Effects of the Awakening:
The effects of the awakening and enlightenment of the mind were inevitable; effects which the Hierarchy was fully aware would happen. But notwithstanding all the deep diversity in thinking, leading to horrendous conflicts, wars and bloodshed, what stood out as more significant to the Hierarchy was the release of the power of the mind itself. The human mind was finally free to roam in all directions, both inward and outward.
The work of two other members of this small group—Copernicus and Christopher Columbus—also dealt a blow to the old established lines of orthodoxy. The expeditions of Columbus and his discovery of the new world in 1492 are well known. Even though he was mistaken in his belief that he had found a new way to the East, he did immediately enlighten most of the skeptics that the world is indeed round. And the impact this discovery had on the consciousness of many Europeans was significant. He opened the way for other explorers such as Balboa and his discovery of the Pacific Ocean, Cortez, Vasco de Gama and Magellan’s epic voyage in 1522, of circumnavigating the globe and providing evidence of the full size of the earth.
These expeditions of course opened up many new avenues for trade and the import and export of new foods, plants, animals and the vast mineral wealth of gold and silver. But this expanded knowledge of a new continent to explore and exploit had both good and bad results. On the bad side, these explorers brought their arrogant and selfish attitudes with them. The powerful energy of the awakening mind impacted the lower personality nature and served only to stimulate and strengthen the selfish tendencies of powerful individuals leading to exploitation, killing, rape and plundering of the natives of this new world. This was an inevitable result of new energy impacting imperfect human beings.
On the good side, however, these wide-ranging explorations provided a new sense of the geographic wholeness of the world. And from the hierarchical point of view it was a new attempt to anchor this idea of wholeness and oneness, if only then at the physical level, in human consciousness. This realization of wholeness and oneness still lies ahead as the primary objective for humanity today; but humanity has made much progress in this direction, thanks to the expansive work of these early pioneers and forerunners, in spite of their sometimes cruel behavior.
A similar expansion occurred with the theories and discoveries of Copernicus (1473—1543), Kepler (1571—1630) and Galileo (1564—1642). Through the work of these pioneers, the long held entrenched ideas of the earth-centered universe began finally to evolve. For centuries the Church had held to the theories of Ptolemy regarding the perfection of the circle and the sphere and applied these theories to the paths of the sun and the stars. But there were problems with these theories. As more accurate observations were made in the 16th century (thanks to the telescope), many long accepted assumptions were questioned. New ideas were posed. It was during this long period of discussions in the mid-16th century that Copernicus suggested the idea of a sun-centered universe. This theory did remove some of the old assumptions, but it also created other problems regarding the position of Man in the planetary system. If Man was no longer at the center, where was he? It was during this period of questioning that human thinking reached new heights. But evolution proceeds slowly and often painfully. Copernicus’ theory of a sun-centered system didn’t cause an immediate revolution, but it did sow the seeds for much further growth in the future. One who tended and watered this new planting was Galileo.
(to be continued)
