The World Teacher

“Whenever there is a withering of the law and an uprising of lawlessness on all sides, then I manifest Myself. For the salvation of the righteous and the destruction of such as do evil, for the firm establishing of the Law, I come to birth age after age" (The Bhagavad Gita, Book IV, Sutra 7,8.)

Throughout the ages, especially during times of difficulty, people have looked with a sense of expectancy and hope for someone greater than themselves to bring solace to their lives. Someone is expected and anticipated by the masses of people—a great teacher, a savior--someone who can bring an end to the suffering and who can restore a sense of order and balance in the world. Such teachers have ever come in times of difficulty and crisis, when the problems confronting us seemed beyond our capacity to adequately resolve and today will be no different. They have been defined as “‘extraordinary men Who from time to time appear to change the face of the world and inaugurate a new era in the destinies of humanity.” 1They come to bring to an end the old and the undesirable ways of living and being and to make way for the new forms that will more adequately house the incoming light. They come in times of excess and apparent darkness--when humanity has lost its way. And for this very reason, if for no other, such a Teacher may be looked for at this time.

He comes to inaugurate the new age, the age of Aquarius, and the new civilization that is on its way. He comes to lead humanity to a fuller development of its innate spiritual potential. For some time now he has been anticipated by the faithful in all parts of the world and is known by such names as the Christ, the Messiah, the Maitreya, the Boddhisattva and the Imam Mahdi. It is unlikely, however, that the coming teacher will step forward under the guise of any one particular religion as this would only limit the effectiveness of the work he comes to undertake. We live in a largely secular society, a world in which many people no longer adhere to the established faiths and his presentation as a religious figure would leave many people out.

Two thousand years ago Christ worked through his group of disciples and the larger group of those who accepted his teaching. The same will be true at this time. The difference today is that the group with which he will work is much larger, encompassing all corners of the earth. Never before has a spiritual teacher had the cooperation of such a talented, well-organized group of workers preceding him as well as a global system of communications technology available for his use. His message will, therefore, literally be able to reach out so that “every eye will see Him, every ear will hear Him,” and every mind will pass judgment upon Him. This group has a similar function to that of St. John the Baptist who helped prepare the way for Christ 2,000 years ago. In a certain sense, they, too, are crying in the desert, attempting, each in their own way, to alert a seemingly deaf humanity to just what is happening in the world at this time. This group is active in all the many departments of human living—including politics, religion, education, finance, the arts, science, labor and race relations. This demonstrates the fact that spiritual activity embraces all avenues of expression. And while many of these people are unaware of the spiritual underpinnings of the present crisis, they nevertheless are fully aware of human need and are dedicating their lives to the alleviation of suffering. It is this group that holds the responsibility for the destiny of the planet in its hands. They can, by the sheer power of their lives, implement the necessary changes, especially as they increasingly come together in collective action.

The concept of a returning Teacher, for those who can believe in it, brings tremendous hope and relief and can help to ignite a major reorientation of the life and consciousness. And as these ideas come to be accepted by many people throughout the planet, they will unleash a groundswell of spiritual activity that will help humanity to be empowered to set about taking those actions that need to be implemented prior to the Teacher’s return.

According to the Ageless Wisdom teachings, the teacher that is on the way is the Christ. He has not yet completed the mission he began in Palestine two thousand years ago and so he comes again, at this dawning of the Aquarian age, to fulfill the prophecy and carry out the Law. The whole concept of who and what Christ is, however, suffers under the weight of many distortions. The Greek “christos” means anointed and in the Greek Mysteries, was applied to a candidate who had passed the last degree and become a full initiate. In the Ageless Wisdom teachings, the term Christ refers to the name of an office, the head of the spiritual Hierarchy. He is coming at this time to bring forward the love that is innate in all aspects of life because he, above all other things, loves humanity and is himself the embodiment of that love.

This returning teacher will not come for the Christian world alone. It is hoped that many Christians will be able to understand the teacher for who and what he is--not their savior alone but, rather, one who comes for all humanity. He will be a Christian in the true sense of the word, in the sense of one who has the spirit of god awakened within his heart and mind and who holds the good of all humanity as his most fervent desire. The fact that he will most likely not come forward as a Christian teacher is an important and difficult message to attempt to get across to the average Christian believer today. If, however, they fail to recognize him for who and what he is, they will place themselves outside of the great outpouring of love that the Teacher, who is their Teacher, comes to bring. It’s said that often great teachers are not recognized in their own “home”, let’s hope that this isn’t true of this coming Teacher.

A Teacher for a Modern World

It is helpful to try and get a clearer picture of how a contemporary spiritual teacher will look and act. We have no such undestanding and that is part of the problem. Many people, especially those who possess a deep religious faith, tend to imagine this teacher in the form of the historical Jesus. But He is not as he has been portrayed in the scriptures and religious art work of the world--a sorrowful and submissively sweet-natured individual. He has much more accurately been described as a “supreme spiritual executive”, a man of extraordinary capacities, who comes to oversee a complete reordering of the world along the lines of goodwill and right human relations. In certain ways he will closely resemble the CEO of a large company only his company will be the planet as a whole.

All great spiritual teachers have been revolutionaries who create radical changes in their wake and the coming Teacher will be no exception. Their mere presence in the world, with the powerful energy that emanates from both their ideas and their very being, cannot help but upset the status quo and bring about dramatic changes on all levels. Some people will embrace their message with enthusiasm and will do all they can to support and encourage forward change; others will do all they can to tear it down.

The amazing thing to consider is the fact of the actual presence of this great Teacher in our world today. We’re told that he cannot return because indeed he has never left. He has lived and worked in a physical body ever since He died and apparently left us 2,000 years ago. He watches over and protects humanity from the security of a remote location that, for now, provides him with the right conditions from which to do his work. Each day at 5:00 p.m. he uses a powerful prayer, called the Mantram of the New Group of World Servers. Many people throughout the world link up with him at this time, no matter where they are, and cooperate with him in this daily blessing of the world.

The world teacher will work in three primary ways. First he will make use of a technique that is called over-shadowing. By this means he will seek to impress and color the minds of all individuals who are working to prepare the way for his return—even if they are not conscious in their waking brain consciousness of what is actually going on. In the second case he will work through an out-pouring of love onto the masses of humanity via the emotional plane. This work will bring about a stimulation of humanity´s aspiration to seek out truth and spiritual light with a consequent reorientation of desire. And, finally, he will work through his recognized physical presence in the world. We’re told that when he appears he will work through an actual physical plane center that will act as a type of focal point through which a great confluence of spiritual energies will flow.

It’s said that this is the most important time in the entire history of our planetary life—the time for which the great teachers have been waiting for millions of years. We have now reached a point where the inevitability of the World Teacher’s return is established, scientifically and under law and he cannot disobey the call. It’s said, however, that he has not yet chosen the particular group through which He will work. We do not know in what form he will appear--he could be a statesman, a scientist, a teacher or an economist--to name a few possibilities. He could be a Hindu or an Arab; he could be Hispanic, African-American, or French--who really knows through which field, racial, or ethnic group he will choose to work? The only thing we are told is that he will work through whichever group is most actively working to prepare the world for his return.

A World in Crisis

The Teacher comes to a world in crisis and his presence among us will surely bring crises in its wake. Sometimes we might think that the mere presence of such a great Teacher, of the stature of the Buddha or the Christ, would solve all problems and alleviate all suffering within the world. But this is a highly unrealistic expectation-- the more likely scenario will be one that witnesses an initial swelling of difficulties and opposition as the world attempts to readjust to the power and intensity of the vibration that his presence will bring about. Those who cling to the past, to the existing forms, will surely react and recoil from the influence of someone whose interests will surely be revolutionary in the truest sense of the term. During such times it is important, therefore, to cultivate a plasticity and adaptability within consciousness so we can keep learning and continuously modify and adapt our lives and our work to the constantly shifting energies.

We're told that the Teacher will come when a point of balance has been reached within the world between those who stand for separateness and materialism or any type of imposed regime and those who stand for the freedom of the human soul, for brotherhood and for the rights of the individual to practice freedom in all his or her affairs. It’s said that the minute these two groups find themselves in a point of balance, then the teacher and his workers will come. Let us do all we can, within our daily lives and service work, to aid in the great process of planetary redemption that helps to tip the scales towards the light. The mantram contained in the meditation that so many people use to help prepare the way for his return can help to fuel to our aspiration to cooperate more fully in the great task that stands before us at this time:

“Forgetting the things which lie behind
We will strive towards our higher spiritual possibilities.
We dedicate ourselves anew to the service of the Coming One
And will do all we can to prepare human minds and hearts for that event.
We have no other life intention.”

1. Alice Bailey, The Reappearance of the Christ, Lucis Publishing Company, 1948, p. 8

The ideas in this article are adapted from the writings of Alice A. Bailey, primarily “The Externalisation of the Hierarchy" and "The Reappearance of the Christ". These books are published by The Lucis Publishing Company.

Printed with the permission of the Lucis Publishing Company that holds copyright.