Did you ever fire up your imagination to imagine what the world would be like today if the Principle of Sharing was in firm control of human consciousness; that the sense of sharing was a strong motivating force; that selfishness was disappearing and being replaced by selflessness and universal service? This is a bit hard to imagine given the power of corruption ruling today, especially in the fields of business and politics. But just fire up your mind for a few minutes and try to imagine a future in which there exists a new process called the “principle of barter and exchange” (Externalisation of the Hierarchy p. 580) becoming wide spread throughout the world. Barter is the exchange of goods or services. A barter exchange can be an organization whose members contract with each other (or with the barter exchange) to exchange property or services. In essence, bartering involves the provision of one good or service from another party. A simple example of a barter arrangement is a carpenter who builds a fence for a farmer. If the farmer grows vegetables, he will share them with the carpenter. Or another example: a farmer may exchange a bushel of wheat for a pair of shoes from a shoemaker. In each case there was no money involved. Wouldn’t this be an example of an increase in sensitivity of human consciousness in the future?
And yet, this quality of sensitivity to sharing is beginning to bloom; it is a planted seed in human consciousness that is rising to the surface. This is happening because sharing is a spiritual principle. As Alice Bailey identifies it: “A principle is that which, macrocosmically speaking, is being developed upon each plane of our seven planes—the seven subplanes of the cosmic physical plane. It is the germ or the seed on each subplane which embodies some form of sensitivity; it is that to which the bodies, as they evolve, find that they can respond. A principle is a germ of awareness, carrying all the potentiality of full consciousness on some particular level of divine activity. It is that which makes knowledge and conscious response to environment possible; it is that which connotes a sequential and ‘unrolling’ sensitive activity, resulting in divine understanding, possible and inevitable (Esoteric Healing pp. 611-612). Sharing, then, is a seed of divine understanding, and each one of us carries this seed which, as it grows, will develop our sense of divine sensitivity.
All of the big mistakes which humanity made in the past leading to physical wars and conflicts were made due to this lack of spiritual sensitivity. But this is beginning to change; and a big change has come about because of a building of right human relations on a world wide scale, like the founding of the United Nations, the building of NATO between the U.S., Britain and European countries, plus economic relations between the U.S., Japan, Australia, New Zealand and all other western Pacific nations. And why did all this happen in the beginning of the 20th century? Mainly because of new spiritual energies pouring in upon our planet which are affecting human consciousness and thus making humanity more sensitive to the principle of sharing. “This Principle of Sharing…is under consideration and will some day be the governing factor in the economic life of the world” (The Rays and the Initiations, p. 613).
There are, of course, other powerful energies now pouring in upon our planet, like the energies of Aquarius, which will continue for the next 2000 years. And thanks to the great changes now being made in human consciousness which are bringing about the principle of sharing, right conditions are now being prepared for the reappearance of the Christ. Much preparation is still needed throughout the world. The selfish flow of money is still a powerful energy; but if this can be redirected towards the principle of sharing, then human consciousness can be lifted up and flow from humanity’s heart center; and this will bring about a stronger response to the divine Love of God, and thus prepare human consciousness for the return of the Christ. “He will come unfailingly when a measure of peace has been restored, (and) when the principle of sharing is at least in process of controlling economic affairs” (Reappearance of the Christ p. 163).
From this, then, you see how important this sensitivity to sharing really is. It is a principle that must emerge eventually from almost every person in the world; it is a seed within all human beings that has been planted by God and by way of the human Soul. So let’s let it bloom and create a loving world. Let your fiery mind imagine this!