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To the surprise of many, a cornucopia of esoteric symbols appears on the back of the American dollar bill. Concealed in this highly improbable place is a prophetic message about the next stage in human evolution. The left side of “The Great Seal of the United States” features an unfinished stone pyramid, with its capstone mysteriously hovering above it in the sky. Hiding in plain sight, the symbol points to the task ahead for awakening humanity.
In esoteric symbolism, about which tomes have been written, pyramids signify the convergence of heaven and earth—the fusion of spirit and matter. Stone represents the mineral kingdom, which carries the lowest vibrational frequency of all forms in the dense material world. The eye radiating an aura of light in the capstone, commonly called the “All-Seeing Eye of Providence,” signifies the world of Spirit. Enigmatically, a gap appears between the base and capstone telling us that something significant is missing.
The key to unlocking the meaning of this symbol lies in the Latin phrase in the circular scroll beneath it: New Order of the Ages. When we reflect on image and words together, the message reveals itself: if the cap (of spirit) were placed squarely on the pyramid’s base (the world of dense matter), the light of spirit would infuse the whole and thus inaugurate a new age. It becomes evident that the symbol’s creators—visionaries among America’s Founding Fathers—intuited the coming of a new world order through the fusion of spirit and matter. And they recognized that a gap in human consciousness would need to be filled if this spiritualization or divinization of the material world were to occur.
The fact that the dollar has come to represent the materialization of the world is a profound irony, highlighting the chasm between what this symbol portends and the present state of human affairs. From outward appearances, it would seem that we’ve retrogressed since the American project was born over two centuries ago. But the wisdom teachings explain that only now, at this dawn of the Aquarian age, would significant numbers of us be able to comprehend what lies ahead: the awakening of the human soul en masse —the first step in the spiritualization of the world—leading to the conscious pursuit of the path of transformation.
A popular notion exists that humanity is about to make a quantum leap in consciousness—a sudden jump from one dimension of awareness to another. The wisdom teachings explain that our present turning-point “on the wheel” of evolution was long ago “written” into the divine Plan. The spiritual awakening now occurring was seeded in the mists of time, nurtured in us over lifetimes, and quickened recently by cosmic forces. The divine intention was for humanity to learn through experience on the dense material plane, identified for eons with the physical form in which we dwell—the mask of the personality—while accumulating sufficient light to eventually discover the true Self, the divine soul.
With the shifting gears of the cosmic clock, crises of immense proportions now threaten the old “order of the ages.” At the same time humanity’s awakening to the inner life of the soul is accelerating. Evidence of this proliferates in books, films, and websites. Nightly newscasts now feature stories about altruists—people impelled by the soul to reach out in service to the welfare of others. These are early glimmerings of the prophesied “new order of the ages.” But the real catalyst for the flowering of the next stage in human consciousness still lies “below the radar”—the intense discomfort that occurs upon awakening to the reality of the soul and living in a state of duality.
Silently and invisibly, countless individuals around the globe are wrestling with the tension that arises from discovering that our nature is both human and divine. As evolution proceeds, this duality will later be resolved at a higher state of unity. But the realization of having two discordant "selves" is like the grain of sand in the oyster—the irritant that eventually produces the pearl. A struggle arises as the higher Self looms larger in one’s awareness, while the personality clings to old patterns of self-centeredness. The growing discomfort prompts us to find a way out.[1] What follows is a dedicated search for truth and a reorientation to life as we pursue the spiritual Path.
As seekers, the realization dawns that it is up to us to heal the breach in the divided self. By closing the gap between the metaphoric apex and base of the pyramid, we create a unified entity that can bring light into the world. We alone can establish this inner unity by fusing soul and personality. The method, given by the Great Ones who have passed this way before us, is to build a bridge in consciousness that spans the divide within the human psyche, and ultimately between humanity and the kingdom of Spirit. (See “Notes on Building the Inner Bridge” below.)
History abounds with individuals who have discovered how to forge this inner bridge of light. By doing so they were able to penetrate “the raincloud of knowable things”—the subtle plane of divine intention—and to grasp new ideas and truths that would powerfully impact their world. Among the best known of these individuals were the founders of major world religions: Krishna, Moses, Buddha, Confucius, Christ, and Mohammed. The spiritual insights received by these illumined beings became canonized teachings of timeless and enduring value.
Likewise, great artists, scientists and philosophers have brought divine inspiration into our world in the form of beauty, knowledge and wisdom. In modern times, a few of them have hinted at the experience of receiving insight across the lighted bridge between humanity and divinity. Einstein remarked in utter simplicity, “Ideas come from God.” The artist Paul Klee wrote, “My hand is entirely the instrument of a more distant sphere.” Mystic poet and artist, Kahlil Gibran, posed the question: “Am I a harp that the hand of the almighty may touch me, or a flute that this breath may pass through me?”[2]
Thomas Edison, who introduced electric light to the material world, made a fascinating statement along these lines. His contributions to 20th century living—electrical power, recorded music, and motion pictures—were hailed in a recent issue of Time magazine which stated: “Much of the world we live in today is a legacy of Edison and of his devotion to science and innovation.”[3] Here is how Edison saw his own role: “People say I have created things. I have never created anything. I get impressions from the Universe at large and work them out, but I am only a plate on a record or receiving apparatus…”[4]
Edison’s words elucidate an important tenet of the wisdom teachings. The person who forges a link between the two selves, evolving into a soul-infused personality, becomes a “receiving apparatus” for divine impressions. One of the requirements towards this end is dedication to the greater good. The soul’s journey begins with awakening to the oneness of life; it unfolds through a growing sensitivity to the common good and a desire to serve that good. This desire, in turn, evokes higher impression from members of the Kingdom of Souls, whose mission is to uplift humanity and guide the planet’s evolution.
For the first time in human history, vast numbers of us are awakening at the same time to the soul’s reality. Many of us are also encountering the perennial gap between the worlds of matter and spirit. What lies ahead is the transformative task of creating the inner span of consciousness that will enable us—individually and collectively—to become “a receiving apparatus” for bringing light into this world. The effort to accomplish this work of the soul, the wisdom teachings assure us, will invariably evoke a downpouring of spiritual light from the Kingdom of Souls into the world of human living.
Mother Theresa often said, with complete humility, “I am merely a broom in the hand of God.” To extend the metaphor we might say that when God holds in his hand a critical mass of brooms, we will have a brand new world. By sacrificing personal desire and ambition to the soul’s impulse to serve the welfare of others, human beings ultimately heal the breach between the two parts of our psyche and become soul-infused. The result is to “infuse matter with spirit” and to aid in spiritualizing the world.
As the Aquarian Age unfolds, we are told that human beings will evolve into “conscious co-creators with Divinity.” Awakened souls, working as members of the Kingdom of Souls, will become critical links in the Great Chain of Being—missing until now. By receiving light from the higher kingdoms and transmitting it to the lower kingdoms, humanity is destined to become “the divine mediator” in manifesting the Plan for our planet. In cooperation with the Spiritual Kingdoms, we will close the gap between “heaven and earth” and together establish the “new order of the ages.”
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Notes on Building the Bridge of Light—or Forging the Missing Link
The bridge between the human and the divine is constructed of spiritual or mental substance. Learning to wield this substance—through the power of thought, imagination, and will—is integral to building the bridge and treading the path of transformation. The Path, universal in nature, includes three core practices common to world religions and spiritual teachings: meditation, spiritual study, and service. Elements specific to the Ageless Wisdom appear in the descriptions below.
· Through meditation, we learn to silence the outer world in order to hear the voice of the soul; we learn to empty ourselves of the ego’s demands in order to be filled with Higher Purpose. In creative meditation, the mind utilizes visualization, imagination and the power of spiritual will to project energy into higher realms.
· Through spiritual study, we come to recognize higher truth in a way that reverberates in the depths of the soul and catalyzes inner growth. We also learn the spiritual laws that govern human evolution and the principles of mind and soul whose mastery transforms us into co-creators with “the divine builders.”
· Through service, we demonstrate the soul’s recognition of being part of a larger whole and manifest an expanded sense of responsibility—the natural response of the soul to the world in which it dwells.
In the teachings of the Tibetan Master as transmitted by Alice Bailey, the bridge between the human and divine is constructed by developing a “conscious focused attitude” reflective of the higher nature—through meditation, contemplation and related practices. Over time, the aspirant cultivates the ability to:
· Hold the mind steady in the light;
· Orient the inner focus to the true Self, and lift the consciousness upward toward the reality of the spiritual kingdom; and
· Envision, affirm and realize the inner bridge linking soul and form.
Through such practices we gradually learn to live in conscious relationship with the true Self—the Soul. As the path unfolds and the soul enters the foreground of consciousness, and as we reach out in service to others, spiritual guidance becomes a facet of life. Over time there develops a span of consciousness within the human psyche that allows the mind to be impressed by the forces that overshadow spiritual seekers and guide the evolution of consciousness on Earth.
These forces reside at the upper end of the bridge in consciousness—in the higher realms of mind, soul, and spirit. They are known collectively as the Spiritual Hierarchy of our planet or the Guides of the Race. Their task is to infuse the minds of advanced human beings, able to receive spiritual impression, with vision and inspiration that serves the unfolding Plan of evolution. These higher impressions imbue the human mind with greater understanding of the goals and purposes of our Planetary Logos, the Lord of our World, fostering awareness of the part that each can play in manifesting divine purpose on Earth.
Nancy Seifer and Martin Vieweg
[July 2010]
[2] For these quotes, the authors wish to acknowledge “Divine Inspiration and Art,” an article by Max Lieberman and Michael McFadden in Knowledge of Reality Magazine, Issue #9 (undated).
[3] Time magazine, July 5, 2010, p. 46.
[4] From an essay that appeared in the Gary Indiana Gazette, 1911, quoted in “Using Your Quantum Brain to Connect to the World,” by Irwin Laszlo in The Huffington Post, 3.17.10.
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