It must be remembered that the Science of Invocation and Evocation is a reciprocal effort. Humanity could not be invocative were it not that the Spiritual Hierarchy (and by that term I include both Shamballa and the planetary Hierarchy) is evoking the spirit of man. The invocative cry of humanity is evoked by the invocation or Sound of the spiritual hierarchies. Man's responsibility, however, is to invoke at this time the Lords of Liberation and the Spirit of Peace. These are the Beings which have the power to raise humanity, once the race of men has assumed the right [77] attitude. They correspond to the group, in the third degree of Masonry, who raise the Master. Their response to the cry of mankind is largely, but not wholly, dependent upon the quality of that cry.

I wonder if I could make the problem of invocation clearer to you if I were to suggest that the words, "issue forth from the deep center of the group's clear cold light," have a meaning both for the individual initiate and for all groups of disciples and all Ashrams? The use of the words, "clear cold light," is deeply symbolical. The clarity of that light indicates the function of the soul, as its great light enables the initiate to see light. The coldness of that light refers to the light of substance, which cannot be warmed into a glow by desire or by the heat of passion, but is now and at last only responsive to the light of the soul. It is therefore cold to all that limits and hinders, and this state of personality consciousness has to be realized at the very center of man's being; there the clear light of the soul and the cold light of the personality are united in the deepest conscious point of the disciple's nature, at the extreme point of withdrawal (for which all concentration exercises and meditation processes have been a scientific preparation). Then, through the produced tension, the invocative cry can go forth with power and effectiveness. The same is true of the disciple's group or of any group of true and selfless aspirants. There can come a moment in the life of the group when the blended cold light of the contributing personalities and the clear light of their souls can so function that united invocative cry will evoke a response. That cry will ever be concerned with the selfless service of the group - a service which, under the Plan, they are seeking to render to humanity.

As we continue our study of Rule III, I am myself struck with the oppositeness of its words in connection with this particular historical cycle and in relation to the truths which are slowly taking form in the consciousness of humanity. New truths (and by that I mean truths which are new to the most advanced thinkers and which are only [78] dimly sensed by the most advanced esotericist) are hovering on the horizon of the human mind. The ground is being prepared for the sowing of this new seed and the stage set for the emergence of new Actors in the great drama of the unfolding revelation of Deity.

As a result of the interplay of these two, humanity eventually appears in time and space. Humanity is the result of all subhuman forms of expression and experience and of the activity of superhuman Beings. These superhuman [79] Beings are the product of past evolutionary systems and are in Themselves the sum total of the great Divine Sacrifice as it focuses itself in our planetary life. Having passed through all previous phases of existence and perfected the consciousness aspect in Themselves through human experiences, They have transcended all that man can know and all states of consciousness with which he is or may be in the future familiar, and are now expressing a phase of divinity of which he can know naught. They Live. They are energy itself, and in Their totality They form the "bright center lying far ahead."