine quality of wisdom; He was the
manifestation of Light, and the Teacher of the way of enlightenment. He [151] demonstrated
in Himself the processes of illumination and became "the Illumined One". Light,
wisdom, reason, as divine yet human attributes, were focused in the Buddha. He challenged
the people to tread the Path of Illumination of which wisdom, mental perception and the
intuition are aspects.
Then came
the next great Teacher, the Christ. He embodied in Himself a still greater divine
principle - greater than the Mind, that of Love; yet at the same time, He embraced within
Himself all that the Buddha had of light. Christ was the expression of both light and
love. Christ also brought to human attention three deeply necessary concepts:
The extreme value of the individual son of God and the necessity for intense spiritual
effort.
The opportunity, presented to humanity, to take a great step forward and undergo the new
birth.
The method whereby a man could enter into the kingdom of God, voiced for us in His
words, "Love your neighbor as yourself". Individual effort, group opportunity
and identification with each other - such is the message of the Christ.

Thus we have had four great Approaches of the divine to the human - two major
Approaches and two lesser Approaches. These lesser Approaches made clear to us the true
nature of the great Approaches and showed us how that which was conferred in the far
distant history of the race constitutes a divine heritage and the seed of ultimate
perfection.
A fifth great Approach is now possible and will take place when humanity has put its
house in order. A new revelation is hovering over mankind and for it the previous four
Approaches have prepared humanity. A new heaven and a new earth are on their way. The
words "a new Heaven" signify an entirely new conception as to the world of
spiritual realities and perhaps of [152] the very nature of God Himself. May it not be
possible that our present ideas of God as the Universal Mind, as Love and as Will may be
enriched by some new idea and quality for which we have as yet no name or word and of
which we have not the faintest understanding? Each of the three concepts as to the nature
of divinity - mind, love and will - were entirely new when first presented to humanity.
What this
fifth Approach will bring to humanity we do not and cannot know. It will surely bring as
definite results in the human consciousness as did the earlier Approaches. For some years
now, the spiritual Hierarchy of our planet has been drawing nearer to humanity and its
approach is responsible for the great concepts of freedom which are so close to the hearts
of men everywhere. The dream of brotherhood, of fellowship, of world cooperation and of a
peace, based on right human relations, is becoming clearer in our minds. We are also
visioning a new and vital world religion, a universal faith which will have its roots in
the past, but which will make clear the new dawning beauty and the coming vital
revelation.
Of one thing we can be sure, this fifth Approach will in some war - deeply spiritual,
yet wholly factual - prove the truth of the immanence of God and will prove also the close
relationship between God transcendent and God immanent, for both expressions of God are
true.





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