The Three Recognitions
Reflections on the Soul, the Divine Plan and
the Spiritual Hierarchy
These four ‘Reflections’ were written by Michael Lindfield, Meditation Groups Inc.(MGI) Board President, and published in the monthly Meditation Mount Newsletter between February and May, 2015.
Time to Shine
A favorite childhood verse of mine by Ibn al ‘Arabi goes like this:
God sleeps in the rock (1st kingdom) Dreams in the plants (2nd kingdom) Stirs in the animals (3rd kingdom) Awakens in humans (4th kingdom)
I believe that it is time to add another line:
And Shines in the realm of Souls (5th kingdom)
There is a magnificent spectrum of divine expression stretching from the dense physical plane all the way to the highest fiery frequency of Divine Will to which we give the name ‘kingdoms’.
Much of this Spectrum goes unregistered by our human senses and so it is not surprising that we are unaware of these ‘invisible realms’ in our everyday activities. So what is the nature of this 5th kingdom, the Realm of Souls?
It has been referred to by different names, such as the Communion of Saints, the Hierarchy, The Masters of Wisdom and the The Illumined Ones. My dear friend Donald Keys called this sphere of consciousness the land of ‘post-graduate humans’. I like his description as it hints at the story of what it takes to inhabit this neighboring level.
A resident of this realm might be described as one who has cleared away all blockages and distortions from within their field so that the personality is fused with the Soul and the Light of the Inner Sun radiates unhindered as a blessing. For me, the 5th kingdom represents the full flowering of the promise held within the heart of humanity.
Meanwhile back on Earth, we inhabitants of the 4th kingdom struggle to master those skills that will help establish right human relations, cultivate non-attachment to form and generally clean up the un-illumined personal patterns and unhelpful behaviors that constitute ‘the shadow’ – the unredeemed aspects of the Self.
We are each enrolled in a vast planetary graduate program and, thankfully, have the guidance of mentors from the Realm of Souls who have successfully traveled the same challenging paths that we presently find ourselves on.
The Ageless Wisdom indicates that a major task for humanity is building a path of consciousness – a ‘rainbow bridge’ – to connect the 4th and the 5th kingdoms so that through this living link a flood of much needed light and love can enter our earthly planes.
It is the power of this Soul light that will dispel the darkness caused by fear and ignorance gripping so much of humanity today. Collectively, we are being called to be ‘Suns of God’ and shine our light in the darkness.
Cooperation and ‘right relations’ with Nature is usually seen as the way in which we wisely use the resources of the planet, how we respect the plants and animals as well as how we treat each other. Maybe it is time to expand our concept to include how we commune and cooperate with the Kingdom of Souls as partners in a great Plan of Light.
Perhaps it is no coincidence that 2015 is the U.N. Year of Light. It is time to shine my friends!
Preparing the Way
Last month in the February ‘Reflections’, we opened the door to exploring what it means for humanity (the Fourth kingdom) to be in “closer communication and cooperation with the Kingdom of Souls” (the Fifth kingdom). This topic naturally raises many questions and concerns that need to be addressed.
It is now fairly common to read about people who have skills as animal communicators or who are adept at conversing with flowers and other inhabitants of the plant kingdom. As part of the gardening team at the Findhorn Community in northern Scotland in the early 1970s, I had first-hand experience of this reality.
Findhorn is famous for its experiment in cooperation between the human, Angelic (Devic) and Nature spirit realms that produced bountiful and larger-than-life vegetables as a demonstration of what is possible
through ‘right relations’.
If we see all these realms as aspects of One Planetary Life then cooperation between the Fourth and the Fifth kingdoms is simply Life communing with Itself in a deeper and more intentional way than ever before.
Closer cooperation between the Kingdom of Souls (often referred to as the Hierarchy) and humanity is therefore a sign of a natural and healthy relationship occurring within an integrated and sentient planetary ecosystem.
So why does this suggestion stir up so much controversy? Here are a couple of possible reasons. From the perspective of the personality any contact with the Kingdom of Souls could for some people seem totally out of reach or even be perceived as total fantasy. Therefore anyone claiming to have made this inner connection might be considered foolish, deluded or spiritually arrogant.
I see this particular attitude as the product of an outdated religious idealization of Deity where God Immanent (“the Christ in me and the Christ in you”) is not recognized and where the individual is perceived as “not worthy to eat the crumbs that fall from the Master’s table.” This false humility (from the soul’s perspective) is a strong thought-form that diminishes the truth of our own Essential Divinity.
We have heard the phrase, “Those who know don’t say and those that say don’t know” and we can appreciate the caution and discernment exercised by the wary aspirant and seeker who does not wish to fall foul of the glamor of self-aggrandizement by naming any possible contact they may sense with the invisible realms.
However, the Tibetan teacher DK has told us that educating the world about the existence of the Hierarchy is a pre-condition and a necessary step in “preparing the way” for the Reappearance of the Coming One (or the Christ Presence).
If this is true, then how can we hope to accomplish this goal and to speak and act with conviction and authenticity without first entering into a living relationship with this field of Loving, Lighted Wisdom that we call the Kingdom of the Soul?
Meditation Mount’s purpose is dedicated to the work of “preparing the way” through the promulgation of the Laws and Principles of the Kingdom of God and by promoting the invaluable role of Creative Meditation as a powerful tool for building a new world together.
We see ourselves as part of a multi-dimensional world-wide project team that includes the ‘seen’ as well as the ‘unseen’ realms of Life.
So what does it mean to each of us to “prepare the way” and what possibly needs activating in our lives so that we can respond wholeheartedly to the call of the soul to serve?
Delivering The Divine Promise
This is the third in a series of reflections (beginning in February 2015) on the opportunity for closer cooperation between the various life-streams (aka kingdoms) that comprise the Life of our Planet.
We have been focusing on the new level of collaboration required between the Fourth Kingdom (Humanity) and the Fifth Kingdom (the Spiritual Hierarchy or Kingdom of Souls) to spark and manifest a vision of a world living in right relationship with itself.
What if we were to view the emerging global coalition of individuals and groups, whose hearts have been opened to the call to build this new world, as creative partners with the Spiritual Hierarchy in the outworking of a deep desire burning within the Heart and Mind of the Creator.
Seen in this new light, each of our group endeavors constitutes interdependent points of expression and diverse aspects of a grand strategy to materialize the beauty of a Divine Dream. This Divine Dream will be achieved through a concerted celebration of ‘splendid multi- formity’ requiring the active participation of every living soul in cooperation with the Subtle Worlds.
Just as the carrot seed contains the pattern and promise of the crunchy carrot so the vision alive in the Planetary Logos contains the pattern and promise of a tangible “heaven on earth”. This pattern is what we refer to as the Divine Plan. Right now it is being streamed to us ‘live’ from the heart of the Kingdom of Souls into the ethers of our collective human consciousness to ignite and mobilize us.
The promise within any seed can only be shown by being sown and grown and, likewise, the Dream of the Logos depends on the creative imagination and labor of humanity to give it shape and substance. It has been said that we are the ‘hands and feet’ of the Kingdom of Souls here on Earth.
Perhaps the joyful call we are sensing is the registering of an inspiration to create a masterpiece that is not confined to canvas or marble but encompasses and utilizes the entire world.
The building of a New Civilization infused with the qualities of the Soul is an artwork of the highest order. The full flowering of this daring vision may take several hundreds or thousands of years to accomplish but the time to sow the seeds and to prepare the soil is definitely now.
Creating the right psychological soil conditions within the human family to receive the fiery Seed of New Possibilities requires the practice of a spiritual horticulture that neutralizes the acidity of criticism and hatred and adds the beneficial and enriching elements of joy, compassion, respect and goodwill.
Through this pragmatic and spiritual approach we are helping to lay the foundations of the desired new world and deliver on the Divine Promise.
Partners in the Plan
The Ageless Wisdom teachings offer us a valuable roadmap and set of navigational instruments for our journey into deeper levels of consciousness and self-awareness. Like each one of us, the sacred eco- system we call Planet Earth is also evolving and seeking to fulfill the light-filled promise of its destiny within the greater Solar Family. Evolving lives within evolving lives within evolving lives.
The Tibetan teacher Master DK explains that three things are required of humanity to create the right psycho-spiritual soil conditions in which the solar seed containing this light-filled planetary promise can germinate and flourish. They are: acceptance of the reality of the Soul, recognition of the Spiritual Hierarchy and the realization of a Divine Plan.
In February we explored the concept of the Kingdom of Souls (aka the Spiritual Hierarchy or fifth kingdom) and put forward the idea that this realm of post-graduate humans represents the full flowering of the promise held within the heart and soul of humanity. It is what we aspire to become as soul-infused personalities.
In March, the statement was made that if we view all the kingdoms of Nature (from the dense visible plane to the refined invisible realms that comprise the full spectrum of existence) as aspects of One Planetary Life, then closer cooperation between humanity and the Spiritual Hierarchy is simply Life communing with Itself in a deeper and more intentional way.
Last month it was suggested that just as the carrot seed contains the pattern and promise of the carrot so the seed of a brighter future held within the Planetary Logos contains the vision and promise of a society that expresses “heaven on earth”. This ‘seed idea’ with its awesome pattern of possibilities is the spiritual architecture of a new world commonly referred to as the Divine Plan.
We know from the Ageless Wisdom teachings that a major task for those who are called to serve this Plan is to help prepare the way for the externalization of the Spiritual Hierarchy and the Reappearance of the Christ. In other words, the work of creating a bridge of resonance that facilitates direct communion and cooperation between humanity and the Kingdom of Souls as well as establishing a fecund field for the emergence and appearance of the Christ Presence that lives within the heart of each person.
One way to assist in the ‘externalization’ is to approach this task as a process of ‘internalization’. By contacting and embodying the qualities and characteristics of the Spiritual Hierarchy, the Presence of the Soul eventually becomes an ‘internalized’ reality within the group consciousness of humanity.
The soul qualities referred to include compassion, wisdom, light, love, joy and goodwill. Once a certain degree of embodiment has been reached then the group field becomes a magnetic point of precipitation for the Plan.
It is not our place to tell another person what they should or should not believe and all we can do is invite each other to reflect on what is true for us in relation to these important topics. In that spirit, let me leave you with a question to ponder:
“What is the true nature of my relationship with the soul, the Spiritual Hierarchy and the Divine Plan and what active part am I possibly being called to play in this great planetary adventure of revelation?”
