Alice Bailey - The Consciousness of the Atom - III - The Evolution of Form, or Group Evolution

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The Consciousness of the Atom - The Evolution of Form

When we have built this idea into our consciousness, when it is apparent to us that there is purpose and direction underlying everything, [71] when we realize that not a single thing occurs that is not the outcome of the conscious will of some entity, and that all that happens has a definite aim and goal, then we have the clue to ourselves, and to all that we see happening around us in the world. If, for instance, we realize that we have the building up and care of our physical bodies, that we have the control of our emotional nature, and the responsibility for the development of our mentality, if we realize that we are the energizing factors within our bodies, and that when we withdraw from those bodies they disintegrate and fall to pieces; then perhaps we have the clue to what the informing Life of the planet may be doing, as he works through forms of every kind (continents, civilizations, religions, and organizations) upon this earth; to what has gone on in the moon, which is now a disintegrating form, to what is going on in the solar system, and to what will happen in the solar system when the Logos withdraws from that which is, for Him, but a temporary manifestation.

Let us now make practical application of these thoughts. We are living at this time in a period in which all the forms of thought seem breaking up, in which the religious life of the peoples is no longer what it was, in which dogma and doctrine of every kind come under criticism. Many of the [72] old forms of scientific thought are likewise disintegrating, and the foundations of the old philosophies seem to be shaken. Our lot is cast in one of the most difficult periods of the world's history, a period which is characterized by the breaking up of nations, the smashing of old relationships and ties, and the apparently imminent disruption of civilization. We need to encourage ourselves by remembering that all this is occurring just because the life within those forms is becoming so strong that it finds them a prison and a limitation; and we must recollect that this transition period is the time of the greatest promise that the world has ever seen. There is no room for pessimism and despair, but only for the profoundest optimism. Many today are upset and distraught because the foundations seem to be shaken, the carefully reared and deeply cherished structures of religious thought and belief, and of philosophical finding seem in danger of falling, yet our anxiety exists simply because we have been too much engrossed with the form, and too much occupied with our prison, and if disruption has set in, it is only in order that the life may build for itself new forms and thereby evolve. The work of the destroyer is as much the work of God as that of the constructor, and the great god of destruction has to smash and rend the forms in order that the work of the builder may [73] become possible, and the spirit able more adequately to express itself.

To many of us these ideas may seem novel, fantastic, and untenable. Yet even if they are only hypotheses, they may prove interesting and give us a possible clue to the mystery. We see civilizations disrupted, we see the religious fabrics tottering, we see philosophies successfully attacked, we see the foundations of material science shaken. Yet, after all, what are civilizations? What are the religions? What are the great races? Simply the forms through which the great threefold central Life, Who informs our planet, seeks to express Himself. Just as we express ourselves through the medium of a physical, an emotional, and a mental nature, so He expresses Himself through the totality of the kingdoms of nature, and through the nations, races, religions, sciences, and philosophies, in existence at this time. As His life pulsates through every department of His being, we as cells and atoms within that greater manifestation follow each transition, and are swept along from one stage to another. As time progresses, and our consciousness expands, we shall enter more and more into a knowledge of His plan as He is working it out, and shall eventually be in a position to collaborate with Him in His essential purpose. [74]

To sum up the central thought of this lecture: Let us endeavor to realize that there is no such thing as inorganic matter, but that every atom is a life. Let us realize that all forms are living forms, and that each is but the vehicle of expression for some indwelling entity. Let us seek to comprehend that this is likewise true of the aggregate of all forms. Thus we have the clue to ourselves, and perhaps the clue to the mystery of the solar system. [77]

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