New Field of Life

Party, club or interest group: all group processes have, as we can understand, their origin in and around the personality, and groups obviously are, to a certain extent, reflections of their individual members. However, in all times, there have been exceptions to this rule. Then the motivation and goal to form a group were not found at the level of this nature.

These exceptions stem from the fact that human beings are not only thinking, natural beings, but also spiritual beings. When people become aware of this and accept its consequences, this duality will also be expressed in their community.

 We would like to describe the combination of personalities, focused on the liberating path, as a ‘community of likeminded ones’. The aim of such a community is the manifestation of the original human being, intended by God and the genesis of the spirit-soul community. In many places of the New Testament, these two aspects and the bridge between them are clearly pointed out. The Bible refers to this community of likeminded people with phrases such as:

‘May God grant you… to be unanimous of the same mind, after the example of Christ.’

‘Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.’

‘Be of one mind… and the God of love and peace will be with you.’

The following is said with regard to the aim, the spiritual aspect, the spirit-soul community: 

‘… that they may all be one, even as you, Father, in me, and I in you;  that they also may be in us…’

 ‘… that they may become perfectly one…’

 ‘For where two or three are gathered in my name (focused, of one mind), there am I (Jesus, the soul aspect) in the midst of them.’

 This emphasises the bridge between the two states.

 The spiritual goal of the community of the likeminded  The church, exemplified in the New Testament, is therefore a community of likeminded people who focus on what is spiritual in the opportunities offered to them by nature. This enables the spirit to become active in the group as in a temple, and gradually to bring spirit-soul unity nearer. In this way, a new activity can become active in society through the members of the group. This is why Paul could write: ‘Do you not know that you are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?’

 This image of the twofold community confronts us with a few questions. Is such a group really necessary for an individual who wants to walk the liberating path? Does the formation of a group not carry a great risk? Does a group have advantages? We would like to find answers to these questions. We see a community composed of many personalities who do not in any way differ from the rest of the world, but inwardly the members are attuned to their soul and spiritual goal: the birth of the new soul human being and the realisation of the inner temple of God.

 ‘What are we, compared to the Light of the spirit! Yet, we are attracted by the Gnosis on the basis of the power of the rose in our heart blood, also that which is unlike the Gnosis. The unlike is repelled in a persistent, serious attempt to become like the Gnosis. In this way, the necessary rotation of forces, the great wheel of genesis, is set in motion. In the powerfield, a metabolism takes place, by which new gnostic possibilities are released. An important change occurs. The radiation of the magnetic body of the group begins to show signs of this development, and it is evident that the group is seized and propelled by an ever-greater force, because some gnostic intentions and functions manifest themselves in the magnetic system of the group.

Then we may speak of an electromagnetic radiation field of the Gnosis in the nascent spiritual school.’

J van Rijckenborgh, The Gnosis in Present-day Manifestation, Part III, chapter 4

The ‘challenge’ of the community  Through the intense link with the nature of opposites, which everyone carries inwardly, a very multifaceted palette of human properties, found everywhere in the world, develops in the community. There are both hangers-on as well as people who are striving for distinction and power. When we consider this superficially, we may be inclined to agree with Herman Hesse’s observation: ‘The drive to the collective, caused by laziness of our thinking and the need for rest, is the human being’s worst enemy and spoils him.’ In this case, all kinds of problems of the personality lead us to forget the, once so clearly experienced, purpose assigned to our inner being by the inner God.

This may cause the place of the individual in the group to be entirely occupied by an ‘invented’ ego of the collective. You hide behind it and thus believe you have brought yourself into safety. An imposed unanimity of thinking, feeling and acting is a tremendous, often fatal, mistake. Then an idealised, common ego develops that gives the impression of something higher than you are or can be yourself. Such a collective is the result of an ill-considered striving and is far removed from the soul community. Such a collective is filled with a vital power, rising up from the subconscious and possibly violent and dangerous, because it resists the conscious and free development of the soul which was, after all, the primary goal.

In such an atmosphere, group narcissism thrives, and we see that some people claim privileges. We also see a sense of superiority with regard to other people asserting itself, and we often see religious fanaticism flare up.

Interactions with the powerfield  As is shown in other articles of this issue of the Pentagram, every community of likeminded people causes the development of a magnetic powerfield, attracting people who are yearning for the paths of this powerfield. Initially, this powerfield intensifies the positive as well as the negative aspects of personality and character, but for this very reason, self-knowledge can subsequently rapidly broaden and deepen. Simultaneously, the increased vibration, reflecting the ideal in an enhanced way, creates the possibility for the members to elevate themselves and banish wrong concepts. In a pure powerfield, we observe very strong changes in everyone who is wholeheartedly participating in it.

However, before we are able to wholly perceive the actual task of the field and become acquainted with it, we seek a deeper access in heart and soul, open ourselves to it in love, and indeed, the moment arrives that we totally surrender to it.

The actual dangers of being a member of a group can never be fought from the outside or by not participating in it. It is the very task of the members of the group to see and neutralise these dangers. This is a very decisive step, a step we would never be able to take individually!

The condition for this step is the longing of the soul to be allowed to share in the wisdom and love of God, the branch, the trunk of the tree, from which it once sprang. A life focused entirely on one’s self, obstructs this. This is why it is man’s goal to overcome his narcissism, to see the great coherence with the universal life again, and to experience it profoundly, as the teachers of all great religions explain to us.

 This involves considerable consequences for the whole group. Everyone learns ever better to understand that we, as personalities, are not essential. As long as we claim our happiness and are longing for progress, emotionally, mentally or in whatever way, we remain bogged down in our I-centred longing. A spiritual movement cannot be formed on the basis of the personality alone. The power and the inner glow of true longing, as aspects of the soul, will bring the liberating Light nearer.

The aim of an awakened group unity is to create the best conditions in which the human being can let go of the concepts that still determine his life, and instead allow the Light of the pure, divine will and its love to flow into him freely. The power and insight, released in the community of likeminded ones, enable the members to dissociate from the limitations of the I-consciousness, and to begin fulfilling their true task of life.

Surrender as key  Personality conflicts exist in any community, but there is also a common goal that can keep the group together, even under the hardest conditions. In addition, not only the vibration level, but also the quality of the powerfield will, at a certain moment, attune themselves to similar energies: the Light energy from the original life! Then the powerfield acquires an independent sphere of action and a Light field is formed, as J van Rijckenborgh explains in The Gnosis in Present-day Manifestation.

The Light field helps everyone abundantly. It is, after all, more durable and incomparably stronger than anything a single person might be able to accomplish. Together, the members, friends as to the Light, maintain the link with the Light, because they realise that the strength and the uninterrupted flow of Light power depend on their willingness to be open, without any reservations, to the changes that the Light requires of them. Step by step, they give up their desires, sorrows, tensions and conceptions. Their ‘remuneration’ is that they will in this way be liberated from illusions, pains, images and unrealistic expectations. Thus they receive the capacity to see their purpose of life clearly again; and then they are also able to entrust themselves to the Light field. In this way, the soul community forms a new fatherland for those who have become strangers in this nature.

interaction  Let us cast a closer look at the analogy between natural human being and spirit-soul human being, between the community of likeminded ones and the spirit-soul community. The path to the super-consciousness leads to the rebirth of the spirit-soul through the victory over the (lower) self. By beholding the incomparable glory of the eternal nucleus again, though latent, the human being is able to give up the transient personality. Together, the group walks the same path to the goal, in accordance with the requirement: ‘Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.’

In these common efforts, the group, with its aspects of both nature orders, is invaluable and currently even an indispensable help. Both fields maintain a lively interaction, by which the high, serene field of the Gnosis influences the entire nature through people, and therefore not only their own community, but the whole of humanity. This is why a sincere and lively interaction between the members of the group and the lives of all people is necessary. Striving for a lively interaction, at all levels, will certainly facilitate access to the powerfield.

The ‘harvest for the new field of life’, of which we often speak in the spiritual school, is not the entrance into an elitist group, but the common construction of that new field of life! It is sometimes the simplest people, who have kept their loving nature active despite anything that happened to them, and who helped build the new field of life. Anyone who walks this path, recognises a brother or sister under any circumstances. As to its essence, the spirit-soul is absolutely one with every other soul. That is the glory of the great soul community, the universal gnostic chain.

‘Who was Abel? A shepherd. […] Who were the apostles? Poor, despised, illiterate fishermen. And who were they that believed their preaching? The poor and meaner sort of people. The scribes were the executioners of Christ, who cried out: Crucify him. Who were they that in all ages of the Church of Christ professed it most faithfully? The poor, despised people, who shed their blood for the sake of Christ. But who were they that falsified and adulterated the right, pure Christian doctrine, and always fought against and opposed it? The scribes, popes, cardinals, bishops and great men. And why did the world follow after them? Because they had great respect and lived stately in the world. Thus is human nature. Who purged the pope’s greediness of money, his idolatry, and deceit out of the churches in Germany? A poor, despised monk. […] What is yet hidden? The true doctrine of Christ? No, but the philosophy and deep ground of God; the heavenly bliss, the revelation of the creation of angels, the horrible fall of the devil, through whom evil was generated, the creation of this world, the deep ground and mystery of man, and of all creatures in this world. […] This shall be revealed in great simplicity and humility […] so that men shall behold and enjoy the perfection, and move in the pure, deep and brilliant knowledge of God. Therefore, before this happens, the dawn of the day or morning redness shall arise, by which one may approach the coming day.’


Jakob Boehme, Aurora: The dawning of the day in the East, 1613, chapter IX

© Lectorium Rosicrucianum 2008.

From Pentagram No 4, 2008