Thoughtline March 1999
Articles
Breaking Through. by Tom Carney
Spiritual Foundations of Leadership
by Gordon Davidson
Well friends, this year, 1999, is the last year of a thousand-year period. The old millennium, the second since the birth of Christ, is slowly passing, slowly but relentlessly dying its way through the zodiacal signs. Tonight, we will celebrate and bear witness to the 2nd millennium's last pass through Aquarius ... an extraordinary event ... happens only once in a thousand years. As the meditators assemble to do this sacred work, to create the group instrument of invocation and the group chalice of reception (here in this room and at numerous other locations around the world) at each sign this year, we will be attending a funeral of sorts.
Yet, we do not come to this or any other of these wonderful evenings downcast or in mourning. Even though this is the 2nd millennium's last pass through the zodiac, we will come to these celebrations, as we do and as we should, with an air of expectancy and an attitude of hope and joy because, as any disciple knows, the phenomenon of death is itself a breaking through.
Those who are alive-and that would include all those who are not identified with their material forms-recognize that death is a phenomenon which can happen only to a form, and its advent-death's advent-is really a moment of release for the indwelling Life or Spirit. For these folks-the ones who are not identified with their forms-this event, this phenomenon we call death, signifies not an end, but a beginning ... a breakthrough ... a release into the rivers of Love and Life which figure so prominently in the 7th Ray mythos of Aquarius. This discarding of a completed or worn-out form signals not a disaster, but a continuation of the evolutionary cycle.
Perhaps it is this understanding of the portent-of death, the end of a millennium, the end of an age-that is generating this sense of an impending and overwhelming breakthrough. For, make no mistake, friends, there is something else afoot here; there is something else about these days and this time that is pressing. It is pressing, threatening like a storm, but also promising like a sunrise.
I know that many of you feel this, too, and you may have asked yourself, as I have, dozens of times over the past several years, "What is doing this? What is causing this internal pressure? What is it?"
Well, I've been watching
Birds fly
For a long time now...
Gulls mostly, but sparrows, too,
And, once in awhile,
A humming bird.
I can't really believe
That it's all mechanical...
The flying I mean...
That it's just a matter
Of muscle and flap.
It seems to me as I watch,
There's more to it than that;
Will...
Will, I'd say...
A yearning
Almost electrical.
I know,
I feel it, too, deep in here
It lifts; it strains; it pulls...
Like something trying to get out.
The sunrise is just as inevitable and just as powerful as a storm, but more lighted, more beautiful to my eye and, in some ways, more nourishing even than rain. Watch the sunrise and, if you don't sense this-this rising level of energy in your system-why, you were probably out too late the night before. But, it is there. I feel this pressing constantly. It is very difficult to get away from it. It is just below the threshold of my conscious thought.
I know, as I said, that many of you sense this impending breakthrough also, for many of my friends-a great many of my friends-and those with whom I work report similar feelings of inner pressure, a sensing of something trying to get out ... and indications of an impending, an impending, something, a sunrise ... perhaps a S-o-n-rise. That would be interesting.
Several of my friends who are deeply involved in the Y2K movement see the Y2K issue in this light. It is a something that is hardly definable, and it is moving toward us as a harbinger not of death and destruction, but as a vehicle for change and opportunity, a vehicle that is going to help cause community to come forward because it is going to be community that helps us get through.
Sometimes ... perhaps during a meditation or when I am out for an evening stroll or just standing in the kitchen making dinner, peeling potatoes, stirring the pasta ... this pressing awareness breaks through into the mental and emotional bodies, and I register ... visions ... you know ... sort of cosmic imaginings, glimpses of futures, of what may be or could be. Beautiful clean and gleaming cities, teeming with people, cities full of light, day and night, and this incredible sense of stillness, of quiet, of calm and, strange as it seems, there is a sense of awesome power within these thriving, throbbing, palpitating centers of humanity. Verdant countrysides, redolent and full of beauty and color, cultivated fields as far as the eye can see, and the air, the air is invisible ... so you can see for thousands of miles, or so it seems. Needless to say, on nights when I have an experience like this, the pasta is really good. You can ask any of my family members for whom I cook and they will tell you, "This must have been a vision night."
So, as the old millennium makes its last pass through the zodiac, something magical, something full of promise and hope, something that seems pregnant with life and abundance is going on. It seems to me more of a birth occasion than a funeral. Perhaps this end of the millennium-this death-is the point of release for the spirit of the planet, perhaps it is the birth point of the New Age-the Age of Aquarius. I will return to this vision of the city of Aquarius a bit later.
Well, it seems to me that this year is going to be a breakthrough year.; but, let's think a minute about that. What causes a breakthrough? To the untrained eye, breakthroughs appear to be sudden explosive events that come out of nowhere, like volcanoes or earthquakes. To the trained eye, breaking through is the result of lots and lots of work and effort, work and effort that brings one, finally, to the point where a jump can be made, a leap into the new seems to occur, but it was all that work and effort that allows one to recognize the seeming jump, to recognize the previously hidden that makes the apparent breakthrough possible. Blow up a big balloon until it pops and you will see what I mean.
I need to make one more observation about breaking through or breakthroughs. It is our myopic vision that makes us see breakthroughs as sudden events. If we would cultivate a little longer vision, we would see that the breakthroughs that I am about to talk about here are explosions in the sense that an unfolding rose is an explosion. These explosions take many years. Our myopic point of view renders them as sudden and explosive events, but they are, in reality, frequently more than half over before we even notice them. Take the Y2K issue as an example. A lot of people still do not even realize that it is coming. But, it is halfway over. It's two-thirds over. It will be on us and a lot of people won't even know it's here, and they'll say, "Oh, wow, the supermarket doesn't work today."
Be that as it may, in my fantasy, we-that is, humanity-have been blowing up this giant balloon for a long, long time and, starting with this year, we are going to be able to register the changes, big changes that have been pressuring for a long time. After all, it is the nature of Aquarius to bring change, to channel the new energy into the field and to sweep the old forms away. We all know the story of Hercules and the diverting of the two rivers, the rivers of Life and Love, so that they would flow through the stables of that bad guy, what's his name ... Augeas.
Well friends, this is Aquarius and not only is it the solar month of Aquarius, but the sun is passing into the zodiacal round of Aquarius. We will have 2,500 years of stable washing, 2,500 years of the rivers of Life and Love flowing through the five kingdoms. Anyone care to vision what the place is going to look like after that?
Such as in the twin rivers of the myth (these rivers always and only coexist, by the way), the imagery of Aquarius is usually associated with water. You know, the symbol of Aquarius supposed to look like waves on the sea. The word for Aquarius is, "Water of Life am I poured forth for thirsty men." We also have the man with the water jug on his shoulder who is mentioned in the story of the last supper. But, perhaps most significant of all for our purposes, for the purposes of aiding evolution, is the symbol for the Third Law of Group Life-The Law of Service. (Esoteric Psychology, Volume II, p118.) The symbol, again, is of a man with a water pot. However, in this case, the man is standing perfectly straight, his arms outstretched so that he is in the form of a cross, and the water pot is balanced perfectly on his head.
The previous symbol of the man with the jug of water on his shoulder, which he is pouring out to all, indicates more of the burden of service, the difficulty of service. The guy has to hold the jug on his shoulder. It is heavy. This later symbol (later on the Path, not later in time) indicates the experienced and skilled server, the server who serves automatically, the server for whom service is a preoccupation rather than something that he has to think about and wonder over. This is a symbol of a more scientific sort of service, not sentimental idealism, not the restless activity of the aspirant to service, but the spontaneous expression of steady soul-mind-brain alignment.
There are a number of things about this later symbol that are worth mentioning. Among the most important is the server's condition suggested by the fact that the pot is perfectly balanced upon his head. This indicates that through exposure to the previous two Laws-the Law of Sacrifice (Esoteric Psychology, Volume II, p87) and The Law of Polar Union (Esoteric Psychology, Volume II, p109)-the man has learned humility or, better to say, the man has unfolded the heart petal of humility. For it is the heart quality of humility that endows one with poise, balance, equilibrium. Have you ever thought of humility being the source of equilibrium? It is humility, even on the part of the Christ, which makes one an open channel for the energies of the Spirit of Peace, or the Avatar of Equilibrium as he is known, and which makes Christ the Prince of Peace. It is the heart quality of humility that makes possible the automatic or, more accurately, the intuitive dispensing of the waters of Life and Love which the pot contains.
Although I am not aware of any documenting reference for this next point, it does seem clear to me that another very important evolution in this symbol is that the pot no longer contains water. At this point on the Path, the pot contains fiery energy. Water is pretty dense stuff. And, at bottom, water always has itself been a symbol of the astral plane or of emotional energy. To my mind, the symbol for Aquarius naturally looked like a symbol for electricity or energy. I was surprised when I found out it was supposed to be water. We, of course, know now that the water of Life is a mixture of Love and Will.
I apologize for all of this heavy esoteric stuff, but it was sort of necessary to enable me to get to the heart of this talk which has to do with the heart and the impending breakthrough of the heart of the world into recognition. I think Aquarius has everything to do with breaking through, with ends and beginnings, not only because it is the sign of selfless service, at least in its advanced state, but, more importantly, because it carries the 7th Ray through the Exoteric and Hierarchical Rulers and the 2nd Ray through the Esoteric Ruler. The rivers of Love and Life always and only coexist.
We know about the 2nd Ray-the Ray of Love- Wisdom-of which our entire solar system is an expression and of which every other ray including the 1st Ray of Will is only an attribute. We know that Love is the essential ingredient to all of evolution ... that one way or another Love or Pure Reason is always involved in any advance of consciousness, any step forward on the Path of Light and, you might also say, that it is precisely Love or Pure Reason that is missing in any retrogressive step.
What is a little less understood and what we need to understand is the 7th Ray. "The seventh ray is, in the last analysis, the focused differentiated energy of Ray One as it expresses the will of the first aspect of divinity on earth through the power to relate and bring into objective manifestation-by an act of the will-both spirit and matter." (Esoteric Astrology, p138.) The other thing to keep in mind about the 7th Ray is that it is most active and powerful during times of endings and beginnings.
So, we come to the breaking through. And, as I mentioned a moment ago, what to my mind's eye is breaking through is the heart of the world, or the 5th kingdom. It is breaking through into recognition by humanity. The heart of the planet is moving back into prominence. The fact of the 5th kingdom is gaining intellectual acceptance in many areas of planetary life. I see this every day in so many ways and so many aspects. All of the signs are present; they are there and, like the signs of the Y2K issue, they have been there for years and years for those who have cared to read them. These signs, billboard size, include the previous two and pending third impact of Shamballa energy, which is, remember, the 1st aspect of Love.
There are many other great and small examples of the growing presence of the Spiritual Kingdom in our midst. Most encouraging among these is the growing sense in many millions of the planetary intelligentsia of their own essential divinity, a preliminary step, by the way, to true right human relations and to the creation by humans of cities of light. I know many persons-most of whom are not esotericists and most of whom know nothing about the specific aspects of the Hierarchy-who are certain of their spiritual identity. They are certain that they are more than their meat ... more than their bodies.
I even know some esotericists, a few anyway, who are, right now, today, willing to accept the fact of their own membership in that Hierarchy. How did you think the externalization would occur? Certainly not like some explosion of weird-looking guys with weird-looking eyes and beards, and no birth certificates or drivers licenses, popping in on a sunny day in June and saying, "O.K. everybody, we're back!"
Anyway, friends, this is the immediate future I see for us. The inflowing energies of the twin rivers are unstoppable and will sweep from their path all who resist, but will carry on to the New Age all who go with the stream of Life and Love. The Law of Service is, we must remember, the third of the Seven Laws of Group Life. Service is, after all, "the urge to group good. It is the science of right group relations-whether the group be the family, the nation, the planet or the Ashram. When love permeates the thought life of a group, that group moves to serve within the guidelines of the Plan. Where minds are both trained and loving, where the soul controls the outer form, a station of service is established. Its sound is clearly heard by 'Those Who serve the Plan, and those whom the Plan serves.' " (Twelve Meditations on the Zodiacal Signs.) All disciples and men and women of goodwill try to participate in that happening and, by way of that effort, I would like to share with each of you this evening a small token of one group's effort to help bring in the energy of the heart.
I want you to have a heart. I have brought with me this evening some small quartz hearts. These hearts have been blessed in the meditations of a group in Los Angeles, the heart center of the nation. Incidentally, friends, and this may interest some of you, recently, during a discussion I was having with a friend around the fact of Los Angeles being the heart center of the nation, Meditation Mount came up. We were wondering about the Mount's role-which we are convinced is of very great significance-in the coming cycle and the new millennium and its proximity to Los Angeles, the heart of the nation. We could sense a deep, deep bond there, and it occurred to us that the Mount could very well be the jewel in the lotus.
Anyway, the last meditation of this group was a public meditation done at the new moon of Capricorn at Griffith Observatory overlooking Los Angeles. These hearts were at that meditation. It would be wonderful if you would take one of these hearts and do something with it; place it somewhere where it can radiate its impressed energies into the environment, or just keep it with you as you go about your business feeling its radiation. How like an Aquarian server that would be.
So, this is my idea of fun ... being a disciple and working on the Externalization of the Hierarchy and the Reappearance of the Christ. This is really cutting edge fun and, if any of you would be interested, the next service effort of this group will be held at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Los Angeles at 2:00 o'clock on Valentines Day. Come, if you like, and have another heart.
Shall we now, as they say in Shakespeare, "to our work."
Tom Carney - Aquarius 1999
Spiritual Foundations of Leadership
Introduction
It is an honor and a joy to be with all of you today. We are here, now, at this joyous
time of the year when "angels are bending near the earth to touch the hearts of
men" to celebrate the Festival of the New Group World Servers. We have all focused on
and thought about the NGWS since the Tibetan first brought them to our attention nearly 80
years ago.
Recently, I had an opportunity to attend a UN conference on Human Rights with International NGOs from all over the world. We met in the General Assembly and were addressed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and it was deeply inspiring to blend auras with nearly 2,500 souls of every race, religion and culture from all over the planet who are totally united in their dedication to serving and uplifting humanity. I was deeply moved by this experience, so, as a result, I would like to offer you a somewhat more poetical definition of the NGWS.
Who are the NGWS?
The NGWS are the group where all the plans and hopes of Hierarchy for humanity are made
real in the world and offered to those who have yet to awaken;
The NGWS are the hands and feet of the coming Christ, and it is through human hands and feet that His way is being made straight into the three worlds of form;
The NGWS are the carrier of the sacred vision of One Humanity, One Destiny, One World united under God;
The NGWS carry the light and love of the Christ through the darkness of fear, greed and confusion, calling the ready ones to the light;
The NGWS are the holder of the vision, the bearer of the torch of justice, the keeper of the flame of sharing, the upholder of the fire of freedom and the guardian of the heart of humanity;
The NGWS are the seeds of the new civilization, planted in today's earth, breaking through the crusted ways and forms of the past into the sunlight of the future;
The NGWS grows eternally into the future, the living garden of the living Christ-the sons of man and suns to men.
So, this is what we are here today to celebrate-the existence of this group, of which we are all a part.
They are a living example of spiritual leadership, and what we are here to explore today are the spiritual foundations of that leadership. I would like to explore with you three aspects of what I think the foundations of spiritual leadership are: Vision, Values, and Vitality or Energetic Livingness. What is the type of vision needed for spiritual leadership; what are the values a leader embodies and how are they applied; and, what is the vitality or livingness required to be a leader?
Vision
We all know how essential having vision is. The old saying goes, "If you don't know
where you're going you're very likely to end up there." Of course, there are many
people in this world who have many kinds of visions of where they would like to see
humanity end up. But, what does a spiritual vision consist of?
First, we have to know where the evolutionary or spiritual powers are intending humanity and the earth to go. Djwhal Khul says one of the great secrets of initiation is always knowing direction. So, what is the evolutionary, progressive direction that the Hierarchy is upholding and stimulating, and how can we align our vision with it? Spiritual leaders do this naturally and intuitively.
In other words, what is our human and planetary spiritual destiny, and how can we co-create with it? We know that destiny is for humanity to become the planetary light bearer-to receive spiritual energies from higher dimensions and radiate this energy throughout the human kingdom and to the nature kingdoms. Our destiny is to create a more radiant and spiritually-infused civilization, so that consciousness is more able to evolve to higher levels of awareness-so that we even can, ultimately, become the Gods of Suns.
Now, admittedly, this is a vast and cosmic vision, and useful vision must always contain the next step for humanity. And, we know that the immediate vision towards which the entire Hierarchy is bending every effort is the Reappearance of the Christ. So, the immediate vision is to satisfy the requirements for the Reappearance.
We can see that we are making some progress on peace among and within nations-in South Africa, Ireland and the Middle East. Religions are beginning to clean house with a growing universal spirit, the development of United Religions with spiritual leadership from Bishop Swing and Robert Muller. But, in the realm of economic sharing-the last stronghold of the dark forces-we have regressed, with wealth disparities increasing and poverty and despair rampant on our planet. Yet, growth is on the way on this issue, too, for Y2K-the year 2000 computer issue-will likely be the greatest social and economic change driver we have seen in our lifetimes and will cause a massive reorganization of our economic system.
So, spiritual leaders must have long-term vision to understand the direction of evolution, so they can co-evolve it in cooperation with the Spiritual Hierarchy and present the immediate next steps ahead for humanity. Spiritual leaders must be able to hold a vision for the people which is both inspiring and achievable. Not only do they know where they want to take us, but they know how to get there.
For example, Mahatma Gandhi had a vision of freeing India from British rule by using satyagraha-non-violent action. He organized salt marches to take the prohibited salt his people needed from the sea, which was a brilliant strategy, using the morality of the British people to show them they had created an immoral empire.
Spiritual leaders work from the causal level
Another spiritual foundation of leadership is understanding the deeper causes of what
consultants call the "presenting problems." As esoterically-trained people, we
know that surface problems are symbolic manifestations of disconnections from the
consciousness of love which always sees the good of the whole. Or, they indicate being
lost in a briar patch of thoughtforms and not knowing how to find your way out-the
intellectual's dilemma. Or, the problems indicate a need for greater significance or
higher purpose-the antidote to the "consumer society."
Spiritual leaders know the answer to these problems is to work with consciousness, changing the atmosphere and the thinking of people. Nelson Mandela, through the power of his own consciousness, worked with the young political activists sent to Rikers Island and turned them into nonviolent activists. The guards ultimately called the island "Nelson Mandela University."
So, all efforts towards uniting humanity-building right human relations, expanding thinking, promoting peace, freedom and justice-which are changing human consciousness, are part of the Hierarchy's vision and have their energetic support.
Values-commitment to core values
Secondly, a leader must have a commitment to core values. We know all these values well
and can probably recite them by heart-responsibility, serving the common good, truth,
group endeavor, justice, tolerance. We all have our favorite list. Creating a list of
values is not the issue. The issue is: how do we make them absolutely real in our lives,
and how do we implement them using the opportunities that our times present to us right
now?
Spiritual leaders are more self-aware and reflective than others. Now, one of the great exemplars of this was Gandhi. A woman came to him after traveling many miles from a village and asked him to tell her daughter to stop eating sugar. Gandhi looked at her and said, "Come back in two weeks." The poor woman had to go home and then make the long journey back to see Gandhi two weeks later. She waited in the long line and finally got to see him again. This time he told her daughter to stop eating sugar. The mother asked him why he wouldn't tell her this the first time. He said, "Two weeks ago I was eating sugar." One of his sayings was, "I must first be the change I want to see in my world." So, we must be totally committed to the values we espouse for others.
As the 7th Ray, which connects the highest and the lowest, begins to have more influence on human consciousness, the connection between our stated values and what we actually do is becoming more of an issue. We are currently seeing the effort to remove a president, partly due to the anger some people feel over the disconnect between what is said and what is done. The 1st Ray linked to the 7th is a very intense combination and, together, they demand absolute congruity from top to bottom.
Spiritual leaders also enunciate great values and principles that become guideposts for humanity-Jefferson did with the Declaration, Lincoln did with the Emancipation Proclamation, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and others with the Four Freedoms and UN Declaration of Human Rights and, more recently, Gro Brundtland of Norway did with her principles for a sustainable environment.
Applying values in creative, flexible and innovative ways
Spiritual leadership is about applying our values in ways that are relevant and
appropriate to the times in which we live. We have to be paying attention to what people
are thinking about and try to "speak into the listening" that is present. In
Washington, DC, we have been working for 12 years with little attention from the
mainstream public. However, when we began holding meetings on the year 2000 computer
issue, or Y2K, more and more people got interested in the topic, which gradually has
become a media issue. At our last public meeting on Y2K, we had camera crews from three TV
stations there. It is an opportunity to speak to large numbers of people about right human
relations, community, group endeavor-summarized as "we are all ready or no one
is"-using Y2K as the door opener. So, it is about using the opportunity of issues
arising in human awareness to bring forth the spiritual principles and vision that are
needed to address the problem.
Transforming old paradigms and systems thinking
Spiritual leaders are noted for transforming old mental maps or paradigms and thinking
outside the box of conventional thought. They embody a balance of right brain (rational)
and left brain (intuitive) functions. They see the big picture, the whole system, and the
pattern that connects. For example, environmental economist Hazel Henderson is a wonderful
model of someone who sees new connecting patterns, as is Peter Senge who has trained
thousands of business managers to see patterns of interrelationships and interconnections.
Vitality-energetic livingness and group awareness
We cannot examine leadership without looking at the issue of energy and power. Spiritual
leadership is also energetic leadership. For most people, the inner processes that produce
the factor we call charisma are a mystery. This is the ability that allows a leader to
mobilize others around issues, maintain focus and effort over a long period of time-to be
both inspiring and effective.
As esotericists, we know this is due to initiation, the alignment of the personality to more potent, higher voltage energies that give the individual the capacity to wield power in ways that will be constructive and in alignment with higher purpose of deity. When we see a truly great person accomplishing great things, he or she is drawing on the resources of the higher dimensions of his/her being, beginning with the soul, moving through the Spiritual Triad of Light, Love and Power, and ultimately to pure Spirit. This is Sacred Power, which comes from what is sacred within us. Divine Power comes when we consciously choose to align our personal will with the higher, Divine Will.
Great leaders are elevated by power
Great leaders, rather than being corrupted by power, are elevated by power and exercise
moral leadership. This relates to another foundation of spiritual leadership, which I call
"doing your spiritual housework." This is what distinguishes a leader who is
elevated rather than corrupted by power-how much light and love they have invoked and
circulated through their being-so they have cleansed some of the Augean stables of the
unconscious, often a Herculean task.
But, without this cleaning of the subconscious, the temptations of power and the impact of higher voltage energies from public and spiritual sources overcome the unprepared individual, as we see all around us in our society with all types of corruptions of power. As we know, this is a multi-lifetime process that requires a balancing of character and a rounding-out of the aura, and today we see leaders at all stages of this process; hence the many problems with power and leadership in our world today.
The Divine Will and electromagnetic power
The Tibetan tells us that the degree to which an individual, a group or a nation has life
is the degree to which it is aligned with and expressing the Divine Will. Will is like
electricity and, when it blends with the developed heart and compassion, it creates a type
of energy that is electrical and magnetic at the same time-both stimulating and
attractive, with powerful things to say, but also loving and inclusive. Thus, full
development of a great leader involves the balance of these higher energies, with full
development of a well-rounded, spiritually-purified personality. It is the balance of
will, love/compassion and knowledge. If a leader has will and knowledge only, he or she
has power without compassion, which we see often in our world. This type of power lacks
heart, as it is power used for the good of the individual and not the whole.
True higher Will is standing in a spiritual state of being, which is a spiritual attribute, allowing you to stand for something, allowing you to be what your principles are. To be a principled individual requires a great deal of will power, control of one's physical, emotional and mental bodies and exercising conscious awareness-but control has a purpose to it. Will is the life aspect and is related to purpose-of an individual, a group or a nation, and it is what gives life to any entity. When the sense of purpose is lost the life within the form also wanes.
Will energy is the electrical core out of which life flows. The highest will of the individual is to surrender to higher Will, but before we can do that we must have a will to surrender. All the trials and tests of a leader help develop this will, which ultimately is voluntarily surrendered to the Divine Will. This gives spiritual leaders an electromagnetic, energetic being or auric energy field. Within the individual, these energies come from a higher dimension. So, spiritual leaders are conduits or transducers of the Will of the Divine, implemented by love and intelligence here on earth.
What does this look like in practice?
Spiritual leaders have the capacity to bring new life force to people, institutions and
problems. They have the capacity to transmit energy to other people, to give them a new
sense of hope, a new sense of possibility. Leaders inspire people with the energy to
accomplish their goals-they actually transmit life force. FDR came in as president when
there was pessimism and depression, and his famous quote, "We have nothing to fear
but fear itself," set the tone for his innovative, bold new programs to overcome the
depression people felt after the crash of 1929.
Spiritual leaders have the ability to inspire people to be better than they already are. This means listening to people and seeing where they are now and inspiring them to a higher level of achievement. Martin Luther King inspired African Americans to expect better of themselves and, thus, better treatment from society. His I have a Dream speech set out a vision for all Americans.
Spiritual leaders have the ability to move energy to higher levels. They have the ability to sense the deeper spiritual needs of followers and to link the current demands to these often unspoken deeper spiritual needs and aspirations. Profound leaders will often ask followers to sacrifice something for a higher spiritual principle. FDR and Churchill did not say, "Elect me and all your desires will be met," but rather, "I promise you nothing but blood, toil, sweat and tears." John F. Kennedy set out the challenge for his generation by stating, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."
Spiritual leaders are able to move others through the power of lighted, inspired words, expressing new ideas. They use the words to express new ideas that lead to the development of new organisms and institutions. True leaders work with the power of the word, sound a certain note; they state certain truths and principles. When they do that people respond to them and, ultimately, they create change. Churchill was said to have had the unique ability to send the English language into battle. He had the ability to mobilize people to fight and to move people to resoluteness and absolute commitment.
Spiritual leaders have the will to carry through the chosen task with wisdom, patience, persistence and perseverance. Spiritual leaders need to have will, to have the ability to carry through under tremendous difficulties and pressures. They have the ability to get things done in spite of conditions, not because of them. President Lincoln carried through an unbelievably terrible war for four years and watched horrendous slaughter, yet he would not relent from what he knew had to be done, including the freeing of the slaves. He took a principled stand and carried through with persistence.
Spiritual leaders have the ability to see higher forces at work in all situations and have the capacity to align with those higher forces. There are always higher forces at work at any given moment, and these forces are helping to support positive, forward-moving efforts by humanity. Spiritual leaders recognize these higher forces and seek to co-creatively work with them through conscious, loving work, which strengthens one's ability to accomplish one's goals. FDR had communication with many important spiritual leaders, including Helena and Nicolas Roerich, who offered him assistance from the Spiritual Hierarchy.
Leaders also adapt to change, and our biggest evolutionary change right now is moving from individual leadership to group work-from Pisces to Aquarius. In this transitional age, spiritual leaders are moving from the age of the individual leader to the age of group work. This requires the balance of masculine and feminine energies. You can always tell a great leader by how many emerging leaders he or she has around them. Can the individual lead and nurture upcoming leaders at the same time? New groups are emerging that are groups of leaders, each individual sharing fully in responsibility and decision making, yet working together in a coordinated, a harmonious, fashion.
Thus, spiritual leaders need a vision of how one can collaborate with the evolutionary process; they need to deeply embody the values they espouse and to transmit the vitality and energy to carry out the vision. These are the three foundations of Spiritual Leadership.
In the future, leadership will be carried out completely by groups, which is already underway as many organizations now make decisions after in-depth collaborative discussion by top levels of leadership. The groups of leaders that will lead us in the future will be those inspired by love, who serve the whole, are aligned with the higher Will and can BE electromagnetic energy centers-as we build the new civilization and create the pathway for the Externalizing Hierarchy and the Reappearance of the Great Lord, the Christ.
Gordon Davidson - 12/19/98