School for Esoteric Studies: The Great Invocation

Deep in each one of us there is an inner pull toward some higher form of life. An underlying but insistent urge prompts us to look toward something greater than ourselves � like the flower that innately turns to the sun � and seek for more than we already encompass. This inner impelling force may not always be recognized, but in most of us it results in some form of more enlightened living, whether inner spiritual belief or outer practical service.

Around this inner force are to be found the many techniques of spiritual progress, the practices of the different religions, the methods of bridging between the outer and the inner life, and of blending the material and the spiritual to express a new and vital "whole."

Prayer has always been the lifeline between the outer and inner worlds � between each of us and God � and forms a magnetic channel for the sustaining force that we all require.

All these have their roots in feeling and desire, but the fourth type brings us to the point where prayer can end and meditation begin. Meditation differs from prayer in that it is primarily an orientation of the mind and brings about realizations and recognitions that become formulated knowledge. Meditation is not an abstract activity as it is frequently considered to be. It entails concentration, reflection, understanding, a clear conception and formulation of ideas and thoughts, and then consideration and visualization of ways and means of bringing them to outer expression. While prayer will always be a foundational approach for many of us, the present-day development of intellect demands a more mental form of inner action: meditation of a creative nature and having a positive and scientific method of working with spiritual laws.

Affirmation is a method that fills this need and includes both prayer and meditation.

Invocation is a synthesis of these three; the simultaneous, combined activity of

It is this synthesis that gives invocation a potency as yet unrealized. Invocation means "calling down", or "calling into". It is a demand, an appeal to something higher, asking for help or intervention. The same can be said of prayer, but there is an important difference between the two. In its specific sense, prayer is the "heart" approach and involves the use of the feeling function. Invocation, on the other hand, is an inner action that includes and combines the use of all our inner functions. It is a simultaneous activity of the mind (meditation), of feeling (prayer), of the imagination (visualization), and of the will (affirmation). It is obvious that this comprehensive and synthesized action of our whole being, when rightly carried out, gives invocation a potency incomparably greater and richer than the separate use of any single inner activity.

The Great Invocation

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 the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.

From the center 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 center 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 was written in 1945 and uses the accepted language of that time. The words "men" and "man" are used in a generic sense as referring to "humanity" no gender designation is intended. Some people substitute "human mind", "human heart", "human will", and "humanity" at the end of lines 2, 5, 8 and 10, respectively.

The beauty and strength of this Invocation lie in its simplicity. It expresses certain central truths that a spiritual person innately and normally accepts:

In the past prayer has been used largely for personal ends; people have prayed for themselves. They have invoked divine help for those they love. They have given a material interpretation to their basic needs. The Great In-vocation is a World Prayer. It expresses humanity's need and pierces through the difficulties, doubts and questionings straight to the Mind and Heart of the One in Whom we live and move and have our being.

The urgent need for a better world is framed in this threefold invocation. It is a cry for Light upon our way and for light to flow into the dark places of the earth. It is a cry for more Love in the world, more sense of brotherhood and right relationship with our fellow beings. It is an appeal for the will-to-good, the Will of God, to be expressed more fully upon Earth and more truly in the hearts and minds of all people.

From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.

These lines refer to the Mind of God as a focal point for the divine light. In the human being this comes through as Soul energy, bringing the light of understanding and spreading enlightenment.

When we invoke the Mind of God and say, "Let light stream forth into the minds of men. Let Light descend on Earth," we are voicing one of the great needs of humanity. The theme of light runs through all the world scriptures; the idea of enlightenment is a goal of education, and the thought of more light governs all the confused yearnings of the human spirit.

Light is an active energy, and love is an energy too. Therefore, when we use this Invocation we can expect powerful changes in our attitudes. Our life intention, character and goals will be altered and made spiritually more useful. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he" is a basic law, and the constant turning of our mind to the need for light brings light.

The illumination of our minds, so that we can see things as they are and can apprehend right motives and the way to bring about right human relations, is a major world need. If the energies of light and love are given wider and wider scope, the idea of right human relations will become the ideal of the majority of all peoples and will be reflected in all national, public and community affairs. The history of humanity has been that of the use of ideas, and now forward-looking concepts must be applied to human living. The two ideas most needed today are light upon our way and practical goodwill.

From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.

Love is an energy that must flood human hearts with the quality of loving understanding, a combination of love and intelligence.

Humanity needs loving understanding as a basis for right human relations. It was this need that brought the Christ to us before and, whether we believe that He was a human being who lived divinely or a divine being who lived humanly, we all agree that, in His life, He expressed most perfectly the divine quality of loving-understanding.

The return of Christ means an active flowering of His quality of consciousness among humanity; He will let loose into the world the potency and the distinctive energy of intuitive love. The results of the distribution of this energy of love will be twofold:

The active energy of loving understanding will mobilize a tremendous reaction against the potency of hate. To hate, to be separative and to be exclusive will come to be regarded as the only "sin," for it will be recognized that all that we call sin stems from hate or from its product, the anti-social consciousness.

Countless of us in every land will work together in groups to establish right human relations. Our number will be so great that we will form the largest and most influential force in the world.

From the center where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men �
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.

The great Universe, of which we are a part, is pervaded by an everlasting Life. Science is rapidly discovering the immutable laws that govern the cosmos, and from this, as well as from our own faith, we understand that the universe must have a significant and an ultimate aim.

As we observe the unfolding of natural phenomena we can see that they obey a law of evolution and progress. We perceive in the stars and in the insect, in the atom and in the heart, the same trend towards a veiled goal. When we have become aware of the power of this universal law it becomes clear to us how foolish it is to oppose it, and we discover that the true cause of so many failures consists of the unconscious violation of that law. Then there arises in us spontaneously the impulse to obey it and adhere to it.

Here we find a paradox. The individual will, which freely submits to the Universal Will and merges with It and is founded on It, is neither annihilated or diminished; the instant in which it seems to die or ceases to exist, it rises transfigured.

When our individual will has agreed to cooperate harmoniously with the Will that governs the universe, then that Will cooperates and puts at our disposal Its own infinite energies. In the Laws that rule the cosmos we discover the laws that must underlie our own actions. Thus the will, in becoming good, has at the same time become strong and wise, and from this complete interplay of the three qualities springs spiritual or transcendental will, at one with the Will of God.

Our relationship to the divine will seems to enter a new phase in modern times. In the past, speaking generally, humanity's highest approach was mainly characterized by submission, a surrendering to the inscrutable will of God. Today, a new attitude within humanity is becoming possible, a conscious acquiescence with that divine Will. Acquiescence has in it the element of an understanding intelligence, and this marks a great step forward. Thus from a passive submission to that Will, humanity can now move on to a positive acquiescence and even a joyous cooperation with the "center where the Will of God is known."

From the center 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.

Having invoked the three aspects, or potencies, of Mind, Love and Will, we now recognize the anchoring of all these powers in humanity itself, in "the center which we call the race of men."

Here can love be truly born, intelligence correctly function, and the Will of God demonstrate its effective goodwill.

Through humanity, alone and unaided except by the divine Spirit in each of us, can the "door where evil dwells" be sealed. This is a symbolic way of expressing the idea of rendering evil purposes both inactive and ineffectual. There is no particular location where evil dwells. The "door where evil dwells" is kept open by humanity through our selfish desires, hatreds and separativeness, by our greed and racial and national barriers, our competitiveness and love of power and cruelty.

As goodwill and light stream forth into our minds and hearts, the energy of the negative qualities that keeps the "door of evil" open will give place to right human relations, to a determination to create a better and more peaceful world, and to a worldwide expression of the will-to-good. As these energies and qualities take the place of the old and undesirable ones, the "door where evil dwells" will slowly close through sheer weight of public opinion and, simultaneously, the door into the world of spiritual reality will open before us.

Having invoked or appealed to the mind of God, the love of God, and the will or purpose of God, the last line points out our relation to these three aspects of divine life, and also humankind's deep responsibility to implement the spread of love and light on Earth in order to restore God's Plan. Thus is indicated the keynote for the future, and that the day will come when God's original idea and intention will no longer be frustrated by human free will and evil. The divine Purpose will then, through our changed hearts and goals, be achieved.

Meditation, prayer and affirmation are all used in voicing the Great Invocation. It can be done in two ways:

Through meditation on the Invocation we try to reach its inner meaning and purpose, and as we do this we achieve an ever-deepening understanding. First the lower or thinking mind is active and gives us an intelligent grasp of its meaning; then the higher or abstract mind offers the possibility of intuitive understanding of its significance.

It is useful to add visualization to purely mental meditation. For example, we can think of the world situation as best we can, and in terms of our major world interest. Then we see all people everywhere glowing with a dim light and, here and there, points of greater light where those of spiritual intention and loving hearts are working for their fellow human beings. Then we visualize, through the creative imagination, the vivid light of the Christ and His disciples streaming towards humanity and slowly merging with the light that is already present.

In the second phase of invocation � prayer � we have to invoke with the heart. Let us try to realize what this really means. It means that we invoke with all the feeling and aspiration that we can summon, and also with the Soul. We should remember that the heart is an expression of the Soul, and therefore "heart" can be translated as "Soul"; the Soul is the heart of our being. Thus we use all the highest feelings we are capable of mustering in this "heartfelt" form of prayer.

The third phase is affirmation. This is an act of spiritual will; it is a spiritual affirmation of the dedicated personality. It has a quality of certainty, of assurance, and a note of triumph. Here the mind and mental energies are used. The will works from above downwards, while desire works from below upwards. Desire, when it is spiritual, is aspiration, working from below upwards � and this corresponds to the previous stage of prayer; but the use of the affirmative will is from above downwards. Its quality is dynamic.

Each of these phases can first be practiced separately. This means at one time saying the Invocation meditatively, trying to realize its deepest meaning, at another time saying it prayerfully, with our hearts, trying to realize its love content, its service to humanity and to the divine Plan; then using it as an affirmation, putting the whole will behind it. When we have trained ourselves to use it effectively in each of these ways, we should endeavor to combine the three attitudes at the same time.

There is an intermediate stage in which we can say the first verse meditatively, from the angle of knowledge-wisdom, for the light of mind invokes Light; then we say the second verse more with the heart, for love invokes the greater Love. The third verse, in which we invoke "the Center where the Will of God is known," calls in the affirmation of the will. Thus we are prepared to voice the fourth climaxing verse, combining the three ways, with the full emphasis on the final words "on Earth".

There is also an individual application of the Great Invocation; we can appeal for the descent and activity of spiritual energies within ourselves and in our sphere of influence, because that which is invoked on behalf of humanity is also available in a personal sense. When using it thus, we regard the personality as a field for the circulation of light and love, of the Christ Life and the sacrificial will, as an area in which evil is frustrated and rendered futile. The personality then becomes an instrument of service for the work of the Christ in restoring the divine Plan on Earth.

Most of the material in this publication has been drawn from the writings of Alice A. Bailey with the permission of the Lucis Trust.