Another study would show a very different trend if we were looking at 1st Ray Emissaries of the Hierarchy, and only here & there will we see anything like a direct embodiment of the Manu ... while the matter is further complicated by the teaching that
no true 1st Ray souls yet exist, or at least in incarnation on our planet. We're just not ready yet. That time, perhaps, is not so far off - if we can get ahold of ourselves? I dunno. {Still, an Egyptian Pharoah reincarnated now leads the American people, with direct Hierarchical influence and guidance ... yet the people, once again, would have their BARABBAS if they could. We shall see.}
Great artists, however, along the 4th line, some coming as
incarnations of the RAY ... can probably be acknowledged fairly easily, if we take a look. The same for scientists, of the 5th Ray, and even -
dare we consider it - financiers and bankers along the 7th. Often we are blinded to what is really going on around us, only because we have grown so accustomed to looking for something else, or some kind of flash in the heavens. Aquarian energies may already be several decades in their rightful influence, or more than a full century by the
Samaritan cycle which HPB speaks of.
What does this mean for us about the Messiah, as we consider the notion from a Theosophical perspective? I do not believe in shutting doors, simply because we're "not sure," or maybe
not quite ready to entertain the NEW teachings on the matter. If they (these ideas, or some of them) are not for us, we will perhaps know it, but how are we to decide whether we're just being recalcitrant, or whether maybe the conceptual framework we're currently working with is adequate overall, and in little need of expansion?
So far, I just share what works for me, although I am more partial to the presentation which Alice Bailey gave, so that influences how I see everything else. The Master DK, for example, set out to provide materials for disciples in the New Era ~ I will presume along 2nd Ray lines, especially, since His Ashram is on this Ray ~ but He did not complete the project with H.P. Blavatsky. The work with Alice Bailey, occupying 30 years and concluding in 1949, was the `2nd installment.' Some students still look for a third ... and I'm sure others are certain they have found it.
But Master DK is certainly not the World Teacher, even while the Reappearance would not be as it is without His Contribution. Those interested should read the `Statement by the Tibetan' placed in the front of every publication through Alice Bailey (after a certain year, now in all of them). This speaks volumes to the question of perspective, and I especially like that the Tibetan states, "All are disciples, from the humblest aspirant up to and beyond the Christ Himself ..."
If we can accept this, and remember - even just INTUIT - the Inner signifance of the Festival of Lights, then already we are once again on the Right Track and hopefully smiling in contentment. It is those who worry (and I am one of them, when I am forgetful or uncollected), who are the most pitiable. Concerned for the
"souls of others," I wonder if they have any real grasp at all. They mean well, and I smile when I consider that. But their day is well ahead. And time is lost, when they beat their heads against the wall, trying to figure out
why the world can't see!
Perhaps the world already knows its Savior, as have every people in every day and age, on every continent, in every community, each group or individual according to capacity. Growth is slow, but sure, and I seem to remember a Biblical verse which speaks to this:
Romans 8:22.
The Savior, as some Theosophists will say, exists within all of us, as within all of Nature, equally if not more so on every planet and Star within the Heavens. We always need to ask ourselves if it might be a question of
scale. Planets have their Christ, yet so too must the Christ dwell within each and every one of us, else the former could not do His Work!
St. Paul refers to this
Christ within as the "Hope of Glory," which was well known in the Egyptian Mysteries and born into the Heart of the candidate
chrestos at Initiation. Alice Bailey herself (without Master DK's dictation) wrote a book called
From Bethlehem to Calvary which outlines the
5 Great Events in the life of the Initiate Jesus, symbolizing
every human soul's spiritual progress toward the end of the long series of incarnations. These are, in order:
- The Birth (of the Christ, within the Heart)
- The Baptism (being the purification of the personality vehicles)
- The Transfiguration (of the threefold personality into ONE instrument of Service)
- The Renunciation (whereby the lower man "dies" to self completely)
- The Resurrection/Ascension (which prepares us to tread `The Higher Way')
The Higher Way, however, will surely not leave
Christ or Christs behind, for the 2nd ASPECT is something much larger than our little Earth, even larger than the 2nd Ray REGENT of the System,
B'el-Jupiter. The Solar Lord of our 2nd Ray System ("God IS Love") is Christ to ALL of the planets, in one sense, but even more so are we `Little Brother' to our vastly Greater
Older Brother, SIRIUS. The Magi knew this, enough at least to FOLLOW the Cosmic Christ to the
future embodiment of the same, on EARTH.
Lights can be bright, sometimes the things revealed aren't exactly what we expect(ed) or would want ... but sooner or later it must be acknowledged, reckoned with, and matter(s) set straight - where this is necessary or occultly desirable.
Preparing Humanity to tread the higher way, gradually and with such
transformational `staying power' that the New Civilization and its accompanying Government and Culture can fully and properly come into existence ... this, surely, is the most obvious of Christ's true Mission as Aquarian WORLD SAVIOR. This, every esotericist knows, regardless of his schooling and background, or specific
allegiances (meaning Ray disposition, Service preferences & Calling or choice of discipline, etc.).
This may seem a difficult time for us, and it certainly is, yet we are very much still
laying the Foundation and
Preparing the Way, as it is occultly called, such that the
Building of the Temple will likely come into fruition (or objective, more obvious realization) in decades ahead. This really just means we should redouble our effort, rededicate ourselves to the difficult tasks that still await, and continue to be grateful that we are able to incarnate during this
Awakening for Humanity, the Becoming of a SACRED PLANET.
Venus will continue to guide, Uranus influences via Aquarius, and Mercury provides the stability and balance that Mercury (planet of the Buddha and Christs) always has ... while Martian and other elements give us the friction and challenge we need, without which
no human Soul can graduate, and emerge a JivanMukta.
Christ, as other Masters, is surely one of the Greatest Astrologers ever to emerge from our Planetary School (I mean, yes? When you stop and think about it?) ... so I'd sure like to keep pursuing the Idea (and Ideal
s) of
the Same as He has come to us (in whatever forms) down through the Ages, in all of the Signs.
The SPHINX, folks, the SPHINX. Guards
something, n'est pas? Built in Leo, but many, MANY turns ago on the Greater Wheel.
The Ancients sometimes forgot more, in one generation, than we have ever learned - even with all our modern science and technology - in several. I think just now we're starting to see some of the parallels, and realize what
Treasures were revealed in the Vedas and Eastern treatises. Then we have the Hermetic and Western line, both converging - or starting to - in the Present Age. Hubris, of course, shall get the best of us, if we let it.
TWO full Root Races are yet to run their course ... and not even the 6th sub-Race of the 5th has come into being. Christ will come again, and again, and again, as always. When this fact is better grasped, and the different world religions allow each other to
simply, peacefully Co-Exist ... THEN the Planet will see a time of progress as we have not for some time. I still wonder what may occur in 5 or 600 years. But one thing's for sure: If we sit around on our hands, less will get done, and that which must inevitably occur
will take longer.
So, the true TheosoPHERs, as one wonderful soul put it to me, are the DOers ... and they already know that SERVICE is both Crown and Key. Meditation and Study combine with Service to form the triple cornerstone on the Path of Discipleship ... and this we have been taught now for so many decades that none of us is alive who first heard it. Then again, I'm pretty sure the
Sophia is indeed
without beginning or end, such that those who would divide Christ from the Wisdom, just haven't yet stopped to THINK how absurd that sounds.
The best part of all this is, when too many fancy philosophical words or concepts start to creep in, we can always help get each other back on track, simply by asking,
"what do you mean by __?" or choosing to
focus in on a particular point. The dialogue has gone on since Man's Spirit first began its gradual descent into incarnation ... and I'll be damned if some kind of minor clusterf*~ at the intersection of
Enlightenment and
Salvation is going to hold up all of Human Progress in the name of some hubcap manufacturer or license plate agency.
You see, we really are
Dust in the Wind. And it's humbling to accept -
from Stardust, back to Stardust - isn't it?
All are but parts of one stupendous whole,
Whose body Nature is, and God the soul.
If the theologian wants to identify `God' with any part of God's creation, I will be the first to say,
"Let's take God out of that box," although I also expect to be the last to be sitting in contemplation ... of just what that Leaves.
Christ can always be thought of as the
Bridging Principle, or 2nd Aspect, and while this may be an oversimplification, it will also serve to get us back on track ... because Theosophy tries to show us how EVERYTHING FITS TOGETHER, and RIGHTLY SO, since a
Loving, Wise, Powerful Deity would surely not have it any other way. More than that, Theosophy reminds us that even when things
seem to be amiss in the world of forms (maya, glamour, illusion) ... nevertheless, there IS a Divine Plan, and in this, CHRIST, the Messiah or World Teacher remains CUSTODIAN - for the entire Human & Angelic Evolution. The other members of Hierarchy assist the World Teacher in this capacity, on whatever Ray Lines ... yet the Hieararchy as a whole is considered the Heart Center of our Planetary Being, with Christ as the embodiment of Love,
par excellence. This, we are told, has never occurred in human history - on the scale that was achieved thanks to the Loving Service of the Nazarene. Esoterically, Jesus really
is the Reason for the Season.
Namaskar