Filename: RC1062.TXT
Source: "The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception" by Max Heindel

[PAGE 2233]

                           CHRIST AND HIS MISSION:

                         THE EVOLUTION OF RELIGION:

   In  the foregoing part of this work we have become familiar with the  way
in which our present outside world came into existence,  and how man evolved
the  complicated organism with which he is related to outer conditions.   We
have also,  in a measure,  studied the Jewish Race-religion.   We will  next
consider the last and greatest of the divine measures put forth for the  up-
lifting of humanity,  i.e.,  Christianity, which will be the Universal Reli-
gion of the future.

   It is a notable fact that man and his religions have evolved side by side
and in an equal degree.  The earliest religion of any Race is found to be as
savage as the people governed by it and as they become more civilized, their
religions become more and more humane and in harmony with higher ideals.

   From this fact materialists have drawn the inference that no religion has
a  higher origin than man itself.   Their investigations into early  history
have resulted in a conviction that, as man progressed,  he civilized his God
and fashioned Him after his own pattern.

   This reasoning is defective,  because it fails to take into account  that
man is NOT the body, but an INDWELLING spirit, an Ego who uses the body with
ever-increasing facility as evolution progresses.

[PAGE 2234]

   There is no doubt that the law for the BODY is "The Survival of the  Fit-
test."   The  law for the evolution of the spirit demands  "Sacrifice."   As
long  as  man believes that "Might is Right,"  the Form prospers  and  waxes
strong, because all obstacles are swept out of the way regardless of others.
If the body were all, that manner of life would be the only one possible for
man.   He would be altogether incapable of any regard for others  and  would
forcibly  resist  any  attempt  to encroach  upon  what  he  considered  his
rights--the right of the stronger, which is the sole standard of justice un-
der the law of the Survival of the Fittest.  He would be quite regardless of
his  fellow  beings;  absolutely insensible to any force FROM  WITHOUT  that
tended  to  make him act in any manner not conducive to  his  own  momentary
pleasure.

   It is manifest, then, that whatever urges man toward a higher standard of
conduct in his dealing with others must come FROM WITHIN,  and from a source
which is not identical with the body, otherwise it would not strive with the
body  and  often prevail against its most obvious interests.   Moreover,  it
must be a stronger force than that of the body,  or it could not succeed  in
overcoming  its desires and compelling it to make sacrifices for  those  who
are physically weaker.

   That such a force exists, surely no one will deny.   We have come to that
stage  in our advancement where,  instead of seeing in physical weakness  an
opportunity  for easy prey,  we recognize in the very frailty of  another  a
valid  claim upon our protection.   Selfishness is being slowly  but  surely
routed by Altruism.

   Nature is sure to accomplish her purposes.  Though slow,  her progress is
orderly  and  certain.  In  the  breast  of every man this force of Altruism

[PAGE 2235]

works  as a leaven.   It is transforming the savage into the civilized  man,
and will in time transform the latter into a God.

   Though  nothing that is truly spiritual can be  thoroughly  comprehended,
yet it may at least be apprehended by means of an illustration.

   If one or two tuning-forks of exactly the same pitch is struck, the sound
will induce the same vibration in the other, weak to begin with,  but if the
strokes  are continued,  the second fork will give out a louder  and  louder
tone until it will emit a volume of sound equal to that of the first.   This
will happen though the forks are several feet apart, and even if one of them
is  encased  in glass.   The sound from the smitten one will  penetrate  the
glass and the answering note be emitted by the enclosed instrument.

   These  invisible sound-vibrations have great power over concrete  matter.
They can both build and destroy.  If a small quantity of very fine powder is
placed upon a brass or glass plate,  and a violin bow drawn across the edge,
the  vibrations will cause the powder to assume beautiful  geometrical  fig-
ures.   The human voice is also capable of producing these  figures;  always
the same figure for the same tone.

   If   one  note  or  chord  after  another  be  sounded  upon  a   musical
instrument--a piano,  or preferably a violin, for from it more gradations of
tone  can be obtained--a tone will finally be reached which will causes  the
hearer  to  feel a distinct vibration in the back of the lower part  of  the
head.  Each time that note is struck, the vibration will be felt.  That note
is the "key-note"  of the person whom it so affects.  If it is struck slowly
and soothingly it will build and rest the body,  tone the nerves and restore
health.  If,  on  the  other hand, it be sounded in a dominant way, loud and

[PAGE 2236]

long enough, it will kill as surely as a bullet from a pistol.

   If we now apply what has been said about music or sound to the problem of
how this inner force is awakened and strengthened, we may perhaps understand
the matter better.

   In  the  first  place,  let us particularly note the fact  that  the  two
tuning-forks were OF THE SAME PITCH.   Had this not been the case,  we might
have sounded and sounded one of them until the crack of doom,  but the other
one would have remained mute.  Let us understand this thoroughly:  Vibration
can be induced in one tuning-fork by one of LIKE TONE ONLY.   Any thing,  or
any  being,  can  be affected as above stated by no  sound  except  ITS  OWN
KEY-NOTE.

   We know that this force of Altruism exists.  We also know that it is less
pronounced  among uncivilized people than among people of higher social  at-
tainment,  and  among the very lowest races it is almost  entirely  lacking.
The  logical conclusion is that there was a time when it was altogether  ab-
sent.   Consequent upon this conclusion follows the natural question:   What
induced it?

   The material personality surely had nothing to do with it; in fact,  that
part  of man's nature was much more comfortable without it than it has  been
at any time since.   Man must have had the force of Altruism latent  WITHIN,
otherwise it could not have been awakened.  Still further, it must have been
awakened  by  a  force of the same kind--a similar force  that  was  already
active--as  the second tuning-fork was started into vibration by  the  first
AFTER it was struck.

   We  also saw that the vibrations in the second fork become  stronger  and
stronger  under  the  continued  impacts of sound from the first, and that a

[PAGE 2237]

glass case was no hindrance to the induction of the sound.   Under the  con-
tinued impacts of a force similar to that within him, the Love of God to man
has  awakened  this force of Altruism and is constantly increasing  its  po-
tency.

   It is therefore reasonable and logical to conclude that, at first, it was
necessary to give man a religion commensurate with his ignorance.   It would
have been useless to talk to him,  at that stage,  of a God Who was all ten-
derness and love.   From his viewpoint, those attributes were weaknesses and
he  could not have been expected to reverence a God Who possessed what  were
to him despicable qualities.   The God to Whom he rendered obedience must be
a strong God,  a God to be feared, a God Who could hurl the thunderbolt  and
wield the flail of lightning.

   Thus, man was impelled first to FEAR God and was given religions of a na-
ture to further his spiritual well-being under the lash of fear.

   The next step was to induce him a certain kind of unselfishness, by caus-
ing  him  to  give up part of his worldly  goods--to  sacrifice.   This  was
achieved by giving him the Tribal or Race-God, Who is a jealous God, requir-
ing of him the strictest allegiance and the sacrifice of wealth,  which  the
growing man greatly prizes.   But in return,  this Race-God is a friend  and
mighty ally, fighting man's battles and giving him back many fold the sheep,
bullocks and grain which he sacrificed.  He had not yet arrived at the stage
where it was possible for him to understand that all creatures are akin, but
the  Tribal  God taught him that he must deal mercifully  with  his  BROTHER
TRIBESMAN  and gave laws which made for equity and fair dealing between  men
of the same Race.

   It must not be thought that these successive steps were taken easily, nor
without rebellion and lapses upon the part of primitive man.  Selfishness is

[PAGE 2238]

ingrained in the lower nature even unto this day,  and there must have  been
many lapses and much backsliding.  We have in the Jewish Bible good examples
of how man forgot, and had to be patiently and persistently "prodded"  again
and  again  by  the Tribal God.  Only the visitations  of  a  long-suffering
Race-spirit were potent, at times, in bringing him back to the law--that law
very few people have even yet learned to obey.

   There are always pioneers,  however, who require something higher.   When
they become sufficiently numerous, a new step in evolution is taken, so that
several  gradations always exist.   There came a time,  nearly two  thousand
years  ago,  when the most advanced of humanity were ready to  take  another
step forward,  and learn the religion of living a good life for the sake  of
future reward in a state if existence in which they must have faith.

   That was a long,  hard step to take.  It was comparatively easy to take a
sheep  or  a bullock to the temple and offer it as a sacrifice.   If  a  man
brought  the first-fruits of his granary, his vineyards,  or his flocks  and
herds,  he still had more,  and he knew that the Tribal God would refill his
stores and give abundantly in return.  But in this new departure, it was not
a question of sacrificing his goods.  It was demanded that he sacrifice HIM-
SELF.   It was not even a sacrifice to be made by one supreme effort of mar-
tyrdom;  that also would have been comparatively easy.  Instead,  it was de-
manded  that day by day,  from morning until night,  he must act  mercifully
toward all.   He must forego selfishness,  and LOVE his neighbor,  as he had
been  used to loving himself.   Moreover, he was not promised any  immediate
and visible reward, but must have faith in a future happiness.

[PAGE 2239]

   Is it strange that people find it difficult to realize this high ideal of
CONTINUED well-doing, made doubly hard by the fact that self-interest is en-
tirely ignored?  Sacrifice is demanded with no positive assurance of ANY re-
ward.   Surely it is much to the credit of humanity that so much altruism is
practiced and that it is constantly increasing.   The wise Leaders,  knowing
the frailness of the spirit to cope with the selfish instincts of the  body,
and  the  dangers of despondency in the face of such standards  of  conduct,
gave  another uplifting impulse when they incorporated in the  new  religion
the doctrine of "vicarious Atonement."

   This idea is scouted by some very advanced philosophers,  and the law  of
"Consequence"  made paramount.  If it so happens that the reader agrees with
these  philosophers,  we request that he await the  explanation  herein  set
forth, showing how BOTH are part of the scheme of upliftment.  Suffice it to
say,  for the present, that this doctrine of atonement gives many an earnest
soul the strength to strive and, in spite or repeated failures, to bring the
lower nature under subjection.  Let it be remembered that, for reasons given
when  the laws of Rebirth and Consequence were discussed,  western  humanity
knew practically nothing of these laws.  With such a great ideal before them
as  the  Christ,  and believing they had but a few short years in  which  to
attain to such a high degree of development as this,  would it not have been
the greatest imaginable cruelty to leave them without help?  Therefore,  the
GREAT SACRIFICE on Calvary--while it also served other purposes,  as will be
shown--become  rightfully the Beacon of Hope for every earnest soul  who  is
striving to achieve the impossible;  to attain,  in one short life,  to  the
perfection demanded by the Christian religion.

[PAGE 2240]

                           JESUS AND CHRIST-JESUS:

   To  gain some slight insight into the Great Mystery of Golgotha,  and  to
understand the Mission of Christ as the Founder of the Universal Religion of
the future, it is necessary that we first become familiar with His exact na-
ture  and  incidentally,  with that of Jehovah,  Who is  the  head  of  such
Race-religions as Taoism,  Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, etc.;  also with the
identity of "The Father,"  to Whom Christ is to give up the Kingdom,  in due
time.

   In the Christian creed occurs this sentence:  "Jesus Christ, the only be-
gotten  Son of God."   This is generally understood to mean that  a  certain
person Who appeared in Palestine about 2,000 years ago,  Who is spoken of as
Jesus Christ--one separate individual--was the only begotten Son of God.

   This is a great mistake.   There are three distinct and widely  different
Beings  characterized in this sentence.   It is of the  greatest  importance
that  the student should clearly understand the exact nature of these  Three
Great  and Exalted Beings--differing vastly in glory,  yet each entitled  to
our deepest and most devout adoration.

   The student is requested to turn to diagram 6 and note that "The only be-
gotten" ("The Word," of Who John speaks) is the second aspect of the Supreme
Being.

   This "Word"  and It alone,  is "begotten of His Father (the first appear)
before all Worlds."  "Without Him was not anything made that was made,"  not
even the third aspect of the Supreme Being, which proceeds from the two pre-
vious  aspects.   Therefore the "only begotten"  is the exalted Being  which
ranks above all else in the Universe,  save only the Power-aspect which cre-
ated It.

   The first aspect of the Supreme Being "thinks out," of imagines, the Uni-
verse  before the beginning of active manifestation,  everything,  including

[PAGE 2241]

the  millions of Solar Systems and the great creative Hierarchies which  in-
habit the Cosmic Planes of existence above the seventh,  which is the  field
of  our evolution (See diagram 6).   This is also the Force which  dissolves
everything  that has crystallized beyond the possibility of  further  growth
and at last, when the end of active manifestation has come, reabsorbs within
Itself all that is, until the dawn of another Period of Manifestation.

   The second aspect of the Supreme Being is that which manifests in  matter
as the forces of attraction and cohesion,  thus giving it the capability  of
combining  into Forms of various kinds.  This is "The Word,"  the  "creative
Feat,"  which molds the primordial Cosmic Root-substance in a manner similar
to the formation of figures by musical vibrations,  as previously mentioned,
the  same tone always producing the same figure.   So this great  primordial
"WORD'  brought, or "spoke," into being, in finest matter, all the different
Worlds,  with all their myriads of Forms,  which have since been copied  and
worked out in detail by the innumerable creative Hierarchies.

   "The Word"  could not have done this, however,  until the third aspect of
the Supreme Being had first prepared the Cosmic Root-substance; had awakened
it  from its normal state of inertia and set the countless INSEPARATE  atoms
spinning upon their axes,  placing those axes at various angles with respect
to each other, giving to each kind a certain "measure of vibration."

   These  varying angles of inclination of the axes and the measures of  vi-
bration made the Cosmic Root-substance capable of forming different combina-
tions,  which are the basis of the seven great Cosmic Planes.  There is,  in
each  of  these  Planes,  a  different  inclination  of the axes, and also a

[PAGE 2242]

different measure of vibration, consequently the conditions and combinations
in each one are different from those in any of the others, due to the activ-
ity of "The Only Begotten."

   Diagram 14 shows us that:

   "The Father"  is  the  highest  Initiate among the humanity of the Saturn
         Period.  The ordinary  humanity of that Period are now the Lords of
         Mind.
   "The Son"  (Christ)  is  the  highest  Initiate  of  the Sun Period.  The
         ordinary humanity of that Period are now the Archangels.
   "The  Holy  Spirit"  (Jehovah)  is  the  highest  Initiate  of  the  Moon
         Period.  The ordinary humanity of that Period are now the Angels.

   This  diagram also shows what are the vehicles of these different  orders
of Beings,  and upon comparison with diagram 8,  it will be seen that  their
bodies  or vehicles (indicated by squares on diagram 14) correspond  to  the
Globes of the Period in which they were human.   This is always the case  so
far  as the ordinary humanities are concerned, for at the end of the  Period
during which any live wave becomes individualized as human beings, those be-
ings  retain  BODIES corresponding to the Globes on which  they  have  func-
tioned.

   On  the other hand,  the Initiates have progressed and evolved for  them-
selves higher vehicles, discontinuing the ordinary use of the lowest vehicle
when the ability to use a new and higher one has been attained.  Ordinarily,
the lowest vehicle of an Archangel is the desire body,  but Christ,  Who  is
the highest Initiate of the Sun Period,  ordinarily uses the life spirit  as
lowest vehicle, functioning as consciously in the World of Life Spirit as we
do  in  the  Physical  World.  The  student  is requested to note this point

[PAGE 2243]

                                 DIAGRAM 14:

       THE VEHICLES OF THE HIGHEST INITIATES AND ORDINARY HUMANITY:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
          |  The    | SATURN   PERIOD |  SUN     PERIOD | MOON    PERIOD  |
          | worlds  |-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
          |in which | The    |  The   |  The   |  The   |  The   |  The   |
          |  these  | highest|ordinary| highest|ordinary|highest |ordinary|
          | orders  |Initiate|humanity|Initiate|humanity|Initiate|humanity|
          |  have   |   is   |are now |Christ  |are now |   is   |are now |
          | corre-  |  The   | Lords  |  The   | Arch-  |Jehovah | Angels |
 Zodiacal |sponding |Father  |   of   |  Son   | angels |  The   |        |
  Signs   |vehicles |        |  Mind  |        |        |  Holy  |        |
          |         |        |        |        |        | Spirit |        |
--|-------|---------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
13|Alto-  |         |   /\   |        |        |        |        |        |
  |gether |  World  |  /  \  |        |        |        |        |        |
..|.......|.........|..|  |..|........|........|........|........|........|
12|Aries  |   of    |  |  |  |        |   /\   |        |        |        |
..|.......|.........|..|  |..|........|../  \..|........|........|........|
11|Taurus |   God   |  |  |  |        |  |  |  |        |   /\   |        |
--|-------|---------|--|  |--|--------|--|  |--|--------|--/  \--|--------|
10|Gemini |World  of|  |  |  |   /\   |  |  |  |        |  |  |  |        |
..|.......|.........|..|  |..|../  \..|..|  |..|........|..|  |..|........|
9 |Cancer | Virgin  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |   /\   |  |  |  |        |
..|.......|.........|..|  |..|..|  |..|..|  |..|../  \..|..|  |..|........|
8 |Leo    | Spirits |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |   /\   |
--|-------|---------|--|  |--|--|  |--|--|  |--|--|  |--|--|  |--|--/  \--|
7 |Virgo  |World  of|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
  |       | Divine  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
  |       | Spirit  |  |--|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
--|-------|---------|--------|--|  |--|--|  |--|--|  |--|--|  |--|--|  |--|
6 |Libra  |World  of|        |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
  |       |  Life   |        |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
  |       |  Spirit |        |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
  |       |         |        |  |  |  |  |--|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
--|-------|---------|--------|--|  |--|--    --|--|  |--|--|  |--|--|  |--|
5 |Scorpio|World of |        |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
  |       |Thought: |        |  |  |  |        |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
  |       |Region of|        |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
  |       |Abstract |        |  |  |  |        |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
  |       | Thought |        |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |--|  |  |  |  |
..|.......|.........|........|..|  |..|..    ..|..|  |..|........|..|  |..|
4 |Sagit- |Region of|        |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |        |  |  |  |
  |tarius |Concrete |        |  |  |  |        |  |  |  |        |  |  |  |
  |       | Thought |        |  |--|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |        |  |  |  |
--|-------|---------|--------|--------|--    --|--|  |--|--------|--|  |--|
3 |Capri- | Desire  |        |        |  |  |  |  |  |  |        |  |  |  |
  | corn  | World   |        |        |        |  |--|  |        |  |  |  |
--|-------|---------|--------|--------|--|  |--|--------|--------|--|  |--|
2 | Aqua- |Physical |        |     >>>>>>|--|  |        |        |  |  |  |
  | rius  | World:  |        |     |  |  |  |  |        |        |  |  |  |
  |       | Etheric |        |   Jesus'  |  |  |        |        |  |  |  |
  |       | Region  |        |   Bodies  |  |  |        |        |  |--|  |
..|.......|.........|........|.....|..|..|--|..|........|........|........|
1 |Pisces |Chemical |        |     |  |  |  |  |        |        |        |
  |       | Region  |        |     >>>>>>|--|  |        |        |        |
--|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|

[PAGE 2244]

particularly,  as the World of Life Spirit is the first UNIVERSAL World,  as
explained   in   the  chapter  on  Worlds.   It  is  the  World   in   which
differentiation ceases and unity begins to be realized,  so far as out solar
system is concerned.

   Christ has power to build and function in a vehicle as low as the  desire
body, such as is used by the Archangels but HE CAN DESCEND NO FURTHER.   The
significance of this will be seen presently.

   JESUS belongs to our humanity.   When the man,  Jesus is studied  through
the memory of nature, he can be traced back life by life,  where he lived in
different circumstances, under various names, in different embodiments,  the
same time,  in that respect, as any other human being.   THIS CANNOT BE DONE
WITH THE BEING, CHRIST.  In His CASE CAN BE FOUND BUT ONE EMBODIMENT.

   It must not be supposed,  however, that Jesus was an ordinary individual.
He was of a singularly pure type of mind,  vastly superior to the great  ma-
jority of our present humanity.   Through many lives had he trod the Path of
Holiness and thus fitted himself for the greatest honor ever bestowed upon a
human being.

   His mother,  Virgin Mary, was also a type of the highest human purity and
because of that was selected to become the mother of Jesus.   His father was
a high Initiate,  virgin and capable of performing the act of fecundation as
a sacrament, without personal desire or passion.

   Thus  the  beautiful,  pure and lovely spirit whom we know  as  Jesus  of
Nazareth was born into a pure and passionless body.   This body was the best
that could be produced on Earth and the task of Jesus,  in that  embodiment,
was  to  care  for  it  and  evolve  it  to  the  highest possible degree of

[PAGE 2245]

efficiency, in preparation for the great purpose it was to serve.

   Jesus  of  Nazareth  was born at about the time stated  in  the  historic
records,  and not 105 B.C., as stated in some occult works.   The name Jesus
is common in the East, and an Initiate named Jesus did live 105 B.C., but he
took the Egyptian Initiation and was not Jesus of Nazareth, with whom we are
concerned.

   The Individual who was later born under the name of Christian Rosenkreuz,
who is in the body today,  was a highly evolved being when Jesus of Nazareth
was born.  His testimony, as well as the results of first-hand investigation
by later Rosicrucians,  all agree in placing the birth of Jesus of  Nazareth
at the beginning of the Christian Era, on about the date usually ascribed to
that event.

   Jesus  was  educated  by the Essenes and reached a  very  high  state  of
spiritual development during the thirty years in which he used his body.

   It may be here said,  parenthetically, that the Essenes were a third sect
which  existed  in  Palestine,   besides  the  two  mentioned  in  the   New
Testament--the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  The Essenes were an exceedingly
devout order, widely different from the materialistic Sadducees and entirely
opposite to the hypocritical, publicity seeking Pharisees.  They shunned all
mention of themselves and their methods of study and worship.  To the latter
peculiarity is due the fact that almost nothing is known of them,  and  that
they are not mentioned in the New Testament.

   It is a law of the Cosmos that no Being,  however high,  can function  in
any  world  without  a  vehicle built of the material  of  that  world  (See
diagrams 8 and 14).  Therefore the desire body was the lowest vehicle of the

[PAGE 2246]

group of spirits who had reached the human stage in the Sun Period.

   Christ was one of those spirits and was consequently unable to build  for
Himself  a vital body and a dense physical vehicle.   He could  have  worked
upon humanity in a desire body, as did His younger brothers, the Archangels,
as Race-spirits.   Jehovah had opened an avenue for them to enter the  dense
body of man by means of the air he inhaled.   All Race-religions were  reli-
gions  of law,  and creators of sin through disobedience of that law.   They
were  under  the  direction of Jehovah, Whose lowest vehicle  is  the  human
spirit,  correlating Him to the World of Abstract Thought,  where everything
is separative and therefore leads to self-seeking.

   That is precisely the reason why the intervention of Christ became neces-
sary.   Under  the  REGIME of Jehovah unity is  impossible.   Therefore  the
Christ, Who possess as a lowest vehicle the unifying life spirit, must enter
into the dense human body.   He must appear as a man among men and dwell  in
this  body,  because  only  from  WITHIN  IS  IT  possible  to  conquer  the
Race-religion, which influences man from WITHOUT.

   Christ  could not be BORN in a dense body,  because He had  never  passed
through an evolution such as the Earth Period, therefore He would first have
had to acquire the ability to build a dense body such as ours.  But even had
He  possessed that ability,  it would have been inexpedient for such an  ex-
alted   Being  to  expend  for  that  purpose  the  energy   necessary   for
body-building through ante-natal life,  childhood and youth,  to bring it to
sufficient  maturity for use.   He had ceased to use,  ordinarily,  vehicles
such as would correspond to our human spirit, mind and desire body, although
He had learned to build them in the Sun Period,  and retained the ability to

[PAGE 2247]

build  and function in them whenever desired or required.   He used all  his
own vehicles,  taking only the vital and dense bodies from Jesus.   When the
latter  was 30 years of age Christ entered these bodies and used them  until
the climax of His Mission on Golgotha.   After the destruction of the  dense
body,  Christ appeared among His disciples in the vital body,  in  which  He
functioned for some time.   The vital body is the vehicle which He will  use
when He appears again, for He will never take another dense body.

   It  is encroaching upon a subject to be dealt with later to  remark  that
the object of all esoteric training is to so work on the vital body that the
life spirit is built up and quickened.  When we come to deal with Initiation
it  may be possible to give more detailed explanations,  but no more can  be
said  on the subject just now.   In chronicling the events incident to  POST
MORTEM existence, this subject has been partially dealt with and the student
is  here asked to note that a man is supposed to have conquered  his  desire
body to a considerable extent before attempting esotericism.   His  esoteric
training  and the earlier Initiations are devoted to work on the vital  body
and result in the building of the life spirit.   At the time Christ  entered
the  body of Jesus,  the latter was a disciple of high degree,  consequently
his life spirit was well organized.  Therefore,  the lowest vehicle in which
Christ functioned,  and the best organized of the higher vehicles of  Jesus,
were identical;  and Christ,  when He took the vital body and the dense body
of Jesus,  was thus furnished with a complete chain of vehicles bridging the
gap between the World of Life Spirit and the dense Physical World.

   The  significance of the fact that Jesus had passed  several  initiations
lies  in  the  effect  that  has  on  the vital body.  Jesus' vital body was

[PAGE 2248]

already  attuned  to the high vibrations of the life  spirit.   An  ordinary
man's  vital body would have instantly collapsed under the  terrific  vibra-
tions of the Great Spirit who entered Jesus' body.  Even that body, pure and
high-strung as it was, could not withstand those tremendous impacts for many
years,  and when we read of certain times when Christ  withdrew  temporarily
from  his disciples,  as when he later walked on the sea to meet  them,  the
esotericist  knows that he drew out of Jesus'  vehicles to give them a  rest
under  the care of the Essene Brothers,  who knew more of how to treat  such
vehicles than Christ did.

   This change was consummated with the full and free consent of Jesus,  who
knew during this entire life that he was preparing a vehicle for Christ.  He
submitted gladly, that his brother humanity might receive the gigantic impe-
tus  which  was  given to its development by  the  mysterious  sacrifice  on
Golgotha.

   Thus (as shown in diagram 14) Christ Jesus possessed the twelve vehicles,
which formed an unbroken chain from the Physical World to the very Throne of
God.   Therefore He is the only Being in the Universe in touch with both God
and  man and capable of mediating between them,  because He has,  personally
and individually experience all conditions and knows every limitation  inci-
dental to physical existence.

   Christ is unique among all Beings in all the seven Worlds.  He alone pos-
sess the twelve vehicles.  None save He is able to feel such compassion, nor
so  fully  understand the position and needs of humanity;  none save  He  is
qualified to bring the relive that shall fully meet our needs.

[PAGE 2249]

   Thus do we know the nature of Christ.   He is the highest Initiate of the
Sun  Period  and He tool the dense and vital bodies of Jesus that  He  might
function directly in the Physical World and appear as a man among men.   Had
He appeared in a manifestly miraculous manner,  it would have been  contrary
to the scheme of evolution, because at the end of the Atlantean Epoch human-
ity had been given freedom to do right or wrong.   That they might learn  to
become self-governing,  no coercion whatever could be used.   They must know
good  and  evil  through experience.   Before that time they  had  been  led
willy-nilly,  but at that time they were given freedom under  the  different
Race-religions,  each religion adapted to the needs of its particular  Tribe
or Nation.

                            NOT PEACE BUT A SWORD:

   All  Race-religions are of the Holy Spirit.   They are insufficient,  be-
cause they are based on law, which makes for sin and brings death,  pain and
sorrow.

   All Race-spirits know this,  and realize that their religions are  merely
steps   to  something  better.    This  is  shown  by  the  fact  that   all
Race-religions,  without exception, point to One Who is TO COME.   The reli-
gion  of the Persians pointed to Mithras;  of the Chaldeans to Tammuz.   The
old  Norse  Gods foresaw the approach of "The Twilight of  the  Gods,"  when
Sutr, the bright Sun-spirit, shall supersede them and a new and fairer order
be established on "Gimle," the regenerated earth.   The Egyptians waited for
Horis,  the new-born Sun.   Mithras and Tammuz are also symbolized as  Solar
orbs and all the principal Temples were built facing the East, that the rays
of  the rising Sun might shine directly through the open doors;  even  Saint
Peter's  at  Rome  is so placed.  All these facts show that it was generally

[PAGE 2250]

known that the One Who was to come was a Sun-spirit and was to save humanity
from the separative influences necessarily contained in all Race-religions.

   These religions were steps which it was necessary for mankind to take  to
prepare for the advent of Christ.  Man must first cultivate a "self"  before
he can become really UNselfish and understand the higher phase of  Universal
Brotherhood--unity of purpose and interest--for which Christ laid the  foun-
dation at His first coming,  and which He will make living realties when  He
returns.

   As the fundamental principle of a Race-religion is separation,  inculcat-
ing self-seeking at the expense of other men and nations, it is evident that
if  the principle is carried to its ultimate conclusion it must  necessarily
have  an increasingly destructive tendency and finally frustrate  evolution,
unless succeeded by a more constructive religion.

   Therefore the separative religions of the Holy Spirit must give place  to
the unifying religion of the Son, which is the Christian religion.

   Law must give place to Love, and the separate Races and Nations be united
in one Universal Brotherhood, with Christ as the Eldest Brother.

   The Christian religion has not yet had time to accomplish this great  ob-
ject.   Man is still in the toils of the dominant Race-spirit and the ideals
of Christianity are yet too high for him.  The intellect can see some of the
beauties,  and readily admits that we should love our enemies,  but the pas-
sions of the desire body are still too strong.   The law of the  Race-spirit
being "An eye for an eye," the Feeling is "I'll get even!"   The heart prays
for Love; the desire body hopes for Revenge.  The intellect sees, IN THE AB-
STRACT,  the  beauty of loving one's enemies but in concrete cases it allies

[PAGE 2251]

itself with the vengeful feeling of the desire body, pleading,  as an excuse
for "getting even," that "the social organism must be protected."

   It is a matter for congratulation, however,  that society feels compelled
to apologize for the retaliative methods used.  Corrective methods and mercy
are  becoming more and more prominent in the administration of the laws,  as
is shown by the favorable reception which has been accorded that very modern
institution,  the Juvenile Court.   Further manifestation of this same  ten-
dency may be noted in the increasing frequency with which convicted  prison-
ers are released on probation, under suspended sentence; also in the greater
humanity with which prisoners of war are treated of late years.   These  are
the vanguards of the sentiment of Universal Brotherhood, which is slowly but
surely makings its influence felt.

   Yet,  though the world is advancing and though, for instance, it has been
comparatively  easy for the writer to secure a hearing for his views in  the
different cities where he has lectured,  the daily papers sometimes devoting
to  his utterances whole pages (and front pages at that) so long as he  con-
fined  himself to speaking of the higher worlds and the POST MORTEM  states,
it has been very noticeable that as soon as the theme was Universal Brother-
hood his articles have ALWAYS been consigned to the waste-basket.

   The  world in general is very unwilling to consider anything that is,  as
it thinks,  "too"  unselfish.  There must be "something in it."   Nothing is
regarded as an entirely natural line of conduct if it offers no  opportunity
for  "getting  the best of" one's fellowmen.   Commercial  undertakings  are
planned and conducted on that principle and,  before the minds of those  who
are  enslaved  by  the  desire  to  accumulate  useless  wealth, the idea of

[PAGE 2252]

Universal  Brotherhood  conjures up frightful visions of  the  abolition  of
capitalism and its inevitable concomitant, the exploitation of others,  with
the wreck of "business interests" implied thereby.  The word "enslaved"  ex-
actly describes this condition.  According to the Bible, man was to have do-
minion  over  the world,  but in the vast majority of cases the  reverse  is
true--it is the world which has dominion over man.   Every man who has prop-
erty  interests  will,   in  his  saner  moments,  admit  that  they  are  a
never-failing source of worry to him; that he is constantly scheming to hold
his possessions,  or at least to keep from being deprived of them by  "sharp
practice,"  knowing  that others are as constantly  scheming  to  accomplish
that,  to them,  desirable end.   The man is the slave of what,  with uncon-
scious irony,  he calls "my possessions,' when in reality they possess  him.
Well  did the Sage of Concord say,  "THINGS are in the saddle and ride  man-
kind!"

   This state of affairs is the result of Race-religions,  with their system
of law; therefore do they all look for "One Who is to come."   The Christian
religion ALONE is NOT looking for One Who IS to come,  but for One Who is to
come AGAIN.  The time of this second coming depends upon when the Church can
free itself from the State.   The Church, especially in Europe,  is bound to
the Chariot of State.  The ministers are fettered by economic considerations
and dare not proclaim the truths that their studies have revealed to them.

   A visitor to Copenhagen,  Denmark, recently witnessed a church  confirma-
tion service.  The Church there is under State control and all ministers are
appointed by the temporal power.   The parishioners have nothing whatever to
say in the matter.  They may attend church or not,  as they please, but they

[PAGE 2253]

are compelled to pay the taxes which support the institution.

   In addition to holding office by the bounty of the State,  the pastor  of
the particular church visited was decorated with several Orders conferred by
the king,  the glittering badges bearing silent but eloquent testimony as to
the extent of his subserviency to the State.  During the ceremony, he prayed
for the king and the legislators,  that they might rule the country  wisely.
As long as kings and legislators exists, this prayer might be very appropri-
ate,  but it was a considerable shock to hear him add:  ". . .  .  and,  al-
mighty God, protect and strengthen our army and navy!"

   Such a prayer as this shows plainly that the God worshiped is the  Tribal
or  National  God--the Race-spirit,  for the last act of the  gentle  Christ
Jesus  was  to  stay the sword of the friend who would  have  protected  Him
therewith.  Although He said He had not come to send peace, but a sword,  it
was  because  He foresaw the oceans of blood that would be  spilled  by  the
militant "Christian"  nations in their mistaken understanding of His  teach-
ings  and  because high ideals cannot be immediately attained  by  humanity.
The wholesale murder of war and like atrocities are harsh,  but they are po-
tent illustrations of what Love would abolish.

   There is,  apparently,  a flat contradiction between the words of  Christ
Jesus,  "I came not to send peace, but a sword," and the words of the celes-
tial song which heralded the birth of Jesus,  "On earth Peace,  Goodwill to-
ward men."  This contradictions, however, is apparent only.

   There  is as great an apparent contradiction between a woman's words  and
her actions when she says, "I am going to clean house and tidy up," and then

[PAGE 2254]

proceeds to take up carpets and pile chairs one upon another, producing gen-
eral confusion in a previously orderly house.   One observing only this  as-
pect  of the matter,  would be justified in saying,  "She is making  matters
worse  instead of better,"  but when the purpose of her work is  understood,
the  expediency  of the temporary disorder is realized and in  the  end  her
house will be the better for the passing disturbance.

   Similarly, we must bear in mind that the time which has elapsed since the
coming  of Christ Jesus is but little more than a moment in comparison  with
the  duration  of  even one Day of Manifestation.   We must  learn,  as  did
Whitman,  to  "know the amplitude of time,"  and look beyond  the  past  and
present cruelties and jealousies of the warring sects to the shining age  of
Universal Brotherhood, which will mark the next great step of man's progress
on his long and wondrous journey from the clod to the God,  from  protoplasm
to conscious unity with the Father, that

         . . . one far-off, divine event
         To which the whole creation moves.

   It may be added that the above mentioned pastor,  during the ceremony  of
receiving  his  pupils into the Church taught them that Jesus Christ  was  a
composite individual;  that Jesus was mortal,  human part,  while Christ was
the divine,  immortal Spirit.   Presumably, if the matter had been discussed
with him, he would not have supported this statement, nevertheless in making
it he stated an occult fact.

                           THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM:

   The unifying influence of the Christ has been symbolized in the beautiful
legend  of  the worship of the three magi,  or "wise men of  the  East,"  so
skillfully woven by General Lew Wallace into his  charming story, "Ben Hur."

[PAGE 2255]

   The three wise men--Caspar,  Melchior and Balthasar--are the  representa-
tives of the white,  yellow and black Races and symbolize the people of  Eu-
rope,  Asia and Africa, who are all led by The Star to the World-Savior,  to
Whom  eventually "every knee shall bow," and Whom "every tongue  shall  con-
fess";  Who shall unite all the scattered nations under the Banner of  Peace
and Goodwill;  Who shall cause men to "beat their words into plowshares  and
their spears into pruning hooks."

   The  Star of Bethlehem is said to have appeared at the time of the  birth
of Jesus, and to have guided the three wise men to the Savior.

   Much  speculation  has been indulged in as to the nature  of  this  Star.
Most material scientists have declared it a myth,  while others have said if
it were anything more than a myth,  it might have been a  "coincidence"--two
dead  Suns  might have collided and caused a conflagration.   Every  mystic,
however,  knows the "Star"--yea,  and the "Cross"  also--not only as symbols
connected with the life of Jesus and Christ Jesus,  but in his own  personal
experience.   Paul says:   "Until Christ be formed in you";  and the mystic,
Angelus Silesius, echoes:

   Though Christ a thousand times in Bethlehem be born
   And not within thyself, thy soul will be forlorn.
   The Cross on Golgotha thou lookest to in vain
   Unless within thyself it be set up again.

   Richard Wagner shows the intuitional knowledge of the artist when, to the
question of Parsifal, "Who is The Grail?"  Gurnemanz answers:

   That tell we not;
   But if thou hast by Him been bidden,
   From thee the truth will not stay hidden.
   . . . The land to Him no path leads through,
   And search but severs from Him wider
   When He Himself is not the Guider.

[PAGE 2256]

   Under the "old dispensation" the path to Initiation was not open.  It was
for only the chosen few.  Some might seek the path,  but only those who were
guided  to the Temples by the Hierophants found entrance.   Previous to  the
advent of Christ,  there was no such sweeping invitation as "Whosoever  will
may come."

   At  the moment the blood flowed on Golgotha,  however,  "the veil of  the
Temple  was rent"  (for reasons presently to be explained),  and ever  since
that tine, whosoever will seek admittance will surely find it.

   In the Temples of Mystery the Hierophant taught his pupils that there  is
in the Sun a spiritual,  as well as a physical force.   The latter force  in
the rays of the Sun is the fecundating principle in nature.   It causes  the
growth of the plant world and thereby sustains the animal and human kingdom.
It is the upbuilding energy which is the source of all physical force.

   This physical,  solar energy reaches its highest expression in midsummer,
when the days are longest and the nights are shortest,  because the rays  of
the  Sun then fall directly on the northern hemisphere.   At that  time  the
spiritual forces are the most inactive.

   On  the  other  hand,  in December, during the long  winter  nights,  the
physical  force of the solar orb is dormant and the spiritual  forces  reach
their maximum degree of activity.

   The  night between the 24th and the 25th of December is The  Holy  Night,
PAR EXCELLENCE, of the entire year.  The Zodiacal sign of the immaculate ce-
lestial Virgin stands upon the eastern horizon near midnight, the Sun of the
New  Year  is then born and starts upon his journey  from  the  southernmost
point  toward  the  northern  hemisphere,  to  save  that  part  of humanity

[PAGE 2257]

(physically)  from the darkness and famine which would inevitably result  if
he were to remain permanently south of the equator.

   To the people of the northern hemisphere, where all our present day reli-
gions originated, the Sun is directly below the Earth; and the spiritual in-
fluences are strongest, in the north, at midnight of the 24th of December.

   That being the case,  it follows as a matter of course that it would then
be easiest for those who wished to take a definite step toward Initiation to
get in conscious touch with the spiritual Sun especially for the first time.

   Therefore the pupils who were ready for Initiation were taken in hand  by
the  Hierophants of the Mysteries,  and be means of ceremonies performed  in
the  Temple,  were raised to a state of exaltation wherein they  transcended
physical  conditions.   To their spiritual vision,  the solid  Earth  become
transparent  and they was the Sun at midnight--"The Star!"   It was not  the
physical Sun they saw with spiritual eyes,  however,  but the Spirit in  the
Sun--The  Christ--their  Spiritual Savior,  as the physical  Sun  was  their
physical Savior.

   This is the Star that shone on that Holy Night and that still shines  for
the  mystic  in  the darkness of night.   When the noise  and  confusion  of
physical activity are quieted,  he enters into his closet and seeks the  way
to the King of Peace.   The Blazing Star is ever there to guide him and  his
soul hears the prophetic song, "On earth Peace, Goodwill toward men."

   Peace and goodwill to all,  without exception; no room for one single en-
emy  or outcast!   Is it any wonder that it is hard to educate  humanity  to
such  a high standard?   Is there any better way to show the beauty of,  and
the necessity for peace, goodwill and love than by contrasting them with the
present state of war, selfishness and hate?

[PAGE 2258]

   The stronger the light,  the deeper the shadow it casts.   The higher our
ideals, the more plainly can we see our shortcomings.

   Unfortunately,  at the present stage of development,  humanity is willing
to  learn only by the hardest experience.  As a Race,  it must become  abso-
lutely selfish to feel the bitter pangs caused by the selfishness of others,
as one must know much sickness to be thoroughly thankful for health.

   The religion MIScalled Christianity has therefore been the bloodiest  re-
ligion known, not excepting Mohammedanism, which in this respect is somewhat
akin to our malpracticed Christianity.   On the battle field  and in the In-
quisition innumerable and unspeakable atrocities have been committed in  the
name  of the gentle Nazarene.   The Sword and the Wine  Cup,--the  perverted
Cross and Communion Chalice--have been the means by which the more  powerful
of  the  so-called  Christian  nations gained  supremacy  over  the  heathen
peoples, and even over other but weaker nations professing the same faith as
their  conquerors.    The  most  cursory  reading  of  the  history  of  the
Graeco-Latin, Teutonic and Anglo-Saxson Races will corroborate on this.

   While  man was under the FULL sway of Race-religions each nation  was  an
united  whole.   Individual interests were willing subordinated to the  com-
munity interests.   All were "under the law."  All were members of their re-
spective tribes first, and individuals only secondarily.

   At the present time there is a tendency toward the other extreme--to  ex-
alt "self" above all else.  The result is evident in the economic and indus-
trial problems that are facing every nation and clamoring for solution.

   The  state  of  development wherein every man feels himself an absolutely

[PAGE 2259]

separate unit, an Ego, independently pursuing his own course, is a necessary
stage.  The national, tribal and family unity must first be broken up before
Universal  Brotherhood can become a fact.   The REGIME  of  Paternalism  has
been largely superseded by the reign of Individualism.   We are learning the
evils  of  the  latter  more and more as  our  civilization  advances.   Our
unsystematic method of distributing the products of labor,  the rapacity  of
the  few  and  the  exploitation of  many--these  social  crimes  result  in
under-consumption, industrial depressions and labor disturbances, destroying
internal  peace.   The  industrial war of the present  day  is  vastly  more
far-reaching and destructive than the military wars of the nations.

Continued with file "RC1063.TXT"

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