The renewing of the mind
Aries begins a new cycle, a new astrological year, bringing anticipation of renewal—an especially understandable hope after a full year of living through a pandemic . Esoterically, we’re told in the writings of Alice Bailey that new cycles of Being and of consciousness are initiated through conflict, a necessary and unavoidable factor in evolution. Somehow, the friction and heat generated through conflict create the needed power to shatter old forms and to purify conditions in preparation for a new beginning.
On an esoteric level, it’s a matter of raising the vibration from a lower to a higher level. On the level of consciousness, the transfer from a lower to a higher quality is an effect of the great creative evolutionary process. How interesting, then, that we usually think of evolution primarily as the adaptation of physical forms to changing conditions, a process first studied by Darwin, but not much thought has been given to the evolution occurring on subtler levels. This unseen power is the promise of the words, “Be ye therefore transformed by the renewing of your mind”, as the apostle Paul advised. Or, as John Henry Cardinal Newman put it, “To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often”.
The evolutionary process on all levels is initiated in Aries, for Aries is “the birthplace of divine Ideas”, Alice Bailey wrote, and everything in manifestation began at one point with an idea. The entire universe has been created and its evolution processed through the power of thought, according to esoteric teaching. That’s why the realization that energy follows and conforms itself to thought is such a fundamental esoteric principle. As we begin to understand the implications of this, Christ’s words, “as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he”, take on new urgency. Life becomes both more challenging and, at the same time, more creative.
The keynote of Aries expresses the power of an idea to change the world, when wielded by a controlled mind: I come forth and from the plane of mind, I rule. Each of us is the director, not the victim, of our life. When we accept and welcome this realization, we begin to understand why esoteric teaching confirms that there is no experience to which we are subjected that does not offer some gain to the life of the soul. At the core of every circumstance, every relationship, every crisis lies an energy that holds transformative power.
Remembering that conflict is the governing factor in evolution, and that through conflict, the will-to-good can be wrought out, we are told to train ourselves to look for the idea behind every form. What are the essential ideas that govern our lives—the essential touchstones or guideposts that form our worldview? To identify the conditioning ideas and beliefs on which we have based our lives isn’t easy. Perhaps Einstein gave us the most fundamental premise to begin our examination when he said the most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe. All else contained within our view of life proceeds from the answer we give to that central question.
“What is going on in the world today”, Alice Bailey wrote, “is the working out of ideas.” Meditation at the time of the full moon each month, particularly when practiced by a worldwide group, is an opportunity to foster definite changes in the consciousness of humanity. The conflict and upheaval of daily life for virtually the entire world over the past year has—dare we hope?–opened up a space in human consciousness to receive spiritual energies of light and love in a newly receptive way. Let us work in meditation to strengthen humanity’s rededication to this effort: I come forth and from the plane of mind, I rule.
