‘A WIDER PICTURE OF GLOBAL CONSCIOUSNESS’ - Dominic Dibble - The Lucis Trust

Before I come to my main topic, which concerns the wider picture of global changes in consciousness, and how initiatives such as this one may fit in to this wider picture, I thought I'd say a few words about the organisation which I represent, World Goodwill, for those of you who aren't familiar with our work.

World Goodwill is an international movement, with Headquarters in London, New York and Geneva. It was founded in 1932 as one of the service activities (the other is Triangles) of the Lucis Trust. The way in which it seeks to serve humanity is by establishing right human relationships throughout the world though the use of the power of goodwill. Now you may be thinking that this sounds a rather ambitious remit, and also very broad. It effectively means that World Goodwill strives to be an intelligent generalist, rather than specialising in one or other field of right human relationships, for as we know, there are so many wonderful groups and individuals who serve in this way, seeking to build right relationships in the fields of communications, human rights, environmental sustainability, health, politics, and many other fields, including of course education. If any of you receive our free quarterly Newsletter, you will know that we seek to highlight positive initiatives in all these many areas of human living, and to comment upon their significance. And trough our Forum meetings in London, we invite people who are serving humanity to reflect upon important issues in their particular field. World Goodwill's Newsletter and public meetings are therefore two of the main ways in which we attempt to fulfil our remit: by publicising the thinking of prominent servers, we hope to mobilise the energy of goodwill, a reservoir of potential energy which is very widespread in the human family, and which only needs to be set to work to produce an acceleration in the positive changes which are already emerging; and by searching for the underlying meaning of world events, we hope to give pointers to where and how goodwill can be intelligently applied in order to build a better future for all. Though both these means, and through the other literature which we distribute, we endeavour to communicate a broad, inclusive, spiritual vision of humanities’ future.

The use of the term "spiritual here is not in a specifically religious sense; rather, it means everything which lies beyond the point of present achievement of human consciousness, which embodies the vision and which urges us on to higher goals. In this sense, all those who are striving to serve others by working for a better world are doing truly spiritual work, whether in science, economics, politics, religion, art, the media or in the field with which this particular gathering is concerned, education. The fact that there are so many now working in this way is inspiring evidence of a great spiritual renaissance which is just beginning in the human family; and there is a widespread sense of anticipation that a new spiritual revelation is at hand, a revelation which will give a new and unified meaning and purpose to Humanity s striving for betterment. As Rabbi Herman Schaalman says,

"Something new is waiting to be born. We are experiencing the birth pangs of a new age, of a new hope. We are present at that sacred moment when new life is about to emerge from the womb of the past. What struggles to arise out of the past might become our shared future of mutual hearing and understanding, of mutual openness, of unprecedented willingness to acknowledge and accept others in all their differentness. The questions which address themselves to each of us are: Will we recognize the mystery of this possibility? Will we be open to its opportunities: Are we willing to help it be pulled into the light of tomorrow? Will we turn away preoccupied or cynical, or will we step forward to assist? These are not merely questions. They are the agenda of tomorrow, they are the exciting, irresistible invitation to each of us to abandon pre-judgement and stubborn refusals to deeply hear one another. They are the programme and the means to make that leap of faith with each other which will move humanity and our earth into the new era of reconciliation and hope."

Because the times are extra-ordinary they summon us to be extra-ordinary, to reach into the depths of our souls. In the words of poet Christopher Fry "Affairs are now soul size." We are entering a new age, where the life of the soul, the inner, subjective, higher self, will be the main conditioning factor, and not, as before, the desires of the outer man. In the popular media, the term "New Age" seems to be associated mainly with psychological exploration in various different directions by the individual, but it is much more than that, and to place the focus on the individual is to miss its wider significance. in fact, the New Age is a spiritual movement within human consciousness of unparalleled depth and scope, and a major aspect of this movement is the amazing rise in group consciousness. It is now groups who are leading the way in creating and promoting the many different plans for world betterment. It is striking that while these plans may use different terminologies, and propose a variety of measures, the vast majority of them are implicitly founded on the recognition that humanity is essentially an undivided whole, a subjective unity which is expressed through diverse forms.

In fact, the many groups and individuals seeking to establish different aspects of human unity, such as world peace or environmental sustainability, are themselves a wonderful expression of that same unity. A beautiful symbol of this is the growing number of group alliances of various kinds which are being formed, for it is the note of goodwill which characterises these groups, and their shared recognition of unity, which allows the fluid and dynamic creation of mutually beneficial relations.

Indeed, this initiative provides a good example of this co-operation between groups, since it is being cosponsored by four organisations, and brings together representatives of many more groups. And an outstanding characteristic of nearly all of the groups which are emerging at the moment is the emphasis which they place upon serving their fellow men and women, by meeting genuine needs. The subject of finding ways to meet genuine needs is now one of vital interest to people throughout the world, and the answer differs in different contexts. Clearly, in much of the developing world, there is still an urgent necessity to find ways of feeding, clothing and housing large numbers of people, and many groups exist to serve this particular purpose. We know that if there were sufficient political goodwill and imagination in this field, it is a problem which could be resolved without great difficulty; which is why it is so important that there are so many groups working in this area, both "on-the-ground" and as lobbyists, giving politicians both a practical helping hand and also a continual nudge in the right moral direction.

In the industrialised countries, the question of needs is rather different. Many of you are probably familiar with Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, where he presents the idea that once the basic physical needs are met, higher needs then arise. Or to put it succinctly, "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." And perhaps the major avenue for meeting emotional, mental and spiritual needs is through education, using the term in its broadest sense.

The key point is that, no matter in what context these many groups are serving others, whether they ale delivering physical food or spiritual, their commitment to humanity is one and the same - they are subjectively of one mind and heart, and thus can truly be said to form one world group, which has many outer departments and sub-divisions, but is one in spirit. The term which Alice Bailey, the founder of the Lucis Trust, used for this group is the new group of world servers - they are definitely new, and are focused on serving all the people of the world, without distinction of class, creed or colour. It is a group which has no formal outer organisation, no membership lists or officers; the only requirement of membership is a subjective orientation towards the good of all humanity, which then works out through the particular skills of the individuals involved, dealing with the specific circumstances of their environment. It is therefore a wonderfully flexible tool for meeting the whole spectrum of needs of every sort of person; and indeed of the animal and plant kingdoms as well.

This brings us to the purpose of this workshop and the series of workshops which is planned. The importance of putting young people in touch with nature in a meaningful way seems unquestionable, for the potential educative effects of the experience are multi-dimensional. The mantram of sustainability which we hear repeated so often is one which only has true resonance in the heart of a person who has a living experience of that which needs to be sustained. So if young people are to be prepared for living in these extra- ordinary times, what better way than to deliberately lift them out of the ordinary, out of the mechanised and largely inorganic setting of the world inside the doors of the city, and to transplant them into a setting where they are confronted with that which ultimately sustains all human life.

Perhaps one reason why it seems so important to do this while human beings are still young is that this is a time when sensitivity is naturally high, for in this new context, there is the opportunity to absorb essential values wordlessly, almost through the skin. What sort of values are these? For example, if the adventure is taking place in a forested area, there is the opportunity to encounter a sense of sacredness, of the immanence of divinity. Such is the impact which a silent forest grove may have. And careful observation of the behaviour of the birds, animals and plants encountered can lead to an intuitive recognition of the interconnection of all life, an intuition which can be given intellectual form through later study of ecological writings. If the adventure is in a mountainous region, the young person may become aware of the concept of time in a new way, with the seeming everlastingness of the rocks opening up the prospect of eternity. The grandeur of the scenery can also help to awaken a sense of the numinous, and a truer sense of proportion regarding human achievement. If, on the other hand, the adventure is at or near the sea, there is the chance for the young person to sense the rhythmic pulse of life, and the inevitability of change. All of these are values which nature itself teaches, to those who are willing to listen.

The fact of being in extra-ordinary circumstances can also help people to re-evaluate what they had previously taken for granted. The importance of being warm, dry, and of having a warm meal, no matter how humble its ingredients, suddenly emerges with clarity. This can help people to recognise the virtues of simplicity, and of the smooth co-operation which may be required to produce comfortable living conditions when one s resources are limited. This in turn may lead the more thoughtful to reflection upon the living conditions of those sections of humanity whose resources are severely limited, often by circumstances completely beyond their control, thus awakening compassion.

These are only some of the values which an outdoor experience can bestow, and I'm sure that you have already touched upon these and others. I'd just like to conclude by wishing this initiative every success in training those who can lead children into the presence of such important values, so that they in their turn can bring these values into the life of society as a whole, thus building a better world for all.