THE GREAT INVOCATION I

[Guest guest]

continuation..........

 

How to

Use the Invocation

Meditation, prayer and affirmation

are all used in voicing the Great Invocation. It can be done in two

ways:

1. Taking the whole of the Invocation

as a subject for meditation.

2. Pausing after each verse and

meditating on it.

 

Meditation

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.

Prayer

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.

Affirmation

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.

[From the Achieves of Alice .A.

Beily]

 

Continus 2mrw .........

 

Regards

Bharathi.A