One kind of meditational service practice is saying an invocation for the world. Invocation is important because it opens up a channel for the Divine Powers to enter into the world. Love and Light remain mostly as Potentials as yet to be fully realized, and the purpose of invocation is to build a receptive pole and channel for the Divine Powers. Invocation is opening up a way and helping to draw down the Higher Potentials into our world of realization and manifestation. Invocation is much the same as prayer for the world. It is a kind of prayer or asking, and the asking opens this channel.
The Great Invocation is an example. Some people repeat this daily or at least regularly, and it helps bring Love and Light into the world. Some believe that one has to use the exact words, but there is also great value in changing the words to fit one’s own understanding. We often do this in our thinking anyways, as a way to translate something into phrases more meaningful to us personally.
From the point of Light within the Mind of God,
Let Light
stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on earth.
From the point of Love within the heart of God,
Let Love
stream forth into hearts of men.
May Christ return to earth.
From the centre where the Will of God is known,
Let purpose
guide the little wills of men,
The Purpose which the Masters know
and serve.
From the centre which we call the race of men,
Let the Plan
of love and light work out,
And may it seal the door where evil
dwells.
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.
The Great Invocation begins as such:
From the point of Light within the Mind of God,
Let
Light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on
earth.
The main idea here is about Light, with a prayer that Light descend on earth and into the minds of everyone. First of all, understand that Light is the power of consciousness and awakening. Light is the awakener and the consciousness awakened. Most of humanity needs awakening, needs to wake up. Because most people are really asleep, relatively speaking. Many are awake to a material world, and many watch television or participate in the social internet. But few are awake spiritually, being wakefully conscious of the spiritual reality and spiritual purpose. Thus, we pray that Light brings forth a much wider and expansive awakening consciousness. Light will also awaken us to an expansive ecological consciousness.
Second, understand that Light comes from God, for the Mind of God is full of Light, full of consciousness. The point of Light refers to the source of Light, coming from the Mind of God. Light is the very substance of Mind, and God is the source of mind. Divine Mind is already at work in the world and is the originator of creation. However, the spreading of Light in and throughout creation is an ongoing process. This is actually the Divine process through time, as Light unfolds from the Divine Source, unfolding into creation, into the world, and into the minds of all people.
The next part of the Invocation is a such.
From the point of Love within the heart of God,
Let Love
stream forth into hearts of men.
May Christ return to earth.
God is the Source of Love. Our love ultimately comes from God. It is not just some biological accident that happened to be a useful survival adaptation. Love is in the very heart of God, so it is possible for this Love to be realized in our own heart. We ask of Love that it stream forth into the hearts of all people, or perhaps that it be realized in everyone’s heart - since Love is really already a divine potential of the heart and is already inherently within. But there is a sense in which Love streams into us, coming from God.
Love has two main aspects. One is an experience of being loved. We can experience being loved by others and also by God. Two, love is a way of expression, which is to be loving. Both of these are great blessings, because love transforms us, whether by being loved or by loving. And love transforms how we are in the world, because with love we now care about others and also care about the natural world and the planet’s ecosystem of life. And with love we want to take care of our world and those in it; we want to help and heal, not harm or plunder. So love changes the way we see things and how we are in relation to others and the world.
The Invocation also speaks about Christ returning to earth. This could be taken literally as a return of Jesus, or perhaps it refers to any great World Teacher, who might appear but not belong to any single religion or denomination. Many people hope for a great World Teacher or spiritual leader to appear. So this can be a prayer for such to happen. Yet, practically speaking, it is doubtful that any single Teacher or even Christ will be able to fix the world problems and lead everyone into a new heaven, because it is doubtful that enough people would ever listen to or follow such a person.
Esoterically, the meaning of Christ is the spiritually awakened one, knowing their intimate reflective relationship with God and being capable of expressing the Qualities of God on earth. So what this stanza is more essentially asking is for a return of Christ consciousness, not just in one person called Jesus or whoever, but in as many people as possible. Thus, one is asking that The Christ-Spiritual consciousness and love be realized in more and more people, which will transform the world and history. One person expressing Christ will not be enough. There has to be many, and many more.
Also, we do sometimes enter into a spiritual consciousness of Love and Light, or a higher consciousness enters into us. Yet this does not usually last. Many people have had spiritual experiences or made deep connections with Divine Love and Truth, but then the conditioned, reactive, and disintegrated mind tends to hold sway, such that the person is again disconnected from spiritual heart and mind. So, we often need a renewal or a reawakening of the spiritual. Thus, the meaning of ‘may Christ return to earth’ can also be a prayer for the Christ-Divine Love to again return to us. We are asking for the Christ Love to enter into the hearts of others, as well as into our own heart, for spiritual renewal and reawakening of the Divine Love consciousness.
It is important to understand that in saying or meditating on such an invocation for the world, a corresponding prayer is also effected in oneself. So this is about service and helping the whole world, but also renewing spiritual truth in oneself. For example, when asking that Divine Love descend into the hearts of all people, we can also be asking that Love descend into our own heart, or of Love being reawakened in our heart. As well, asking for Christ to return to earth can also be a prayer for Christ Love consciousness re-incarnate into our own being, or that we ourselves become Christ beings, blessed with Christos and radiant with Love. Remember that whatever we sincerely ask of the Divine for the benefit of others and ’the world’, has a corresponding psychological aspect which involves self-transformation.
The next lines of the Great Invocation are -
From the centre where the Will of God is known,
Let
purpose guide the little wills of men,
The Purpose which the
Masters know and serve.
There is a centre where the Will of God is known. Certain esoteric teachings have a cosmic description of this, but it is more practically important to know about this in terms of our own experience. So for most practical uses, this is our higher, Spiritual Intuition. For in our Spiritual Intuition we can know God’s Will, the Divine Will, or God’s Intention, all of these meaning the same. As part of this, related conceptually, is Divine Purpose and Divine Plan, which mean almost about the same. In these teachings we will speak of more often of Purposes, in the plural, because it would be too difficult and simplistic to state just one purpose for existence and life, since there are many aspects to Divine Purpose.
One of the highest Purposes of life is realizing and manifesting Love and Light. Another is to realize and creatively manifest beauty. Higher aesthetic experience, and especially the experience of beauty, is a fundamental purpose of life. Beauty certainly ranks up with love. Also is the expression and manifestation of beauty. Though we are not speaking here of just visual beauty, but rather of a more general beauty encompassing all forms of expression. For example, speaking and writing can be beautiful, and so can actions be beautiful. So in the larger meaning of beauty, any expression or manifestation can be beautiful, if it is virtuous, dignified, and has love in it. Beauty also has love in it, and it also has a special kind of light in it, a sort of sparkling and radiant light. Beauty is also be related to harmony, because any harmonious expression or action is beautiful. Last to consider about beauty is that it is always enjoyed. Beauty always evokes a higher enjoyment in us. And if there is no joy, then it isn’t beauty. Thus, a few of the purposes of life are love, awakening, beauty, harmony, and enjoyment. May we experience all of these, and may we also help create them.
The Masters are those who do know and serve the Divine Purpose. They know the Will of God. They know what God Intends. They know this in their mental Intuition, in their higher-spiritual mind - which is connected to the Divine Mind and Intention. A Master’s mind and will are surrendered to the Divine, and thus a direct connection is established. Most of these Masters are ascended, or non-dependent, on the physical plane, while some are living physical Masters. The Masters are like divine intermediators or helper/guides for humanity. Jesus is one example of a Master; perhaps the greatest example. But anyone can be a Master; it just requires a highly developed discipline and mastery in oneself, and also an awakened intuitive knowing of the Divine Will and Purpose, so that this can be served. A Master is one who knowingly and intentionally serves the Divine Will and Purpose, and who does not become sidetracked or entranced by lower self desires, nor by social or media influences. A Master also expresses the highest divine Qualities and is able to spiritually heal or enlighten people.
So we pray, or make invocation, that the Divine Purpose guide the little wills of men. As well, we could also ask that the Masters guide the wills of men. And even more importantly we ask that the little wills of men be guided, because the Masters are already trying to guide, but the little wills of men need to allow this guidance. Let the children be guided by Masters and by God. We hope that children be guided, to awaken their spiritual soul and express the highest of their potentials. We pray that the children of this world be guided to eventually know what is really true, from what is merely advertised or portrayed as truth. And we ask that the children be guided by God’s Will, not just by parental wills or by the little wills of ego people, and that they eventually realize the Greater purposes of life. Now let us also realize that everyone of humanity are children. So may we all be guided and helped.
Next, realize that this stanza of the Great Invocation is also about our own self. The ‘little wills of men’ can just as easily refer to our own little will. So, if we say, ‘May purpose guide the little wills of men‘, we could also be asking that our own will be guided by higher purpose. Moreover, most of us have many wills in this one person: many wills and many desires. So we ask that the many little wills of our own being be guided by Divine Purpose. If all of our little wills can be guided by higher Purposes, then we will be a more integrated and united person, as the whole of us will be serving the same greater Purposes.
This is also about spiritual will. When our little wills are guided by spiritual purpose, then we are in alignment with the Spiritual Will of God. Because Will and Purpose are necessarily related. So when our will and action has spiritual purpose, we then have spiritual will. In other words, spiritual will has spiritual purpose. Or, will with spiritual purpose is spiritual will.
What is needed in ourselves and in humanity is spiritual will, which is different from ego self-centered will and also different from tribal and religiously fanatical will. Spiritual will is in alignment with and reflective of God’s Will or the Will-Purpose of the Universe. Thus, it is possible to attain, or at least come closer to, being a reflective representative of Divine Will, which is what mastery is heading towards. The Masters of Wisdom and Love also have Spiritual will, but we too can approach this. Then, as ‘representatives’ of Divine Will, our will can make wise choices for the benefit of love.
Our human will has to make specific decisions, in the midst of practical life, so these specific decisions can be in alignment with the more general Divine Will and Purpose. The Divine Will is general, rather than specific, but when we make decisions and actions from spiritual will in alignment with Divine Will, then the specific follows in alignment with the General. Lastly, remember that spiritual will is good-will; it is loving will and caring will, yet also intelligent will. Fundamentally, spiritual will is the power needed to express and manifest love and wisdom; for without will, love remains as a caring feeling and wisdom remains as good ideas.
The next part of the Great Invocation is --
From the centre which we call the race of men,
Let the
Plan of love and light work out,
And may it seal the door where
evil dwells.
The Divine Plan is for a gradual unfoldment of Love and Light. This works outward into actualization from its inward potential. The Plan is for a gradual spiritual or holistic awakening, an expansion of consciousness, as well as a gradual awakening of love for others, and a gradually developed expression of love and beauty.
The Divine Plan is a kind of general blueprint of the Process. It is a kind of structure or way of how the Divine will manifest, but it is not some kind of set fixed detailed plan about how every moment or everything will turn out to be. It is all about the unfoldment of Light and Love into the world, which is always a work in progress. This process is gradual over time, because it takes time for us creatures to slowly develop our capacity for greater light, consciousness, awakening. This is all part of an understanding about spiritual evolution -- which is the evolution of life through the unfoldment of Spirit in life. The Plan is that Light and Love and also Spiritual Will shall gradually awaken, unfold, and manifest through people and in the world. Realize that Light, Love, and Will are not simply already fully present in the world, and nor does this automatically unfold. The unfoldment of Divine Light and spiritual consciousness requires a ready and developed receptacle, and it also requires some form of asking or invocation. Thus, this all takes time.
Love and Light are meant to successfully unfold in humanity, to be realized and expressed. Then, as this happens, evil gradually dissipates and finally disappears. Some people are not comfortable with the term, evil, probably because it has such a diabolical or even satanical connotation. Yet the fundamental simple meaning of evil is ignorance, or the lack of knowing, or lack of Light, and this lack of knowing or lack of real awakening is the cause of bad human actions. Evil also involves a lack of love. For any awfully bad or unethical action in the world will have a lack of love. A lack of love will produce poor (or relatively evil) actions; and we will find that any poor actions will have a lack of love. So, evil is really about a lack of light and love. And thus, if Light and Love truly work out in humanity, as coming from the Spiritual Source, then evil will disappear.
And the final stanza of this is --
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.
This is a kind of final summary of the whole invocation. Humanity, the world, needs Light, Love, and Power. These are three essential aspects of the Divine, Cosmic Plan. Light is the energy of consciousness, so an increase in Light will increase the consciousness of humanity, which will be an expansion of consciousness, with greater understanding included in this. Love brings caring and helpful intentions into the world, and love brings greater unity among everyone. Power, as referred to here, does not mean just any sort of power; it means spiritual power. It does not mean ego power, or the power to manipulate or dominate. It means the spiritual power that is possible to enter into humanity and into each of us. This is a power to love, not hate; to heal, not hurt; to unify, not divide; to awaken truth, not deceive; and to beautify life, not destroy beauty.
This Power also refers to spiritual will. True spiritual will, which is a potential within us, corresponds and represents the Divine, Universal Will. To help transform the world, or let us say, restore it to Dignity and Beauty, will require a whole lot of spiritual will in people, which is a will of love and light and service to the world and the future. Will is the human power that is necessary to restore the world and help bring spiritual energies of love into the world. So, spiritual will is necessary, a spiritual will in us and manifesting through us, which is God's way of bringing Divine Will into manifestation.
Let us again study the Great Invocation by stanza, this time making the meaning or interpretation as simple as possible.
From the point of Light within the Mind of God,
Let Light
stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on earth.
May
the Greater Universal Consciousness expand
the
minds of humanity.
May
we all realize our relatedness in Spirit.
From the point of Love within the heart of God,
Let Love
stream forth into hearts of men.
May Christ return to earth.
May
the Greater Universal Love blossom
in
the hearts of humanity.
May
we all manifest love on earth.
From the centre where the Will of God is known,
Let purpose
guide the little wills of men,
The Purpose which the Masters know
and serve.
May
the Greater Universal Will guide
the
many wills of humanity.
May
we all be united in shared Purposes.
From the centre which we call the race of men,
Let the Plan
of love and light work out,
And may it seal the door where evil
dwells.
May
the Universal Light and Love
successfully
unfold through humanity,
and
may nothing but love remain.
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on earth.
May
Light and Love and Spiritual Will
manifest
the divine possibility on Earth.
Finally to mention is that many students of the Arcane Teachings
believe that this Great Invocation is open to revision; while others
think that it should remain the same because it has already developed
a rhythm and vibrational power. But an argument one could pose to
this latter group is this: then how long would one keep the same
phrasing? Centuries? And since language is meant to convey a message,
would it not be possible that the message medium could change or
improve? So, here is an example of a revised Great
Invocation;
though this too is not intended to be the only
possible phrasing.
From the Universal Light of God,
Let Light stream forth into
all humanity.
May the Light of Wisdom awaken our minds.
From
the Universal Heart of God,
Let Love stream forth into all
humanity.
May the Flame of Love inspire our hearts.
From
the Universal Will of God,
Let Good-Will stream forth into all
humanity.
May Higher Purposes guide our little wills.
May
the Light of Wisdom dissolve all ignorance,
May the Flame of Love
extinguish all harmfulness.
May the Power of Spiritual Will
transform the world.
Let Light and Love and Power bring Harmony on Earth.
Here is another related Invocation.
May all ye Holy Ones,
Whom we aspire to be disciples,
Embrace us with your Compassionate Love,
Awaken us with your Enlightened Wisdom,
Inspire us to serve Higher Purposes,
And give us Vision for the Future.