Filename: RC5004.TXT

                             THE FALL OF MAN:  
 
"The Bible has been given to the Western World by the Recording Angels,  who 
give to each and all exactly what they need for their development."
                                                               --Max Heindel
Reference: Genesis Chapter 3 

  In connection with the study of Genesis, let us consider "the Fall," which 
is the backbone and sinew of popular Christianity. Had there been no "Fall," 
there would have been no need for the "plan of salvation." 

  When the Earth came out of chaos, it was at first in the dark red stage 
known as the Polarian Epoch. There humanity first evolved a dense body, not 
at all like our present vehicle, of course. When the condition of the Earth 
became fiery, as in the Hyperborean Epoch, the vital body was added and man 
became plant-like, that is to say, he had the same vehicles as our plants 
have today, and also similar consciousness, or, rather, unconsciousness, to 
that which we have in dreamless sleep when the dense and vital bodies are 
left upon the bed. 

  At that time, in the Hyperborean Epoch, the body of man was as an enor- 
mous gas bag, floating outside the fiery Earth, and it threw off plantlike 
spores, which then grew and were used by other incoming entities. At that 
time man was double-sexed, a hermaphrodite. 

  In the Lemurian Epoch, when the Earth had somewhat cooled and islands of 
crust had begun to form amid boiling seas, then also man's body had somewhat 
solidified and had become more like the body we see today. It was ape-like, 
a short trunk with enormous arms and limbs, the heels projecting backward 
and almost no head--at least the upper part of the head was nearly entirely 
wanting. Man lived in the atmosphere of steam which occultists call fire-
fog, and had no lungs, but breathed by means of tubes. He had a bladder-like 
organ inside, which he inflated with heated air to help him leap enormous 
chasms when volcanic eruptions destroyed the land upon which he was living. 
From the back of his head there projected an organ which has now been drawn 
into the head and is called by anatomists the "pineal gland" or the "third 
eye," although it was never an eye, but a localized organ of feeling. The 
body was then devoid of feeling, but when man came too close to a volcanic 
crater, the heat was registered by this organ to warn him away before his 
body was destroyed. 

  At that time the body had already so far solidified that it was impossible 
for man to continue to propagate by spores, and it was necessary that he 
should evolve an organ of thought, a brain. The creative force which we now 
use to build railways, steamships, etc., in the outer world, was then used 
inwardly for the building of the organs. Like all forces it was positive 
and negative. One pole was turned upward to build the brain, leaving the o- 
ther pole available for the creation of another body. Thus man was no longer 
a complete creative unit. Each possessed only half the creative force, and 
it was therefore necessary for him to seek his complement outside himself. 

  Man was not at that time the wide-a-wake conscious being he is at present. 
He was more awake in the Spiritual World than in the physical; he hardly saw 
his body and was not conscious of the act of propagation. The Bible 
statement that Jehovah put man to sleep when he was to bring forth is 
correct. There was no pain nor trouble connected with childbirth; nor 
(because of man's exceedingly dim consciousness of his physical 
surroundings) did he know anything of the loss of his dense body by death, 
or of his installment in a new dense vehicle at birth. 

  But at that time, "their eyes had not been opened," and the human beings 
of that age were unconscious of each other in the Physical World, though 
well aware and awake in the Spiritual World. Therefore under the guidance of 
the Angels, who were particularly fitted to help them in respect to 
propagation, they were herded together in great temples at certain times of 
the year when the lines of force running between the planets were 
propitious, and there the creative act was performed as a religious 
sacrifice. And when this primal man Adam came into the intimate sexual 
contact with the woman, the spirit for the moment pierced the flesh and 
"Adam knew (or became awareof) his wife"; he sensed her physically. It is 
this which the Bible has recorded, using that chaste expression all through 
its leaves, for we are told that "Elkanah knew his wife Hannah, and she bore 
Samuel." Even in the New Testament where the angel comes to Mary telling her 
that she is to be the mother of the Savior, she answers, "How shall that be 
possible seeing I know not a man?" 

  Sin is action contrary to law, and while humanity propagated under the 
guidance of the Angels, who understood the cosmic lines of force, 
parturition was painless, as it it now among wild animals, which propagate 
only at the proper time of the year under the guidance of the group spirit. 
But when man acting on the advice of certain spirits (the Lucifers) half-way 
between humanity and the Angels, undertook to create at any and all times of 
the year, regardless of cosmic lines of force, that sin, or "eating of the 
tree of knowledge," caused the painful parturition which the Lord God 
proclaimed to Eve. He did not curse her, but simply stated what would be the 
result of the ignorant and indiscriminate use of the creative function. 

  The Lucifers were a part of the humanity of the Moon Period; they are the 
stragglers of the life wave of the Angels, too far advanced to take a dense 
physical body, yet they needed an "inner" organ for the acquisition of 
knowledge. Moreover, they could work through a physical brain, which the An- 
gels or Jehovah could not. 

  These spirits enetered the spinal cord and brain and spoke to the woman, 
whose Imagination had been aroused by the training of the Lemurian Race. As 
her consciousness was principally internal, a picture-consciousness of them 
was received by her, and she saw them as serpents, for they had entered her 
brain by the serpentine spinal cord. 

  The training of the woman included watching the perilous feats and fights 
of the men in developing will, in which fights bodies were necessarily often 
killed. The dim consciousness of something unusual set the imagination of 
the woman to wondering why she saw these strange things. She was conscious 
of the spirits of those who had lost their bodies, but her imperfect sense 
of the Physical World failed to revealthese friends whose dense bodies had 
been destroyed. 

  The Lucifers solved the problem for her by "opening her eyes." They re- 
vealed to her her own body and that of the man and taught her how, together, 
they might conquer death by creating new bodies. Thus death could not touch 
them for they, like Jehovah, could create at will. 

  Lucifer opened the eyes of woman. She sought the help of man and opened 
his eyes. Thus, in a real though dim way, they first "knew" or became aware 
of one another and also of the Physical World. They became conscious of 
death and pain and by this knowledge, they learned to differentiate between 
the inner man and the outer garment he wears and renews each time it is 
necessary to take his next step in evolution. They ceased to be automatons 
and became free thinking beings at the cost of freedom from pain, sickness, 
and death. 

  That the interpretation, of the eating of the fruit as a symbol of the ge- 
nerative act is not a farfetched idea, is shown by the declaration of 
Jehovah that they will die and that the woman will bear her children in pain 
and suffering. He knew that as man's attention had now been called to his 
physical gar ment, he would become aware of its loss by death. He also knew 
that man had not yet wisdom to bridle his passion and regulate sexual 
intercourse by the positions of the planets, therefore pain in childbirth 
must follow his ignorant abuse of the function. 

  It has always been a sore puzzle to Bible commentators what connection 
there could possibly be between the eating of fruit and the bearing of 
children, but if we understand that the eating of the fruit is symbolical of 
the generative act whereby man becomes "like God" inasmuch as he "knows" his 
kind and is thus able to generate new beings, the solution is easy. 

  In the latter part of the Lemurian Epoch when man arrogated to himself the 
prerogative of performing the generative act when he pleased, it was his 
then-powerful will that enabled him to do so. By "eating of the tree of 
knowledge" at any and all times he was able to create a new body whenever he 
lost an old vehicle. 

  We usually think of death as something to be dreaded. Had man also 
"eaten of the tree of life," had he learned the secret of how to perpetual- 
ly vitalize his body, there would have been a worse condition. We know that 
our bodies are not perfect today and in those ancient days they were 
exceedingly primitive. Therefore the anxiety of the creative Hierarchies 
lest man "eat of the tree of life also," and become capable of renewing his 
vital body, was well founded. Had he done so he would have been immortal 
indeed, but would never have been able to progress. The evolution of the Ego 
depends upon its vehicles and if it could not get new and improving ones by 
death and birth, there would be stagnation. It is an occult maxim that the 
oftener we die the better we are able to live, for every birth gives us a 
new chance. 

  We have seen that brain-knowledge, with its concomitant selfishness, was 
bought by man at the cost of the power to create from himself alone. He 
bought his free will at the cost of pain and death; but when man learns to 
use his intellect for the good of humanity, he will gain spiritual power 
over life and in addition, will be guided by an innate knowledge as much 
higher than the present brain-consciousness as that is higher than the 
lowest animal consciousness. 

  The fall into generation was necessary to build the brain, but that is, at 
best, only an indirect way of gaining knowledge and will be superseded by 
direct touch with the wisdom of Nature which man, without any cooperation, 
will then be able to use for the generation of new bodies. The larynx will 
again speak "the lost Word," the "creative Fiat," which, under the guidance 
of great Teachers, was used in ancient Lemuira in the creation of plants and 
animals. 

  Man will then be a creator in very truth. Not in the slow and toilsome 
manner of the present day, but by the use of the proper word or magical for- 
mula, will he be able to create a body. 

                          JESUS AND CHRIST JESUS: 
 
  "The Bible has been given to the Western World by the Recording Angels, 
who give to each and all exactly what they need for their development."
--Max Heindel 
 
References: Matthew Chapters 1, 2,3; Luke 1,2; The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Concep- 
tion by Max Heindel, pages 178 (diagram #6), 377 (diagram #14), 197 (diagram 
#8) 
 
  To understand the mission of Christ as the Founder of the Universal Reli- 
gion of the future, it is necessary that we first become familiar with His 
exact nature, 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 per- 
son 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 Be- 
ings 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. 

  Please note in diagram number 6 that "The only begotten" ("the Word," 
of Whom John speaks) is the second aspect of the Supreme Being. 

  This "Word," and It alone is "begotten of His Father (the first aspect) 
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 
created It. 

  The first aspect of the Supreme Being "thinks out," or imagines, the Uni- 
verse before the beginning of active manifestation, everything, including 
the millions of solar systems and the great creative Hierarchies which 
inhabit the Cosmic Planes of existence above the seventh, which is the field 
of our evolution. 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 
Fiat," 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 dif- 
ferent 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 vibra- 
ion 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 
different measure of vibration. Consequently the conditions and combinations 
in each one are different from those in any of the others, due to the 
activity 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 ordina-
ry 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 number 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 life wave becomes individualized as human beings, those be- 
ings retain bodies corresponding to the Globes on which they have functioned. 

  On the other hand, the Initiates have progressed and evolved for 
themselves 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 particularly, as the World of Life Spirit is the first 
"universal" World. It is the World in which differentiation ceases and unity 
begins to be realized, so far as our 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 farther. 
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, 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, the 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 Naza- 
reth was born into a pure and passionless body. This body was the best that 
could be procured on Earth and the task of Jesus, in that embodiment, was to 
care for it and evolve it to the highest possible degree of efficiency, in 
preparation for the great purpose it was to serve. 

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

  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 said here, 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 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 group of spi- 
rits 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 religions 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, correlat- 
ing Him to the World of Abstract Thought, where everything is separate 
and therefore leads to self-seeking. That is precisely the reason why the 
intervention of Christ became necessary. Under the regime of Jehovah unity 
is impossible. Therefore, the Christ, Who possesses as the 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 antenatal 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 
build and function in them whenever desired or required. He used all His 
vehicles, taking only the vital and dense bodies from Jesus. When the latter 
was thirty 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. 

  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 was 
in the effect that has on the vital body. Jesus' vital body was already at- 
tuned to the high vibrations of the Life Spirit. An ordinary man's vital 
body would have instantly collapsed under the terrific vibrations 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 Golgo- 
tha. 

  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, experienced all conditions and knows every limitation 
incident to physical existence. None save He is able to feel such compassio, 
nor so fully understand the position and needs of humanity; none save He is 
qualified to bring the relief that shall fully meet our needs. He took 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 humanity 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. 

                        THE MYSTERY OF GOLGOTHA:  
 
References: Matthew 27,28; Mark 15, 16; Luke 23, 24; John 19, 20, 21. 
 
  During the last 2,000 years much has been said about "the cleansing 
blood." The blood of Christ has been extolled from the pulpit as the 
sovereign remedy for sin; the only means of redemption and salvation. 

  But if the laws of Rebirth and Consequence work in such a way that 
evolving beings reap as they have sown, and if the evolutionary impulse is 
constantly bringing humanity higher and higher, ultimately to attain 
perfection--where then is the need for redemption and salvation? Even if the 
need existed, how can the death of one individual help the rest? Would it 
not be nobler to suffer the consequences of one's acts than to hide behind 
another? These are some of the objections to the doctrine of vicarious 
atonement and redemption by the blood of Christ Jesus. We will try to answer 
them before showing the logical harmony between the operation of the Law of 
Consequence and the Atonement of Christ. 

  In the first place, it is absolutely true that the evolutionary impulse 
does work to achieve ultimate perfection for all; yet there are some who are 
constantly straggling behind. At the present time, we have just passed the 
extreme point of materiality and are going through the sixteen Races. We are 
treading "the sixteen paths to destruction," and are consequently in graver 
danger of falling behind than at any other part of the evolutionary journey. 

  In the abstract, time is nothing. A number may fall behind so far that 
they must be abandoned, to take up their further evolution in another 
scheme, where they can continue their journey to perfection. Nevertheless, 
that was not the evolution originally designed for them and it is reasonable 
to suppose that the exalted Intelligences in charge of our evolution use 
every means to bring through in safety as many as possible of the entities 
under their charge. 

  In ordinary evolution, the laws of Rebirth and Consequence are perfectly 
adequate for bringing the major portion of the life wave up to perfection, 
but they do not suffice in the case of stragglers, who are lagging behind in 
the various Races. During the stage of individualism, which is the climax of 
the illusion of separateness, all mankind needs extra help, but for the 
stragglers some additional special aid must be provided. 

  To give that special aid, to redeem the stragglers, was the mission of 
Christ. He said that He came to seek and to save that which was lost. He 
opened up the way of initiation for all who are willing to seek it. 

  But not all are in need of salvation. Christ knew that there is a very 
large class who do not require salvation in this way, but just as surely as 
there are the ninety-and-nine who are well taken care of by the laws of 
Rebirth and Consequence and will reach perfection in that way, so there are 
the "sinners" who have become "bogged" in matter and cannot escape without a 
rope. Christ came to save them and to bring peace and good will to all, by 
raising them to the necessary point of spirituality, causing a change in 
their desire bodies which will make the influence of the life spirit in the 
heart more potent. 

  His younger brother Sun Spirits, the Archangels, had worked as Race 
spirits on the desire bodies of man, but their work had been from without. 
It was simply a reflected spiritual Sun-force and came through the Moon--as 
moonlight is reflected sunlight. Christ, the Chief Initiate of the Sun 
Spirits, entered directly into the dense body of the Earth and brought the 
direct Sun-force, thus enabling Him to influence our desire bodies from 
within. 

  So it is with the spiritual impulses which help man to evolve. The reason 
why the Earth was thrown off from the Sun was because our humanity could not 
endure the Sun's tremendous physical and spiritual impulses. Even after an 
enormous distance had been placed between the Earth and Sun, the spiritual 
impulse would still have been too strong had it not been sent first to the 
Moon, to be used by Jehovah, the Regent of the Moon, for man's benefit. A 
number of Archangels were given Jehovah as helpers in reflecting these 
spiritual impulses from the Sun upon the humanity of the Earth, in the form 
of Jehovistic or Race-religions. 

  The lowest vehicle of the Archangels is the desire body. Our desire body 
was added in the Moon Period, at which time Jehovah was the highest 
Initiate. Therefore Jehovah is able to deal with man's desire body. 
Jehovah's lowest vehicle is the human spirit and its counterpart is the 
desire body. The Archangels are His helpers because they are able to manage 
the spiritual Sun forces and the desire body is their lowest vehicle. Thus 
they are able to work with and prepare humanity for the time when it can 
receive the spiritual impulses directly from the Solar Orb, without the 
intervention of the Moon. 

  Upon Christ, as the highest Initiate of the Sun Period, is laid the task 
of sending out this impulse. The impulse which Jehovah reflected was sent 
out by Christ, Who thus prepared both the Earth and humanity for His direct 
ingress. 

  The expression, "prepared the Earth," means that all evolution on a planet 
is accompanied by the evolution of that planet itself. Had some observer 
gifted with spiritual sight watched the evolution of our Earth from some 
distant star, he would have noticed a gradual change taking place in the 
Earth's desire body. 

  Under the old dispensation the desire bodies of people in general were im- 
proved by means of the law. This work is still going on in the majority of 
people, who are thus preparing themselves for the higher life. 

  The higher life (Initiation) does not commence, however, until the work on 
the vital body begins. The means used for bringing that into activity is 
Love, or rather Altruism. The former word has been abused that it no longer 
conveys the meaning here required. 

  During the old dispensation the path of initiation was not free and open, 
except to a chosen few. The Hierophants of the Mysteries collected certain 
families about the Temples, setting them apart from all the other people. 
These chosen families were then rigorously guarded as to certain rites and 
ceremonies. Their marriages and sexual intercourse were regulated by the 
Hierophants. 

  The effect of this was to produce a race having the proper degree of 
laxity between the dense and vital bodies; also, to wake the desire body 
from its state of lethargy during sleep. Thus a special few were made fit 
for initiation and were given opportunities that could not be given to all. 

  The Mission of Christ, in addition to saving the lost, was to make 
initiation possible to all; therefore Jesus came from the common people, and 
though not of the teacher class, His teaching was higher than that of Moses. 

  Christ Jesus did not deny Moses, the law, nor the prophets. On the 
contrary, He acknowledged them all and showed the people that they were His, 
as they pointed to One Who was to come. He told the people that those things 
had served their purpose and that henceforth Love must supersede Law. 

  Christ Jesus was killed. In connection with this fact, we come to the 
supreme and fundamental difference between Him and the previous teachers, 
through whom the Race Spirits worked. They all died and must be reborn again 
and again to help their peoples bear their destiny. The Archangel Michael 
raised up Moses, who was taken up to Mount Nebo to die. He was reborn as 
Elijah. Elijah returned as John the Baptist; Buddha died and was reborn as 
Shankaracharya; Shri Krishna says, "Whenever there is decay of 
Dharma...and...exaltation of Adharma, then I myself come forth for the 
protection of good, for the destruction of evildoers, for the sake of firmly 
establishing Dharma. I am born from age to age." When death came Moses' face 
shone and Buddha's body became alight. They all reached the stage when the 
spirit begins to shine from within--but then they died. 

  Christ Jesus reached that stage on the Mount of Transfiguration. It is of 
the very highest significane that His real work took place subsequent to 
that event. He suffered; was killed--and resurrected. 

  Being killed is a very different thing from dying. The blood that had been 
the vehicle of the Race-spirit must FLOW and be cleansed of that 
contaminating influence. Love of father and mother, exclusive of other 
fathers and mothers, must go--otherwise Universal Brotherhood and an all-
embracing Altruistic Love could never become an actuality. 

  When the Savior Christ Jesus was crucified His body was pierced in five 
places; in the five centers where the currents of the vital body flow; and 
the pressure of the crown of thorns caused a flow from the sixth also. 

  When the blood flowed from these centers, the great Sun-spirit Christ was 
liberated from the physical vehicle of Jesus and found Himself IN THE EARTH, 
without individual vehicles. The already existing planetary vehicles He 
permeated with His own vehicles and in the twinkling of an eye diffused His 
own desire body over the planet, which has enabled Him thenceforth to work 
upon the Earth and its humanity from WITHIN. 

  At that moment a tremendous wave of spiritual sunlight flooded the Earth. 
It rent the veil which the Race-spirit had hung before the Temple to keep 
out all but the chosen few, and it made the Path of Initiation free 
thenceforth to whomsoever will. So far as concerned the Spiritual Worlds, 
this wave transformed the conditions of Earth like a flash of lightning, but 
the dense, concrete conditions are, of course, much more slowly affected. 

  Like all rapid and high vibrations of light, this great wave blinded the 
people by its dazzling brilliance, therefore it was said that "the Sun was 
darkened." The very opposite was what actually occurred. The Sun was not 
darkened, but shone out in glorious splendor. It was the excess of light 
that blinded the people, and only as the entire Earth absorbed the desire 
body of the bright Sun-spirit did the vibration return to a more normal 
rate. 

  The expression, "the cleansing blood of Christ Jesus," means that as the 
blood flowed on Calvary, it bore with it the great Sun-spirit Christ, Who by 
that means secured admission to the Earth itself and since that moment has 
been its Regent. He diffused His own desire body throughout the planet, 
thereby cleansing it from all the vile influences which had grown up under 
the regime of the Race-spirit. 

  Under the law all sinned; nay, more--they could not help it. They had not 
evolved to where they could do right for Love's sake. The desire nature was 
so strong that it was an impossibility for them to rule it altogether, 
therefore their debts, engendered under the Law of Consequence, piled up to 
monstrous proportions. Evolution would have been terribly delayed and many 
lost to our live wave altogether if some help had not been given. 

  Therefore Christ did come "to seek to save that which was lost." He took 
away the sin of the world by His cleansing blood, which gave Him entrance to 
the Earth and its humanity. He purified the conditions and we owe it to Him 
that we are able to gather for our desire bodies purer desire stuff than 
formerly, and He continues working to help us, by making our external 
environment constantly purer. 

  That this is and was done at the expense of great suffering to Himself, no 
one can doubt who is able to form the least conception of the limitations 
endured by that Great Spirit in entering the hampering conditions of 
physical existence, even in the best and purest vehicle possible; nor is His 
present limitation as Regent of the Sun, and therefore only partially 
confined to the Earth, yet the limitations set by the crampingly low 
vibrations of our dense planet must be almost unendurable. 

  Had Christ Jesus simply died, it would have been impossible for Him to 
have done this work, but the Christians have a RISEN Savior; One Who is ever 
present to help those who call upon His name. Having suffered like unto 
ourselves in all things and knowing fully our needs, He is lenient toward 
our mistakes and failures so long as we continue trying to live the good 
life. We must ever keep before our eyes the fact that the only real failure 
is ceasing to try. Upon the death of the dense body of Christ Jesus, the 
seed atom was returned to the original owner, Jesus of Nazareth, who for 
some time afterward, while functioning in a vital body which he had gathered 
temporarily, taught the nucleus of the new faith which Christ had left 
behind. Jesus of Nazareth has since had the guidance of the esoteric 
branches which sprang up all over Europe. 

  In many places the Knights of the Round Table were high Initiates in the 
Mysteries of the New Dispensation. So were the Knights of the Grail--to whom 
was finally confided Joseph of Arimithea's Grail Cup, which was used by 
Christ Jesus at the Last Supper. They were afterward entrusted also with the 
Lance which pierced His side, and the receptacle which received the blood 
from the wound. 

  The Druids of Ireland and the Trottes of Northern Russia were esoteric 
schools through which the Master Jesus worked during the so-called "Dark 
Ages," but dark though they were, the spiritual impulse spread, and from the 
standpoint of the occult scientist they were "Bright Ages" compared to the 
growing materialism of the last three hundred years, which has increased 
physical knowledge immensely, but has almost extinguished the Light of the 
Spirit. 
                 -----------------------------------------

  "The Bible has been given the Western World by the Recording Angels, who 
give to each and all exactly what they need for their development."--Max
Heindel 
 
                            THE LORD'S PRAYER: 
 
References: Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:1-4; acts 6:4; 12:5; Romans 12:12; 
James 5:16 
 
  Prayer may be said to be an opening up of a channel along which the divine 
Life and Light may flow into the spirit, in the same way that the turning of 
a switch opens the way for the electric current to flow from the power- 
house into our house. Faith in prayer is like the energy which turns the 
switch. Without muscular force we cannot turn the switch to obtain physical 
light, and, without faith we cannot pray in such a manner as to secure spi- 
ritual illumination. If we pray for worldly ends, for that which is contra- 
ry to the law of love and universal good, our prayers will prove as una- 
vailing as a glass switch in an electric circuit. Glass is a non-conductor, 
a bar to the electric power, and selfish prayers are, likewise, bars to di- 
vine purposes and must therefore remain unanswered. To pray to a purpose we 
must pray aright, and in the Lord's Prayer we have a most wonderful pat- 
tern, for it caters to the needs of man as no other formula could do. Within a 
few short sentences it encompasses all the complexities of the relationship of 
God to man. 

  To understand this sublime prayer properly and be able to render it un- 
derstandingly and efficiently, let us recall that: 

  The Father is the highest Initiate of the Saturn Period. 

  The Son is the highest Initiate of the Sun Period. 

  The Holy Spirit is the highest Initiate of the Moon Period. 

  The Divine Spirit and the dense body of man started their evolution in the 
Saturn Period and are therefore under the special care of the Father. 

  The Life Spirit and the vital body started their evolution in the Sun Pe- 
riod and are consequently the particular charges of the Son. 

  The Human Spirit and the desire body commenced to evolve in the Moon Period 
and are therefore the special wards of the Holy Spirit. 

  The Mind was added in the Earth Period and is not cared for by other or 
outside beings, but is to be subdued by man himself, without any outside assis- 
tance. 

  In the Lord's Prayer there are seven prayers; or, rather, there are three 
sets of two prayers and one single supplication. Each of the three sets has 
reference to the needs of one of the aspects of the three-fold spirit and 
its counterpart in the threefold body. The opening sentence, Our Father Who 
art in Heaven, is merely as the address upon an envelope. The student is re- 
ferred  to  Diagram  Number  16  found in  "The  Rosicrucian  Cosmo-Concep-
tion" by Max Heindel for a key to this prayer, showing diagrammatically the 
relation between the Trinity, the threefold spirit, the threefold body and 
the Mind, each aspect of the spirit being connected by a line with the 
prayer specifically suited to its counterpart in the threefold body and 
addressed to its guardian aspect in the Trinity. 

  The Human Spirit lifts itself upon the wings of devotion to its parent as- 
pect in the Holy Trinity and intones the opening incantation, "Hallowed be 
Thy Name." 

  The Life Spirit raises itself upon pinions of love and addresses the fount 
of its being, The Son, "Thy Kingdom come." 

  The Divine Spirit soars with superior insight to the fountain head, whence 
it sprang at the dawn of time, The Father, and manifests its confidence in 
that all-embracing Intelligence in the words, "Thy Will be done." 

  Having thus reached the Throne of Grace, the threefold spirit in man 
proffers its requests concerning the personality, the threefold body. 

  The Divine Spirit prays to The Father for its counterpart, the dense body, 
"Give us our daily bread." 

  The Life Spirit prays to The Son for its counterpart, the vital body, 
"Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." 

  The Human Spirit utters the supplication for the desire body in the words, 
"Lead us not into temptation." 

  Then all join in a concerted appeal concerning the Mind, "Deliver us from 
evil." 

  The addition, "For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, 
forever, Amen," was not given by Christ, but is very appropriate as the 
parting adoration of the three-fold spirit as it closes its direct address 
to the Deity. 

  Looking at the foregoing explanation from the analytical standpoint, we 
find that there are three religious teachings to be given to man in helping 
him to attain to perfection. One is the religion of the Holy Spirit; the 
next is the Religion of The Son; and is the last is the Religion of The 
Father. 

  Under the regime of the Holy Spirit the human race was divided into 
nations and peoples segregated by their adherence to one group from 
fellowship with other nations. Each group was further cut off from the rest 
because of speaking another language. They were all put under certain laws 
and were taught to reverence the name of their God. One people worshipped 
him as Iao, another as Tao, others as Bel. Everywhere the name of the 
Lawgiver washoly. The method of segregation had the advantage that the Race-
spirit in chief, Jehovah, could use one people to punish another who had 
transgressed his law, but it has the disadvantage that it fosters egotism 
and separates humanity in a manner detrimental to universal good. It is an 
axiomatic truth that what does not benefit all cannot really benefit any. 
Therefore, ways and means must be found to reunite the scattered nations and 
weld them into one universal Brotherhood. That is to be the work of the 
Religion of the Son--Christianity. The warring of nations is fostered by the 
Race-spirit, but the Christian Religion will eventually unite them, cause 
them to beat their swords into ploughshares and bring peace and good will on 
Earth when the kingdom of the Son has superseded the tribes and races. Then 
a still higher religious teaching, the religion of The Father, is to unite 
mankind still closer. In the Kingdom of the Son there will be a universal 
Brotherhood of separate individuals having varying interests, but ready to 
give and take through love, sinking individual preferences for the common 
good, but when the religion of the Father becomes a fact in life, the self 
will be entirely submerged in a common purpose, a single will. The Will of 
God will then be done on Earth as it is in Heaven, where there is neither me 
nor thee, but where God is All and in All. 

  In the meantime a certain work has to be performed by the three-fold 
spirit upon the threefold body, to spiritualize it and extract the threefold 
soul. 

  The dense body is but an irresponsible tool, but nevertheless, it is a 
most valuable instrument, to be cared for and prized as a mechanic cares for 
and prizes a valuable tool. We hold firmly before our mental vision that we 
are not the body, any more than the mechanic is identical with his tools, or 
the carpenter is the house. That is plainly evident when we consider that 
our body is a constantly changing aggregation of cells, while we keep our 
"I"-dentity amind and despite all changes, which would be impossible if we 
were identical with our dense body. That body is to be valued and cared for. 
"Give us our daily bread," says the fourth prayer. Most people eat too much, 
and for them an occasional fast may be good, but fasting is unnecessary for 
those who do not feast, but live the simple life from day to day. When the 
body is overfed, the spirit may be ever so willing, but the flesh will be 
correspondingly weak. Therefore, when a young spirit gains ascendancy, it 
seeks to overcome the lower nature by fasting, tortures, etc., as best 
exemplified in Hindu Yogis who emaciate the body, causing the limbs to 
wither, etc., that the spirit may shine. 

  That is a mistake as much subversive of true spiritual growth as is the 
habit of overeating. As said, where a man can control his appetite and feed 
his body on pure food he need not fast, but may give to his body its daily 
bread. 

  The vital body being the storehouse of the panorama of our life, our own 
sins and the wrong we have suffered at the hands of others are there in- 
scribed, hence the fifth prayer, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive 
those who have trespassed against us," enunciated the needs of the vital 
body and be it noted that this prayer teaches the doctrine of the remission 
of sins, in the words, "forgive us," and the Law of Consequence in the 
words, "as we forgive," making our attitude to others the measure of our 
emancipation. 

  "Lead us not into temptation," is the prayer for the desire body which is 
the storehouse of energy, and furnishes incentive to action through desire. 
An Oriental maxim says, "Kill out desire." "Kill out your temper," is the 
foolish admonition sometimes given those who lose their temper. Desire or 
temper is a valuable asset, too valuable to be stunted or killed; the man 
without desire is like the steel devoid of temper--of no account. In Reve- 
lation, while the six churches are praised, the seventh is utterly anathe- 
mized for being "neither hot nor cold," a wishy-washy community. "The 
greater the sinner, the greater the saint," is a true adage, for it takes 
energy to sin and when that energy is turned in the right direction, it is as 
much of a power for good as previously it was for evil. A man may be good be- 
cause he cannot summon up sufficient energy to be bad; then he is so good 
that he is good for nothing. While we are weak our desire nature masters us 
and may lead us into temptation, but as we learn to control our desire nature, 
our temper may guide in harmony with the laws of God and man. 

  Desire is the great tempter of mankind. It is the great incentive to all 
action, and in so far as the actions subserve the purposes of the spirit, it 
is good; but where the desire is for something degrading, something that de- 
bases the nature, it is indeed meet that we pray not to be led into tempta- 
tion. 

  Love, Wealth, Power, and Fame! These are the four great motives of human 
action. Desire for one or more of these is the motive for all that man does 
or leaves undone. The great Leaders of Humanity have wisely given them as 
incentives to action, that man may gain experience and learn thereby. They 
are necessary, and the aspirant may safely continue to use them as motives 
for action, but he must transmute them into something higher. He must 
overcome with nobler aspirations the selfish love, which seeks the ownership 
of another body, and all desires for wealth, power, and fame for narrow and 
personal reasons. 

  The Love for which he must long is that only which is of the soul and em- 
braces all beings, high and low, increasing in proportion to the needs of 
the recipient; 

  The Wealth, that which consists of abundance of opportunities to serve his 
fellow men; 

  The Power, that alone which makes for the upliftment of humanity; 

  The Fame, none save that which increases his ability to spread the good 
news, that all who suffer may thus quickly find solace for the heart's 
grief. 

  The guiding power which directs this energy of the desire nature is the 
Mind, hence the seventh prayer, "Deliver us from evil," is made with regard 
to the mind. 

  The animals follow desire blindly and commit no sin. To them there is no 
evil; that only comes to our cognition by and through the discriminating 
mind which enables man to see various courses of action and to choose. If he 
chooses to act in harmony with universal good, he cultivates virtue; if the 
contrary, he becomes tainted with vice. It should be noted that the much 
vaunted "innocence" of a child is not by any means virtue. The child has not 
yet been tempted and tried, therefore it is innocent. In time, temptations 
from the desire nature will come to test its mettle, and it depends upon the 
control of the mind over desire whether it will stand for the right or fall 
by the wayside. If the mind is strong enough to "deliver us from evil" 
desires, we have become virtuous, which is a positive quality, and even if 
we fall for a time before we realize our wrong, we acquire virtue as soon as 
we repent and reform. We exchange negative innocence for the positive 
quality of virtue. 

  Thus does the Lord's Prayer cover the various parts of the human 
constitution and enunciate the need for them all, showing the marvelous 
wisdom laid down in that simple formula. 

                        THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION:

  "The Bible has been given to the Western World by the Recording Angels, 
who give to each and all exactly what they need for their development."
--Max Heindel 
 
 
References: Matthew 1:20-25; Luke 1:26-35 
 
  The Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is one of the most sublime 
mysteries of the Christian Religion, and perhaps for that reason it has suf- 
fered more from being dragged down into materiality than any of the other 
mysteries. It has suffered alike from the interpretation of its clumsy 
supporters and the sneers of the skeptics. 

  The popular, but erroneous, idea is that about 2,000 years ago an 
individual named Jesus Christ was born of a mother without the cooperation 
of an earthly father, and this incident is regarded as unique in the history 
of the world. In reality it is not unparalleled; the immaculate conception 
has taken place many times in the history of the world and will become 
universal in the future. 

  The periodical ebb and flow of the material and spiritual forces which in- 
vest the Earth are the invisible causes of the physical, moral, and mental 
activities upon our globe. According to the hermetic axiom, "As above, so 
below," a similar activity must take place in man, who is but a minor edi- 
tion of Mother Nature. 

  The animals have twenty-eight pairs of spinal nerves and are now in their 
Moon stage, perfectly attuned to the twenty-eight days in which the Moon 
passes around the zodiac. In their wild state, the group spirit regulates 
their mating. Therefore there is no overflow with them. Man, on the other 
hand, is in a transition stage; he is too far progressed for the lunar 
vibrations for he has thirty-one pairs of spinal nerves. But he is not yet 
attuned to the solar month of thirty-one days, and he mates at all times of 
the year; hence the periodical flow in woman, which under proper conditions 
is utilized to form part of the body of a child more perfect than its 
parent. Similarly, the periodical flow in mankind becomes the sinew and 
backbone of racial advancement; and the periodical flow of the Earth's 
spiritual forces, which occurs at Christmas, results in the birth of Saviors 
who from time to time give renewed impetus to the spiritual advancement of 
the human race. 

  There are two parts to our Bible, the Old and the New Testaments. After 
briefly reciting how the world came into being, the former tells the story 
of the "Fall." We understand the "Fall" to have been occasioned by man's 
impulsive and ignorant use of the sex forces at times when the interplan- 
etary rays were inimical to conception of the purest and best vehicles. Thus 
man became gradually imprisoned in a dense body crystallized by sinful pas- 
sion and consequently an imperfect vehicle, subject to pain and death. 

  Then commmenced the pilgrimage through matter, and for millennia we have 
been living in this hard and flinty shell of body, which obscures the light 
of heaven from the spirit within. The spirit is like a diamond in its rough 
coat, and the celestial lapidaries, the Recording Angels, are con- stantly 
endeavoring to remove the coating so that the spirit may shine through the 
vehicle which it ensouls. 

  When the lapidary holds the diamond to the grindstone, the diamond emits a 
screech like a cry of pain as the opaque covering is removed; but gradual- 
ly by many successive applications to the grindstone the rough diamond may 
become a gem of transcendant beauty and purity. Similarly, the celestial 
beings in charge of our evolution hold us closely to the grindstone of 
experience. Pain and suffering result, which awaken the spirit sleeping 
within. The man hitherto content with material pursuits, indulgent of sense 
and sex, becomes imbued with a divine discontent, which impels him to seek 
the higher life. 

  The gratification of that aspiration, however, is not usually accomplished 
without a severe struggle upon the part of the lower nature. It was while 
wrestling thus that Paul exclaimed with all the anguish of a devout, 
aspiring heart: "O wretched man that I am!...The good that I would I do not: 
but the evil that I would not, that I do...I delight in the law of God after 
the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law 
of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my 
members." (Romans 7:19-24) 

  When the flower is crushed, its scent is liberated and fills the 
surroundings with grateful fragrance, delighting all who are fortunate 
enough to be near. Crushing blows of fate may overwhelm a man or woman who 
has reached the stage of efflorescence; they will but serve to bring out the 
sweetness of the nature and enhance the beauty of the soul till it shines 
with an effulgence that marks the wearer as with a halo. Then he is upon the 
path of Initiation. He is taught how unbridled use of sex regardless of the 
stellar rays has imprisoned him in the body, how it fetters him, and how by 
the proper use of that same force in harmony with the stars he may gradually 
improve and etherealize his body and finally attain liberation from concrete 
existence. 

  A shipwright cannot build a staunch oak ship from spruce lumber; "men do 
not gather grapes of thorns"; like begets like, and an incoming ego of a 
passionate nature is drawn to parents of like nature, where its body is con- 
ceived upon the impulse of the moment in a gust of passion. 

  The soul who has tasted the cup of sorrow incident to the abuse of the 
creative force and has drunk to the dregs the bitterness thereof, will gra- 
dually seek parents of less and less passionate natures, until at length it 
attains to Initiation. 

  Having been taught in the process of Initiation the influence of the 
stellar rays upon parturition, the next body provided will be generated by 
Initiate parents without passion, under the constellation most favorable to 
the work which the Ego contemplates. Therefore the Gospels (which are 
formulas of Initiation) commence with the account of the immaculate 
conception and end with the crucifixion, both wonderful ideals to which we 
must sometime attain, for each of us is a Christ-in-the-making, and will 
sometime pass through both the mystic birth and the mystic death adumbrated 
in the Gospels. By knowledge we may hasten the day, intelligently 
cooperating instead of as now often stupidly frustrating through ignorance 
the ends of spiritual development. 

  In connection with the immaculate conception misunderstandings prevail as 
every point; the perpetual virginity of the mother even after giving birth 
to other children; the lowly station of Joseph, the supposed foster father, 
etc. We will briefly view them in the light of facts as revealed in the Memo- 
ry of Nature. 

  In some parts of Europe people of the higher classes are addressed as 
"well- born," or even as "highwell-born"; we would that every child were 
well born, born to parents of high moral standing, no matter what their 
station in life. There is a virginity of soul that is independent of the 
state of the body, a purity of mind which will carry its possessor through 
the act of generation without the taint of passion and enable the mother to 
carry the unborn child under her heart in sexless love. 

  Previous to the time of Christ that would have been impossible. In the 
earlier stages of man's career upon Earth quantity was desirable and quality 
of minor consideration, hence the command was given to "go forth, be 
fruitful, and multiply." Besides, it was necessary that man should 
temporarily forget his spiritual nature and concentrate his energies upon 
material conditions. Indulgence of sex passion furthers that object, and the 
desire nature was given full sway. Polygamy flourished, and the larger the 
number of their children, the more a man and a woman were honored, while 
barrenness was looked upon as the greatest possible affliction. 

  In other directions the desire nature was being curbed by God-given laws, 
and obedience to divine commands was enforced by swift punishment of the 
transgressor, such as war, pestilence, or famine. Rewards for dutiful 
observance of the mandates of the law were not wanting either; the 
"righteous" man's children, his cattle and crops were numerous; he was 
victorious over his enemies and the cup of his happiness was full. 

  Later when the Earth had been sufficiently people after the Atlantean 
Flood, polygamy became more and more obsolete, with the result that the qua- 
lity of the bodies improved, and at the time of Christ the desire nature had 
become so far amenable to control in the case of the more advanced among hu- 
manity that the act of generation could be performed without passion, out of 
pure love, so that the child could be immaculately conceived. 

  Such were the parents of Jesus. Joseph is said to have been a carpenter, 
but he was not a worker in wood. He was a "builder" in a higher sense. God 
is the Grand Architect of the Universe. Under Him are many builders of 
varying degrees of spiritual splendor, down even to those whom we know as 
Freemasons. All are engaged in building a temple without sound of hammer, 
and Joseph was no exception. 

  It is sometimes asked why Initiates are always men. They are not; in the 
lower degrees there are many women, but when an initiate is able to choose 
his sex he usually takes the positive masculine body, as the life which 
brought him to Initiation has spiritualized his vital and made it positive 
(as a woman's) under all conditions, so that he has then an instrument of 
the highest efficiency. 

  There are times, however, when the exigencies of a case require a female 
body, such as, for instance, providing a body of the highest type to receive 
an Ego of superlatively high degree. Then a high Initiate may take a female 
body and go through the experience of maternity again, after perhaps having 
eschewed it for several lives, as was the case with the beautiful character 
we know as Mary of Bethlehem. 

  In conclusion, then, let us remember the points brought out, that we are 
all Christs-in-the-making; that sometime we must cultivate characters so 
spotless that we may be worthy to inhabit bodies that are immaculately 
conceived; and the sooner we commence to purify our minds of passionate 
thoughts, the sooner we shall attain. In the final analysis it only depends 
upon the earnestness of our purpose, the strength of our wills. 

Continued with file "RC5005.TXT"

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