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Within the past ten years the peoples of many nations have had to change from provincial thinking to a world-wide state of mind. The conditions generated by the second World War have compelled international interchange, so that the intermingling of ideas, ideals, customs, and religious traditions has helped to break down barriers of race, creed and color distinctions. Nations, instead of being merely something on a map, have become human beings, with fears and sufferings, hopes and aspirations — even as you and I!
Not satisfied with these mental expansions, people are now becoming more closely acquainted with the heavens. The astronomical advances are breaking through to new frontiers. Even those outside of scientific circles, such as college students, teenagers, the small fry too, are becoming increasingly aware of the "air," as well as of the Universe of which we are so vital a part. Through television, science fiction and other media, we are learning to extend the inner eye toward "other mansions." A spiritual curiosity has projected us from Earth via a mental air-lift into the depths of Space, so that we are not only becoming terrestrially conscious, but cosmically minded.
All these changes inner and outer would indicate that civilization is at a crossroads: witnessing the end of a cycle, perhaps the final death throes of the Dark Ages; and the beginning of another — the birth of an enlightened age. Could it be that some great evolutionary change of the spirit is indeed at work?
For many ages Man has slowly evolved toward new spiritual levels, but of a sudden this process is now gaining momentum. This in itself causes conflict between those who are in accord with the new life-currents, and those who want to hold back and remain within the old familiar boundaries.
Scientists and philosophers are now compelled to form a new vocabulary to explain their fast-changing concepts. Among other terms we hear of "fields of energy" — applied to the heavenly bodies, including our own Milky Way System and the Island Universes. Each is a field of energy, formed of subordinate and co-ordinate fields. The conclusion is that the whole Universe is one vast field of energy composed of millions of minor fields, all being interconnected by varying patterns of living wave-structures.
Another school of thought, growing in popularity in philosophical circles, says that everything in Nature from an electron to an island universe is the corporeal manifestation or outer expression of a living entity — a living center, which is self-sustaining, self-sufficient and composed of a definite form or substance; and that in the kingdoms below the human, the entity possesses only potential mentality, whereas in the human is a more evolved mentality with spiritual potentials. It is to attain future perfection that all entities either unconsciously or consciously are wending their way, spiritual evolution being mankind's next frontier.
This groping in the lower kingdoms is plainly evident, but man seems too often totally unaware of his potentials and of the various vortexes or fields of energy he can "live in." As a whole we live much of the time in a great sea of mental emotionalism, this field being commonly known as the human soul. Look around the globe, and the outpouring of this energy is easy to follow, for its attributes and its works create most of the suffering humanity is today undergoing.
This idea of the person being a "field of energy" is arresting. It ties into the scientific idea that matter and energy are two aspects of the one Reality; that matter can become very ethereal, changing into energy, but that it can never be destroyed. Pursuing the thought further, we can see that if man is a field of energy, composed of varying grades of matter-energy substances, then this "field" must be made up of subordinate fields, coordinated into one living unit; and that man through his vast inner resources or energic fields is constantly growing, changing, ever creating. Whether those 'creations' will improve his life and that of others, or be of a destructive nature, depends upon which field of energy he lives in and which quality of spirit or matter is particularly active.
Man is capable of creating world-wide chaos, wars, destruction and death, even to the extent of wiping out whole civilizations. In another field he is capable of utilizing his inventive genius for eliminating the burdens of the world, and raising life into one of peace and harmony. Man might well be called a human television or radio, with several channels and centers of energy, the currents running through varying in strength and quality, and the daily 'program' depending upon which channel the individual uses, and to which inner station he 'tunes in.'
As a mere personality, man is greatly concerned with himself. His activities center around "me and mine" — the "field of energy" of his personal ego. Its theme song is "my home, my child, my ideas, my religion, my country" — the motif repeating itself in all of life's activities, in the individual, in groups and in nations, creating a chain-reaction of world-wide misery and havoc. This restricting and petty side of man fights vigorously against change. But such resistance against progress causes great upheavals; and when new ideas — scientific or religious — conflict with old outmoded ones, the effects in our present cycle are felt internationally.
There are other "fields of energy" within man capable of far greater achievements. The human soul, the seat of the mind, being dual, its lower emotional aspect often called the Personality, is usually limited and selfish. In the higher levels, however, where the soul is in contact with spiritual energies, it rises above the emotional field, with power to control the lower if given a chance. This is the Individuality, the higher human soul, the "house" of the real man, the "field of energy" in which each individual should endeavor to live. This mental-spiritual energy is beginning to manifest itself. It is the evolutionary "frontier" mankind is now approaching, the voice of the truly human Self with its rational and altruistic thoughts, speaking in ever more forceful terms. Possessing the power of choice, it manifests itself through conscience, sympathy and brotherhood.
We see this spiritual force operating and making its impact on the world through our great humanitarians, statesmen, scientists and religionists who are pointing to a better way of life, and through their work helping to carry the human race into wider areas of thinking and living. The more we can live in the ranges of the enlightened mind, with its spiritualized patterns of thought, the easier will it be for all men to do likewise. The energies of the Spirit are fully manifest only in those rare individuals such as Gautama the Buddha, Krishna and Jesus — "By their fruits shall ye know them."
In this changing cycle, when old forms and cherished modes of thought are dying and new ones being born, it behooves each one of us to examine more closely the "field of energy" in which we live and then make the attempt to live in the higher reaches of our nature. The attributes of the Spiritual are self-forgetfulness, compassion, forgiveness, a great love not only for all humanity, regardless of race, creed, color or location on earth, but for all that breathes. By living within this "field of energy," life becomes rich and full. No longer merely terrestrial in outlook, man can look up to the heavens and sense his Oneness with the All.
Does this seem an impossible goal? Of course not! No one can attain these heights overnight, but anyone can make a beginning. Before retiring we can review the thoughts and actions of the day, and ask ourselves a few pertinent questions: "How did I react to this or that problem? Did I meet every situation with a mature mind, a generous, and a wise mind? Who carried the day — the spiritual, the higher mental, or the emotional personal ego?" The analysis of day-to-day experiences in a healthy, honest manner eventually strengthens our power of choice, purifies our motives, until the future daily incidents will be approached with maturity and judgment.
This is an ancient well-tried method, advocated by the philosophers of all ages, and may truly become an individual "Day of Judgment" — the first step toward self-improvement and a self-directed destiny. If persisted in, one becomes keenly aware of the various inner levels of living and thinking, and what is more, aware of an inner observer. Who or what does the analyzing? Who or what does the weighing, balancing and judging? It is the Divine fountainhead, the 'parent' of all our being, the supreme agent at the heart of man. It is the Knower, the Perceiver, the "Father" within, guarding, guiding and holding all the "children" egos together by a divine force we call Compassion.
In the light of present world-wide events and the importance of each person's contribution thereto we may well ask ourselves — Where do you live?
(From Sunrise magazine, June 1953; copyright © 1953 Theosophical University Press)