The Great Year and the Rebirth of Civilization (VI)
Part 6 | The Philosophic Empire and The World Nation
This is this final installment in a six-part series titled The Great Year and the Rebirth of Civilization. In this series, I discuss how the numerous existential crises now facing our civilization are occurring as part of a planetary death-rebirth ritual - one heralded by the Summer and Winter Solstices moving into alignment with the galactic plane. On the other side of this global death-rebirth process is the promise of a renewed civilization - one global in scope, harnessing the mystery of the Ether, and politically governed in accordance with Plato’s vision of the Philosophic Empire.
In my most recent podcast episode, I did I readout of the entire six-part series.
This series is extracted from my new book, The Coming World Nation, which is now available on Amazon (and as a PDF download for paid subscribers).
The Philosophic Empire and The World Nation
In the twelve millennia that have transpired since the demise of Atlantis, new powers and potentials have been activated within the human soul and put into development. On an individual level, these include the intellect, ego, and physical sense perceptions. Collectively, they involve the birth of institutions like science, philosophy, and democracy.
The Atlanteans were naturally clairvoyant, with the intellect, ego, and physical sense perceptions existing in a more rudimentary form. Their clairvoyancy affected how they formed mental images and engaged with the elements of their subconscious. It also influenced how they organized their social order, with Atlantean society being the progenitor of the caste system. After Atlantis’s demise, mankind lost access to its innate power of clairvoyancy. In its place, however, new psychological capacities began to develop and new social institutions emerged.
Theosophist and philosopher Annie Besant summarizes the shifts in the human race that have taken place since the fall of Atlantis, emphasizing in particular the development of the ego, which governs the expression of self-will: “In the working out of Law in this universe where men are evolving, wills also evolve which are separate, personal, and individual. All the confusion in the world of man is due to this evolution of the separated wills that do not recognize their root in God, but try to follow their own diverse ways and want to move after their own separated fashion, so that in the world of man, as nowhere else in nature, you have discord instead of harmony, clashing instead of peace, struggle and war instead of tranquility.” There is a pattern, plan, and purpose behind this struggle: “In man, there awakens the germ of the will. This separated will, which brings about discord, will yet end in something greater and richer. … For when human evolution is over, millions of separated souls will join in one mighty chord of harmonious union.”
Besant points out that the development of the ego coincides with the sharpening of the intellect. The forces of evolution have been working diligently upon each of these mental faculties since the fall of Atlantis. Now that we are approaching the end of the Great Year, we can expect that we will be required to fully mature both psychic capacities before mankind’s collective initiation is completed and the gateways for entry into a new cosmic cycle open up to us.
Discussing the relationship between the crises of modernity and the intellect’s development process, Besant writes: “We are in the very crisis of intellectual evolution. … Characteristic of that stage of evolution is division and separation and the place of the individual apart from and somewhat in conflict with other individuals.” As the intellect is working out its development, it must maintain this position of division and conflict. But eventually, as it matures, it overcomes the need for antagonism and is freed to focus its attention on synthesis and unity.
Expounding upon this point, Besant states: “The mental world is a world of phenomenon. … Its characteristic is diversity, each being standing by himself and regarding other things as separate. You cannot think of unity unless you have seen variety; you cannot recognize likeness until you have seen unlikeness. The characteristic of intellectual evolution is the discrimination of differences followed by the recognition of likeness. … Analysis proceeds synthesis. Differences are seen before an underlying Unity is developed.”
Manly P. Hall builds on her point, stating that: “By exploring every possible aspect of the world as thought and experience, we are gradually but inevitably approaching the realization of unity. … Through diversity we are becoming aware of unity. Through the many we are discovering the One. And when that discovery is complete, we shall be aware of the dignity of the One because we have examined thoroughly all of its parts and members.”
Simply put, the prolonged period of conflict that mankind has experienced since Atlantis’s demise has been necessary because it sets the stage for a higher evolutionary synthesis to be achieved. As Besant describes, evolution’s long-term goal is “to make the ‘I’ (or ego) a strong center, a separate center. … There must be a clearly defined center of consciousness (within each individual)” and by necessity “that center grows by struggle.” The struggle is necessary only up to a point, however: conflict stimulates us to grow, and in the process of growing we eventually outgrow the need for conflict.
If our destiny requires us to perfect the intellect and ego principles, how do we go about actually accomplishing this? As the end of the Kali Yuga draws near, mankind remains locked in a state of discord, ignorance, and confusion, with the ego still enthralled with its individuality and the intellect preoccupied with materialistic infatuations and superstitions. What resource can we turn to help us overcome this dire situation?
The answer is philosophy, as practiced and defined by Pythagoras, the original coiner of the term. Philosophy contains the core set of wisdom teachings and mental disciplines that the human race requires to fulfill its evolutionary destiny, including the perfection of the ego and intellect principles. For this reason, philosophy is the vital resource we must turn to and embrace during the critical period of cosmic initiation we are entering into. As Manly Hall exclaims, “Philosophy is the great need of our world. We have struggled on for ages without it and we have failed and failed dismally. We have tried to substitute industry, economics, and policy for that basic internal and intellectual integrity which is indispensable to survival” - and our efforts have always resulted in failure.
For the past twelve millennia, Earth has provided mankind with a fertile environment within which to experiment with and explore the capacities of the ego and intellect. But today, as technology reaches a critical stage of development, global crises reach a critical mass, and the age of global government fast approaches, this era of unrestrained ego-expression must come to an end. We no longer have the same leeway to make mistakes and get away with it that we used to - the weaponry now available to us has become too powerful. Therefore, it is time that we turn to and embrace the one resource that can successfully discipline the ego while drawing out the intellect’s full powers and potentials: philosophy.
Plato - the enlightened Greek philosopher who lived about a century and half after Pythagoras - went full circle in his teachings, describing not only the karmic underpinnings of Atlantis’s demise but also the key to its redemption, leading to the establishment of the New Atlantis. The key is philosophy: it is only when the political, economic, and cultural leaders of society become philosophers that the final redemption of Atlantis can be achieved - a vision of utopia that Plato termed the “Philosophic Empire.”
Discussing the critical importance of philosophy, Hall states that “philosophy reveals to man his kinship with the All. It shows him that he is a brother to the suns which dot the firmament. It lifts him from a taxpayer on a whirling atom to a citizen of Cosmos. It teaches him that while physically bound to earth (of which his blood and bones are part), there is nevertheless within him a spiritual power, a divine Self, through which he is one with the symphony of the Whole.”
Philosophy is the secret ingredient required for mankind to reach the next stage of its evolutionary development. For this reason, the golden age of the future can only be achieved when society situates itself atop a firm foundation of philosophic education. As Hall declares, "each child coming into the world should be taught that the … spiritual life within him is the greatest and most important part of himself. … (Therefore,) we must begin by teaching our young to understand that they bear witness to an eternal spirit within themselves. If they are true to that spirit, their world is happy; if they fail that spirit, they are unhappy and their world fails. That is education. That is the beginning of the creation of a moral universe. That is the beginning of the ethical association of humankind. And the ethical association of humankind is the beginning of the Platonic empire, for the Platonic empire is based upon the supremacy of the spiritual purpose of man over the material selfishness of his personality.”
In Plato's vision, the Philosophic Empire arises as a globally unified civilization dedicated to advancing human evolution and perfecting mankind’s relationship with other orders of life existing beyond himself. To fulfill this destiny, the Philosophic Empire weds together within its structure the institutions of democracy, oligarchy, and monarchy, balancing all three in perfect equilibrium. To understand how, let's first consider how democracy fits into the picture:
Building off the teachings of Plato, Manly Hall explains that a successful democracy requires an educated populace, for the reason that “in a democratic way of life, the very survival of the state depends upon the intelligent cooperation of its people.” Consequently, “a true democracy, whether absolute or representative, can succeed only when the average citizen becomes informed in the privileges and responsibilities of government.” To achieve this ideal, a comprehensive system of philosophic education is required, since philosophy is the only discipline that teaches man to be truly self-governing. As Hall puts it, “man must be internally educated in values before he can administer himself. And until he can administer himself, he cannot be part of an enduring state ruled by a system which has as its very keynote the fact that the individual is a self-governing unit.”
While Plato’s vision of the Philosophic Empire is grounded in democracy, its practice of it comes with the caveat that those entrusted to participate in the democratic process must first earn the right to do so by passing through a curriculum of philosophic education. The reason why is simple: to participate in the governance of others, you must first prove that you're capable of self-governance - something only philosophy can adequately prepare you for.
The question of how oligarchy - the rule of the few over the many - fits into Plato's vision of the Philosophic Empire is easily solved once we consider how schools and universities are structured. Within each, a natural pedagogical hierarchy is revealed, with an elite faculty of teachers, mature in knowledge, wisdom, and experience, instructing a student body that is comparatively less worldly or informed. The faculty’s earned authority over the student body (the few over the many) is the root idea behind Plato’s concept of the Philosophic Elect.
As Manly Hall explains, Plato “realized that all men were not fitted for a high degree of spiritual realization, but he reasoned that the state was not ruled by all men but by a small group of men who lead and direct the destiny of the rest. He knew that the men who lead must know and understand. If these men lack vision, then all the nation must perish. From these realizations Plato evolved his system of Government by the Philosophic Elect. His ideal state was that in which wise men protected and instructed the uninformed.”
In the Philosophic Empire, the authority of the Philosophic Elect is democratically acknowledged, with elected representatives doubling as philosophic teachers and sages. This outcome requires the institutions of government, democracy, and education to be explicitly wed together. Elaborating, Hall informs us that “Plato’s government was a kind of school; some were teachers; others scholars. But as the school boy acknowledges the superior attainment of his teacher, so all men should acknowledge the superior attainments of the wise.”
In this way, Plato “envisioned the state as the teacher of its own people. Religion, science, art, literature, and all the cultural parts of knowledge together constituted the state. … The temple was the city hall, and around this central axis of philosophical enlightenment the community rotated, with all the life and industry of the people being geared to this central motif.” Ultimately, "Plato’s plan is social rather than political. It would transform states or nations into social orders, removing the political interference and establishing government as community service and community cooperation.”
Plato’s depiction of how monarchy fits into the picture of the Philosophic Empire is best understood once you consider that he, like Pythagoras before him, was initiate of the Greek Mystery Schools. Plato modeled his concept of the ideal system of government based upon the archetypal design of the Mysteries, in which an outer student body of disciples was led by an elite faculty of initiated philosophers, who in turn served the will of a supreme hierophant or Adept: the “Philosopher King”.
Manly P. Hall - himself an initiate of the Mysteries - informs us that “Plato’s concept of the Empire of the Wise, ruled over by the philosopher-king, was but a political enlargement of the pattern of the Mystery Schools and the perfected men who govern them. The philosopher-king is the adept, the natural leader of mankind, the good shepherd, and the representative on earth of the sovereign gods.”
What qualifies the Philosopher-King to serve as headmaster of a Mystery School is the advanced degree of initiation they have achieved. These are old souls, having attained an extremely high degree of evolutionary completion in past lives. Their focus resides now primarily in the metaphysical rather physical dimensions of reality. From their lofty vantage point in the etheric fields surrounding the planet, they oversee the operations an entire Mystery School ecosystem.
If a society built upon the lofty ideals of Plato’s Philosophic Empire seems unrealistic, just remember that we are evaluating his utopian vision from a mindstate still trapped within the boundaries of the Kali Yuga. Thankfully, this millennia-spanning dark age is soon scheduled to come an end. When we attempt to imagine what the restoration of civilization might look on the other side of the transition out of this dark age, we inevitably return to Plato's idealistic vision of the Philosophic Empire: it describes an archetype that our civilization has no choice but to fulfill; there is no alternate pathway forward. Our task is therefore not to invent a new solution for the future, but to rediscover one that has already been bestowed to us and make it a reality on a global scale.
Plato’s vision of the Philosophic Empire represents the highest ideal that the World Nation can hope to achieve - it is the singular archetype that the coming era of global government must strive to attain. If global government is inevitable and imminent, shouldn't we strive to build it atop democratic foundations, with philosophy installed as the basis of its culture and with a Mystery School enthroned at the heart of its government?
Note: In the book, there are three additional sections: The Technocratic Superstate and the Mystery Schools; The College of the Six Days Work; and The Technocratic Superstate as an Emerging Mystery School. Buy the book on Amazon to read these, or become a paid subscriber.