Table of Contents

*Introductory Remarks: The Period of Transition. The Present Urgency. A Challenging Opportunity. Seed Groups in the New Age. The Work of the Seed Groups. The Immediate Task The General World Picture: The Causes of the World Difficulty. The Hidden Source of the Outer Turmoil. The Spiritual Trend of Human Destiny. Conflict Between Forces of Ancient Origin. The World Crisis. The Great Invocation-Stanza. One Call to a United Act of Service. The coming World Order. The World Crisis from Hierarchical Viewpoint. The World Crisis Today. The Great Invocation-Stanza. Two Forces Behind the Evolutionary Progress of the Race: The Doctrine of Avatars. The Work of Reconstruction. Practical Steps in the Reconstruction Work. Preparation for Future Activity and Work An Impending Crucial Decision. The Only Way to Victory. The Significance of the Wesak Festival. The Cause of the World Catastrophe. The Interlude Between War and Peace. An Imminent Spiritual Event. A Special Wesak Festival Message. The New World Religion Factors in the World Situation. The Task of Implementing the Will-to-Good. The Cycle of Conferences. An Easter Message..The Great Invocation-Stanza. Three Stages in the Externalisation of the Hierarchy: The Subjective Basis of the New World Religion. The Externalisation of the Ashrams. Hierarchical Preparation at the Wesak Festival. The Return of the Christ. Preparation for the Return of the Christ. Work in the Coming Decades. The Ashrams Concerned at the Coming. Organising the Ashrams into Form on Earth. The Effects of Externalisation. Ashramic Adjustment to Exoteric Living.

About the Author

*Alice A. Bailey, (1880-1949) From her conservative British background, Alice Bailey's life led her in many directions, but always in one direction--towards the time when through drastic personal experience of many kinds she had acquired a synthesis of outlook and understanding, and an absolute conviction that one divine life pervades and animates the one humanity; that the Plan for humanity requires the cooperation and service of trained and dedicated human beings intelligently informed about world affairs, in collaboration with those who form the spiritual Hierarchy, the inner government of the planet. Her life work became an integral part of this synthesis and this realization. Without in the least losing any of her very human qualities and involvement, her soul took up its commitment to her Master,and her personality provided full cooperation in the field of her accepted service. Basically her work developed as a duality--her discipleship service which included the establishment of an esoteric school; and her initially reluctant agreement to work with the Tibetan, Djwhal Khul, in the writing of a series of books presenting the next phase in the continuity of the Ageless Wisdom teaching for the present and the immediate future. An extract from the Tibetan teacher, written in 1934 briefly explains the intent of these teachings: "The books that I have written are sent out with no claim for their acceptance. They may, or may not, be correct, true and useful. It is for you to ascertain their truth by right practice and by the exercise of the intuition. Neither I nor A.A.B. is the least interested in having them acclaimed as inspired writing, or in having anyone speak of them (with bated breath) as being the work of one of the masters. If they present truth in such a way that it follows sequentially upon that already offered in the world teachings, if the information given raises the aspiration and the will-to-serve from the plane of the emotions to that of the mind (the plane whereon the Masters can be found) then they will have served their purpose. If the teaching conveyed calls forth a response from the illumined mind of the worker in the world, and brings a flashing forth of the intuition, then let that teaching be accepted. But not otherwise. If the statements meet with eventual corroboration, or are deemed true under the test of the Law of Correspondences, then that is well and good. But should this not be so, let not the student accept what is said."