Students need to realize more deeply that the whole process is a divine one, and that evil, so-called, is but an illusion and an inherent part of duality, giving place in [630] time and out of time to a divine unity. Evil is due to wrong perception and erroneous interpretation of that which is perceived. The achievement of true vision, plus right understanding, brings about freedom from the instinctual reactions and evokes that inner detachment which enables a man to walk at liberty in the kingdom of God.

But what of the two fears with which the aspirant has peculiar concern? What of the fear of public opinion, and fear of failure? These are two potent factors in the life of service, and hinder many.

Those who are beginning to work in cooperation with the plan and are learning the significance of service are prone to fear that what they do will be criticized and misjudged, or fall a victim to the reverse idea, that what they do will not be sufficiently liked, appreciated and understood. They demand liking and praise. They gauge success by numbers and by response. They dislike to have their motives impugned and misjudged, and rush violently into explanation; they are unhappy if their methods, the personnel of their group, and the way in which their service is rendered comes under the tongue of criticism. The false objectives of numbers, of power or of a formulated doctrine control them. Unless what they do measures up to the standards or conforms to the technique of the group of minds which surrounds them or appeals the most to them, they are unhappy and consequently frequently change their plans, alter their viewpoint, and lower their standard until it conforms to their immediate mass psychology, or their chosen counselors.

The true disciple sees the vision. He then seeks to keep so closely in touch with his soul that he can stand with steadiness whilst he endeavors to make that vision a reality; he aims to achieve what, from the standpoint of the world seems to be impossible, knowing that the vision is not materialized through expediency and undue [631] adaptation of the suggested ideas of worldly or intellectual counselors. Public opinion and the advice of those who are Piscean in their tendencies and not Aquarian are carefully considered but not unduly so, and when advice is found to be separative and tends to eliminate harmony, and produces a lack of brotherly love and understanding, it is discarded at once. When there is evidenced a constantly critical attitude towards other workers in the field of world service and where there is a capacity to see only selfishness and fault and to impute wrong motives and to believe evil, then the true aspirant refuses to be swayed and goes serenely on his way.

In the coming cycle I emphatically tell you that the true work will be carried forward (the work of spiritually welding the world into a synthesis and the production of a recognized brotherhood of souls) only by those who refuse to be separative and whose words are watched so that no evil is spoken; these are the workers who see the divine in all and refuse to think evil and impute evil; they work with sealed lips; they deal not with their brothers affairs, nor reveal that which concerns them; their lives are colored by understanding and by love; their minds are characterized by a trained spiritual perception and that spiritual awareness which employs a keen intellect as the corollary of a loving spirit.

May I repeat in other words this theme, for its importance is vital and the effect of the work of these instruments on the world is immense. These men and women whose mission it is to inaugurate the New Age have learned the secret of silence; they are animated ceaselessly by a spirit of inclusive love; their tongues lead them not astray into the field of ordinary criticism, and they permit no condemnation of others; they are animated by the spirit of protection. To them will be committed the work of fostering the life of the New Age. [632]