Step Five and Step Six constitute the climax of the Path of the Divine Rainbow. In Step Seven, illuminated by new Divine consciousness, we descend back to the Earth and begin our inspired work to transform it into a Paradise.
The work in Step Seven can be organised on three levels: planetary, regional and individual, or macro, meso and micro levels. We have to participate actively on each one of these three levels in the process of transfiguration of the Earth and to act as Divine mediators in raising the Earth, with all kingdoms of life on it, to a higher state of Being.
On the planetary level we have to witness and participate in the dramatic transfiguration of the Earth from a solid material body into a beautiful shining astral planet. Of course, this metaphysical change must occur first in our consciousness, that is, in our understanding and perception of the Earth transformed by the light of the Second Coming. This change will determine our stance and actions on Earth; gradually it will result in our inspired work for healing, purification and illumination of the whole planet.
When we open our eyes and see the Earth as a beautiful astral planet, it will appear for us as a living celestial Being with its own planetary Soul (a part of the Universal Soul) and with a planetary Spirit – i.e. the planetary Divine Logos who leads the evolution of the Earth. The Earth, as a celestial Being, has spiritual centres (chakras) and a very rich and well developed structure of lay-lines of circulating energy which corresponds to the nervous system in the human body. Thanks to New Age global activities, this kind of comprehension of the Earth is growing. Already there are hundreds of books which describe the Earth as the living Being Gaia, or at least, which introduce the spiritual approach to her and analyse her spiritual structure. Moreover, important and necessary work for healing, purification and spiritualisation of the Earth is taking place in the form of various planetary events with millions of participants such as Earth-week, pilgrimages to sacred sites, healing of polluted areas and many others. It is obvious that all these important spiritual activities are an organic integral part of the work on Step Seven.
Naturally, if we change our understanding and perception of the Earth, we act and behave differently. The core work in Step Seven is to become mediators between the new creative impulse from God, personified by Christ-Maitreya and materialised by the Divine Mother, and the Earth as a living Being with all her kingdoms of life. This mediatiorship will be unfolded in a large spectrum of programmes directed towards the process of healing, purification and illumination of the Earth.
In the Book of Revelation St. John saw the New Jerusalem as a Bride of Christ, but now when the task is to bring this celestial reality down on Earth, we have to prepare our beautiful planet to be the Bride of the Spirit of Christ working within humankind. Many visionaries have received inspired messages about the transfiguration of the Earth and its new functions in the Solar system. For instance, D. Spangler, one of the most active participants in the Findhorn community in the seventies, writes about the Earth having been prepared like a Bride for a completely new stage of evolution within the Solar system. Jose Arguelles, the American light-leader who initiated the planetary event Harmonic Convergence, describes the ascending Earth as now returning to the great ring of cosmic civilisations.
On the regional level the work on Step Seven is to participate actively in the fusion between the celestial and the earthly realms. This is an extremely important spiritual task which has to be performed in many areas all over the world. In order to activate the fusion between the earthly and heavenly realms of Being, we have to accomplish many tasks in connection with the process of healing, purification and illumination of actual geographic areas and the visualisation and invocation of the celestial realities above them. The actual fusion between the purified and spiritualised earthly area and the ideal celestial image of the Heavenly Jerusalem (manifested as a spiritual Temple above the area) transforms the whole region into a magnificent living mandala. Here by mandala we understand a new symbolic mythological perception of the area where the physical landscape reflects the celestial realms, and the whole space becomes an integration of all planes in the Universe with dynamic interpenetration and interconnection.
Every area envisioned as a living mandala expands in a multidimensional time-space reality and integrates, in one Divine wholeness, the earthly and heavenly realms, the resurrected past, the dynamic present and the foreseen future. The activated mythology of the area-mandala changes the energy field of the area and all forms of life in it continue to develop and grow in a new cosmic-spiritual aura. This is an important key to the great transformative and mediatory function of humanity for all kingdoms of life on Earth. As a result of the transformation, spiritualisation and 'mythologising' of the area we could have a vision of the Earth as a beautiful astral planet where the area is just a wave of the cosmic-spiritual sea of life around the Throne of God. Through this vision we permeate the whole area with Divine Light which has a powerful influence on the evolutionary path of all kingdoms of life in it. (It is important to emphasise that here we are discussing mainly the meditative work which we have to perform in order to change our understanding of the Earth in general, and of specific areas in particular. When we change our understanding, we will enter into a completely different practical relationship with the Earth, Nature, the urban areas, with the whole environment. Thus, the new understanding will affect our individual, community and socio-cultural behaviour).
The work of healing, purification and illumination of the areas and transforming them into magnificent mandalas is extremely important and crucial for our times. It corresponds to some of the most cherished goals of the Second Coming Mission - that of transforming the Earth into a new Earth, i.e. into a Garden of Paradise.
On the individual level the process of transfiguration of the Earth requires a new type of behaviour from human beings. We have to appreciate the Earth with all kingdoms of life on it as a Divine reality and in accordance with this understanding to create a beautiful living physical microcosmos around us. The Sun, the Earth, Nature, the air, the water – the whole physical cosmos – have to become like an ocean of living energies. There is no dull and inert matter – everything is condensed Spirit which has to be revived and activated. Behind all objects, plants, animals and creatures, we have to observe the projection of spiritual realities from higher worlds in the physical world. The Spirit is one and the same, life is eternal, and the manifestations of life are numerous. The realms of existence are different but interconnected and ordered hierarchically in one great multi-layered, transparent structure of Creation. When we feel love, sympathy, gratitude, respect, even tenderness and passion towards all living creatures and all constituents of the material universe, then we experience the unity of Life and the Divine presence in everything.
The work on the individual level implies the permeation of all material objects, food, clothing, the house, with its interior and exterior, with spiritual vibrations. The physical microcosmos in which we live can become a great spiritual school. Developing a spiritual relationship with the material world requires very important virtues and qualities such as attention to the smallest details, patience, accuracy, precision, purity, practicality, love for physical work, awareness, care, and many others. In this school the presence and the blessing of the Divine Mother will help us tremendously because she is the perfect personification of all these virtues and she constitutes the physical world around us as a spiritual Temple.
In fact, every contact with the material world contains a hidden spiritual lesson which we have to discover and learn. The material world is the foundation on which we have to build our spiritual life. If we are not strongly grounded in it, we resemble a tree without roots, a building without foundation. Moreover, if the task is to bring the reality of the Kingdom of God on Earth, then our spiritual work has to include all domains of human life on Earth reaching to the smallest material things.
Successful spiritual work in the material world will transform our daily life into a cosmic-spiritual existence. All levels of Being will become transparent and interconnected. The various levels of our existence will form an integrated dynamic system where the processes in one level affect the others. Thus, if we act spiritually on the material level, holding in our consciousness the whole dynamic system, we will influence the processes on a regional, even on a planetary level. This is the key to the great white magic performed in the name of the cosmic Christ-Maitreya and the Divine Mother for the transfiguration of the Earth.
From some point of view our integral cosmic-spiritual existence can be considered as a living mandala as well. In this life-mandala the human being , merging with the Cosmic Christ-Maitreya within and becoming His channel, is the centre of the mandala, while all levels of his/her existence, permeated and influenced by the Divine Mother, manifest his/her life as a universal spiritual wholeness. This is the way in which the human being brings the mystery of the Divine Wedding between the Cosmic Christ-Maitreya and the New Reality (manifested by the Divine Mother) into his/her own life.
Naturally, between the individual life-mandala, the area-mandala and the process of transfiguration of the Earth there are many interconnections and dependencies. As we mentioned each level consists of many layers. So if we extend the individual level to the group-spirit of the family, the community, and the society, the whole dynamic picture of the transfiguration of the Earth will be enriched tremendously. All these layers are very important and influence the individual spiritual life in the material world. On each one of these layers great work is going on which sets models for the future behaviour of humankind on Earth – the relationship, collaboration and co-creation with Nature's spirits, the Earth, the Elements and the spiritual hierarchy. Here we could mention the exciting history of the Findhorn community, biodynamic farming, the new type of relationship with the Earth and Nature in many spiritual communities and ashrams all over the world. In the Buddhist tradition the Earth is regarded as a unique place for receiving enlightenment. Now, in the light of the cosmic-spiritual renewal of the world, we could consider our life on Earth as the greatest Divine Blessing and unique opportunity for co-creation with God.
The one-year spiritual school(#) on Step Seven could be called a School for Planetary Transfiguration. It will cover all three levels (macro, meso and micro) of our relationship with the physical world. The school can be organised around the ideas of building our individual life-mandalas, creating mandalas of the areas where we live, and working for the transfiguration of the whole Earth. A substantial part of the work in the School for Planetary Transfiguration will consist of weekends consecrated to pilgrimages to sacred places, excursions, actions of healing and purification of the Earth and creating mandalas of some areas. The celebrations of the Sun and Moon festivals and other special astrological events will help us to comprehend the Earth in the wholeness of the solar system and to experience this system as a living organism – a part of a much larger galactic wholeness. On the other hand, the spiritual celebrations of Christmas, Easter, Wesak and other religious festivals, when orchestrated appropriately, will initiate us into the new cosmic-spiritual impulse given by Christ-Maitreya and the Divine Mother for the transfiguration of the Earth into a beautiful astral planet. As a whole the School for Planetary Transfiguration will help us to become Divine workers-mediators between Heaven and Earth – a purpose envisaged by God for humankind from the beginning of time.