Initiates, in the past, were admitted into the world of ideas, of intuitional perception or of buddhic awareness; their task was to transform these ideas into ideals; thus, they presented spiritual goals and hierarchical objectives to the race, this being their major form of service. Today, owing to the pronounced development of mankind, the accepted disciples of the world, those who have undergone the first initiation (and their name is Legion), and the initiates of higher degree, have objectives which their mental unfoldment has made possible; they can be admitted into divine areas of consciousness which are conditioned and brought into being, not by divine ideas but by the divine Will (their perception of that Will will be according to the degree of the initiatory control). Their task is therefore to perceive the Plan which is the hierarchical mode of implementing the divine Will, plus the Purpose which is perceived by the Heads of the Hierarchy. They have also to undertake to see that that Plan becomes a factual expression upon the physical plane and a part of the recognized consciousness of humanity as a whole. This, being a relatively new unfoldment, has not yet made the necessary headway, largely owing to the planetary Karma and the appalling situation with which humanity has confronted itself. I would have you here note my phrasing.

It will be obvious to you therefore that, owing to the changed polarization of the disciples of the world, the entire quality, processes and modes of activity of the Hierarchy have undergone and are undergoing change. The nature or quality of the disciples being admitted into hierarchical participation necessarily condition the rhythm and the keynote of the Hierarchy at any given time. At the same time, nothing hitherto developed or gained is ever lost, and the quality of devotion is still potently present; enrichment proceeds and, if I may use such an inadequate phrase, the perception of all within the Hierarchy is tremendously enhanced; areas of the divine perception, clothing divine purpose, are steadily being revealed.

Revelation is not only the prerogative and reward of the attaining initiate, but it is increasingly taking on new forms and fresh outlines for the Masters who have attained - a process made possible by the higher mental perception of the incoming disciples. Group work, group reaction and group possibilities are carried to their highest point of expression within the Hierarchy. I want you to consider this with care, and not regard the Hierarchy as a static point of love and mediatory activity, as is so often the attitude of the disciple. The evolutionary process conditions the Hierarchy as it conditions humanity and all else in the manifesting universe. There is, however, an evolutionary interplay which - in this era and at this time of crisis - is producing effects in relationship.

Initiation is no longer regarded essentially as the moving of a human being who has accepted certain disciplines and made certain self-determined progressive advancement in consciousness into closer contact with the Hierarchy and a group within the Hierarchy; that angle of it will rapidly become a thing of the past. It is the moving forward of an entire group of spiritually-minded disciples and initiates into new areas of the divine consciousness and into a closer rapport with the Mind of the Lord of the World. This the disciples and initiates will do together, according to their degree and their point in spiritual evolution. I refer not here to the evolution of the form. Three things will thereby be brought about:

1. A closer linking of the three divine centers (Shamballa, the Hierarchy and Humanity) so that the flow of divine energy will be increasingly unimpeded, and Purpose, Plan and their Precipitation upon the physical plane will be facilitated.
2. A far more powerful Hierarchy and one much more closely linked to Humanity by the principle of intelligence - implementing the love principle - and far more en rapport with the Purpose, which is the dynamic focus of all planetary energizing, development and evolutionary growth.
3. A fusion or establishing of relationship within humanity itself, producing right human relations and a consequent integration into the Hierarchy. This will be in the nature of a mass initiation and will be made possible by the relatively new process of group initiation, growing out of the slow method of individual initiation. [353]

This is the relatively new spiritual technique, and it is a technique accepted by initiates and disciples of all degrees in all three divine centers. Like everything else that happens upon the subjective plane of human living, a major distortion of the process and of the new technique will appear in some form or other in human affairs and constitute a great obstruction (apparently and temporarily) to human progress. It will be in the nature of a sidetrack and a glamor, brought into impelling and compelling use by the enemies of humanity and by those who work constantly against the Forces of Light. Today, this distortion can be seen demonstrating in all totalitarian countries; the individual is not free and his fusion with the state and his progress as a state-absorbed entity - deprived of the right of free choice and forced through fear and penalty to relinquish his own self-directed life - is a growing menace to mankind.