Another real need in the esoteric field was a type of discipleship teaching and action which would help to offset the crystallizations of the esoteric schools that had been produced in the Piscean era, which is now closing. These errors and unfortunate aspects were in a certain sense inevitable and do not justify criticism of any other esoteric group or work. They nevertheless existed and were proving a stumbling block and were shutting off the reception of the newer forms of spiritual expression. A.A.B. saw this dearly and has always persistently worked with this in mind. Among other things this effort is exemplified by her insistence on the achieving of a relationship of cooperation with the work of the Hierarchy as compared to the position of the devotee who operates on the principle of obedience, in a more childlike way. She insisted that a life of selfless service was the most important factor and that physical plane disciplines particularly as to diet and the often fanatical allegiance given to the tidbits of Hatha and Laya Yoga that had found their way into the Western world, and are so prevalent among esotericists, were largely outmoded and were, therefore, generally limiting sidetracks.

She insisted on mental freedom, mental polarization and the acquiring of a trained mind well equipped to deal intelligently and in a common sense manner with world conditions. This she knew must succeed the mystical, and all too often impractical idealism of the earlier stages of spiritual training which was basically more emotional and often leads to separateness and spiritual selfishness. This position is well known to us all and in the case of our own group life, originated in the wisdom of A.A.B. in her efforts to meet this third need.

There is no doubt that Mrs. Bailey is subjectively and telepathically in rapport, at the present time, with a great many of her friends and students. Those who are sensitive sometimes register impressions. She is not, however, occupying herself with running around to individuals, telling them what they ought to do or what she wants them to do about anything. Both A.A.B. and the Tibetan have definitely stated that after she died He would not continue to function through any other channel as he did with her, and she is not attempting to control the Arcane School or direct its affairs, nor any of the service activities by means of any messages of any sort or kind.

Humanity is passing through the greatest spiritual crisis of its long history on this planet. The implications are too deep for our understanding. The choices that humanity has been making in recent years and still has to make in the short years just ahead, are of more profound significance than our imagination can picture. We have been taught and indeed of necessity it must be true that the Hierarchy of Masters is not all powerful, else there would be little left of human freedom, and we would all be destined to become spiritual robots. What they can do depends on how we respond to spiritual stimuli in the hour of crisis. It is abundantly clear that God's Plan for man is for humanity to achieve its own destiny in the light of its own soul, by the power of its own developing intellectual capacity, and by its deepening awareness and consecration to the fulfiling of its divine destiny.

This explains many things. It meant that the effective work of many members of the New Group of World Servers was greatly delayed. The possibility of effective work in the field of Goodwill was for a cycle almost completely destroyed. At least until the outer physical plane fighting was stopped, the reaching of the disciples, who were in contact with the Arcane School and of the students scattered throughout the world who might otherwise have joined our ranks, was stopped. The pushing forward of the program of solving the problem of the right relation of money to Hierarchical work ceased altogether. The building of the Network of Light and Goodwill by establishing the Triangle movement was almost completely frustrated. The possibility of carrying the Great Invocation to the entire world, as we are now doing, could not take place.

In the dark days of 1939, when it seemed that so much was crumbling and that the heroic efforts of many disciples to do everything that they could do, that might help to avert war, were useless, it was hard to see how the work could be picked up again and reorganized and refinanced and again be effectively set into motion. At that time out of the kindness of his heart and for my encouragement the Tibetan gave me the assurance that when the holocaust was over I would discover that the foundations, which had been so well and truly laid for all our work, would be not only intact but entirely adequate for the building of the structure thereon which is necessary for the future work. This, at the time, I found hard to believe, for I was too deeply aware of the appalling consequences of the second war, but the statement then made has been proved abundantly true and we today are in a stronger position and are actually more efficiently working and serving than the ordinary finite mind could at that time have possibly reasonably expected.