A. The Age of Aquarius brings in a particular energy called the 7th ray of Ceremonial Order, or Magic, or Ritual, or Organization, and our modern technology is 'modern magic'. Ancient Atlantean magic was governed by this energy, and the modern counterpart is the precipitation of that same magical method of ritual on to the electrical and mechanistic field.

Our technology is literally magical - not in the sense that it is irrational; it results from a growing knowledge of the relationship between matter and energy. It is the basic occult axiom that in the whole of the manifested universe there is only energy vibrating at various frequencies; the nature of the frequencies determines the form that the energy will take. We too are energy.

Everything that we can see and think of is energy, which can be activated and directed if you have the 'magic' - the technology - to do it. A modern computing system, our ability to send a spaceship to Mars, is the result of the magical use of the 7th ray of ritual, magic, or organization. If you make a sound and ritualize it - repeat and repeat it many times - you create an energy field; by that same energy you can make things disappear or float up in the air. (Years ago a small model airship was made to rise by someone playing a violin.) One day in the not-too-distant future we will be able to shift 30-ton blocks of stone by the use of sound. This is done by reversing gravity, by the ritual of the 7th ray of ceremonial order.

This ray is daily becoming more potent in our lives, while the 6th ray of idealism is receding. Our problem is that our structures are still 6th-ray while the incoming energy is 7th-ray. The 7th ray has the effect of drawing humanity together, it synthesizes, and it is the most practical of all the rays. It works on the dense physical field, relating the spiritual ideal to matter. Science, today, is revealing more about the nature of reality than religion has done in 2,000 years. The schism between science and religion is an artificial one, created by the religious groups at the end of the 19th century because they felt threatened by the revelations of the then growing science.

In the technology ahead of us we will create instruments by thought which will be programmed to create all the artifacts of our everyday life. This will free humanity for the investigation of its own nature.

Q. Will computers play any part in the new world order?

Computers will play an extraordinary part in the new civilization. Today, millions of people work in factories, producing vast amounts of goods. In the future, with the development of the human mind (which has barely begun to manifest itself), we will create computers par excellence, which will respond to human thought - scientists are already beginning to do this. They will respond so completely that they can be programmed to make all the artifacts that we use in everyday life. This will free humanity for leisure and for an exploration of our own nature and creativity. Today's robots are as nothing compared to the unbelievable sophistication which will characterize the computers of the future, computers which will be programmed, by thought, to create in the way that we create.

Q. What do you think of genetic engineering? 

A. Genetic engineering can be either good or bad. It is an appalling thought that experiments are actually taking place in various laboratories of the world in an attempt to create half-human and half-animal creatures. Genetic engineering in the hope of creating clones of people is, I think, a misuse - it is useless anyway, as clones are not really human beings because they are not souls. Our science has focused more and more on the materialistic aspect to the extent that most people have lost sight of the spiritual basis of life, and the economy is the dominant 'god' to worship in the world.

Genetic engineering as applied, on the other hand, to the animal and vegetable kingdoms will give us altogether new and better plant and animal species, and it will increase the vitality of animals to a point where they can respond more and more to the human mind as they themselves evolve. When they respond to the energy of the human mind in a heightened way, we will get a tremendous increase in the intelligence of the animal kingdom. Many animals who live or work closely with humanity - dogs, horses, elephants, camels, and so on - already demonstrate a level of intelligence but this can be speeded up, just as the human intelligence has its stimulus in the higher, spiritual kingdom made up of the Masters and the Initiates. Genetic engineering is part of that process.

Another very important way in which genetic engineering will show its value is in combination with the new Technology of Light, which will give us unlimited power directly from the sun and fill all our needs - for industry, heating, lighting, and so on. There is nothing remotely like it in our world today, and in conjunction with an advanced form of genetic engineering it will do away with organ transplants. Instead of going into hospital and waiting a few months or so for a transplant one will simply go into a clinic for a few hours and come out with a new organ, built exactly to one's own genetic pattern.

Q. Do you think genetic engineering is following the Law of Evolution, which the Master DK describes as "the perfecting of form expression"? (The Externalisation of the Hierarchy by Alice A. Bailey, p.109)

A. The answer to this question is both yes and no. The vociferous debate and controversy which is being waged by the dogmatic stance of those who promote (for whatever reasons), and those who oppose the very idea of, genetic engineering, is based largely on ignorance. Genetic engineering will prove to be one of the most potent means of developing, for the better, both animal and vegetable forms and, in combination with the coming Technology of Light, will transform the use of surgery, making transplantation of organs - heart, liver, kidneys, etc - a thing of the past. However, there is genetic engineering and genetic engineering. Much greater care, and much more extensive experiment, is needed before the results, in the form of modified crops and animals, should be offered to the public. At present, the lure of financial rewards and over-enthusiasm has created a difficult situation for both sides, the promoters and the objectors. In time, a more rational and more strictly scientific approach will lead to a wiser understanding. In the meantime, the fear of genetically modified food has stimulated a tremendous expansion of organic farming and produce which is much to be welcomed.

Q. We know we are overheating the Earth by using fossil fuels. But vast numbers of poor people around the world will need large amounts of energy to improve their standard of living. Are there any other options that will not add to the greenhouse effect? Is nuclear power the answer to this dilemma? 

A. The fusion process of nuclear power - a cold, safe, wasteless process using a simple isotope of water, universally available - will solve all humanity's future power needs. This will be made available to us on the implementation of sharing as the economic norm.

Q. Is the recently reported breakthrough in nuclear fusion research going to lead to widespread use of this energy? 

A. Yes. This method of producing cool, safe nuclear fusion energy is, according to my Master, not the ultimate but a big step in the right direction towards the fusion process which Hierarchy have in mind.

Q. When so many aspects of esotericism rely on the intuition or extra-sensory perception or exceptional sensitivity to extremely subtle forces and energies, how can these subjective ideas be grounded or proved in a way which can be accepted by modern science?  

A. The subjective experience of forces or energies with which esotericism deals is today the prerogative of the relatively few. This will increasingly cease to be the case as more and more people become aware of and can articulate these same experiences. Neither humanity nor science stand still and the time is fast approaching when much that is seen today as unusual, unlikely and unacceptable will become commonplace and totally respectable. It will then be 'proved' by science because it will be the experience of so many. One should always remember that the 'esoteric' of today is the 'exoteric' of tomorrow.