By the way, the
Path of Initiation is known to every tradition. Each religion just has a different
motif for expressing it, including varying symbolisms - with common & overlapping
elements, yet certainly
also with elements which are
unique to each one.
Within Buddhism, for example,
Shakyamuni taught using the metaphor of a
Stream ... and those who had taken the
1st Major Initiation were called
Sotapatti, or
Stream-Entrants.
In Hinduism, the same stage is called
Parivrajaka, and it means,
the Wanderer, or one who has forsaken the
apparent security of this world, in order to
seek greater spiritual understanding and live the spiritual life. This is epitomized in the ideal of the
Sannyasin, though certainly not every individual is capable - either of living that
stage in outward, personal life,
or of reaching such a spiritual goal (
1st degree Initiate) in one, given lifetime.
St. Paul, for the benefit of the early church, often spoke in his Letters of being
"Babes in Christ," and he did this because of his familiarity with the existing Mystery Traditions of Greece. Already ancient, these traditions have epitomized the
High Walk of Discipleship in their legends for
thousands of years, with
Herakles (Hercules) ranking among the Greatest of Greece's early Initiates.
Thoth-Hermes, said by some to have been an earlier incarnation of Shakyamuni Buddha (
Siddharta Gautama), was also a great Egyptian, as well as Greek
Initiate. Other heroes, such as Perseus, Theseus and Odysseus, can also be spoken of as
Initiates ... or individuals who, early on, have attained to the Spiritual Goal of Perfection which awaits us all.
Some embark upon that
difficult journey earlier than others, and such men were Christ, and Buddha, yet this is regarded in the Ancient Wisdom teachings as our Destiny - and not something
reserved for the privileged few.
"Many are called, but few are chosen," refers to the same spiritual truth expressed by the Theosophical Masters ~125 years ago:
An Adept is the rare efflorescene of a generation of enquirers ... and to become one, he must obey the inward impulse of his soul, irrespective of the prudential considerations of worldly science or sagacity.
It should be added,
that the Path is open to each & all who seek.
Those who
earnestly desire to tread this Path FOR THE PURPOSE OF BEING OF FURTHER ASSISTANCE TO THE PLAN ...
that is, to assist the Great Ones in Their dedicated task (at this stage of the Plan) of Spiritual Service to Humanity ... ONLY such Souls will find the doors opening to them. This is a natural safeguard, such that those of us who
are merely curious, will not meet with any peril. The Masters do not need additional
devotees, nor are They the least bit interested in going about
proving Themselves to the skeptics.
Does this begin to make sense? I would point out here, that Esotericism and the Initiatory Path is
not about
"saving souls," and thus there will be a natural and understandable tension with any ideology, or presentation of religious ideas, which seeks
this business of soul-saving as its ultimate goal, or
raison d'etre.
It is not that the Masters are not intimately concerned about our Spiritual progress. Certainly They are; and the
epitome of the relationship between a Master and His closest pupils is that which was shown 2000 years ago between Christ and John the Beloved. Yet this is not
favoritism, and the Master loves each and every member of Humanity alike.
We are known to the Christ
as souls, and not (only, or primarily) as an evanescent, temporary personality. Apologetics, or some kind of insistence that
I am my body, will not move me
one molecule from my own, hard-won appreciation ...
that I HAVE a physical body, but I am not that body, I am a Soul. I HAVE an emotional body, but I am not my emotions, I am a Soul. I HAVE a mental body, but I am not my thoughts (or mind), I am a Soul.
We can discuss metaphysics elsewhere ...
this is the teaching of the Ageless Wisdom, and I believe the equivalent emphasis will be found
in every spiritual tradition,
REGARDLESS of the time period under consideration, and
regardless of other, complementary teachings
in that tradition. Sadly, there are attempts to short-circuit, bypass, or just plain
defeat this sublime, Spiritual Truth ... and however well-intended, these efforts will fail.
A vehicle,
the upadhi, must be
mastered. This occurs with full, willing effort by the denizen therein, and comes about only through earnest
self-discipline ... and by leading a life of
utmost PURITY and self-sacrifice. All of this is JUST PRECURSORY, a
natural and necessary PREPARATION for treading the real Spiritual Path ... or at least, the Path of Initiation.
Those who move about amongst us,
Baptized in the Esoteric sense of that word ("Once-Returners" in Buddhism,
or "He Who has Built a Hut" in Hinduism) ... are greatly and increasingly empowered, precisely because their lives are PURE, and they can handle the additional inflow of spiritual energy (Love, Light,
and Power). Even so,
every single impurity is brought to the surface, and the lives of such individuals tend to be exceedingly difficult, and trying - as they learn to live,
only to SERVE.
Those who move on,
and become Transfigured (3rd Degree Initiates), are
exactly as was Jesus of Nazareth ... prior to His birth in Bethlehem. These are not so numerous as the
Baptized, these "Never-Returners" and
SWANS (
Hamsa) ... but chances are we have all met a few of them. These are the people who can truly
think, for they have
been spiritually purified, have stood before The One Initiator ("May the Lord lift His Countenance upon you" ... "Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.") ... and such individuals
permanently bear the higher vibration (on EVERY level of their being) of being in God's Presence. Even Moses was not such an Initiate when first he encountered God,
THUS he had to be protected atop Mt. Sinai, and could
experience the Lord, but
not see Him until a later stage.
The
Arhats, as Buddhism speaks of them, or the
GREAT SWANS (ParaMaHAMSA,
such as Yogananda) of Hinduism,
equal the
Crucified and Risen Jesus of Nazareth. Initiates experienced this
before Jesus, and certainly several have passed the trials, since. But these are High Initiates, well on the way to becoming
Adepts (5th Initiation) ... and they are not so numerous in the world, as yet.
Brother Bruce discusses at length the
unique contributions of the Christ, and even if I would disagree about certainly Anthroposophical fundamentals (
Christ and the Bodhisattva are one, as I see it - and Jesus of Nazareth
was Jeschu ben Pandira, plain & simple) ... what I believe we can agree upon is that
Christ holds a unique position in relation to Humanity today.
As an esotericist, I have come to understand this position as
Bodhisattva, or
World Teacher ... and also as the Head (and Heart) of the Occult Hierarchy, or
Inner/Spiritual Government of the World. Yes, we're "in good hands," but
Christ does not do for us, what we ourselves
are not willing to DO
for each other. Some teachings, such as those of the First Two Commandments and the Golden Rule - as well as the
Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism - are still fresh in our collective memory, yet how can the Christ possibly come and give us
NEW teachings, when we have yet to apply
the existing Lessons?
The Ageless Wisdom indicates that NO ONE, including
God Almighty, has the ability - or the
desire, let alone the
intention - to come along and contradict my free will ... and MAKE of me an unwilling slave, or servant. However,
just to that extent that I recognize and express my willingness to cooperate, doors
can and will open. The natural, normal and desired progression ... is for each and every one of us, to
set foot upon the spiritual path - and this is hoped for as the
willing choice and sacrifice of every soul, as that soul becomes mature (spiritually progressed) enough to see the value in this. The
slow, sure method will ultimately lead us all where God intends, but at the present moment, Humanity faces a CRISIS of unprecedented proportion (trite or
cliche as that may sound) ... and thus
every single contribution we make helps to pave the way as never before).
Christ's
Reapperance is immiment - and esotericsts insist on this word, because,
as presented in the Buddhist tradition, the Bodhisattva awaits
"in Tushita Heaven," but not in some far-off celestial sphere.
"At the right hand of the Father" means to me, that Christ has had the affairs of the world
well in hand ... not as
a controller of destinies, but rather, as the Guide and Supervisior of our Spiritual Growth and
education as a collective Human SOUL. He is the
Saoshyant known to Zarathustrians, the IMAM Mahdi of Muslims, and the
Kalki Avatara of Hindus.
Christ's Reappearance is heralded, and He "comes not alone," since this time the world is ready for the gradual
Externalization of the Hierarchy. This means, that all those
Masters of the Wisdom (and "Lords of Compassion," as Master Jesus, Serapis, et al are technically called) ... the ones in Whom Thomas
does not believe ... THEY are coming with the Christ, as His avant-garde.
Already several Ashrams have made much progress in outward, physical expression ... and even in the early 20th Century the Master R. was quite active in the
Western USA, but His Ashram came under attack (this was during the Interlude between the two halves of the World War, which esotericists understand as a recapitulation of the
Atlantean conflict, between the Forces of Light, and the
lords of the Dark Face). Plans were delayed, but already a
Synthetic Ashram is working increasingly in the mental, astral and etheric physical world ... being a combined effort of
three Ashrams of the Great Ones.
The discomfort, the uncertitude, the
natural enough resistance, even to the point of direct, personal attacks - episodes of
scapegoating and in fact,
the use of any means available (subtle attacks can be far worse than outward physical means) ... all of this is no surprise, and it will continue. The existing power structures,
political, "religious," ideological, are all - truly - being subjected to energies which are
... overwhelming, to say the least.
A good parallel is the US (and European) automobile industry, based as it is,
upon petroleum. As the planet
NECESARRILY shifts to a cleaner, more efficient, and
globally available means of propulsion (energy) ... the existing power structure will fight
tooth, claw & nail to maintain its stranglehold on the economy. Europe has begun to adjust much sooner than the US, but even here, there are
baby steps as the
big automotive corporations and stockholders in the oil companies allow a couple $$ here and there to
go toward the research & development which decades ago could have saved our planet. Is it too late? Who's to say. But this is only a parallel, and technically,
this too is a reflection of the
inner struggle whereby the forces of Materialism still seek to
oppose to the very last, the Forces of Love and Light.
There is no
scapegoating here that will deceive anyone whose
Eye is opened, and in sync with his or her
Heart. Most of us are well aware that
the world is not just one giant set of dualities. Good and evil, in the way that they have often been depicted for the last several thousand years,
do not exist at polar opposites. To the extent that they do so,
we are dealing with the OUTER world of "concrete reality," which esotericists call
the world of appearances. In the East, this is called
Maya, because
relative to a greater world of Spiritual Verities,
it IS illusion. In an absolute sense, the
dualities (hot, cold, good, bad, negative, positive, male, female,
etc.) ... are a PART of the bigger picture. But that
bigger picture includes ALL such dualities, and
resolves them.
Christ said, "I am the Alpha and the Omega." This is equivalent to the acorn, and the oak. An acorn is not "bad," nor is the oak a diametrically opposed "good." The opposites do not apply. And yet, each of us is somewhere on that journey,
in between the stage of acorn and Oak. The metaphor of a large, beautiful Garden is a helpful one ... but if we borrow it, it becomes our responsibility
to remember to do our own weeding. When help is needed, it will come, but
not for the one who is unwilling to do his fair share.
I've rambled a bit, because this is the esotericism I have come to know and love. These are the teachings that make sense to me,
though this is just the tip of the iceberg, to use the expression Nick recently used. I'll share something else tomorrow ... and I'll give your recent post more of a reply than I've given it, Deb. So far I've offered short shrift, so I've plenty of catching up
of my own to do!
Peace,
~Andrew